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“Ow! God….damnit.” Lime hissed at the vent wall.
During one of their regular scuffles through the vents, he failed to notice a rupture in the side wall.
The tight area being so dark….well you can’t really blame them for not seeing it.
His hand came up to grab his left shoulder, blood flowing down his arm steadily. A whimper left their throat as they pulled off their bandana and wrapped it around the cut.
It felt deep.
“No way I’m seein’ that doctor.” Lime muttered as they pulled themself to their little cubby in the vents.
The disgruntled crewmate settled down in the corner and uncovered their wound. Their shirt sleeve was effectively ripped apart, but they paid no mind to it.
His skin itched and burned around the opening.
A sigh left them as they used their bandana to mop up as much blood as he could before grabbing the holy water bottle and dousing it thoroughly.
A small puddle formed on the vent flooring, tinted with red. Lime leaned their head back against the wall and closed their eyes.
'This sucks.’ His hand came up to card through his unkempt hair. Even without a mirror they could tell it was sticking out every which way now that their hair accessory wasn't keeping it in place.
Lime sat there for a while before letting out a frustrated yell and tossing themself around like a toddler. Thuds echoed through the vents.
He had no choice but to go to Blue. They didn't want an infection to kill them.
And so, forlornly he re-wrapped his arm and began his crawl to medbay. Their mutters filled the vents, probably scaring anyone who they passed under.
“Stupid fuckin’ vent. I swear to god. If I have to get poked by that doctor I’m killing everyone.” He whined to no one in particular.
Lime eventually ended up at the vent grate in medbay, but as he was peeking out, their stubborn side took over. He squinted at Blue’s turned back and shook his head before sinking back under the grate.
“Nah.”
Lime decided he would deal with their injury on their own. He was not subject to government healthcare propaganda.
“Especially when it's provided by a ‘hot’ doctor. Bah, what a flick.” He rused.
Lime was halfway to their next turn in the vents when they heard someone's voice behind them.
“And now it’s time to look a gremlin right in the eye!!”
“WHAT?!” Lime froze and immediately scrambled to turn around and move back to the voice, “DON’T DO IT, YOU’LL FALL IN LOVE.”
Blue smiled as they looked down at the bright green crewmate waving their hands and scrabbling through the vent.
“Aha! You seem to have scared it away,” Blue reached down and quickly grabbed Lime’s hands, “Thank you, for saving me, Lime~”
Lime’s eyebrows furrowed at the sultry tone the doctor took on before shaking their head, “Okay, cool. Peace and love big guy.”
The messier of the men pulled their hands away in slight disgust and promptly shoved themself back down into the ventilation.
“Ah! W-Wait, Lime!” Blue called out, lowering onto their knees next to the opening in the floor. His hands lifted the grate and peered into the darkness.
“Lime, I saw your bandana. Are you okay? It looked all bloodied up…” The doctor’s visor shifted into concern.
“Bahhh…..Fuck. I’m fine, just a small scratch.” Lime’s gruff voice echoed up to Blue.
“A small scratch doesn't bleed that much. And you work in the vents with dust and countless other types of bacteria. You could get sick from an infection. Please, just come back and let me help you.”
While he spoke, Blue shuffled to sit crisscrossed next to the vent, their fingers tapping rhythmically on the floor.
A few slow and agonizing minutes passed before Blue made out the sounds of movement. Lime popped their head up and turned to the right to look up at the doctor.
“No shady injections, no scanning my brain, no weird medications. Just clean it and stitch it up. Got it?” Lime’s visor sharpened on the edges as he glowered at Blue.
“Wonderful! The only chemical I’ll use is alcohol for sterilization and lidocaine for numbing, okay?”
“Bah. Swoon, swoon, swoon.” Lime grumbled as they pulled themself out of the vent.
Blue clapped his hands and giddly hurried over to his desk.
Being the only doctor aboad the Skeld gave them plenty of opportunities to get to know theirs crewmates inside and out. He knew the personalities of each individual, and he cherished every moment he had with all of them.
But Lime was a different case. He was always confined to the vents, only popping up to eat every once in a while. The short crewmate spent their days indulging in medical grade marijuana, repairing the Skeld, and holing up to study their superstitions and conspiracies.
Blue was never able to crack Lime’s dusty and holy water infused shell. Was that telling of something? Probably.
It hurt Blue in ways he didn't think would hurt him. Not being loved by someone. Some would call them a nepo baby - born into a wealthy family that had the money to send them to medical school, they were set up for success and fame.
That paired with their natural charisma and objectively handsome appearance made it quite easy to win over the hearts of anyone around. Except for the crew’s favorite nutjob engineer, Lime.
Blue sighed quietly as he pulled off his gloves, the fabric of the fingers were lightly coated with dust and some black powdery substance from holding Lime’s hands earlier.
They also smelled faintly of weed and charcoal.
Blue glanced behind them to see Lime carefully inspecting the medbay scanner like a wild animal investigating a hunter’s trap.
A smile formed under their visor as they set the gloves aside and grabbed a new pair. their attention turned to finding the supplies needed for Lime’s injury.
After a few moments of rummaging, Lime sat on a cot with Blue reaching to unwrap theirs bicep.
“Oh wow. How did this happen?” Blue frowned at the wound, it was starting to scab around the edges, but it was too deep and wide to be scabbed fully. The blood inside and trickling outside had started to dry on their skin, and clot in the cut.
“Uh, vent accident.” Lime looked off to the side, visually uncomfortable with the physical contact.
“I see. I’ll have this disinfected and stitched as quickly as I can.” Blue nodded to themself. Lime grunted in response.
The alcohol burned, but it was bearable. The real problem was the stitching.
“I-I dunno, man. That's…Like, that's gonna be going in my skin.”
Blue rubbed their forehead, “Yes. But it won't be as bad as you're thinking.”
Lime shuddered from their spot in the corner. He saw the curved needle that Blue brought out and flipped. Scurrying to the vent didn't work because Blue had covered it with a table.
The medbay doors were closed for doctor patient confidentiality.
So now Blue was trying to coax the crewmate back onto the cot from their spot, compressed in the corner. It wasn't going well.
“Please, Lime,” Blue crouched down and offered a hand, “I’ll be gentle, I won’t hurt you.”
“I just...” Lime looked down at their ratty shoes. Their arm burned and the air stung it as he moved.
“You're scared of needles, I know. It’s also totally okay!” Blue inched closer, “You don't have to watch, and if you’re really stressed I can play music on some headphones and you can cover your eyes.”
Lime flinched as Blue’s hand came down to pat their lower leg. He hadn't realized how close Blue had gotten.
“Okay. Fine,” Lime huffed, “But numb me real good. I don't like the idea of feeling the needle.”
“Of course.” Blue nodded happily and reached their free hand out to Lime again, who finally took it.
The doctor hoisted Lime up with one arm, and guided them back to the cot. Lime’s hand hovered over theirs injury as he watched Blue look for the extra supplies.
Blue was faithful to his promises, and soon he was dimming the room lights and plugging in a lamp to position over their workspace - Lime’s arm.
Lime had a blindfold hanging around their neck, and headphones on with one ear off.
“I only have a few albums downloaded from my favorite artists. Just pick whatever appeals to you.” Blue blushed a little out of embarrassment as they handed their phone to Lime.
“You listen to them too?” Lime looked up from the phone and pointed at a specific artist.
“They're like, my favorite!” Blue smiled as he prepped a lidocaine injection.
“What's your favorite song from them?” Lime pressed a song and it started playing on the headphones.
“Probably City Walls. My sibling loved that song.”
Lime hummed in approval, “They had good taste.”
Blue pulled the lamp over closer to Lime as they uncapped the needle.
“You have thick skin, so this is just gonna feel like a pinch. I’ll inject a specific amount to start, then I’ll poke you lightly with a pen and just tell me if you feel any pressure.”
Lime nodded and pulled their headphones over both ears properly. Their eyes followed the needle nervously as Blue pressed it under their cut.
The taller of the two noticed and reached up with his free hand to turn Lime’s face away.
A second later, Blue reached over to their stand for a pen, and tapped the end around Lime’s bicep.
“Feel anything?” They asked, voice raised to be heard through the music. Lime shook his head, and Blue set the pen down.
The blindfold was pulled up over Lime’s eyes and Blue got to work.
A few times Lime shifted from the uncomfortable pressure, and every time Blue rubbed their thumb gently in circles on the area of Lime’s arm that had feeling.
It seemed to work pretty effectively, and the two repeated the routine until Blue stepped back and grabbed a tissue to dab at the little fluids that escaped the sewn gash.
It wasn't until now that Blue noticed just how toned Lime was. His bicep was firm and when he moved it, muscles flexed strongly under their skin.
A little heat crept up the back of their neck and they wiped their forehead. When did he start sweating?
“Well, looks like you're done.” Blue moved the blindfold off to find Lime on the verge of sleep. Their eyes were closed calmly, but opened when Blue pulled the headphones down off their ears.
“Good morning, sunshine!” Blue tilted their head in amusement as Lime glared at them.
The ending chorus of “My Blood” played through the air.
“Shut up. You're done already?”
“Well, it took around 30 minutes because someone wouldn't sit still.” Blue teased.
“Tch,” Lime looked away, “Thanks.”
“Of course! I’m happy to help. Now, depending on how fast your body wants to heal, I can remove the stitches in a week.”
“I have to come back?” Lime looked like he wanted to die.
Blue laughed, “Yes, these aren't dissolvable.”
Lime sighed and looked at his cleaned up arm. A pang of gratitude flashed through their heart.
“Would you like to rest here?” Blue gestured to the cot Lime sat on, “I noticed you seem pretty tired.”
Lime looked down, they considered the idea before shaking their head and standing up.
“I have work to do. Orange yelled at me to fix the lights in the reactor room.”
Blue frowned, he was hoping to keep Lime a while longer. Guess not.
“Alright well…Stay safe, and make sure you're consuming enough water and protein to keep that healing steady.”
“Yeah. Thanks Doc.” Lime patted Blue on the shoulder before stepping out of medbay. He didn't feel like using the vents.
Blue leaned back in their office chair and tugged on their coat collar, his body felt unnecessarily hot.
'Jesus,' He thought before cleaning up, 'I completely forgot to have them take their scan.'