Chapter Text
Tap tap tap tap tap tap. Click.
"Your estimated time of arrival is four hours thirty-two minutes and twenty seconds."
They stare outside into the empty vastness of space, and the space stares back. The secrets kept in the constellations never once thinking of coming to light.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap. Click.
"Your estimated time of arrival is four hours thirty-two minutes and eleven seconds."
They ponder, asking question after question. There is no echo; there is no answer.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap. Click.
"Your estimated time of arrival is—"
"HHIIIIIII~!"
"AAHH!"
They jumped out of their seat, slamming their knee against the bottom of the desk in surprise.
"Oops, sorry Purps, I didn't mean to scare you. Again."
An exhausted sigh leaves Purple's lips as they rub the radix of their nose. Their body language and intonation screamed "not right fucking now" to Red. And just like Purple's many, many past hints, they didn't take it, of course.
"Well fuck you too, Redsy," they groan. "I thought I locked the door on you."
Red laughs in their face and pulls up a chair next to them.
"I know you're, eh, recollectionally challenged, but I didn't know it had progressed to the point where you're flipping back to the ETA radar every five seconds. Is short-term memory loss really that bad? AH! Do you even know who I am?!"
They shake their head and sigh again, clearly annoyed that Red couldn't read a damn room if their entire crew's lives depended on it.
"First of all, I'm not 'recollectionally challenged,' and if I were a betting man, I'd tell you that isn't even a word," they scoffed, making air quotes with their fingers. "And no, I don't have short term memory loss. I'm trying to hammer it into my skull. My confirmation bias won't let me accept this..."
Red's head tilts. Like a dog who's just been told they can't have boiling water off the stove.
"What's so hard to accept? Actually, that was a stupid question. Rather, what isn't there to accept actually?"
"That we're going back to Industria. Just us."
They look to their feet, crossing their arms and slumping forward in their seat.
"That we're alone. And that I'm probably going to be out of work for good."
The noticeable tension in the room that neither had bothered to address had grown past the point of an elephant, maybe a whale or some prehistoric apex predator by now. The silence was overbearing, and the weight in the air rivaled that of raw tungsten.
"Don't think like that. I'm sure everything's gonna be a-okay. We'll think of something by the time we get there, right? Cross that bridge when we come to it?"
"Well, it's been three days and now the bridge is in sight and we still haven't thought of something!"
Purple sinks down into their chair and digs their fingers into their scalp in frustration. Red opens their mouth to speak a couple times before—much to Purple's subconscious wishes—ultimately deciding against saying anything at all and then turning away with a finger to their chin.
"To be honest, I kinda thought that bridge would've burned by now," they muse. "But even with comms down and no way to reach anybody to check, I'm going to infer that that big Industria-shaped spot down there is still alive and kicking."
Purple whines in response, now bouncing their knee uncontrollably with their forehead pressed against the edge of the desk. Another, horribly long period of silence passes through. What breaks it is a shaky whisper, almost inaudible through the hum of the ship's engine.
"I don't wanna be alone again. I don't wanna die."
Red whips their head around at the speed of light to counter.
"Woah woah woah, don't go throwing that around. You're not gonna be alone, and you're most certainly not gonna... you know."
They pause briefly to take the other's hand and pry it away from their face.
"I-I'll think of something, Purps, I promise. I'll get us out of this."
Purple turns to face them ever so slightly. That stupid smile... God, they hated that stupid smile. That overly happy, oh-so-reassuring smile—they could never return to quite the same caliber.
"Are you actually going to keep that promise this time?" they ask, staring at them with worried eyes. They've come so far...
Red hesitates. That small, tiny pause causing Purple's trust to dip for just a moment.
"I'm going to be honest; I don't know."
Their heart stings seeing the little bit of life left in Purple's face leave.
"But I swear, this time, I'm gonna actually try."