originally published 04/28/2021 a/n: minor detail: it is mentioned that popee holds a water bottle sometime in the story, but bottled water was not distributed until 1973. to my knowledge, this is the only historical inaccuracy of this fic.
major tw: very detailed description of body mutilation
You laid in bed quietly, facing towards the grey steel ceiling with boredom, tossing a small baseball up and catching it as it falls back down. The persistent soft humming of the ship's engine is all you can hear [besides the chatter from the folks in the pod next door,] making you feel slightly relaxed. It's the only fleeting moments of peace you can get around here, as your pod-mates are quite boisterous fellows. They briefly left for breakfast, and they should be back soon.
Shortly thereafter, your friends barge in, beaming profoundly as they toss a brown paper bag to you. "We got brownies!" the shorter of them, Keda, bellows in joy. You sit up quickly at the announcement, pulling the bag towards you. When you open it, you see two small brownies sprinkled with powdered sugar wrapped inside parchment paper. "Thank you," you tell Keda. He chuckles a bit, shoving his hands in his pockets and leaning back onto the small desk you three must share. "Oh, don't thank me, thank Popee. He was the one to find out they even had them," he replies back, pointing his chin over at his best friend with a grin.
You look over to the other man who's already began to munch on his brownies. "Thanks for finding these," you say. "No problem," he speaks quickly, sounding slightly annoyed with a hint of exhaustion. You look back at the man standing next to the desk, to which he shrugs. "You good?" he asks Popee.
Popee shoots him an irritable look, eyes squinting and lips puckering just a tad. Thoughts came into your head, forcing you to turn your attention back to your brownies. You felt that it was okay to have those kind of thoughts about other men, but most people did not. You couldn't let the other two witness the jitter of your hands, or your exasperated sigh when you peered at his lips. You definitely couldn't, especially considering how incredibly easy it was to piss off that handsome man.
***
"Hey, wake up. She's docked,"
That was the best sentence you could ever wake up to whilst out on the seas. Well, being on the ground where you were more likely to be murdered wasn't exactly exhilarating, but it was most certainly more favorable than quite literally holding onto railings for dear life just so you wouldn't plummet 100 feet into the ocean.
"Where are we?" you ask Keda. He stands up straight as you pull the thin bedsheets from your body. "Cat Lo," he answers. He announces that he made Popee angry earlier and that he'd have to go find him, but he'd be back in no later than fifteen minutes. You make noises to signal that you understand, and he leaves you to your own devices.
You pack up all of your equipment and personal belongings, noticing that the other two had already prepared for the stay at the base. Nothing is anywhere, that is, except for a tiny diary poking out from under Popee's mattress. You pull it from where it is, examining the brown leather-bound book that appears to be very loved. You flip open the pages to double check that it's his, but that's when him and Keda slam open the door and step inside. You quickly close the diary, shoving it towards its owner in fright. He just caught you glancing through it, and there's no doubt that he thought you were being nosy.
"What the fuck?" he screams shakily, yanking the book from your grasp. "I'm so sorry," you defend quickly, raising your hands in submission. "I was just making sure it belonged to you, I swear,"
He scrunches his face, and you can't help but feel something again.
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