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Orange waves goodbye to Yellow and Brown in the kitchen as they leave, neither of them wave bye back. Orange checks and writes on their clipboard as they check weapons for any damages, which has a slight dent in the wall from Lime popping out of the vent too aggressively.
They continue on, only now having to check O2, navigation, shields, and communications. They stop outside the door to O2 and flip to the page O2 is on before entering the room.
____Ten minutes pass____
Orange hums to themselves a random tune they heard somewhere as the write on the clipboard. Honestly, there is nothing wrong with the room, they just stayed longer because its quiet, comfortable, and one of the only rooms with air conditioning. They glance up at the tank in O2, only to be greeted by a orange fishmate staring at back at them.
Orange pauses. "... Who owns you?" They question, like the fishmate will answer back. Orange and the fishmate just stare back at each other. Orange is unsure what to do about said fishmate, considering their technically against the rules but they don't wanna kill the poor thing!
The O2 doors open and there stands the purple security guard. They look panicked at the sight of Orange being with their dear Heracles! The both just stare at each other before Purple steps into the room fully, the doors slamming shut behind them. Orange points at the fishmate who is now staring at Purple with a look in their visor that shows happiness. "Is this yours?" Orange attempts to say but is loudly interrupted. "PLEASE don't report this, Orange!" Purple begs in a tone that sounds like Orange has a gun to their head.
Purple stumbles over their words, only understandable thing is "They're all I have left!" Orange keeps trying to call out to Purple, though they are to distracted by panic. "Purple," Orange says in a more demanding tone that snaps Purple out of their ramble "I won't report your fishmate." They return to their normal tone of voice. "I have some fishmates at my place and-" "YOU have fishmates???" Purple questions, absolutely bewildered at that statement.
Orange stays quiet for a moment. "... yes?" "You don't seem like the type." Purple responds bluntly "... there's a type???" Orange questions, which Purple shrugs in response. "Anyway," Purple waves their hand dismisively "what were you saying?" They question "Oh, yea. I own some fishmates at my place and they actually improve the air quality. So I uh, don't think your fishmate is too much of a problem as long as they don't clog the filters." "... really..?" Purple feels themselves grow slightly warmer, which is odd to them considering O2 is cold. "Yea sure. As long as they don't cause any problems or get reported by other crewmembers, they'll be fine." Orange hesitates for a moment. "And if you rely on them so heavily, they can just be considered a service animal with the correct documents. But we can worry about that in an hour or so."
Purple feels even warmer, almost hot, tugging on their shirt collar slightly like it'll cool them off. They clear their throat "Ah... uh.. alright..." They look away from Orange. The room goes quiet for a moment. "I have an extra tank if you need it." Orange finally breaks the silence. Purple perks up slightly at the offer "Really? What size?" They question gleefully "Uhhh, I think like, 55 gallons I think.." They both pause again. "I uh, yea. Sure. I'll take it." Purple feel hot. Like, almost fever hot.
Orange nervously chuckles. "Yea I'll give it to you when we get out..!" They reach their hand out to shake on it. Purple hesitates before also reaching their hand out and nervously shaking it.
. . .
Purple sits at the table in the cafeteria, staring at the slightly gore smeered window. "When we get out" repeats in Purples head. They feel cold.