Chapter Text
Lime is our most unambiguous crewmate.
At least that's what Orange, the Human Resources said.
Yep, since Lime was a mini crewmate, they always seen as different. In kindergarten, their favorite activity was building a makeshift house with pillows from the nap room and hiding inside them. At home, they did everything in small spaces. They had this secret room in their bedroom. It was very small, so they had to squeeze inside, but they didn't mind. They preferred to sleep there instead of their comfy, soft bed.
In high school, Lime entered a special class of basic engineering for them who wanted to become engineers. Lime always had a passion for engineering, but they're also have an interest in studying religions and philosophy.
Another thing for their personality trait, they are very stubborn. At 19, they had appendicitis but didn't want to go to the hospital until it bursted and they had to go through an emergency surgery. But a day after the surgery, they escaped from the hospital. They paid the hospital bills, though. They put the money under the blanket and ran away. Such a stubborn one.
Since then, Lime has never visited the doctor again.
~♡~
Life aboard the Skeld had become painfully ordinary. Imagine this; you're waking up just to do your tasks, and then you eat and go back to bed. The next day is the same. You wake up, task, bed. Wake up, task, bed.
Green is trying to swipe their card, but they keep messing up.
"Ugh! Come-on!"
Bad read. Too fast. Too slow.
"Owie." Green frowns. "It's so difficult!"
"Oh, Green, you little baby crewmate." Red comes and takes their card. "Lemme show ya."
Too fast. Bad read. Too slow.
"Ah, i was just... showing you the wrong example! They said that failure is the key to success!" Red wraps their arm (hand?) Around Green's body. "No biggie, 'lil one. Keep failing, and you'll make a great captain, like me! I—"
The lights flicker for a second.
"Uh, oh, doesn't seem right..." Red opens their handbook. "Flickering light... err, eh... Lime, can you take a look at that?" Red calls out to Lime, who might or might not be in the admin vent by now.
Lime wakes up. "Ugh, these damn gremlins must be messin' with the lights again!" They say groggily because they just woke up from a not-so-peaceful sleep. They had a nightmare about being hospitalized inside an alien hospital.
Lime opens the vent into the electrical room.
"Ugh, the wires again!" They grab their wrench and turn around. "Face me gremlins! I ain't scared of yer ol' faces!"
... quiet.
Nothing.
But suddenly, the lights flicker again, making Lime flinch and accidentally slammed the wrench into his left wrist.
"Oww! Agh! Urghhh!"
They clutch their left wrist tightly. It swells up almost instantly.
"Dang ya ol' monsters! Oof!" They wince again but ignore it and get back to their task. With only their dominant hand, they managed to fix the wires. Yep, their engineering skills are amazing.
Lime gets back inside the vent. They don't talk much. Instead, they wince as they squeeze their body back inside the vent. They try to crawl, but it's hard with only a hand. They are getting really slow at crawling, and they eventually stop.
"God, please help me." They sit straight, clutching their wrist. "Please help me heal my hand right away." They pray, and then they continue praying with an unintelligible language.
"Feezekiqwe... Brashgung... Vana. Ya, ya Rabbopi."
~♡~
The next day...
"So, how is it, doc?"
Purple is sitting on one of the Medbay beds, rubbing their temple.
Near the bed, Blue, the ship's doctor is reading Purple's medical check-up result.
"Hm, seems like you're drinking too much caffeine, Purple. That could be the problem to your upset stomach and lingering headache." They say.
"Oh, i can't help it. Cameras don't record. They're in black and white... and i feel like i should keep watching all night!" Purple says, but then they quickly rub their head again. "Ugh, ow."
Blue places a supporting hand on Purple's shoulder.
"Purple, i know you're trying your best to keep the crew safe, and that's so admirable. But your health is as precious as your skill because if you're sick, who will keep the crew safe from the oh-so dangerous space?"
Purple turns red and mumbles with a smile. "Swoon..." they shake their head right away. "I mean, i will try to rest and take the medication, doctor. And... i will drink less coffee."
Blue nods in response. "That's very good, Purple. I appreciate that you're willing to try to reduce the amount of caffeine you're consuming."
Purple takes the pill, but before they leave, Blue calls.
"Wait, have you seen Lime? They have been avoiding medical check-ups since the first day, and I'm getting concerned."
"Lime?" Purple asks. "Oh, easy. They must be in the vents because last time i checked, they weren't in reactor."
"Thank you, Purple." Blue nods politely.
"Ya too." Purple walks away. Blue ponders to themself about why Lime always avoid the checkups, even just a simple scan or vitals check. Part of them wonder if Lime secretly hates them.
They have an idea. They open the vent and shout:
"Ooh! A gremlin is attacking me, oh, no!"
Lime quickly pops out and swings their wrench. "Stay back! We need holy water!"
Blue laughs heartily. "Oh, you scared it away. Thanks, Lime."
"Yeah, whatever." Lime looks away. "Peace 'n love, big dog."
"Wait."
Lime looks back up at Blue.
"Since you're here, why don't you take your scan?" Blue asks, pointing at the scanner.
"Nah way I'm scannin'! Ya doctors will steal my DNA and take my organs!"
"Wait, no! We will never do that!"
"Yea, whateva. I know what ya hidin' there, docs."
Blue places their hand on their own chest. "Lime, i get it. It's misfortune that some medical professionals don't always follow protocols. And for that, i apologize, Lime." Blue pauses, then starts moving at every angle possible dramatically. "But i can assure you, in this world where trust is a difficult thing to hold on, sometimes we need them to carry on with our lives. Just this once... do you... trust me?"
Blue takes Lime's left hand, and they groan instantly.
"Ouch! Ah! Stop that!"
"Oh, my bad!" Blue quickly pulls their hand away. "Are you hurt, Lime. Can i see?"
"Nah, no see, no peekin'! See ya on the other side!"
Lime closes the vent and crawls away. Blue can hear the grunts and winces as Lime crawls, and they start to feel really worried.
~♡~
Meanwhile, Purple finally takes time to relax in the O2 with their fishmate, Heracles. They sit there, humming 'happy birthday' while eating a slice of pizza from the cafeteria. That's when Lime fell out of the vent.
"Ah!" They grunt.
"Whoa, Lime?" Purple quickly looks at them. "You okay?"
They quickly notice Lime's left wrist.
"What's wrong with your wrist?"
Lime shrugs. "Nothin' just sprained it. Accidentally hit it with ma wrench."
Purple's brows furrowed beneath their visor. "Lime, I'm no doctor, but I've sprained my hand before, and it didn't look as bad as yours..."
Purple's right. Lime's wrist is swelling and bruising really bad. It's hot to touch, but no big deformation.
"Say, Lime. Is your wrist tingling right now? Like pins and needles?" Purple asks, their tone concerned.
Lime thinks for a moment. "Yeah, kinda. Bet it's the gremlins messin' around with ma bone."
Purple looks even more concerned. "Lime, you should really see Doctor Blue. It could be broken."
"Broken?" Lime snorts. "And nah way I'm visitin' da doctor."
"Lime, this is serious." Purple says, their tone show urgency. "Red had broken their bone when we were interns, and they had to undergo surgery. They also felt pins and needles, but they refused to go to the hospital at first, so it got worse after a week."
Lime snorts again. "Nah, this is just a sprain. Peace and love."
They enter the vent again. Purple sighs, knowing that Lime is very stubborn. Maybe even more stubborn than Red, if they have to be honest.
Lime gets back to the reactor, trying to do more maintenance. But, their wrist keep throbbing, and they start to feel nauseous from the constant pain.
"Nah... can't be. Can't be that bad."
They pray again, but it seems like prayer doesn't instantly fix everything. Another sharp pain shoots through their wrist, and they decide to sit down, leaning against the wall.
"S-shoot... urrghh.."
Red walks inside the reactor with Green. "And this is your last task, Simon Says! I—Oh, hi Lime! Whatcha doin'?"
Lime doesn't answer. Their body is shaking because of the pain.
"Lime, are you cold?" Green asks.
"Nah, it's 90 F in here." Red says. "Lime, are you..."
Red realizes their wrist is getting bigger.
"Whoa, Lime! Did you break your wrist?"
Lime quickly shakes their head. "N-no... not... broken."
"Hm," Red secretly takes their handbook. "B, b, broken bone... Broken bone is a medical emergency that should be treated by a medical professional." They read. "Lime, i think you need to see—"
Lime is already out cold. They're not moving, and pretty sure their eyes are closed beneath the visor.
"Lime!"