Chapter Text
“Oh fuck.”
You have no clue how it happened.
You were sure you had set your alarm to the right time and you were positive you had turned the volume on the highest setting. The damn thing was loud enough to wake the dead for christs’ sake so why hadn’t you heard it? But, for some reason it hadn’t gone off. And when you finally woke up it was 9:13 and, with the ship set to leave at 9:00 on the dot, you knew you were royally screwed. Ever the optimist you scrambled around your bunk gathering as many of your items as you could, throwing them haphazardly into your duffel bag. You managed to stumble outside with just enough time to see the ship start making its full ascent.
“No no no! Goddammit!”
Frustrated, you flopped down on the damp grass and watched your only way back topside get smaller and smaller as it departed Hollow Earth. You gave a half-hearted wave in the direction of the ship and sighed. You felt ridiculous: sweater half on one shoe missing and half-zipped bags strewn everywhere. All because your stupid alarm didn’t go off.
God, what a shit situation, you thought.
“Relax sweetheart, there'll be another one down here in-” He checked his watch. “A week! S’not too bad.” Trapper mused, slapping you on the shoulder. “Until then I guess you’re stuck with me.” You shot him a scowl which he returned with one of his signature lopsided smiles.
Wait a minute.
“Trapper, what the hell are you still doing here? Why aren’t you on the ship?” You questioned.
“Oh I was never planning on going back on this one, love. I’m here for another few weeks. You know, collecting health data, gathering samples, doing Kong’s bloodwork. The yoozh.” Ugh. You had to stop yourself from physically recoiling when he shortened ‘usual’ to ‘yoozh’.
“Wonderful! That’s just great. Whatever, I guess I’m gonna go put my stuff back inside since I’ve now got nowhere else to be.” You groaned and started picking up all your belongings to take back to your room. “And please Trapper...” He waited patiently for your next words, a ghost of a smirk still playing on his lips. “If you need me, don’t.” Turning away from him you trudged up the ramp and were about to buzz yourself in when you heard him speak up behind you.
“Hey sweetheart!” Again you cringed, this time at his nickname for you.
“Yes?”
“Forgot your shoe.” Before you could respond he launched the shoe your way. It whizzed past your head and managed to hit the control panel in such a way that made the door immediately open. “What! Did you see that! Oh shit that was so cool!”
You rolled your eyes and made your way back inside the research station leaving Trapper outside to ramble about his success on his own.
As you reentered your room you tossed your bags back on the bed and turned on your small clock radio. The Promise by When In Rome began softly flowing from the speaker; one of your mix cds you would’ve been sad to forget had you made it onto the ship. You sang along as you set your toiletries back onto the sink. The rooms weren’t too bad, considering the size of the research station. A set of in-wall bunk beds, two desks, a shared sink, and communal bathrooms down the hall. In your weeks at this station you never had a roommate which gave you mixed feelings. You liked having the space to yourself but you already spent so much time alone you wished you had someone to talk to regularly.
You sang along to your cd as you puttered around your room.
“I'm sorry but I'm just thinking of the right words to say, I know they don't sound the way I planned them to be. But if you wait around a while I'll make you fall for me I promise, I promise you, I will.” You were so wrapped up in the song you didn’t hear Trapper’s footsteps approaching your room.
“Woooo get a load of those pipes, mate! I forgot you could sing! It’s been, what, thirteen years since that party at uni when you got drunk and sang Fleetwood Mac karaoke in my living room?” He held up a pretend microphone and started swaying, making his voice imitate yours. “If I live to see the seven wonders, I’ll make a path to the rainbow's end-” Now it was your turn to throw something at him so before he could finish the song you threw one of your pillows directly at his head. Of course being who he was, he caught it before it could make contact.
“What do you want, Trapper? Can’t you see I’m busy?”
“Claws away, love. I was just making breakfast and figured you’d want some considering you missed your flight back, yeah? No funny business, I swear.” He tossed the pillow on your bed and held his hands up in surrender, but he couldn’t resist adding a wink at the end.
“Oh. Sorry, Traps. I know you’re just trying to be nice I just…the day’s barely started and I’m already over it. Give me a minute and I’ll be there.” You gave him a genuine smile.
“Rock on! Should be ready in coupla minutes, I’ll be in the kitchen!” He darted from the room and ran back towards the aforementioned kitchen.
“That man I swear.” You muttered to yourself, trying to sound annoyed but you couldn’t deny the spread of happiness in your veins at the mention of breakfast made with you in mind.
A few minutes later you were in the kitchen setting the island up with place settings for breakfast. As you set plates and forks down you watched Trapper out of the corner of your eye. He moved with an almost boyish swagger but there was a slight delicateness to it. You could tell he thought about every choice he made, which was obvious given his profession. Sure he was rough around the edges and a bit impulsive, but you could tell he did everything deliberately and with care. He was like a rugged Ace Ventura.
Your relationship with Trapper has always been a complicated one. You’d first met in your freshman bio class. You were lab partners for the whole semester and you’d got on fairly well but it seemed like he’d made getting under your skin his only job. After that you’d ended up with mutual friends, shared science classes, and even been on the same dorm floor one year. Your paths seemed to cross at parties frequently and more than once the two of you ended up co-hosting. Despite your shared affinity for getting on each others’ nerves you got along well, especially when alcohol was involved. And there was of course the time the two of you ended up making out in a closet but you haven’t thought about that in nearly a decade.
It’s not that you disliked him, you’d considered him a friend, he was just…way more outgoing than you were. He’d pushed you out of your comfort zone one too many times and after graduation you pulled away. You ended up in different masters and doctoral programs and before you knew it it had been 10 years since you’d seen him. In fact, the first time you saw each other in person since graduating was three weeks ago when you found out you were both doing work at the same Hollow Earth research station. He had of course immediately resumed his favorite hobby: teasing you. And you, a bit jaded from years of rocky friendships and time spent mostly alone, had been less than thrilled. Admitly you had missed spending time with him so you did your best to let it roll off your back. Today was a bit different considering you were now stranded down here for an extra week, but maybe with some food in your stomach you’d be less of a buzzkill.
“Hello? Hello, anyone home? Yoo-hoo!” Trapper waved a hand in front of your face knocking you from your thoughts. You batted it away. He didn’t seem phased as he gently placed an omelet and a few slices of bacon on the plate in front of you. “Where’d you go? Felt like I was calling you forever. You okay? Already thinking of ways you want to murder me?”
“Surprisingly no.” You took a bite of the omelet. “I was just, you know, lost in thought. What’s on your agenda today, Ace Ventura?”
Your nickname made Trapper laugh so hard he had to set his mug of coffee down. “Why on earth did you call me Ace Ventura?”
“Dude! Seriously! The Hawaiian shirts, the love for every single animal, the talent of being funny but super annoying? You’re just like Ace Ventura!” You reached across the counter and ruffled his hair. “Hair’s not as cool as Jim Carrey’s was though.” This earned you another laugh,
“You know I’ve never seen Ace Ventura.”
“What! How have you never seen Ace Ventura!”
“Dunno, just never got around to it.” He shrugged.
“Well okay the sequel is better but they’re both great!” You finished off the last of your breakfast and set your fork down. “That settles it. I know what we’re doing tonight.”
Trapper gave you a confused look as he started loading the dishwasher. “And what might that be?”
“Watching Ace Ventura 2: When Nature Calls, duh. Keep up Trapper!” Hopping down off your stool you passed him your dirty plate and went to fill your water bottle. “We’ve got the whole place to ourselves for a week, I don’t wanna sit around and do work the whole time! I’ve been working to the bone since I got down here, and I’ve barely spoken to anyone.” You paused. “Plus okay I won’t lie. I’ve maaaybe missed hanging out with you despite the fact that you make it your job to piss me off. Anyway all that being said! We’re gonna have fun this week and we’re gonna go on hikes and do karaoke and we’re only going to annoy each other the normal amount. Sound like a plan, Traps?”
Trapper had paused his cleaning and was staring at you while you rambled. You couldn’t quite place the look on his face, but you could almost hear the gears in his head turning. You felt exposed under his gaze, it was almost too intense.
You chuckled nervously. “What? Was I being weird?” Instantly his face softened.
“No! No no mate, not at all. You just brought up all the cool stuff you wanna do this week and how much you miss me, gross but likewise by the way, but really all I can think about is how badly I’m gonna kick your ass at Mario Kart!” He began acting out your character of choice, Yoshi, crashing and burning on the track to really drive his point home.
“Oh you dick! I thought you were gonna tell me to fuck off and stay out of your hair.” Grabbing your water bottle you started walking backwards towards your room. “You’re toast Trapper! This is a rematch ten years in the making.”
“Yeah yeah keep telling yourself that.” He ran a hand through his hair, in the exact spot you tousled during breakfast. Not that you were paying attention to it or anything. “Look I’ve got some work to do in the lab this morning but I’ll shoot you a text when I’m done, yeah?”
“Sounds good, I’ll be here cause I’ve got nowhere else to go. Honestly probably just gonna type up some data on the deck.” You stopped walking. “And Trapper?”
“Hmm?”
“Watch your back, mate!” You flipped him off. He returned the gesture and laughed as he headed towards his lab.
“Don’t bother me!” He called out as he walked away.
“No promises!” You smiled and watched him until he disappeared around the corner.
Maybe, just maybe, this week wouldn't be so bad after all.