Chapter Text
There was a ship, small, dark in color, it could camouflage well in the empty environment that is the universe. It seemed to be off most of the time, as if the power inside was always out no matter how many lights were on. Usually it was low, weak, both by choice of those who sheltered inside the little ship, as well as the energy itself being weak. They chose to keep the light level low, so it would save more fuel and power, their eyes got used to a dark environment over time, it was no longer a big problem and they hardly bumped into things or each other.
The biggest obstacle was oxygen and food supply. They where almost none, there was just a not very big safe that kept what little savings they managed to keep. Sometimes they would take a job here and there, but almost always only one would, depending on what it was. The irken managed to maintain itself for a longer time, it did not require so much oxygen, it's body was naturally stronger and it had a greater stamina as well, as it's agility was enviable; the heaviest jobs were assigned to him. The other was a simple human, who despite having a more complex genetics and full of alterations, she still had several problems to deal with inside and outside, such as the smaller and much more limited stamina, her physical strength, however impressive , couldn't match that of an irken, and weighty jobs mostly required strength she didn't possess; but despite so many limitations, her cunning and intelligence were her strongest points. In fact, as much as her spaceship partner is an irken, she often managed to outdo him with her ideas and plans, it was ironic, and as much as his partner was frustrated with it ( too much ), he still followed through with the human's words, since they always looked better than his own, and as if it were a bonus to his irritation, they always worked.
The spaceship wandered aimlessly through space, they were lost, and indeed there was a cause for this situation. The irken. Dragging the human with him, despair had taken him that night, his fears, his thoughts won, they led him to drag her with him, trapping both in a spaceship full of damage that could barely be used properly, but with time, they were fixing it little by little until it got to where it currently is. The ship is not at 100%, but it is certainly better than before and more useful, perhaps with a few more things to facilitate certain activities.
The table was ready, the human had woken up a few minutes ago, but seemed to still be sleeping. She calmly rubbed her eyes, didn't even bother to comb her hair, and yawned every ten seconds, which normally irritated the irken, but it seems he had gotten used to it after so long trapped in that small spaceship. The eggs were placed on the human's plate next to the bread, a still empty mug was next to the coffee bottle with a carton of milk nearby, a pair of knives placed on the table for each one's personal use. The human was the first to fill her mug, first coffee, then milk, followed by several spoonfuls of sugar; on the other hand, the irken still hadn't sat down, still preparing more eggs, these that were now for himself. It was funny, as much as he didn't need to resupply as often, it had become routine, and both human and irken ate together at the table, eating their meals in comfortable silence or discussing their next stop for resupply and oxygen.
A few seconds later, the irken put the eggs on it's own plate, the frying pan on one side and sat down in front of the human, who hadn't started eating, waiting for her shipmate to keep her company for breakfast. As much as space did not have light far from a sun, they still managed to keep order of the hours that passed, having a time to wake up and go to sleep, but still adapting to the time of the planet that they lodged from time to time.
“ I like the way you fry the eggs. ” the human began, breaking the comfortable silence they liked to maintain during the meal. Despite this, they exchanged words ( or insults ) from time to time, which brought a few smiles and laughter, as well as waking the human from her constant sleepiness.
" You always say that. ” the irken replied, not looking surprised. It was customary to receive some compliments now and then from the human, but that still managed to feed his ego.
“It's because it's true. And you like to hear it, admit it. ” the human laughed sweetly, her eyes tired. She was always like that, tired, sleepy, and that worried the irken too much. The human had always been someone full of energy, almost never falling asleep or even needing to, the food they ate when they were at the Massive was enough to keep her awake, as well as her immense concentration on her work. He never worried if she slept or not, after all, she was always fine, and if she got sick, which would be very unlikely, there were doctors who could quickly attend to her. However, they were now alone, lost in the vast and silent space, which at times became very dark and make them extremely uncomfortable, the cold outside even seemed to penetrate their skin, as if some mirror had broken, leaving them in constant attention, apprehensive of being frozen in that eternal cold, far from a star warm enough to keep their bodies alive.
“ You don't have to repeat what I already know, it's annoying. ” the irken said with his mouth full, making the human laugh again, bringing a discreet smile to his lips. “ Don't you think that's too little sugar? You need more than a few spoonfuls. ” he pointed to the human's mug, who had just closed the sugar jar. He was probably hoping he would just bring her more work, bringing a frustrated pout from the human, causing her to her eyes.
“ We don't have much in the jar and there are only two packets in stock, it's not enough so I'm trying to get used to less sugar. ”
“ Sugar gives you energy, you are tired all the time, you need to eat more sugary things. ” the irken frowned as he spoke, he had paused his meal to watch the human. She looked exhausted even after waking up, as she always did.
“ I'm used to sugar in large amounts, starting a diet is not easy, you know? I want to see you try to keep up with me. ” sounded like a challenge along with a tease, she clearly wanted to piss him off.
“ You'll regret it if you really want to doubt me. By the way, the ship can't be left unattended during duty time, someone needs to stay awake and on alert for all sorts of things, and with you tired all the time, that leaves more work for me. ”
“ I could cook, you know? It would give you less work. ”
“ Your food is awful, I don't want to get food poisoning. ”
The human scowled and again rolled her eyes, but stopped arguing to concentrate on her bread, the egg was already getting cold and she didn't want to eat something so cold, it didn't please her taste, not to mention how bad it was coffee with cold milk.
She had to admit, the irken's cooking was better than hers, she herself had been sick several times when she tried to cook something and most of it ended up burnt. In order to avoid wasting ingredients with her attempts and eating burnt and poorly seasoned food, they both decided that it would be better for the irken to cook, and indeed, he surprised her. Who would ever think that someone so grumpy, that hated anyone who dared breathe next to him, or despised sweets and savory foods, spending so much time outside and away from a kitchen, would have such good hands for cooking. It was surprising, but it came to good use.
The truth was that he did practice his cooking, he just chose to do it far from the human. Her constant questions were always irritating to him, he preferred to avoid receiving more of them by hiding while cooking something. It also allowed them to save money at the Massive so they didn't have to shop around in the cafeteria or from vending machines. Not that this was a problem for the human; the Massive's commanders spoiled her, she had no trouble buying anything, the money came directly from those who showered her with grace, but that didn't apply to the irken. The economy, however, came in quite a bit of use, with the amount the human kept on her never being spent, they kept quite a lot of money, and with what little the irken managed, saving also contributed to them keeping a safe with enough money for a few refills. It lasted for some time while they were trapped on that spaceship, but unfortunately not forever. The vault was almost empty, they needed to keep at least a little bit or they wouldn't be able to stay alive for too long.
The work they got from time to time brought them only small amounts of money. It's often not enough and they couldn't pay for supplies or more oxygen, often leading them to the human's plans: robbery.
They finished breakfast in silence, the human was already a little more awake, the task of cleaning the utensils used in the meals had been left to her, since the irken was the one who took care of the food. While she did, he went to the communications room; there had been days, weeks, maybe even months they had been trying to fix this, but still no progress seemed to be made. It was ironic, the ship was being repaired little by little, and as much as it was a slow advance, there was still some kind of progress, no matter how small; they even managed to make upgrades and install new gadgets that would make the ship's functionality easier. Not a voot or other large efficient spacecraft, it was just a small escape ship stolen from the Massive, but it had several problems and was being repaired when they took it over. It was really bad luck for them to pick exacly this one.
“ What the hell. ” the irken growled angrily. He was losing patience with the communication room. It didn't make any sense, he always managed to fix things, the human was amazing at creating others, but she was still able to fix what she needed, how was it possible that this was the only place they couldn't fix? What was the problem here? The irken had dealt with this before on voots and other larger ships, but never with an escape ship, and his ego was hurt when he failed with something so small. “This shouldn't be so hard. ”
“ Remember it was in repair before we got it, it probably has parts missing that we don't have. ” the human said when she arrived in the same room as the irken, minutes after having washed the dishes, now more awake and with what seemed to be a cleaner uniform. He assumed that she had done her personal hygiene, since she wakes up a little later than him, she only performed this activity after him. In a way it was something that made it a lot easier, since the bathroom would almost always be free when the other needed it. Almost.
“ We have already visited several places and none of them knows this type of ship. It's irken, nobody wants to help our kind. ” he sighed in response, putting down the tool in his hand and getting to his feet, scratching his neck in frustration. “ Not to mention that even if someone was really willing, how the hell would they know how to fix this type of ship without ever having seen it before? ”
“ You are highly doubtful of the possibilities and probabilities of an irken escape ship having crashed on some planet. We just need to find the right place, be patient. ”
“ We've been on this same litany for months now, your positivity has brought nothing but weariness. The ship doesn't have enough power to make a jump to another galaxy and I doubt very much that it can withstand a trip in this state. ” the irken snorted in irritation, he was already out of patience. It had been a long time without even being able to contact the Massive or find any planet that could help them without throwing stones or sharp objects, hope was little and the only thing that encouraged him to keep trying was the human and her words.
“ Again, be patient. We're alive after a long time on this rotten ship that's falling apart, we've even managed to add things that weren't here before; we're upgrading an escape ship and turning it into a voot prototype at the very least. It's already a good advance, stop punishing yourself for the delay, things take time. ”
There was a sigh from both, the irken stared at the room for a few minutes right next to his company. The truth was, none of them had hope. Behind the human's encouraging words and her insistence that in the end everything would work out, there was someone desperate for an escape, a way to escape that place, to return home, to get out of that ordeal. Behind the irken's constant frustration and headache, there was a lifeless being, who hid his tears of despair and hopelessness with a firm mask of constant anger.
The two decided not to work any more in that room until the next cycle.