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It had been an awkward four days since Green had confessed to Purple. Since Green had officially declared them and Purple as mates. Since Red had their funeral in the cafeteria, before being laid with the rest of the bodies…
Green, originally, had suggested to just fling Red and the rest of the corpses out into the cold icy atmosphere of space — "It's silly to keep them around!" — that's what they claimed. Purple had argued against it. Maybe to Green crewmates were just brainless idiots, running around like chickens without heads, but to Purple?
These were people; people who once had lives and a bunch of stories to tell from them. Just ejecting them out into the endless abyss was hardly the fate any of them deserved. Besides, Purple didn't think they could handle it after what they saw with Yellow.
It didn't take much bargaining, surprisingly. All Purple had to offer up was burying all of them once they got back to Green's home planet. Green seemed a bit jealous that Purple cared about the others so much, but had agreed, and the subject had been near entirely dropped.
It hadn't been dropped completely… because sometimes it was hard for Purple to ignore the bodies piled up in the storage room and the stench that came with it. Green seemed to notice it getting on their nerves, because Purple had caught them on the cameras more than once scrubbing the place down despite having done it at least 5 times already, just trying to get the stench out so it wouldn't bother Purple anymore. It would've been endearing, had the whole situation that put them here in the first place not been so fucked up to begin with.
That's what Green was doing right now, actually. Purple was leaning back in their chair, staring blankly at the screens in front of them. The camera screens were still in that familiar black and white.
Oh, right. The cameras.
Purple still watched them from time to time. Sure, there wasn't anything to look out for anymore, considering the biggest physical threat to Purple on the ship was practically wrapped around their finger and also happened to know how to fix everything that could break on the ship, but it provided a sense of normalcy that they couldn't find in much else anymore. This whole new reality was taking a lot of getting used to.
Even if they knew anything they used to consider normal was rapidly fleeting from their grasp, leaving them drowning in a dark cold sea with a ball and chain wrapped tightly around their leg preventing them from getting air, something told them that they needed to keep trying.
Something deep inside of their gut.
They glanced at the captains hat on their head in the reflection of the security monitor. It was difficult to see given the cameras being on, but still visible if Purple focused enough.
Red told them they had to keep trying.
Maybe it was dumb. No, scratch that— it was dumb, To put their faith so heavily on their friend who they knew wasn't alive anymore. Who was never going to be alive again. Who in maybe about a weeks time was going to be buried beneath the soil of some weird dumb alien planet, But something told them, something so far deep down inside of them that you'd have to go spelunking through their insides just to find it, that Red was there believing in them. That they were still, somehow, on the ship, beyond just their corpse laying in the storage room.
It was silly, though. So they focused back in on the screen—
Green was gone. Panic briefly shot through Purples body. Had Green finally had enough of them? Had they finally decided it was their turn to die? Was if they were sabotaging the ship again and this had all been some elaborate ploy to torture them?
There was a knock on the security door. Purples breath hitched in their throat as they slowly turned their chair towards it. They didn't know why Green didn't use the vent. Could they really value Purples privacy that much?
The thought felt ridiculous. The fact that Purple was thinking it felt even more ridiculous.
"Purple? I just finished cleaning the storage room again! I hope it smells a bit better now, but woo, decomposition is a real tough smell to scrub out! You'd think that the entire ship being made of metal would make the whole thing easier since there isn't much for stuff to seep into! Can blood seep into metal..?"
Purple heard a thunk against the door, indicating that Green was leaning against it. A quick flicker through the camera confirmed that suspicion. They hadn't been bothering to hide the imposter mouth on their form as of late. Purple supposed it wasn't necessary, but it would've made things a little less scary.
Honestly, Purple was still partially convinced they were going to die.
"You know, I'm surprised people managed to find a metal light enough to build spaceships out of in the first place! I guess the idea of launching something made out of like… wood or glass or something like that would've been a bit silly, especially considering how cold it gets out here in space! Honestly impressive we managed space travel at all!"
This wasn't the first time that Green had talked at Purple rather than to Purple. Though it wasn't through any harmful intent. Purple just had a hard time focusing in on all of their rants about various subjects they had no right knowing so much about.
There had been a time, back when Purple thought everything was normal and that Green was actually a crewmate, when listening to them was easy Purple would say they were welcome, actually. The pair of them had spent a lot of time together away from the rest of the crew… Green had even snuck the pair of them wine once.
Purple was just so happy to have some kind of relief from everything going on, they had never even bothered to question where it came from.
Looking back, they had probably looted it off of White's corpse.
Drinking a dead persons alcohol.
Real classy.
"I'm happy that they invented spaceships, though! Because without them, we never would've met! That just would've been a tragedy… you mean the world to me, Purps! I can't imagine living a life without you, honestly! You're my soulmate without a doubt!"
Purple wanted to be sick. They wanted to be upset. They wanted to go out there and give Green a piece of their mind. But the worst part of all of this was that Purple couldn't even muster that piece of their mind anymore.
It was affection.
It was fucked up, but it was affection.
And fuck, they had always wanted to be loved. They just hadn't expected it to come so… violently. They were still just so indifferent about this entire situation.
"Speaking of soulmates, there's something I wanted to talk to you about? Something important. Could you open the door please?"
That tone caught Purple off guard. It seemed too worried for the character they were starting to get to know Green as. Too worried, and dare Purple say, too insecure? Maybe they were losing their mind quicker than they thought. Because the idea of this alien being nervous and insecure of all things just felt silly.
They flicked off the cameras, but stayed in their chair for a moment. They had to practically force themselves up to walk over to the door. It wasn't locked, so opening just involved a simple button press. Really, Green could've just forced their way in if they really wanted to. The basic respect would never cease to amaze Purple, all things considered.
Green didn't think to stop leaning against the door before it opened though, causing them to fall backwards. They would've hit the floor, had Purple not immediately darted to the side to be able to catch them.
They… weren't sure why they did that.
Green smiled up at them, though. And it was hard to ignore the heat that flushed in Purples cheeks the longer they stared at it. They helped Green stand up right again, and as they did, they noticed something in the aliens pocket— something shiny?
There wasn't much that Purple couldn't think of off the top of their head that would cause Green to have something shiny in their pocket. Unless it was some sort of weapon. Purple shook their head, just— trying not to think about it. They wanted to ask, but Green stuck their hands in their pockets and started talking again before Purple could inquire about it at all.
"Ooookay, so imposters have a pretty interesting mating and courting culture! I mean, I'm sure you've realized that by now— but compared to ours, and I mean no offense but this, but crewmate courting is kinda lame!"
Crewmate courting? Purple never really thought they had anything that could be compared to courting… at least not in the way that animals did it? To be fair, most people didn't consider crewmates as animals; at least not in the way that a petmate was an animal. Though, Purple supposed to somebody used to actual courting, habits would be obvious.
"I mean, all the flowers and stuff, it just seems a little pointless. Imposters do gift giving too, but with stuff that's actually meaningful! Stuff that won't die out after a while - because lets be honest, most people don't take care of bouquets properly— and I guess our gifts don't die out because most of the time the presents are already dead, but anyway-"
"Already dead?"
Green blinked.
"Yeah, we tend to give our mates gifts of undead creatures, o-or skeletons sometimes?"
Things were starting to rapidly click in Purples head all at once. More things, anyway— they had already figured that all of the murder had partially been due to Greens violent nature and partially due to Green not wanting anybody else to get in their way, but…
"Green, did you kill everybody on the ship because you were trying to court me?"
Green stared for a while, processing the question that they were just asked. After a while, their cheeks flushed, and they rubbed the back of their head with an anxious smile.
"Guilty as charged..?"
That didn't help the guilt that Purple was already feeling about the entire situation. So it had been an offering to them, in a sense? Sure, maybe Green would've done it anyway, given the fact they WERE an alien, and aliens of course liked to kill…
But Purple couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if they had just never been on the ship in the first place. If they had just decided not to take the job when Red offered it to them all that time ago. It was what they were originally planning to do, but they had been left without a choice given their financial situation. Would struggling to pay rent have been better than this..?
Certainly wouldn't have given them the same amount of horribly gorey nightmares that this voyage had.
"…You could've just asked."
It came out as a croak from Purples throat. They sounded weak, even to their own ears. They could only imagine how it sounded to Green. The imposter even frowned at them. Purple hated that. They didn't want their pity.
"I could've, and I'm sure you would've preferred it, but there's not as much fun in that unfortunately."
Green stared at the floor for a moment. Purple looked away. It seemed time and time again that Green reminded them just how selfish they really were. They operated for their own gain, and apparently Purples. God, this whole situation was still just so horrid to them, and some of the comments that Green made didn't make it any easier to pretend that they weren't an alien imposter who had killed everybody that Purple knew and loved.
"But! Back to the point I was trying to make!"
Purple looked back over as Green got all cheery again. Right, they had almost forgotten Green came in here to talk to them about something.
"Like I said, we have a pretty big mating and courting culture! It's also… pretty important to us! I mean, a good chunk of our whole goal as a species is to take over, and besides from just using crewmates, repopulating ourselves is a pretty good way to do it!"
Purple really really wished Green would stop reminding them that they weren't actually a crewmate.
"But occasionally other imposters tend to get a little… handsy with other peoples mates! It usually leads to some pretty nasty fights- occasionally death! That's something I'm really trying to avoid. For myself, anyway. Because I have you, and I couldn't be happier with my life at the moment!"
Purple wished they could say the same. Their crossed their arms over their chest. It really felt like Green was dragging this. Honestly, they very well might have been. Purple wasn't going to call them out on it though, because despite everything it was kind of,
Cute?
No, that- That was stupid. Purple shouldn't be thinking like that, for fucks sake this was a murderer!
"But, anyway. We've come up with a way to sort of contradict this! To stake our claim on our mates, so to speak! That way people don't try to hit on someone who is already taken, and to avoid this unnecessary and possibly population effecting violence! That uhm… that being marks!"
That seemed to be the thing that Green was so nervous about saying, given the way that they immediately looked towards the ground and started fidgeting with their fingers. Marks? What the fuck was this, some kind of Gacha Life Mini Movie?
…
Purple was going to choose not to acknowledge that thought. But they were certainly feeling like the Beta in the All Alpha School at the moment.
"Marks?"
Green looked back up at Purple.
"Yes- Yes, marks. We uhm, leave them on obvious places on our partners body t-to show that— that they're not open for a mate. It's normally symbols that represent something about us."
They were still fidgeting with their fingers as they spoke. Purple… supposed that made enough sense. From what Green had told them prior, imposter mating culture seemed like one hell of a thing. 'Staking claims', as Green had put it, didn't seem like the oddest thing.
"How does it work?"
The imposter honestly seemed relieved that Purple hadn't immediately gotten weirded out about the whole thing. Purple, really, had just seen and heard too much at this point to care.
"Well, we use our claws or the end of our tentacles to leave a scar. Some people use their tongue, since those are also pretty sharp, but honestly I just think that's really gross and I don't want to cover anyone, let alone you, in my slobber; I respect you too much for that! So I'm probably just gonna use my claw."
Oh, so this was permanent. Purple was partially under the impression that this would be some sort of tattoo they could just laser off if they ever really wanted. If they could ever even get out of here. But a scar was… something else. That was something that you couldn't get rid of with some cash and a laser.
There was no going back from this, if Purple agreed. It would really solidify the fact that Purple was theirs. Green had argued time and time again that Purple wasn't property, but it was hard to think like that sometimes. Especially with Green trying to put a mark on them right now. Maybe it was offensive, considering it was a cultural thing, but Purple just— didn't know how to feel about it.
Was this even what they wanted? I mean, not that there was any getting out of this if they wanted to, but Green had oddly been giving them a lot of choice here. A lot of choice in their whole 'relationship' really.
They liked Green. They didn't want to admit it to themselves, but no matter how hard they tried to deny it, they knew it was true. Being their mate… hadn't even been that bad so far? Ignoring all the blood and gore that was required to get to this point, it had honestly been kind of sweet?
They were weirdly domesticated. They cooked and they cleaned and generally took care of Purple while they were currently in their depressed slump. They made sure that Purple had everything that they needed to survive and everything they needed to felt taken care of while they were too mentally fucked over to do it themselves.
That was something that Purple never had before. Even when Red was alive and even when they were interns together, they didn't have a relationship like that. Because they were just friends. Close friends, but just friends. Green.. went so above and beyond anything that Purple ever could've expected. They couldn't help but swoon, because Green cared. That was the hardest part about the whole situation.
They were disappointed in themselves. Their mind was screeching at them to try and get out, but their heart was aching for the touch of this alien that had ruined their life and the lives of so many others. They were disappointed in themselves. But worse of all?
It felt like disappointing Red.
I mean, how could it not? With how convinced that Purple was that Red was still with them somehow, they were convinced that they were still watching the situation unfold on top of it. And God, Purple could only imagine what words they would have if they found out that Purple wasn't just going along with this because they wanted to survive.
Purple took a breath, having held silence for far too long.
"Where would it be?"
"Well, I was thinking on your cheek. Riiight under your visor, here!"
Green took a step closer, cupping Purples cheek and rubbing their thumb over the area. It really was right on their cheek. In a place that would be incredibly obvious. Everybody would be able to see it; there really was no hiding.
Purple leaned into their touch subconsciously, and Green smiled.
"It might hurt a little bit," Green continued, "But not for very long. And I know how to take care of injuries pretty well! I was a doctor on the last ship I was on; it's paying off pretty well now!"
Their tone was still just so cheery— The security guard really didn't want to think about the fact that Green had done this before. Just how many identities had this imposter gone through? And through all of them, how had Purple been the first crewmate that they had actually gotten attached to?
Or… maybe Purple wasn't the first.
Imposters tended to come in groups of 2 or more, from what Purple had studied from what had happened on the ship. Maybe Green had gotten attached to a crewmate before. And maybe another imposter had seen and didn't like it. And maybe that crewmate hadn't walked out alive—
Fuck, they were writing fanfiction about their mate in their own head now! They really needed to get a grip.
They had one last question, though.
"And… just to be clear, this isn't like, you proposing or anything?"
That seemed to alarm Green, as they immediately took a step back and started waving their hands in front of them. Purple was almost disappointed at the sudden loss of contact. They tried to push that feeling down.
"No- no no no no no! It's waaaaaaay to early in this matespritship to consider getting married yet! I'm obsessive, but I'm not delusional! Plus, we have a totally different ritual for proposing. This is sort of like…"
They looked down in thought for a moment, hand cupping their chin. Then, they snapped, pointing at Purple.
"Like how some crewmates will wear a fake ring to the gym so people don't hit on them! I think that's a thing people do? Anyway— it's just a show that you're taken to make other people back off, really. It's- It's also not required, if you don't want it right now.."
Green seemed to have caught on to Purples hesitance. Purple didn't know why that made them feel so bad, but there was a weight of guilt suddenly in their chest. A larger one than usual, anyway.
"No, I—"
Their mouth ran before they could think about it much more.
"I want this— I do, I really do, I'm just.."
They left the word scared unsaid. They didn't think that it needed to be. And based off of the look in Greens visor, they were correct. The imposter frowned, going back over and pulling Purple into a hug. The security guard buried their head into them without much thought.
"Purps, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to. I understand that this whole situation is… a lot to handle. I think I'd be feeling the same if I was in your shoes! Regardless of if you want me to mark you or not, I love you, and I really do appreciate you. The fact that you chose to stick with me after everything I've done means the world to me. You are my world. To me, you're more important than anything else I could need to survive. You're more important that oxygen and water. You're even more important to me than killing is! You're everything to me… I just want you to know that. This is my way of expressing it. But I understand it's not my choice."
Purple was probably turning red at this point. Those words— fuck, they were getting to their head. Because Purple could tell that Green meant them. Sure, their entire species were professional actors, but after being around them for so long, Purple had begun to be able to tell the difference between their acting and their truth thoughts.
Green was being genuine. And fuck if that didn't mess with Purples head.
"…I'm being serious," Purple poked their head up again. "I want this. I… want your mark."
They didn't know why they were agreeing. Green had just told them that they didn't need to! They were just digging themselves deeper and deeper into this hole, and soon enough they weren't going to be able to climb out and FUCK WOULD GREEN STOP STARING AT THEM LIKE THAT!
The imposter seemed so happy to hear that, they looked so happy to hear that, and it was tugging on Purples heart strings in a way they just hated—
Green released from the hug, but kept an arm around Purples neck to steady them. They unsheathed the claws on their fingertips.
"You might want to stay still for this, then."
Oh, they were just going right in.
Purple couldn't have ran, even if they wanted to. Not only did Green have a steady hold on them, they just- froze in place as Green's claws started getting closer.
The cut stung, and it caused Purple to suck in air through their teeth. It wasn't that bad of a pain, but it was still noticeable. They felt the blood start to trickle down their cheek, but Green seemed to pay it no mind at the moment. Their hand worked skillfully and carefully. They weren't cutting for long, but to Purple it felt like an eternity.
Once they were done, they used the sleeve of their hoodie to wipe the blood from Purples cheek. They stared at the mark they left, before they smiled and turned Purple towards the disabled monitors to stare at their reflection.
It was… a worm?
Purple didn't know why that surprised them as much as it did. They weren't expecting Green to still be so committed to the bit of being like their host. Was it sheer dedication to pretending to be what they weren't, or was it a genuine interest that they developed because of their host memories?
Purple wasn't sure if they wanted to question it much.
They placed their hand over their cheek, blinking as they processed the new mark that they wore. The mark of an imposter. There really was no going back from this now. They were Greens. Nothing what going to change that. Not if the imposter had anything to say about it.
So damn it, why did Purple not hate staring at it? Why did they feel a sense of pride knowing that they were actually Greens mate now? That it was official? That they were Greens and Greens was theirs? They should hate this, shouldn't they?
They looked back to Green.
"I… like it."
They offered a smile. Because it was the truth. They did like it. They just didn't know… how they felt about the fact that they did. They were starting to come to terms with the fact that they were going to have to become okay with the fact that they would never feel okay again. Because everything was a mess.
And there's no escaping a collapsing building when it's already fallen on top of you.
Green gave a wide smile, bouncing on their heels.
"Oh wowie-wow, I'm so glad to hear that! I was a little worried that you wouldn't… I tried my best to keep my hand steady, so I hope it's not too messy— anyway, it's your turn!"
Purple cocked a brow. Their turn? It wasn't the fact that Green wanted them to do it back. If anything they were kind of expecting that. But it was the fact that they figured they had a way to do it back. Purple didn't have claws or tentacles or a tongue like the imposters did. Honestly, they kind of paled in comparison.
They crossed their arms, leaning back against the security monitors.
"And how do you expect me to do that, Green? I don't have claws like you do. Or a tentacle or the weird gross long and really sharp tongue… it's not that I don't want to," They weren't sure how much of that statement was or wasn't a lie. "I just don't think I have a way to?"
"I thought about that!"
Green reached back into their pocket, pulling out the shiny object that Purple had noticed before. It was a knife from the kitchen. Purple flinched back as they saw it, being partially convinced for a moment that Green was about to stab them. That was until they held the knife out for them to take.
Purple was hesitant, but they reached for it. They gripped the handle with shaking hands, staring at the blade they now held. They looked back up at Green after a good few seconds.
"How- How do you expect me to be able to cut you with this? I don't think it'll be clean at all, and I don't wanna make a mess of your body or anything like that—"
"Oh don't worry! I'm not expecting it to look the best or anything. I just want to have something that I know you left on me."
They held their arms out, seemingly just so accepting of what was about to be done to them. If this was anybody else, Purple probably would've been concerned for how eager they were to get hurt. But given the fact that this was an alien, Purple wasn't even sure if Green would be able to feel the pain. They supposed it made this easier, though.
Carefully, they crept towards Green.
A voice in the back of their mind was screaming at them to just stab Green in the gut. To try and slaughter them the same way that they had done to everybody else on the crew. To figure out a way to rip them limb from limb with this kitchen knife and pull their guts from their body and stand over them as they bled.
It would be what Green deserved. After everything that they had done, they didn't deserve to live. They didn't deserve to be happy. They didn't deserve to be so happy with Purple. Purple didn't deserve to be, in some fucked up way, happy with Green.
Despite their thoughts, they didn't.
Instead, they carefully went to Greens cheek. They steadied their hand and with as much precision as they could manage, carved a crude cartoon-like fish into Greens cheek. It just felt appropriate given what Green had put on them.
It hardly looked the best, but it was something.
There was no blood that trickled from the wound. There wasn't even any of that pink goo stuff. Well, that explains why carving symbols into yourself was a common practice for them. There wasn't any cleanup.
Purple backed away, and Green immediately pushed past them to go stare in the reflection. They stomped their feet in a stim and squealed, before immediately running back to Purple and pulling them into a hug.
"THANK YOU! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Oh, you love me! You really really love me! Oh gosh baby, you're my world! All I can think about is you and making you happy! You're alllll that matters to me, you're all that ever WILL matter to me! I love you so much baby!"
Were they purring?
Purple wrapped their arms around them as well. They were purring.
"Yeah, I…"
…
"I love you too, hun."