Chapter Text
Ophelia’s first morning on the Rhapsody began with the awful sounds of the Space Keurig brewing coffee at an ungodly volume. She had slept relatively well for having been in a sitting position all night, most likely due to the two men cuddled up with her, though she had no clue how either of them could still be sleeping with the amount of noise being made. She lifted her head from Rett’s shoulder, watching as his head lolled to the side at the loss of his makeshift pillow. Ophelia turned her head to look behind her, locking eyes with the Space Keurig culprit.
“Morning,” the rough voice of Ko rang out over the sounds of brewing coffee, the noise so loud that she needed to shout over it. “Don’t mind the noise, you’ll get used to it!”
Ophelia gave a wry smile in response. “I highly doubt I will.” She felt herself physically relax as the machine finally stopped and Ko began to sip her coffee.
“Y’want one?” She gestured with her cup towards Ophelia, who politely shook her head.
“No, I’m quite alright…” Even though a cup of coffee sounded nice at the moment, she just got her hearing back and would rather not have the silence be broken by the horrific wailing of the damned souls trapped in that coffee machine.
Ko shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She practically chugged her coffee before setting the mug down and leaving to the gym, glancing back at the three of them with a knowing smirk before the door closed with a pneumatic hiss.
Ophelia turned her head back around, only to nearly jump out of her skin as she finds Rett very much awake and staring at her. He quickly looked away, clearing his throat as his cheeks darkened.
“G’mornin’.”
Ophelia quickly gathered herself and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry if we woke you.”
“Nah, tha’s alright. I don’ usually get much sleep anyway.” Rett glanced down at the solari still sleeping soundly across their laps, having curled himself close to their bodies in his sleep. “I’unno how the hell he’s still asleep though. He’s got the most sensitive ears.”
Ophelia chuckled softly. “He seems quite content.” She brushed a strand of hair away from his face and tucked it behind his ear. “His ears would also give away if he’s awake or not.”
“Yeah, they’d be twitchin’ if he could hear us,” Rett smiled fondly as he admired the rare look of tranquility on Pyke’s face as he slept. “He hates how his ears give ‘im away, though. I find it charmin’.”
“It is quite cute,” Ophelia admitted.
“He is cute, ain’t he,” Rett chuckled in response. Ophelia thought she would’ve felt jealous with the way Rett spoke about Pyke and the way he was looking at him, but instead she felt warm in a way that made her heart leap. She wondered if that look would ever be directed at her.
“I can see why he loves you so much,” Ophelia said before she could stop herself. Rett’s eye widened and he sputtered slightly, trying to come up with a response.
Before they could wallow in the awkwardness for too long, a small grumble could be heard from Pyke as he turned in his sleep. Looking down at him, his face was scrunched up in distress and his glow dimmed slightly. Ophelia took one of his hands in her own and caressed it with her thumb, frowning as she felt it tremble.
“Does he have nightmares a lot?” Ophelia asked, almost absentmindedly as she watched Pyke’s face.
Rett sighed, lightly brushing Pyke’s bangs away from his face. “Not all the time, as far as I know, but he has ‘em more often than I’d like.”
“Do you know what they’re about?” Ophelia thought about the sudden increase in restless nights near the end of their time together. How many of those has he had in the last decade?
“I do, at least the ones he’ll tell me about. Though I ain’t really of the authority to tell ya about ‘em.” Rett offered an apologetic smile and Ophelia nodded in understanding.
They sat in silence for a while as Pyke’s features began to smooth out again and the faint tremors came to a stop. He seemed to have fallen back into a more peaceful sleep, to Ophelia and Rett’s relief. After a few minutes, Ophelia broke the comfortable silence.
“I suppose we’re stuck here until he wakes up,” she chuckled fondly. Rett laughed in response.
“Yeah, I s’pose so.”
Ophelia smiled as Pyke cuddled closer to the two of them in his sleep, his lithe form curled up in their laps.
“I can see why he loves you, too,” Rett spoke suddenly.
Ophelia felt her heart skip a beat and she could feel the warmth rising to her cheeks. She could only sputter in response, at which she internally cursed at herself. With how composed she usually was, she seemed to be losing her carefully crafted mask too often around the Rhapsody crew. Rett was not making it easy for her to stay aloof in that moment, especially as he started laughing softly at her reaction. She grumbled and glared at him, though her gaze showed no malice.
“Sorry, sorry,” Rett chuckled. “Yer face is just cute like that.” She could see on his face the moment that he heard his own words, and he immediately tried to backpedal. “No, wait— I mean— I’m not sayin’— I…” he trailed off, and Ophelia couldn’t help but giggle.
“You’re quite cute like that yourself.” It seemed as though Rett’s brain short-circuited for a moment at that, unable to find a coherent response.
To both of their relief, that moment was when Pyke began to stir. However, that only meant the awkward tension was replaced by even more awkward tension as Pyke remembered where he had fallen asleep and who he had used as his pillows for 8 hours. His eyes blinked open and widened suddenly as his body froze, realizing the situation he had put himself into—his face was fully nuzzled into Rett’s stomach, to the point where only one eye was visible. Ophelia had to resist the urge to laugh at the way the tips of Pyke’s ears started to glow a bright red, and she could tell by Rett’s expression that he was fighting the same battle. It seemed like Pyke was hoping that his awakening went unnoticed, but the twitch of his ears were a dead giveaway. And Rett never passed up an opportunity to tease Pyke.
“Mornin’, sleeping beauty,” he drawled with a playful smirk, earning an irritated grumble from the solari. Ophelia couldn’t help but giggle quietly, which only made Pyke’s ears glow brighter.
He eventually sat up, almost begrudgingly, as he avoided looking at either of them. He didn’t seem to know what to say, but thankfully for him that was when the door opened again and Ko’s head peeked through.
“Pyke! Are you awake yet?” She shouted at a volume that was far too loud for how early it was. If Pyke wasn’t already awake he definitely would be now.
Pyke simply gave her a deadpan stare in response, to which she grinned. “Good, you better get ready to spar soon! I’m fired up today!” How Ko could possibly be ‘fired up’ after everything was beyond Ophelia, but fighting and punching things seemed to be her main coping mechanism, though whether it actually worked as one wasn’t entirely clear.
Ko was gone as soon as she arrived, and Pyke took this as an easy out for him to avoid the awkward situation he found himself in. “Well, you heard her. I need to do my meditations anyway.” He quickly stood up and sauntered over to the door as nonchalantly as he possibly could, though his manner of speech gave away that he was still clearly flustered.
As Pyke hurriedly exited the room, Ophelia and Rett looked over at each other, chuckling softly from the whole interaction. A bark from Hank alerted Rett to his presence behind him, and he turned back to Ophelia with an apologetic look.
“Oh yeah, I need’ta check on the ship. Make sure we’re still on course.” He offered a smile as he stood up. “You can come hang out, if ya want. It’s not the most excitin’ thing.”
Ophelia smiled fondly, feeling that same warmth again in her heart. “I’d like that.”
She stood up and began walking with Rett to the cockpit, Hank panting happily beside them. She stayed with Rett for what seemed like hours, and for all she knew it could very well have been hours. She just felt comfortable around him in a way she hadn’t expected to, though this development wasn’t unwelcome. It reminded Ophelia of how she felt with Pyke when their relationship first started to grow. She desperately hoped these feelings wouldn’t end in regret again, whether it was new or had been rekindled. But to focus on those feelings right now would be a lot, so instead she took in the moment, talking with Rett and watching him work. A perfect time.