Chapter Text
Red woke up with a groan from their bed.
It had been almost…three? Four? Maybe even five months since they had captained the Skeld on its first (and only) trip to Industria. Despite the anxiety in the back of their mind that had nagged them the entire expedition (which they desperately had tried to keep concealed from the rest of the crew), nothing had gone horribly wrong. Once the OrePlus had been successfully transported, the gang had been sent on their separate ways per MIRA dictation, and the ship was decommissioned for the purpose of “faulty maintenance”.
Red had thought MIRA would want him to captain another one of their ships after his performance on the Skeld. However, much to his surprise, he was terminated from working with MIRA ever again due to having close association with a “demoted”. Red had initially been confused, until they realized who they were referring to.
“You can’t possibly mean Purps, can you?” they had said. “So what if we chatted a few times on the ship? They’re not a threat!”
“Quite the contrary, Mx. Red,” the pink boss of MIRA had snippily replied. “This ‘Purps’ you speak of was willing to…compromise our enterprise over one faulty reactor. If you have been associating closely with them, we can’t risk that you might have been indoctrinated by their stigmas.”
The boss had then extended their hand out.
“I’ll be taking your badge now.”
And that was how Red had found themself on the rainy streets of his home planet, rankless, jobless, and with only an outdated cell phone to keep them company.
So, they had no choice but to call the one person they knew lived nearby.
…
“Jesus Christ.”
Red couldn’t blame Purple’s reaction when they had seen the state they were in. The only saving grace for their appearance was that the rain was doing a somewhat decent job of hiding their tears.
“What happened to you?” Purple continued, a look of concern in their eyes. “You look like you just got thrown out of MIRA because they shot your Petmate and you complained about it.”
“Haha…” Red hoarsely chuckled, trying to make an attempt at humor. “Y-you always do know, don’t cha, Purps?”
At that moment, the Crewmate had burst into tears.
Purple, by some miracle Red couldn’t fathom, let them stay in their apartment after the whole incident. Red had gladly accepted, blubbering on and on the words “thank you” without cease.
It had been months since that had happened. It had taken awhile for Red to get adjusted to living with their friend, but they eventually gained some sense of acquaintance with the situation, even managing to find a replacement job at the local grocery store as a bagger. It didn’t pay the greatest, but it at least helped with Purple’s rent situation.
Speaking of the Crewmate…
Red saw Purple come into their room, wearing their security outfit. It wasn’t the same one they had worn on the Skeld, of course; it was for their current job as a dayshift worker at a children’s pizzeria. Apparently, the manager there had gotten a good impression from Purple’s previous work and decided to hire them when MIRA had ended the mission for the crew.
…Red missed them.
“Heading over to work?” Red yawned, getting out of bed to get dressed themselves.
“Yup,” Purple replied in a matter-of-factly tone. “We’re having this big birthday party today for some kid named Evan. Gotta make sure the kid doesn’t get bitten or something.”
Red laughed hearing this, looking through their shared closet for their work attire. “I’m sure you’ve got it. When it comes to you, problems are no biggie.”
“Ehhhhhhhhh. I don’t know if I’d agree with that,” Purple said. “I mean, I can overreact a lot. Like that time you forgot to feed Heracles. Remember that?”
“Well, they were alright in the end, right? That’s all that matters.”
“Duh. It’s just...I didn’t mean to get that mad at you. I’ve been working on myself ever since…you know. I know you didn’t mean to…do what you did.”
Red was taken aback by the sincerity in Purple’s tone. It seemed so out of character for his usually headstrong friend to…sound like that. Having no idea how to respond to this sudden shift, Red stayed silent, desperately trying to think of a way to speak.
But, they couldn’t.
“...I-I should head over to the joint,” Purple said hurriedly. “Y-you still wanna go to the bar after work?”
“Y-yeah! Totally, Purps,” Red replied, grateful for the excuse to not have to say the shit-ton of things swirling through their mind. “Have fun with the kiddins.”
“I’ll try my best.”
As Purple left, Red sighed and began to put on their shirt.
Today’s gonna be a good day.