15

—128 days until Home—

"Carroll, please, do not encourage them." Swansea sighed as he pinched his brow, trying to very much ignore the two idiots lingering over his shoulders.

"Oh, cmon, Swans! We just wanted say hi~!" Curly grinned from ear to ear as he leaned against the older man, "Miss Carroll, is he always such a hard ass?"

The woman on the other end of the call chuckled, a cat-like smile on her face, "Oh, don't you know it. He—" The video cut for a moment before flicking back up, "—keeping you out of trouble, I presume?"

The captain leaned in further to check the connection before Swansea brushed him off, the blond folding his arms over his chest as he backed up. Daisuke took the chance to pop in, "We're going to drive him crazyyyyyy~!"

The mechanic sighed heavily, Carroll giving a suspiciously laugh-like cough off to the side as her eyes crinkled. "I would hope you'd leave him at least a pinch of his sanity, he's the one that has to walk the dog when he gets back."

"Bah, get the damn kids to do it," the mechanic huffed, though a wry smile tugged at his lips.

"YOU HAVE TO SHOW THE DOGGO PLEASE!!!!" Daisuke grabbed at the older's arm, wide-eyed.

Swansea turned to swat at the intern and Curly came back in to slap that stupid hat they'd bought him at port onto the man's head.

"ALRIGHT," the engineer gave a loud snort, moving to get to his feet as he yanked the hat off, "YOU TWO IDIOTS BETTER START RUNNING BEFORE I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, SO HELP ME CHIRST!"

The two shared a look, Daisuke bolting first with a laugh before Curly quickly scrambled after.

~

"Hey, Anya, come over here a second will you?"

The woman perked up at Swansea's lazy tone, gently setting her plate off to the side as she figured to bother with the stove later. "Hm?"

She noted in silent amusement how Swansea was wearing that 'fish fear me, women want me' hat on his head, glancing off to the laptop set up before the mechanic.

"Anya, say hi to Carroll, my wife," He gestured to the laptop which Anya realized was set up on a video call, the nurse waving shyly. "Carroll, say hi to Anya, she's the kid I was tellin' ya about."

"Hello, sweetheart, how are you doing?" The woman on the other end of the call had notable smile wrinkles and a twinkle to those dark eyes of hers.

"Oh, uh, pleasure to meet you!" Anya chirped, moving to pull up a seat so she wasn't just awkwardly hovering by Swansea's side. "I'm, I'm doing alright, um, how are you…?"

"Just wonderful, dear, now Swansea was telling me about that mean right hook you have!"

Anya felt her face flush, "Oh! D-Did he now?"

Carroll adjusted the camera on her end with a smile, "He did indeed! That's good skill to have when some of these damn men don't know how to behave." The older woman gave a tsk, "Some people have screws loose."

"Oh, don't I know it," Anya rolled her eyes, settling her chin on an open palm.

—125 days until Home—

Daisuke watched Anya beat the shit out of the punching bag Swansea had set up in the medical bay, sat criss-cross on the floor as the woman went to town on it.

"What that bag do to you?" The intern snickered, running a hand through his hair.

"Got in my way," Anya laughed as she leaned back, wiping her brow. "I'm imagining Jimmy's face on it, actually."

"Duuuude, you're like so real for that."

His friend snickered, nodding her head towards the punching bag, "You wanna have a go at it?"

"Sure!"

—121 days until Home—

Curly couldn't help but stare at himself silently, rubbing a hand over his beard and watching the reflection do the same thing.

He didn't know why, but he still couldn't quite look at himself in the mirror anymore without feeling odd. It was like he was looking at a stranger rather than himself, running one hand through his hair and watching closely as the man in the mirror did the same thing. He couldn't help but feel at any moment, the illusion would shatter.

Like some new danger would be tossed in, something sharp and quick enough that he wouldn't even realize he had been caught off guard until he was bleeding out.

He frowned, the other Curly did so as well. It looked like him, moved like him, but something felt cheap. He looked down at his hands, watching the fingers on his bad hand twitch and shake out of his control. He flexed his fingers and they all moved.

The man sighed, looking back to the mirror, "Do you even belong anymore?" He swallowed thickly, the mirror copied him. The twist of his lips, the pinch in his brow, the uncertainty in his eyes.

Curly checked the door briefly (it's not like it had a fucking lock, but at least people knocked around here nowadays) before looking back to the mirror. He closed one eye and stared at himself, tilting his head to see if that would change anything.

Did he… did he really deserve this? To go home and to just fucking… move on? He never had seen the full extent of how he had looked after the incident, but he knew it had been bad. It had hurt afterall, it had hurt so damn much. And now? Now he just…

He got to keep going? The man dragged his hands down his face with a shudder and forced himself to look away. He should just... take a bloody shower and go to bed.

—120 days until Home—

Anya hummed lowly as she played with Curly's hair, the man staring blankly up at the ceiling, head absently laid in her lap. "What you thinking about, Curly?"

The man blinked a few times as he stirred. Those vivid blue eyes glancing to her before he sighed, "What ain't I thinking about?"

"I was wondering why you were so quiet." She moved to make a couple little braids in the man's hair, "You okay?"

"I dunno. To a degree I guess, you?"

Anya gave a weak laugh, "Sleep's been hard these last few nights, had a particularly bad dream a bit ago I can't stop thinking about."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm, my father was in it, but, it was all the worst parts of him. Unpleasant to say the least."

"…shitty dads, yeah? Fun times."

"Tell me about it," she mumbled, shaking her head, "You know, Swansea's been more of a dad than my own father ever was, which is so strange when you think about it."

"Why's that?"

"I've know you all less than a year, and even then, a good while of that it was as distant coworkers."

Curly squinted thoughtfully at that. When he spoke, it was in a steady, slow tone, "I'll be honest, I think my sense of time has been shifted so askew that sometimes it all doesn't feel real. I feel like I can barely keep up with the days no more, just sinking deeper and deeper into the nerves of it."

"It?"

"Yeah, just… the future and whatever life has in store for us next. Just, how does this all fit together, I guess? How do, how do I fit in all this? I dunno, just. Egh."

"Egh," she echoed.

"Egh," he repeated. Curly's lip quirked, eyes closing with a shake of his head, "I swear, I think Imma drive myself crazier than I already am, heh."

Anya hummed, ruffling the man's hair for a thoughtful moment. "I suppose there's still a lot to be worried about, even if we have a few months, too much going on even when nothing's really happening."

"Mhm."

"Just so you know it, even if it feels like you don't have a place here, you do. Every crew needs its captain, right?"

"You guys are a lot more than just my crew," Curly admitted. "But even then, so was Jimmy. And look where that got us."

She was silent for a time, fingers carding through her friend's hair in soothing, gentle motions. It felt grounding in a sense, Anya able to feel some of Curly's own tension loosen despite the anxiety probably still brewing in his mind. When Anya did speak, her voice made him jump slightly.

"Do… do you think Pony Express will do anything about Jimmy?"

Curly scoffed, peeking an eye open to look up at her. "Bloody hell no, espically with the whole ship sinkin'? Nah, them rats will be worrying about their own tails. They'll probably try to shut us up with some hush money, though I've been planning to sue them for a while now." He closed his eye again with a tsk, "That'll be a damned headache."

"You're going to sue…?"

"Mhhhmmmm. I've always been a 'good captain,'" the man snorted, "But the truth? I just did the fuckin' paper work and kept my mouth shut. A real load of good that did anyone. Besides, I don't need no NDA money to keep myself steady."

She chewed on her lip, nodding even if he didn't see the motion. "…I have thought about the possibilty of all that, but I'm still not sure how that'll all go."

Curly groaned, moving to drag himself upright to stretch out his back. He settled his good arm against a knee to prop his chin up in his hand. "Eh, the damn company hounds'll offer us money so we keep our yaps shut, I figured I'll refuse though, since I already got money saved up. Now I also keep copies of incident report, shipment deals, etc. So I can fish up some of the other shit they've made us be quiet about in the past."

The blond glanced to her with a hum, "Besides, I've been working over a decade for these pricks, I can give a damn timeline for things they've cut corners with, the lay offs caused by accidents, complaints, etc. I know people, people know me, and I am not going to piss about with these twats no more."

Anya gave a curious little nod, "You've… been thinking this over quite a bit, huh?"

"Just a bit," Curly winked.

—114 days until Home—

"—and then, he fucking, the idiot, he fucking dropped the barbell on his foot."

Daisuke snorted, brushing off flour from his hands, "Oof. I once dropped one on my toe, I dunno if it was broken or not, but it like super hurt for ages and my whole nail came off!"

Curly wrinkled his nose, "Gross. But yeah, Jim totally broke his foot, was a real bitch bout it the whole time."

"That checks out, so he really lived with you?" Daisuke moved to brush his dirtied hands on Curly's black tee, snickering as the captain tried to grab him into a headlock. "Hey! Hey! Alright, alright— I'm sorry man!"

"You little shit," the captain rolled his eyes, brushing himself off and making a face as it merely smeared flour further on his shirt. "Ugh, bloody hell this'll be a pain to get off…"

"Lol."

"…I'm gonna ignore the fact you just said that out loud, but uh, wait what was that question? About Jim?"

"He like really lived with you?"

Curly grunted, moving to start stretching out the dough again, "Uh-huh. Idiot got kicked out the place he was renting so he just kinda stayed in my guest room when he wasn't off who knows where."

"Makes sense. So like, whatcha gonna do with all his stuff?" The intern wandered over to review the recipe before moving to pre-heat the oven. "Like… he's so totally going to jail, right?"

"Or a pysch ward," Curly muttered, "I dunno, they'll probably evaluate him before court."

Daisuke huffed, "I still think we should have just gotten rid of him."

"You're a proper loon, ya know that?"

"I'm epic actually!" The intern beamed sweetly, "But you know~! I have a totally awesome idea for what to do with some of Jimmy's stuff if you need suggestions."

"And that would be…?"

"Ever had a bonfire before, Capt'in?"

—113 days until Home—

"Boss! Your turn!"

Swansea grunted, looking away from the report Curly had been showing him to look over the current stack of cards. The man huffed before dragging a card from his hand to add to it. "Plus four, color… Curls what color?"

The captain blinked over as Daisuke sourly collected four cards, "Uhhhhh… red."

Swansea nodded, leaning an elbow against the table to point at the deck, "Color's red now."

"…just my luck," Anya mumbled under her breath as she adjusted her glasses, staring at her own hand.

"No hard feelings, kiddo."

"I'll beat your ass, old man."

The mechanic barked out a laugh, shaking his head fondly as he waved the woman off. "Sure, sure."

—109 days until Home—

Curly patted his hand about a moment before he refound the bowl he'd set off onto the floor. He grabbed a handful of popcorn and moved to shove it into his mouth.

Currently, the crew was gathered in the common room around the laptop, watching a good ole horror movie about people stuck in space with a murderous alien. Curly, Daisuke, and Anya were all piled onto the couch while Swansea had claimed his usual chair.

"Oh, they should not have let him onboard," Anya mumbled from where she was curled up in a blanket, "This is not going to end well, I bet."

"Anyaaaaaaa!" Daisuke shook her shoulder, "SHHHHHH!"

The woman swatted at him, "He's got a— a whatever that is!— on his face!"

"Facehugger," Curly muttered around his mouthful of popcorn, "Is a facehugger."

"…I really don't like that that is what it's called."

"I mean… it's huggin' onto'es bloody face."

"Dude, dude that's so gross…"

Swansea chuckled from his seat, "That's not even the worst part."

Daisuke made a face while Anya shifted to peer closer at the screen, eyes narrowed. Curly was amused to see how invested the two were getting with the film.

"You could say," Swansea grinned, "There's a scene upcoming that's a real chest buster."

"SHHHHHHHH, DUDE NO SPOILING."

—107 days until Home—

Daisuke woke up to a weird sound, covering his mouth as he yawned, rolling over with a groggy mumble. He jumped when he looked over though, one of Curly's wide eyes staring right back at him.

The intern sat up, yelping, "Bro???"

Weirder still, the older man didn't even react, not even blinking. "Uhhhh… Curly?" Daisuke rubbed at an eye as he stared at the captain, brow furrowing when he realized that the strange sound he'd been hearing was actually coming from Curly.

It was kinda like a gurgling wheeze, somewhat similar to the dude's snoring if he was being strangled or something.

Cautiously, the intern waved his hand, eyes narrowing when there was still no reaction. Was… was the captain sleeping with his eye open??? The other one seemed to be closed now that he looked closer…?

That was like super duper weird. Daisuke couldn't recall if this had happened before, but like, he was prettyyyy sure he'd never seen this before. With a shudder, he got up to wake up Anya.

~

"Anyaaaaa," a voice whined right in her ear, making Anya groan tiredly as she tried to swat whoever it was away. A hand merely moved to shake her shoulder, the woman swaying as she forced herself to sit up.

"Wha… huh?" She sniffed, moving to rub the sleep from her eyes, "What is it…?"

"Sorry, but like— okay so, uh— well like, dude is it normal for people to sleep with their eyes open???"

"Is it… eyes open?"

"Yuh-huh. And, like, like to make weird noises…?"

Anya yawned widely, scratching at her face as she tried to figure out what in the world Daisuke was trying to tell her. "Mmmmm… is there, uh, like labored breathing or uhh… rapid eye movement?"

"Ummm, not really? And… and it looks like he actually closed it now?"

The woman hummed tiredly, slowly laying back down with another yawn, "Should be… should be okay then, nighty time… mhmm."

"Oh, okay, night?"

—103 days until Home—

Swansea waved politely to the man and woman on the other end of the video call, Daisuke sat happily beside him. The damn kid had practically begged for the technician to say hi to his parents, and well, the man figured it was only right to say hello.

"Pleasure meeting you two," he hummed, "I bet things are a lot quieter without this menace around, eh?"

Daisuke gave him a pout, voice bordering a whine, "Swansea—!"

"Oh, for certain," Daisuke's father chuckled good-natured, the intern giving a huff at his old man's response.

"Da!"

"What?" The man gave a broad grin and well, hell, Swansea could certainly see the resemblance in that simple expression alone.

—98 days until Home—

"Anya, the hell you doing up?"

The woman jumped at hearing Swansea's voice, quickly wiping at her face as she looked off to the side. "Oh— s-shit, sorry, ah, sorry, didn't hear you come in Swansea… w-why, why are you up? I-I know its early—"

"Hungry." The man grunted as he moved to grab himself some leftovers from dinner the night before. "You good, kid?"

Anya took in a shaky breath, "Honestly? I… I don't know. Was, was thinking and, a-and just, I— fuck, I'm worried about too much, and, I, just…" She exhaled heavily, burying her face into a hand, "What… what am I going to do? When all this is over, I, I don't have the money and— I guess maybe Curly is right about, just maybe they'll give us hush money to be quiet about everything, but…"

She shurgged, "I just, how much would that even be? A-Are we still getting paid for this job at all? What if word gets out and just, I can't deal with the media on top of this s-situation…" Anya took in a sharp breath, wiping at her face as she got further and further into her own head.

"I, I don't know," she muttered. "I just…"

"Anya."

The woman sniffled weakly, "Y-yeah?"

"It'll be alright, got that?" Swansea patted her on the back as he sat down besides her, "You'll be just fine."

"But, but just what if—"

"Breath, alright?"

Anya sniffled again, rubbing a hand over her eyes as she took in a deep breath, "Okay. Okay, I— sorry, dad, s-sorry— I don't want to be trouble or—"

She didn't notice the way Swansea stilled nor the wide-eyed look he gave her. She did startle when she was eased into a hug, hiccuping a moment before burying herself against him. A gentle hand cupped the back of her head to ease her head down into Swansea's shoulder, the man's voice rumbling through her as he spoke. "You're allowed to be upset, just don't get yourself all worked up like this."

The woman hiccuped, "I— but I—" She clutched tightly to his shirt, shuddering with another sob.

"Shush, kiddo. It's okay. You're okay. You need anything after this trip, I'll offer bout damned everything I can. Understood?"

"Y-You don't, don't have to do that…"

"I want to."

~

Curly yawned widely as he hovered by the coffee machine, rolling his shoulder gently with a hiss of breath. He swore the stiffness was more annoying then any pain, flexing his arm and hand a moment before sighing. "Always somet'ing, ain't it?"

"Morning!" He jumped at Daisuke's voice, glancing over with a huff.

"I shoulda bought you a fuckin' bell while we were in that blasted port."

"Pfff, I wouldn't wear it anyways, man." The intern gave a smug grin, the bags under his eyes still notable, "Maybe you should be paying more attention!"

"Whatever," Curly shoved the idiot away, moving to grab his mug. "How'd you sleep?"

Daisuke stuck his tongue out, "Ehhhhh, bad."

"Nightmare?"

"Nahhhh, just couldn't like, you know, stay asleep or something, blegh. Also your eye thing was freaking me out." The intern shrugged, running a hand through his hair, "You sleep okay?"

"…you need to take a picture of that to show me. But uh, sleep, mhm, it was alright? Had one of em fish dreams again."

"Brooooo."

"Me and a carp talked about the heat death of the universe I think," the blond sipped from his mug thoughtfully, "Also something about… uh, ladders…?"

"Weird," Daisuke nodded.

"Tell me about it." Curly rolled his eyes.

~

Anya yawned heavily from where she was leaned against the table, face resting in her hands as she waited for her toast to pop. She blew a strand of hair from her face, trying to wave off the boys as they messed with her tangled rat's nest of hair.

"Stay still," Daisuke huffed, sticking his tongue out as he worked to undo a knot, "Almoooossstttt~!"

She rolled her eyes, wincing as Curly managed to snag a particularly bad tangle. "Sorry," The blond whispered, his one hand shaking badly as the other worked to make up for it's companion's weakness. "You really tossed and turned last night, huh?"

"Mmmm…" Anya gave a mumbled thanks as her plate was placed infront of herself, pausing as she realized something. "Guys. I think I called Swansea dad earlier…?"

—96 days until Home—

Curly frowned as he sat in Jimmy's room, settled on the end of the bed as he bounced a leg. He didn't know why he was even in there.

But fuck. He had been having another sleepless night and he just had to check something and well, one thing led to another and now he was here.

The blond ran both hands through his hair, speaking aloud to the empty air, "I think… I miss you."

He cringed, hating himself for even admitting that. Curly stood, kicking an empty box before leaving the room with a harsh shake of his head.

~

"Is this okay?"

Curly hissed out a breath, "Yup— just peachy." He cringed as Anya moved his arm farther, sucking in a breath, "Owowow—"

The woman eased her hold, frowning, "I won't lie… I don't think it'll get better than this, Captain. I thought with the port's attention that it would improve more." She placed a hand over her mouth, easing away to pace to her desk, pulling out the x-ray done for the blond's shoulder.

Anya chewed on her lip, setting the photo off to the side, "Great. Daisuke's always going to have that scar and your arm's going to never be back to how it was…" The woman ran her hands through her hair, flinching as she was nudged gently in the side.

She hadn't noticed Curly get up from the table, the man giving her a strained smile, "Hey?"

The woman wiped at her face, giving a little hum.

"I'm just thankful to even be here."

—91 days until Home—

Anya drew her legs up to her chest so she could rest her chin on her knees. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the laptop before her, watching some really dumb reality show with a lot more interest than she wanted to admit.

But well, it was pretty interesting to watch this utter train wreck, her lip quirking as the drama started to really get going.

—87 days until Home—

"So… you gotta cut these wires?" Curly squinted, brushing a hand over his chin (Jesus Christ he might have to shave soon).

Daisuke nodded with a grin, "Yup! Just gotta get my gloves on and we can use the snippers!"

"…aren't those just wire-cutters—"

A finger was placed on the man's lips as the intern gave him a stern look, "Who's the engineer intern here?"

The blond snorted, swatting his hand away, "Whatever, whatever, aye aye and all that crap."

—84 days until Home—

"Curly? Hey Curly! Dude, lunch is— uhhhh…" Daisuke paused as he slowed down by the doorway to Jimmy's room, processing the wide open door before creeping over to peer inside.

He could see a figure stood in the darkness, Daisuke awkwardly patting the wall to find the light switch. Curly didn't even really react to the sudden brightness, just stood there. "Uhmmm… Captain…?"

"Hmmm?" The blond turned and, for some reason, had a lighter in one hand and a trash bag in the other. "Was'it?"

"…whatcha doing?"

Curly shrugged, "Takin' out trash."

"Oh. Uh. Cooool… I'll just… come back later?"

"M'kay." Curly dropped the trash bag in favor of picking up an old college shirt by the looks of it, clicking on the lighter with a blank stare. He held the flame up until the shirt started to catch fire before preceding to just… stand there.

Daisuke casually turned around before going to get Swansea.

~

"What the hell is going on in here…?"

Curly sighed at being interrupted again, looking over as he clicked the lighter back on, letting the flames catch on the latest source of his irritation. "I'll come get lunch later, I'm busy."

Swansea raised an eyebrow, walking into the room with a look around at the state it was. The blond knew it was a bit of a mess, but well, that couldn't be helped right now. "Curly, what are you doing?"

"Dealin' with Jimshit's crap," He felt the heat beginning to inch closer to his fingertips, dropping the blanket and stomping a foot down on the flames. Wasn't it just great that the fucking sprinkler system broke early into the trip? Ha! Made this soooo much easier.

"By lighting crap on fire?" The mechanic demanded, moving to hold a hand out. "Hand me the fucking lighter, where the hell did that even come from?"

Curly frowned, clicking it on and off again for a moment, "Why not? They've already dragged out the important bullshit from here for the investigations, so it's not like any of this matters anymore, ha!" He moved to kick sharply at the nearby dresser, grinding his teeth. "Besides! It's practice building a damn bonfire outta his crap when we land on earth again! That fucking prick!"

His lips curled as he kicked the dresser a few more times before beginning to toss shit from the drawers out onto the floor. The room was already trashed enough as it was, what was a little more!?

"…you are freaking me out here, kid."

"M'not a kid," Curly scoffed, "I just, I just don't—" He made an irritated sound, gesturing sharply. "I'm tired of this fucking room with all his fucking shit sat here on my fucking ship!"

"And… you decided to have a manic episode because of that, huh?"

"This ain't a manic episode," he spat. "I'm just… getting rid of some trash."

"Sure, sure…"

Curly glared, "What!? It ain't like I'm fuckin' crying or some shit— I'm just… I CAN'T STAND THIS FUCKING ROOM ANYMORE!" He turned and threw the damned lighter into the wall, "THAT BASTARD!"

"Curls…"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TELL ME TO CALM DOWN OR BREATH OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT OR I SWEAR TO WHOEVER THE FUCK—!" He turned as he saw red, shoving the whole dresser over onto its side with a snarl. "FUCK!"

Curly knew he was being irrational, but HA! This whole situation was up the goddamned wall! Breathing hard, he finally just walked over to the bed and sat down, bouncing his leg sharply.

Swansea spoke carefully as he walked over, "Hey?"

"What," he snapped. "I'll be fine, I have to be fine! He's— he's not around anymore!"

"Mmmm… do I even have to tell you this is not healthy in the least bit?"

"Fuck. You."

"You're going to fuck something up if you keep this up, just. Cool down in the damned cockpit or the cyro room until you got your head screwed back on, got it?"

"I can't! I'm not— I have to— I have to do something!"

Swansea rubbed a hand down his face, "Curly, look. We can't just keep having these talks because you keep letting yourself have these fucking…" The man waved a hand with a frown, "…meltdowns."

Curly grunted, tugging at his hair with a sigh.

"Just. Look, me and Anya got this punching bag set up in the med bay, alright?"

The captain glanced at the older with a frown, "Yeah?"

"You can go beat the shit outta that, sound good? Then we can at least get you proper gear on so you aren't busting your knuckles and getting your arms cut up." The man gave a frown as he gestured his hand up and down Curly's form. "Just look what you done, moron."

The blond frowned, glancing down to himself, brows raising as he realized the state he was in. His knuckles were busted, scraps and forming bruises along his hands. Mmm… whoops. He had thrown a few punches here and there around the room, hadn't he? Curly raised his left arm as much as he could to peer at a long bloodied cut on his forearm.

"Adrenaline's one hell of drug." Swansea patted him on the back, "Go get yourself cleaned up. We'll talk again later, I'm not going to let my lunch get cold."

Curly just nodded weakly, dragging his good hand down his face as the older left the room. Christ… he glanced around the room and felt nothing but empty.

~

Swansea looked over as Curly walked over to sit down next to him, the man having been avoiding everyone like the plague for the remainder of the day. "You eat something," the mechanic questioned as he looked over the blond.

The man just shrugged, fidgeting with a few of the bandages along his arms and hands.

"You're gonna eat tomorrow, got it?"

A small nod, Curly opening and closing his mouth before managing a weak, "Sorry."

"Mphm. You freaked Daisuke out pretty badly, you know that? Anya was worried as well."

"I get it," the man hissed, glaring down at his own lap.

Swansea scoffed, "Do you?

No response this time.

"That's what I thought. Now c'mon. Let's go beat up an old punching bag, hm?"

"…fine."

—83 days until Home—

Daisuke woke up to find a bunch of origami flowers next to his head, blinking a few times before sitting up to look them over with interest. He saw blue daisies, a large purple hyacinth, a yellow rose, and a couple blue hydrangeas.

The intern hummed, fiddling with the rose as he glanced over to Curly's empty bedsheets. They still looked to be fully made, not even disturbed.

With a yawn and a stretch, the young man got up to go look for his friend.

~

Curly had to admit that the punching bad was pretty bloody great, exhaling after his last round of punches and kicks to the damn thing.

The blond was about to go back into it after adjusting the gloves Swansea had lent him when someone cleared their throat, giving him a bloody heart attack. He looked over his shoulder with a wide-eyed stare and almost immediately cringed when he saw it was Daisuke.

Curly opened his mouth before wincing and closing it, chewing on the inside of his cheek instead.

Daisuke broke the awkwardness as he held up a paper flower, "You didn't have to make a full apology, I uh, how long have you been in here…?"

He made a face, looking off to the nearest clock before silently doing the math in his head. "Mmm… several hours?"

"Dudeeee."

"I know," Curly sighed. He shook his head and threw a couple more punches, watching Daisuke move over to sit in a nearby chair out the corner of his eye. "…how'd you sleep?"

"Huh— oh! Pretty alright… you get sleep last night?"

"Couldn't."

"Will… you try to later?"

Curly blew a strand of hair from his face, kicking his leg up and watching the punching back swing back at the force of it. "Dunno."

"Wanna help me make breakfast…?"

The captain tilted his head, sighing heavily as he let his shoulders slump. "…whatcha thinkin?"

Daisuke gave a smile.

—80 days until Home—

Anya hummed gently as she checked Curly's shoulder, making sure the man hadn't strained it with how regularly he'd been visiting her punching bag. "You know, I can show you some good stretches that could help loosen the tightened muscles."

"Mmm, that so?"

"Mhm. Also, I want you to ease up using your bad shoulder, I know it doesn't hurt so much anymore, but you need to be gentle with it."

The man sighed before he gave a weak smile, "Yes, ma'am."

"…want to watch a horror movie with me after dinner? One of the main characters looks like Jimmy."

"Do they die," Curly chuckled with a raised eyebrow.

She gave a wicked grin, "You know it."

"Ha! You know what, you got yourself a deal."

—76 days until Home—

"Can't sleep either?" Daisuke jumped at the captain's strained voice, glancing up as he quickly wiped at his eyes.

"Uh," he cleared his throat, croaking out a weak, "I g-guess."

Curly gave a soft nod, moving to point at the chair besides the intern, "Mind if… if I join you?" He held up his good arm, Daisuke noticing the blond was holding the portable radio. "I. I have some music if you want?"

"T-That'd be cool, you, uh, you have bad dream, too?"

The captain gave a bitter laugh, brushing his hair back as he set the radio down, clicking it on. "…Jimmy crashed the ship, I burned alive, then he made me eat my own leg after everyone else died." An orchestra began to play as the older sat down with a shake of his head, Daisuke staring at him with a wince.

"Fuck, man… that sounds intense? At least, least it wasn't real!"

Curly laughed, laying his head on his arms with an odd and distant look, "…mmm. What about your, uh, dream?"

Daisuke leaned to copy the captain's posture, settling his face against his arms with a sniffle, "My māmā died b-before we got home… her, uh, her cancer c-came back."

"Ah, I see…"

"Mhmm."

Curly patted his shoulder, the intern looking over at the captain. "You just gotta give her an even bigger hug next time you see her, right?"

He managed a tearful smile, "And you… y-you can give Jimmy a proper punch in the face."

The blond gave a snort, ruffling Daisuke's hair, "Cheers to that."

—68 days until Home—

"OWOWOWOWOWOW—" Daisuke squawked as he tried to push Swansea's arm over, "WHY ARE YOU ACTUALLY STRONG????"

The engineer gave a grunt, "Kid. These arms aren't just big 'cause I'm fat, I've worked with heavy machinery for years." Daisuke huffed, arm shaking as he gritted his teeth. Swansea watched sweat bead on the kid's forehead, "You know, I'm actually impressed you're holding up for this long."

The intern glanced up wide-eyed, "Wait— for real— OH FU—"

The engineer took the distraction and slammed the kid's hand against the table with a snort. "Gotta work on letting yourself be distracted, don't you?"

~

"I could beat Swansea with my good arm, but the other one I would not want to risk." Curly scratched at his beard, tilting his head, "Anya's pretty strong as well…"

"But do you think she could beat Swansea?"

"I'm pretty certain she could toss you over her shoulder, Daisuke."

"Really?"

"…Hm. HEY, ANYA, SWANSEA!" The captain cupped his hands around his mouth as he shouted, "CAN YA'LL GET YOUR ARSES OVER HERE A SEC?"

~

Swansea was going to get a fucking hernia from laughing so hard, slapping his knee harshly as Daisuke went falling over like a sack of bricks with the most shrill, squeaking yelp a guy could give. Curly was already visibly shaking, head in his hands.

"That answer you boys' question?" Anya brushed her hands off as she flashed a wide grin.

"HA! That's my girl," Swansea bellowed with a cackle, "You need to work on your landing, Daisuke!"

The damn intern stumbled back to his feet, blinking a moment before yelling at him with a wide gesture, "SHE JUST FLIPPED ME LIKE A COIN, SWANSEA!"

Curly started snorting and snickering, burying his face into the crook of his arm as he wheezed.

"I wish I had my camera on me," the mechanic sighed before laughing even harder. Daisuke could only pout.

—61 days until Home—

Anya hummed quietly, brushing her hair back with a little sigh. The woman nudged her door open before going to settle on her bed, staring over at the star map on the wall as she let her mind wander.

She'd finally managed to get her mother on a call, though the nurse had had to wake up pretty early to get the proper time when the woman was awake. It had been nice, relieving to see her mother was doing well despite the time apart.

Though, she hadn't been able to admit that her and the Tulpar crew were being let go after this trip. It felt like admitting some dirty secret. Anya sighed, leaning her arms behind her head, she just hoped Curly had really meant it when he said he might know someone who'd hire her.

She really needed the money.

—59 days until Home—

"—that's Daisuke, then this ova'here is Anya!" Curly gestured happily from one to the other, angling the laptop so his mum could see both his crewmates better. "They're both pretty cool, if I do say so myself."

"Nice to meet you, sweetie." His mum gave a wave, glancing over to where Daisuke was sat nearby, "And you too, dear."

Daisuke beamed back while Anya gave a shy smile, "It's like totally epic to meet you Missus Curly's mom!"

"You can just call me, Diana, luve."

"YOOOOO FIRST NAME BASIS WITH THE CAPTAIN'S MOM!"

"You nut," Curly snorted, shoving Daisuke's head down with a grin.

—53 days until Home—

Curly hesitated a moment before knocking on Swansea's door, cringing a moment at the sharp sound. He rubbed at his eye (he'd really have to ask Anya for eye drops if he kept apparently sleeping with the thing open), nearly turning around right then and there to hurry back to Daisuke's room.

The door opened before he could decide to be a coward, Swansea leaning against his doorway with a scowl, "The hell, Curly?"

The blond swallowed, cringing, "Heeeeeeeey, Swans, uh…"

"Out with it, boy."

His cheeks heated up as he cleared his throat, "Can… can you help me shave…?"

"Shave? You fucking kidding me?"

He swallowed thickly, tensing as he looked away sharply, "Fuckin' hell— you coulda just bloody said no." Curly cleared his throat, shaking his head. "Just, just forget it—"

"Shit, you're serious?"

"Piss off."

The blond took a step to leave, though he must have looked as pathetic as he felt because Swansea gave a groan, "Hey, hold it there, Curls. Fine, okay, just… Christ, give me a moment."

The captain kept his eyes on the floor.

~

"Ya know, I thought this was a choice," Swansea mumbled, passing the shaving cream over, "Was wondering why you let it grow out this much."

Curly snorted, awkwardly holding the can a moment before glancing back to himself in the mirror. "Mmm… that and it's been hard to look myself in the eye." He absently moved to run a finger over one eye bag, "I, uh, I kinda lost track of time and… maybe that head injury kinda, ya know, knocked that shit right out? I dunno."

"Mphm. So you going back to that scruff from before or—"

"I admittedly like this kinda look, but just, I wanna actually start maintaining it." Curly ran his hand over his beard with a sigh, "I mean… I, I think it looks alright? Should, should I shave it…?"

"Curly, I could give less of a fuck what you do with that thing. You like the look, great, I'm not gonna tell you what to do with yourself."

"Okay," he muttered, accepting the razor handed to him, "Sorry, again for, uh, for this—"

"Shut up and pay attention to what I show you, try not to nick yourself while you're at it." The older adjusted himself, leading by example as he began to apply shaving cream to his own face. Curly silently moving to follow the mechanic's lead.

—53 days until Home—

Swansea hummed along to the station he'd set up as he worked, muttering along to the song lyrics. Anya was settled nearby, scribbling down on those notecards of hers.

Off in the kitchen, Curly and Daisuke were working on their latest culinary curiosity, though for once, they weren't chattering like songbirds in there.

It was an idle sort of quiet, none of them seeming to care to disturb the moment nor feeling the need to.

He figured some good things came out of this trip afterall.

—47 days until Home—

Curly bounced a leg as he sat in the co-pilot's chair, brushing his hair back as he thought how best to approach that idea he'd had several nights ago.

Anya had mentioned, offhandedly and briefly, how she was thinking about college again. Though knowing the debt she was still sat in, Curly knew it was more of a possibility than a guarantee.

But, well, he had money. He was the kind that saved up, invested in things here and there, and had a pretty penny from the inheritance earned when his father had passed. So… what if he offered to help her with her tuition?

The only problem was, he didn't want to make it seem as though it were something to be paid back or some kind of a pity thing. The man blew out a breath, kicking his legs up to rest them on the console, "Why's talkin' to people so bloody'amn complicated?"

~

Anya hummed as she walked into the common room, Daisuke having already passed out asleep in her room after dinner while Swansea had left to take care of his own matters.

She wasn't sure what was up with Curly, but the man had been quiet all of dinner and now he was sprawled out staring at the faux sunset with a thoughtful frown. The woman walked over to lean over the back of the couch, "Captain?"

The blond jumped, looking up at her before giving a huff. "Oi, dontcha go givin' me a damned heart attack."

"You're the one spacing out," Anya mused in turn, resting her chin on a hand, "What's on your mind?"

"Mmm. I ain't spacing out, I'm just… okay, yeah, I might be spacing out." Curly moved to sit up, rubbing at his beard a moment before moving to fidget with his hair, "Well, uhm, I… I kinda been meanin' to ask you something?"

"Like what?"

"Just… let me explain first before you answer, yeah?"

The nurse tilted her head to the side, raising her eyebrows, "Okay?"

The captain cleared his throat, gazing off to the side. "Alright… so, in short? I, I want to help sponsor your next uh, next attempt at medical school?" He cringed, clearing his throat, "That is, t-that is, uh, if it would be okay with you? It's just that, I've gotta lotta money saved up, wouldn't you know it? A lot more than my lonely ass needs to live comfortably."

"So, so well, I mean, just… I really don't need any of it. I don't care to meet some woman to settle with, I never really wanted kids, and honestly all those big houses never appealed to me," he shrugged with a half-smile, "And well, I guess this crew's closest I've had to family in… sheesh, just a while. So. Yeah. I, I want to help you pay off your student debt and get that degree or certificate or whatever it is you want to use the money for."

He cautioned a look at his friend, clearing his throat again at her wide-eyed look. "Uhm… Anya?"

The woman blinked a few times, a hand going over her mouth, "Curly, I— I can't just take your money like that—!"

"Anya." He gave a snort as she gave him a lost look, opening his hands in almost a pleading manner, "I, I wasn't lyin' when I said you've saved my ass, you know that, yeah? I owe you a lot, just, more than you could ever fully comprehend. I know it's a big ask… but I mean this with every fiber in my fuckin' being. If you'll let me, please. You're so bloody adaptable and sharp as a tack, you got incredible potential and I don't, I just don't want to see that wasted."

"That, I—" She opened her mouth, sputtering, "Holy shit, Curly, are— are you serious?"

The captain smiled, "I don't think I've been more serious in my life. So… so whatcha say?"

Anya swallowed thickly, moving around the couch to practically tackle him into a hug, the man wincing a touch before giving her a tight hug in turn. He laughed, "Imma guess that's a yes?"

His friend nodded fiercely, giving a tearful laugh.

—40 days until Home—

Curly hummed softly as he rolled the die, perking up when he got a four, "Heh, nice."

He moved his piece the correct number of places before settling in and waiting for Anya to make her move, the woman squinting intensely at the board and then the die in her hands. She tossed it, quickly peering at the number before cheering. "Six!"

Daisuke huffed, having rolled low the last few turns of his. "How do you two keep rolling so high????" He whined.

"No clue," Curly mused, "Just lucky I guess~"

"No fair," the younger man mumbled.

—34 days until Home—

"Anya, what are you planning on doing when we get home first?" Daisuke hummed as Anya looked over his face, his injury having scarred up for the most part after so long.

"Take a nice warm bath in a tub that comfortably fits me," she chuckled, "What about you, hm?"

Daisuke gave a wide grin, "I'm going to get a huge thing of McDonald's fries."

She snorted, raising an eyebrow, "Really?" With a gentle hand she pressed her fingers over the edges of his scar, "This doesn't hurt anymore, right?"

"Just feels kinda weird, but that's all! Also, I'm like going to get just a massive coke! Super big."

"Whatever you say… though I might have to come with," the nurse smiled, settling back as she began to check him over more generally. Having Daisuke stick his tongue out, checking his eyes and ears, all that fun stuff.

"That'd be epic, buuuuut~! I'm not sharing my fries at all." He stuck his tongue out teasingly, his friend giving a rather unimpressed look in turn.

"I'm definitely stealing your fries now."

"What! Nuh-uh! You're not allowed."

"Like you can stop me," she playfully flicked him on the nose.

—29 days until Home—

"Hey, Swansea?"

The man grunted as he stirred in his chair, admittedly having half-way fallen asleep after the last movie the crew had figured to watch in the common room.

"You know, I was talkin' to my mum the other day, yeah?"

"Uh-huh, whatta bout it, Curls," the mechanic gave a yawn, rubbing the back of his neck.

"She mentioned this old mate of mine, a good champ, most folk just call him Aces, and well, turns out he's got a cousin in the states that's looking for good mechanics for business of his," the blond looked away as Swansea gave him a raised brow, "Just, yeah, if you still were lookin' for work…?"

"That so?" The man crossed his arms over his chest, "Eh. I'll keep it in mind then."

Curly perked up, giving an awkward laugh, "Cool, cool… uh, I'll let you be now!" He shot finger guns, spun around on his heel, and practically bolted back out the room.

Swansea adjusted himself until comfortable once more, shaking his head with a snort. "What a nervous wreck that boy."

—21 days until Home—

"Can't believe we're only three weeks out, wouldn't you know it?" Swansea grunted as he stirred the pot, pausing a moment to get a fresh spoon to taste test it. "Daisuke, add some more of that salt, got it?"

The kid nodded, moving along to snatch it up, "That's like, a month, right, boss?"

"Little under it actually," the engineer nodded, "I'd say its a disappointment, but with the whole homicidal crewmate and getting fired thing, I could use a fucking moment to breath."

"Dude, that's so real." Daisuke blew out a raspberry as he added a touch of salt, peering into the pot a moment until Swansea swatted him away.

"Fucking watch it, you idiot, that shit's hot," Swansea shook his head, pausing to glance over as he heard Curly give a greeting as he entered the room, "Well look who dragged himself outta the med bay. Whatcha? Our new nurse, huh?"

"Heya, Captain!"

"Heya, Daisuke." The blond yawned, stretching his hands over his head, "And yeah, yeah, I hears ya, Swans. It ain't like Anya minds me borrowing the punching bag every now and again, so sue me. Now what's it we got going here?"

He tried to peer into the bowl next, jumping back as Swansea just about smacked him upside the head with a spoon. "What do you morons not understand about not putting your face near a fucking boiling bowl?"

Curly raised his hands in defense, rolling his eyes, "Aight, aight, Imma backin' off! But seriously, whatever the hell it is, smells good."

"It's like, a stew or something," Daisuke mused, "Oh! Hey, Curly?"

"Mmm?" The man was moving to grab some bowls and silverware to set the table with.

"What are you going to do when we get back?"

"Ain't we already talked bout that some?" Curly moved to set things down, grimacing whenever he'd accidentally set a bowl down too hard. His left hand certainly had a tendency to have some bad days and good days and Daisuke was thinking it was one of the bad kinda days.

"Well, a bit! But like, after that? Anya said you're gonna help her with school and Swansea said something about letting me possibly work with him! But like, what about you, dude?"

Curly glanced over with a hum, "Oh~? Swansea ain't tired enough of you yet?"

"Nnnnooooopppeee! Cause he loooooves us!" The intern beamed at Swansea, the technician just shooting a glare at the both of them.

"I can't stand neither of you."

"Awwww, love you, too, Swan— SHIT!" Curly quickly ducked the paper towel roll sent flying at his head, blinking wide-eyed a moment before snorting, "Rude." The blond paused and looked from the roll to the mechanic, "…that was a really good throw though."

"A pity you ducked in time," Swansea grunted.

Daisuke rolled his eyes, though he couldn't help but notice Curly still hadn't answered his question.

—19 days until Home—

"So then, then we all went and I like, just totallyyyyy busted my butt, dude." Daisuke hummed as he applied fresh nail polish to Anya's nails, Curly sat on her other side as he did her other hand.

"I never got the appeal for ice skating, admittedly."

The captain clicked his tongue, "Maybe you need to try something else like snowboarding or skiing."

"And get another bruised tailbone, nahhhh, dude. I don't think I'd ever do something like that again."

Curly looked personally offended by that, looking over sharply, "You kiddin'? Winter sports are a bloody delight if ya got a good bloke with you!"

"Dude, I literally will freeze to death."

"Not if we getcha a proper set up!" Curly gestured widely, accidentally splattering nail polish across the floor and not even noticing, "I know a bloody great ski resort, I swear, I'll take you all there—"

"Bro, how much money do you have!?"

The captain scoffed, "Look, Imma be honest, most of it was because my parents were rich and I was an only child, aight? But that's besides the point! Winter sports are fuckin' great and I know for a fact yall will still hang out with me outside of a rusty old spaceship."

Anya snorted, giving a wry grin, "Maybe if you actually help to paint my nails, I'd be more convinced."

"Bloody hell," the man squinted back down, "Hmph."

—12 days until Home—

Daisuke spoke up into the quiet of the room, "Psssst, Curly?" He glanced over to the older's bedsheets and he could see the blond's eyes were open, the man blinking slowly. "I know you're awake."

"Mmm."

"You don't blink when you sleep with your eye open, also it's usually only one that's open at a time," the intern explained.

Curly finally looked over at him, keeping his voice low, "What's up?"

"You're still going to come hang out with me when we're back on earth, right?"

"If you want my ass around, bloody hell, yeah, man."

"Cool, cool… hey, Curly?"

"Mhm?"

"Do… you maybe need a new roommate?"

—10 days until Home—

Anya fidgeted with her hair, pacing about as she chewed on her lip. The closer they got back home, the more restless she swore she got, the woman really couldn't wait to just be on solid ground again.

And this time? This time she'd have people around she'd cautiously call a family, an unexpected gift despite the utter mess this trip had turned out to be. She blew out a breath and shook her head, deciding to loiter about the kitchen until everyone else woke up as well.

—8 days until Home—

Daisuke nudged Swansea as he sprawled against the older's side, Anya sat down on the mechanic's other side while the three of them watched yet another space film (he was starting to suspect that Swansea had a certain taste in movies). "Dude, this movie is so us-core."

The mechanic side-eyed him, "Never say something like that again. And what did I tell you about calling me 'dude?'"

He stuck his tongue out, rolling his eyes as the characters on screen scrambled back into their ship before a massive wave crashed down on them. "…I wish we had a cool robot guy on the ship."

"What, ain't Pollie's stupid fucking face good enough?" Swansea snorted out a laugh, crossing his arms as he shook his head.

Daisuke snickered, "Pollie's kinda annoying, boss."

"Don't say that so loud or you might hurt his feelings," the man chuckled, getting Daisuke to laugh louder.

"Dudeeee, that'd be so creepy if it could hear us! Like, like Siri or something!"

"Christ, don't get me thinkin' bout that kinda—"

Anya hushed them both with a vicious hiss, "Would you two shut up? I'm trying to watch!"

Swansea raised his eyebrows as the nurse just glared back, the mechanic raising his hands in surrender before settling back. Daisuke adjusted himself, glancing from the movie to Anya and then back to Swansea.

The intern lowered his voice to a whisper as he leaned in, "But like… what if they made it where Pollie's voice was a Siri option?"

"That's horribly cursed, kid."

"Ha! Ye—" Daisuke yelped as Anya took off one of her sandals and tossed it at him.