Lime's PoV:
Chocolate sat with me at dinner, not with the rest of the children who were all eating together in a circle on the floor, like some sort of picnic.
Oh, and Emerald...
Chocolate eventually decided to talk to Lapis, and I took this as my chance to quickly sneak off and find Emerald.
I ended up searching the whole ship before ending up back in the cafeteria, sprinting through the crowded room, past Red who was running... from something, apparently... and that's when I saw him, on the balcony. Watering this tiny little plant that had two small leaves sprouting out of it.
"Oh, there you are Emerald!" I exclaim, still panting from racing through the entirety of Mira HQ.
"Hi Lime" he smiles. "Look, I found it in medbay..." His voice trails off, tears threatening to fall down his face.
Aw- that's so sweet I'm going to explodeeee
And please don't cry otherwise I will too
Somehow, I managed to ask "you hungry?"
"Yea but I wanna stay here" he declares
I smile, holding out a bowl of noodles, which I know to be his favourite. "Good, because I brought you some here"
"Wow, thank you!" He removes his helmet and grins, eagerly gobbling them down.
"So, where are you going to sleep tonight?" I ask him as he eats.
"Uh" he mumbles through a particularly large mouthful, "just in my old room, I guess?"
There were 12 rooms, each with two beds; one adult size, and one small one. Even mine, which just highlighted my loneliness every night.
"Are you going to be okay on your own?" I ask
"Yup!" He smiles, nodding vigorously. "I'm a big boy!"
"Okay Emerald" I laugh. "Enjoy your food"
"Hey, Lime?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you close to finding out who did it?"
"Not yet" I admit
"Be safe" he tells me. "Stay alive please, and find the imposter so they don't hurt anyone else!"
I'll try Emerald... I'll try. For you, and for Chocolate.
Back in the cafeteria, a very relieved looking Chocolate flies straight into my arms before I could even register what was happening. "I thought you were g-gone l-like my m-mommy" he tells me, wiping his tears on my shoulder, his breaths deep and shaky.
"It's okay, I'm here" I assure him, "I promise I'll protect you".
"Hey, Lime" someone says from behind me.
Ugh, I know THAT voice.
"Yeah?" I answer in as happy of a tone as I could muster as Chocolate went back to play with the rest of the group.
"Could you-"
"Watch your daughter?" I interrupt, only just turning around to face Pink.
"Ooo, someone moody, much?" He patronisingly waggles a finger in my face, right in front of my eyes.
"Just, I don't know if I can" I grumble.
"Aww no," Pink says in mock sadness. "Oh what a terrible shame!"
I scowl and his voice suddenly turns back to his usual snobbish one. "Yes you can do it. And you will"
"But, I just-" I protest, thinking back to last time. "Well, before she kinda... she doesn't really like me and..." I trail off
Pink rolls his eyes before sighing, "And what?"
"Well..." I squeak, painfully aware of how pathetic I sounded. "I don't think I can take it"
"What? Whatever she said, she's just a child - it's not like she means it! You're just weak!" Pink exclaims, his voice raising. "You work with children all the time, it's the only job you can do. You 'can't take it'? Well then you're good at nothing. You're useless!"
At this point, people had started looking.
It's okay... keep it together... don't cry in front of everyone, they already think you're weak anyway.
Hushed murmurs broke the silence as I tried to figure out what to say.
"So?" Pink asked, intimidatingly stepping forwards. I involuntarily stumble backwards, my back now pressed against the wall.
"I'm not weak" I declare, trying my best to sound brave.
Pink smirks at this. "Okay, let's test that theory"
Before I could even question what he meant by that, I felt a fist slam into my stomach, making me literally yelp in pain and surprise as I crashed to the floor.
No- no, not now...
I scramble to my feet, still pretty winded, sharply inhaling as the sudden movement sends another jolt of pain through my body. Looking extremely pleased with himself as I frantically attempt to wipe away my tears, Pink leans in close to whisper "not so confident now, are we?"
"Whatever" I mumble, not liking how my voice wavered slightly. The rest of the crew go back to whatever they were doing before. "So you mean you want me to watch her for the night? For what reason, because-"
"Shh" he says, "nothing you haven't done before. Plus, none of your business" -such a snob- "however if you must know, I have matters to attend to"
Will he just go away already?!
Luckily for me, he does. "Hi Rose" Chocolate greets, racing back towards us.
"Hello..." she replies with a hint of arrogance.
"Okay, time to-" I begin, but get interrupted by another crewmate.
"Lime?"
What nowwww?
"Please, if you don't mind, would you be able to-"
"Babysitting duty, yes OKAY!" I explode, before quickly taking it back when I see the offended look on Orange's face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, I'm just really stressed at the moment, and you know..."
"Yeah it's okay" he nods, still seeming unsure. "Let's just say it's even now. For me offending you earlier today, in the first meeting..."
It takes me a second to register what he was referring to "Oh, that! Yeah, don't worry, that was just the truth after all" I murmur.
"Okay" Orange shrugs.
He... he's not going to tell me that it wasn't true? Ugh, it's not like I was expecting any different.
"So, any specific reason?" I ask, now just attempting to make some friendly conversation to make up for my little outburst.
"Well..." he mutters, glancing from side to side as if checking if anyone was still listening in. "I kinda... I'm just meeting someone, ya know..."
"Oh, okay" I shrug. (Absolutely not putting two and two together)
Black's PoV:
"Hi" Orange smiled as he walked up to me. Coal was hanging or with some of the other kids, and I was just chilling.
"Hey"
"Uh, Black can I get your advice on something? You're the best at that sorta thing"
"Yeah sure" I shrug, "fire away"
"Soo... I gather you saw what Red did like ten minutes ago?"
After a second, I reply "Think so. Red can be so annoying sometimes" I laugh.
"Alright... so, I'm possibly meeting someone tonight... but I don't know if I should or not..."
The realisation suddenly hits me. "Okay.. ooohhh... OOOHHHH ALRIGHTY THEN!"
Orange winces, biting his lip.
"Yeah... so... you both actually... OKAY I was not expecting that but..." I murmur
"It's nothing serious, just..." he trails off, nervously staring down at the ground.
Now this was slightly awkward. "Well, huh, not to criticise, but Pink? Of all people? I don't know... he just doesn't seem the 'friendly' type, let alone the romantic type..." I murmur, after what Pink just did to Lime, there's no way I'd expect him to have the ability to have affectionate feelings towards ANYONE
"NonoNO it's not like tha- Okay never mind maybe it is" he nervously laughs, "but trust me, he may seem sort of mean, but I think he's a softie really. But you did NOT hear this from me, gottit?" He suddenly looked really serious
"Yeah-" I mumble, now slightly scared of Orange.
He may 'SEEM' 'SORT OF' mean?
I take a while to think about what he had said.
"Just, be yourself I guess. If it works, it'll work. Don't back out or you'll regret it." Is all I have in the way of advice. Dang, I'm usually good at this type of stuff.
"Okay, thanks" he nods, before walking off down the steps that were in the corner of cafeteria, leading to the 12 bedrooms.
Good luck, Orange.