Unnoticeable Signs

Minor Cold

The Captain woke up feeling a bit congested, but it was nothing they couldn't ignore. They figured they just came down with something of a cold. That was all it was.

They met up with Mark. "Hey, my favorite Head Engineer!"

"Oh! Hey, there, number one Captain!" Mark replied. The Captain giggled.

They were talking about their life right before the Invincible II. "Yeah, my, uh, best friend... Well, Jessica. You know her. ...She, uh... She had just passed away..." The Captain explained.

"Jessica didn't make it...?" Mark asked. The Captain shook their head, tears forming, a bit. "Oh no... She was just, like, the sweetest thing... You didn't tell me she passed?"

"It's... hard to think about. It's even harder to talk about... Yeah. Her Cancer was too much... Anyways, how do you think Earth is, now?" The Captain asked, changing the subject and rubbing their nose.

"Polluted. Very polluted."

(Tell me why my autofill wanted me to put "Very temperamental". As in, "Touchy things, wormholes. Very temperamental. Love to help you with that." I also got that from autofil. Bandit, stop taking over my autofil!)

"Yeah, unfortunately, we'll probably never lea... l–lear... Hah..." The Captain's breath hitched. Their nose twitched and flared. They closed their eyes and opened their mouth.

"You alright, Captain?" Mark asked, concerned.

"Yea–hah... I ju—... Hah! Sn–snee—..." The Captain pinched their nose shut and turned to the side. "Pnxt'chu!" They let out a small and squeaky sneeze.

"Aw. That was cute," Mark teased.

The Captain blushed a little before sneezing, again. "Ha'pnxt'chu! Pnxt'chu!" The Captain sighed before turning back to Mark, letting go of their nose.

Mark frowned, tilting his head. "You okay, Cap?"

"Yeah. I think I might have a bit of a cold. It's barely there. No need to worry about it. I hadn't even sneezed at all, yet, today, before that. Like I said, it's barely there."

"Oh. Okay," Mark said. He laughed, a little. "Your sneeze still sounds like a kitten!"

The Captain felt their face heat up. Mark, amused by the Captain's blushing, laughed harder. The Captain looked away and rubbed their nose. "Sh–shut up!"

"If this is a cold, imagine how much I get to tease you about this!" He laughed. "Juat wait until I tell the crew about this!"

The Captain instantly turned to Mark and gave him a look. "Don't."

Mark stopped laughing and blushed a little. "I, uh... Hey, wait, did you just get revenge? Okay, I'll admit it. That was hot." The Captain smiled. "Then again, everything I do is hot." The Captain laughed.

"Like that time you kept trying to convince me to jump in again and died every time?"

"I looked hot doing it," He pointed out.

The Captain almost snorted, but since they didn't want to embarrass themself, they just laughed. "Okay, fair."

Celci came in through the door. "CC," Mark teased.

"Asshat," She replied, then turned to the Captain and put her hands behind her back.

"What's up, C?" They asked.

She smiled. "Just checking in, Captain," She said. "Making sure nothing is wrong and everyone is okay. What about you? How are you, Captain?"

The Captain nervously rubbed the back of their neck. "Um... Well—"

"For your information, CC, the Captain a cold," Mark said in a matter-of-fact tone.

The Captain shot him a look. "I could have said that myself, you know." Mark shrugged.

"Oh no! Are you okay?" Celci asked sympathetically.

The Captain nervously looked down and scratched the bridge of their nose. "Yeah, I, uh..." They looked back at Celci and shrugged. "It's barely even there. I mean, the only thing it's done is made me a little congested. I only sneezed three times, and that was in one go. I mean, it's really nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure?" Celci asked, tilting her head.

"Y–yea—..." The Captain paused, feeling a tickle.

"Capta—?" Celci tried.

"Give it a minute," Mark interrupted. He smiled, knowing the Captain was about to give another kitten sneeze in front of Celci.

The Captain closed their eyes and pinched their nose shut, breathing heavily through their mouth. They desperately needed to sneeze, but it wouldn't come out. "Eh... Hah... Heh..."

"Oh!" Celci exclaimed, realizing the situation. She grabbed a tissue from a nearby tissue box and held it out to the Captain. "Here. Use this."

The Captain, one hand still pinching their nose, took the tissue from Celci. They held it up to their nose. "Th–thah... Hah... Tha–ank y–you, C–Cel... Hih... Cel-Celci... Heh..." They held their nose shut with the tissue.

"You're welcome," She replied.

The Captain quickly turned to the side. "Heh'pnxt'CHU! Pnxt'CHU! Hah'PNXT'chu!" The Captain heard Mark giggle under his breath, and they blushed, a little. They blew their nose into their tissue, avoiding eye contact with either of them, blushing harder from embarrassment.

Celci rubbed the Captain's back. "Bless you," She said, smiling supportively.

"Seriously?!" Mark asked, his mouth wide open. "Do you not have a sense of humor, or something?! It's hilarious!" The Captain looked at Mark, trembling. "Oh, come on, Captain. I didn't mean—" The Captain ran out of the room so they didn't have a mental breakdown in front of everyone else.

"Really, Mark?!" Celci yelled.

"Wha—I was joking!" Mark defended.

Celci sighed and shook her head at Mark, leaving the room to run after the Captain so she could comfort them.