The door in front of Emil was made of wood and not even real wood. Still, it might as well have been a two ton block of steel, and even opening a door like that might be easier than facing whatever awaited him on the other side.

Then, he remembered. He remembered he had people behind him, people who were willing to catch him if things went wrong. The blond didn’t feel as scared anymore. He opened the door.

Inside the dimly lit room, his brother sat in one of the spinny chairs, not utilizing its fun potential, as usual. The camera panel, which displayed all the rooms in the ship, was in front of him, but he stared at another, unrelated screen, typing.

“Hey Lorie…?”

Lorenzo turned his head toward Emil. “Hello.”

The blond slowly closed the door behind him. “Hooow’s it goin’?”

“Work is going as scheduled.” the captain replied. “Actually, it’s been going better than planned now that you’ve assigned the other rangers tasks. Good job, all of you.”

“Thanks, bro.”

Did he not know? The cameras were right in front of him, he had to have heard something!

Emil decided to ask the question himself. “Um, hey, d-did you… Were you watching the cameras?”

“Yes.”

“Did you hear anything…?”

Lorenzo stopped typing. “No. I was working on a report. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, no reason!” Emil felt his shoulders relax.

The captain’s eyes narrow. He has a slightly confused expression. “You seem almost on edge. Is there something you want to share with me?”

“Actually… Yes.” Emil admitted.

Lorenzo faced his seat toward his brother. “I’m listening.”

“I was gonna aaaask… Are you doing okay?” The lieutenant gave a concerned smile.

“What??”

“Do you like this job?” He reiterated, more seriously. “You were really gung-ho about doing so much stuff around the ship. Now that we have a crew, you barely leave your room.”

“Of course I like my job! I’ve been preparing for it for years!” Lorenzo shot back, more passionately than Emil expected from him.

“Woah bro, there’s no need to get snappy!” Emil held up his hands, laughing. “I wanted to make sure you didn’t feel like you were trapped. Heck,” He began ambling around the room, “I wasn’t even super sure I wanted to do this mission at first, but now that I’m surrounded by all these cool people, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I do not feel trapped.” Lorenzo turns away, folding his arms like a spoiled brat. “I just feel--!” He abruptly shut his mouth, turning away even farther.

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Emil followed him around. “You just feel what? I’m your little bro; you can tell me anything!”

“This is something I can deal with on my own.” Lorenzo used his feet to push the chair the other way.

Image: Lorenzo turning a wheeled chair away from Emil, who is standing over his shoulder. [https://f2.toyhou.se/file/f2-toyhou-se/images/20641302_dGsMLSbCefrtUs8.png]

Emil continued following, stifling back laughter. “Loriiiie! Tell me, tell me, tell me! C’mooon, you seem even quieter than usual!” They switched directions. “What’s bugging you?” They switched once again. “The crew’s starting to think I’m the one doing all the wor--Wait!”

He stopped the chair, looking over his brother’s shoulder.

“That’s not a report, that’s just the to-do list we were handed weeks ago! And we pretty much have it all done except for ‘keep training’ and ‘go to the moon’. Have you been…?” Emil couldn’t believe he was going to accuse his brother of this. “Have you been putting up a front?”

“I was typing something.” Lorenzo clarified. “But I deleted it when you came in the room. But...” He frowned. “You aren’t incorrect. The truth is, I haven’t had as much work to do as I’ve led you and the others to believe.”

“Lorie… I’ve been busting my butt for the past few weeks!” Emil’s voice carried no trace of anger, just exasperated confusion.

The captain looked down. “I know. Believe me, I’ve realized that without you, I don’t know how much I would be able to accomplish. I’m sorry.”

“But why though?” Emil tried to lower his face into Lorenzo’s line of sight. “You seem just fine when you’re out there with the others.”

“That’s because I’m interacting with them on a strictly professional basis. That’s what I’m prepared to do. Outside of that…”

“Ohhhhh.” The blond stood back up. “Are you afraid of talking to the crew?”

“I’m not afraid of them!” Lorenzo corrected. “I’m afraid of them thinking that I’m incompetant. Which they now do. Because I’ve proved myself unable to carry my weight on my own ship.”

“So you’re afraid of them!” accused Emil. “They’re not scary, I promise! Well, most of them at least, but you’re not that afraid of Aiden, are you?”

“Why do I need to talk to them anyway?”

“To feel more comfortable around them.” He slowly turned the chair back and forth. “To get to know them and let them get to know you!”

“They know as much as they need to about me. Maybe too much already.” Lorenzo eyed his brother.

“What, do you think they’re gonna use it against y--?” Emil thought about their dad for a second. He answered his own question. “Don’t answer that. But if you’re so worried about that, why don’t you get to know them so the score is even?”

“You tell me pretty much everything I need to know. And if I want to know more about them, the cameras are right here.” Lorenzo gestured toward them.

“That’s what we like to call--!” Emil did a little tap dance. “Stalking! You’re stalking your crew; that’s not great!”

“I’m authorized!”

“An authorized stalker, got it.”

“Hmph.” Lorenzo looked away.

“And you’re not gonna get more comfortable with them by staying up here.”

“...I suppose you’re right.” He rested a hand over his chin. “I… I need to let them know I’m a captain they can depend on, and my actions have not sufficiently proved that thus far… but…”

“But…?”

“What if they want to know more about me? What do I say?” He almost looked insecure, something Emil rarely saw from his brother. “I’m not particularly interesting to most people.”

“Loooriiiie!” Emil gawked at him in pity. “Is that what you’ve been worried about this whole time? You shoulda said so! I can think of a billion cool things about you! Why do you think girls were always after you in high school?”

“Because of you?”

“Because I told them how cool you were!” He pointed to himself. “And I only told them the truth! Did you never take a chance with ‘em because you thought you weren’t cool enough?”

“No! That’s… No, that’s not it. I think I just wasn’t....” Lorenzo looked like he was about to say something else, but stopped. He spoke once more. “You have a magnetic personality. I do not. But for the sake of you and the rest of my crew, I will try to put aside my apprehension to properly do my job.”

“Sweet!” Emil winked and gave Lorenzo a thumbs up. He started walking toward the door. “We need more people to cook anyway! I like Aiden and everything, but it’ll be too soon when we have another ‘dinner’ of peanut butter and sadness.”

“Was this all just a ploy to get me to cook for you again??”

“Maybe~” He left the room and Lorenzo, who was shaking his head.