Darkness… Silence… A smooshed nose… I pull my head off the couch cushion and roll onto my back, my legs dangling off of the arm rest. A familiar sight greets me as I stare up to the ceiling once more. Hello, my familiar, white friend. How’s the weather up there? The same probably, this is an airtight starship.

RIN’s voice plays from above me and interrupts my inner monologue with the ceiling. “Captain, Shauna Baelidae is requesting entrance.” Well, this is gonna be painful.

“Let her in…” I sigh while keeping my gaze with the friend above me. I hear the door slide open and look to the corners of my eyes to see her massive grin.

“Hoo! This room is insane! Well now we know where we’re partying from now on.” She strides over and plops herself down in the chair next to me.

“If you’re here to make fun of me, you can go ahead and leave.” My eyes naturally drift to the safety of the ceiling.

Her laugh is a knife in my back. “I am here to make fun of you, but I don’t think I’ll leave. That speech was too awful to go unpunished.” Can I roll my eyes any further? I knew that’s why she was here. “Seriously, that shit was awful.” Would anybody mind if I killed her? It’s self defense. I’m dying of embarrassment which is kind of like an attempt at my life. Eh, she’d probably kick my ass anyways.

“Yes, I know. My speech was bad. Ha ha. Can you leave me to my pitiful wallowing now?” I roll my head to look at her with an exhausted glare. “Please?”

It seems like that is the funniest thing she’s ever heard. No luck, I guess. “No way in hell, buddy. I’m not gonna leave… But I already said that, didn’t I?” Another burst of laughter hits my ears like a gunshot. “And don’t think I didn’t see that shit with Selai! You whore, already on the new girl?”

Dammit! This is the one thing that I prayed she wouldn’t bring up. I’d have even taken her bringing my penis size back up. “God no! It’s… Ugh… It’s not that. Fuck, you saw us?”

“Clark, everyone saw you. There was no way not to see you. Everyone in that room thinks you two had sex.” She’s never looked more serious.

“We just had an awkward moment last night and she hasn’t seemed to have gotten over it!”

“What? Did you finish too early?” Her smirk is back and she’s at least trying to suppress her laughter.

“No! Dammit, Shauna! We didn’t have sex!” My arms shoot out above my torso in a gesture half meant to emphasize my sentiment and half to pray for some higher power to help me. “I met the girl yesterday. I’m not that much of slut.”

“To be fair, you’re not a slut at all.” She looks at me rather genuinely.

“Huh, wow. Thank you, Shauna.” That was surprisingly kind of her, actually.

“Not that it’s really your choice.” There it is.

“... Thanks.” I look back at her and squint, making sure to let the sarcasm ooze out. As if in answer to my prayer, that sweet beeping saves my life from Shauna’s assault. “RIN, put them on.”

Then, as if just to drag me straight back down, Selai’s voice plays out into the room. “Hey Clark. It’s Selai. Do you mind if I come over for a bit? Or you could come to my quarters.” Shauna instantly burst out into laughter. Of course this would happen to me.

“Y-yeah. You can come up here.” I rub my forehead wondering how I could possibly explain my way out of this. She says ‘thank you’ and ends the call while I’m still searching for my answer. “Shauna, get out. I need to talk to my First Officer, apparently.”

Shauna stands up and begins walking backwards towards the door. “Yeah sure, talk.” She puts a heavy emphasis on talk and gives me a wink with her devilish grin. “You better tell me what it’s like with a Kaeleen at the bar later.” She turns and walks out of the door while giving me a backhanded wave.

Once I hear the door slide shut, I began to slam the back of my head into the pillow beneath me. “Why” bang “did” bang “she” bang “have” bang “to call?!” With one last solid slam down, I close my eyes and let out a long sigh. “And here I thought Selai was gonna make my life easier.”

I laid with my eyes shut for what seemed like hours before she finally came in. I didn’t bother opening them when she came in since I knew it’d only lead to more awkwardness. “Clark? Are you OK? If you’re not feeling well I can come back later.”

“No, I’m fine. You can come in.” I speak dismissively with a hint of exhaustion.

“Are you sure? You seemed to be having trouble on stage and your face seemed very red. Are you sure you don’t have a fever?” Her voice is getting closer. “Hmm…” She sounds really close now. “Here, let me check.” What?! Suddenly, a warm form presses against my forehead. My eyes shot open in worry. Sure enough, it’s exactly what I had feared.

Selai is standing above me with her bare hand pressed against my head. Looking up, her face is no more than two feet away from me. She’s inspecting my face with concern. She seems normal enough though. As she slides her hand down to my cheek, her face becomes flush and she begins to purse her lips. I instantly feel my face turn a bright red. “Wh-what’re you doing?!” I opt to lie still, seeing as sitting up may risk further contact or, at the very least, our heads smashing together.

Selai recoils her hand as she turns an even brighter yellow and begins to stammer out an excuse. “I-I was just, you know. I was worried that you’d gotten sick! You were lying like you didn’t feel well! I’m… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.” Her voice gets quieter with each apology. She turns away from me and curls into a ball with her head in her knees, mumbling the same two words into her lap. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

“No, it’s fine Selai. What’re you apologizing for? Haha, it’s alright.” I sit up to talk to her a bit more normally. As I look to her back, I notice her shoulders bouncing up and down. “Selai?” I attempt to put in a bit more worry in my voice. In the silence I left, I can hear a soft sobbing in time with her shaking form. “H-hey. It’s really alright” I slide off the couch beside her and reach over to rub her back in an effort to console her. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“C-Clark?” Her voice is shaky and her breathing is ragged.

“Yeah?”

She lifts up her head enough for me to see her wet cheeks. “Y-your… your hand.”

“Oh! Shit!” I pull my hand back as fast as I can. “I’m so sorry! I totally forgot.” Oh man, I feel so bad.

“Haha, it’s OK.” She’s laughing but she doesn’t sound cheery. She sits up straight and dabs her cheeks with her sleeves. Her breathing is still unsteady but I can’t tell if it’s from the crying or my mistake. Her cheeks are a brighter than a yellow sun. She’s smiling… but there’s an undeniable sadness behind it. “I’m sorry. I messed it all up, didn’t I? I’ll just go…” I can see her smile fade as she stands to go.

“Whoah! Hey, what do you mean? You didn’t mess anything up. Haha, it was my speech that sucked.” I smile in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood.

She smiles a little bit, “Heh, yeah it was pretty bad, wasn’t it?”

“And I think we had a pretty fun time last night! Sure, the ending was a little awkward but that’s really no one’s fault. Just now, you were worried about my health! How could I be mad about that…? Hey, Selai. Look at me.” She turns to face me, a sad confusion covering her face. “You’re an amazing First Officer. There’s nothing you need to apologize for, got it?”

Her smile grows with the glow in her eyes. “Yeah. I got it!” With her second sentence she brightens up to the Selai I’d come to know and nods with a new found determination. “Thanks, Cap’n!”

“No proble-” Beep-beep, beep-beep. “Huh? RIN, let them through.”

Dr. Medli’s flustered voice flies out of the speakers. “Clark! You need to get down to Med Bay now! We have a situation. A group of teenage civilians attacked Simon.”