Chapter Text
The morning was long and dragging. Thoughts nagging in the back of his head as Curly had his breakfast, along with a coffee from the vending machine. Thank God the Pony Express had those damn vending machines, and that milk and sugar was already in the drink, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to stomach it if not. It clearly wasn't real nor high quality, but it at least covered the burnt bean flavor of the cheap coffee they used. Actually, the flavor of the coffee itself seemed to be instant powder rather than actually steeped grounds. They were in space after all, but he at least expected a little more for being stuck out here for so long. Morale was hard to come by.
And speaking of sugar, Anya wasn't lying. Daisuke had gotten ahold of the code scanner and stolen some sweetener from the dispenser. Apparently, he had gotten a hold of it while everyone was supposed to be sleeping. How he managed to pull that off with only Anya noticing was a mystery to Curly, but at least the debacle was an interesting one. Lots of questioning/interrogating with Daisuke denying it all and saying that he really had no idea where it was or that there was sweetener missing in the first place. That is until Curly checked his sleeping quarters, and like magic, there was a packet placed neatly under his pillow. Upon this discovery, Curly was met with a flurry of "How did that get there?" and "Oh man I had no idea!" Surely Daisuke didn't think he was that dumb. Curly let him off with a smack on the wrist. Literally. Daisuke had reached for the packet before Curly could put it away. "Oh, come on, it's already out. Might as well!" That earned him a slap to the hand, which he held to his chest dramatically like a wounded dog, wiping a fake tear from his eye. "No need to be so cruel." That did manage to get a snicker from Curly, who rolled his eyes and ruffled his hair.
"Come on, you have to help Swansea anyways, he's been waiting for you in the utility room this whole time. What was it he said?" Curly put his knuckles to his lips in thought, furrowing his brows for added effect before a look of realization took over his expression. "Oh right! That's what he said. 'He can't possibly be expected to do everything by himself, he was sent as an intern for a reason.' That sure sounds a lot like he's asking for a certain someone to help, doesn't it?" Curly left out the part where Swansea called him "lousy" and "good for nothing" to spare the poor kid's feelings, he knew how much Swansea's approval meant, even if there wasn't much of it.
The fake look of hurt and disappointment was wiped away almost instantly and Daisuke's head popped back up. "Oh! Had we really been looking for my stash for that long-? Uh- I mean what stash? I don't know what you're talking about." That earned an unimpressed look from Curly, which rushed Daisuke along. "You know what, I'll just go, see ya Captain!"
"Alright, but if anymore sweetener goes missing-"
"I'll pay for it, I know!" Oh, he'd definitely be paying for it. Paying with one hell of an ass whooping. That kid needed a better head on his shoulders if he was going to do the job he was sent out to do, maybe Swansea was right to want that axe. But before Curly could get another word in, Daisuke had left. That was his sign then, time to go back down. That was his job after all. But he couldn't move. It was as though his feet had sunk into deep pits of cement, and he couldn't take a single step away from the spot he was stuck in, so he just stayed, sighing as his gaze lingered on the doorway down to the deck corridors below him. Just a few minutes here wouldn't hurt, would it? Curly couldn't stand the thought of going down just yet, so he waited.
Eventually he did have to go down. It took a long time, probably somewhere around 15 minutes to finally pick up his feet, but he did need to do his job. Curly decided to spare himself the misery and take the long way past the cargo room, making the walk as slow as possible, all because he wanted to avoid the inevitable. However, the closer he got to the cockpit, the more his stomach started to churn. Curly could practically taste the bile that was rising from his throat. Maybe he could just sleep at the wheel and not have to think about it, but that would be putting everyone in danger. He had to keep a level head for now, if not for himself, then for everyone else. It was a captain's duty after all. Too bad he was required to have a damn co-pilot. Why did he have to help him get this position, screw him for wanting to help out a friend right? Or whatever they were. He couldn't figure it out now.
Curly was at the utility room door now, and it felt like a snake had coiled itself around his throat and squeezed. He had to strain for each breath, eyes glued to the small window on the door where he could see Swansea teaching Daisuke how to set up a simple, single switch circuit. Hell, he actually seemed to be learning from the old man. This crew could use two working mechanics instead of just one. As much of a soft spot Curly had for Daisuke, he wasn't exactly the most experienced crew member aboard. Well, obviously. He was an intern. This whole shipment was his learning opportunity after all.
Curly let out a long sigh, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jumpsuit. He couldn't just stand here forever and wait for the ship to drive itself. They were heading for an asteroid belt soon, and he needed to guide them through the space rocks. They wouldn't be getting paid if no one made it out on the other side of this... Or if their equipment was damaged. Either way it was time to get a move on.
He now stood in front of doors to the cockpit, the automatic airlocks. They loomed, guarding the main room. It gave the illusion of safety, the feeling that he'd be ok behind those doors of steel. That's all it was though, an illusion. A mirage in the scorching desert when he was desperate for a drink of water. The doors opened as he approached, one by one to the cockpit. It seemed to stretch on forever. That was just him though wasn't it, just the dread carrying on the seconds.
Then another door opened. And another. And another... And another.... They just kept going. The same doors looped over and over again, the hiss and screech of the doors opening now becoming droning. Except one. It opened, and Curly was left with an open, empty hallway. It stretched on into an endless void, going so far that he couldn't see the end. He turned his head around and... All the doors were gone. More black void. It too, stretched on, creaking and groaning. Metal bending under the weight of. Something. He didn't know what, but it was big, crushing. It caused pipes to bend like they were breathing, back and forth, up and down. Pumping water and air like veins, a throat that couldn't close.
His feet clunked against the steel grates as he walked. The sound echoed through, loud and overbearing, covering the ambience of the pipes. The sound buzzed in his head, along with the sharp smell of iron, it was all making his head spin.
But there was another noise. The soft running of water, something akin to a small creek or a stream. It trickled quietly as he walked but only seemed to get louder, more roaring. The only thing to overpower it was the sound of alarms blaring, the sharp screech made him jump, along with the flashing of red that blinded him for a brief second after being submerged in darkness for so long. Then, a sudden cold shock touched his feet, soaking his shoes. His feet planted into the ground, and he slowly turned his head down. Water was rushing over his shoes, water level climbing higher and higher up his ankles, to his legs, and it wouldn't slow down. It just kept rising, along with the panic in his chest. Both were icy and cold, his chest squeezing each breath. Curly looked from one end of the hall to the other, his palms and face starting to sweat and his heart starting to race. The walls felt like they could close in on him, especially with how they groaned and screeched with the rush of water, hell they seemed to scream. Then-
CRACK
Something in the hull had snapped open, and it was clear by the roar of a crashing wave that the flash flood of water was now heading straight for him. White water ripping through the corridor to get to him, chasing him down like a hungry pack of rabid dogs. His legs finally uprooted from the floor, and he made a run for it, bolting down the hall as fast as his legs could take him. The screaming of alarms only making the panic in his chest rise more and more, water snapping at his heels, until he was swallowed whole by the surge. The blow knocked the air from his lungs as he was pulled under and dragged with the harsh current.
He was going to die here. He was going to drown, suffocate under the unimaginable pressure, vision now fading. The weight released its grip. He was free.
Curly was standing in front of the cockpit door, hand bracing the latch.
He pulled up the latch and it opened.
The door squeaked as his hand pushed it in caution. He wasn't here. The room was empty and quiet, subtle beeps and clicks faded into the background, along with the hisses of pipes. It was far too silent here, and odd as it was, Curly preferred it that way right now. The stillness of everything was just comforting. Typically, Curly would actually want someone down here with him, but not this time. It was for the best that Jimmy wasn't lurking around in here now, the thought of it made him feel sick to his stomach, like someone cut him open to reveal his insides. Maybe he should've asked Anya for nausea meds. That would've at least calmed the churning.
He sat down in his pilot seat, leaning into the back with a heaved sigh and the fingers on his right hand rubbed his temple. Curly didn't want to be down here; he didn't want to even think about the fact he was either. It was all enough to bring back the spins and racing heart.
That is until a noise made his body jump then tense. It was the shriek of the door.
Shit.
"Oh, Curly." Jimmy's voice cut through the silence like a rusted blade. It scraped and infected the air, bleeding it dry. "I didn't think I'd find you. I was looking all over the ship, even checked the utility room. I thought that you might've locked yourself in the cargo hold."
Curly thought he was going to black out that very second, and despite the almost playful nature in his tone, it still made his skin crawl. There wasn't any ignoring him when Jimmy could clearly see the golden curls on his head over the top of his chair. "Fuck- Don't scare me like that Jimmy. Jesus." He could hear the footsteps make their way over to the seat next to him. His not so trusty co-pilot sat right beside him like nothing had ever even happened. It unnerved him more than if he'd said something. Jimmy seemed just far too calm for any of this.
"Well fuck, I'm sorry. I had no idea you'd be so jumpy all of a sudden." It was like nothing changed, like nothing had happened the night before and changed every single damn thing between them. Like the very foundation of their relationship hadn't cracked and toppled over, a ruin now. "Don't tell me that the course has you shaken now. That's not a good look for you in the slightest you know."
"I'm not jumpy." Curly scorned, keeping his eyes glued to the screens in front of him. The green lettering reflected on his eyes; they were still on course luckily. Thank God. This may have been an easier asteroid belt to navigate, but that didn't mean they shouldn't be at least a little cautious. He let out a heave of a sigh, ignoring that final comment. "And I'm not scared, I'm just focused. You should be too. This area isn't exactly the safest for this vessel given her age." Curly was just trying to play off his own nerves, ones that only grew more sensitive the longer Jimmy lingered in the room with him. The more his stare burned through the side of his head. Curly didn't even have to look. He could feel the penetrating gaze, it was intrusive.
Jimmy rolled his eyes; this was dismissive at best and ignorant at worst. "It can't possibly be that bad. Those rocks don't even look that big, for asteroids that is. I'm sure since we have such a perfect captain on board, you can pull us through. Right?" There was a sting of venom behind those words, more potent than that of a rattlesnake. Hell, he looked like one right now, ready to strike at any second, or was that just his anxiety getting the better of him? Curly couldn't tell. But those eyes... Fuck they chilled him to his core.
"I... Yeah." He wanted to say more, but the words got caught in his throat. That only seemed to raise the tensions as they both lingered in silence.
Jimmy looked away only for a moment before he gave Curly a side eye, deciding to break the silence with an exhale through his nose. "You've been acting strange, you know that?" He stated, peeling his eyes away from Curly. Finally, he could breathe a little easier.
"What? No, I'm doing fine. I told you, just focused. We're going to be going through a rough patch here so-" Curly was adjusting some of the controls to dodge and asteroid, but his hands were pulled away from the controls.
"You can't just ignore me you know. I've known you long enough to know when you're being fucking weird man."
Curly stopped breathing for a moment, and his eyes widened as alarms blared briefly. He snatched his hands away once he got out of his short freeze spell and got the ship corrected. Jimmy couldn't be this careless, could he? "Jesus Christ Jimmy! You can't do that while I'm steering. We could've run into the damn thing!" As if this already bad situation couldn't get any worse. "I don't want our pay getting docked because of a mistake like that. Especially since you're our co-pilot."
Jimmy's brows only furrowed more. He sucked at his teeth and crossed his arms. "Well, don't go blaming that on me. You're the one who's actually steering, I just wanted to get your attention since you seem so out of it. Fuck, God forbid I worry about you. You sure Anya cleared you as 'fit to fly'? It really doesn't seem like you are."
The string of back handed comments was really starting to get under his skin. This didn't feel like he was worrying about him. It was more like he was trying to force something out of him, perhaps a certain situation that happened recently. Might as well get to the point if this is how he was going to be. "What are you trying to get at?" Maybe he'd just leave him be after this. Please, he was praying that Jimmy would just leave him alone.
Jimmy leaned farther back into his chair, nose crinkling from his scowl. "What I'm trying to get at? It's the fact you've been avoiding me, haven't you." God dammit, Curly had hoped it be at least a few days, but it's not exactly easy to hide from someone you've known for way more than a decade. "It's not exactly like you've been trying to hide it at all. You usually just get started with breakfast around the same time I started looking for you."
Well, that's not something to get all uppity about.
"The breakfast you gather us all up for."
Right. That is something to get uppity about.
"And as I was asleep in bed, waiting for Captain Curly's wake up call, so imagine my surprise when I'm actually awoken by my actual alarm. I thought to myself, that's odd, and it only got stranger when I couldn't find you anywhere. I then came to the very logical conclusion that you did that on purpose." Jimmy seemed to be somewhat proud of his revelation, and well... In a way he wasn't exactly wrong.
Curly avoided Jimmy's glare, keeping his eyes glued to the screens. He had to think of something. "You guys need to start waking up on your own. I can't do everything for the crew all the time. You all have free will, right? It's one of God's greatest gifts." There was a thin veil of sarcasm to his words, one he wished he'd ripped off before speaking. That needed to be covered up. "You need more sleep anyways; I swear you only get like 3 hours a night. Pony Express mandate is 5." He glanced at Jimmy through the corner of his eyes. Curly swore he could feel the nerves make his hands shake, but the answer didn't seem to pacify him. Shit, time to brace for more questioning.
"Tsk. My sleep is none of your concern. Leave that for the nurse, yeah? But if you just have to know and stick your nose into my problems, I know the requirements. I stick to my schedule." He paused, upper teeth showing from his snarl. "Unlike some people."
It was obvious what he was referring to. He had been up way earlier than usual that morning. Anya herself pointed it out when she found him instead of Jimmy. Even if he always had a bit of a sleep problem, he wasn't the type to do anything as a distraction, let alone work. Curly silently wished that he could go back to that conversation with Anya. It was easier to navigate. "Meaning?" Ah yes, the good ol' trick of playing dumb. Curly tried to make himself look as genuinely confused as possible. Best to try and get this over with sooner rather than later.
Jimmy rolled his eyes, sucking air through his teeth. His frustration was becoming more apparent the longer this went on, leg shaking and arms crossed. This wasn't going to go anywhere good. Curly sank into his chair to brace himself. Jimmy slammed his fist against the control panel right, the sudden movement making Curly jump. "Meaning?? What I'm meaning is I haven't seen you all god damn morning, and of all the people on this ship, you're not the one who tends to put in extra hours in the middle of the night." Curly clenched his jaw, if he bit down any harder his teeth might snap in half. He couldn't say anything or even look at Jimmy, his eyes were just glued to the automation screens in front of him. "So, what is it? Are we suddenly not partners anymore? Can you just not stand the sight of me?"
That's one way to put it. "No, Jimmy. I just-"
Jimmy didn't even let him finish. "'You fucking' what. Was it last night? Because if I remember correctly you really seemed to enjoy that."
So, he did remember. The reminder of everything that happened the night prior made something inside of him break. Like an already cracked pane of glass, it only took a bit of pressure to fracture it to pieces. "Fuck- Jim, will you just listen to me? Just this fucking once." Curly snapped; he was finally hitting his breaking point with this man. Every nerve felt like it was on fire, blazing from his fingertips to his chest. "I. Couldn't. Sleep. There's nothing more, and there's nothing less. I'm tired, I'm stressed, and that god damn intern has been stealing shit- Listen, I know you're worried in your own weird ass way but I'm just." His hands shook as he gripped the steering control, knuckles now white, heart beating out of his chest and roaring in his ears. "Give me just a moment to think, okay? And to be clear, my sleep is none of your concern either. I'm the captain. That's for our crew's nurse, do you understand?" Curly boomed.
Jimmy didn't respond.
Curly could only breathe for a while, gathering himself so that he could speak again. "Good. Great." He finally let himself relax in his seat again, sighing heavily as his hands loosened their grasp on the steering. He could feel the blood rushing back to them. Now that all of his more extreme emotions have settled down to their stasis as a nervous churn in his stomach, Curly started to feel that twang of embarrassment as well. It started to burn at his face. While it did feel good to let out some of that inner frustration, he hadn't actually meant to snap so harshly at Jimmy. He was still his closest friend after all, and they were stuck in space together. "We'll uh... We'll talk about it later. For now, let's just keep working. Yeah?"
Jimmy still didn't utter a word, keeping silence between them tight and ready to splinter with even the threat of a breath. Even if it kept tensions high, it was better than the interrogation he had to go through, so that was a win in his book. For now, at least. It was going to have to be good enough.
God, this was going to be a long haul.