Purple's PoV:
I couldn't focus during the meeting. That child who hurt herself... she's a bad influence on my little Violet. It made me worry about her safety.
So I had to distract myself, and the only thing, or person, that could possibly take my mind off it was just sitting a few feet away from me. I managed to catch his eyes a few times during the past minute or so, and there were definitely some sparks.
He ended the meeting (his sense of authority is sooo dreamy) and decided to walk off down a corridor. Naturally, I followed him.
That was until I saw that he was talking to Lime... I prefer being with Black alone, I think he gets a little romantically shy when outsiders are around. I'll catch him later, I thought, pretending that medbay was where I was going anyway.
After that, I wondered what to do - not staying in here, that's for sure. Finally deciding to check on my daughter, I made my way back to the bedrooms. This is hers, right?
Umm... why is the door slightly open?
Nervously glancing in, I sighed with relief when I saw her sleeping peacefully.
But I was fairly certain that she was still supposed to be sharing a room with someone-
I shrugged it off. Meh, perhaps you're just a little on edge, Niriyah, that other kid is probably going to the toilet or something.
With absolutely nothing else left to do, I went back to the cafeteria to find the others, however only Cyan was there.
"Hi Cy" I smiled, giving a wave. He half-heartedly waved back but didn't return the smile. What was up with him?
He was less talkative than usual, which was awkward. "So" I continued after a while, "why's it so quiet in here?"
"The other adults are either dead, a murderer, or putting a kid to bed." He shrugged.
"Both of them?" I asked, "does it really take two people to take a little kid to their room?"
Finishing his drink of water, Cyan grunted before replying with "when people are as incompetent as those two crewmates, yes. It does."
"Black's not incompetent" I reasoned, "he's smart. Lime, on the other hand... he seems sweet but definitely not the brightest, I suppose..."
The other crewmate merely shrugged. Guess someone's not in the mood for chatting today... must be the stress. Yeah, definitely.
...also, how long will Black take putting that child to sleep??
Eventually I gave up, walking back to my own bedroom. If the adults aren't allowed to share rooms, how come my bedroom has a double bed? Do the others have rooms like this? Is the universe purely doing this to heighten my loneliness more?
Sighing as I opened my drawer, fishing around for my notepad and a pencil, I began sketching. Not really thinking about it too much. I felt myself grow tired, but continued anyway. At some point I must have dozed off, because the next thing I know is that my morning alarm went off.
Ugh, great-
Coal's PoV:
"Hey, you okay?" The hand that tapped my shoulder shocked me. Lapis.
"Uh, yeah. Sure. Just tired" I muttered, not bothering to hide the annoyed tone.
Our leader sighed softly, taking the seat next to me. "I'm sorry" he confessed after a second, "I was... wrong."
"Huh?"
"Well," he continued, "I... should have listened to you. We should have all listened to you. I'm just, I guess, afr-AWARE that I... made a mistake." He gulped, then studied my face for a reaction.
Nodding, I bitterly replied "yeah. Yeah you should have listened to me, I mean... I know ASAN better than you, huh? I knew they wouldn't just let us go. They never let go."
His smile faltered for a second as he shot me a confused glance, so I explained further.
"MY father," I snapped, aware that I still had to keep my voice low, "he got me out of there. To safety. I escaped, Lapis. I was free."
"I don't... I don't understand, Coal-"
"But I was never free, was I? Huh?" I softly growled, "they were there, watching, waiting. The. Entire. Time. None of us are free, ever."
With that, I began to storm off out of the cafeteria, my breakfast forgotten. Lapis made some attempt to call me back. Did he really expect me to listen to him?
Just as I reached the door, however, Scarlet appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "What happened?" She asked, walking with me trough the corridor and into storage where we could have a conversation without the rest of the crew hearing. I began restlessly pacing around, trying to relieve the stress that I'd let build up inside me.
"I... I leave you for a few minutes to grab some cereal, and then this happens??" Scarlet asked, following me around and trying to stop my pacing. "You've gotta stop bottling your emotions, okay? It's not healthy for you-"
"But he should have listened! Heck - even you agreed with him..." I exploded, throwing my hands up into the air in frustration.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, "I just... wanted to prove that we didn't have to be scared any more. Maybe I'm a little too optimistic on these things-"
I dejectedly sat down next to one of the crates, head in my hands. "Why can't I be optimistic? I'm not like my dad at all..."
"Hey. You are a good person, Coal, just like him. We just... all struggle sometimes."
"Guess so" I muttered. Scarlet also sat down, gently taking my hand and this immediately made me feel a little better. "Thanks."
We sat in silence for a while, until we heard the others beginning to pour out of the cafeteria to do their tasks. "Well, let's go then!" she exclaimed, I smiled a little but shook my head.
"I think I really need to be alone for a while... I'll find you later, promise" I declared.
"Sure, you take your time" Scarlet nodded, "but as soon as you're ready, we're getting you straight to weapons so you can try out shooing asteroids!"
Nodding, I slipped into electrical, and quickly checked that nobody had entered the room before slipping into the vent. Nobody could disturb me here... right?
Mango's PoV
Since I got up this morning, I've had this weird feeling that things were gonna turn out for the better. I have no idea where it came from, but I'm thankful for it.
I mean, the adults say Rose is okay, and she'll only improve from there, right?
She's still in Medbay, but apparently she won't be there for long. That's good.
Glancing around the cafeteria, I noticed that everyone else looked okay as well... um, aside from Teal. She was sat with her dad, and didn't seem to be most pleased with it.
Sure, I'm scared of Cyan... but I'm a good friend, so-
"H-Hi" I mumbled, now gripping onto my bowl so tightly I thought it was gonna break. Teal glanced towards me for a second then returned her gaze to the floor. "Um, I'm Teal's friend, Mango. I-Is it okay if I sit here?"
Cyan nodded, but kept a skeptical eye on me as I moved closer towards the table.
But actually, he was okay! See, this is why first impressions are almost always wrong and you need to give people second chances, or even third chances! We talked for a while and he even seemed to be quite relaxed, I relaxed too. Teal looked kinda surprised, but sighed and didn't join our conversation.
I hope she will eventually...
Teal's PoV:
This is how it happens.
This is how it always happens.
I know because he's done this maaaany times before.
My dad only is civil so he can get my friends into a false sense of security. Mentally, he's on full alert and listening closely to everything they say, silently judging them, weighing them up in his head.
And when he finds the perfect moment, he'll carefully construct a way to subtly ask for the information he wants. And he gets it.
Every. Time.
He usually drives them away eventually... then I need to find new friends, and he has fresh interrogations... and you get the idea basically.
It just... makes me feel so alone-
"I bet my daughter has helped you out a lot, especially considering your... I'm sorry to say this, but... circumstances-" he declared, faking a sincere and caring tone.
Mango was innocent. "Yeah! She happily exclaimed, thinking she was about to say something he was going to praise me for, "she showed me how to talk to ghosts!!"
Now that's done it...
My dad's smile faltered a bit, he blinked a few times in the pause that followed. "I'm... sorry, sweetie" he slowly said, physically forcing each word out of his mouth, "but ghosts. Don't. Exist."
After that sentence, I saw her face drop. "B-but... they do, I talk to her!"
"No." He firmly declared, roughly grabbing my arm as he stood up. "Now, breakfast is over if I'm not mistaken, and so is this conversation. Nice meeting you, Manky."
"It's Mango" I grumbled, the first time I'd spoken at all that day, and I'm pretty sure the last as well.
...can you blame me? He always tells me to talk, but the moment I do it only earns me a slap across the face.
I half walked, half let myself be dragged out to the corridor.
Physical pain doesn't hurt me much any more... it's just the emotional that's eating me up inside.