These stairs would be the death of Emil. He stumbled down them on his way to his destination. What was he doing there? As the blond stood in the doorway of the burner room, that question echoed in his mind. Suddenly, steam erupted from one of the pipes, as if to give him an answer. He knew fixing pipes wasn’t what he meant to be doing right now, but he might as well since he made it all the way down here.
There was one problem, though. He had no tools! The lieutenant held his head in his hands, laughing. Who would he be if he didn’t make such careless mistakes? He left the room, thinking he must’ve forgotten them when he…
What exactly did he do last? He tallied most of the medical supplies by hand, set out some food on the kitchen counter to thaw, or at least he thought he did, he went by the gym to fix…what was it he meant to fix? Was there anything to fix? The events of the day jumbled into mush. All he knew for sure was that he’d been running around the ship so much, he could qualify for a marathon.
The tools were in the burner room! Recollection smacked the lieutenant captain in the face, as did his own hand for almost going around in circles. He groaned as he walked back down the troublesome staircase.
Back in the burner room, he handled the adjustable wrench carefully. Not out of skill, though. To be honest, he wasn’t really sure what he was doing. A burst of steam nearly missed his face, sending him tumbling backward on the floor with a yell. As he rubbed his face, the door slammed open. National hero Jun Kim towered in the doorway, followed by the rookie ranger Leon Summers. Both looked frantic.
“I heard a scream.” Jun must’ve thought there was real trouble. How embarrassing!
“Emil, are you okay?” Leon looked so worried.
“I’m good.” Though he said that, Emil couldn’t muster it in himself to get off the floor.
Jun helped him up to his feet instead. It surprised Emil how concerned the older ranger looked. All traces of a breezy surfer were gone and replaced with someone much more alert and vigilant. It reminded him of his brother. Emil felt bad for making Jun worry, but also wished he could change his own demeanor that easily. He felt too silly and too irresponsible to belong in the Interstellar Forces. Meanwhile, Leon cautiously made his way toward the steam.
“Hey Rookie, don’t get too close to that, okay? Nearly melted my face off...” warned the blond.
“Ah, don’t worry, I was just taking a closer look!” Leon pointed at the pipe. “Were you trying to tighten that bolt?”
“Yeah…” The lieutenant chuckled in spite of himself. “I know a goofball like me shouldn’t be anywhere near this stuff, but I don’t know when to quit. I don’t even know if I really know how to use this wrench!” Emil was starting to learn that little brother privileges came with setbacks. Other people usually handled this stuff for him.
“Me neither, actually!”
“O-oh really?” Emil breathed a sigh of relief. Despite his lighthearted joking, he felt self-conscious not knowing how to use something as simple as a wrench, especially as a guy. He always made a careful effort to be just masculine enough not to cause suspicion. It was a tiring act no one knew about, but he wanted to keep it that way. In any event, He was glad to meet another non-handyman.
“I can show you guys, if you feel like it.” Once again, Jun was a hero. At least one person in this group knew what they were doing.
“That’d be great!” The blond wished he had Leon’s energy right now.
“Cool.” Jun backed out of the room. “I’m gonna run by my dorm to pick up my gloves real quick.”
Once Jun left, Emil absentmindedly stretched his arms, yawned, and then slouched over.
“I know it’s bad, but I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t know how to wrench things!” He chuckled. “I thought it was something so basic, everyone knew.”
“Don’t worry about it, Emil! Besides, even if it was, we’d be glad to help you out!”
“Aaaah, you don’t have to do all that… But thanks!” Though he appreciated Leon’s offer, the lieutenant didn’t want to trouble anyone else with his problems. With an entire crew under him now, he felt like it was high time he started practicing that responsibility thing his brother and father loved so much.
Jun mozied back into the room a few minutes later, wearing the standard Interstellar Forces teal gloves. Jet-black waves of hair swished back and forth over her right eye. It gave her the carefree look Emil was more used to seeing. It had been five years since Jun posed as a man to get into the IF, but the older ranger still kept an androgynous look. May rumors speculated why this was the case, but she never gave a straight answer or otherwise.
“Let’s get this party started.” the eldest ranger announced with a dry smile. “Rox is gonna kill me if I burn myself because of this, but--”
Bending backwards, Jun limboed under the steam, springing back up on the other side.
“Tadaaa.”
Emil and Leon gave their applause. The former tried to cheer, but it came out in a yawn.
Jun bowed. “Thank you, thank---” She suddenly drew back after almost bowing head-first into the steam. “First lesson of wrenching!” She pointed at the steam. “Don’t do that.”
“Noted!” The lieutenant tried his best to pay attention like the good student his teachers always said he could’ve been.
The eldest ranger paused. “So were you, like, trying to tighten this bolt orrr…?”
“Yeah.” Emil pulled at one of his curls. “...I think so?”
“Okay, so… Actually, I should be on the other side. I’m gonna walk back around to the other side like a normal person.”
“Is there a way we could turn off the steam?” asked Leon.
“Good thinking!” encouraged the blond. “That would probably cut down on a lot of the almost-dying going on. I thiiink it’s that over there?” His finger found its way over to point at a valve at the back of the room.
Leon hurried over to the valve. He struggled turning it, but eventually the steam slowed down to a stop. Afterwards, Jun instructed the other two step by step on how to use a wrench, even letting them try it out for themselves.
“Sweeeet, you guys got the hang of it pretty quickly!” Jun clapped.
“All thanks to you, Jun!” The lieutenant gave a thumbs-up and winked.
The dark-haired ranger thumbed at the door. “I think I’m gonna go grab a bite to eat. You two joinin’?”
“No thanks!” Leon declined. “I’m headed to the gym.”
“Weren’t you there earlier?” Like everything else today, Emil couldn’t quite remember.
“Yeah, but I figured with as much free time as I have now, I should do what I can to be in tip-top shape! I wanna make sure I’m ready the next time I use the jet armor!”
Emil had no idea what exercising would have to do with flying in zero gravity, but he didn’t ask questions. With a quick salute, Leon headed out of the room.
“Don’t overwork yourself, Rookie!” the lieutenant called after him. He got the feeling that he meant to tell Leon something, but it didn’t come to mind. It probably wasn’t that important.
“What about you, Emil?” Jun turned to him. “I haven’t seen you sit down all day. Or yesterday. Why don’t you, like... take a load off for a while, dude?”
Sure, he may’ve looked overly busy to Jun, but it wasn’t like he worked that hard. He had plenty of times to take a rest! Like… Actually, he couldn’t remember.
“You know… Maybe that’s not a bad idea.”
Jun gave a thumbs-up of approval. “Niiice.”
He appreciated Jun looking out for him like that. They made their way back up to the first floor with no problem.
“Sorry to cause such a fuss.” Emil apologized. “What have you been up to?”
“Nothing much...”
“Anything good on TV? Enjoy service while it lasts. Once we go past the moon, we’ll be stuck with whatever movies we brought with us.”
“Huh?” Jun looked at him, confused. “The TV still doesn’t work yet.”
“Ughhh, seriously...?” The lieutenant groaned. One more thing for him to fix. “Sorry. I really shouldn’t let myself get so heated. Gotta stay cool~” He pretended to smooth back his hair. His brother, his father, and even Jun always seemed so cool-headed. He didn’t understand how nothing got under their skin.
Jun smiled at his antics. He must’ve looked like a silly kid in comparison to her, but that was alright.
“You know, even though I’ve only known you for two weeks, not counting all the times I saw you on TV back in middle school--”
“Dang, you were in middle school back when I was found out?” Jun’s eyebrows raised. “I mean, you are only like 18, so I guess it makes sense, but… still… Anyway, what were you gonna say? Sorry for cutting in.”
“No problem! I was just gonna say, you remind me of a big cousin or something.” The lieutenant felt like he could be more himself around Jun, more himself than around a good portion of his family, actually. He got the feeling that the two of them were alike on some level, a level they couldn’t talk about freely, not with his brother’s eyes monitoring the ship’s cameras.
“Aww.” Jun lightly elbowed Emil’s shoulder. “You’re like a little cousin to me too, ‘cept I can actually understand you.”
“You can’t understand your cousins?”
“Nah. Ma’s side of the family lives in South Korea, and Pops is an only child. Me and him only understand a little bit of Korean, not enough to actually, like, talk to anyone. There’s this one cousin I have--” Jun laughed. “--Me and him communicate exclusively in finger guns. Like so.” The older ranger finger gunned at Emil.
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He zoned out for a second, but managed to return it. “I can’t imagine not bein’ able to understand my folks.” Emil leaned on the staircase to the second floor. “My mom’s family mostly lives in the States, but my grandparents on her side only know a little English. You’ve actually been to Korea though?”
Jun moved toward the kitchen door, probably wanting lunch. “Yep, we used to go every few years, but I haven’t been since the, ahem, incident. Anyway, I wish I was bilingual. It’s cool that you are. I’m assuming the captain is, too?”
“Yep!” Emil pumped his arm. “Dad made sure we learned every last in and out of the Spanish language!” He remembered the days he and his brother were made to sift through endless pages of Spanish academia. No matter the language, it was still a chore.
“Cool!” Jun looked around. “Where is the captain, anyway? I haven’t seen him around.”
“He’s… probably in his room.” The blond looked down. As tired as he felt, he knew his brother had to be under so much more pressure than he could even imagine. Emil had to stay strong.
To tell the truth, he’d been feeling a little sour lately. He didn’t like it. This mission needed a good start, that good start needed a good crew, and that good crew needed good morale from a leader who was in a good mood! Since his brother wasn’t planning on showing his face any time soon, Emil took it upon himself to be that guy.
He didn’t mind that! Pumping people up was something he considered to be one of his best traits. Fixing things was not. Neither was staying focused on tasks he already didn’t want to do. Those were all his brother’s strengths, Lorenzo’s strengths. Even if Emil was somehow able to hold this ship together, it didn’t come as easily to him as it did for his brother.
After all, Lorenzo actually trained to be a captain.
“Emil? You comin’ in or…?”
“Oh, whoops~!” The lieutenant had been too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice Jun holding the door open for him. “Thanks, Jun!”
Emil entered the kitchen, but his thoughts were still on his brother. Aside from the stress of being a first-time captain, he knew something else kept Lorenzo from coming out of his room. The captain was allergic to people. At least, he acted like it. It was a terrible trait to have on a ship this small, and such a shame too. There were so many cool people in this crew! How Emil wished his brother would give them a chance.
Speaking of their crew, two of its members were already in the kitchen when he and Jun arrived. Roxie’s head snapped toward the newcomers, while Aiden only expended enough energy to make a quick glance. They sat across the table from each other. Aiden slouched, resting his chin on his hands. Emil couldn’t tell if his expression showed extreme boredom or mild interest. In contrast, Roxie looked as chipper as ever; even her hair was bouncing!
The lieutenant snapped out of his daze to notice their eyes on him. He realized he hadn’t said anything to them yet. That wasn’t like the enthusiastic lieutenant captain they knew. He feared they would find out something was wrong; he had to say something quick!
“Heeey guys! How are you all doing on this fine day...or night? Hard to tell in space, hahaa.” Oof. That sounded way more lethargic than he hoped. So much for enthusiasm.
“Hi Junzie! Oh, hi Emzie! Glad you’re okay!” Thank goodness Roxie didn’t seem to notice.
“‘Sup Rox?” was Jun’s greeting, before she went to go pull the rest of the leftovers out of the refrigerator.
Emil laughed. “Emzie?”
“Yeah, I thought it was cute!” Roxie explained. “I’m still trying to figure out a nickname for Aiden, though. How about Kelsie? Since your last name is Kelly?”
The older blond lacked any enthusiasm. “...No thanks.”
“Darn!” Roxie snapped her fingers. “No worries! I will not cease until I find a nickname for you befitting of your stature!”
”You know.” Emil paced toward the back of the kitchen before turning to Aiden. “Back when I didn’t know your name, I thought of you as the Shooting Star, cause in the jet armor, you’d go so fast that you looked like one.”
Aiden laughed.
“I know it sounds corny, you don’t have to laugh!” The lieutenant felt more like himself after chatting with the others. Still, even after sitting beside Roxie, he couldn’t stop tapping his foot. He felt like he should be doing something else…
“Emil?” Emil found himself caught off guard by Roxie’s brown eyes. They stared at him expectantly.
“Huh?”
“Your hair looks less poofy than usual.”
“Oh really? I haven’t had a chance to look at it recently.” Weird. His afro usually maintained itself without that much picking throughout the day. He felt it for confirmation. It didn’t feel that much flatter, but maybe he should’ve taken his comb with him.
“I meant metaphorically speaking.”
“...What?” This confused him even more.
Aiden seemed to notice. “Get used to it, she’s been speaking in riddles all day.”
“I don’t remember telling you any riddles! It must’ve been hyperbole, since I tend to exaggerate things for--Anyway!” Roxie placed her hands on the table. “Emil, what I meant to say is, the hair of your heart is less poofy.”
Emil glanced at Aiden for hope of an explanation, but he only returned a look that said “I told you so.”
“Do you mean... my chest… hair…?” The lieutenant glanced down at his chest.
“No! Why would I even know that?? I meant--”
“She meant you seem tired lately.” Jun returned to the table with food from the microwave and a translation.
“Yeah!” Roxie bobbed her head. “That’s what I was saying!”
“Then why didn’t you say that instead of--you know what?” Aiden shrugged. “You do your thing.”
“Thank you~”
“Aww man.” Emil sighed. “I guess I didn’t do a great job of hiding it, huh?”
“I mean... We did see you almost fall down the stairs earlier.” Jun pointed out.
The lieutenant could feel his face flush with embarrassment. From this table, there was a clear view of the staircase. Deciding to laugh instead, he opted to cover his face in dramatic shame.
“I can’t believe you saw me at my lowest moment! My image is ruined~”
”Don’t give up hope!” Roxie leaned toward him, bursting with encouragement. That was his job! “You can rise from this, like a phoenix from the ashes! But I also meant to tell you that me and Mia organized the medical supplies so that they’d be easier to keep track of next time!”
“O-oh! Thank you so much, Roxie.” Someone took care of something for him? Emil felt thoroughly touched. “Tell Mia I said thanks too! Really, that’s so kind of you guys, I-I’m kind of at a loss for words...!”
”Awwww, any time! And about counting the medical supplies--I’ll handle it next time if you want. The infirmary is my domain as well!” She jabbed a thumb into her chest. “I will protect it with my life! And that way you’ll have one less thing on your hands.”
“Roxie, I-- You’re too kind!” He could’ve hugged her right now. “You sure you’re okay with all that work? I could handle it next time if you--”
“Say no more!” she commanded. Just as quickly as she interrupted Emil, she gave him a cutesy smile. “It’s just the infirmary! You can still have the rest of the ship.”
Emil pulled at one of his curls. “Hmmm…..You know what? I’ll think about it!”
“Aye-aye, lieutenant captain!” Roxie saluted. “By the way, did Rookie ever get to ask you his question?”
“Huh?” He didn’t remember a question. “I don’t think he asked me anything earlier, but my memory hasn’t really been what the cool kids call ‘reliable’ lately, so maybe it just slipped the ol’ noggin.” Emil flicked himself in the head a few times, half for emphasis, half in the hope that it would jog his memory.
“I think Jun and Leon were going to ask--”
Jun quickly swallowed some food. “Slow down Rox, I think I wanna save it for when Leon gets back.”
“Oh!” Roxie understood. “Good idea!”
Maybe he was imagining it, but Emil felt some energy return to him. Part of him thought he should take more breaks like this during the day, but that was the old Emil. The cute but irresponsible Galhardo-Alverez brother. He wanted to be the cute and responsible brother… but Lorenzo had too much responsibility for Emil to take his place. Maybe he could settle for the cute and not-as-irresponsible-in-comparison brother. Yes. He now had an attainable goal.
A thud came from the direction of the gym. Emil broke into a cold sweat as he finally remembered what he forgot to tell Leon.
“Oh shoot.” He made a break for the gym. “Oh shoot, oh shoot ohshoot ohshoot ohshoot!”
His suspicions were confirmed when he got to the scene. A weight from the chest machine had fallen, missing Leon by the skin of his bucked teeth. Emil originally went to the burner room to retrieve the tools needed to fix it properly after it nearly fell on Aiden last week. It all flooded back to him, but he was too late. The weight of his mistakes almost crashed down on someone else’s head.
“Rookie are you alright?”
Leon managed to pry his eyes away from the fallen weight in front of him. “Yeah, just a little shaken up, but I’ll be fine!”
Emil rested a hand on his head, horrified. “Oh man, I am so sorry for not telling you about that, you could’ve been--!!”
“Oh good, you guys are okay!” called Jun’s voice. “I’m gonna get a major workout with all this running around. You guys know I’m too old for this, heh.” She joked, as if she were any older than 27.
Emil looked behind him to see that Jun, Roxie, and a straggling Aiden followed him to the gym.
If the weight didn’t crash into Leon, Roxie did. “Oh my gosh, are you alright??”
“I’m fine, I’m fine!” He managed to choke out from a bear hug.
Roxie released him and pointed at the weight. “Will it not cease until it has a victim??”
“Did that weight fall again?” Aiden grimaced at it. “Who put it back up? And what are these for?” He picked up a toolset laying nearby.
“I did…” Emil admitted, though he didn’t remember how the toolset got there. “I was planning on fixing it today, but I got distracted by so many things, I--” He shook his head, picking up the weight. Shame welled up inside of him. “I shoulda tried to focus more. Someone could’ve gotten hurt because of me!”
“Emil, don’t be so hard on yourself.” Leon spoke up. “If anything, it was my fault.” He smiled sheepishly. “I remembered seeing you try to fix it earlier today, so I thought I’d surprise you by getting the rest done! It sure was a surprise alright… Sorry for making you worry.”
“Leon…” The lieutenant’s shoulders slumped. “You should’ve just reminded me to fix it!”
“I know… but--”
“Me and Leon were gonna ask you if you had any chores you needed us to do.” Jun explained. “It didn’t feel right sitting back while you worked yourself to death.”
“You guys thought I was working myself to death? Me?” Emil laughed. “Are you sure you have the right guy?”
“Who else has been running around the ship like a chicken with its head cut off the past few weeks?” asked Aiden.
“Aiden? Even you?”
“It’s not like I was gonna volunteer to work, but…” The older blond stroked his beard. “I’m bored to death of sitting around the kitchen all day. Plus, you’re starting to look like you’re barely holding it together.”
“It’s not that serious, really.” The lieutenant still couldn’t understand why everyone was so worried about him. “I’ve hardly done anything at all today! I had to get Jun to teach me how to use a wrench, I forgot to fix this machine that nearly flattened Rookie, I forgot to thaw the food out--Shoot! I forgot to thaw the food out!!” The realization struck him after he said it. “See? I’m not… I’m not really responsible or organized enough to have a real reason to be tired.” He smiled. “No need to worry about a silly, carefree guy like me. I’m probably just tired from pulling my weight for once.”
Aiden shrugged. “If by your weight you mean the weight of the entire ship, then okay. Whatever floats your boat I guess…”
Jun placed a hand on Emil’s shoulder. “Yeah man, you seem a little overworked. Your brain’s all jumbled up from doing a lot lately. You’re underselling your hard work.”
Emil didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t deny that he felt like he’d been working hard lately, but in his experience, rarely did anyone acknowledge how hard he tried.
“You’ve been a rock carrying us to shore! You lift us on your shoulders like a titan!” Roxie grew serious. “As a medical student, I can say with certainty that all this stress is going to wear down on your health sooner or later. We all need to be strong if we want to survive this trip.”
“Yeah!” Leon added. “We’re a crew! It’s not fair for you to do all the work for us. If we help each other, we’re sure to succeed!”
We’re a crew. It seemed so obvious to Emil now. This ship wasn’t just him and his brother. The others were there to help, too!
“By the power of friendship!” Roxie pumped her fist.
“By the power of friendship!” Leon joined her.
“Yeah, what they said.” Jun half-heartedly pumped a fist. “But honestly, dude, just take it easy for a little while, okay? We got your back, ‘cause we don’t want you to lose your spark.” She lightly fist bumped him on the shoulder.
“Wow, you… you guys. You guys really are the best crew in the universe! I really can’t believe you all…” He winked, poking a finger in his cheek. “I can’t believe you all care so much about little ol’ me!”
Image 1: Emil tearing up. Image 2: Emil poking a finger into his cheek, coyly. [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/554386171778564097/688888816588947494/Coy-Boy-and-Cry-Boy.png]
“Ch’yeah~” Jun lifted her head casually.
“Of course!” agreed Roxie.
“Who wouldn’t?” asked Leon. He looked to Aiden. “...Aiden? Aren’t you going to agree with us?”
Aiden stood toward the back with his arms folded. “I mean, I don’t know you like that, but I also don’t wanna see the ship crash and burn when you do, so don’t overdo it next time.”
“Haha, I won’t!” promised the lieutenant. “And if I somehow do, you’re all free to tell me to sit down.”
Aiden gave a thumbs-up to that statement.
“I’ll go see if I can make something for us to have for dinner!” Before anyone else could say anything, Leon ran off to the kitchen.
“Yo, Aiden. Stay here and help me fix this chest machine thing.” Jun tapped the machine with one hand. “Roxie, I’m probably going to need your help, too.”
“Can do!” Roxie saluted. “I should probably bring a first aid kit just in case any accidents happen!” With that, she bounded in the same direction as Leon.
“So, what do you plan on doing?” Jun raised an eyebrow at Emil. “Nothing that involves work, I hope.”
“Naaaah, don’t worry about it!” Emil fanned the notion away. “‘Sides, I’m feeling kind of sore anyway. I think I’m gonna chill out in the kitchen and watch some TV--”
“The TV doesn’t work, remember?”
“Oh yeah… Oh well! Rookie’ll have some company! But don’t think I won’t check on you guys every so often~” He winked. “Be seein’ you guys!”
Jun waved. “Later!”
Emil headed to the kitchen, with renewed love for his new friends. He silently promised to himself that he would take care of them, but for their sake, he’d take better care of himself too.