Work Text:
2 months 12 days before reaching Earth
Either the ship was starting to show its age or there was something wrong. You consulted the system map as another tremor wobbled the mug beside you, the other hand grabbing it by the handle to save it from doom. The more you worked the worst it seemed to get, your brows furrowed slightly.
Finally, you gave up. Kicking away from the console and looking around for anything that could be of use. You took note of the worn and lonely cabinet that sat beside your locker, instinctively, you dusted one of the handles before pulling, a low grinding dragging it open. A few stacks of paperwork toppled out as you began rummaging around, your stomach churned slightly, sorting haphazardly until you pulled out something useful, a thick binder labelled "manual". Various pieces of receipts and notes slipped out, kicking your chair backwards, you began flipping through, moving the excess pages to the side.
Thumbing through, you pulled out some pages that seemed most related to your problem. A yellowed booklet titled 'understanding internal systems' . The harder you read the more your mind blurred with all the over complicated hypotheticals and q&as. Your finger began to tap sharply against the plastic of the binder. Another rumble accompanied by a new sound jolted you out of your consultation.
Dropping the booklet, you almost stumbled out of the chair, skidding into the medical bay. He was doing it again, you let a sigh slip as you approached the bed. The soft glow of an artificial moon made his squirming figure stick out. He almost seemed to be curling up, or at least trying to, the groans worsened the more he tried to move. You etched closer, sitting down in the same chair you'd always used. He flinched, bolting up right with another tremor.
Your hands found themselves pressed against his shoulders, gentle yet firm in their intentions. He froze, watching your face frantically. The shimmer of the moon reflecting his eye. You felt a slight pang of guilt as you tried to lull him back onto the bed. Your voice slipping into a hushed comfort, "it's ok Curly. I'm just...trying to fix some problems". Wrong phrasing, he seemed to grow more anxious, attempting to wriggle off the bed more, bucking and thrashing harder. You could feel your eyelids droop slightly, Your hands slipped away from his shoulders, folding over themselves. Your body started pacing slightly, his eye trailing back and forth with your movement, chest lowly heaving. "Maybe I should...C-Curly, y'mind helping a bit?"
It felt silly setting him up in the wheelchair, using whatever you could to pad the seat enough so he wouldn't wheeze. Completing his movement from the bed with a blanket wrapped cosily over his shoulders. You wheeled him down the hall, letting him know of the issue as composed as possible. "Basically the ship keeps shakin' and I don't know what's wrong, I was reading through the manual..." you let out an exasperated sigh as you continued. "But I need to go around again". You parked the wheelchair before the control panel, picking up the booklet and flipping through.
Hours drifted by once again, blocking out any hypotheticals that seemed less related. Another tremor, followed by a wheeze of panic, your hand wandered towards his arm. Gently placing one hand on it as you continued to check.
Finally, you reached a solution. Consulting the panel you noticed that one of the pipes had been blocked due to excess gunk. You struggled slightly to hide a chuckle as you let out a sigh of relief. snapping the folder shut and returning it to the shelf, you spun on your heel slightly to address Curly. "Welp! I'm off to clean out some pipes". You began to rummage around in the locker once again for your jumpsuit. Zipping it up as Curly watched in silence, you snapped your heels together and gave a goofy salute. "Officer (Y/N) to go clean gunk!". You shot Curly a weary smile before making your way to the culprit.
Too long, you were taking far...too...long. It was weird, he found himself straining his neck around slightly to take in the atmosphere of the cockpit. Just like the medic bay, it felt way too cluttered to be a captain's cockpit. Anything that wasn't covered in posters or knickknacks was too high for you to reach. He could feel himself start get slightly annoyed when he noticed your small mug family. He let out a weak groan, burnt thigh grinding against burnt thigh as he waited.
He stopped, letting out a hoarse sigh, he could feel his breathing get shallow, his eye flicked from the screen to the shelf nearby. You had a lot more books than he assumed, most of it was a mix of young adults work but he found himself somewhat entranced by the variety. He could feel his breathing ever so slightly even out.
Far too long, he began to fidget, his eye flicking back and forth from the door. Another rumble, sharper than usual, this time bathing the cockpit in a blazing red. Too long, his thoughts began to flounder, he could feel his lungs beating with his heart as they hurried. You'd saved him on the brink of death without even realizing, you had been so nice to a worthless captain like himself. He let out a weak chuckle as he joked bout your bizzare sense of care. You cared about your collections, you cared about Daisuke's Gameboy enough to show him your efforts in his games, you...you cared about him!
He could feel the ground tremble harder than ever, struggling to peel away from the blanket. Out, he needed to get out. Either it was the paranoia or something but, he could feel his already burnt flesh stick to the blazing metal below. The automate announcer's voice chiming in with incomprehensible warnings, the voice progressively intertwining with something louder, "Curly!". He winced, a harsh gruff voice. It taunted him as he etched further to the door. His arm gave out as he jolted to a halt, your chair, he retreated, struggling to make it an inch further without buckling from the shaking, he needed comfort, he needed to...he-
The lights flickered back to a familiar cold hum, the screen gaining its neon green status once again. Kicking your boots by the washroom, you ripped your jumpsuit off and dumped in a dinky bucket that rested beside the equally pathetic bathtub. You shoved the plug in before starting the tap. Small droplets trailed behind you, dumping the hand towel into a nearby washing basket. The cockpit door groaned open, you almost tripped over him when you noticed Curly's abandoned wheelchair. "Holy shit what-", you stumbled away, instantly bending down to offer a hand. "W-what happened I told ya I went out to clean out something".
He wheezed pathetically at your feet, one nub reaching out feverishly to your slipper. His eye prickled at the sight of your face, you...you. He choked out a sob, the nub frantically attempting to stroke your foot for reassurance. "Holy crap! W-what-". You dipped your hands under his arms, lifting one over your shoulder, you rested your hand gently against his rib. He winced, you hesitated before sucking in an apology and making your way to the whe- he began to buck once again.
You relented, slumping down with him, you let him droop against your lap. His leg locking slightly from the icy metal. His eye met your chin, it titled down in response as your eyes watched his face. His heart felt like it was being dropped into cotton, your gaze fluctuated between soft annoyance and...he hated how his hand nudged against your chest for reassurance, he hated how he clung to you like a panicked child. He hated, from the bottom of his heart, how you rewarded his pleas, resting your hand on his back like always, comforting for things he shouldn't be.
Pulling away. You nodded towards a bean bag and pillows that rested against one of the walls, he hadn't noticed. Picking him up, you let him rest in the pile of pillows and plushness. "I dunno if this's weird or not but...". You held your tongue before you said anything too soppy. Sitting back in your chair after making sure he was cosy enough. he didn't deserve this, he didn't want this he...His eye remained fixed on you.
You let a low tut out as you picked up the mug collection, making your way past Curly and returning with a new one, a familiar caffeinated scent wafting past him. You rested the mug atop the console table before kicking back towards the cabinet. Tampering around slightly with a stereo nearby until a melody began to fill the room. He didn't acknowledge it, his body shifted towards the wall, the room now filling with a soft pale glow of the moon.