captain_stell

"Captain, my DEAR captain, listen and listen well. I know it's best if we hurry, crucial, even...but haste makes waste, and you will definitely make more mistakes in the state you're in right now. Do you wanna go out and end up going back to the starting point? After all the progress we've made?"

"But-"

"Hush, captain. You know I'm right."

The wounded captain stayed silent, their breaths uneven and visibly unstable. "Take a deep breath, captain..." As instructed, they start to inhale and exhale properly and slowly calms down.

Silence hangs in the stale air, soft breeze from the broken window caressed their hair and body. Ritchard have always thought the captain is attractive, almost every crew member shared his sentiment, and right now they look like a hero straight out of an action movie. Given the current situation, they technically are.

Eyes shut with a frown etched on their face, the captain sighed. "Ritch...I'm tired..." Their voice was raspy and strained. The doctor simply raised his eyebrows, "Yeah? Me too," He replied in a nonchalant and indifferent tone.

"..."

"...And?"

"What kind of reaction was that?! Comfort me!"

The captain stared at him expectantly, he swore he saw a pout but chooses to ignore it. That face is dangerous, evident in the times he fell victim to them back at the ship. Mark had it worse, he believe...

He is glad they've finally calmed down, but please captain, what the fuck? "Stop, you know I'm not the type to do that shit," The captain scoffed. "Alright, fine...Mark would've given me a hug a long time ago! You should learn to a bit more compassionate, Icy Doc."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Suddenly, the captain's eyes went wide, and a stern expression quickly replaced it in a second. They stood up, wobbling slightly with a pained face. Ritchard quickly aids the captain and asked them to sit back down.

"Captain, what are you doing? Were you actually deaf the whole time I lecture you? You need to-"

" Rest, I know...but the time doesn't stop when we do. Time doesn't wait for us, it'll leave us behind," The captain pushed Ritchard off of them as gentle as they can. "We need to move. Mark's waiting,"

Right, MARK. The current taboo word. Ritchard hoped for a longer break, but a brief respite is all he's gonna get. Voice as as stoic as their expression, the captain grabbed their belongings and adjusted the crystal in their wrist. Just like that, the steadfast captain left the rundown building and into the breezy, desolate city littered with fallen soldiers and cadavers.

The doctor sighed, but followed suit. "Whatever the captain says goes..."

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This was not proofread, but I hope it's good. What's going on in this AU, you ask? Well, simply put the journey to fix the warpcore is much more arduous and dangerous, requiring the captain to travel across dimensions in search of [REDACTED]. This journey includes them being chased by Allu, separated from Mark and other shit they don't deserve cuz that's what we do. Captain met Ritchard after a few timeloops.

And they go on an adventure together, guns blazin'.

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