He laughed, staring up at her. Valiel’s whole shape shifting thing would take a while to get used to, but he found it pretty cool. Aliens were just… something he hadn’t seen a lot of yet. But he was sure that would change soon.
“Don’t blame me if I wake up in the middle of the night and have a panic attack from seeing you hanging over me,” he teased.
Mercy laughed softly, surprised at his response. Normally, he would’ve jumped at the opportunity to be close to her.
“Your body does it’s own thing, huh?” She smiled and rolled her eyes. “Sounds like something you would say.”
She rolled over on her back, staring at the ceiling. It felt weird to be away from her room, but she liked being with him. It was nice.
“Good night, Romulus.”
"Shorry." Her voice hadn't changed, but her mouth was no good for English like this. "I chan schange, ifv iyou wand?"
…….
Romulus grinned at her. "That's because I did say it." He rolled into his side, his face falling once he was at an angle where she couldn't see him.
"'Night, Mercy."
He fell asleep thinking troubled thoughts.
“Nah, nah. You’re all good, my love.” He grinned up at her. “Just try not to drool, okay? I’m right below you.”
He turned over on his side, and soon he was out like a light.
Early the next morning, Conner was still asleep even though the rest of the ship was already awake. He had stayed up late that night, and he had been so tired that he completely forgot to set his alarm clock. Arriss, however, did remember to set hers, and she woke up to buzzing from her phone.
As she sat up, she stared down at Ronnie, smiling. She felt flustered when she recalled their confession from the day earlier, and she gently stroked his hair as he slept.
Mercy, like Arriss, woke up early, her curls a mess from tossing and turning all night. She smiled when she saw Romulus on the sofa, and she wandered over to his side, sitting down next to him.
Valiel laughed quietly, and shuffled over so she wasn't directly over him. She was asleep soon as well.
……….
Valiel's circadian rhythms were different, and she woke up before Conner. She dropped onto the floor and sat there, watching him, but just for a moment.
She had research to do.
…..
Ronnie's earpiece didn't buzz like Arriss's had. He figured he'd wake when she did, and he was right. Her movement woke him, and he smiled up at her sleepily. Though he was gonna fall back asleep quickly if she kept stroking his hair like that.
……….
Romulus was lying there awake, thinking, and when Mercy came and sat down, he sat up, smiling at her. "Morning. Sleep ok?"
“Good morning, my love.” She leaned down, peppering his face with kisses. “We’ve got a lot to do today.”
After cuddling with him for a few more moments, she stood up, pulling him out of bed with her. Arriss was incredibly anxious for their first day on the ship, but the excitement in her eyes was clear as she began to get ready.
She pulled her hair over her shoulder and watched him for a few moments, thinking deeply to herself. Eventually, she decided to speak up.
“What’s been on your mind?” she whispered. “You seemed… troubled last night.”
Ronnie made a sleepy noise, more of a grunt than anything else, that turned very pleased as Arriss kissed him. He kept his arms wrapped around her till she seemed ready to slide out of bed and get ready.
He lay there for a few more minutes, just watching her, his eyes still dozey.
……..
Romulus smiled at her, his eyes tired. "Just thinking about a lot of things. I'm glad I was able to help you, though, that was the main thing on my mind."
…..
At that moment, Moro-12 kicked on in all of their rooms. Conner, Kirk, Arriss, Ronnie, Romulus, Mercy- all got the same message.
"Commander Verrick is requesting your presence in ten minutes in Briefing Room 1C. Please make all effort to be there."
……
Ronnie blinked, and scrambled to get ready.
Romulus just went to freshen up, not bothering to change per se. He could shower later.
Valiel heard the message, and woke up Conner, shaking him gently. "Wakey wakey, sleepyhead… you're needed."
Mercy and Arriss finished getting ready fairly quickly, but Conner was hard— if not impossible— to get out of bed. He managed to make it to the meeting, but he was a few minutes late. He slid into the seat next to Kirk and exchanged a few whispers with him before turning his attention to the leader.
The rest of the team was gathered around the table, all looking equally anxious and excited. Arriss was holding Ronnie’s hand underneath the table, stroking the back of it with her thumb. Mercy was sitting beside Romulus, silent. She had a much more sympathetic and loving demeanor when they were alone, but now that they were around the other crew mates, she immediately went back to her usual stern and professional behavior.
Valiel had helped him and hurried him along, though she was sad to see him go. She wound up going back to her room and doing some more studying.
Still lots of necessary research.
……….
Ronnie and Arriss had hurried up to the briefing room, hand in hand, and had gotten there about the same time as Romulus and Mercy. There was a tense moment as Romulus and Ronnie locked eyes again, before the literally bigger man nodded at the door. "We better head in."
Ronnie had nodded at him and gone in, and both of them had done the same thing.
They'd placed the girls on opposite sides, so that they were shielded from the other man. Almost like it was on purpose. Kirk and Conner had been left places in the middle, which they filled.
Commander Verrick was sitting at the head of the long oval table. He smiled that awful smile of his, and spoke.
"Welcome and good morning. Have you all met?" When they looked around and nodded, he went on. "Have you talked about backgrounds much? I think it's important we be open here. We're going to go around and mention education, former jobs, major skillsets and other relevant things. Starting with Arriss over here." She happened to be on the end so he settled on her.
The two girls both noticed the strange tension between the men, and they both exchange concerned looks as they went in. If they were all going to a meeting, they would most likely be working together, and they needed to learn to get along.
When the commander asked her about her background, she stiffened ever so slightly. Gosh, she hated being questioned first.
“I graduated high school and went to Harvard to get a bachelor degree in biology,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “I led a group of scientists at NASA before being sent out on a military mission. I have no prior military experience, but I do have experience piloting ships.”
Ronnie smiled at her. "Harvard, huh? Nice." The college was incredibly old and very prestigious. He'd known she was smart, but he hadn't known that.
Commander Verrick nodded. "And as a result of your piloting skills, as well as your high credentials, you were selected as Captain of your vessel, so add that to your resume. That's a skill."
He moved on to Ronnie. "Mr. Vale. I believe you've got a list a mile long. Go right ahead."
Ronnie's grip on Arriss's hand tightened, just a bit.
"I clepped highschool at 14, went straight to military training on Luna, and spent three years there as spec-ops staff. I then joined a permanent black ops team and was responsible for the completion of multiple missions over the next 8 years. In the last year, I was reassigned to Arriss as ship's engineer and semi-security. I have certs in sniping, demolitions, insertion/extraction, CQC, piloting, and a background in engineering and mechanics as well."
He kept his eyes forward, delivering his report to Commander Verrick. Not to anyone else.
Romulus, down the table from him, had a hard look in his eyes. It had only gotten worse as Ronnie talked more.
Commander Verrick nodded, and moved to Conner. "You're up, my friend."
(( Sorry for the short reply T-T It sucks being busy but ))
Arriss squeezed her boyfriend's hand gently as the conversation continued.
"I went to school at Tech," Conner went on. "Got a job at NASA and was a cartographer. Pretty much sums up my work experience."
Mercy noticed Romulus's hardened glare at Ronnie and sighed. She didn't know what wad going on with him, but it was starting to bother her.
(you're totally ok! takes me forever to respond anyway)
"Very good. It would seem you potentially have the least education, Conner. Which isn't bad, it just means there's more things for you to learn from us." He smiled, before turning to Kirk. "And you?"
Romulus could feel Mercy's disappointment, emanating from next to him, and he took a second. Closed his eyes, relaxed his jaw, and intentionally put it aside.
When he opened them, he glanced at her apologetically.
“Not much education. Made it through high school, then dropped out.” Kirk gave a simple shrug. “I was in the army with my sister for a while, then I was sent on this mission. It’s where I’ve been since.”
Mercy moved closer to Romulus, placing her hand on his. She had always been told she was bad at comforting people, but she could tell something was bothering him. She just wish she knew what.
Soon, the commander asked her the same question. “I went to school at a community college for a doctorate in psychology. I got drafted in the army, and eventually was pulled into the mission along with Kirk.”
Commander Verrick nodded at Kirk. "So some potential gaps to fill in for you as well." He glanced at Romulus, before skipping him and going to Mercy.
Her description was interesting to him. "Dr. of Psych, huh? Well. Still some gaps to fill where space is concerned, but you're valuable regardless.
He came back to Romulus. "And now you, my hulking friend."
Romulus nodded slowly. "Born an raised on Callisto. Went to graduated highschool and went to straight to bootcamp on Io. Joined a black ops team and a counterintelligence unit and never looked back. Was involved in an altercation in the Kuiper Belt and was sent home. Wound up on a 6 man team, scavenging, and got picked up here. Certs in heavy weaponry, demolitions, vehicular handling, power armor, CQC, and armor design and prototyping."
Ronnie's expression didn't change, but his face seemed locked down during this.
The Commander nodded slowly. "I'm getting some tension from this group. Something I ought to know?"
Mercy stared in silence at Romulus and Ronnie, her gaze intense. When she noticed that no one was speaking up, she took it on herself. She knew that Romulus likely wouldn’t like her speaking up about his issues, but they were involved in a dangerous job. There was no room for mistakes, so if there was something going on between two of the crew members, the commander needed to know. Besides, she was bothered by the tension between the men, and she didn’t want things to get heated between them.
“Romulus and Ronnie have some sort of… history.” She pulled her hand away from Romulus’s, nervous about what his reaction would be. “I don’t think they’re the biggest fans of each other.”
The two men looked at each other across the table, and did that same eye lock they'd been doing in the hall. Except this time, there was a slight nod before they both looked back at the Commander.
"We've shot each other." Romulus said.
"Hunted each other." Ronnie added.
"And had a full on brawl over a peace treaty." Romulus finished.
"So you'll forgive us if we have to figure out how to come to terms with that." Ronnie said evenly.
Commander Verrick raised his eyebrows, his red eyes surprised. "By the sounds of it, we're just lucky you're both alive. I can take that into account when assigning roles, if you can't find a way to live with it."
They glanced at each other, before both shaking their heads.
"We'll work on it." Romulus said quietly.
Arriss tried not to show any affection towards her boyfriend during their meeting with the leader, but she moved closer to his side as they revealed their troubled past. He had never told her about that, and she was worried about how that would affect the mission.
“We’ll be there if anything goes wrong between them,” Arriss said softly. “I’m sure they understand how serious this all is.”
Mercy nodded and stole a glance at Romulus, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. She hoped he didn’t despise her for prying into his business, but that was something the commander had to know whether he wanted to share it or not.
Ronnie looked at Arriss, his expression unreadable, though he pulled her a bit closer, keeping his grip on her hand.
Romulus noticed Mercy looking at him, and gave her a look. An apologetic, ashamed look.
He hadn't meant to cause trouble. He just hadn't expected to see-… to see Ronnie. To meet him as Ronnie.
Commander Verrick nodded slowly. "I think we can go on. This next bit isn't super critical anyway." He leaned forward. "All of you, except for Romulus, have family on Earth, correct?"
Arriss glanced at Ronnie, noticing the expression on his face. She wished she could rest her head on his shoulder and hold him to help comfort him, but she didn’t think that would appropriate while still in the meeting. Instead, she held his hand and gently massaged the back of it with her thumb.
When the commander asked if they had families on earth, everyone nodded except for Arriss and Romulus. Arriss looked down at her hands, knowing she had to give some sort of explanation for it.
“I have an adopted family.” She smiled weakly. “No one that I would want to go back to.”
She decided to leave her explanation at that. That’s all they needed to know.
Commander Verrick looked at her, surprised. She'd been one of the ones who'd hesitated because she thought it might mean leaving Earth, leaving loved ones and friends behind. To hear her information was surprising.
"Well. In any case, We're sending you all home for a bit. To make sure you've been declared dead by your governments, to get your ID cards working, and to let your people know you're alive. We'll go to Earth first, and then to Callisto."
Romulus nodded slowly. "I do have family on Callisto."
Arriss sighed and glanced at Ronnie, smiling faintly. She has a few people she possibly wanted to see, but more than anything, she wanted to stay with her boyfriend. Since they had just started dating, she wanted to be with him as much as possible. As long as he was okay with her meeting his family, of course.
Mercy kept her eyes focused on the table for a few moments before turning to Romulus. “You can come with me while we’re on earth, if you want,” she whispered. “We have plenty of room with my family.”
Ronnie's expression softened as he looked over at Arriss, before a question furrowed his brow.
"What about Valiel? She'd been living on Earth for a few years before she joined us."
Commander Verrick shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." He didn't seem concerned.
Romulus smiled at Mercy. "You don't have to do that, I'm sure you and Kirk will have a lot to catch up on with them."
“She can come with me if she doesn’t have anyone to stay with,” Conner insisted. “I’m sure my family with love her.”
Arriss sighed softly, glancing over at Conner. She seemed to be the only one who realized Valiel might not be on their team. It hurt; Arriss and Valiel were good friends, and even though she knew they would still see each other, it wouldn’t feel right if she wasn’t on their team. But she was even more worried for Conner. That news would crush him.
“No, no. You should. My family would love you, and it would be nice to have you with me,” she said softly. “Unless you have plans, of course. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
Commander Verrick smiled at Conner. He liked the kid, but this line of conversation was unnecessary at the moment. "I'm sure she'll be just fine while you all are down on Earth. Charad-ti are very adaptable." He seemed almost dismissive of the idea of her needing to be taken with them.
Ronnie's eyes narrowed. He looked over at Conner, before looking at Arriss. "We'll have to talk about something later. Remind me."
Romulus shrugged. "I have no plans while you all are on Earth. Probably hang out here, unless you really want me to come with."
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