Chapter Text
The lack of available options in the ship was starting to get genuinely concerning. The entire thing was collapsing in on itself. It was being held together by some cheap tape they had found lying around, and whatever maintenance Lime had done previously to being brutally murdered in front of everyone.
They could use some help around The Skeld.
There were little rooms left in a decent enough state to make them livable. The reactor room seemed like it could blow up any moment if it got too unstable, electrical was a labyrinth of exposed cables and wet current, O2 was decently fine aside from all the stuff accumulated on the floor, the equipment in med bay was practically useless, not to mention the clinical beds were an insult to comfort, and to top everything off, the heating was busted and had left the entire ship deadly cold.
Purple had thought about gathering any essentials around the cafeteria so they could hopefully light up the oven to warm things up a bit. They brought to cafeteria the sleeping bags the oh-so-kindly MIRA had the courtesy to at least provide and placed them close to the kitchen and in front of the window.
There were other things already gathering around, but it’s not like they had much to their name in this flying tin can.
From the hallway to med bay, Red appeared carrying a few vaguely important items like all their pajamas, blankets, a spare sleeping bag, and, dear God, please have mercy, their other sets of crocs. Purple made a mental note to toss those down the garbage chute whenever possible.
Red set their stuff alongside the other sleeping bags.
“We should… probably close the door before the heat escapes,” mentioned Purple. Red unintentionally flinched back in embarrassment for having been stupid enough to forget about that.
“Right…”
When Red came back there was little left to do. The oven was already on and working; they had what they needed. Purple decided to sit down on the floor, and perhaps lay down for a bit, embracing the coldness of the floor. There wasn’t much to look at, unfortunately. The ceiling was nothing if boring, and the gentle creaking and shifting of the ship was but a soft lullaby.
Purple gently turned their head towards the window, the only source of beauty surrounding them in the vastness of space. Stars twinkled in the far distance, offering their comfort and company. They felt so static and radiant Purple couldn’t help but trace shapes within the stars. It was beautiful.
A sleeping bag shifted closer to them, and Red laid down too, a tiny bit closer than Purple had hoped for. They didn’t really mind; they could use the company.
No one said a word. It was probably for the better. After everything that had occurred, the last thing both of them wanted was to talk about that right now.
Purple felt somewhat guilty. They had spent the entire journey pointing fingers at Red, swearing they were the one behind the murders. They felt stupid now. Too stupid.
Both allowed the silence to engulf them for a bit, relishing in the peace found within it. Then Red broke the silence. “… I’m sorry.” Purple turned their head around to look at Red.
“What for?” The question hung in the air for a moment. They both knew the fault was theirs, but none of them had the strength to carry that burden.
Red shifted, lowering their gaze and occupying themselves by picking at the skin in their hands. “I guess…” there was a pause as Red let go of a breath they didn’t know they were holding, “I guess… I really ruined things this time ‘round too, didn’t I?” Shame and regret painted Red’s expression. Purple kept quiet and Red didn’t speak up again.
They kept their eyes on Red for a second before shifting them back to the ceiling. There wasn’t much sound to the ambient, or at least there wasn’t until a hushed sob began piercing through the silence. At first, it was quiet and Purple tried their best to ignore and pretend they couldn’t hear it, but it progressively got louder, and messier, and uglier, and at some point, it hurt more to try to ignore it than to acknowledge it.
Purple sighed and mentally prepared themselves before sitting up and once again turning to face Red. They began to bring their hand closer to Red, but then hesitated for a painful moment before giving in and gently running their fingers through Red’s hair. At first, Red stiffened at the gesture, but it didn’t last long before they broke out into crying again.
Anything Purple wanted to say stayed trapped deep within their throat, unable to escape. They swallowed up whatever kind, and soothing, or comforting words they were searching for. They wouldn’t come out right anyway; and Red, well Red didn’t have the words to string an apology.
Red’s incessant crying echoed all over cafeteria. Purple didn’t dare do anything except keep their eyes on the ceiling.
They pulled Red closer and placed Red’s head over their lap while still keeping their hand on Red’s hair. “I’m sorry…” Red whispered shakily between sobs before burying their face in Purple’s lap. A muffled “I’m so, so sorry,” came out.
Purple’s grip tightened ever so slightly as if in acknowledgement, or perhaps permission, for Red to keep going.
“I—I failed the crew. I got all of them murdered,” Red sniffed and moved their head enough for the words to not be muffled anymore, and with deep pain in their voice they continued, “Yellow is gone because of me. We all got into this mess because I just had to hand the ship over to White, and—and I’m… the worst captain ever…” Red resumed their ugly crying, once again attempting to silence them against Purple’s lap.
Purple tried to find something to say as they gently run their fingers through Red’s hair, untying any knots their fingers got tangled on. They opened their mouth to say something, but closed it back up, only to attempt to speak on a half whisper, “That’s not— I mean—” Purple sighed heavily before saying, “You’re… not… a bad captain, Red. You just really—”
“And I let you down again…” came out, barely audible. Red tried disappearing as they attempted to bury their face deeper into the other’s lap. Purple’s fingers stopped going through Red’s hair, and instead remained still. Red turned their head away from them, took Purple’s hand and brought it closer to their face.
Red had never apologized for what they’d done to Purple all those years ago. For all the pain, the misery, the endless sleepless nights Purple spent stuck at the bottom of a pit they had been thrown into. They never apologized for keeping their mouth shut and siding with MIRA, or for blacklisting Purple and leaving them hopelessly unemployed out there in the word. Red didn’t even apologize for giving Purple this security job purely out of pity.
Purple had spent so much time wishing Red would come to their senses and blurt out a mediocre half apology. Many times they thought they would have even beaten up Red into apologizing, just so they could feel a fraction of all the pain Purple had gone through.
Now, however, Purple wasn’t even sure if they wanted to hear that apology.
They stayed like that for a while. Neither of them willing to risk shattering what little they had left, but not brave enough to try to salvage it either.
After some time, the silence began slipping its way back into cafeteria. Red seemed calmer now, after having taken part of the problem out of their system. It was almost nice with the stars shinning in the distance, and the intermittent lights flickering every once in a while, and the company; not being alone.
They weren’t alone.