Bubble Boy

The Hyperion Ascendant drifted aimlessly through space, silent, listless, and ever so slightly tilting to the left for no reason anyone could explain.

Inside, the crew had begun to devolve into what some scientists might call "extreme space boredom."

Bolt was lying on the ceiling like a cat, having rewired the gravity panel for "fun." Construct sat beneath him, drawing a mustache on a photo of Starman. Seaman and The Orphan were arm-wrestling for the seventh time today. The Orphan kept losing. He insisted he was lulling Seaman into a false sense of security. Seaman looked genuinely concerned for his mental well-being.

Jace was doing one-armed push-ups with grim, Batman-like intensity. Blaze stared out a porthole, chewing on a protein cube like it had personally offended her.

And then it happened.

Bolt flipped down from the ceiling, landing in a superhero pose that nobody asked for.

"Alright, crew! I can't take this anymore!" he shouted. "I'm so bored I started composing haikus about space mold."

Construct gasped. "You too?!"

They high-fived.

"Which is why," Bolt said, grinning like a man with zero shame and too much free time, "we propose… The Starving Games!"

He struck a dramatic pose. Construct triggered a sparkly hologram that read:

THE STARVING GAMES: EAT PAIN. WIN NOTHING.

Everyone stared.

Gladiator blinked slowly. "Explain."

Bolt spun. "Teams of two! A gauntlet of made-up challenges! Winner gets a prize. Loser gets a punishment!"

"What kind of punishment?" Blaze asked, already cracking her knuckles.

"That's the best part," Construct grinned. "The winners choose. Anything goes."

Starman raised an eyebrow. "Define 'anything.'"

"Anything." Bolt said ominously.

Everyone looked around. Boredom won. Sanity lost.

"I'm in," Gladiator said first, stretching her neck. "I want to hurt something."

"Same," Starman said with a sigh, like this was beneath him but it clearly wasn't.

Zoe raised her hand. "I just want to laugh."

"Me and the Orphan," Seaman said proudly, flexing both biceps and knocking over a mug.

"I call Blaze," Jace said quickly.

"Ew," Blaze replied.

"I'll take it as a yes."

Teams were formed:

Team Chaos: Bolt & Construct

Team Water Damage: Seaman & The Orphan

Team Strong, Stern, and Planty: Gladiator, Starman & Zoe

Team Emo Heat: Jace & Blaze

Challenge One: Floating Twister

Zero projected a 3D zero-gravity Twister board.

Chaos ensued.

Bolt accidentally kicked Jace in the face. The Orphan got stuck in a loop trying to figure out his left from his right. Zoe floated gracefully like a leaf. Gladiator screamed, "MY HIP," while doing a majestic backflip.

Team Chaos won by default after everyone else gave up.

Challenge Two: Dramatic Soap Opera Acting

The crew was given random lines to perform with maximum drama. Points were awarded for overacting.

Construct screamed, "WHO TOOK MY CABBAGE," while Bolt sobbed about his secret twin brother, who was actually just himself in a wig.

Seaman pulled out a trident for his monologue. The Orphan faked death for three full minutes.

Blaze refused to participate until Jace said, "You broke my heart, but I still love you." She responded by fake-punching him in the gut and whispering, "Dream on."

The trio of Starman, Gladiator and Zoe acted like popstars and started singing a famous kpop song everyone couldn't stop laughing at Starman and Gladiator.

Team Emo Heat placed second. Team Strong, Stern and Planty won.

Challenge Three: Alien Charades

This was a mess.

Bolt mimed an exploding star and looked constipated. Seaman tried to be a Xyphorite but just screamed "ICE BREATH" until everyone told him to stop.

Zoe guessed everything perfectly using psychic plant vibes or maybe just intuition. Nobody knew.

Team Strong, Stern, and Planty took this one easily.

And many games later...

Final Tally:

Winners: Team Strong, Stern, and Planty

Second: Team Chaos

Third: Team Water Damage

Losers: Team Emo Heat

Jace looked genuinely betrayed. Blaze shrugged.

Gladiator, Starman, and Zoe huddled. Whispered. Plotted.

Then turned with absolute joy.

"The losers," Gladiator declared, "must go on a three-course meal date."

Starman added, "Formal wear. Candlelight. The works."

Zoe smiled too brightly. "And they have to try to make it romantic."

Blaze squinted. "You all suck."

Jace gave a suave grin. "You free tonight?"

"I will kill you," she said.

"That's not a no."

Later, in the Hyperion's mess hall, Bolt dimmed the lights. Construct had made heart-shaped candles. Zoe placed a plant centerpiece.

Jace arrived in a suit. Blaze showed up in armor, her version of dressing up.

Later that night...

The Hyperion's mess hall had never looked more... deranged.

Bolt and Construct wore bowties and aprons, no shirts, for "aesthetic reasons." Construct held a wine bottle filled with recycled water, while Bolt stood beside him with a cracked notepad and a broken pen for orders.

Starman and Seaman wore tall paper chef hats. Zoe floated around like a flower fairy, sprinkling edible petals on dishes that were just repurposed protein bars shaped like food.

Gladiator and The Orphan sat in the security room with the lights off, faces glued to a massive screen showing live footage from five different angles of the date. Gladiator munched popcorn with grim fascination. The Orphan had three notepads of commentary.

Round One: Appetizer – "Space Bruschetta"

Construct placed the plate in front of Blaze like it was a sacred relic.

"Tonight, madame and monsieur, we present... bread. But fancy."

It was clearly just crumbled crackers on a slice of leftover protein loaf. But there was a leaf on it.

Blaze sniffed it. "Why is it steaming?"

"That's the ambiance!" Bolt said, snapping his fingers as a bubble machine sputtered in the corner.

Jace grinned. "Cheers."

Blaze clinked her fork against his. "May this not kill us."

Back in the monitor room...

"Why is Starman grilling protein cubes like they're steaks?" The Orphan asked.

"Shh. They're bonding. Look at Jace's eyes," Gladiator said, zooming in. "That's the 'I'm about to tell my tragic backstory' look."

Round Two: Entrée – "Charred Elegance"

Seaman proudly presented a burned pile of something.

"I call this: 'Seaman's Mystery Mountain.'"

Zoe followed with a salad that was... moving. "The plant is sentient! Adds flavor!"

Jace leaned in. "You know, I think I've had worse. Military cafeteria once served us concrete."

Blaze poked at it. "On Xypho, we used to eat whatever we could catch. One time I survived on roasted bugs for a week."

Construct, listening from behind the curtain, gagged. "They're flirting. With trauma."

Back in the monitor room...

Bolt sprinted in with popcorn. "What'd I miss?"

"They're trauma-dumping appetizers," The Orphan said, adjusting the audio.

"Ten bucks says someone cries," Gladiator muttered.

"Twenty says they kiss," Bolt added.

"I'll bet my boots Starman throws the monitor out the window," Seaman said, running in with his chef hat slightly on fire.

Round Three: Dessert – "Hope on a Plate"

Zoe carefully placed it on the table: a tiny, weirdly beautiful dessert that looked like a deconstructed star.

"It's just candy melted into a swirl," she whispered to herself, watching from behind a plant. "But it's love-shaped candy."

Jace sipped water and stared at his plate, unusually quiet.

"My parents hated me," he said suddenly. "Grew up in a mansion, but I never belonged. They sent me away when I was ten. Military school. I never even knew why."

Blaze looked at him, her usual fire dimmed.

"I came back when they died. Took the house. The money. I didn't even feel sad. Just... tired."

He looked up. "And you?"

She chewed slowly. "Xypho was always war. Poor family. I was taken at six. Given a rifle by seven. I only got good at it because I didn't want to die."

Her voice didn't shake. "So I made sure the other kid did instead."

Jace reached across the table. Not to hold her hand. Just to say I see you.

The monitor shut off with a click.

Back in the security room, Starman stood with the remote. "That's enough."

Everyone looked up.

"They're not a show."

He walked out.

One by one, the others followed.

Even Bolt.

Even Construct.

In the mess hall, the candles flickered.

The bubble machine had died in a corner.

Blaze laughed softly. "You ever feel like we're not real people?"

"All the time."

"But we are."

Jace smiled. "Yeah. We are."

They didn't kiss.

They didn't need to.

They just talked.

And for once, they were just two people on a ship in the middle of nowhere, eating weird food and telling each other the truth.

And it was enough.