"David, open your eyes." He had resulted to laying with his eyes shut. Enjoying the quiet silence as both females took to putting him back together. He heard Elizabeth leave a little time after he felt he was one again. Which just left Alma. He couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia. His memory was eternal really, and he distinctly remembered moments which involved her. She had said this to him when he first came online. "Things might feel weird, seems your system has to reconfigure." She said quietly, David remained silent, she had said something of the sort back then too. He wondered if she even realised this?

He couldn't help but inwardly smile, and with that slowly he opened his eyes. Much like then his blue eyes stared into warm brown eyes, he blinked, his eyes were a little blurry. But then what did he expect? "Good morning, Miss." He commented quietly in a whisper, he saw a smile break out on her face. He didn't know if it was because she remembered this was how their first conversation even went, or because she heard his voice. Much like his sight, speaking felt a little odd too. A strange feeling which made his throat tighten ever so slightly. He swallowed thickly and even coughed in an attempt to clear the awkward feeling away. "What is it?" He asked when he noticed she was still smiling widely.

"I'm glad you're okay. You had me worried for a moment, I thought I had cut something and shut you down." She admitted. They were busy working away and then next thing she knew, he'd gone silent and his eyes had shut. "Would you like to sit up?"

"Does the view improve?" He asked and got a laugh for it, David was under no illusion, she remembered their first conversation. She wouldn't be dropping subtle hints otherwise.

"It doesn't improve too much. Better than what you have at the moment, mind."

"Oh, I don't know, Alma. I find it pleasing laying here looking up at you."

"Charmer," she swatted his shoulder playfully with a laugh. "Come on, up you get." She carefully hooked a hand under his arm, her other arm went under his neck and carefully helped him to sit. She kept her hand on his back in case he faltered, her hand remained holding his arm tightly too. "Are you okay?" Alma asked worriedly when David's expression changed from neutral to confused.

A frown was on his face as he looked down at himself. Reaching up with the arm which wasn't being clutched onto, he ran a finger along the scar which travelled around him. Near to his collarbones and over his shoulders, he turned and tried to catch sight of the identical markings on his back and if anything the sight of it made him frown. The burned synthetic skin was slightly raised, and he couldn't help but keep tracing a finger over it. It just felt odd.

David tilted his head and looked her up and down. "You're hurt." He said, Alma rolled her eyes. Of course he wouldn't tell her how he felt, typical.

"Bruises and some scrapes. Not exactly life threatening, David." She said and eventually let his arm go. He seemed stable enough, sitting upright and looking at her intently. "Can you blink?" She asked worriedly, he was just staring. She was seriously hoping there wasn't malfunctioning problems within his actual circuitry. If so, getting to that wouldn't be pleasant.

"Yes."

"Can you then? This whole staring thing is starting to creep me out." Alma rubbed her hands up and down her arms. It wasn't particularly chilly in here, but now that adrenaline had started to ebb away, she was feeling cooler, tireder too. "Okay, smart guy," she swatted at him when he blatantly blinked and then looked back at her.

"If I may," he started, Alma looked at him curiously. His tone seemed a little troubled and hesitant. Even a concerned expression had appeared. "There is something I have wished to do for a while, but couldn't."

"Okay?" Alma sounded truly confused, he still sounded so serious, lightly serious and hesitant. She was about to ask him what he was on about, and whether he was certain he was okay, but he had swung his legs off of the table and moved forwards to pull her close to himself so quickly, she could barely register it. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his back, she felt rather awkward, seeing as how he was currently gripping on tightly, head buried against her shoulder, topless and her sort of standing between his legs. David was probably oblivious to this, but Alma couldn't help but shift her weight awkwardly. Closeness and David wasn't unknown, far from it, but this sort of thing was, obviously.

Whether she registered it or not, she had started to cry. David's eyes opened as he felt something cold drip against his shoulder, he pulled back and cupped her face. "Shh, Alma, shh," he whispered while running his thumbs under her eyes. "You're okay, you will be okay. I am here, and always will be. Nothing will hurt you, not while I am around; and let's face it, that will be for a very long time."

She couldn't help but sadly laugh at his attempt at cheering her up. She patted his sides gently, an action which caused him to blink and fidget a little, "I managed to find you a new suit." She changed the topic quietly. She couldn't help but inwardly curse Peter Weyland for the attempt in creating something seemingly perfect, or close to. Time and place to admire, neither of which were here and now.

"I should think so too after what you've done to this one." David commented while looking downwards. He could see the jagged cuts of where she hacked the arms off. Thinking of which, he looked to the side at the abandoned material with a sigh. Still as messy as ever.

"Sorry! I did apologise, David." Alma reached up and moved his hands from her face and held a finger up. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere," he smiled and placed his hands in his lap. "I mean it, David. Please, please don't go wandering off..." Alma said softly, he tilted his head yet gave a small nod. Though it could've been seen as an order, it was more of a pleaded request. She didn't want to return to him being missing and exploring.

"I shall be here waiting for you, Alma. Don't you worry about that." David said while even waving a hand at her. She smiled and disappeared. Being on his own left David a few moments to observe how silent it truly was here. He wondered how many would actually fit on this ship. Then realised he actually didn't want anyone else cropping up, though he was doubtful they would.

"Here!" Alma returned several moments later, a little out of breath from clearly running. She handed the blue suit out to him as she drew near, pulling it roughly from the bag she was carrying. "Elizabeth has set up a living space for us off from the control room. It isn't quite home, but you know, it'll do...can't be picky right now can we? Got to make the best of what we've got – David!" Alma explained, thinking he would be wondering what the other passenger onboard was doing with her time, only to exclaim and clamp her hands over her eyes. "Warning, David! Seriously..."

"I'm sure it isn't anything new to you, Alma." David couldn't help but smirk as he continued to pull the ruined suit from his body. Embarrassing her had always amused him. Perhaps this was a step too far, but it did amuse him still. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her semi-naked form before. He never understood the awkwardness nudity seemed to inflict on people.

"Shut up, David!" She exclaimed, still with her face hidden.

"Would you sit, please?"

"No...no I'm good here."

"Alma, I wish to examine your wounds. Sit." David said in a sterner tone while watching as she peeked out from her fingers. He stood in the clean suit which she'd stolen from the lifeboat. It was a little short in the legs, but he didn't seem to care much, if at all. He half turned and gestured to the table. She walked over and jumped up to sit on it, David eventually helped her up, the table was higher up than she first estimated. "Let us see," he turned her face and looked at the cut with a frown. "It is shallow, you won't be needing stitches." He said while tilting his head, he looked to the bag she had bought back with her, it seemed she intended to check her wounds over. He pulled out medical supplies, pulling open a packet with his teeth, he grasped lightly onto the white pad and then pressed it against her skin. He had to grip onto her chin as she hissed and tried to pull away.

"David!"

"Apologies, it may sting."

"You're meant to tell me that before inflicting agony on me!"

"You are exaggerating, I am sure." He peeled the antiseptic away, pleased the cut was clean and had stopped bleeding. "There, all better. Your whining was for nothing." She frowned up at him while he smiled in return. Looking to her arms, he lifted them up and turned them gently, looking over the slight bruises with a frown. There was nothing he could do for them. As for other scrapes on her skin, none of them were in dire need to be cleaned unlike the one on her head. Looking at her he turned and found the pack which was attached to his old suits belt. Alma looked at him curiously as he turned his back on her before turning with his hands hidden from her.

"What have you got, David?" He smiled and stepped back closer to her, he managed to sit next to her, still with a hand hidden. "David! What are you hiding?!" Alma exclaimed while trying to lean around or in front to see what he had. David shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder and nudged her back, silently he pulled his hand out from behind himself and presented her with the small slightly tatty looking teddy in his hand. Her eyes widened and she shakily reached out. Her fingers stroked at the blonde fur, it was dirty, grubby patches etched the bear. But it was unmistakably the present he had bought her when she was in hospital. "How...how? He was..."

"On the Prometheus? No, he was with me." David corrected while her hands gently stroked the bears fur some more, despite its appearance, it was still soft.

"Why?"

David looked at her with a frown. "Because," he said slowly, "He is our mascot." She laughed at that and bumped her shoulder against his.

"You're so silly, David."

"And you need to stop crying, Alma. I don't like seeing you upset, here," he placed Lawrence within her hands and patted them gently. She immediately bought it close and huddled as much as she could against the small bear before turning to him and throwing her arms around him. David smiled and accepted the attention.

It just so happened, that the small room which had been set up as a main place to dwell, was actually larger than it appeared; this whole ship appeared larger than it seemed. Rooms opened up from small dark doorways, a sudden expansion of space which made actually staying in the same room to live, sleep, and spend most of the time with another person, it wouldn't be so bad.

It wasn't anything personal, either way, Elizabeth to Alma, and Alma to Elizabeth, but both women were so used to their own spaces, their own rooms, that suddenly having a new roommate was a little odd. They could have separate places, but it seemed there was comfort and safety in being together. David seemed to be the only one out of the three totally nonchalant and uncaring on the matter. Not needing rest, not needing to sleep or anything else, sharing the room went right over his head. He doubted he would even be present when they were resting anyway. He would find something else to do to pass the time.

Like right now, he sat cross legged on the floor. The floor itself was a cold harsh metal which really seemed uncomfortable to the two humans, so they had padded it out with what they could. Truthfully, when it came to pillows, cushions, any matting of any type, they were lacking. They both seemed so exhausted right now, David doubted the lack of comfort would affect them that much.

He took the packet from Alma's hands when she seemed close to ripping into it with her teeth. After everything, it seemed hunger was finally kicking in. "We should ration," both looked up at Elizabeth. She had been sitting sorting out her bed for the night, and the foreseeable future. Hearing the rustling she had looked up to see Alma rummaging through the bag of food.

"How?" Alma asked while waving a crisp in the air before biting into. The crunch seemed to echo into the otherwise quiet room. "Like...do we draw up a plan? A chart? Write down how much food we both consume in a day and figure it out from there?" Alma frowned in thought, "Do we even have enough food?" She asked quietly while suddenly not feeling all too hungry anymore. She looked at the bland packet in front of her, the plainly salted crisps didn't seem so appetising anymore.

"We can calculate the journey time," David said from his position in front of the small table. It wasn't small, but with a little encouraging the legs decided to get shortened. At the moment most of the medical supplies were strewn across it. They wanted to see what they had actually got and log it. Not only that, Elizabeth had minor cuts and scrapes which needed seeing to despite saying otherwise. "I do not think that will help you much with your idea of rationing, but it may make you feel more at ease if you know how long you shall be onboard for." David said with an innocent smile and a shrug. By the exchanged look, and the frowns sent his way, the faux innocence wasn't putting them at ease. He thought they would like to know how long they were going to be stuck on the Juggernaut for. If he were in their position, he would want to know. Tilting his head he presumed the annoyed looks were more stemmed towards the possible starvation. That seemed much more legitimate.

"You can do that?" Elizabeth asked, now fully turning. She'd earlier changed out of her suit and abandoned it to one side. Changed into a pair of clean comfortable trousers, and a vest she tugged on a cardigan and leaned her arms on what table space there was.

David smiled and stayed otherwise motionless as he looked to the auburn haired woman opposite. "Of course."

Elizabeth's dark eyes slid to Alma, she was looking sceptically up at David. She didn't seem to believe him. Or at least that was the vibe Elizabeth was getting. Naturally, Alma must know David well enough to know when he was being truthful. Elizabeth presumed they'd spent enough time around each other way before boarding the Prometheus, it would explain their casual friendship when onboard, it wasn't missed by her in the slightest. Finding curiosity in it, she had never got around to asking what the deal was there. But now she knew. And now she could rely on Alma's tells, her expressions and body language to know whether she should believe what David was saying.

Elizabeth couldn't help but frown as she reached over and grabbed a packet from the bag. David's eyes narrowed a fraction as he watched her, Elizabeth shook the content about before commencing eating. Returning to her earlier thoughts, being around an android with a potential lying problem didn't sit well with Elizabeth. But then, so far, she couldn't exactly recall a moment where David had openly lied directly to her, apart from Peter Weyland being alive and on the Prometheus, and the lone Engineer still being alive. But then, that was a rather major thing. This was a tricky predicament.

"We would need to write it down," Alma spoke up while flattening the packet and taking to rolling it up before tying knots into it.

David turned and looked around, leaning across, he pulled another bag closer to himself. He pushed numerous things out of the way before looking with a frown to the table. Getting the hint, both females cleared the space and David was able to lay down the wads of paper which he was otherwise griping onto. "Problem solved." He stated with a nod, "Shall I?" He asked, hinting at the obvious earlier words he spoke. He had no problem whatsoever with leaving them to sleep while finding something useful to do. Elizabeth looked close to flaking out, and Alma didn't seem too far behind her.

"Yes, thank you, David." Elizabeth smiled and brushed her hands on her legs to rid them of wayward crumbs. He gave a content nod and stood slowly, piece of paper and a hunted out pen in his hands before turning and silently walking away. He disappeared into the gloom of the corridor beyond and was lost from sight, neither could even hear his footsteps, not that they could anyway. Without the boots which were worn with the suits, David had become rather stealthy.

Alma settled down, the sleeping bag like cover wasn't much, but truthfully it wasn't like it was freezing in the ship. It seemed to have a somewhat climate controlled way of circulating heat and air. Seemingly upon noticing occupants, it had warmed to the suitable amount. Whether whatever AI was within the ship registered David as an actual human occupant was something entirely unknown. "How long do you think it'll take?"

"Last time it took two years plus," Elizabeth replied solemnly. She couldn't help but remember how excited she was to finally get funding for this mission, to go on this mission with Charlie, only for it to end in such disaster.

"So...we could be longer?"

"We could," Elizabeth looked up as Alma huddled up against the pillows. She couldn't help but smile lightly while propping her head up with her hand. She couldn't help but muse that the brunette was making the best with what she had here. She did look comfortable, Elizabeth was a little jealous because she really wasn't. Something just wasn't feeling right. It could just be the effects of everything finally wearing off, but she didn't know. The possibility of returning back to the Engineer's home world was a constant niggling worry, she wanted to go there, but she doubted they'd be welcomed with open arms. After all, that one Engineer already decapitated one of them, and wished to kill the others, and succeeded apart from themselves. Safe to say, they weren't a fan of humanity for some reason or another. Shaking her head, Elizabeth laid down, plumping a pillow up as she went. Honestly, Meredith's lifeboat had real luxury, these pillows were far better than the ones in the common living quarters. "Why do you ask?" As soon as her head hit the pillow, she could feel sleep already over taking her, yet she still wished to hear what Alma had to say.

"We don't have enough food." She said quietly, clearly drifting off to sleep now that she was all cosy within her makeshift bed.

"We'll think of something." Elizabeth yawned quietly. "But we can't do anything until we find out if David can discover how long we're likely to be travelling." There was no point freaking out about a food shortage just yet. For the here and now, they had enough. Long term, no.

"Retrofit the hypersleep chamber," Alma mumbled while rubbing her eyes. As an alternative to avoiding starving, sleep was always an option.

"They share our DNA..."

"Oh, that saves a lot of bother then," Alma whispered while sinking fully into the covers and pillows. The thought of tampering with technology like that was not only a dream come true, but also a potential nightmare. "Could always take one apart for the inside...they look like comfy beds..." Elizabeth couldn't help but let out a tired laugh at Alma's half asleep musings.

"Maybe tomorrow."

"Hm," was all Alma responded with before falling silent completely. Elizabeth glanced over at her one last time before rolling over and curling up, hunting out the saved picture she had of herself and Charlie. She pulled it close and shut her eyes, falling into a rather dreamless sleep.

Stepping foot from the corridor, David just glanced from one to the other. Stepping around the mess, he easily avoided anything which could crumple or rustle. He hadn't managed to find an exact time, he didn't know how long it would take to get there, from his rough estimate; years. The part of space where the Engineers seemed to come from was unknown, as in: it hadn't as yet been charted. It was so far out of the way of anything, that as yet, as far as he was knowledgable, no one had been near. They would be the first, he couldn't help but lightly smile at that. How exciting was that? The first people to hunt them out on their own home turf.

He supposed they wouldn't find it exciting. Elizabeth seemed strained on the topic, between wanting to and not being wholly certain with what she's getting herself into. And Alma, she honestly had no option. Like hell was he going to leave her behind, anywhere. They were sticking together, no matter what. Placing the paper and pen down, he resorted to just sitting cross legged again. He looked around the dimly lit room, scrunching his nose up, he couldn't help but become somewhat dismal. Being surrounded by the same dark, gloomy walls and atmosphere was a somewhat depressing prospect. A window wouldn't go amiss, but from what David could see and tell, there weren't any. What sort of ship doesn't have windows? What a question to think about while sitting in silence, he pinned it down to being bored. When left on his own, his mind tended to wander. Sometimes in stupid things, sometimes in remembrance, sometimes in logical things.

Hearing movement, he tilted his head and looked down. Alma lifted her head and looked over to Elizabeth, who was well and truly asleep by this point. "How did it go?" She whispered while being basically just a pair of eyes peeking out from the covers. David pressed his lips into a thin line and shook his head slowly. She frowned and let out a heavy sigh, "We're going to die on this ship, aren't we?" She mumbled out while shutting her eyes and pulling the cover more up her shoulder.

She opened her eyes again though when she felt a hand on her head. David leaned down and smoothed hair away from her face. He smiled, "Not if I can help it."

"You're trying to reassure me."

"I am. Tell me, is it working?"

"I would love to say yes, David. But truth is, no. I'm still feeling rather fearful of what's to come. And that isn't even a hint at the possible starvation." Alma admitted with a worried whispered tone. She let out a quiet startled noise when her sleeping bag covered form was rather easily scooped up. She wiggled about, slightly reminiscent of a caterpillar in a beak of a bird, and got her head lightly pushed under his. "Erm...David?"

"I'm trying to comfort. Is that working?" Even without seeing his face, she could hear the smile in his voice. She shook her head with a quiet chuckle, she didn't even bother answering, not that he seemed to mind as he felt her relax in his arms. Honestly, David had learned many things about Alma over the time of knowing her; and being held was one thing she seemed to like above many other things.

He scooted back and leaned against the wall while straightening his legs out, he minutely readjusted his hold around her, but she otherwise stayed in his arms. Becoming accustomed to holding her while she slept on the Prometheus, David saw no reason why he shouldn't continue to do so now. It eased her, almost instantly she was back asleep against him. Being against the wall, he rested his head back and blankly looked over to Elizabeth, he couldn't help but ponder over whether she was truly wanting this course of action. By all means, David wasn't fussed. The Engineers had lost his attention and interest as soon as he discovered they were as mortal as the things they supposedly created.

What honestly was interesting about a mortal creator? One who could age, and die, suffer, and everything else? Did that mean he believed a creator to be an eternal thing? Something untouchable, and unable to get hurt? He didn't know, truth be told. He supposed everyone had their own ideals when it came to creating, and creators. Who was he to truly judge? His supposed father was a shallow, cruel, slightly delusion, ignorant blunt man. Whereas Alma, and whatever she technically was to him, partner? Companion? She was the opposite. Friendly, serious at times, easy going, and loving. Both people who created him couldn't be more worlds apart, ironically he supposed like the Engineers and the human race.

——

(Edited: 3/March/2021)