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“And now it’s time to look a gremlin right in the eye!”.
Lime had been tinkering in the reactor room when the doctor’s muffled voice made him jolt. He dropped the wrench he was using and bolted to the nearest vent. If the Blue had really spotted a gremlin – and Lime found the doctor to be the most trustworthy crewmate on the ship – the results could be devastating!
Lime sucked in his breath and jumped into the vent. Thanks to the 6 gruelling years of his career practising yoga, Lime’s body was perfectly limber and flexible for crawling through tight spaces. His talent meant that he was perfect for the job, even if everyone else on the crew called him crazy.
Though, if anyone could see the furious pace at which the engineer/ordained minister crawled through the metal system now, they would be right to call him crazy. His hands and feet slapped against the enclosed walls as he navigated his way to the med bay. Oh god, what if he didn’t make it in time… What if the doctor had already been seduced by the thieving creature?
“DON’T DO IT!”, he yelled, finally popping his head out into the doctor’s office as dust flew out with him. “You’ll fall in love!”.
He threw his head around the room as he frantically searched for the gremlin, coming to regret that he had left his wrench in the reactor room. Oh well, he would defend the doctor with his plain fists if he had to.
Glass vials, bright posters and various other machines of sorcery that Lime frankly knew nothing of lined the room. He scoffed to himself – his fear of the med bay had made him never view it closely, but he could now see that it was just as neat and presentable as the doctor who operated it. Figures.
Blue stood kneeling down in all his glory in front of him, with an inviting hand stretched forward.
“You scared it away”, the doctor explained in his annoyingly smooth voice, “Thank you for saving me, Lime”.
What, just like that? Lime released the breath he had been holding in relief. Thank God. If his crewmates heard that they had lost their chance with the doctor they would surely riot. And to a gremlin, no less! Its head would’ve been rolling instantly, much like poor White from earlier.
“You’re welcome”, he replied hastily, wishing nothing more than to be out of this whole situation, “Love and peace, big dude”. He was just about to dive his head back beneath the ground when Blue kept talking.
“Wait! While I have you here, would you mind taking your scan?”.
Ugh, his scan. The engineer had heard talk of it earlier when White’s severed body had been discovered. Apparently everyone needed to get a crummy scan from one of the doctor’s dastardly machines if they wanted to prove that they were safe. They called it ‘standard protocol’, but Lime just called it unnecessary drivel. Who the hell wanted a machine stealing all their personal info (even if it meant spending some time with the conventionally attractive doctor)?
“You can’t scan me, I know my rights! That machine will steal my DNA sell it to marauders and they’ll use it as a map to my organs!!”, he blurted quickly, running out of breath by the time he finished. Lime didn’t know the slightest bit about the black magic Blue called medicine, but he knew that whoever got a hold of his DNA could control his body inside out like a puppet (or at least that was what his family had told him when he was still a little bean).
He watched as the doctor knelt with a hand on his knee like a preschool teacher addressing a misbehaving child.
“Now, I will be the first to admit that the medical community has a lot to apologise for”, he started cautiously. Was the doctor trying to butter him up with his thoughtful comments? Even if Lime could see through his ruse, he still found it strangely endearing that the crew’s widely agreed upon “sexiest doctor of the century” was talking to him as if they were on the same footing.
“I’m sorry Lime”.
It was just a simple apology, but it made Lime feel extremely uncomfortable. Why was he apologising to him? He was just the ships nutcase – the rest of the crew thought he couldn’t hear them when they talk behind his back, but the vents carry their voices well. He was just the crazy old rambling engineer…
Blue picked up Lime with ease like a trust ball and set him down so they could speak face-to-face. The many years blue had spent assisting the people of Northern Yeniria had taught him that speaking to someone on a personal level was the best way to put them at ease. Blue could immediately tell that Lime was just like the many patients he had treated there – closed off and shy, but once you got to know them they were some of the loveliest souls you could meet.
“I know that you have your personal beliefs, but this is bigger than you or me – and I really need a scan of every crewmate”, Blue persisted, trying to convince the stubborn engineer.
Much to the doctor’s ignorance, Lime wasn’t currently so flustered because he was misunderstood… it was because Blue was currently all up in the poor engineer’s face.
Lime pulled awkwardly at his overalls while trying to avoid eye contact with him. Why was it suddenly so hot in here, was the ventilation busted – dang it he would have to check on that later – and oh god why were Blue’s firm hands still holding him after he set him down-
He let out a stifled gasp as the doctor stood a bit taller and leaned over him.
“I know it’s hard to open up your heart to trust in this crazy, mixed-up world. Just this once, can you… trust me?”.
Lime leaned back to avoid touching visors with the handsome doctor. Even though he tried to fight it, a warm feeling spread across his body from his sweating face all the way down to his legs. He was now blushing so hard that anyone who walked into the med bay now would’ve mistaken him for Red – before wishing that it was them in his position, being held so tightly by Blue himself.
“F-fine!”, he burst out. He pushed himself away from his warm embrace, lest he explode from the overwhelming amount of emotion he was feeling. “Swoon swoon swoon and all that!”, he continued, fluttering his arms at the doctor to demonstrate that he couldn’t physically handle if he got any closer to him (which completely flew over his oblivious blue head).
He steadied himself against a nearby cupboard and tried to calm his racing mind. The warm spots where the doctor had held him remained imprinted even after he had distanced himself. Why was he suddenly so dizzy…
“But I’m watching you shred those scans when you finish!”, Lime insisted, pointing a wobbly finger at Blue.
“Well do it…”, the doctor reached out and met his hand with his, caressing it softly as he reassured Lime, “Together”.
The pure overload of nerves that Lime had experienced from the doctor’s touch made him pull back slower this time. And again, Blue’s tender touch lingered over the palm that he had cupped, the accusing index finger he had gently pushed down burning with heat.
Lime stood stupidly, his legs planted in the ground and his brain feeling like jelly. What was this horribly infectious feeling that refused to stop rising?
Oh god, after all his families’ warnings about falling in love with Gremlins, it was a stupid sexy blue crewmate that had snared him in the end.
Blue held his hands in front of himself politely, waiting for the engineer to proceed with the scans. Said engineer was swaying lightly with his head lolling back a bit, facing the doctor but with his mind in the clouds. He occasionally mumbled some drunken gibberish but was mostly giggling quietly to himself. Even if Blue prided himself in always hearing out his patients, watching Lime slowly turn into a vegetable in front of him eventually grew tiresome.
“Lime?”, Blue asked, playfully waving a hand over Lime’s blank visor, “Hello? Are you in there?”.
He clicked his fingers loudly in front of the zombie, which finally broke him from his trance.
“W-WHADDA WHAT!?”, he spluttered, looking dazedly around the room as if he had entered it for the first time. The doctor wrapped his hand around him to steady him.
“You were just about to get you’re scans done when you… well, disassociated”, Blue explained slowly, “Not that I blame you. I, for one, disengage sometimes when I’m afraid of something. But I promise you there’s nothing scary about my scanning device!”.
“Yeah, yeah I get it!”, Lime said hastily, tearing himself away from the doctor before he made another scene. He sighed and brushed himself down. Why did he have to talk to him in such a humiliating way?
He hopped onto the scanning device and stretched his arms out in a T.
“C’mon, let’s get this over with”, he grumbled at Blue, who gave him a thumbs up and pulled a lever at the side of the machine.
The device made a whirring sound and shook a bit before a flat green ray materialised beneath his feet. The screen next to him came to life with a ping, displaying the digits “0%”. As the digital ray slid up his body, the number slowly climbed up.
15%. 30%. 50%.
Lime held his breath in fear and stood perfectly still – or at least he tried to. Between the creepy machine that kept making strange noises as it slowly extracted his personal info, and the stupid doctor that was smiling encouragingly at him, he was finding it very difficult to complete the task at hand.
He eventually couldn’t hold it in any longer – he shook. Suddenly, the ray fizzled and vanished, the completion rate next to Lime depleting all the way back to 0%.
“Oh! Sorry about that, I forgot to explain the whole scanning procedure to you”, the doctor chuckled apologetically, as if the whole mess Lime was creating was no biggie. “You need to stand completely still for the scan to function properly. But don’t be embarrassed that you didn’t get it on the first try”.
The engineer was so embarrassed right now. Any normal crewmate would’ve gotten the mandatory scan done in a jiffy and been on their way, but here he was being a burden to the person who treated him the kindest on the whole ship.
After a quick second recollecting himself, Lime let the doctor start up the machine again.
He had positioned himself facing away from Blue this time thinking it would get him out of his system, but his thoughts consumed him instead.
What was the doctor doing right now when Lime’s back was turned? Was he scanning his body for imperfections alongside the machine? Taking notes of the oil and sweat stains on his overalls?
…Staring at his backside?
The machine made a noise of protest and reset again.
“I’m sorry doctor…”, Lime groaned, sheepishly rubbing a hand behind his neck. “Could we please try again, but this time you face away from me?”.
Blue didn’t know what Lime’s issue with him was. Was his face scary or something? Blue would come to work with a clown costume and a large rainbow lollipop if it just meant he could put his patients at ease.
He was just surprised that of all people, Lime was the only one who was seemingly ‘afraid’ of him. The man seemed much more tough and hardboiled than his other crewmates. And he now knew firsthand that Lime wasn’t crazy like many of his colleagues rudely commented. Just a bit jittery.
Blue followed his request, starting the machine with his back towards him.
Lime – God forgive him – realised to himself that he barely ever saw the doctor from behind. Blue had a masterful way of addressing everyone as if they were his favourite, as if they were the most important thing to him in the world to the point that he rarely ever turned his back to you.
The engineer wasn’t shocked to see that Blue was just as charismatic and presentable from the back as he was from the front. His head mirror band stretched neatly around his head like a sticker. His clean, perfectly ironed lab coat held snuggly around his perfect frame, all the way from those broad shoulders down to his-
…Oh god. Now he was the one staring at the doctor’s backside.
Lime held his head down in shame as the machine reset again. How could he be so disrespectful?
Despite the doctor’s firm belief of giving his patients space as they needed it, this predicament clearly called for different measures.
“Lime, I’m not sure what’s making you so uneasy. I certainly don’t have a cure, but I do have an idea”, the doctor suggested, holding a hand to his chest to show his full devotion to the task. “Of course, we can only go through with this experiment if you want to”.
“… Do you trust me?”.
The question was simple, but it hit him like a pile of bricks. Him, trust the doctor? Of course he would! Blue was like the sunshine of the crew, with his clean-cut looks and his graceful air. The man could swoon anyone on the ship without even trying!
But that was what made Lime so stressed. His whole life, he had done everything on his own, for himself. When the ventilation system shuts off, he repairs it himself. When the reactor breaks down, he fixes it himself. And that’s exactly why the doctor’s nature rubbed him the wrong way – the most popular and beloved crewmate spending time with HIM? Giving him multiple chances and being so painfully considerate when it was so clear that he was just a klutz?
Lime balled his fists and tried to calm the butterflies in his stomach. If Blue could be so patient and caring with him – then he would just have to return the favour, by quitting all the antics he was playing and making this scan finish already. He had already proven himself enough of a burden and the last thing he wanted was the handsome doctor becoming disappointed in him.
“Yes. I trust you, Blue”, he responded firmly.
That’s it, just be firm, be cool.
The doctor beamed at him and the whole office seemed to light up with his smile. He flipped the switch again.
Much to Lime’s surprise, the doctor stepped up onto the scanner with him.
Lime immediately began to panic, but Blue quickly held his hands in his to comfort him.
“Shh, it’s alright”, the doctor murmured, guiding Lime’s trembling fingers close to his body. Lime swallowed nervously as Blue steered his body around slowly, pressing him into a warm embrace from behind.
“W-What are you-”, Lime squeaked, but was interrupted by the smooth doctor when he felt his voice whisper comfortingly behind his head.
“Lime, if a patient is struggling to stand still then it’s my job to help”. Lime scoffed to himself. Was this what the doctor considered ‘helping’? He was wrapping him like a blanket for god’s sake!
The engineer felt Blue’s legs press against his and he timidly brought his knees in just as the green ray began to rise.
25%.
Lime stood as still as a statue, not threatening to even breathe. If he had to repeat this whole thing again he wouldn’t hesitate to curl up in the garbage chute and eject himself into space.
At least the doctor’s burning touch wouldn’t find him in the cold expanse of space. Most likely.
50%.
Blue slowly massaged Lime’s fingers in his hand, pressing them against his rigid chest. If the old man held his breath like this any longer, he would eventually gasp for air and reset the machine! Blue squeezed against Lime just a little tighter to try and push out whatever anxiety was inside of him, and the engineer thankfully seemed to melt against his body. Blue continued the tranquil process until the engineer’s breaths finally came in small, relaxed huffs.
75%.
The ray slowly crept past their interlocked torsos and towards their heads, which the doctor realised with a start he had kept unchecked. But if he was to lift his hands from the engineer’s chest to hold his trembling head in place, they would surely lose their progress!
Blue reacted quickly yet carefully to not shut down the device, pressing his visor gently behind Lime’s head. He rubbed lazy circles against the surface to make him stop shaking. To the doctor’s relief, the engineer leaned back calmly into his embrace.
100%.
Scanning Complete.
The machine buzzed a celebratory tune before its compartments folded back into place and the green ray flickered off. The doctor was filled with an unexpected surge of glee.
“Hooray!”, he exclaimed (quiet unprofessionally), lifting the engineer like a child and spinning him in the air like a bride. It took him only a moment to realise how improper his actions were, and he gently placed him back on the ground.
Holding a patient in an extremely suggestive way to keep them still for a scan was completely fine. But spinning them in the air like a bride? Now that was crossing the line for the extremely formal doctor.
Blue quickly covered his light blush, but Lime just stood there wobbling, his mind completely out of it. He held himself to stop his body from melting into a pile of sludge on the ground, as he slowly regained his senses.
Even though his liquified brain wanted nothing more than to stay with the infatuating doctor forever, he knew that he looked stupid staying in his office after his scans were complete. He wished to bid Blue farewell, but his back was already turned to him as he meticulously studied the results of the experiment.
Lime sullenly turned to the nearby vent and was just about to leave when Blue stopped him.
“Lime, could I trouble you to wait a little longer?”, he called, still sorting through the findings laid out in front of him, “You wanted to shred these scans when we finished, remember?”.
Oh, damn it all. Lime didn’t want this moment to ever end.
He eagerly stood next to the doctor, peaking over his side at the diagrams he understood nothing off.
“So…”, Lime hesitated. His mouth continued to move without his will, “How does that machine see what’s inside of my body anyway? Is there a sorcerer inside?”.
Blue chuckled lightly. The man clearly needed an update on the last centuries worth of medical advancements.
And so, as Blue meticulously worked on the results with lightning speed, he explained all the inner workings of the scanning device. Electron acceleration, radiation, beam shaping… all these unimaginable concepts flew completely over the head of the lovestruck Lime, who was much more interested in simply watching the doctor work.
Blue’s ramblings blended into a rhythm of dedication and expertise that Lime didn’t understand – but certainly appreciated – as his hands darted across the counter, taking notes and comparing results to his other piles.
“All done!”, Blue declared, sifting the papers into a stack and arranging them around his desk neatly.
He pulled a shredder out from the adjacent shelf and placed it onto his desk, lifting Lime’s results paper over its chute.
“Wait!”, Lime yelped, stopping Blue’s hand by grabbing it instinctively. He quickly let go. “Um. I mean…”.
Blue gave him a playful look of suspicion, with his hands on his hips as he raised a questioning brow.
“You don’t have to shred these papers anymore. I’ve changed my mind”, Lime said with a look of resolve.
Blue instantly lit up, holding his hands to his cheeks as he blushed heavily.
“What?! Are you telling me that my impeccably clear and professional explanation of the scanning device has made you trust medicine more??”, he said gleefully, “Have I made you… change your personal beliefs about medicine??”.
With the doctor looking at him with such child-like whimsy, Lime struggled not to faint right then and there. As if he could tell that adorable face that, no, doctor, I just wanted to treasure this fleeting moment forever and that photo of you holding me sexily is the only physical connection I have to this day?
“…Yes?”, he said dumbly.
The doctor had to physically stop himself from reaching out and crushing the single bone in Lime’s body with another bear hug. All those meticulous years studying medicine to its fullest, writing long articles of poetry, building homes in Northern Yeniria… the doctor appreciated doing things just for the sake of making the world a better place, but this moment unfolding in front of him was like a gift for all the hard work he had done.
He thanked the universe for letting him cross paths with Lime.
“Thank you, thank you so much Lime”, he choked, reaching out and shaking the engineer’s hand with such force that he flailed like laundry in the wind. He fought to stop himself from crying in front of his patient – no, his friend.
“I hope you don’t mind if I keep this closely, then?”, Blue said, neatly folding the diagram of him cuddling with Lime into a square and slotting it into his lab coat’s pocket.
Lime stared silently at him, completely bewildered that such a high and mighty figure like him would care to keep a photo of him so closely. He felt his visor begin to prickle but sniffled loudly and quiet inconspicuously to stop himself from bursting into tears in front of the angel that stood before him.
Lime couldn’t help it, but the beautiful serenity of this day that continued to get better as it unfolded in front of him made him act impulsively.
This was quiet possibly the best day of his life. Why did it have to end now?
“Do you want me to show you around the reactor room?”, he blurted. He immediately turning a bright shade of pink from head to toe. “I mean, since there’s clearly something fishy going on on this ship. If I’m not around and there’s an emergency… I want you to be able to handle the machine on your own”.
The whole thing sounded extremely stupid as it left his mouth. There was no way Blue, in all his perceptiveness, wouldn’t be able to see through this obvious attempt to disguise a date.
“Sure! I’ve never seen how a reactor works before”, Blue responded cheerfully, “And I wouldn’t want anyone else on this ship more than the expert engineer himself to teach me all about them!”.
Even though the crew required his results asap, a date with his new friend sounded much more inviting. He would only allow the captivating Lime to break his work ethic just this once, he vowed to himself (It was a promise that he would not keep).
Lime supressed the bubbling mix of joyful emotions that sloshed inside of him like soda, instead offering the doctor his hand so that he could guide him to the reactor room.
Blue took his inviting hand and allowed the crazy yet stunning old engineer to lead him out of his office.
ඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞඞ
Several hours later, a certain alien reared it's ugly head from the vents of the med bay, searching for Blue. However, it was shocked to find the room empty.
What the hell could've dragged a workaholic like the doctor away from his tasks?
Oh well, the monster thought to itself, slinking back into the vents to search for a different crewmate to kill.