Smoke in the Sky // Linkin Park

Michael knows best

Alone again. Letting out a deep sigh, Mike sat back down for a bit before he decided that he was currently too restless to stay still. Thus, he paced up and down the room, thinking about his crewmates once more. They were his friends first and foremost, but he couldn't help feeling like him being assigned Captain of the ship started to push them away from him. Especially now, that Chester was clearly upset because of what Mike had said.

With every passing second Mike grew more worried but he knew that he couldn't go look for his friend as it would result in Chester telling him to stop treating him like a child. And even though he understood that sentiment, it became harder to stay in the room with every passing minute, more so because there was nothing left to do and he hadn't bothered to bring anything to keep him entertained with him.

"Hey." Despite the worries, he tried to not sound too relieved the second Chester marched back in, clearly not happy to see him leaning against the counter. "There's food for you in the oven."

"I'm not hungry," he snapped back at him and it took Mike a great amount of self-control to not roll his eyes at him or sound to condescending when he explained the rules they'd set upon signing their contracts back on Earth.

"You know Brad is going to be mad if you don't eat." And the last thing Mike wanted was another lecture on how important it was that their bodies stayed fit during their journey through space. Or really any lecture coming from Brad if he was completely honest.

"Do I look like I care?" Nevertheless, Chester got up and snatched the plate Mike held out for him right from his hands. "Why are you here anyway? Don't you have something better to do? Isn't Anna going to be mad when she finds out one day is missing in your messages to her?"

"She won't be." Mike pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath before he decided to not comment further on it. Especially since Chester was now chewing loudly and glaring up at him. "Rob wanted to know if the food's alright."

"Great. Now you're all concerned about the wellbeing of a bunch of fucking carrots." Slamming his fork down onto the plate, Chester stabbed the remaining food and shoved it into his mouth while Mike clutched the edge of the counter behind him to the point where he felt his fingers were starting to hurt from the pressure.

"Are you done?", he asked before Chester had the chance to run off again. A question to which he didn't respond but instead narrowed his eyes and pointed at the empty plate in a swift movement. "Alright. I wanted to talk to you."

"If it's about the project, forget it." Right as Mike sat down, Chester decided to get up and clean the dishes with a calm demeanor that made Mike want to flip the table.

"Chester, please." His head buried in one hand, Mike pointed at the now empty chair with the other. "You do know that I have problems with the project and not with you, right?"

"Really?" Laughing once, Chester refused to sit down as told but instead leaned against the wall and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Then why did you make me look like an idiot in front of the entire crew, Captain?"

"I didn't." Another sigh, and even without looking in his direction, Mike could feel Chester's glare on him. "Look, as your friend I think it's absolutely genius but as a scientist-"

"That's a poor excuse." Chester cut him off, the compliment clearly not working as expected.

"I had- have the feeling you don't know how dangerous this is!" Any attempts to keep his voice down were failing at this point and it took Mike more than just a few deep breaths to not jump up and pace the room again. Fighting wouldn't get his point across, he knew that. But at the same time, he could only hope that reasonable arguments did. "You want to mess with the abilities of a human being. That's not just crossing a line, that's straight up ignoring it."