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Green hums as they scribble in their notepad, rereading the written tips over and over.
Next to the second tip Always remember to keep morale high! was a quaint doodle of the captain. It’s a relatively small doodle—it’s a small notepad, small pages—but Green made sure to include all the details; The captain had MIRA’s logo plastered on their hat and uniform, a gray planet with a salmon-colored ring. Their uniform was red (like themselves) and had gold lining on the cuffs. Such fancy clothing, Green thought, nothing like the old hoodie they brought on board.
The captain probably had tons of benefits too, besides the cool uniform. Maybe free lunches? That’d be cool. Green always packed themselves lunch and never minded it, but imagining an even bigger meal made them feel insecure of their little ham sandwich. The captain probably ate pizza everyday. And sandwiches, and some salad (to stay healthy), and those MIRA-produced MREs. All at the same time.
Yeah, that’s pretty cool.
Green suddenly jumps and throws their notepad across the room. Their visor widens realizing they stupidly threw it towards the door, where the captain now stood. Red didn’t seem to care though and only waved.
”Green! How are you?”
Green awkwardly shuffled off the bed and towards their idol. “Fine,” they grumbled, eyeing the notepad next to Red’s foot.
Noticing this, Red picks it up and hands it to Green. They slowly remove it from the captain’s hands, absolutely mortified.
Red pats Green on the shoulder, then pulls them closer until the two were touching. They put a hand up, “Just imagine, you and me, sailing through the stars! I can see it, your potential!”
”My… potential?”
Red roughly pushes them together again. “Yes! And as Captain,” they move back, visor sparkling, “I say you and I spend a whole day! In the cockpit!
…Whatever equates to a day here. In space.”
Green didn’t respond, staring and listening to the Captain just say… they were to spend a day together? Red stood there, staring back.
It took three minutes for Green to snap back to reality and jump into Red’s arms, profusely thanking and tightly hugging them. Red chuckles, patting Green again to signal they’re about to choke them out.
Wherever Red went, Green followed. They closed the door to their sleeping quarters, almost forgetting about the notepad entirely.
Well, not entirely. Green had taken it out again when Red began speaking. Sitting in the Captain’s Chair, Green happily wrote down every single word they spoken. The list of MIRA-approved Captain Tips lengthened to two, three, and now four pages. Some tips varied from Keep a lookout for any suspicious crewmates to Don’t let others tear you down. You are a great captain.
No matter how much Red praised them though—Red surprisingly liked to complement Green all the time—Green never understood any of them. Red called them ‘capable’, ‘strong-willed’, and even ‘handsome’, but none of that described Green. Red was capable, strong-willed, and handsome, not Green.
Green was ‘quiet’ and a (something they heard the other crew whisper) klutz. That was just rude. Green may be clumsy at times but they were never a ‘klutz’. They only slipped on White’s blood once.
But that was exactly what Red pointed out during their hangout, and they portrayed it as something amazing instead of pathetic.
“You cleaned up the crime scene, even though it was a terribly traumatic and disgusting scene for all of us!
And,” Red cleared their throat, “You did it all without complaining. Or expecting any reward. That’s MIRA-material.”
Green couldn’t help but feel light-headed. “Really? Y-You really think so?”
”Sure I do,” Red continued, hopping off the chair and grabbing Green’s hand. “MIRA would love an intern like you.”
Green wobbled to the driver’s seat, taking in the feeling of sitting in front of the steering wheel. Sitting with the stars all around them, control panel below, Red beside and watching them with pride. Red watching them. Red was watching them?
Their hands moved instinctively, giving the ship a sharp turn to the left. Red bumps into Green and grips their hands tight. “Be steady…”
”...You don’t want to get us all killed…” Green swears they hear Red mumble, but they deny it.
After a moment, Green manages to guide the ship smoothly, moving past small asteroids and weird shapes. Red swipes at their forehead and breathes a sigh of relief.
”You’re a natural,” they whisper, “Are you sure you never piloted before?”
Green giggled, turning to look at their captain. Red happened to also be looking at Green. They stilled, looking into each other’s visors, so close that their visors almost…
Red pulls away first, clearing their throat again. “Rule number #271, never show panic or worry in front of your crewmates.”
Okay, back to learning. That’s fine. Red rambled on,
“As Captain, your whole crew looks up to you. You have to act as the stabilizer, else all hell breaks loose. You," they point at Green, "are the pole while the crew is the sail."
Green was already writing it down. Captain is the pole and the crew is the sail. Yeah. That makes sense.
They didn't notice that Red stopped talking, or that they were nervously playing with their hands. Red timidly asks, "Do you even like me?"
"What? Of course I do-" Green immediately responds, before getting shushed by Red. The captain takes the intern's hands again and guides them to the steering wheel. They nudge Green to keep on driving, and Green only complies.
"Is it fun being captain?"
"Of course it's fun!" Red (for the hundredth time) mumbles, "...when you're being paid. That is."
Green then blurts out the question: "Are you also unpaid?"
Before they can utter apologies, Red shakes their head. "No-no, I mean, yes."
Green stares at Red in confusion. Red shakes their head again, "No, I'm paid. It's amazing. It's an amazing... job." Green can practically sense the sadness from Red. It's emitting like radiation, and like radiation, it feels dangerous to just sit in. But once again, before Green can even process such feelings, Red jumps back to a chipper tone and spurting more random MIRA-approved tips.
Green shuffled over to let Red sit, despite the chair only fitting one person and they both were almost falling off. It's hard to steer this way too, and it's probably- no, definitely a safety hazard to be doing this. But Red's shoulders hitting Green's was worth the danger. (or at least, worth endangering the whole crew too.)
In a long moment of silence, Green murmurs, "I like you."
"Really? Do you? Be honest," Red deadpanned.
"I do. I think you're... a great captain."
Red doesn't respond. Green prepared to apologize--
but couldn't, when Red turned their heads and pushed their visor against Green's. From there, Green could see everything. A look through one's body, their parents called it, back when they were still working at their farm. It looked exactly like the anatomy books Green used to read (because that's the only book they had at home). Red had a multitude of organs; The same two stomaches, esophagus, tongue, teeth, and intestines. You couldn't see the intestines clearly, but it's safe to assume Red had intestines, like everyone did. It all looked... amazing. Yeah, it's just some organs, but their parents were right. Green was peering into Red's body, their being itself. It virtually felt exciting.
Red didn't say a word when they backed off. Were Green's organs too weird for them?
Red suddenly pushed their visors together again, pushing and pushing against Green, as if trying to physically go inside and take a look. Green yelped, gripping the chair for balance. Red lied atop, their chests flush against one another, nails digging into Green's head. From this angle, Green could see Red's intestines.
Green's other hand--no longer holding onto the ship's wheel--slowly and hesitantly rubbed Red's back, inching closer to their backpack. They don't reach under.
"R-Red, captain," Green breathes, "Can I?"
Red nods, still peering into Green. Green's hand reaches further, on the back--
and Red jumps off. The door to the cabin opens and another crewmate walks in. Orange.
"Orange," Red laughs, "What can the captain do for you?"
They're jittery, Orange can tell. Green can sense the thousand-yard glare as they straighten on the chair.
"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to check up on my friends!" There's a horrible emphasis on friends, it makes Green itch. "Say, captain, how about you check over the lunch plans for tomorrow while I speak with Green? It's nothing special, juuuust need to check up on our wonderful janitor.
After all, they're the one cleaning up the dead bodies!" both Red and Orange chuckle loudly. Red agrees to Orange's plan and casually strolls out, acting like them and Green weren't about to--
Orange squints their visor at Green. They don't need to do any explaining. Orange already knew.