Work Text:
There is something wrong with Blue, and Lime knows it. The changes haven't been big, but they're noticeable to someone like Lime. Someone who pays attention to every little detail about all of the crewmates on the Skeld.
At first he dismissed the feeling that something was wrong but it's undeniable now, even if he's the only one who can tell. Blue's gaze had always been serious but it's 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 now, especially when he's looking at Lime.
The two of them have always had a unique relationship. Blue was interested in Lime because of his unusuaI nature and Lime was not unlike the other crewmates, in the way that he wasn't immune to Blue's charm and he also seemed to tolerate him more than the others.
But lately Lime's been keeping his distance from Blue, because he knows something that the others don't.
It isn't a secret that Lime spends a lot of time in the vents, whether it be to actually do his job and fix things up to an acceptable state or to check on his secret stash of canned meat that he keeps safely tucked away in a corner so no one can find it that he keeps for emergency situations.
Sometimes he even cleans the vents so it's easier for him to quickly get through them. And it was on a nigh like this when he was trying to get a piece of gum off the vent walls that he heard it. He heard humming coming through the vents from the medbay section.
At first he didn't think anything of it, it wasn't unusual for Blue to hum while he worked, normally it was actually pretty cute Lime would say, but something made Lime freeze in place. Blue wasn't humming just any old melody no, it was the melody of Lime's favorite song, the one he made up himself one late night while cleaning and the one he was one hundred percent sure he never even mentioned in front of the others let alone let them hear it.
Something was off about this. He decided to make his way through the vents, the stubborn piece of gum that was still stuck on the wall quickly forgotten. It wasn't easy to be quiet with how squeaky the vents were, but Lime had been training for moments just like these. He made his way over to the medbay vent opening, getting closer to the source of the eerie humming.
Lime didn't get out of the vent, his senses were telling him that that would be the wrong move. Instead he only got to the opening as close as possible so he could watch what was happening on the other side. And watch he did.
There Blue was, sitting by his work table, inspecting what seemed to be a lump of ore+ covered in a pink seemingly jelly like substance while he continued to hum. He was probing it, unaware that he was being watched.
Lime stayed there silent, watching him, waiting for him to slip up but everything seemed to be normal. He was about to turn around and go back when Blue suddenly stopped humming and stood up.
"This isn't working." Blue paced around the room for a second before he came to stand in front of the work table again. "I hoped it wouldn't come to this..." 'He hopes it wouldn't come to 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵?' Lime wondered but before he could wonder any longer he saw it.
He saw what he knew no one would believe, something he wasn't sure he even believe himself. A monster, that is the only word he had for describing what Blue had transformed into right in front of his eyes. In a matter of seconds the crewmate beloved by all not only for his good looks turned into a beast made of raw flesh and long tentacles.
Lime was frozen, if out of shock or fear he didn't know but what he did know is that right now he shouldn't move a muscle if he wanted to get out of this place alive and he should keep watching.
Blue, or whatever he was right now, wrapped a tentacle around a pice of the ore+ waiting for something and sighing when it didn't happen. He laid the ore+ back down on the table and in the blink of an eye there wasn't a monster in front of Lime's eyes anymore, it was Blue again. He retracted the flesh back into his body like it was nothing.
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Lime felt like he could breathe again. As soon as he sensed that his body regained it's ability to move he turned around and without another thought he left.
He couldn't stay there a second longer, the vents that he spent hours in at a time suddenly started to feel suffocating only after a few minutes. He didn't take another look at Blue because he didn't need to, he was sure of what he saw and he didn't want to see it again.
---
It's been a week since the incident and Lime hasn't heard Blue hum that song since, or transform into a hideous monster, that's the more unnerving thing out of the two he supposes.
He hasn't told anyone about the incident, since there isn't anybody whom he can trust on this goddamn spaceship.
That is until White dies. Because no matter how hot, smart and attractive Blue may be Lime can't let someone who murders their own fellow crewmate get away with it. And he's sure that this murder was Blue's doing.
That's what Lime is thinking about while he waits with the others in the cafeteria for the result's of Blue's examination of White's corpse.
He's not even listening to anyone else, because they don't know what Lime does, they didn't see what Blue turned into that night. But he did and he's going to be prepared for when it inevitably happens again.
He looks up when Red comes back with Blue and Orange in tow. But he can't bring himself to pay attention to whatever bullshit Red is saying about "White passing away peacefully," when Blue was looking at him like 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.
Lime felt that gaze on him like a predator looks at it's prey when it's already caught in a trap and just doesn't know it yet. But he wasn't going to back down. He stared right back at Blue with the same intensity and to Lime's horror Blue looked liked he 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 it.
He jumped at the first opportunity to leave. "No way in hell am I going to let you scan my body!" He told Red in response to more of his usual blabbering.
He stormed away, looking pointedly at Blue as he left, who looked just as pleased and amused as he did a second ago.
As soon as he was out of the viewing field of the others he jumped into the nearest vent. He had to get ready and he had to do it fast.
He didn't need to be a genius to know what Blue wanted to do to him, the exact same thing that Lime was aiming for, to kill each other before the other could do it first.
He crawled all the way through to his secret hideout where he kept all his most important things. One of them being a makeshift water gun, but it wasn't just any old water gun it was a holy water gun. Well the gun itself wasn't holy but it was filled to the brim with holy water which Lime was sure would swiftly take out Blue.
He picked it up and braced himself as he started crawling towards medbay through the vents. It wasn't like he wanted to kill Blue, he was actually the person Lime liked the most on the Skeld out of everyone, but he had to do this. No matter what they had or what could have been he had to 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 Blue. He had to- stop.
There were voices echoing throughout the vents, getting louder as Lime got closer to medbay. "-won't do that." That was undeniably Blue's voice. "But it's the most logical move!" 'He's taking with Green,' Lime thought. "People let's calm down and go about this properly." And was that Orange?
"I'll be calm when he explains why we shouldn't get rid of that guy right now!" 'Are they working with Blue? No matter, I'll just have to get rid off all of them,' Lime told himself.
"I don't have to explain myself to you." Blue's voice was ice cold and it made a shiver of fear and something else that Lime didn't want to think too hard about run down his spine. "𝘛𝘴𝘬 whatever, I'm leaving. This getting us nowhere."
Lime heard someone's footsteps above his head as he came up to the vent entrance, finally also seeing what he's been hearing this whole time. Blue was indeed talking with Green and Orange but the two of them were leaving, Green first and Orange going after him.
Blue sighed when the doors automatically closed behind them and he slumped down in the chair by his work table. 'This is the perfect opportunity,' Lime though as he clutched the holy water gun. Blue had his back turned to him and he was alone.
Lime steeled his nerves and with a shout he jumped out of the vent and quickly shot Blue in the back. "Take that!"
Blue instinctively stood up and spun around to face his attacker. "𝘠𝘰𝘶." He spat out with deadly venom but also a hint of satisfaction.
"Any minute now and you're going to be gone." Lime said triumphantly. But his confident stance faltered a bit when Blue only responded an amused smile. "What is that thing? Don't tell me... You really thought you would kill me with holy water?"
The way Blue was so casual about the whole situation made Lime frown and swallow nervously. "I'm sure it will work on a beast like you!"
Blue raised his eyebrows. "A beast you say?" He took a step forward which in turn made Lime take a step back.
"My hypothesis is correct then. You were here that night, weren't you? Watching me." As more time passed Lime started to think that there might be a slight possibility that the holy water wasn't actually going to magically kill Blue.
'Maybe I should go back into the vents, he can't follow me through there, at least I hope so, who knows what this freak can do-'
Before Lime could finish thinking through his next course of action Blue had used the single second he wasn't paying attention to slam his body backwards into the wall behind him.
He felt pain shoot through his skull and he gritted his teeth to not cry out in pain. "Let go of me you motherfucker-" Blue grabbed his jaw in a bruising hold before he could speak any more than he already did.
"Do you want the others to come back and kill you or is there another reason why you're being so goddamn loud?!" Lime's eyes widened as fleshy tentacles started to break out of Blue's back.
"Because it just took me a lot of fucking effort to convince them to not do just that!" The tentacles grew in size, as if they responded to Blue's anger. "I hope you're aware that I could end your life in a single second right now if I wanted to, so you better shut the fuck up for your own sake."
Blue finally let go of Lime's body and took a step back. Lime gasped for air as soon as he could and he looked up at Blue, flinching when he saw Blue reaching out towards him again.
But this time Blue held his jaw gently, rubbing his fingers over Lime's cheek comfortingly. "Was that too much for you? It was, wasn't it?" Lime stood frozen, the emotional whiplash he was experiencing being too much for him to handle.
"Here, let me help you lay down." Blue carefully guided Lime to lay down on one of the beds while Lime tried to gather himself.
"You- what do you want?!" He tried to sit up but Blue kept him laying down with a firm hand on his shoulder as he sat by Lime's side. "What do I want? Isn't it obvious my dear? I want 𝘺𝘰𝘶."
'There it is again' Lime thought, 'that sweet voice'. He should hate it, he knows he should but he can't help but feel a wave of comforting warmth wash over his entire being when he hears Blue say that. His head felt all fuzzy.
"It seems that I'm not the only one who likes that idea, hm?" Blue stood up and covered Lime with a blanket. "Rest for a bit, you must be exhausted after that whole 'killing me' action." Blue said with a chuckle and for some reason that Lime couldn't decipher the only thing that Lime thought of as he fell asleep was that he wanted to hear Blue laugh again.
----
When Lime wakes up the first thing he notices is the unfamiliarity of his surroundings. He tries to remember what happened and when he starts to put the pieces together he quickly sits up and tries to get out of bed, but the pain that shoots through his skull at the hasty movement makes him stop and hiss.
"Don't try to get up so fast, you'll only hurt yourself." That was Blue's voice, Lime thinks and he turned his head around to look at him. "You-" "I think you should rest for a while longer-" "What did you do to me?!" Blue startles a bit but then there's that signature smile of his plastered on his face again, but this time it looks more special, something private only reserved for Lime to see.
"What the hell did you do to me?!" Blue tried to reach out to hold Lime's hand but he quickly swatted it away. Blue sighed at that. "I had to use some of my newly acquired powers to get you to relax-"
Lime pushed himself up despite the pain and grabbed onto the collar of Blue's coat. "You fucking drugged me?!" Blue put his hands over Lime's "Yes, but only because you were being a danger not only to me but to yourself as well."
Lime raised his other hand, the one that Blue wasn't currently holding onto and punched Blue right across the face. Blue reeled back from the impact, raising his hands to asses the damage done to his face but he didn't look surprised at this outcome.
While Blue was preoccupied Lime grabbed the first thing that looked sharp enough to be used as a weapon and pointed it at Blue. "You're a murderer don't you dare touch me."
"I didn't kill White, I swear!" It was the sincerity and urgency in Blue's voice that made Lime stop for a second. "And I won't kill anyone, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴." And Blue straightened his posture again with a relaxed smile on his face.
"And what the fuck does that mean?" Lime didn't hesitate to step closer still pointing what might have been something akin to a large scalpel at Blue.
"It means," Blue didn't hesitate to step closer either, despite the weapon currently being pointed at him. "That I want to examine you. I want to figure out exactly what makes you tick and I'm willing to do anything to achieve that."
Blue stretched out his hand towards Lime and Lime in turn slashed his weapon at him in quick succession. But Blue simply grabbed hold of the weapon's blade, letting a line of fresh blood run down his forearm from where the blade was cutting into his palm.
"You psycho-" But Blue didn't let him finish, instead he used his grip on the blade to pull Lime towards himself, grabbing hold of Lime's waist with his free hand. "And I want you to be all mine."
"Get off me!" As soon as he said it Blue did just that. "As you wish." He said with a smile as he stepped back and let go off Lime completely.
Lime was admittedly very confused. On one hand he wanted to kill Blue as soon as he could and on the other this had been the first time when he didn't hate someone holding him and he wouldn't mind repeating it.
"I understand if you need time-" "Can you just shut up for a second?!" Blue put up his hands up in compliance. "Of course."
'Fuck this is so weird! What the hell do I do here?!' He can't deny it, he's attracted to Blue even without any drugging action needing to happen- and that whole thing was so fucking weird as well. He sighed.
"You said you'd whatever I wanted, right?" Blue nodded. "Exactly, I'll do whatever you ask of me." Lime sighed. "And why should I believe that, huh?" Blue smiled. "Because if that wasn't the truth you would have already been dead by now."
Lime ran a hand down his face. 'Fuck me.' But he had to think about his priorities and right now he could at the very least use Blue for the benefit of the crew.
"If you're so sure then why don't you make yourself useful and go kill Green and Orange, if you want to prove yourself." 'Let's see if he's up for it, though he might just kill me right here and team up with them again-"
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Blue's laughter. "What, can't do it?" Lime asked and looked at him questioningly. Blue shook his head and cleared his throat. "Not at all, I was just thinking that you actually gave me a really easy task."
Lime narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?" "I mean that those two are completely incompetent of course." Blue cracked his knuckles as he stretched his fingers, seemingly not caring about the drill fresh wound on his hand that was slowly starting to close up.
"I could be done with the both of them in under an hour and I'd be able to make it look like an accident as well, would you like that my dear?"
'He's completely insane,' Lime thought 'and I might as well be, because don't understand why I'm not completely and utterly repulsed by that.'
"I'm sure they're picking out there next victim as we speak." Blue said casually. As Lime thought about how absurd this whole situation was, his eyes passed over the vent which he only now noticed had been barricaded and had a heavy looking lock on it now.
Blue awoke him out of his thoughts once again. "Of course I won't do this solely out of the goodness of my heart..." Lime rolled his eyes. "What do you want?" Blue cleared his throat and he put his hands on Lime's waist, this time the other didn't push him off. "I believe that I said this yesterday already, but I want 𝘺𝘰𝘶."
Lime should be scared by Blue's words but instead he finds everything about this situation stupidly attractive. "Alright, I... Accept."
Blue tightened his hold on Lime's body. 'Fuck, even this is hot,' Lime thought. "Mhm, that was the right decision. I'll be back in a bit my dear, stay right here and I'll take care of everything." He let go of Lime and started to walk out of the room.
"Oh and don't waste your time trying to open that," Blue said pointing at the blocked vent entrance. "Only I know the code, of course I'll unlock it right away for you when I'm sure that you're truly mine. Oh and I'm positive that you already know that there's no chance that I'll leave the doors unlocked." Blue winked while he tilted his head.
Lime grumbled, still confused why something like this made his heart beat faster. "Just get out of my sight already." Blue only smiled at his harsh language and without another word he left.
'What the hell am I doing?' Would be the thought running through Lime's head while he waited for Blue to come back.
---
Not even forty-five minutes later and Blue returned. The best way that Lime could describe him as he walked through the doors was that he had the look of satisfaction after a job well done.
"I'm all done my dear." Lime glared at him. "Don't call me that." He stood up from the bed he had sat on while he waited for Blue's return, after he tried every way to get out of this place unsuccessfully.
"So did you... Kill them?" Lime asked cautiously. Blue smiled and walked over towards him. "Of course I did. You asked me to so I didn't have a choice." At that, Lime stormed towards Blue.
"What?! You're not putting this in me-" Blue grabbed Lime's hands that were clenched at his sides. "I was merely joking."
As Blue held his hands Lime noticed the blood on Blue's own. "Are you alright?" Blue beamed at that and squeezed his hands with excitement. "Are you worried about me?"
"I'm not! Just don't want anyone to see the blood and figure out what you just did." Lime shook off Blue's hands from his own and picked up one of the many towels that were around to wipe down the blood from Blue's hands.
"So you don't hate me?" Lime looked up from Blue's hands. In this moment Blue looked more sincere than Lime had ever seen him before. He looked back down again, the whole situation getting too intimate for his liking.
"I really should hate you." Blue waited quietly for Lime to continue. "But I don't." Lime admitted and he could hear the smile in Blue's voice when he spoke again. "I'm glad."
Lime finished getting the blood off Blue's hands and looked up at him. "Did you do it?" Blue blinked at him in confusion. "Do what, my dear?"
Lime shivered when Blue used that pet name again. "Make me... Feel this way towards you. With your weird powers or whatever"
Blue raised his arms, holding Lime's head in his hands gently. "No, that was all your own doing. I swear it."
Lime hated that he wanted Blue to keep holding him like this. "Fuck." He wanted to run away, jump into the vents and never come back out but then he couldn't see Blue again and he hated that he even thought of that!
"Take your time." Blue said. "All of this must be overwhelming for you. But don't worry, I'll stay by your side forever, from now on you'll never have to suffer by yourself again."
He gently raised Lime's head to make the other look at him. "Would explaining things make it easier for you to trust me?"
"Absolutely!" Lime had been wanting for an explaining for ages. Blue guided him to sit down on the edge of one of the beds while he himself sat down at the dude of his work table.
Blue sighe. "I've been studying ore+ for a while now. I was curious about what minerals it was made up of and if I could potentially use it for my medical practices." He stared. "I've been running all kinds of tests on it, everything was going well but one day there was an accident." Lime listened carefully to every word.
"It turns out some of the ore+ weren't actually just rocks but eggs from living organisms. One night while I was asleep one of the eggs hatched and the creature in it tried to take complete control of my mind and body." He continued.
"But something went wrong, possibly due to the test I ran on it and it was only able to almost completely change my body and only slightly affect my mind. Particularly it enhances all my emotions and desires that I feel. Including my love for you."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Lime asked, not sure what answer he was hoping for. Blue smiled at him and Lime felt his heartbeat quicken.
"I've loved you for a long time now, my dear. The infection, as you might call it, only made me unable to contain my desires towards you. Like that time I couldn't stop humming that cute song after I heard you sing it once while you were cleaning in the vents when you thought nobody could hear you-"
"Alright, alright we'll deal with that later!" Lime cleared his throat. "But what was up with Green and Orange? And White?"
"Hm, well Green and Orange both got infected only recently. Sadly in their cases the organism took their beings over completely. Green was actually the one who killed White and so I confronted the two of them. I tried to reason with them but you already know how that went."
They sat in silence for a while before Lime spoke up. "Well, firstly we have to get rid off all the other eggs-" "Calm down, my dear." Before Lime knew it Blue was already sitting at his side and holding onto his hand.
"There's no need to fret, there is enough time for that later, I made sure of it. First tell me, how do you feel about me?" Blue looked at Lime with hope in his eyes and Lime felt conflicted. "I'm not sure. I don't hate you but I don't love you either."
Blue nodded. "I understand-" "Will you let me finish?!" Lime sighed. It took all of Lime's strength to actually voice these kinds of thoughts aloud but he knew he had to do it. "I don't love you, 𝘺𝘦𝘵. You're quite frankly weird and you might be part alien but I do feel a certain way towards you."
Blue ran his fingers over Lime's hand. "I'll make you love me eventually, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵." Lime raised an eyebrow. "Is that your alien part speaking?" Blue chuckled. "Maybe so, but I do mean it."
Lime sighed and Blue in turn guided the two of them to lay on the bed together, not too close to Lime to make him uncomfortable but not too far away either. "Let's go to sleep for now, it's been a long day and I'm sure Red will call for an emergency meeting as soon as he notices that Green and Orange are missing."
Lime groaned. "We'll have to lie to them about what actually happened, huh?" Blue nodded. "Yes, It would be for the best to do so." "Fucking hell." Blue gently grabbed Lime's hand. "But I'll be there with you, I'm sure that together we'll be able to figure everything out."
Lime closed his eyes, his cheeks were feeling hot and his hands were sweaty. "You're going to make me go crazy." "Crazy in love." Blue quickly retorted and Lime shushed him. "Just go to sleep already." He complained but he didn't let go of Blue's hand.
"Good night to you too, 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳."