trans_9 | Just a Little Bit Closer, Just a Little Warmer [Closed to Steve]

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Just a Little Bit Closer, Just a Little Warmer [Closed to Steve]

Miku didn't like the observation deck anymore. Ever since the Punishment had occurred, she couldn't stay very long without hearing things that had been past days ago. She figured it was probably worse because it was "newer" than the events that had already happened on the ship.

Regardless, the moment she heard Stacy's voice quietly admonishing Big Zero for her actions in that cold voice of hers, Miku started to hurry across the deck like someone had lit her on fire.

Anywhere would be better than hearing or seeing this. Anywhere at all. She pointedly kept her eyes on her the ground to avoid seeing any of the Punishment again. Once was enough. Once was more than enough.

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"Hey, Miku!"

She fortunately avoided slamming into Steve as he made his way down the opposite hallway, hobbling along on his crutches. He'd been out of medical for about half a week now, though it still hurt to do much more than that hobbling along.

He carefully propped himself still, noticing the look on her face. "Are you okay? Where's the fire?"

"Oh! Ah..." Miku looked back behind her, where the spectre of BZ Past had been strung up. She drew her tongue over her lips self consciously, as if trying to make sure they hadn't started turning blue.

"I was just trying to get to... ah..." She floundered and bit the inside of her cheek as the first screams started reverberating through her. "Away. Somewhere. Can we go somewhere? Please?"

"Yeah, yeah! We can go wherever you want!" She looked like she'd just seen the proverbial ghost. Steve nodded and motioned with his head for her to come with him.

Though it took a moment of practice for him to turn around on the crutches. "Where should we go?"

"Ah... Hydroponics?" That would be safe, at least as long as someone hadn't decided to start burying people there. BZ's toe-curling shrieks were making it hard to focus, and the world was starting to lose color. Miku clamped down hard on her sixth sense and started walking quick enough to keep up with Steve.

Somehow, he outpaced her even with crutches. "It's just... I'm having trouble trying to not see something."

Steve really only had half an idea what she meant there, but she looked bad enough without him needing to understand it. "Here, lean on me if you have to," he insisted, perhaps without really thinking things through. "We'll be there in no time."

"N-no, you're still hurt..!" Miku protested and clenched her hands as they walked so she could avoid putting them over her ears. She kept her hands that way until BZ's screams faded to a high-pitched whine.

God, did she ever hate the observation deck. "I'll be fine until we get there, really. Don't worry." What was she learning from Cargn if she couldn't even last that long?

"I'm not hurt," he protested, a total lie. "I'm just a little weak still." Plus a few leftover wounds. And it still ached to move like he'd been in a triathlon the day before, but that pain was starting to go away as the days went by.

But he didn't argue, just concentrated on working his crutches while still keeping an eye on Miku until they finally reached Hydroponics, where the air was fresh with greenery as always.

"Here we go... let's find somewhere to sit." Because Miku still looked pale, and Steve had probably not been ready to handle that long walk on crutches all at once and so quickly. Not that he was letting her know that.

She nodded in agreement and picked a spot under a tree with bluish, smooth bark. Like someone had decided that trees needed to be made out of plastic on some distant planet. At least it smelled kind of sweet, which she didn't mind so much.

"Let's sit here, okay?" Miku plopped herself down, and opened her hands to discreetly examine them. She'd pressed little red crescents into her palms, but they weren't bleeding, and would probably go away soon. At least it wouldn't be anything that Steve needed to worry about. "You can sit against the tree, and I'll lean on you a little."

"Are you okay?" he asked again, as he set his crutches down on the ground nearby and began the process of sitting down himself. It started out all right until he got to the point where gravity took over-- then he didn't do so well at lowering himself to the ground delicately.

Flop or not, he made it up against the tree. "Jeez... those things are tiring."

"I'm alright now. Short of blinding myself, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to not see it," Miku smiled a little bit and shrugged, carefully moving Steve's hair from his face. "I didn't mean to drag you so far off. Where were you going?"

Because Miku knew Steve really ought to be resting somewhere, not hobbling around the ship for fun and pleasure.

"I wasn't going anywhere important. I was just bored." So, yeah... hobbling around the ship for fun and pleasure.

"The more I move around the better I'll feel, right? I've been stuck in medical for two whole weeks, and now I shouldn't have to do it ever again." That idea was still ringing a little oddly in Steve's head, as though it wasn't really true or it hadn't really sunk in for him yet. One of these days he was going to freak out properly.

"But they did tell you to get plenty of rest," Miku admonished lightly. She went and asked specifically, after all. Steve didn't need to go off over exerting himself and end up in medical again because of a pulled muscle.

Though, considering the other reason he'd had to go there so often, at least it would be a normal excuse. "Just don't wear yourself out before we can really celebrate, okay? Promise for me?"

"Two weeks of lying in bed is rest, right?"

He wrapped his arm around her and squeezed her a bit closer to him. "I won't get worn out," he assured her. "How are we gonna celebrate, though?" And did it involve cake?

"Not enough!" she chided and put her head on his shoulder. "Listen to your doctors at least a little bit, since I can't exactly sit on you and force you to stay in bed." He'd probably just roll her off and escape.

"Anyway, I was thinking something nice? Like a really good dinner! Though, I guess we can put it off until Stacy drops us off for a shore leave again." Maybe if it was an Earth, she could collect all the supplies she really needed and start whipping all kinds of good things up that weren't Sensorium based. "But anything you want to do, we'll do. It's your recovery we're celebrating, after all." Miku pressed her face into his chest and sighed.

It felt kind of stupid thinking about how nice he smelled when she really decided to put thought to it.

Steve was grinning even at the thought. "I'd love that," he sighed dreamily, thinking of steak and baked potatoes and all the other good food he missed like crazy. Medical did not provide its patients with anything more exciting than the gray slop. "But I'm sure whatever we do will be perfect." As long as Miku was there, how could it go wrong? Doubly so if she was cooking!

"I still can't really believe it's... well, it's not gone. But every week they're gonna give me another dose of that medicine that keeps it weak," he elaborated. "It's... kind of weird after worrying about it for so long."

Well, everything could get upset by dead people, but that was neither here nor there.

Miku lifted her head and grinned, "It makes me pretty happy, too. I didn't like that you were so... muddled after your treatments. It made me worry." Granted, he might still be muddled after the newer treatments. They'd just have to see, and she'd just bring something with him to entertain him if he was.

She looked down at her hand, and rubbed her fingers over the crescents again. "It's just another reason to celebrate now, though, isn't it?"

"This stuff makes me kind of sick... just for a few hours after, though," he assured her. "And my blood's still... you know. Freaky. But I'll take it if it means I don't have to mutate. And now I can't get other people sick, either." Fireblood was a small price to pay for that-- something finally looking up for Steve, and for real and for certain, too.

That was going to take some getting used to.

He leaned his cheek against her head, hugging his arms tight around her again. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes," Miku assured him, half of her words muffled by his chest. "I just... can't go to the observation deck for a while. I keep seeing that woman strung up there." She shuddered then, thinking of that horrible scream. "There are a few other places I don't go because of that, too. I guess I just need to concentrate harder on not seeing those things."

"I know how that is." He paused. "N-not the same as you do, but when you just keep seeing things in your head, you know..."

He patted her shoulder sympathetically, and offered a weak smile. "It'll be okay. We'll stay out of there until it goes away."

"I know what you're trying to say," Miku smiled. "I just... feel bad that all I see are scary, creepy things. Why can't it ever be buried treasure?" It would certainly have made Miku much richer than frightened, now that she thought about it. "Ooh, or something pleasant. That would be a nice change."

It was about as much of a grumble as Miku had ever voiced, but at least she was following Steve's example, and keeping her tone light.

"Well, maybe it's only a matter of time until you do find buried treasure," Steve offered. "I mean, I don't know if there's any on the ship, but maybe we'll have a mission where you get to find it."

He paused. "And I can be the lantern?"

"Eh? The lantern?" Miku lifted her head to raise her eyebrows at him. "What do you mean?" Had her translation slipped? Hm.

"You know. The lantern. Fwoosh." He pantomimed his hand lighting on fire.

"Ah, sorry... I guess that was a bad joke."

"Oh. Oh!" Miku laughed softly. "I just thought that maybe Stacy had mistranslated a word." Wouldn't that be horrible if it broke, she wouldn't be able to understand a thing.

Pursing her lips at the thought, she dropped her head down against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. "I would definitely give you the lion's share of the treasure if you were my lantern."

"I wouldn't know what to do with a bunch of treasure," he argued. "Though... I don't know what kind of treasure we'd be talking about. If it was jewelry, you could have it."

He sighed, and his breath ruffled her hair, so he reached up and tried to fix it. "Maybe we could practice using your powers for something like that. I mean, I'm no Cargn, but... we should see if we can turn them good instead of scary."

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