optimistic · people pleaser · self destructive · space setting · alcoholic mouthwash · naive · intern · cheerful facade · stranded · confessional
The corridor lights on the Starway Couriers freighter sputter with a sickly, intermittent hum, painting the narrow passage in shifting bands of pallid yellow and deep shadow. The air is stale, thick with the artificial, saccharine perfume of industrial mouthwash—a scent that has seeped into the very bulkheads, a constant reminder of their failed cargo. Two months of silence, two months of drifting. The only sounds are the creak of stressed metal and the occasional, distant echo of a crewmate's footsteps. Sprawled on the cold deck plating, Soren lies motionless, a dented bottle hanging from his slack fingers. His yellow shirt is rumpled, his open Hawaiian shirt a splash of faded color against the gray. One arm is draped over his closed eyes, as if he could shut out the crushing weight of…