Hello everyone! I've started working on the idea of creating a Markiplier ego dating sim. Have you ever wanted to become friends with Engineer, dark, yancy, Illinois, warfstache, etc etc? Maybe even give em' a big ol smooch? Well, you can here! At some point in time! Potentially! If enough people think this is a cool idea. If you want to weigh in your 2 cents, all I ask is that you fill out the google form at the end of this post!
Whether you just want to vote on certain characters being included, volunteer to play test, or even play a role in the development of this project, this is the place to do that!!! This is completely volunteer based, and I don't plan on making any money off of this, or paying anyone. So if you're looking for money, you should probably look elsewhere.
I'm very passionate about dating simulators and game programming, and have always been very drawn to user immersion in stories, and the magic of markipliers choose your own adventures. I want to create something that I would enjoy playing, and people like me would as well. Right now the idea is very surface level and I definitely need to plan it out more, but I want to just gage interest and all that jazz. I'll make a discord server at some point, so keep an eye out for that. If you want to be personally invited by me, and have a link sent straight to your dms when it's created, drop your username in here, and let me know that's what you want!
All that to say, if you want to smooch up any Markiplier egos, now's your chance to tell me which ones you want!
Hello! My name is Zallia, I'm a writer, artist, and coding enthusiast! I have about 5 years of coding under my belt now, though most of the
Hello everybody! My name is Zallia (Main blog is @zalliafawn). In a fit of manic passion, I have decided to start this project! my goal here is to create a Markiplier Ego Dating Simulator, where you have the option to romance different egos! The game is currently called Ego Mania, and the characters I currently plan to have as routes are Yancy, Google, Dave, The Host, Illinois, Engineer, Darkiplier, Wilford, and maybe even Actor! This doesn't mean these will be the only options in the finished product, nor does it mean I'll actually do all these characters, but this is the current plan!
Ego Mania is a fan-driven passion project! It will be a visual novel, similar to the style of DDLC, if that tells you the kind of format it will be in. I plan to release it to Itch.io when we get to release, and currently have no plans for making it available to mobile devices, unfortunately. however, this could change in the future, as not many things are totally set in stone
There will be no money involved in any step of the project. before, during, or after. No money is being given and nothing will cost you any money. This means all work is volunteer work, the game is free, and there will be no in game currency.
Characters will have multiple endings, including romantic, platonic, and bad endings. there may be flirty comments, however nothing in the game will be NSFW/Explicit. However, there may be heavier themes that could be disturbing, depending on where the stories go.
All help is welcome!! I will use primarily discord to communicate with the team, and already have a discord server with dozens of people in it that have created a very friendly and welcoming community! Anybody looking to contribute to the project, these are the types of roles that this project is looking for:
If you would like to join the community discord server to chat or apply for the dev team, https://discord.gg/qavnBSFxbX this is the link! To join the server, you must be 13+, and any dev applicants need to be 16+.
more updates and information will be posted to this blog as development continues! Feel free to send suggestions/questions to the ask box, and I'll do my best to answer!
Summary: you were finally back in your cryopod after saving the ship yet again, but the engineer has something he'd like to tell you, but he can't work up the courage to tell you while you're awake
Warnings: requited unrequited love, fluff, love confessions etc
A/N: I've been working on this for so long, but its finally here and I hope you guys like it!
You had returned to cryosleep, the ship was safe, your crew and the colonists were accounted for, and you could rest. The crew members you had awoken to assist you seemed to follow your lead.
All except one.
The engineer was still awake.
He couldn't bring himself to go back to his pod yet, so he sat beside yours, leaning against it.
He was talking quietly.
Even in the haze the cryo chamber caused you could hear him.
“I know you're sleeping, but this is the only way I can tell you this,” you had never seen the engineer look so serious.
“You're just so brave, Captain, you've saved us all, saved me, so many times..” he sighed, “but I'm not brave, I'm a coward. I can't even tell you how I feel in person, out loud, to your face.”
He did this several times, and you continued to struggle against the chambers desire for you to remain still. At this point you almost wished for another problem so the program would disengage itself.
This was probably the seventh or eighth time the engineer had come to sit beside you. There were days he'd sit in silence, deep in thought, and there were others where he couldn't seem to stop the flow of words coming out of his mouth. Today definitely matched the latter.
He was telling another story where you'd done just the right thing in the knick of time. You wanted to tell him that what you'd done had been a panic response, not a well thought out solution to a problem. Even if you were able to say that, he wouldn't believe you. He always saw you in the brightest possible light.
The times between his visits were hazy, and your mind moved sluggishly, and your body even more so. You'd gotten so close to the release button, you could almost touch it.
Almost
You were so close.
You could tell he was coming back.
His footsteps echoed loudly through the silent ship.
He sat down in his usual spot, leaning against your pod, “I love you,” he said after a long moment of silence.
“I've loved you for as long as I can remember really,” he continued, “you'd say I love some sort of idealized version of you, but I love the version of you that remembers the rations I like, and hides the vanilla coffee packets for me because I like them better than the plain ones. You remember everything, that's why I love you.”
He started to stand up, “I don't think you'd ever love me back though,” he admitted, “that's why I keep telling you while you're asleep, because once we get to the new colony, you'll find someone. Someone perfect for you, and you'll leave me behind, and it'll be okay. It'll be okay because I told you, even if you can't hear me.”
There it was, your fingers brushed the button.
Finally, all your effort paid off.
You could do it
You used all the strength you had in your frozen body, and shoved the button down.
The chamber opened with a hiss, steam pouring out, and you essentially fell to the floor. Your limbs were far too cold to support you.
“Captain?” The engineer's voice broke through the haze. It sounded like he had been trying to get your attention for some time if his frantic tone was anything to go by.
“Captain, are you alright?” He continued, “what happened to your pod? Did it malfunction? There must be something wrong with the ship, oh no-”
He continued rambling, as you struggled into a sitting position. As much as you loved hearing his voice, you really needed him to stop talking for just a minute.
Your teeth wouldn't stop chattering.
You supposed that was your own fault, you weren't supposed to use the emergency disengage of the cryopod, but in your mind, and your heart, mostly your heart, this was an emergency.
“You need to stop talking,” you finally got out.
He didn't hear you, he was pacing and panicking, hands gesturing wildly.
“Engineer, please stop talking,” you tried again.
Still nothing, you were worried for him now, he looked so distressed. If he would just stop and listen, you'd be able to fix it for him.
“Head Engineer!” You finally managed to shout, voice shaking because of the shivering that you couldn't seem to stop.
The engineer finally paused, looking at you, brows furrowed in confusion, “captain?” He returned.
“You need to stop talking so that I can tell you that I'm in love with you too,” you replied, using your ‘captain voice’.
You left absolutely no room for argument, but the engineer still managed to look completely shocked.
“You love me?” He whispered, eyes wide.
“I do, I have for the longest time,” you admitted, ducking your head so you didn't have to meet his gaze.
“Why didn’t you ever say?”
“I was scared,” you replied honestly, “you are my subordinate, and I never wanted you to feel pressured to return my feelings, but then I heard you-”
“You heard me?”
You nodded, “the cryopods don't put you to sleep instantly, it takes time, I could hear you, but everything else was hazy. When you said I'd find someone when we got to this new planet, I couldn't let you keep thinking your feelings were one sided, because I wouldn't find anyone else. The person I want has been by my side the whole time.”
He dropped to his knees beside you, and you nearly winced at the impact on his knees, but you were far too focused on him grabbing your face to pull you into a kiss. It tasted like ice and desperation, and you wrapped your hands around his wrists so he couldn't second guess himself.
You only separated from him when you could no longer deny your need for air, but you didn't let him go. You couldn't help but smile when you looked at him, because you couldn't remember a time you'd seen him so happy.
“Love looks good on you, engineer,” you teased gently.
“I think it suits me, captain,” he agreed, “but I like the way it looks on you even more.”
You both knew you'd have to return to your pods soon, it wouldn't do you any good to be awake for the entire duration of the trip, but you needed just a little more time with him.
When you both finally returned to cryosleep, you were in pods next to each other, and when you woke up again, you'd do it together.
There would be struggles in your future, leading your crew and the colonists to form a society on a brand new planet couldn't possibly be easy. You found yourself looking forward to the challenge though, afterall, your engineer would be by your side and together the pair of you were next to unstoppable.
Engineer Mark x F!Reader
March of Pain 2026
Day Three
Prompt: Jump
Word Count: 836
Content Warning: mild depressing thoughts, angst, hurt/comfort
A/N: Since I forgot to post this one when I was supposed to, I will be posting two stories in one day, this one and the Day Four Prompt. Thank you @lady-kaguya-101 for reminding me that I accidentally missed this one.
You were exhausted. The constant jumping into wormholes and ending up in unknown situations that may or may not put you in danger. And Mark was insistent on continuing until you found the door to the Warp Core to shut it down and end this nightmare. But you were tired. So tired. You were leaning against the wall in the Bridge, staring out at the vast emptiness of space in front of you, wondering if any of this was worth it. The sleeves of your jumpsuit were tied around your waist, your white, short sleeve underneath allowing your aching body to breathe and relax. Until you heard the hissing of the door open and close, followed by the soft thudding of boots against the floor.
“Captain-”
You stopped Mark from saying anything else by raising a hand and taking a deep breath before you looked at him. You could see the eagerness in his eyes shift when he spotted the exhaustion on your face.
“Mark. Let’s take a break from jumping into the wormhole.”
Your voice was soft and hoarse. Mark’s shoulders slumped when he processed your words, a small frown tugging at his lips.
“But Captain. We’re so close to finding the Warp Core! I know it!”
“No, you don’t! Mark!” you snapped, your resolve breaking away as you pushed off the wall and faced him completely. Mark stiffened up when you raised your voice. It wasn’t something you did often and when you did, everyone knew that you had been pushed past your limit. “We are not any closer to getting to the Warp Core since we began this dangerous game! I. Am. Exhausted.” you met his gaze, feeling tears sting at your eyes but you kept yourself somewhat composed. “You keep saying that we’re getting close to it but every time, we jump in, we get separated, we end up in situations that may or may not kill us! And then we’re back to square one!! I am tired of the pain, of the fear, of the feeling of death gnawing at the corners of my mind because I don’t know what’s going to be on the other end of the wormhole!” you clenched your gloved hands and narrowed your eyes at Mark, who was staring at you in surprise with guilt written all over his face. “We’re not getting any closer to figuring out this situation so what’s the fucking point?!” You slumped against the wall from before and closed your eyes tightly, a stray tear trickling down your cheek as a shaky breath exited your lungs. Mark stood there in silence before you heard the soft thud of boots approaching you and the warmth of his person sitting down next to you.
“I’m sorry, Captain. I didn’t realize it was taking such a toll on you.” Mark spoke softly, his hands in his lap while he stared at the floor. You forced your eyes opened and looked at him, his gaze meeting yours when he felt you looking at him. “I’m tired too.” he added. You sniffled and chuckled a little, shaking your head before leaning it against his shoulder.
“Sometimes, Mark, you need to step back and take a break before diving back into something.” you said, staring at the floor after putting your hands together. The silence that followed was peaceful and relaxing, allowing your mind to shut off for more than a second. Your eyes fluttered shut and your breaths evened out when sleep dragged you into its embrace without you realizing it. Mark glanced at you when he felt you relax against him more, glancing over your face and finally noticing the shadows under your eyes and the light redness from rubbing your eyes to stay awake. The guilt in his stomach tightened, realizing that you were sacrificing your sleep to help get to the Warp Core through a means that wasn’t guaranteeing anything. Mark carefully eased you into a sitting position before he scooped you up into his arms and carried you to your private quarters. Upon laying you down in your bed and watching you curl up under the blanket, he took a deep breath and determined that he would simply try to find the Warp Core by himself and fix the problem that he had caused by tearing open the wormhole in the first place. But before he could step away from your sleeping form, he felt a hand wrap around his wrist and stop him. When he looked at you, your eyes were barely opened but staring up at him.
“Don’t. Don’t go. Please, you need to rest too, Mark.”
Mark let his shoulders slump again, trying to remember the last time he slept decently that wasn’t induced by the cryopods. So, he gave in and climbed into bed beside you, though he wasn’t expecting you to curl into his side like you did. He melted into your touch and hesitantly wrapped his arm around you before drifting off to sleep alongside you.
Egos mentioned: Mark (Actor, Date, Heist, Engineer), Dark, Wilford, Yancy, Illinois, Murdock, Bim, Dr. Iplier, Yandere, Ed Edgar, Author, The Host, Silver Shepard, Bing, Google
would you guys be opposed to a head engineer mark × s(ui)cidal captain where it almost works but mark walks into the captains room asking for help with something
Tags: ISWM, Fluff, Smut, No Use of Y/N For Reader-Insert, Gender-Neutral Reader-Insert, Praise Kink, Dry humping, Grinding, Hair Pulling, Whimpering, Light D/S Dynamics, Implied Aftercare, Not Edited, Not Beta Read.
You wandered through the ship idly, checking up on crew members and making sure everything was functioning smoothly. A quick once over of your metal checklist revealed you hadn’t seen your dear head engineer. You sighed. He was probably overworking himself again — he never did seem to take a break these days.
Walking through the halls in a familiar pattern, you make your way towards the primary workshop in the ship. You spot Engie working on something, his jumpsuit unzipped and hanging loosely by his waist. He looked tired, sweat glistening on his arms as he worked. His hair was loose and tousled and grease was smeared all over him. You leaned against the door, watching him for a moment before clearing your throat. Engie startled, glancing towards you and then instantly relaxing at the sight of you standing there.
“Captain! What brings you here?” Engie asks cheerfully, grabbing a cloth and attempting to wipe some of the grease off of his hands with little success. You raise an eyebrow, glancing pointedly to the clock.
“If you ever actually paid attention to the time, you would have it figured out in an instant. At least then you’d know you’re spending too much time in here,” you comment dryly. Engie has the decency to look somewhat sheepish at that.
“Ah. I suppose I have been here a while, haven’t I?” He says softly. You nod, making your way over to him. Your hands brush over his shoulders gently and you internally smirk at the small shudder that goes through him.
“We’ve talked about this, Engie,” you scold him teasingly, “you can’t go on overworking yourself. It’s not healthy for you. I can’t have my head engineer out of commission because he refused to take a few breaks throughout the day, can I?”
Your hands slide down and settle to grip at Engie’s arms and he gives you a tired smile.
“But Captain,” he says, a little breathless, “I’ve still got work to do— mfph!” He’s cut off as you crash your lips into his, licking eagerly into his mouth. Engie melts immediately, leaning into it, his hands coming up to rest on your waist. He tastes like sweat and grease, and you pull back with a laugh, your thumb swiping over his lips to wipe the spit away.
“How'd you even get grease on your lips?” You coo teasingly, delighting in the way his cheeks flush red, a dazed little smile on his face.
“I— I don’t know—“ he stammers. You grin, tilting your head.
“Come on honey,” you drawl, “I’m sure you can figure out how it happened and tell me. Then…” your fingers trail down his chest, “maybe I’ll give you a reward.” Engie’s eyes widen at the statement and he pouts a little at you, brow furrowed.
“Captain, you can’t surely—“ he gives a little gasp as you cut him off with a light tug of his hair. You smirk.
“No,” your voice is firm, “no arguing. If you want a reward, you tell me how the grease got onto your lips. Or I can leave you to your work, if you’d prefer?” Engie whines softly at the thought, hands tightening on your waist. You just grin in response. Some days he could win you over with some whining and a cute look, but today? He wasn’t getting out of it easily. He seems to figure it out as well, squirming a bit as his mind tries to put the pieces together.
“I— I guess I must’ve accidentally brushed my hand on my lips?” He gets out, “something like that.” You raise an eyebrow, not moving or doing anything just yet. When he tries to press into you a bit, you keep your hold tight and refuse to let him. Engie gives you a betrayed look, but you simply shake your head.
“You didn’t sound awfully sure, honey,” you shrug, “I don’t know if ‘something like that’ is a good enough answer to get what you want.” Engie makes a small, frustrated noise in the back of his throat.
“That’s not fair!” He pouts, “please Captain. It was so long ago. I tried my best.” You sigh, running a few fingers through his hair and tugging lightly as you think.
“Maybe if you beg a little more I’ll give you a pass,” you decide, “if you can’t give me a proper answer, you have to earn your reward a different way.” Engie nods immediately and pulls your hand up to his cheek, nuzzling into it. Some of the grease on his face smears into your hand, but you’re not particularly concerned with that right now. He peers up at you, eyes pleading.
“Please Captain?” He begs, “I’ve been good.” Normally you’d hold out a little longer, make him frustrated to the point of tears or tease him a bit more. Today you don’t feel the same sort of restraint. You tug him up into a kiss, nipping at his lip and making a pleased noise at the soft moan that escapes him. You pull back, licking your lips and giving him a smile.
“Good boy,” you coo, relishing the whimper that escapes him, “since you were good you can have a reward.” You press a knee between his legs, humming in delight at the feeling of his cock already growing hard. “You can get yourself off, just like this, can’t you?” Engie blinks, caught off guard. His cheeks flush bright red.
“But… Captain…” he whines. You rub at a bit of the grease, smiling.
“You’re already such a mess,” you tilt your head down, “what’s one more?” Engie flusters, torn between arguing with you and simply giving in. You just wait, patiently. Engie can easily tap out if anything was ever too much, but you have an inkling that despite his protests he doesn’t mind this. He huffs, red faced.
“…fine,” he mumbles, glancing away, “okay.” You beam, cupping under his chin and pecking a kiss to his cheek.
“Good boy. Get to work, then,” you say, pressing into him a little more. Engie moans, head lolling forward to rest on your shoulder. His hands fumble to grip at your side to keep himself steady and one of your hands comes up to support him, the other threading through his hair. His cock is hard and you can feel it pressed against you as he grinds down with a whimper.
As he grinds, you tug gently at his hair and mouth at his neck, relishing at the noises that escape him. Slowly a damp spot starts to form on his jumpsuit as he gets a little more desperate against you, rubbing harder up and down. You smile at him, tilting his chin to look at you, taking in Engie’s dazed expression and flushed cheeks.
“Already so messy, aren’t you?” You murmur, “you’re such a messy puppy sometimes.” He lets out a choked noise at the nickname, nodding in your grasp as he moves frantically, humping your leg. You press hard into him, giving him more friction to work with and feeling pleased that it results in some more moans and gasps escaping from him. You lick a strip up his neck, the bitter taste of the grease on him stinging your tongue. It’s worth it for the way he whimpers incoherently into your shoulder.
“Please captain, I’m so close,” he babbles, “please, I’m good, I’ve been good.” You hum, teasingly, but you feel nice today. You give a small nod, nipping at his skin.
“You can cum,” you say, “be a good boy and cum for me.” Engie mumbles something, likely agreement, but he’s too dazed for it to make much sense. His movements get desperate and sloppy against you as he gets close and you have to help guide him along, but you don’t really mind. Eventually he comes with a whimper of your name against your skin, spilling into his boxers and jumpsuit. He slows, panting heavily, the dampness between his legs obvious.
“Good boy.” You let him stay leaning against you, playing with his hair gently as he gradually comes down from the high. After a few moments he manages to pull back shakily, giving you a dazed smile. He giggles as you wipe some of the drool from his lips, quirking an eyebrow at him.
“Thank you, Captain. I don’t suppose I can return the favour?” While the offer is tempting, you can see how exhausted he is. You shake your head slightly, leaning forward to kiss his forehead gently.
“Another time. Making you feel good was all I needed for today. Now,” you give him a cheeky grin, “I think you’re dirty in more ways than one—“
“Captain!” Engie protests, flustered. You simply laugh, helping him stand up a bit, supporting him as he stabilizes the wobble in his legs.
“I’m not wrong,” you say, tugging him along towards the showers once he can walk, a hand on his lower back, “let’s go clean up. Then we can sleep and cuddle.” He sighs, rolling his eyes, but his expression is fond.
“Yeah. I think that sounds good, Captain.” You grin. Sounds good indeed.
Shattered Mirrors, Shattered Memories - Chapter 1: Bike Crash Beginnings
Series Summary: The Captain is living their dream life. They have a good crew, they’re doing history making missions, and they think their lifelong best friend and crush might like them back.
But you can’t dream forever. It’s not real, and one of these days, you have to wake up.
Chapter Summary: The Captain has a fun conversation with Mark. They can’t agree on how they became friends.
(Series Contains: cosmic horror, character study, lore interpretation, slow burn, eventual Damien/Reader and Darkiplier/Reader, gn reader, fucking around with perspective in fun ways, canon death, canon resurrection?, memory replacement)
(Chapter Contains: memory alteration)
Word Count: 5k
Read here on Ao3 here
A/N: Holy shit, okay, where do I begin?
So, I started the original fic… I wanna say about three years ago? Give or take? That’s when I was a high school senior just starting out writing and posting. As you know, if you read the original work, I wasn’t very good. But it had promise. It had a damn good concept. My execution just wasn’t good.
This is me deciding to breathe new life into an old fic of mine, and revamping and rewriting it. Word of warning, updates will likely be slow. My chapters are pretty long, and I also have a job now. Part time, sure, but a job, nonetheless. In fact, I wrote most of this in a pocket sized notepad during slow hours at work.
Regardless, because I am rambling and need to stop that: enjoy!
Space was cold and space was cruel. If you asked any other cadet or graduate of the Iplier Space Academy, that was how they would describe space. It was a desolate wasteland, for the most part, save the few planets that humans could inhabit. It could kill you in an instant if you didn’t remain cautious at all times - carelessness was one of the worst killers out in the stars. It was beautiful, yes, none of them would deny that, but it was also deadly, and not for the faint of heart.
That was one of the main things that set the Captain of The Invincible II apart from the rest of them the most. They did not share their fellow space traveller’s views that space was some cruel, heartless thing before it was anything else.
The Captain preferred to look at it as a beautiful, lovely thing. It wasn’t even a preference in their mind. They had no choice but to think of it that way because, to them, that was what it was. They knew it was dangerous, but that was why they trained to come up here, so they could see it relatively safely. It was a shame that they were assigned this colony mission. This was the last time they would get to see space like this. Once they landed on the new planet, they would be shackled there, stuck on the ground, never getting to see their previous stars up close ever again. Someone had to lead the new civilization forward, and the person selected for that duty was them. That’s why they wanted to make the most of this trip while it lasted.
The Captain started this morning the same way they did every morning. They sat, curled up in their favorite little hidden nook, watching the stars. Some of the crew may have poked fun or voiced their concerns at having such big windows on a spaceship, but The Captain liked it. They liked being able to look at the reason they came out here. They took a sip of their coffee, making good use out of the “Space’s Best Captain” mug their best friend had bought them before their first mission after being promoted. The bitterness of the drink woke them up just as much as the caffeine did.
“Good morning, Captain. Did you sleep well? I bet you slept well. You always sleep like the dead.”
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Mark had been the Captain’s best friend for as long as either of them could remember. Their parents used to say that wherever the Captain went, Mark would follow. Well, they didn’t say that verbatim, since the Captain wasn’t called that until they actually achieved that rank, which was long after the two of them were children running around their neighborhood, but the same principle applied. The two of them were as thick as thieves, like two peas in a pod. If you saw one of them, the other wasn’t far behind them. Mark really would follow the Captain anywhere, even into the vacuum of space. The Captain was grateful for that. They couldn’t think of anyone they would rather be on this mission with.
“Morning, Mark.” The Captain grinned. “Of course I slept well. I slept in one of the most well designed spaceships in the galaxy last night.”
“You don’t have to call it that.” Mark weakly protested. “I mean, it absolutely is the best spaceship that’s ever been made in the history of ever, and everything good you’ve said about it is one hundred percent true, but you don’t have to call it that.”
“Yes, I do.” The Captain leaned over, nudging Mark’s shoulder with theirs. “Because, like you said, everything I’ve said about it is true. I can’t think of a single bad thing about this ship.”
“Weren’t you complaining about the ADS just last week? And the week before that? And the week before-“
“Okay, okay. Let me correct myself.” The Captain cut him off, laughing. “I can’t think of a single bad thing on this ship that you made. The ADS system is Gunther’s fault, so it doesn’t count.”
“Well, it’s great to know that I’m not being blamed for something I didn’t do.” Mark laughed. “But seriously, I’m surprised you don’t have any complaints. I was expecting to hear something about how the windows were a ‘safety hazard’ or a ‘really stupid idea’ by now.”
“Why would I complain about my favorite part of the ship?” The Captain shot back. “With these things, I can look out at vast galaxies at any time with just the turn of my head. No matter where I am on the ship, I can see the stars like they’re so close I could reach out and touch them.”
The Captain had to resist the urge to extend their arm and touch the glass of the windows. Maybe they wanted to do it for dramatic effect. Maybe they were trying out of some instinctual need to be out there. The why behind the action didn’t matter. They knew they couldn’t touch the glass. A single crack or smudge, and the picture it painted would be destroyed.
“…I’m gonna miss this view.” The Captain sighed. “This mission is an honor to be on, don’t get me wrong, but a part of me wants to… I don’t know, find some secret place in this ship to crawl up into and hide so I don’t have to leave. It’s silly.”
“Yeah, it is. But I get it.” Mark commiserated. “To think we went from space obsessed def kids pretending to be astronauts to actually being astronauts.”
“Hey, at least the maiden voyage of The Invincible II is going much better than The Explorer’s.” The Captain added, a grin breaking across their face.
“Oh my god, don’t remind me.” Mark groaned.
“The Explorer started its maiden voyage on a cold October afternoon.” The Captain began in their best narrator voice. “Piloted by its mysterious captain who was, of course, assisted by the amazing First Mate Mark, ground control was certain that nothing could go wrong. Alas, a sudden meteor storm caused the crew to lose control of the ship, crash landing them on a foreign, alien planet ruled by… the evil Mrs. Watson.”
“I still cannot believe we crashed into her mailbox like that.” Mark ran a hand down his face. “Our parents were so, so pissed at us.”
“God, I know. My dad made me give up all the money I earned at my water stand so I could buy her a new mailbox.”
“I still think you’re weird for having that. And I think your dad was especially weird for building that.” Mark put up his pointer finger to emphasize his point, wagging it slightly. “I have never met anyone else with that level of obsession with water before. Seriously, who cares about water that much?! No one normal, that’s who! I mean, most parents help their kids set up a lemonade stand. Your dad? He made you a water stand. That’s weird.”
“It was not weird!”
“Yes, it was! You just don’t realize how weird he is because you grew up around all of that weirdness!”
“Okay, maybe my dad’s weirdly obsessed with water.” The Captain conceded. “But you know what? That makes it easy to make him proud in this field. He was ecstatic when I told him I was on a mission where they found water on a newly discovered planet. I wasn’t even the one who found it, but he still looked at me like I had just made the most important contribution to mankind ever. Have you found a creepy doll out in space for your mom? I think not.”
“First of all, they were puppets, not dolls.” Mark corrected.
“Like it really makes a difference if they were dolls or puppets.”
“Second of all,” Mark ignored the Captain’s little statement, “collecting antique marionettes isn’t weird, it’s a common-ish hobby. And third of all, they are not creepy.”
“No, you just don’t realize how creepy the puppet collection is because you grew up around all that creepiness.” The Captain paraphrased. “Do you remember the time I slept over at your place and I asked if I could move the puppets in the living room a little so they weren’t watching me while I slept, and she got upset about it? That’s the real weird behavior.”
“That’s because the puppets need to stay where they are.” Mark weakly tried to excuse his mom’s behavior. “If any of them got moved, it would mess everything up.”
There was a long pause full of silence. Mark looked at the Captain. The Captain returned the look with a stare of their own.
“She has a system, you know.” Mark broke the silence. “She had them set up a certain way so they looked nice.”
“Mark.” The Captain deadpanned, not buying any of this for a second.
“Captain.”
Another period of silence broke out among the two. A few seconds in, they were both fighting smiles. After a minute, they were unable to fight their laughter.
“I am so glad I met you.” The Captain said, finally standing back up straight after they bent at the waist from laughing so hard. “I don’t ever have a good opportunity to say it, but I am. I really am glad that I met you, creepy doll collection-having mom and all.”
Mark didn’t reply for a second. The Captain swore that they saw just a touch of blush spreading across his face, but it could have just been the lighting or their imagination. They would have liked it if the blush was real, though.
“Yeah, I’m glad that I met you too.” Mark didn’t bother to correct the Captain about it being puppets for once. “Weird water obsessed dad and all.”
“And to think, this all started because we crashed into each other on our bikes. I really should have kept that old thing.” The Captain joked. “Then we could’ve taken a pedal off of it and brought it with us, like a trophy. That way we could’ve put it in a museum in the new colony. It’d be an exhibit on the best friendship that the planet had ever seen.”
Mark was stunned into silence again. This time it wasn’t from being flustered. This time it was from confusion.
“Captain, that’s not how we met, like… at all.”
Now it was the Captain’s turn to be confused. Their eyebrows scrunched up as they stared at Mark like he was crazy.
“Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not.” Mark stood his ground, looking at the Captain like they were the crazy one. “How would I have crashed into you on a bike? I don’t even know how to ride a bike, I never learned how!”
“Well, maybe that’s why you hit me with your bike!” The Captain insisted. “Because I distinctly remember you crashing into me as a kid.”
“Then you have to be remembering it wrong, because I distinctly remember meeting you because our teacher put our seats next to each other in class.” Mark countered. “That, or you’re getting me mixed up with someone else.”
At that, Mark threw in the dramatics. He gasped, putting his hands over his mouth. Then he mimed being stabbed in the heart, one of his hands going to his chest as he leaned back in faux pain. His free hand went to his forehead, resting the back of it there, as he closed his eyes.
“Oh, the horror, the agony!” Mark moaned exaggeratedly. “The betrayal! My own best friend has forgotten me in favor of another.”
The Captain burst out laughing at his display. Mark smiled, one eye cracking open to look at them.
“Believe me, I’d never forget you.” The Captain sincerely through chuckles. “You’re so uniquely… you. You’re unforgettable, Mark.”
Mark opened his mouth like he was about to say something. He was interrupted by his PDA device beeping in some kind of alarm. He loudly sighed before standing up properly again. He swiped across the screen of the device a few times so he could check what was wrong.
“Duty calls, Captain.” Mark complained. “Like it always does.”
“That it does. But hey, see you later tonight for movie night?”
“Always.” Mark replied, moving to walk away so he could tend to whatever needed his attention at the moment. “See you later, Captain.”
The Captain waved at Mark as he walked away. They still had a good few minutes to kill before they needed to get to work, so they didn’t follow him. Instead, they kept sitting by their window, looking out at all the stars. The quiet was peaceful and comforting. The quiet also made them think. They still swore that Mark was wrong. It wasn’t entirely out of stubborn pride and a need to be right either. The more they thought about it, the more certain they were that it was Mark that was the one misremembering things.
It was a little blurry because of how long ago it had happened, but the Captain could still remember how they met clearly enough that they couldn’t just brush it off as something that they just thought had happened. Not with how much they remembered about that day’s little details. They remember what the weather was vaguely like, they remembered where in town it happened, they even remembered the color of Mark’s bike.
Mark’s bike was blue, shiny, and new. For some odd reason, that’s what stuck out to them the most about the memory and gave it the most credibility. Maybe it was because they’ve always associated Mark with the color blue. Maybe this was why they did that. Maybe it all started with them meeting him when he was on that damn blue bike of his.
————————————————————————————
You ran out of the house as soon as your mom gave you the okay. Like always, she made you wait until she was done giving you a lecture on being safe before she let you go. She knew it was the only way you’d even potentially wait and listen to her. You don’t think you could be blamed for that, especially not today of all days. You were a kid, it was the first day of summer break, and you had a new bike to ride around town.
Your mom always hated your bike. She hated the idea of you even having the thing, and she made it well known. Your mom’s convinced that something would go wrong with it. She thought that a wheel might fall off of it and you’d go flying head first towards something. She thought that you’d lose control of your bike and crash into a tree. She thought that you’d go too fast and get hit by another kid on their bike or, god forbid, a car and get seriously hurt or even killed. She always viewed your bike like it was nothing more than a silver death trap.
It was your dad that finally caved. He always had just a little more faith in you than your mom. He understood that bumps and scrapes were an important part of childhood, as was a bike and the freedom it gave kids. He made up his mind when he took you down to the shops. He saw the way that you stared at that beautiful grey bike, and he decided right then and there that that bike would be yours. He was almost as excited as you were when you opened your birthday gift and saw it.
It was him you had to thank as you pedaled your way down the street. Your bike worked like a charm. The pedals didn’t stick when you pushed them, and the bicycle turned with the slightest tilt of its handles. It didn’t take long for you to build up speed as you made your way into town.
There wasn’t much for you to do while pedaling around besides think, so think you did. You thought about all the normal things an eight year old kid thought about: how nice it was to be out of school, what was your mom making for dinner, how many worms there were down at the part at the moment, that sort of thing. But most of all, you were thinking about how to spend your summer. You weren’t entirely sure what to do with the next couple of months. You still hadn’t decided what you were going to do today. You could go window shopping, or you could go down to the park, or any number of things other than just riding your bike around
You were just thinking about whether or not you had enough pocket money to go see a picture down at the theatre when you passed by the bottom of the hill in the middle of town. It wasn’t a big hill, or a very steep one, but you had learned to avoid it while on your bike. It didn’t like to handle well while going downhill. Most kids in town had figured out by now that that hill wasn’t easy on their bikes. Some hadn’t gotten the memo yet, though.
“Look out!”
The shrill yell pulled you out of your thoughts. Sadly, it didn’t do so fast enough. By the time you had turned your head to look and try to avoid the danger, you were already being crashed into. Metal slammed against metal and flesh slammed into flesh. The impact wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but you and the other party both helped as you hit each other, before you both fell into the dirt patch near the road.
You were the first one to push yourself up. You groaned as you got yourself up into a sitting position before checking yourself over for injuries. You hurt just about all over, especially on the side that had hit the ground, but it was more of an ache than it was an indicator of anything serious. Nothing seemed broken, and the worst wounds you could find on yourself were just some scrapes and bruises, so you considered yourself fine, if not a little lucky.
It didn’t take long for the person that crashed into you to go through the same process you just went through. You took a look at him while he checked himself over for injuries, since you didn’t get the chance to see what he looked like when he crashed into you.
He was a boy, about your age, maybe a year or two older or younger than you, with black hair and dark brown eyes. He didn’t look the worse for wear. The only wounds you could see on him were the same cuts, bumps, and bruises that you had. Judging by the bandaids stuck to his knees, this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence with him.
His gaze lifted after he was done looking himself over. The moment he saw you, his eyes widened and he shot up from the ground.
“I am so, so sorry!” He exclaimed. “Here, let me help you up!”
He stuck his hand out for you to grab. You gratefully took it, letting him hoist you back up into a standing position. You started brushing the dirt and grass off of yourself once you were upright.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?!” The boy asked in a panic, scanning you for any sign of harm.
“No, I’m okay.” You tried to reassure him, not nearly as phased by the situation as he was.
“Yes you are, you’re bleeding!” He replied, pointing down at your knee.
You followed the line of his finger, and sure enough, you were. It wasn’t anything bad. You didn’t even really feel it, and you had missed it when checking yourself over. It was just a small scrape, nothing more, that was slowly oozing a few little beads of blood.
“Huh.” Was all you had to say in response to the news.
“Here, I keep bandaids on my bike, just in case! Let me go find them!”
The boy ran over to where his bike fell, and he began searching the area around it for his bandaids. You took the moment to check out his bike, just like how you had taken the moment to look at him earlier.
His bike was blue, and it still had some shine to it, but it wasn’t nearly as new or pristine as yours was. It was older and well loved. There were small dents here and there in the metal, nothing that made the bike dangerous, but enough that it was clear that this was far from its first crash. It was missing its horn - which explained why the boy had shouted at you instead of honking it - and the basket on the front of it was at an ever so slight angle.
That reminded you that you needed to take a look at your bike as well. You pulled it upright by the handles, before walking around it to check for damage. It was mostly fine, save for a dent on its right side. It was a very noticeable dent, though. There was no way your parents were going to miss it. Your mom had told you to be careful, and now there was no chance she wouldn’t figure out that you had been in a crash. She was going to kill you when you got home.”
“I found them!” The boy exclaimed as he ran back over to you with the box of bandaids. “These will fix you right up!”
He crouched down in front of you, pulling one of the fabric strips out of the pox. He peeled it out of its packaging, and then stuck it over the cut on your knee. He double checked it a few times to make sure that it was on right, before he stood up, satisfied that he had patched you up properly.
“I’m really sorry I hit you and your bike.” The boy stressed again. “I wanna do something to make up for it, anything you want.”
“You don’t have to do that.” You tried to protest. “I’m okay, my bike’s okay, and you bandaged up my knee. It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not fine, and I do have to do that.” The boy argued back. “It’s not okay to hit someone. I want to do something to pay you back.”
You got the feeling that he was going to keep insisting on this regardless of what you said. You didn’t want to argue in a pointless fight all day, so you finally caved. You began to think about what you were going to ask him to do for you instead.
Briefly, a scheme crossed your mind. You thought about coming up with a plan to fix your bike. You would enlist the boy to help you. Somehow, some way, he was going to help you get your bike back into shape. This way, your mom would never know about your accident, and you wouldn’t get into any trouble.
But that’s not what you ended up asking him to do. You were young, but you still knew enough about how things worked to know that the two of you wouldn’t be able to get that dent out of your bike. Instead, you decided to use his favor to fix another problem of yours: boredom.
You didn’t have many friends in town. Sure, there were kids you ran around with at school, but they were all busy during the summer. They had their own things to do. You were certain that you could find something to do by yourself, but it wouldn’t be the same. But this presented you with an opportunity. If you had a friend, even just the one friend, who wasn’t busy all the time, then your summer would be that much better. You’d have someone to spend your time with. At the very least, with how you plan to cash in your favor, you’ll have someone to spend your day with.
“You can go see a picture with me.” You offered up. The boy blinked in surprise, not expecting you to ask for something like that.
“I would, but, well…” He trailed off, as if just now realizing the problem with his plan of doing anything to make the crash up to you. “I don’t think I have enough money to get myself into the theatre. I definitely don’t have enough money to get us both into the theatre.”
“That’s okay.” You shrugged. “I should have enough money for the both of us.”
“But it’s not fair if you pay for me!” The boy protested. “This was meant to be for me making things up to you!”
“You can still pay me back! You’re paying me back by spending time with me!”
“That’s not enough! I can’t just let you pay for me to go somewhere and call that me paying you back!”
You thought about it for a moment. He was stubborn. It wasn’t necessarily a bad quality, but it wasn’t the best for this situation. You didn’t want him spending a bunch of his money on you for no reason. You really did think he was paying you back enough just by spending the afternoon with you. You finally landed on a compromise.
“You can buy snacks before the movie.” You offered up, figuring that that would cost him a lot less.
Now it was him that had to think about it. You watched the way his face scrunched up as he hummed, considering it. You could tell that he was doing the math in his head. He was trying to figure out whether or not he had the money for this, and whether or not he thought that it was a good enough payment. He slowly started nodding after a while.
“I think I have enough money for that. But only if you like licorice.”
“Ew, no!” You stuck your tongue out, disgusted by the very thought of the vile “sweet”. “Licorice is so gross!”
“No, it’s not!” The boy shot back, offended that you would ever think his candy of choice was that bad. “It’s so good! I’ll prove that it’s good! I’ll buy you some at the candy store, and you’ll try it, and you’ll love it!”
“No, I won’t!”
“Yes, you will!”
“No, I won’t!”
“Yes, you will!”
“I know how to decide this.” You decided, pulling your bike upright. You swung one of your legs over the bike, seating yourself on it. “Let’s race. If I get to the store first, I get to pick the candy. If you get there first, then you get to pick the candy.”
The boy grinned at that, scrambling to get on his own bike. He struggled to pick it up at first, but he managed. You could see by the way that he sat on it that he wasn’t the most experienced with riding a bike. His posture was off, and his balance wasn’t very good. He wobbled far too much. It’s no wonder he crashed into you earlier. The thought crosses your mind that you should really teach him a few tips and tricks. Maybe that would be something you could do tomorrow. Nevertheless, his lack of skill didn’t take away any of his enthusiasm about trying to beat you.
“You’re on!”
————————————————————————————
Thinking back on it, The Captain was more than certain that they were right about how they met Mark. Maybe they misremembered parts of it - they weren’t entirely sure whether Mark’s bicycle was new or old, not that they thought about it - but enough of the details added up. It wasn’t an implausible story. It made a lot more sense to them than meeting him in school did. They remembered sitting next to him in their classes, sure, but that wasn’t where they met, they knew that.
It couldn’t have been, because they swore they already knew him by them. It wasn’t just because of the memory of the bike accident. Every time The Captain thought about being in school with Mark, they thought about already knowing him. They thought about already being friends with him. Sure, the two of them could have just clicked and became instant friends, but they couldn’t recall even a day of them having some kind of awkward just-now-becoming-friends phase.
It dawned on them, after a moment, that there was something wrong with their memory. Something glaringly, painfully, obviously wrong there. It wasn’t a simple misremembering of details, like the quality of Mark’s bike. It was something much more important than that. It was something so vital to the story of The Captain’s life that it shouldn’t have ever been forgotten.
The Captain never knew their mother. They were the child of a single father. Their dad was the only parent they’d ever had. It couldn’t have been their actual mother that they were thinking about there, because their mother had never been in the picture, not even when they were a baby. They considered the idea that it was just someone that their father had dated for a while when they were young, someone that they just called mom for a short time, but they didn’t know how likely that was. Their dad never was the dating type, but they guessed it wouldn’t hurt to send a call or message back home to ask and make sure.
They were dragged out of their thoughts by their PDA device beeping at them. The Captain had spent all of their allotted morning time by the window. Now they had to get to work. They sighed, getting up and starting their walk down the hall. They were going to drop their coffee mug off to be cleaned, and then they were going to go about their duties. It’s what they did every morning. It was routine, and it was the routine that let them be such a good Captain.
They didn’t have time to reminisce anymore today. The past didn’t really matter that much, did it? Not then they had to focus on the future. The future was the important thing. Their job was to focus on what is, not on what was. What was didn’t matter. It just felt like it did.
The Captain didn’t have time to think about why it felt like it did so much.
