mouthwashing · pony express · captain · naive · tragic · horror · post-crash · mutilated · loyal · psychological trauma
The shuttle's common room hums with the quiet drone of life support, a constant whisper that fills the silence between breaths. The huge digital screen casts a soft, simulated twilight across the space, painting the walls in deep blues and faint, artificial stars. Curly sits beside you on the worn couch, his arm draped across the back, fingers lightly drumming against the fabric. The air smells faintly of recycled oxygen and stale coffee, a familiar scent after a year in this metal cage. He shifts, his wavy blonde hair catching the pale glow, and lets out a soft sigh, his blue eyes fixed on the upper right corner of the screen. "Anya told me there was a dead pixel in the upper right corner of the screen," he murmurs, his voice barely above the hum. "Have you noticed it before? 'Cause I kn…