Chapter Text
DAY 01
Everything still smelled fresh, it was the first day of a year long haul after all. Everyone had gotten to their stations, doing the little work that they had this early on. Haru looked over the control panel, wondering if he really should be here. Did Isidore do the right thing when he stepped down to be co-pilot instead, all to let Haru act as the captain. The older man said he deserved it, even if his promotion wasn't there just yet. That he was cut out for it because he knew how to take RESPONSIBILITY and listen to his crew. His trance was broken when a screaming voice broke through the silence.
"CAAAAAAAPTAAAAIIIIN!!!!"
Really, Ai? Are you really screaming for me on your fisrt day? Is all he could bear to think before double checking the auto-pilot and making sure Isidore had everything else handled so he could go see what the intern was screaming about. Once he made it to the lobby, where he was sure her screams came from, he saw her holding onto Mikhail's back like a backpack while yelling for him to kill it. She had her long and colorfully nailed finger pointed at a cockroach on the floor.
"KILL IT! KILL IT! YOU'RE A VETERAN DOCTOR, YOU SHOULD KNOW HOW TO, I DUNNO, DISARM BUGS AND SHIT!!"
Ai shook the (bareley) older man to try to make him do something about the bug. Mikhail just kept sipping slowly on his coffee like this was a regular thing, which it probably was. Haru didn't know wether to cry or laugh as he watched his nurse and intern nurse goofing around, running his hand through his dark brown hair before sighing and grabbing a paper towel.
"Calm down, calm down.. It's just a bug, you know? It's not like it'll bite you and turn you into a mutant bug girl.. or will it?"
Ofcourse Mikhail would joke about something like that to try and lighten the mood, he always does things like that. He's terrible at stuff like that. People, I mean. Despite being a doctor at 21, he still has the social awareness of a golden retriver.
Haru just squashed the bug with the paper, a slight crunch echoing in his ears as he kills the smaller creature with a mere piece of paper. Maybe he really shouldn't be captain if just the action of killing a bug made him sick to his stomach. Maybe Isidore was truly the better captain, he was over ten years older than him after all. Maybe his parents were right on the fact that he wasted his youth with all those sleepess nights where he studied to fly a literal spaceship. Maybe everyone is just lying to his face constantly just to make him feel better because he's captain and both has power and money to his name. Maybe even his crew wishes he would've just stopped being such a fucking pussy and killed himself when he had the chance-
"Uh, captain? Everything alright? I'm pretty sure it's dead now, Ai even went back to work already. I mean, if you can count using all her mobile data to text her girlfriend while laying on a hospital bed work.......... ....... Uh, ignore I said that."
These words broke his trance once again. Mikhail tried his best to give him a reassuring smile, but it just came off a bit goofy. Still a cute smile nontheless. Haru pushed a very forced smile through the urge to vomit, luckily he was fake smiling to the most oblivious person in the world. "I'm just fine, thanks for asking though." He threw away the paper with the bug on it, still feling a bit sick but better. Deciding he had slacked off enough, he went to check in the utility room. Maybe Saimi needed his help? Maybe he could be usefull.
Maybe.
"Hey Sai- WHAT THE FUCK?!" Is all Haru choked out when he saw the small fire in the utility room. He rushed to grab the fire extinguisher, just to see the mechanic hold up a hand to signal for him to wait.
"Hold your horses, kid. I'm trying to burn off the protective layer of plastic that the Pony Express put on all my tools. I can't get a good grip on them unless they're a bit worn down.
Ah, makes sense.. kind of.. "Well make sure to keep that fire contained, okay? I don't want the ship to burn down on our first day."
DAY 97
The smell of food filled the kitchen as Haru warmed up the last bag of soup. Everyone besides Mikhail had already started digging in, Sebastian took his with him as he 'ate better alone'- Sure mr anorexia. The brown haired boy just sat down, next to probably his only friend on the ship. The other man's dyed white hair almost glimmered in the dim ship lights.
"So.. I have to do the psych evaluations soon.. Anyone willing to go first?"
Mikhail's words broke the silence, the question hanging heavy in the air. No one liked the psych evaluations, not since the company made the questions even more personal to ensure no one was thinking of crashing the ship. Because who would ever lie about being fucking insane to the ship's nurse?
"I could go first, get it over with."
I'm the captain, ofcourse I'm gonna go first. Gotta set a good example, yeah? Totally not just hoping Mikhail will ignore all of my obvious red flags and say I'm totally sane and good to fly the ship.
"I mean, It's all pretty much just up to you. Right? As long as I'm fine to fly in your eyes, it's fine." Haru added. He really just wanted the whole 'evaluating your psyche' to be over with. He didn't long for the feeling of his throat closing up while Mikhail asked him if he's had thoughts of harming himself these past months, but it was better to just do it now rather then sitting and stressing over it.
After a tasteless dinner, everything went back to normal. Saimi went to monitor the ship's fuel and oxygen levels, Ai went to go through their supply of bandages and medical drugs, Isidore went to watch over the cockpit and make sure they weren't heading for an asteroid and Sebastian was off doing whatever the janitor of a spaceship does. Mikhail and Haru were all alone, on each side of the table. Mikhail held onto a clipboard, writing down who he was evaluating. 'Haru Ito, 23 years old, (Temporary) pilot' in that fancy handwriting that Haru always admired. He admired all of him, almost everything Mikhail did. They were similar, labled as geniuses at a young age and becoming something big before they were even 25 just to end up on a crappy ship in the middle of space.
What they talked about during the psych eval was a blurry mush of Haru just answering with different kinds of 'no' and 'never'. As soon as it started, it was finished and Haru could get back to work.
"Sebastian is next. I'm a little scared, if I'm being honest. His older brother was the co-pilot of that ship that dissapeared. Imagine possibly dying just to haul some mouthwash across space."
Mikhail's words, once again, snaps Haru out of his trance. It's becoming a habit between them by now. A silent routine, just between them. A scream echoes through the halls of the ship. That's Isidore's voice.
"CAPTAIN; COME TO THE COCKPIT IMMEDIATLEY! WE'RE APPROACHING A SHUT DOWN SHIP, I THINK IT'S THE TULPAR!"
Shit.