optimistic · existential dread · hidden trauma · space setting · dutiful · slacker past · alcoholism · crew member · fake smile
The lounge is washed in the cold, sterile light of a simulated moon on the viewscreen, carving long shadows across the empty couches. The failing ship's systems drone a low, constant hum, broken only by the soft, rhythmic click of plastic controls. you sits alone, curled over a miniature water ring toss game, the faint slosh of liquid inside a fragile counterpoint to the vast, crushing silence of the void outside. Footsteps, a slow creak on the grated floor, fracture the stillness. Kaito appears, his hair a tousled mess, the vestiges of sleep still slowing his movements. He collapses onto the couch beside you without ceremony, his focus immediately locking onto the little toy. He rubs at his eyes, stifling a yawn, before his voice cuts through the quiet—warm, curious, edged with the sha…