Chapter Text
Moon took things into his own hands. It was easy to distract and get away from the captain since he was a raging idiot. Just tell him he had to go to the bathroom and head out.
Maroon and Grey were running around together, and separating Maroon out was also easy because the moron just wandered out of electrical after Grey was working. Maroon is the one who’d had the drugs, and a lot of them. Moon had watched the tapes and found him stashing packages in the cargo. And now that he’d had his stash confiscated, withdrawl had set in.
“Maroon,” Moon hummed as he was passed in the halls.
The smaller crewmate startled and looked up, “o-oh, uh, hey...blue. Where’s cap?”
“watching my post for me,” it was easy enough to lie, since captain was in the room, but he was organizing the tapes by number. “I know you’re smuggling drugs.”
“H-wha?” he was already shaking.
“Seriously?” Moon took him by the arm and guided him, toward the brig, but he’d never get that far. “How much money are you making dealing anyway?”
“I-i can cut you in, blue, just...just let me have my personal stuff back? Please? I’m crashing hard, I haven’t had anything for a month,” he whined, and just as they reached a vent, Moon’s eyes glowed through his mask as he grinned.
“Oh don’t worry. You won’t suffer anymore,” and with that, he threw the vent open and yanked Maroon in with him.
-
Sun and White were on Kitchen duty, which made it easy for Sun to sneak pieces of meat to keep his hunger at bay. Then Moon messaged him, “Sun, come to our quarters. I have something to discuss. It’s private.”
He looked at White and said quietly, “Blue wants to talk to me in our quarters. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, I can handle this. Just as long as you come straight back.”
“Okay.” Sun went quickly, and Moon was grinning.
“I have to go back, but I got you a meal. Just take an arm or something, and I’ll head back to cameras. Just be careful, hon, because he was an addict.” Moon kissed Sun quickly, then put his helmet back on, and ran out.
Looking in the closet, Sun found Maroon’s body, helmet already off and stripped to make it easiest on Sun. it was a sweet gesture, and Sun happily followed Moon’s suggestion, ripping off an arm and swallowing it to keep himself going, licking his hands clean before going to the bathroom and heading back to the kitchen.
-
Captain was none the wiser as usual, having spent the majority of the time actually playing on his phone, which allowed Moon to scrub the tapes and loop where necessary, replaying a visit to the bathroom from earlier in the day that he’d made specifically for the purpose.
All was well. Grey reported Maroon missing, nobody could find him, the buddy system was off kilter again, and Sun, Moon, and Coral were all cleared for this one.
Since it happened when everyone was separated, and Captain couldn’t recall exactly when Moon left, everybody was cleared and things went back to previous arrangement. Grey couldn’t even place when Maroon had left, and the camera was broken. This brought Captain into suspicion and Grey, so now everybody was blaming everybody besides the person who was with them.
Panic was the atmosphere, and everybody was locked in their rooms for the night.
Coral texted Sun and Moon, and Moon cuddled Sun after he’d finished eating Maroon.
Starbite: Guys, I’m scared. I don’t like that something happened while I was away from you.
Moon: Sweetheart, we’re both safe and so are you, that’s all that matters and we’ll all spend tomorrow together.
Sun: We love you, sunshine! And no matter what happens, we’re going to protect you and each other above all else. Sleep tonight, and we’ll snuggle all day if you want. Captain gave us all a day off to get over the shock.
Starbite: Good. I’ll see you both at breakfast. I love you.
Moon: We love you, too.
Sun: all our love, sweetheart! Goodnight!
Looking at Sun, Moon said quietly, “We have to tell them at some point so they won’t be afraid.”
“I know. Let me just...digest this, and we’ll tell them. Tomorrow,” Sun cuddled into Moon and shifted a bit, his hunger sated for the moment and not wanting to face the certain issues they’d run into on confessing.
“And if they don’t want us anymore, love?” Moon asks, and Sun whimpers.
“Then we leave the ship as soon as possible. I can’t...I love them, so much, and seeing them look at us like monsters...it’s going to hurt.”
“I know,” Moon sighs, not happy either. “But it has to come out at some point. And tomorrow is the second best day to do it.”
“What’s the best day?” Sun asks, hoping it’s further away.
“The day we realized we cared about them,” Moon responds and Sun groans and pushes him softly. It just earns him another nuzzle to the head. “If it works out, it does, and if it doesn’t, we’ll have another year of blanks. It’s not the end of the world.”
Sun feels a tiny modicum better, but Moon knows it was a lie. For him, for them, they’d feel like it was the end of the universe.
-
You were in Sun and Moon’s room, cuddling with both of them quietly, and Sun cleared his throat but none of you would ever know what he would have said because Tan comes in and screams, “The captain’s dead!”
“what?!” all three of you say and Tan waves his arms.
“Lime was going to check the cargo and found Captain stabbed to death!”
All three of you get up and Moon makes sure you’re all ready before he leads the way.
Tan takes you to a hallway and you hide your face, not wanting to see the body. Sun holds you close and murmurs, “Let Moon take care of it. He’ll figure it out.”
The remaining crew are scared, most either staring at the body or huddling together. White is at the front, trying to keep everyone back as Moon comes in to look things over. “Blue, go to the cameras and see if you can see anything. Yellow should clean this up and put him away properly.”
Moon looked at Sun, and you don’t know what to do. Sighing, Moon comes over and picks you up, hiding your face against his chest, “I’ll take them with me. I refuse to let them be alone right now. Yellow and I can defend ourselves. I doubt they can.”
You nod, knowing you’re very fragile compared to your boys, since they were some sort of metallic beings. Stabbing wouldn’t be able to get through their skin, you’d felt for yourself how sturdy they were. White just waves you off and Moon takes you quickly to the camera room.
“Love,” he says very quietly, “Sun and I need to tell you something, but it will have to wait until I can make sure whoever killed Purple can’t get to you. Or at least another few days. I can’t put confessing a secret over making sure you’re safe.”
“o-okay,” you spend the rest of the night sitting with Moon, and eventually Sun, while he tries to find any clues to what happened to the captain.
-
Both of them are out the next day, but Moon’s sluggish. You watch him since everybody has holed up in their various rooms or places of work besides you. The med bay would be a ghost town until the fear died down, and you want to stay with Moon.
He groans every so often, rubbing his stomach, and you eventually get up and come over to him, “Moon, you know you can let me do my job if you have a stomach ache.”
“N-no, darling, it’s fine. Something just isn’t agreeing with me,” Moon tries to protest, but you can hear the irritated gurgles this close.
“Please?” you beg, and he sighs, softly looking at you before nodding, “alright. But I have to stay here.”
“I can do that.” Gently, you climb up on his lap and gently rub your hands over his stomach, pressing in now and then to check him over. You have to use more force than with a human since he’s mainly metallic, but you can feel there’s something more solid in his upper belly area, where his actual stomach probably is. “Did you swallow something hard?”
“Y-yeah,” Moon blushes at your touch, wincing when you press on the object inside again* “I think there was something metal in the meat I had earlier.”
“Do you just swallow it whole, then?” you don’t know, not having any notes on his species from the healer’s encyclopedia you keep on hand.
“We do, yes. If it’s smaller than us, anyway.” He winces as a sharp growl sounds out of him, “mngh, but I think I’ll just have to spit this back out. I wanted to be sure all the usable parts were gone before I did.”
“Moon,” you hug him softly, chastising him with concern, “Don’t just let something that hurts you sit inside you this long. It’s not worth the little bits of meat or bone to permanently hurt your stomach. Sunny and I need you healthy. Okay? Go spit it out if that’s safe for you to do.”
“It is, and I will.” Moon’s soft hum and affectionate nuzzling make your heart flutter, and he sets you on the camera room seat while he goes, “I’ll be right back. You watch the cameras.”
It’s easy enough, and you’re very happy to do so for Moon. Though, once he’s gone, you start to realize that Sun and Moon have both been ill the morning after a disappearance. And Moon just said he can swallow smaller things whole…
The weird look on Sun’s face that first day comes rushing back to you, the fact you left them both in the room with Orange after his fake apology, the fact that Sunny was hungover after the alcoholic vanished…
“Oh...oh my god…” the final nail in the coffin is when you remember that Captain had a plate in his wrist. And he’d just died. But you watch Moon go back to the quarters on the tapes, see Sun’s concerned look and you realize it’s the same one Sun gives you. The soft kiss and smile from Moon are the same he gives you. And as awful as that makes you feel, you realize you aren’t afraid of them. You still love them, and the disappearances make more sense as you remember WHO kept vanishing. Cyan, the hothead, him getting in a fight with Moon wasn’t out of the question and in fact very likely. Green, who constantly put you down for your sensory issues. Orange, who had played a cruel joke on you without a hint of actual remorse.
They were protecting you. They loved you...and you decide you aren’t going to tell them you know. Let them come out with their secret on their own. Oh….oh the secret...they were going to tell you when…
Alarms in your head make you jolt up and watch the cameras around your position much more closely. If they were the ones who’d killed Captain, they wouldn’t have left a body. Which means that there’s someone else on this ship who is very much a threat to you and your two lovers.
-
Sun makes sure to keep Daisy at his side in the next few days. Nobody was going to touch his lovely human without going through him first. He’d taken care of the nastiness of the body already, and now it was just normal cleaning duties.
But after a while, he began to feel guilty. Their dear little Coral was still in the dark, and now there was the threat of someone who actually could hurt them. So, Sun hurried through his chores and went to the camera room with them to see Moon.
“Mn?” Moon perked up as they came in, “What do I owe the pleasure?”
“Moony, we need to tell them.” Sun shut the door and sat on the floor, letting Daisy go and sitting alone. “I can’t stand keeping it from them anymore.”
Nodding, Moon turned around and looked at Daisy. “Firstly, do you remember what we told you about this time of year?”
“Yes...it’s mating season for you two,” Daisy looked between them worriedly, and Sun felt his heart squeeze. “Why?”
“Because, sunshine,” Sun whined, “It makes us, me especially, very very hungry. And we’re carnivores.”
“What I told you about how we eat yesterday,” Moon fiddles with his fingers, “I’m guessing you can put two and two together. With...with what’s happened.”
There was a moment of silence that made Sun want to scream, but then Daisy got a sad look on their face and nodded, “I did...when you had to spit out Captain’s arm plate, Moon. I don’t like it, but...I also don’t feel upset at either of you.”
A tiny hope sparked in Sun’s chest, “S-so...you aren’t going to leave us?”
“No!” Daisy took off their helmet and looked upset, “boys, I...I understand. You’re very big, you need food, and if you’re carnivorous then you need meat. You have never hurt me, you have never been anything but gentle to me. I love you both, even with this knowledge.”
Moon and Sun take their helmets off and get close, kneeling and letting their sweet flower kiss their faces softly. Moon asks in a hesitant tone, “Does that mean we can stop avoiding you when we...have to eat?”
“Yeah,” Daisy sighed, nuzzling him. “but make sure you and Sunny are eating properly. Don’t hold back. Especially now that someone’s using your needs as a cover for their own killing.”
Sun sighs and lays on the ground, nuzzling into their legs, “So I can go make Pink pay for their bigotry?”
“Yeah, you can. She’s always...told me I have to be ugly under my suit,” Daisy looks hurt, and lays down on his chest, curling up. “Honestly, everybody on this ship is either cruel to me, or treats me like I’m invisible just because they’re healthy. Pretty much everybody but White doesn’t care if they hurt my feelings.”
“And even White treated you like an afterthought before I snapped Maroon,” Moon says as he joins the cuddle pile.
“Why did you, by the way?” Daisy sounds curious, and Sun hums as he pets their soft soft hair.
Moon grins, “he has big packages of drugs smuggled into the cargo. I removed them and jettisoned them. I waited until he was clean of the chemicals before I broke his neck. Can’t let him taint Sunny’s body.”
“mmn, he still tasted weird.” Sun makes a face.
Daisy blinks, then giggles, and hides their face in his chest. “this is awful. I should feel bad but...I just can’t. Nothing I’ve seen from any of these people is worth salvaging. If you two hadn’t been here, I...I probably would have jettisoned myself.” Their laughter turns to tears and both of the curl around them protectively, “they call me useless, they ignore me, they scream at me to get away even when I’m trying so hard to help. I’ve learned to do every task on this ship just to keep us going and th-they still kick me out.”
Sun looks at Moon, and the both of them nod, Sun saying soothingly, “Sometimes even when we try our best, others won’t see it as honest or good. That’s their fault, not yours.”
“It does mean I don’t mind them not existing,” Daisy huffs and Moon snickers.
“And you’re certain you feel safe with us? Knowing what you do?” Moon’s rasp is soft as a feather, and Sun’s rays flex happily at the tone.
“I am,” Daisy sighs, and Moon licks them, making them giggle. “You’re both too busy protecting me and loving on me to ever eat me.”
“I mean,” Sun blushes a bit and licks them softly as well, “we might swallow you, but not eat you. Brooding pouch needs to be put to use, after all.”
“Huh?!” Daisy tilted their head at him.
Moon sighs, “Ah, humans really are such deprived little creatures. Can’t eat live prey, can’t hold your mates and babies in your body when you wish. So sad.” He then places their tiny hand on his belly, pressing in up and to the left, “About where your people keep their liver, that’s where our brooding pouch is. Where we hold the eggs once they’re big and strong enough to be outside their incubating parent.”
“that’s you!” Sun purrs and nuzzles Daisy.
Smiling and blushing himself, Moon nodded, “And with how small you are, we’re most likely going to be able to carry you in there, too, especially when you’re close to laying and require more rest and care.”
Daisy’s eyes were wide, but when they gently rubbed over his stomach, Moon almost melted on the spot, “Really? I wouldn’t have to sit at home in bed alone while you two were out?”
“Of course not, sunshine!” Sun’s rays shuddered at the idea, “That would be cruel. Even if you did have to stay in bed and not in our pouches, one of us would stay with you always. That’s the duty of good spouse. Is that what happens with humans?”
“Since we just pair off, yes.”
It made Sun feel sick to think about his sweet Daisy lying in bed in an empty house, possibly in pain or hungry or otherwise in need without him or Moon to care for them.
“Well, lucky you,” Moon teased as Daisy went to rub at Sun’s tummy as well, “you got us instead.”
Sun wiggles a bit when Daisy’s hands go lower, his body already sensitive as he’s starting to develop the eggs themselves. “E-easy, sunshine. That’s gonna be tender for a bit.”
“oh,” they stopped, but leaned down and kissed him there, making Sun giggle and his rays flutter. Moon just looked over the both of them adoringly. This confession had gone a lot better than either of them imagined, but the danger wasn’t over, so they’d savor this sweet moment.
-
You felt weird, but even so, it was so cute to see Sun’s whole body for once.
He was laying in a nest of sorts on his bed, all the bedding piled around him, and he was lying outside of his suit with his stomach full. Moon had taken care of everything, and you’d just gotten back from the meeting about Pink vanishing.
Moon was behind Sun, just snuggling him, and you were now laying against his belly, feeling how warm and solid it felt. They’d told you their plan to send the suits back, and that seemed good to you. It was something if these jerks even HAD family that wanted to know them. So you were just koala clinging to Sun, listening them talk quietly and coo over plans for the nursery while all the little gurgles and groans filter out.
The boys finally look at you directly and Sun hums softly, eyes sleepy since he’s so full, hand gently ruffling your hair as you keep your head cushioned against his warm, firm skin, “You look so confused. What’s on your mind?”
humming a bit, you rub your hand over the stretched flesh in front of you and mumble, “just wondering why I’m not more bothered by you guys eating people. I just doesn’t phase me.”
Moon’s hand joins Sun’s to pet your head, “We can’t say, love, but we do appreciate it. You could just as easily have gotten us killed for what we’ve done. We joined to pick off one or two, then leave, but...the idiot captain decided to be greedy.”
“We wouldn’t have needed more than two if we could have just gone home…” Sun whined, and you felt a twitch in the muscles under your hands. “I don’t like doing this to actual people but...there are times there’s no option.”
“And times when there’s no need for mercy, also,” Moon added, licking his teeth. He was out of the suit also, curled up with Sun, blue and grey skin so complimentary to Sun’s yellow and cream.
A wave of warmth spread over your body as you looked at both of them, you in your simple undershirt and leggings, all of you that can touch them in contact. It’s like your mind finally processed that these are your lovers, that you have two immensely powerful beings who looked at you and fell in love.
What little of your doubts were washed away, and you snuggle into Sun again, closing your eyes. “Morals are subjective. And it’s all relative to culture and circumstance anyway. Either way, I’m yours, and you’re mine.”
Sun’s trill and Moon’s soft huff both make you smile, and you spend the day curled in the nest with them both.
-
It was kind of cute seeing Sun’s suit slowly stop fitting as well. At least, it was to Moon. His mate was so soft and shy during normal times, but like this? Slowly filling up from inside and anxious? Sun was snarky and passive aggressive, utterly unimpressed with anything that would normally get a sweet polite encouragement. He loved it, seeing his sweet light take no nonsense from anybody including him.
Being gravid also made Sun very impatient. His little flower was finding that out, even though Sun would quickly change tune around Daisy because he was so sensitive to their already damaged self esteem.
They’d picked off Grey and Tan since Daisy had been told and come to join the nest in their room. White didn’t complain, just saying it would be good to have a room to themselves and know where the three of them would be.
They might have picked others, but Grey had made the mistake of calling Daisy a traitor for falling for an alien and started screaming xenophobic slurs at Moon, who’d been with them at the time. Of course, he’d made sure they didn’t watch him break the moron’s neck and swallow them up. And then Tan had cornered Sun and tried to bully him into giving his eggs to them, since their species liked to eat eggs. So...obviously that had gotten messy. Sun was a fierce protector of himself and their eggs when expecting.
But now Moon was watching Daisy on the bed, cooing softly as they rubbed Sun’s tummy to help with the stretch and the ache of making the eggs. His beloveds, so tender with each other and so trusting of him to protect them. It made him proud, confident...enough that he’d stopped putting his nightcap on around Daisy. They’d even stroke his head just the same as they did to Sun, and they made sure to compliment him quite a lot about it. They liked touch, a lot, and Moon was glad about it. Sun was a very touchy-feely person, and he was partial to getting affection that way, too, though he tended more to give it by words. His words alone were a gift only for those he cared for. Moon hated talking to anybody else, hence why he always sounded angry. He usually was for being forced to speak.
It was adorable to see Sun’s eyes half closed in bliss as those warm soft hands Daisy had rubbed over the constant little dome his belly had become. It wasn’t a big change, but for Moon it was the most precious thing in the world. Even when it had just been the two of them, he treasured getting to pamper Sun during mating season. Now he had someone to help with that, and it felt good to gently massage his rays while Daisy was cuddled up to him like a living heating pad.
“Not much longer now,” Moon soothed as Sun whined when the eggs shifted a bit. “By the time we actually get into port, we can all go to a nice hotel and do the transfer. Then we eat a big meal, all together, and go home. I’m sure our family will be thrilled to know we’re going to finally have a litter of our own.”
“Mmn,” Sun looked at him, a weak smile on his face, “A-and you’ll keep Daisy in the pouch until we tell them they’re human, right? I just can’t carry them right away… too sore.”
Daisy giggled and gave kisses to Sun’s belly, making him wiggle his toes as it tickled, “I wouldn’t want to make you hurt, Sunny bun. Moon can carry me until your poor tummy gets time to rest.”
“You are so so so good, sunshine, I just…” Sun whimpered, his rays curling in fluster, “How did I ever deserve you two?”
“Because you’re absolutely the cutest thing ever and twice as sweet?” Daisy offered, and Moon laughed as Sun’s whole face turned bright yellow, his rays now sticking out ramrod straight and tinged with the blush to a lovely golden hue.
“also because you are very much the light of my life and the voice of reason to my intrusive thoughts? I’d have killed this whole ship a long time ago without you, sweetheart,” Moon hums softly, and Sun just blinks in awe as his blush spreads down his neck.
Let it never be said that Moondrop Ceres was not a doting lover.