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The skeld was quiet at the moment. Everyone was busy with their work in their own secluded areas. The cafeteria was filled with a delicious smell of freshly made pizza, the ship's chefs working hard with a new recipe.
"...Okay, but what about the appetizers?" Yellow added tomatoes on top of the already perfectly baked dough. "One, two, three..."
"Buffalo wings," Brown and Yellow said in unison, the second cook grinning at the synchronized response.
"Yes! You get it," Yellow cheered, their visor forming a happy smile that made Brown's own visor melt in a similar way as they carefully added the needed toppings on the pizza. "Now, what about..."
Before Yellow could finish their question, the cooks' quiet (but very important!) conversation was abruptly interrupted by someone's soft humming which was coming from the hallway. By the time the two recognized whose voice it was, the crewmate stepped into the cafeteria, their visor resembling a gleeful smile, a spring in their step evident.
"Well, would you look at that," Yellow murmured with clear interest in their tone at that sight of their doctor. It's not every day you catch someone (anyone, frankly) in such high spirits on this ship.
Brown hummed something inaudible in response, busying themself with finishing the pizza. Eh, probably a consequence of some hard medical operation going well. Nothing too interesting.
"Good evening, Yellow, Brown," Blue greeted politely as ever, their voice carrying that usual natural charm.
"Back at you, doctor," Yellow greeted right back, Brown nodding their head in acknowledgement. "You're lucky today! I'm pretty sure there are some leftovers of your favorite chicken alfredo. Just give me a minute, I'll be back with it in a jiffy."
"Actually," Blue spoke up suddenly, stopping Yellow in their tracks, "I was thinking about ordering something different today."
"Oh," Yellow blinked, walking back to lean against the counter. "Uh, sure! What would you like?"
"I would like to have two slices of diablo, if it is not too much to ask," Blue finished with an innocent look on their face as if it was nothing special.
As if they'd never had a distaste for spicy food.
"Are you sure about this?" Yellow squeezed their visor in distrust. "I ain't no expert in your preferences, but I was sure you hated those–"
The chef's words were interrupted by their own quiet ow! as Brown nudged their side. Yellow stared at the latter mutely as they stepped in.
"It'll be ready in a few minutes," Brown stated calmly and went back to preparing a new dough as if nothing happened.
Once Blue took a seat at one of the tables, Yellow turned to their friend with an incredulous look on their face. "What was that for?"
"Nothing," came the short and quick answer as Brown efficiently kneaded the dough.
"Uh-huh," Yellow's visor squeezed skeptically, but Brown only shrugged in response. "Why do I feel like you know something that I don't?"
"Let's get back to work," Brown passed a knife to Yellow, clearly avoiding the question.
Eh, whatever. Yellow mused quietly as they got to chopping the needed ingredients. Brown has always been the more perceptive one out of the two anyway.
—
Green had no idea where to look. The captain just ordered them to get Lime so they could fix the reactor, but, like always, it was one of those tasks the intern would rather skip. Green scurried through the skeld's hallways, searching frantically, but once again the engineer was completely out of sight, which was nothing new.
"I'll never find them in time," Green sighed in disappointment. Lime has always been hard to find, given they spent all their time in the vents, and Green didn't really want to investigate down there. But they didn't want to let their captain down, either.
Just as that thought crossed the intern's mind, the vent nearby opened, revealing the crewmate Green was tasked to find.
"Shoot, wrong turn again."
"Lime! I was just looking for you," Green made a beeline to their coworker, feeling beyond relieved. "The reactor, it's–"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm aware," Lime dismissed the intern with a quick wave of their hand. "Was just about to deal with it."
"Great! Then I'll go tell the captain that you're... oh," Green blinked, realizing the vent has already shut in front of their face, leaving them alone in the hallway.
Alongside the blueprints of the ventilation system! Must've fallen out of the engineer's overalls.
"Lime, wait! You forgot your layouts!" Green called, but it was too late. They've probably reached the reactor room by now.
Well, the intern better make sure these don't just lie around in the open. Green hunched down, picking up the pieces of paper, unintentionally taking a look at their contents.
You'd crawl through vents, I’d hold my breath,
Through all the silence, through all the depth.
They think I’m steady, calm, and cool,
But you’re the one who breaks my rule.
Woah. That's not what Green was ready to see.
"Is that poetry?" The crewmate mused out loud, their interest picked. It really was a piece of poetry, a very good one at that. And the more Green reread the sentences, the more they realized these words were describing none other than their engineer. Which wasn't really that surprising, considering the way Green found this verse.
The surprising part was that this existed in the first place. It wasn't like they thought Lime didn't have anyone special, they just didn't think too much about it. After all, Lime was always a loner and rarely spent time with anyone here.
Was it from a friend? A family member? Eventually, curiosity took over and Green took a look at the second piece they were holding.
Your visor glows like stars above,
The only one I truly love.
Though metal walls divide us so,
I'd find you anywhere you go.
Nope, yeah, it was definitely personal. And romantic, if not downright intimate. And Green should not have seen this. The intern's cheeks flushed with color at the realization. They quickly took a look around, nervously checking if anyone noticed them. Luckily, they were still alone in the hallway.
Not for long though, because someone snatched the papers from Green's hands, making them squeak in shock.
"Where'd ya get that?!" Lime shouted loudly enough to startle the poor unpaid intern. The vent behind them was open again.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't see anything!" Green raised their arms in defense. "I- I thought these were your blueprints!"
"Well, you thought right!" Lime stuffed the poetry- blueprints back into their overalls' pocket with a grumble. "These are my personal blueprints and no one can look at them!"
Green nodded frantically at that. As if they needed any problems with the local lunatic here. "I swear I didn't steal them! You dropped them after our talk, so I picked them up. I only wanted to help."
Lime kept quiet for a moment, seemingly debating if they should just let the poor crewmate go or smash them with their favorite wrench first. "Fine," they eventually settled on saying. "Just don't go through my stuff like that again, ya hear?"
"I won't! Promise," Green almost saluted, running off before they could earn a ticket to the ship's medbay.
If they hadn't been in such a hurry, maybe they would've recognized their doctor's handwriting.
—
These damn gremlins were definitely messing with their vents again, because Lime had no idea how they ended up in medbay when their destination was cafeteria. Still, the surprise was more than pleasant if it meant they could see Blue's face again.
"Welcome back, my darling," Blue grabbed at Lime's waist carefully, pulling the mechanic out of the vent and placing them on their feet. A new favorite habit of theirs. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes."
God. Lime will never get used to this.
The two have been seeing each other for a few weeks now, and it already felt like Blue was going all out to make Lime feel like the luckiest person in the world. With Blue, it was love, love, love. Something Lime didn't have a chance to experience for the longest time, and now they were being crushed by it every single day since the confession.
You and your pet names... was the only thing Lime had the strength to mutter out.
The engineer quickly regretted their words though, noticing the look on their partner's face – concerned, almost guilty.
"Do you not like it?"
"No, no, I'm just," Lime stammered, putting their hands in the air defensively, "not used to... all this. Honestly, still feels surreal."
Blue's expression quickly softened at that. Of course, they should've known. Maybe it really was too early for affectionate nicknames, but, really, could anyone blame them? The doctor felt so much love and they needed to show it to the one person who's seen past their looks from the very start.
"I understand. Frankly, I still cannot believe I have such a wonder as my partner, either," Blue hummed to Lime's shock, earning a groan from the shorter crewmate.
"There ya go, doin' it again."
"Doing what again? Loving you?"
Lime muttered something inaudible, looking away from the doctor, clearly embarrassed out of their mind. They wanted to flee into the vents so badly, but their feet were rooted to the floor by the want to stay with the only person who treated them like someone special.
Jesus Christ, were feelings always so hard?
Lime almost missed the moment when they followed Blue to take a seat on one of the hospital beds. They sat quietly side by side for a few peaceful moments, Blue letting Lime cool off until the skeld's engineer found the strength to talk again.
"It's all new to me, ya know," Lime broke the silence eventually. "You always go out of your way to show me your feelings, and I... still can't even give ya a proper hug while in public."
"Lime."
"Must be frustratin'. Datin' a coward, I mean. Can't even tell the others about us."
"Lime," Blue insisted softly, offering their hand. Lime looked at it for a second before taking it. "You are not a coward for wanting to keep our relationship private. In fact, I think it is a good idea." Their thumb moved, caressing Lime's skin in a soothing manner. "I don't want them to know yet. I don't want prying eyes in medbay and vents, don't want to answer any intrusive questions, don't want to let anyone ruin this special connection between us. It is ours only, and I want to keep it that way for as long as we can."
Lime blinked, letting out a sigh of relief. Of course Blue knew exactly what to say. The mechanic squeezed their partner's hand, feeling its pleasant weight in theirs. It was quiet in the medbay, the silence making Lime feel like the two of them were the only ones here on the skeld.
Maybe they could pretend a little longer.
"So you're fine with goin' at my pace?" Lime asked, their voice quieter now that the moment started to feel almost magical.
"Your pace is perfect," Blue whispered in response, their hand making contact with a lime colored cheek that was warm to the touch. "You're burning up. Should I check your temperature?"
"Shut up, doc."
This was the only warning before Lime swallowed, moving in close to Blue, making their visors touch with a soft clink!
Blue's breath hitched at the contact, feeling like their heart was about to burst. The medic was so lost in the moment they didn't even notice that Lime pulled back, looking like they saw a ghost (or a gremlin in their case).
Goddamn fireworks. That's what Blue felt in their chest.
Blue's head was swimming, they could distantly hear their love saying something along the lines of "shit, I'm sorry" and "what is wrong with me".
"Forget it, this is stupid," Lime jumped off the bed, almost fleeing again, but Blue's quick grab of their hand stopped them before they could move.
"Wait!" The doctor said frantically, their visor wide as saucers. "Don't go yet. Please, Lime."
"I'm sorry, okay?" The engineer's cheeks flushed as they looked away from Blue again. Okay, this habit of theirs was slowly starting to get on Blue's nerves. "I don't know what came over me. Shoulda at least asked for permission. Ugh, that's exactly what I meant when I said I was new to this!"
Before Lime could make the worst mistake of their life and leave Blue alone in the room right after initiating their first kiss, damn it, the latter acted before they could think, their hands moving to cup their partner's cheeks.
"I'm afraid you are the one who needs to shut up this time, my love."
The second kiss felt just as sweet and euphoric as the first one.
—
Purple would curse this place if they could.
The cameras weren't working again. Seriously, this whole place, the mission itself, was one huge mess. If it weren't for the lack of money and Red who offered them this job, Purple would've rather spent their days at home watching shitty reality TV shows. Even this would've been more entertaining than being stuck in space with a bunch of morons you don't know and a job you can't even do right.
"Ugh, come on!" The head of security tsked, their patience wearing thin as they tapped at the monitor. In general the cameras were fine. Well, as fine as they could be. The only one that was giving Purple a headache was the medbay one that has been refusing to show anything except stupid static for the last ten minutes.
Whatever, Purple needed a change of scenery anyway. They left the room, making their way towards the medbay where they're sure they saw Blue the last time the feed was still working. They were probably still inside, and it wouldn't hurt to double check that. It was Purple's job as a security guard, after all.
"Hey Blue, are you in there?" The crewmate called, knocking on the door, because for some mysterious reason it was closed. Well, who were they to blame? Everyone needed some time alone from time to time.
But the moment Purple knocked, a wave of strange noises from inside the room hit them – rustling, frantic whispers, and then a sound of the vent slamming shut.
Refusing to wait any second longer, Purple took the door's handle, turned it and jumped inside the room, taking a quick look around. "Doc! What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Blue turned to face Purple at once, facing away from the vents, quickly cooling their expression from what Purple assumed was... disappointment? "Ah! Purple. I'm sorry, but the check-up hours are now closed."
"I'm not here for a check-up," the purple crewmate stated, taking a few more steps inside. "The cameras are going nuts again. I came to check if everything was alright."
"Oh, well, I am doing just fine, thank you for your concern," Blue's visor stretched in a wide (maybe too wide) smile. "Now that you are certain, I can go back to... assessing the data, yes."
"Oh, uh, sure. If you say so," Purple blinked in confusion as Blue was already leading them towards the door. They didn't really resist.
Once outside, the security guard sighed wearily, turning to walk back to the security.
They'll pretend they didn't see Lime's bandana lying on the medbay's floor under one of the hospital beds.
—
Brown, Green, and Purple never brought up what they had found out. It was a miracle the other six crewmates still had no idea what was going on between the ship's doctor and engineer, but maybe this was for the best.
Happiness thrives in silence, after all.