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NOVEMBER 14TH, 2:44 PM, THE VENT SYSTEM
Lime’s pitter patter echoed through the vents, every shuffle from crawling through the inner mechanisms of the Skeld. A standard routine for the lone engineer. There probably should’ve been more than just Lime, but maybe only one was needed due to the size of the crew. Or one of Lime’s theories of MIRA cutting enough corners to make a circle which ended with a significant lack of resources. It would explain the poor quality of their security equipment, as Purple had mentioned many times in exasperation in passing. It would definitely explain the poor excuse of a captain they’ve all been cursed with dealing with. Lime had overheard the idiot letting White pilot the ship for a moment. They should consider themselves and everyone else on the ship lucky that didn’t cause some catastrophe to kill them all.
MIRA’s constant attempts to save as much money as possible also reflected in a lot of the equipment and gear used on the Skeld. The cameras were mentioned, but it didn’t stop there. Certain cooking appliances in the kitchen broke down more and more frequently, enough times for Lime to put a sticky note in the vents for the path that leads directly to the cafeteria for easy access. They also didn’t want to listen to Yellow calling out for them in the halls.
The reactor hasn’t been looking better, either. The wiring had been frayed by God knows how long. Lime can manage to fix it in time, but holy shit, how bad the technology was. They have the urge to just tear apart the reactor room right down to its core and upgrade everything. It would give them a hindrance on their tasks, but it would also give them practically nothing to do all day. It’s not like there’s anyone fun to talk to on this ship.
And the medical equipment! Lime doesn’t particularly care too much about that. Personally, they believe all medical equipment is bound to go on the fritz so big corporations have the ability to add whatever DNA stealing software and consent malware to their machines. It’s all a bunch of beeps and boops that roughly translates into “haha bozo. Ur organs are mine”.
Despite that, Lime does find themselves taking the time to repair anything broken when a certain cool coloured doctor humbly requests them to do so. Because apparently everyone else on the ship is stupid enough to trust these machines. But hey, who is Lime to judge?
“Lime!”
Lime grumbled under their breath, steering a hard right towards the labelled vent pathway. They climbed up and emerged into the cafeteria. “The hell’s broken now?” Lime questioned as they climbed out of the vent. “The toaster,” Brown answered. They stood off to the side while Yellow paced angrily in a circle. “I swear, we can’t have shit on this ship. Everything’s always on the verge of keeling over because the big bosses don’t bother taking the time to fix things we actually need to prosper!” They rambled, with Brown nodding in support.
“There’s one thing we can agree on,” Lime thought.
Lime entered the kitchen, crouching down to visor level with the toaster resting on the counter. Instead of being the standard, household toaster with the only action needed was to place some bread in a slot and push down a button, this toaster was different, more industrial and culinary purposeful. It had a wide opening at the top and bottom, with a spinning track that pushes any toasted items down to the bottom. The toaster was lined with heating elements, which allowed food to get cooked thoroughly in its trip in the toaster. Lime could see the track was no longer spinning like it should be, no doubt a fire risk.
Lime reached into their backpack to take out a handy dandy Phillips screwdriver. Most of the machines they’ve had to fix over the time they’ve been on the Skeld have usually been the same size of screws that all needed a Phillips screwdriver. Laziness on MIRA’s part, really.
Lime turned the toaster to a 45 degree angle. The problem practically revealed itself. One of the screws that connected the track to the interior of the toaster had gotten loose, causing the halt in movement. “There’s ya’ problem right there.” Lime said, getting the attention of the two cooks. “The screw’s loose. You gotta make sure everything’s together, otherwise the whole thing will fall apart.” Lime explained, reaching for a metal stick in their backpack. “Like a certain crewmate we know,” Yellow staged whispered to brown.
As Black once said; “If this visor was an eye, I would roll it.”
Lime ignored the two, their focus primarily on the issue. They have this stubbornness of always needing to fix things. Some could blame the irrational paranoia. The idea that once something has the ability to go wrong, it can go wrong very quickly, and very badly.
Horror stories Lime overheard of people suffering from terrible workplace accidents. A simple slip leading to a shattered visor that left someone blind. An innocent shove leading to shelves toppling over in a cruel domino effect that ended up fracturing a poor crewmate’s bone. Lime had personally vowed to keep everything in tip top shape through mechanical and even religious means, often blessing the reactor room and many facilities with their ever increasing collection of holy water.
Lime used the metal stick to push the track in place where the screw lined up, then took the screwdriver and carefully pressed it against the loose screw. With a bit of twisting and careful movements, the screw tightens into place, and the track in the toaster moves once again.
However, Lime seemed to be less careful when taking their hands out of the toaster, as the knuckles on their right hand brushed up against the track, delivering a painful burn that made Lime flinch. “Gah! Why you—” Lime grimaced as they yanked their hands out of the toaster, their other hand nursing the burnt knuckles. “Ouch! You good there, Lime?” Yellow asked, hovering near Lime. “That’s a bad burn,” Brown commented, most likely speaking from experience. Lime stepped away from the cooks, clutching their injured hand to their chest. “I’m fine! It’s just a burn! What, you think I haven’t dealt with worse from the reactor?!” They snapped, though their brow furrowed from the pain. “Whoa now!” Yellow said, putting their hands up in defense. “Calm down Lime, we know very well how painful burns can get.”
Yellow stepped closer. “Why not see Blue about it? I’m sure they can do somethin’ to treat that nasty thang!” Brown did a thumbs up in agreement. Lime grumbled under their breath. Right, the doctor. Their whole job was helping anyone injured in the crew. Normally, Lime would be able to tough it out with any mild injury they get on the job. But another glance at their knuckles tells them this burn may not be very mild.
NOVEMBER 14TH, 2:46 PM, MEDBAY
“Hm, looks like a second-degree burn, yes.”
Blue’s thumb gently grazed over Lime’s burnt knuckles. Lime had to look away, their other hand clenching into a fist at their side. “Ya’ mind not making it worse?!” Lime grit out. They tend to be far more aggressive with others when in pain. Blue blinked, slowly retracting their hand away. “My apologies, Lime. I should’ve been more cautious. A second-degree burn like this can cause almost immediate blisters upon a second or more of contact. It’s rather fortunate you only came out with your knuckles being burnt.” Lime grumbled, a vague sorry could be heard in their breath.
Blue turned around for something in their numerous medical cabinets, allowing Lime’s thoughts to return to themselves. Blue is a bit..bothersome, to Lime. Don’t get them wrong, out of everyone in this God forsaken crew, the doctor is the one they trust the most. It’s just that.. Blue makes Lime feel a certain way they can’t exactly describe.
Lime can see the effect Blue has on the rest of the crew. Batting their eyelashes or a well versed sentence causing everyone’s heart rates to spike and swoon over the doctor. To Lime, they’re most likely an agent of MIRA, some kind of attractive demon or monster sent out to lower everyone’s guard so they can swoop in for the kill. Everyone else already seems to be wrapped around Blue’s finger. But Lime wouldn’t be as easy to fool.
“Aha, there we go,” Blue said to themselves. They walked back over to Lime. “I’ll just apply some burn ointment and bandage you up. I’m sure you’d like to get back to work as soon as possible, no?” They asked with a raised brow. Blue took Lime’s injured hand once again, holding the ointment up. “Take a deep breath, this’ll sting.”
Lime’s face scrunched up as the ointment was applied. They stiffened, letting out sharp exhales through the pain. To distract themselves, Lime focused on the doctor’s patient and methodical work, watching them take two blue coloured band aids and wrap them carefully over Lime’s injured knuckles. “There we are, much better.” Blue said, letting go of Lime’s hand. Lime took a moment to look over their hand, flexing their fingers and turning it over. “Uh, Yeah, thanks doc.” Lime muttered, hopping off the medical bed. “Of course Lime, it’s better for everyone that you’re in good condition. You do have one of the most important jobs here on this ship,” said Blue, already moving to their desk. Lime reached the front of the vent in Medbay. They crouched down and opened it, ready to hop in, but something made them pause.
“Y’know,” Lime spoke up, causing Blue to look back from their desk. “You don’t gotta sell yourself short, big dog, what you do is pretty important too.” They said, their gruff and snappy voice uncharacteristically soft. Blue blinked at the compliment, letting it hang in the air. Maybe a bit too long.
“A-Anyway! I gotta, uh—” Lime sputtered, throwing the vent grate open. “I gotta do shit, uhm, stuff. Yeah! Yeah,” They shimmied their way into the vent. “Uh, love and peace! See ya!” Lime gave the doctor a small salute of goodbye, then shut the vent grate behind them.
NOVEMBER 14TH, 3:07 PM, THE VENT SYSTEM
Lime leaned their back against the wall, letting out a quiet sigh. This part of the vents was more spacious than any other part. They were sure it was used as some kind of hide out for gremlins to use for planning out their attacks. Don’t worry, Lime purified the entire space before claiming it as their own.
They have a sleeping quarters in the Skeld, as well as everyone else, but Lime prefers the vents. The solid, cold metal does more for their squishy bone than any soft mattress they’ve used. Sleeping in the vents does get them reprimanded by others that claim “there’s no way that’s comfortable”. It is, by the way.
Lime took the time to make the extra space as homey as possible. They have a blanket and pillow they took from their original room set up in one corner, a couple lit candles in another corner for soft lighting. A jug of water that has yet to be blessed into holy water in the third corner, and a bin of Lime’s sketchbooks and art pencils in the last corner.
Lime had really outdid themselves with the place. Slap some wallpaper on and you wouldn't even think this was a part of the ship’s ventilation system. Hell, Lime sometimes forgets they’re in the vents.
“Maybe you should be doing your job, right? You always tell me that.”
“Because you’re terrible at your job!”
Like right now.
Lime sighed with exasperation. They stretched their limbs, crawling inside the narrow passages of the vents once more.
Red and Purple’s argument echoed through the vents, seeming to get loud with every inch of movement Lime made. They were getting closer.
Not a day goes by without those two arguing about something. Lime’s curious to what the reason could be this time. Red pushing Purple’s buttons until they snap? Purple constantly reminding the captain how to do their damn job? Some secret third reason I’m too lazy to describe?
Whatever the case, Lime will find out soon enough.
They pop up into Navigation, startling Purple and Red to put their argument on hold. “What’s with all the blabbering? Some of us are trying to relax here!” Lime shouted. “Ah! Lime! Great, can you tell Purps that I am, in fact, good at my job as captain?” Red inquired, leaning down towards the vents with a pleading look in their visor. “Really? Well Lime, can you tell Red that reading straight from their stupid ‘captaining 101’ manual doesn’t mean they actually know what they’re doing?” Purple countered with their hands on their hips. “Psh, you’re acting like I rely on the manual whenever something comes up,” Red dismissed with a hand wave. “That’s exactly what I’m saying! Anytime there’s a problem, I see your visor in there looking for a solution to your problems!” Purple shouted.
“Am not! I can be capable, you know!”
“You’re literally reading out of it right now!”
Purple held an accusatory finger at the captain, who was currently slouching to not-so subtly read from the captain’s manual. “Nuh uh..” Red muttered. “You want to prove yourself as a captain?” Purple continued, approaching Red to snatch the manual out of their hands. “Wha–hey!” Red exclaimed, reaching for the book in a frantic manner. Purple pushed them away with their free hand. “Think with your brain for once!” They said, and proceeded to toss the manual in the direction of the vents. Lime barely had enough chance to squish against one side to avoid getting hit, allowing the manual to tumble down. “Purple! You can’t just do that! MIRA only sent one of those up here!” Red whined in annoyance. “Well, then you can start problem solving on your own, won’t you?” Purple argued back. Red sighed in exasperation. They turned to the engineer. “Lime, can you go get the captain’s manual, please?” They asked.
Lime grumbled under their breath, but ducked down into the vents. They could see the manual somewhere past the bottom, so Lime resorted to army crawling towards the fallen book. “Why’d I have ta’ get involved with whateva’ drama they got going on..” Lime muttered, spotting the manual open and page down on the vent floor. They reached out, albeit a bit too quickly. Lime winced and retracted their hand, spotting the fresh paper cut on the tip of their finger. “Great..” They gruffed out, reaching for the manual by the cover and closing it. If they could get a paper cut that easily, lord knows what the incompetent captain can be capable of.
NOVEMBER 14TH, 3:14 PM, MEDBAY
“Hey doc.”
Blue flinched at the voice, almost hitting their head on their desk. Take a moment to rest your eyes, and you’re suddenly hearing voices.
Blue turned in their seat, spotting a familiar engineer poking their head out from the vents. “Oh! Lime!” Blue exclaimed, rubbing their visor. “What can I do for you?” They asked.
Lime averted their gaze, mumbling under their breath. They held their pointer finger up wordlessly. Blue took that as a sign to get up and approach closer. Upon kneeling down to inspect Lime’s finger, Blue immediately spotted the fresh paper cut that already formed a drop of blood. “Ah, a paper cut. I see,” Blue said, standing up straighter. They walked back to their desk to grab a tissue and another blue coloured band aid. “It’s a good thing you came so quickly, Lime.” The doctor continued, making their way to kneel down before Lime, using the tissue to dab up the blood and wrap the band aid around the cut. “Paper cuts are some of the least concerning sorts of injuries, but they can worsen with infection from no treatment. And I can only imagine what kind of rust is lurking in the vents you venture around in daily.”
Lime could only grumble in response, taking their hand away once Blue finished patching them up. “Thanks..” They muttered, the only word that came out coherent, albeit very quietly. “What was that, Lime?” Blue asked, leaning closer. “I said thank you!” Lime snapped, shrinking back into the vent and slamming the grate after their departure.
NOVEMBER 14TH, 3:26 PM, CAFETERIA
The idle chatter of the crewmates around Lime gave a nice background noise for them to focus. They propped the pencil up against the paper, using their other hand to tilt the sketch pad towards themselves. Lime glanced up from their work every now and then to take in their reference; the nearest table sat Blue, Green and Purple all debating about something Lime wasn’t paying attention to.
Still lifes were just about the only thing Lime could draw well, their sketchbook was proof enough. So they had to challenge themselves, and what better challenge than drawing their fellow crewmates?
Lime’s gaze focused particularly on Blue, watching their hand come up to their face as they chuckled at something Green said. Lime glanced back at their sketchbook, erasing the previous sketch of Blue before redrawing their current form. Lime squinted in frustration, drawing a curve for the outline of Blue’s visor before immediately erasing to restart. The other two, they could capture their likeness perfectly, so what’s so difficult about the doctor?
“Oh Hi Lime!”
Orange’s cheerful greeting caused Lime to jolt in surprise, their hand slipping to produce a jagged line right across the entire art piece. Lime exhaled sharply in annoyance. “What?” They asked, not bothering to make eye contact — visor contact? “Ooh, did you draw that?” Orange asked, peering over Lime’s shoulder. “While it is spectacular, I must inform you that you aren’t exactly on MIRA mandated break time.” Lime’s visor widened, and they quickly scribbled over the work-in-progress before flipping the sketchpad closed. “Get off ma’ back! I’m done with all my tasks for today! I just got nuthin’ ta’ do!” Lime hollered, turning to properly face the HR rep. Orange tilted their head. “Oh? Is that so? Well…”
Before Lime could continue protesting, about four dozen papers stacked in a neat pile were dropped before them. “Good thing I caught’cha at a good time! MIRA needs all this paper work filled out about the condition of the ship and the different machinery used around here,” Orange explained with a smile in their visor. “I’ll need you to fill all these out by the end of the day, okay? Okay!” With that, Orange skipped off to mingle with other crewmates, leaving Lime with the pile of paperwork.
“Who do they think they are?” Lime muttered, picking up the first paper they saw, barely skimming the writing. “Turning in paperwork, do they think I’m that dumb? Think I’ll just hand over everything MIRA needs to access my information and sell it to the highest bidder on a silver platter?” Lime crumbled the paper and tossed it over their shoulder. “I know every trick in the book, every ploy, every attempt at a false sense of security. They can’t fool me with this!”
Lime stood up from their seat, preparing to scoop up all the paper to dispose of it, but as they moved to grab it, Lime felt a sharp pain in their hand, causing them to drop some of the papers on the floor. “Ow! Gah, what the—” Lime spat a curse, looking down at the table for the cause. There, they spotted their own drawing pencil hidden amongst — or is it among? — the papers. Lime glanced at their hand, noting the visible graphite surrounding the new tear in their skin, right on their thumb, too.
“Lime!”
Lime looked up, spotting the Skeld’s doctor already rushing toward them. “Are you alright? I overheard you cry out in pain.” Blue asked in a slight panicked tone, stopping to just barely be in Lime’s personal space.
Lime felt their face heat up. “I didn’t cry out,” they corrected. “Just got a little hurt, is all.” Blue stepped closer. “May I take a closer look?” They asked, holding their hand out expectedly. Lime glanced at the extended gesture before sighing, returning it with gruff acceptance. Blue focused on the new wound. “I see, I’m surprised you managed to cut yourself with a pencil of all things,” they whispered, almost with a tone of surprise. Lime grumbled. “I sharpened it too much, okay?” Blue reached into their back pack to take out a box of blue coloured band aids. “Fortunetely, I always make sure to remain prepared for any situation.”
They took out a band aid and carefully applied it over the fresh wound. “There we are, all better.” Blue said, a huff of satisfaction escaping. They dropped the box of band aids back into their back pack. “Thanks..” Lime muttered, avoiding the doctor’s gaze. “It’s no trouble at all, Lime.”
NOVEMBER 14TH, 4:44 PM, STORAGE
“Ugh, come on..” Black muttered, smacking the machine repeatedly for the fourth time now. “I don’t think you should be treating it so roughly if you want it to work,” Cyan suggested, a hand on Black’s shoulder. The geologist sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
A recent report sent from MIRA detailed the situation of faulty ORE+ pieces being mixed in with certain batches, leading to the chance of decreasing value that’ll affect other missions and crews. To avoid anything like that, Black and Cyan were instructed to bust out an emergency device already included in the Skeld. This device could supposedly scan each individual ORE+ piece and determine its value. Any bad pieces were to be separated from the good bits.
At least, that was the plan.
Because for some reason, the device decided to keel over right when it needed to be used. It’s unsure just how long it had been sitting here in storage, collecting dust, but it’s safe to assume it had been there for a while now.
“Maybe we don’t need to use the machine?” Cyan suggested, moving to grab one of the ORE+ pieces. “We can use a bunch of physical characteristics to figure out which ones are good or bad!” Black raised an eyebrow, moving away from the machine to step closer to Cyan. “Okay, doesn’t sound too bad.”
“According to the report,” Cyan began, casually tossing the piece in the air. “Dud ORE+ pieces are far more likely to break upon sudden impact, so…” Without warning, Cyan heaved back and threw the piece against the wall with all their might, much to Black’s surprise. “Oh damn,” they whispered.
Upon making contact with the wall, the piece shattered into small chunks that scattered around the floor. “See?” Cyan asked, turning their attention to Black. “A dud!” Black glanced at the remains of the ORE+ piece. “Yeah, I can see that.” They turned to look at the two large shipping containers full of the stuff. “So..how long do you think it would take for us to test every single ORE+ piece we have on the ship?”
Cyan followed Black’s gaze to the shipping containers. “Oh, well, probably not too long! That is, if we cut back on eating, sleeping and using the restroom.” They said, counting on their fingers. Black blinked silently. “Forget this, I’ll just get Lime to fix the thing.”
Black approached the vent in storage and knelt down to open the grate. “What’re those things Lime keeps talking about?” Black asked. Cyan rubbed their chin in thought. “Hmm, they talk about a lot of things. But I believe that mentioning ‘gremlins’ is what usually baits them.” Black nodded at the information, clearing their throat and leaning towards the open vent. “Uh, oh no! Is that a gremlin I see?” They said loudly, casting a confused glance to Cyan.
The two heard rapid scuttling, then Lime popped their head out of the vent. “Leave it to me! I have holy water, some hymns, where is it?” Lime demanded urgently, their head whipping around the area. “Uh, y’know, I actually think you might’ve scared it off, so thanks.” Black said. “But! Since you're here Lime, we’re actually having some trouble with our equipment. Would you mind taking a look?” Cyan asked, a pleading glimmer in their visor. “Oh. Yeah, fine. Don’t have much ta’ do, anyway, ta’ be honest.” Lime answered, shimmying out of the vent.
They led the engineer over to the device. “This thing’s been borderline useless since we booted it up.” Black explained. Lime hummed in thought, squinting at the device. They rotated the device around, spotting a screwed in panel. Lime reached into their back pack for a small screwdriver, moving to unscrew the panel.
Two double A batteries were resting on the other side of the panel, though Lime could smell something was off.
Literally.
Lime took the batteries out of the panel, sniffing them carefully. They recoiled in disgust. “Eugh, these must’ve been dead for a while. They smell fried!” The engineer exclaimed. “You can..smell how used up batteries are?” Black questioned with a tilt of their head. “Hey, smell em’ for yourself, I ain’t lyin’ here.” Lime held over their hand with the batteries towards Black’s face. “Nope, no, I believe you, no need for that.” Black quickly said, backing away. “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Lime sneered, tossing the used batteries over their shoulder without a care in the world.
Lime quickly pulled out two fresh batteries and replaced them in a jiffy. Once the panel was screwed back into place and Black smacked at the device, the screen actually lit up. “Huh, sweet,” Black commented. “Oh, thank you Lime!” Cyan beamed, clasping their hands together. “Bah, it was nothin’,” Lime dismissed with a hand wave. “Love and peace, you tw- ooaugh!” They exclaimed as they began walking. They just so happened to have stepped directly on the carelessly tossed batteries from mere seconds ago. Lime struggled to regain their footing, taking crazed steps in an attempt for balance. They weren’t watching where they were going, and planted their foot on something sharp. “Gah! Motherfucker!” They cried out, resorting to hopping on the uninjured foot while they checked the damage. They could see a chunk of rock sticking out from the middle of their foot. “Lime! Are you okay?” Cyan asked, worry evident in their tone. “What were ya’ doing? Throwing rocks?” Lime asked with exasperation. “Well, yeah, actually,” Black answered, earning a disappointed look from the gemologist.
Lime grimaced, hopping over to lean against the wall. They grabbed ahold of the chunk and yanked it out of their foot, blood dripping from the open wound. “Damnit..” Lime muttered under their breath.
NOVEMBER 14TH, 4:51 PM, MEDBAY
“What’s the verdict Doc? Are my days numbered?”
Lime chuckled, though it faltered when the doctor didn’t laugh along. “That was funnier in my head.” They muttered. Blue let out a sigh, standing up after examining Lime’s foot. “It’s surprising just how deep that chunk had pierced through your skin,” Blue murmured. Lime scratched their head. “Yeah, didn’t watch my step, is all.” They muttered. Blue kneeled down, pressing a cotton pad against the wound and wrapping a special blue coloured bandage around to keep it in place.
“I do wish you would be more careful around the Skeld,” Lime heard the doctor whisper to themselves. Jeez, they were really bad at whispering. “I’m careful enough,” Lime replied, causing Blue’s head to snap up rather quickly. “Oh, have I spoken too loudly?” They asked, almost embarrassed. “It wasn’t hard to miss, big dog,” Lime answered, letting out a quiet snicker.
Blue focused back on patching the wound. “Well, it is rather true,” they admit. Lime’s visor widened slightly. “You’re certainly one of the most eccentric members of this crew, but that almost makes you one of the most important, considering your job here after all.”
Lime sat there, unsure how to respond. It’s probably better to let Blue just yap away. They’ve noticed how much the doctor enjoys talking in a conversation. “You also happen to be one of, if not, the most fascinating crewmate on this ship.” Blue said casually, concluding the patchwork and standing up straight. “Uh, Wha?” Lime searched for words, but obviously found none. “Forgive me for speaking with such forwardness,” Blue continued, fidgeting with their hands. “But I must admit, you really are something, Lime. Your theories are certainly nothing I’ve ever heard before, which could verify the amount of truth with them. You’re incredibly intelligent when it comes to machinery, it’s genuinely impressive how you’re able to make sense of the junk MIRA’s sent with us.”
Lime could feel their heart rate spike up, their hands growing sweaty as they kept them in their lap. Their brain yelled at them to look at something, anything else in Medbay, but their gaze was laser focused on the doctor in front of them. The doctor, who’d now begun pacing around as they rambled. “..Just your resourcefulness on its own is remarkable! Not to mention your evergrowing collection of skills. I mean, an ordained minister? An excellent engineer? What else are you capable of, Lime? It’s all quite extraordinary.”
Blue remembered that? Being an ordained minister did come in handy for blessing water until it became holy, but that part usually flew over people’s heads when they usually saw Lime in action, being crazy and eccentric.
Blue turned to look Lime directly in the visor, and they had the instinct to shrink back. “Lime, I mean this with all the certainty of my being; you truly are an amazing, valued member of this crew.”
Lime blinked in response, the words dying in their throat. Did Blue really mean all of that? It’s a lot to hear all at once, Lime could barely remember to keep their guard up—
…
Wait a damn minute.
This ain’t Blue.
This has to be a gremlin in disguise!
Lime looked directly at it! What were they thinking?!
“You can’t trick me that easily, ya’ gremlin!” Lime shouted, pointing accusingly at Blue. “Uh, I beg your pardon?” The doctor asked softly. Lime gave no further explanation, instead hopping down from the medical bed and making a beeline towards the vent.
“Wait, Lime, you shouldn’t be—”
“Evasive maneuver!”
Lime dug into their pockets and threw whatever they had at Blue. Two balls of lint, in case you were wondering. “Uh, Lime—” Blue tried again, but Lime already slid inside the vent. “Not today, gremlins!” They jeered, and slammed the vent grate shut.
NOVEMBER 14TH, 4:58 PM, THE VENT SYSTEM
“Can’t believe it.. Those gremlins almost got ta’ me..” Lime mumbled to themselves as they traversed through the vents. The audacity of those gremlins, or ghouls or whatever the hell is after Lime in this ship! Taking the likeness of the Skeld’s beloved doctor and trying to lull Lime into a false sense of security so they’d be ripe for the slaughter! Well, Lime wasn’t stupid, believe it or not.
They were just feeling a little off, like how they usually are in Blue’s presence. Oh no, what if the gremlins knew that? And they were exploiting it?! Lime will have to update their arsenal with a risk like that.
But first, lunch.
Yeah, yeah, they skipped breakfast, sue them. Lime has practically trained their body to run at full energy without needing any kind of solid food. They do need coffee, but that’s completely unrelated! Probably.
Lime carried on through the vents, following the path towards the cafeteria. It’s well past the mandated lunch time on the schedule, but hey, maybe Brown and Yellow have some leftovers they’re willing to heat up for Lime? They did fix the toaster earlier that day, after all.
Lime stampered down until they hit a wall, looking up, they could hear the vague voices of Green and White. Alright, so they’re in the cafeteria. Lime pressed their hands flat against the walls of the vents and began slowly shimmying up, ignoring the small sparks of pain in their hands.
Once Lime reached the top, they pushed the vent grate wide open and reached up to grab at the cafeteria floor to pull themselves up.
However, as Lime found purchase with the cafeteria floor, they stuck their palm directly into a sharp, shard of glass.
“Gah!- What the?! Who the—”
Lime gritted their teeth, using their other hand to actually feel around the area before pulling themselves up. Lime moved to sit at the edge of the vent while they checked the damage. A triangular piece of glass about five centimeters long was the culprit, and the longest point was now directly in Lime’s hand, blood gushing around it.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I’m so sorry, Lime!”
Green’s frantic voice snapped Lime out of their focus. They spotted the intern dashing towards them, a broom in hand and a guilty glint in their visor. Lime glanced near the other side of the vent from where they were sitting, noticing the small, swept up pile of glass pieces.
Great.
Lime sighed in anger. “The hell were ya’ thinking, sweeping near the vent?!” They yelled. Green shrank back, tucking their head into their hoodie. “I know, I’m sorry!” They bawled. Lime sighed again, less frustrated now. “What’re ya’ even doin’ in the first place?” They asked. Green fidgeted with their hoodie strings. “Uh, White dropped their glass of wine and it shattered all over the place. They, uhm, told me to clean it up before the captain saw.”
Lime glanced past Green to see White sitting at one of the cafeteria tables, focused entirely on some tablet device. “Damnit,” they muttered. “A-Are you alright, though?” Green stuttered, holding a hand out to Lime. “Yeah, fine,” Lime grunted out, scooching back to stand up. “Are you sure? That looks pretty bad..” The intern continued. “Yes, I’m fine. Just gotta head to Medbay. Again.” Lime dismissed, trudging in the direction of the aforementioned Medbay.
NOVEMBER 14TH, 4:59 PM, MEDBAY
Blue studied each paper closely, rubbing their chin in thought. They had found these papers in an unlabeled binder in one of their medical cabinets. A lot of this information doesn’t make much sense, leading Blue to question why it’s even here in the first place.
Perhaps they could mention it to Lime, see if they have any chance at taking a crack out of it. Who knows, maybe this'll validate one of their endearing theories.
Knock knock.
“Uh, Hey big dog.”
Blue perked up at the voice. Speak of the devil!
Blue spun around in their chair. “Yes, Lime? Is there anything you need?” They asked casually, their expression shifting into surprised worry when they spotted the problem. “Goodness, Lime, what happened?” Blue asked, immediately standing up and gently taking Lime’s injured hand. “Uh, y’know, accidents happen.” Lime muttered. Blue sighed. “Well, we should get you patched up. You certainly gave me a bit of a scare during your last visit.”
Lime cocked their head. “Does that mean you ain’t with the gremlins?” They asked, still wary. Blue chuckled, the sound a soft melody. “I assure you, I’m nothing of the sort.” Lime grumbled in response, not entirely convinced.
Blue led Lime over to the medical bed they’ve sat in for what is now the fifth time in one day. “Oh my, this is troublesome,” said Blue in reaction to Lime’s new injury. They removed the glass with a quick yank, eliciting a gruff wince of pain from the engineer. “My apologies, Lime,” the doctor said, already moving to grab the necessary medical supplies for the patch up. “You’ve been quite accident prone today, hm?” Blue teased as they dabbed up the blood. “Bah, I wouldn’t say that..” Lime responded, embarrassment prickling at their features. “Lime, this is the fifth time I’ve seen you injured in the past few hours now.” Blue countered. Lime grumbled, unable to defend themselves.
Blue worked quickly, wrapping blue coloured bandages around Lime’s hand and over the wound. Lime flexed their hand to test the flexibility of the bandages.
That’s when they noticed something.
The band aids on their knuckles, two on their thumb, the wrapped bandage on their foot and now also on their hand.
The bandages shared the same hue as the doctor.
“Huh,” Lime muttered, holding their hand out in front of their face, the perspective making their hand appear right next to Blue’s head. “Is something the matter, Lime?” Blue asked. “These bandages, they match ya’ doc.” Lime said. Blue tilted their head in confusion, focusing on the band aids on Lime’s hands. “Ah! I suppose they do. That actually wasn’t intentional on my part,” they explain, straightening their posture. Lime folded their hands in front of them. “I like it,” they murmur. “Makes me feel like I have a piece of ya’ with me, ya’ know?”
“Oh.” Blue’s face flushed into a darker shade. They turned their head away from Lime’s gaze. “Well, that’s a neat thought to have, Lime.” They said, surprising themselves with how composed they sounded. “Yeah, welp, should probably be headin’ out now.” The engineer said, prepared to step away from the room. “Actually, Lime,” Blue called out, making them stop in their tracks. “Yeah, Doc?” Lime asked, noting the doctor approaching them with a narrow, open box in hand. “I have some treats I like to give to patients after they’ve visited me frequently. Would you like one?” They asked.
“Psh, what do ya’ think I am, five?!” Lime exclaimed. They paused for a moment, internally debating with themselves about the offer. “What do ya’ got?” They eventually asked.
Blue practically beamed at the question. They presented the box to Lime. “Just lollipops at the moment. I actually got the idea from Red. They seem to love the positive results of their check-ups.” the doctor explained. Of course this would be the captain’s idea, but Lime decided to indulge in it anyway.
They scanned the contents. The lollipops had a variety of different flavours. Lime could see mostly cherry, orange, lemon and grape, the classic of all classic flavours. But a particular lollipop stood out to them.
“Aw hell yeah,” Lime said, reaching out to take the blue lollipop from the box. “Oh! You like the blue raspberry lollipops?” Blue asked, surprise evident in their tone. “Yeah, of course. They’re my favourite.” Lime answered, already removing the wrapper. “It’s not a common flavour. Personally, I enjoy the citrus based flavours, such as orange or lemon. But my own favourite is especially..” Blue trailed off, digging through the box themselves. “..Green apple,” they said, picking up a bright green coloured lollipop, almost the exact shade of Lime. “Oh, those’re my second favourite! Ya’ got good taste, doc!” Lime exclaimed with a smile in their visor. Blue chuckled. “Thank you, Lime, that’s very sweet coming from you.”
Suddenly, Lime let out a bark of laughter, much to Blue’s surprise. “I get it! Sweet, 'cause of the lollipops!” They said, chuckling to themselves. It only took a moment to hit Blue; they made a pun. “Ah. Pun unintended.” They muttered, their gaze focused heavily on the engineer. The way their visor crinkled as they laughed, the way they threw their head back in delight.
What a sight to behold.
“Hah, anyway..” Lime said, wiping their visor. “I’ll get outta ya’ hair. Love and peace, big dawg.” Lime did a small salute with their bandaged fingers before walking off.
Blue stood there, too starstruck to even reply. They shook their head rapidly to regain focus, reaching out before Lime could get too far. “Lime, wait,” they said. Lime perked up. “Yeah?” They asked. Blue fidgeted with their hands, reaching into their backpack. “I’ve noticed your increased discomfort when it came to your visits earlier. All the injuries you’ve sustained have been minimal at best. So, in order to avoid these unnecessary visits in the future..” Blue took out a box of the titular blue coloured band aids. They held the box out to Lime. “It’d be wise for you to bring this along so you may take care of yourself. We wouldn’t want our lone engineer out of commission, now would we?”
A flush of pink developed on Lime’s face, their hand instinctively coming up to their face. “Ugh, yeah yeah, swoon, swoon, or somethin’..” Lime muttered, snatching the box out of Blue’s hands and dropping it into their own back pack. “I really gotta get goin’ now,” they said. Blue nodded. “I understand,” the doctor replied. Lime averted their gaze, shuffling away. “Stupid attractive doctor..” They mumbled under their breath.
Blue peaked out into the hallway when Lime’s footsteps faded into the gentle hum of the ship. They let out a quiet snicker, their own face having a small blush form. “Swoon..”