Times Is Hard

“Gh… P-Promise…” Ciel muttered to herself, nodding solemnly as Rich continued to speak. She gently ran her thumb across his cheeks while her hands remained on his face, before she had let her hands fall to her sides. “Promise… Promise…” She kept mumbling, looking up at him once in a while.

She flinched when Rich took her own hand, her breathing quickening as she felt the gaps where her fingers should be. But then Rich spoke again, and she managed to calm down, albeit still sniffling.

“K-Keep me… safe..” She murmured, nodding again. “Safe… a-and I’ll… keep you safe…” She trailed off as she spoke, although she was getting better at forming coherent sentences.

“Promise…” She whispered, rubbing at the remaining tears in her eyes to wash them away. She looked down at her and Rich’s hands again, and she slowly raised the one he was holding up to her face.

“P…P-Promise…” Was the only other word out of Ciel’s mouth, as she slowly brought Rich’s hand up to her lips and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of it. “I… I’ll p-pro…tect y-you…”

Rich let out a shaky sigh of unsure relief when he saw Ciel was beginning to regain her composure somewhat. She was still shaken, obviously, and Rich hadn’t really expected any different from anyone on the ship. Being tied up like some kind of animal and commanded to kill like one too didn’t really have any good side effects to anyone’s psyche here.

It was good to feel a little bit of relief, even if nobody was out of the clear. Because, at least, Ciel was calming down, and for whatever reason that made this whole situation seem a little less daunting.

“… It makes me feel a little better, to hear you say that.” Rich replied, with a quiet and nervous chuckle. It sounded more genuine than his usual laughter, yet somehow more lifeless. “Nobody else in this station seems to be a particularly bad person. I think we’ll all end up protecting each other, in a way. Nobody here seems capable of murder. But just in case, you know you can trust me, and I’ll trust you too.”

Well. In honesty, Rich wasn’t sure. Nobody was fully trustworthy- he’d learned that much from years of watching men too ambitious or clever for their own good at the gambling table. He wasn’t sure if talking about trust was right, especially coming from him- he didn’t even trust others with his name, openly using an (obvious) alias.

His train of thought derailed when he felt a gentle kiss placed on the back of his hand, and, despite himself, he let out a very ungentlemanly squeak before drawing away his other hand to cover his mouth a moment. Was he… acting flustered? Fuck- what the hell kind of reaction was that!? With a quick clearing of the throat, he tried to cover up his surprised reaction by fixing his cravat. Suave and classy. Suave and classy…!

“S- Stop, hey, stop being all cute...”

A blush spread across her cheeks, and she opened her mouth to speak. “S...Sorry...” Was the only word that managed to make its way out of her mouth, and soon enough she slowly pulled her hands away from his in a fit of self-consciousness. 

And then he called her cute. Ciel hadn’t been expecting a compliment, and she nervously twirled a lock of hair around her finger. “O-Oh, ah- I’ll- stop, I’ll stop I’m, sorry...” She whimpered, nervously reaching out to place her hands on his cheeks again. “I- I’m...” She didn’t know what to say, but her cheeks were pink and soon enough she felt her hands slide around Rich to tangle in his hair. She ran her fingers through his hair gently, still mumbling apologies.

She didn’t know what came over her, next. She didn’t remember when she had ended up leaning forwards, and she definitely didn’t remember when she had pressed her lips to his. She wasn’t complaining, or anything, but she didn’t know why she did it, so in a small panic she pulled away - tugging on his hair gently in the process - and she hurriedly set her hands in her lap.

Ciel whimpered, clutching Rich tighter as he began to mumble comforting words to her. She barely moved, or spoke, but she gripped his cape in her hands and hid her face from sight so he didn’t have to look at her. She willingly leaned into him when he held her tighter, the pressure of his arms around her comforting now that she knew it was just Rich.

She sat like that for a few minutes, trying to steady her breathing and mumble something that actually made sense, but to no avail. At least she wasn’t crying as hard anymore.

“I wanna.. Wanna.. Gh…” Ciel muttered, having severe difficulty in forming proper sentences. She pulled away, eventually - only a little bit, not enough to detach from Rich - and looked up at him.

“Please… don’t hurt… m-me…” She whimpered, suddenly beginning to get worrisome about Rich’s arms around her. She had to tell herself that everything was okay; but that didn’t stop the words from coming out of her mouth. “Do.. anything… please- please don’t h-hurt me…” She whimpered, and finally let go of Rich to place both of her hands on his face. “Please, please… W-Won’t… hurt me… right? W-We’ll be..” She took a shaky breath in, letting her hands fall back down to her sides. “S-Safe… I wanna be s-safe…”

Rich swallowed, and ran out of things to say, trailing off into a solemn silence. All he could settle for was to rub Ciel’s back in the most comforting way that he could, clenching his jaw to fight down his own growing fears, for the sake of another. He was patient, and utterly quiet. Relief began to seep into the cracks in his apprehension when he began to hear and feel Ciel’s breath begin to steady.

Rich met her eyes. His own were wide and anxious, and it was a struggle looking at her for more than a few seconds at a time, fighting not to glance away. He took a quiet breath of surprise through his teeth when Ciel took his face in her hands. It was then he took note of the fingers- or rather, the lack thereof.

“Oh Ciel, Ciel, dear, I’m- I would never, I could never hurt you…!” He replied earnestly. “Nobody here is going to try and harm you, least of all me. I wont hurt you. I promise, okay? I promise.”

As Ciel let her hands fall to her sides, Rich paused a moment before deciding to gently reach out, and delicately take one of her hands in both of his. He glanced up at Ciel’s face, not wanting to freak her out. It was just… nice to have a hand to hold right now.

“You’ll be safe. I’ll keep you safe. We’ll keep each other safe, alright?”

She flinched when Rich took her own hand, her breathing quickening as she felt the gaps where her fingers should be. But then Rich spoke again, and she managed to calm down, albeit still sniffling.

“K-Keep me... safe..” She murmured, nodding again. “Safe... a-and I’ll... keep you safe...” She trailed off as she spoke, although she was getting better at forming coherent sentences.

“Promise...” She whispered, rubbing at the remaining tears in her eyes to wash them away. She looked down at her and Rich’s hands again, and she slowly raised the one he was holding up to her face.

Ciel didn’t respond to Rich for the longest time. She just sat there, mumbling incoherent phrases to herself, clutching one of her razors in her hand. When she finally did turn to look at Rich, she screeched, hiding her face again and beginning to shake.

“NO no no- no please don’t hurt- please, please-” She wailed, tangling her hands into her hair, completely losing any self-control. She knew that wasn’t who she thought it was. He didn’t look the part. Ciel peeked through her fingers at Rich, and it was evident there were tears brimming in her eyes.

She avoided his eyes, or his glasses, and kept murmuring. “I wanna- I wanna-” She reached a shaky hand out, and… took Rich’s glasses. It wasn’t fast, or sudden, but Ciel hadn’t been expecting to do it herself. She just had to make sure he wasn’t who she thought. She looked up at him, and as she did the tears began to stream down her cheeks.

“I- I- You’re- not-” Her words were staggered, and before she even knew what she was doing she had stumbled forwards and wrapped her arms around him, scared of everything and worried everyone was out to get her but at least she knew it was Rich. It wasn’t anyone else. Just Rich. 

She buried her face in his jacket, squeezing him as tightly as she could. Which, wasn’t a lot, but she supposed that was alright.

Rich flinched, immediately cowering back the split second Ciel shrieked and stammered and begged. It made his heart jump to his throat, the croupier shying away a few inches in fear and guilt. He didn’t mean to upset her, or scare her, and he began to think about hurrying away to avoid tormenting her any more when suddenly–

“–!!”

Rich hadn’t seen it coming, preoccupied. His glasses were taken from him. He seemed to freeze for a moment, a split second of pure and unadulterated fear flashing through his now visible eyes, and it took a moment for them to flick to Ciel’s face, scanning her for any sign, any indication at all… of recognition.

Thankfully, none came. He was obviously not who she was thinking of. Sir Rich was still just Sir Rich, and the actor behind his public persona hadn’t been recognized, and Rich could breathe again.

He took the hug, wrapping his arms around Ciel without having to think about it, and looked at the empty air behind her mumbling shaky words of comfort. “There, there”s and “It’ll be okay"s and "It’s alright”s. Usually he’d be talking a mile a minute, or cracking a joke, but even Rich knew that now wouldn’t help, and he held her tighter as he tried to string together the few words of encouragement he currently could.

She sat like that for a few minutes, trying to steady her breathing and mumble something that actually made sense, but to no avail. At least she wasn’t crying as hard anymore.

“I wanna.. Wanna.. Gh...” Ciel muttered, having severe difficulty in forming proper sentences. She pulled away, eventually - only a little bit, not enough to detach from Rich - and looked up at him.

Ciel didn’t take well to being knocked out and strapped to a chair against her will. She barely, barely heard the thing speak - killing game? Yeah fucking right - but as soon as the… thing was gone and the lights were off Ciel was out of her chair, far away from her chair and trying to find a wall to lean against. 

Ciel stared at her fingers, rubbing her wrists uncomfortably and trying to calm her ragged breathing. She looked side to side, trying to avoid anyone else, and her shaky breathing somehow grew more ragged as she rubbed her wrists raw.

“No, nono… No…” She hissed, switching to wringing her wrists uncomfortably, staring at her fingers and crumpling onto the ground. “No.. not that, please don’t… Please don’t hurt… I should listen… Listen, listen, listen-“ Her words became jumbled and incoherent to anyone listening. She shakily reached for one of her razors, frantically pulling it off her belt and switching it open. She stared at herself in her reflection, desperately trying to calm herself down.

She wheezed, setting her hands on the ground and trying to keep herself from getting ill. Too much movement, too much everything, too much light and too much too much too MUCH-

Swearing quietly under his breath, Rich scanned the room in search of something to distract him from his own spiral of pessimism, and he caught a shape of pastel colour in the corner of his eye. Ciel had broken from the group and was on the floor, mumbling something incoherent from this distance, and before Rich could even think about what he was doing, he found himself rushing over.

His canter slowed to a stop when he was closer to Ciel, pushing up the brim of his hat from his eyes so he could see.

“C… Ciel, hey, hey, um…”

Fuck. He didn’t even remember making the decision to run to her, and now he didn’t know what to say, but he was trying. He folded up a little, sinking himself to the floor so he was on Ciel’s level.

“NO no no- no please don’t hurt- please, please-” She wailed, tangling her hands into her hair, completely losing any self-control. She knew that wasn’t who she thought it was. He didn’t look the part. Ciel peeked through her fingers at Rich, and it was evident there were tears brimming in her eyes.

She avoided his eyes, or his glasses, and kept murmuring. “I wanna- I wanna-” She reached a shaky hand out, and... took Rich’s glasses. It wasn’t fast, or sudden, but Ciel hadn’t been expecting to do it herself. She just had to make sure he wasn’t who she thought. She looked up at him, and as she did the tears began to stream down her cheeks.

“I- I- You’re- not-” Her words were staggered, and before she even knew what she was doing she had stumbled forwards and wrapped her arms around him, scared of everything and worried everyone was out to get her but at least she knew it was Rich. It wasn’t anyone else. Just Rich. 

Ciel was a fashionable girl. She liked to think so, at the least. That being said, she at least knew how to color coordinate; and this man, she thinks, is not color coordinating.

He didn’t seem to be speaking to her, but she took it that way anyways because she didn’t particularly have a reason not to. She crossed her arms and huffed, shaking her head - which caused her curls to swish around and thwack the man in the face.

“We are not bunched together.” Oh boy oh boy, accent buddies. Ciel’s voice was laced with a pretty strong Irish accent, but I’m not writing that out. “This station is perfectly large enough to hold all of us comfortably. What are you going on about?”

As she spoke, rather rudely - at least ask for his name, Ciel - she pulled out a small handheld mirror and a stick of lipstick, and began to put it on. She puffed out her cheeks at the indication it wasn’t as visible as she’d like. Don’t be rude, Ciel, ask the man’s name,

Rich caught a face-full of hair from Ciel shaking her head, and he immediately made an undignified “pbbbbpbpbtptptbtpt” sound as he tried to make sure he didn’t get any in his mouth.

“Don’t you think so?” He replied cheerfully, not letting it put a dent in his mood. “I just thought it was a fun simile. And this shuttle could be compared to a tin, couldn’t it?”

No, not really, Rich. They’ve both got metal, and that’s about it.

Ciel sort of… raised an eyebrow as Rich kept speaking. “It doesn’t matter if words are just made up. Made up things can have meaning. Someone’s imagination can bring them joy; that’s made up. Even though it’s made up, it can still have meaning to someone.”

Deep.

“Can’t they both matter?” She mutters, before uncrossing her arms and getting out her lipstick. She ponders answering this ridiculous man’s question, and eventually settles for very simply introducing himself as she applied her lipstick.

It took Ciel a minute to realize that Sefu meant he didn’t want to be recognized, and she let out a soft ‘ah’ in apology. “Sorry. I just like it when I know things.”

She offers him what could probably be considered a smile, before tilting her head as Sefu asked who she was. “Oh.” Right, she hadn’t introduced herself.

“I’m Ciel O’Suibhne, the SHSL Hairdresser.” She offered another half-smile as he made the comment about her hair. “Oh, does it? I don’t think that’s what I was going for, but people have said that stuff about it. I haven’t gotten the chance to change it lately. I think I’ll do something less flashy.” She pauses, fiddling with the bow on her chest. “I’m glad you find it amazing, though. It’s what I do.”

“I like your highlights. Like I said, a lot of people come into my shop ‘cause of you. Popular.”

“It’s nice to meetcha, Miss… O’Suibhne? Did I say that right?” His face fell a little when she talked about changing her hairstyle, but he perked back up quickly. “Ah, I like it the way it is… but well, it’s your hair! I’m sure whatever you pick will look great!”

When she mentioned his own hair, his hand snapped up automatically to run his fingers through the short dreads.

“O’Suibhne, yeah.” She looked blankly for a second, before smiling ever so slightly. “It’s hard to pronounce, I know. Not your fault.” She reached up to take one of her curls and examine it. “Well, it’s not that I dislike it. It’s pretty. Just... really flashy, y’know?” She shrugged, dropping the curl before tilting her head as she listened to Sefu speak.

Ciel was putting on makeup while she sat in one of the lounge chairs, looking into her tiny handheld mirror as she brushed blush along her cheeks. She didn’t particularly enjoy the situation; she knew what she was getting into, yeah, but that didn’t mean she had to like it; she was disoriented enough without some weird space pod. Soon enough, after fluffing up her hair, Ciel shut her mirror; just as Sefu happened to walk in. She tilted her head, and put her things back into her pockets amongst the clatter of pill bottles.

What fun.

Ciel soon enough cleared her throat, a bit awkwardly, and continued staring at Sefu as she spoke. “Uh… yeah, I suppose it’s pretty cool. The view is nice.” She blinked once, twice, before going for the obvious.

“You know, you look… familiar. And I don’t recognize people a lot-” She stopped herself, before clapping her hands together (despite her missing fingers) and giving a small gasp. “Ah! You’re, uh… Sefu Iskandar, right? That model. I’ve had people come into my shop and ask for highlights like yours.”

She nodded, satisfied with herself. She’s also, subsequently, forgotten to introduce herself or explain what her shop is. Astounding.

His breath caught in his throat a little when she said his name. He’d been halfway hoping people wouldn’t recognize him.

“O-oh, um, yeah that’s me… But up here I’m just another student, yeah?” He was strangely quiet for a few moments and then…

She offers him what could probably be considered a smile, before tilting her head as Sefu asked who she was. “Oh.” Right, she hadn’t introduced herself.

“I’m Ciel O’Suibhne, the SHSL Hairdresser.” She offered another half-smile as he made the comment about her hair. “Oh, does it? I don’t think that’s what I was going for, but people have said that stuff about it. I haven’t gotten the chance to change it lately. I think I’ll do something less flashy.” She pauses, fiddling with the bow on her chest. “I’m glad you find it amazing, though. It’s what I do.”

Sefu Iskandar staggered into the lounge, still half-awake and dragging his heels. His mind was sluggish too (not that it was ever that fast to begin with) as he tried to piece together the events of the past hour in his head.

First of all he’d woken up in that weird pod thing… and there was that ghost rabbit that looked like it was there but it wasnt, even when he tried to touch it! At least it was nice. And there was a tablet thing with his name on it, that he hadn’t looked at yet… and now he was gazing out the window at the big red ball outside and finally he remembered.

Oh! Right! He’d signed up for this.

It would be good work experience outside of his primary talent, yeah, but mostly he was glad to have a break from the constantly flashing cameras. Moving boxes, that was something he could do! And maybe he’d make new friends up here.

But most importantly, he thought as he turned to the person that had walked up next to him with a beaming grin…

What fun.

Ciel soon enough cleared her throat, a bit awkwardly, and continued staring at Sefu as she spoke. “Uh... yeah, I suppose it’s pretty cool. The view is nice.” She blinked once, twice, before going for the obvious.

“You know, you look... familiar. And I don’t recognize people a lot-” She stopped herself, before clapping her hands together (despite her missing fingers) and giving a small gasp. “Ah! You’re, uh... Sefu Iskandar, right? That model. I’ve had people come into my shop and ask for highlights like yours.”

Rich lived for the limelight. 

It was obvious from appearance alone that he wasn’t a man who stood to be ignored. In fact, Rich was difficult to ignore, with his big personality and loud dress sense, and that was how he liked it. A semi-constant distraction hovering on the edge of the public eye, always reeling in slivers attention from gamblers and fans alike. 

But sometimes high end poker tournaments and interviews didn’t always cut the mustard, and Rich needed something larger to hold his audiences attention. Something… out of this world (pun intended). Going to space had seemed entirely impossible, especially if it was just for the purposes of gaining publicity, yet it was exactly what he needed to do. 

“…”

But… now that he was here, Rich realized he hadn’t thought about actually being in space. He had assumed as he signed up for the program that he would fail to get in, and he could simply use the fact he signed up at all as another Wacky Anecdote for the journalists starved of interesting gossip. But here he was, in space. He fiddled with his handbook, excited and nervous to be here all at once.  

He didn’t seem to be speaking to her, but she took it that way anyways because she didn’t particularly have a reason not to. She crossed her arms and huffed, shaking her head - which caused her curls to swish around and thwack the man in the face.

“We are not bunched together.” Oh boy oh boy, accent buddies. Ciel’s voice was laced with a pretty strong Irish accent, but I’m not writing that out. “This station is perfectly large enough to hold all of us comfortably. What are you going on about?”

Kuukai Nishiki - Reserve Course Student

Mi - SHSL Novelty Food Artist

Ciel O’Suibhne - SHSL Hairdresser

Sefu Iskandar - SHSL Suit Model

Minoru Himori - SHSL Crime Photographer

Ko Michi - SHSL Street Magician

Ming-Hua Liu - SHSL Indie Game Developer

Junko Shirokawa - SHSL Winemaker

Sir Richard C.S. Kingston-DuPont IV - SHSL Croupier

Saruhiko Hiiragi - SHSL Sunglasses Model

Akito Yamamoto - SHSL Composer

Kitao Romi - SHSL Wrestler

Jayden - SHSL Good Luck

Candela Serrice - SHSL Scholar

Toki Nakajou - SHSL Ballerina

Dexter Quinn - SHSL Marksman