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Curly's mouth tasted of mint. The only thing he's drank after the crash was the damn mouthwash he was transporting. He knew he had to confront Jimmy at some point, he hadn't told anyone that it was actually Jimmy who crashed the ship. However, his actions and general mood brought an uncomfortable atmosphere to the ship. Curly could feel the suspicion emanating from Swansea, the fear from Anya, and uncertainty from Daisuke. But was now a good time? Jimmy sat to his right, the creaky seat wailing with every shift of Jimmy's body. Curly bit his lip as he eyed the man, even though he was at fault for this entire ordeal, he couldn't help but notice the bags under his eyes. The way his stubble was more prominent from his shaving tools being lost under the insulating foam; his hair more disheveled than usual from the stress. Curly could tell Jimmy's mind and thoughts were racing, perhaps he should set the mood? Curly held out the mouthwash towards Jimmy, he needed a drink, something to relax his nerves.
"Here, you're a mess. Even if it tastes like shit." Curly's hand squeezed the bottle slightly a few times as he held it out. It bended a little under his grasp and he kept his gaze with Jimmy.
Jimmy was so lost in thought he forgot the captain was here, he eyed the bottle of mouthwash before meeting Curly's gaze. The blue in Curly's eyes pierced through him, he knew behind those eyes there was a conversation to be had. But once he looked past the captain's eyes, he could tell Curly was tired. His usually fluffy and curly hair lost its volume and was more similar to a bird's nest and even his blonde beard was more visible, showing signs that he too lost his hygiene kit in the crash. He held the gaze for what seemed like minutes but was only for a few seconds before he reluctantly grabbed the bottle of mouthwash and took a sip. It burned on the way down, the minty taste overwhelming his taste buds as it filled his mouth. He swallowed it all down before looking at the bottle and then at Curly. "It tastes like shit, burns like hell."
Curly watched him take a slightly bigger sip, "Yeah, it may be a bad experience, but isn't the refreshing feeling worth it?"
Jimmy squinted at him; he knew what Curly was hinting at. "Maybe it would be better we added something to mouthwash. Dilute it a bit... you still get the refreshing part, just making the entire experience more... welcoming."
Curly gently took the mouthwash away from Jimmy, he made an opening, now it was time to get on with it. "Look, Jimmy... we need to stop beating around the bush. You're getting out of hand. The crew is already distrusting of you and we need to make a game plan. I've already taken responsibility for the crash... but you've got another problem to deal with."
Jimmy looked at Curly angrily, "Can't we deal with that once it happens?!?!"
He shot up from his chair and marched towards the door. "I swear you screw up a few times and-"
Curly's face turned red immediately once he heard the bullshit spewing out of Jimmy's mouth. "A screw up?!?! That was MORE than a SCREW UP! What you did was downright unforgivable. Anya is pregnant from YOUR dipshittery. Our LIVES are at stake."
Jimmy turned around and faced Curly head on, his face seething with anger. "Well, I guess you must feel real good about yourself then huh! Oh our mighty captain saving us all, finding the solution to all our problems."
Curly retorted back with an audible spite in the back of his voice. "You know DAMN well my reputation is already in question! The entire crew thinks I crashed the ship! What do you think the company is going to say? You already know I'm in the hot seat because of you!"
Jimmy could feel Curly's breath hit his face, the smell of Mint hitting his nose. "I never ASKED you to take fall! I never ASKED you to save me! I never ASKED you to do anything!"
Curly gave Jimmy a cold hard stare before finally uttering, "We both know, you would never take responsibility for this."
Jimmy couldn't stand it as he lashed out. Delivering a hard punch to Curly's left cheek, Curly standing there stunned as blood trickled down his nose. "C-Curly... shit... s-sorry... I didn't mean to-"
Curly grabbed both of Jimmy's wrists with one hand and pinned him against the Cockpit doors, locking the door with a swift motion with his free hand. "Jimmy... you're going to pay for that..."
Jimmy looked into Curly's eyes, behind the blue he could see hate, anger, but also something more. Something that was calling to Jimmy. He understood this feeling very well as he saw the blood from Curly's nose trickle to his lips. Painting them with a seductive wet glaze of a scarlet red. This could've been the mouthwash speaking, but Jimmy fought back against Curly's grip and kissed the captain.
Curly's eyes widened as he felt his copilot's lips against his. He didn't want to admit it, but damn it felt good. His stubble scratching up against his beard, his hands moved from Jimmy's wrists to his waist and scooped him up into arms so Curly could take a few steps back into the captain's seat. As he sat down the chair make a slight squeaking noise that just got louder and louder.
Jimmy could taste the mint from the mouthwash he was casually sipping on. He could also taste the slight iron taste from the blood when Jimmy punched Curly in the face. Deep down, Jimmy knew that the Captain cared for him, he was always there to fix his mistakes. Not mistakes... more like fuck ups. Really fucked up fuck ups. The least he could do was give Curly a little gift for always being there, even when he's being an unlikeable piece of shit. His hands tightened behind Curly's neck, his nails digging into the soft flesh as he slowly drags his fingers around his neck and down to his chest where he finds the flap hiding the metal zipper to his jumpsuit. He slowly unzips it as he makes eye contact with Curly.
Curly ears perk up when he hears the soft and slow metal clicking of the unzipping zipper. He nods as he places one hand on Jimmy's lower back, slightly pushing them together while the other hand clutches the back of Jimmy's brown soft hair. Softly pulling at it while pressing against his head so Curly could kiss him harder, craving the fresh minty taste. Jimmy didn't put up any resistance towards the kiss but wanted to test the waters. He bit Curly's lip slightly, not hard enough to make him bleed, but enough to leave an imprint. A soft moan left Curly's lips as he felt the pressure, this is what he gets for letting Jimmy run amok.
When Jimmy let go of the captain's lip, he'd fully unzipped his jumpsuit. His hand reached under Curly's yellow shirt, he could feel the smoothness of his skin as well as some condensation from the built-up sweat on his stomach. His hand crawled up his body, feeling every muscle on the way up before peeking out the collar and softly stroking the side of cheek where he originally punched him. Jimmy could feel Curly shudder when he touched it, it was hot and absolutely going to bruise later. He backed his face away momentarily and moved his hand to Curly's mouth. He stuck his pointer and index in and with no resistance opened Curly's mouth. With Jimmy's free hand, he reached behind the captain and grabbed the mouthwash. The captain's mouth hung open as his upper teeth rested on the nail of Jimmy's pointer finger, and the bottom jaw stretched open by his index. Jimmy looked at the bottle and then at the captain. "I'm sick of the iron taste... I'm sure you are too.."
Jimmy thoughtlessly poured the mouthwash in Captain's mouth. "There you go... all clean now..."
Curly choked on it at first, his throat closing up due to the unexpected burning sensation. He made small yet audible gurgling sounds that could be described as drowning. Once the mouthwash began to run over the sides of his mouth, he finally opened up the back of his throat, take huge gulps and the burning sensation growing hotter and hotter. It wasn't until the bottle was halfway empty Jimmy stopped, and Curly could finally stop swallowing the mixture of mint and ethanol. When Curly finished, Jimmy's thumb ran across the side of Curly's mouth and picked up the leftover mouthwash before sucking on it, getting any last drop of mouthwash remaining on Curly. Curly glared at Jimmy for a bit before Jimmy decided to kiss him to test if his mouth still tasted of iron.
Jimmy frowned when he realized that the iron taste was still in his mouth. Curly could sense that Jimmy was unsatisfied, Curly nodded towards the mouthwash and then towards Jimmy. Jimmy knew what he had to do, reluctantly he squeezed the bottle, and took a sip. Curly frowned when all he saw was a sip from Jimmy. "Thats it? You drown me in mouthwash but all you get is a sip?"
Jimmy rolled his eyes, "Fine, I'll make it even."
Jimmy took a long swig from the mouthwash, chugging it down and felt the burning sensation grow. He drank and drank, the pain growing more and more, Curly could tell Jimmy was punishing himself. Curly tried to grab the bottle of mouthwash from Jimmy, but Jimmy refused, not stopping till there was a 1/10th of it left. When he stopped, Curly grabbed the almost empty bottle from Jimmy's shaky hands and chucked it across the room. The bottle bounced along the floor spilling any remaining contents across the metal ground. He looked at the bottle and then at Jimmy, "Look, I wanted to talk to you about... ya know... but I don't think we should talk in these conditions."
Jimmy looked away, "What's the point, I'm fucked either way."
Curly grabbed Jimmy by the chin and looked into his brown broken eyes. "Look we can make it through this... we can still do damage control."
Even though all he could taste was mint, there was still that iron taste somewhere. "Curly... why do you do these things for me? I don't want the help..."
Curly furrowed his eyebrows and thought for a second, "Because you're my co-pilot. WHEN we make it, I want to be able to tell the world that me AND my co-pilot landed the ship. I want US to succeed, I know your life hasn't been easy and it feels like when this voyage is over, there's going to be nothing for you. I just want you to feel that life can throw you a bone sometimes and that even though this entire voyage has just been bad... we can enjoy at least the little happy parts."
Jimmy looked around for a bit, taking in what Curly said. He bit his tongue, thinking about what to say. Before he finally opened his mouth. "Okay."
His reply was dry, a reply to only let Curly know he heard him. Not showing what he was truly thinking. Curly understood that this was the end of this experience. "Come on... lets go."
Curly let go of Jimmy and sat up, reaching to unlock the door before Jimmy stopped him. He grabbed Curly's shoulder, turned him around, and kissed him. Sticking his tongue into Curly's mouth, he wanted to taste the mint in him. Wanting to forget the iron residue stained in his mouth. Curly surprised at first kissed him back, letting his tongue explore, finally tasting that iron taste Jimmy talked about. They held their stances for what seemed like forever before they finally departed each other. They held each other's gaze before finally unlocking the door to the cockpit and leaving to rejoin their crew.