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Purple was on cams as usual, even though the cameras are absolute dog shit and captured nothing but blue noise and maybe the faint appearance of movement every now and then. But apart from that, they wondered what the point even was of checking these cameras if there was nothing they could even check. Everything was barely visible, and the sound didn't work either. Isn't it great. Love being an underpaid security guard for MIRA, one of the richest companies around, and they don't even get proper equipment. Typical. Purple had expected such a feat from MIRA Corporations anyway, they are all a bunch of weird scandalous freaks. They flip through the barely visible cameras and pause at Navigation. Great fucking lord. No one was steering the ship. Red wasn't doing their job properly, as usual. Oh wowie wawa. Of COURSE!! This ship better have autopilot. Purple rubs their temples and sighs. They get off their chair, put on their security guard hat and, doing their job very responsibly, unlike Red, sets off to find... well, Red.
Red was wondering around the Skeld, passing by Medbay to sneak a glance of Blue. They peek into the Medbay and see Blue working so beautifull- diligently at their computer. Swooooon
Purple walks around the outside of Navigation, trying to find where Red went. As they walk into the Cafeteria, they see Red in the hallway peeking around inside of Medbay. This bean bro!!!! Purple walks up behind them and pokes them on the back. Red yelps and jumps, quickly turning and facing Purple who had a disapproving look on their face and hands on their hips. "Ohhh, hey Purps! How's it- uh, funny running into- uh.. wait no, I meant, uhh..." Red whistles, trying to act nonchalant. Purple glares at them. "Aren't you supposed to be, I don't know, steering the ship??" They say, pointing in the direction of Navigation. "You're the captain, and you're not really filling that role right now."
"Relaaaax. There's autopilot! It's uh, a new feature though. Haven't tried it yet but it probably works." Red shrugs. "Besides, you wouldn't know anything about being a captain. I do, of course, because i'm the captain, obviously!"
"Well you're not really being a responsible captain, *captain*." Purple grits their teeth and begins to drag Red back to Nav.
"Wait! Hey, what are you doing?! I am your captain and i command you to-" Red was suddenly plopped down on the floor of their cockpit.
"Come on, Captain. Back to work." Purple says, nudging Red towards the wheel. "Come on Purps, you're acting like it's a crime if I just take a break for a second! It's got autopilot it'll be all fine. Also it says in the Captain's handbook that break time is necessary. So, gotta do what the book says!"
"Don't listen to that stupid book. I hate MIRA, but I don't hate our safety." Purple snatches the book from Red and tosses it aside.
"But the handbo-"
"Shut it about the handbook! The handbook doesn't do jack shit for you! Do you not know how to make your own decisions? Why do you rely on a stupid HANDBOOK to make your decisions for you and control you! Make your own decisions. For fuck's sake, it's a MIRA Handbook!!" Purple yells before running a hand through their hair, groaning.
"Woahh-ho ho Purps, calmmmm down." Red throws their hands up and chuckles. "I know what i'm doing, okay?"
"I've got every right to be mad! And don't tell me to 'calm down'. We can't even trust our captain to make their own decisions, how can we trust you with our safety?!"
"Well for your information I *can* make my own decisions and you can definitely trust me with your safety." Red huffs.
Before Purple could open their mouth to speak, suddenly the ship shook violently, tossing them both against the wall. Red fell on top of Purple.
"Great! This is what happens when you're not doing your job properly." Purple grumbled. "Can you get off me?" Red looks up and is immediately met by Purple's face, inches from theirs. Red doesn't realise how long they were staring for. Purple glares at them.
"Are you gonna get off me now?"
Red snaps out of their imagination and looks away flustered, still not getting off of Purple though.
"Any minute now."
"Oh yeah, uh, sorry." Red says, standing up off of Purple. "Thanks." Purple also stands up and dusts themselves off. A couple seconds later, speaking. "Didn't know i looked that good." They say, raising an eyebrow at Red.
"What? No- i mean, not like that- I meant-" Red scrambles trying to find their words, their cheeks hot with embarassment. "Honestly, I don't look as good as I did when we were interns." They say, thinking back on the time. Red was slightly surprised they brought up their past. Purple never liked talking about their past, it was only slightly better with Red around because they definitely knew Purple better than anyone else in the crew did. "Nooo, you still look.. er, great." Red says, not-so-reassuringly. Well, they weren't wrong, but it came out like they were lying.
"Well, thanks.." Purple says sarcastically.
"Not- that didn't sound right. I meant you still actually, really, look great. I wasn't joking!" Red studies Purple's familiar features like a friend you hadn't seen in so long you were forgetting what they looked like.
They stared at eachother for a good 5 seconds before Purple spoke again.
"You really think so?"
Red continues to stare at Purple, at the eyebags under their eyes, long purple hair tied into a low ponytail. As dishevelled as they looked, Red found them oddly...attractive? Well of course they did, even when they looked healthier before - not that they still don't - but when they used to date as interns before the incident. Red doesn't know much about what Purple was doing with their life after that, but they knew that Purple didn't wanna contact them for a good long while. Until now, but that was only because Red was the one who contacted them about the whole MIRA job thing. They had always felt guilty for what happened, and had always wanted to repair whatever they had with Purple, but Purple hasn't let go of the past that easily. Had this really affected them THIS much?
"Yeah! Of course." Red smiles. "You still look amazing! And uh.." They pause. Should they ask about- no.. it wouldn't be a good idea to ask about their past relationship. Red still really liked Purple, the sudden cut off of contact and the entire incident happened too quickly that Red sometimes thought they were still together.
"And?" Purple questions, trying to read Red's expression.
"Are we still-"
"No."
"I mean, but- are-"
"No."
Purple sighs. "I don't know if i can ever fully forgive you, Red. You ruined my life. I know we never actually broke up, but i don't believe we'll get together again."
"Well, come on, i miss what we had! And i'm really, really, really sorry for what happened!" Red tugs on Purple's arm.
"Me too. But I really think it'll take a while for me to forgive you. And um, you know, this is a good start." Purple scratches their neck.
...
Despite saying that, Purple and Red both knew it - they both missed it a lot. They were silent for a bit. The silence was deafening, like a ringing in their ear telling them they both knew DAMN well.
Suddenly, Red spoke.
"Can I hug you?"
Purple was slightly taken aback by the sudden question, but they let their guard down for once, and Red gave them the tightest hug ever. Purple stiffens, but slowly wraps their arms around Red and buries their head into Red's shoulder, taking in their scent. Purple didn't even know how long it had been since they last hugged or even made any sort of physical contact that wasn't them slapping Red's hand away whenever Red tried to get near them even a bit.
Red slowly runs their fingers through Purple's hair. Purple sighs. As much as they hated Red for what had happened, deep down they knew that they still loved them. Even if they don't show it well.
Suddenly-
"Uh..."
Purple and Red both immediately turn their heads toward the open doors. Great heavens, they've just been caught.
"Am I.. interuppting something..?" Green chuckles nervously. "I'll be..uh.. on my way now..!"
Purple suddenly pushes Red off of them and goes to grab Green by the collar. "Do NOT tell anyone about ANYTHING you saw, okay? Whatever you think is going on is NOT going on!"
"Woah woah woah! Purps, chillax! Sorry about them, Green." Red slowly pushes Purple away from Green and ushers Green out the doors.
"Be nice to our crew!"
"Okay, well I don't want people thinking we're- we're- ugh, nobody 's supposed to know about-"
"Uh pup pup! It's ooookay." Red puts their finger to Purple's lips.
Purple rolls their eyes but smiles. "Okay Captain, I can trust you, i'm sure."
Time skip to like the next day because i am a lazy fuckwit
Purple was back in security, on the cameras, as usual. But there was nothing remotely security related on their mind. All they could think about was Red.
'Really, Red? After all they did to you, you just forgive them, like that? Pathetic! You really like that stupid bastard? You can do better than this, Purple.'
Purple tried to ignore the voices swirling around in their head but just couldn't. Maybe they were right. Purple should just quit even trying to bond with Red. After all, they had ruined Purple's life. They had struggled so much all because of Red. They buried their head in their hands and sighed.
'Come on, you're such a loser. You can get on fine without them. Why do you still care about them? Your relationship ended a long time ago. They ruined your life...remember...?'
"Shut up!" Purple yells out, before shutting up themselves. They were too tired for this. They had gotten little to no sleep the past days on The Skeld. This diddy blud was also talking to themself, how embarassing
Eventually, Purple began to slowly drift off to sleep on their desk, knocking over a small picture frame.
At the same time, Red was sitting in Navigation, doing their captainly duties, as per usual, but there was nothing remotely captain related on their mind. The only thing that was on their mind was Purple.
Red, well, being themselves, and also being the captain, felt obliged to go check up on their crew. (Their "crew" meaning Purple)
As Red walked into the open security room, they saw Purple slumped over, their head resting on the desk, and Red noticed a small picture frame knocked over on the ground. They picked it up and blew the dust off it. It was a picture of Purple's fishmate.. Hercules, right? - Red couldn't recall. They smile and place the picture frame back on the desk next to the large computer screens that were playing back security footage.
Red looks down at Purple, snoozing. They run a hand through Purple's loose hair. Red stares at them for a good bit.
They notice the small bandage wrapped around their wrist.
Red takes off their jacket and places it over them, giving them a small kiss on the head and quickly walking off, shutting the doors to security behind them. Red was hoping Purple did not feel that kiss.
A couple hours later, Purple woke up suddenly with a jolt. Does anyone have those dreams where you like die or fall off or trip on something and you get jumpscared and then like wake up cause that's what Purple had
Purple felt something fuzzy over them, like a tent. They slowly yawn and sit upright, stretching their arms. A light thud could be heard from behind them. They swivel their chair around and see a heavy, dark red jacket that was lined with fuzz on the inside, on the ground. Purple recognised that jacket... it was Red's.
Purple slowly picks it up and runs their finger over the fuzzy lining. They sigh.
"I should return this to them." They mutter under their breath.
Red was playing games on his big screen when they heard a knock at their door. They jump and quickly turn off the game. "Y-yeah? Who is it?"
"It's me, Redsie."
The way Purple says their nickname, holy shit
Red gets up and opens the door. Purple shoves their jacket into their hands.
"Oh, thanks."
"Don't thank me."
"Are you upset?"
"No."
"What's with the, uh, i don't know, you sound a little mad."
"I'm not. Can we talk?"
Red furrows their brows.
"Yeah?"
Purple closes the doors behind them.
"Listen, I don't think we should - i just don't- how do i say this... I don't think we should be together. Maybe, we can stay friends, but i just feel like it's better if we distance from each other... I feel like it would be better for me, and I'm not saying like, i don't enjoy your company, but i just need some alone time. I'm still healing and i just don't want to get..um, too close with anyone. Let alone have a love life again."
Red was slightly taken aback. "Huh? Oh, that's, yeah. That's understandable. I just, well, I mean- we weren't really- i just wanted to- we can still be friends, right?"
"Sure, yeah.." Purple says, before turning to leave.
Red grabs their arm. "Wait!"
Purple turns around and pulls their arm out of Red's grip. "What?"
"I- i- I don't want you to leave."
...
"I- just- i really miss you, Purps. I'm sorry for what I did. Why did- we were just doing so good yesterday! Why'd you just...decide this? I dunno, you were just- why??" Red pulls Purple back towards them, inside the room. "You can talk to me! I know i haven't been the best towards you, but i'm trying!"
They don't respond.
"Look, just, whatever's on your mind, just tell me. I swear i'm not as stupid as i look."
...
"It's none of your business."
"Well, it clearly is! You're avoiding ME, you're making it about ME! Why me? If it's really none of my business? You're making it out like what I did killed you!"
"You RUINED my life! You wouldn't understand."
"Yeah, I don't! I don't understand because you won't TELL me!"
"You clearly wouldn't understand anyway! You've always been the good person in this story, always following MIRA and their pesky little rules. We had our whole lives ahead of us as little interns. And you would rather throw our friendship away for MIRA."
"That's not-"
"Don't give me that bullshit, Red. You're always making excuses! 'B-but-' but nothing! There is no buts!"
Red doesn't respond. They let go of Purple's arm, glancing once more at the bandage around their wrist.
Purple seems to notice this and quickly turns away. "Go back to driving your ship." They say, walking out as the doors close behind them. Red sat by themselves in the room silently.
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Purple was leaning back on their chair, staring into space instead of the cameras. It was god knows how late, and all they wanted to do was sleep, but their mind was overflowing with thoughts. Not that any of it was important, but they were all causing Purple to not be able to sleep. So many things were on their mind. From reminders to memories and all the inbetweens. Purple couldn't get a moment of silence from their brain no matter how hard they tried. All they wanted to do was sleep, really.
They groan and look around the room. It was dark, the only light emitting from the large computer screens in front of them. It was cold, since their heater was broken.
and yeah tahgs it u guys can imagine the rest or smth