[Synopsis: A heartfelt moment between Gnome and Engineer is completely derailed by an unfortunate double kill...Fortunately, Engineer still finds a way to save the gloomy situation. EngiGnome fluff!(Duh...)]

[Location: Polus outpost]

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"Come on, come on..."

The download task was always nerve wracking. It lasted forever, and all you could do while waiting for it to finish was stare at the loading bar in anticipation as it transferred the data to the tablet. It seemed that just when it was about to hit 100%, a dead body was found or a meeting was called, and the whole process had to be started over again.

Not to mention, it makes one especially susceptible to an approaching Impostor, Engineer grimly reminded himself as he watched the crewmate icon carry the files from one folder to the other across the screen, sweat beading on his forehead.

Download Complete

"Phew...Finally."

"Engie~!"

The crewmate turned his head towards the doorway to see his lime-clad sweetheart coming in from outside, a bounce in her step as she came to greet him.

"There you are! What'cha doin' in here all alone, babe?"

"Downloading data from here in electrical so I can transfer it to Communications," he replied. "I'm guessing you were looking for me?"

"Yep! Just wanted to make sure you were safe. The only task I have left is to fix the wiring in here, so after I do this, I think I'll just stay with you as you finish yours and keep you safe!"

"D'aw, Gnome...You're the best."

"No, you're the best, you and that big brain of yours..." she told him as she matched up the wiring in the panel. "I really don't know what I'd ever do without you, y'know?"

"Really?"

Engineer saw her deflate, just a tiny bit, as she finished her last task and closed the wiring panel.

"Yeah...You mind if I tell you something, Engie?"

"Sure. Whatever it is, I'll listen."

Her expression drooped a little more.

"Well...Ever since I got here, I've always sort of felt like an outcast in this lobby. Don't get me wrong, I like everyone here a whole lot. Player, Captain, TheGentleman...They're all super great. But I never felt like I fit in with them much. And they don't really talk to me that much, either, so...that thought kinda stuck."

"Oh...Wow. I didn't know you felt that way, too."

"Yeah...But then you came along, and I saw that you were in the same spot as me. I understood how that felt, you know? That's part of what really-"

She stopped short when she saw caught a glimpse of something behind Engineer. Alarmed by her sudden silence, the purple crewmate turned around to face-

BANG

He barely got the chance to identify the toilet paper roll the figure was wearing on its head before everything went black. The next thing Gnome knew, she was staring down at her partner's lifeless body, a bullet wound tearing through his head.

"BABE! No...!"

She fell to her knees and gently cradled his head, on the verge of tears.

"No...No, what did they do to you, my poor Engie..."

"Aw, don't worry, Gnome. You'll get to see him again...Right now, actually!"

She rose her head to face the second figure in the room, looming over her as he slowly stepped forward. Her eyes widened in horror, and she vainly tried to get up and run away. But MrCheese had already sealed her fate.

"Should have reported the body with what little time you had."

The next thing she knew, she was staring at a mouthful of sharp teeth, and the familiar long, pointed tongue slithered out of it like a slimy snake before aiming and shooting itself clean through her visor, skewering her alive...Her corpse fell beside Engineer's.

"Nice double kill, PoopyFarts. Those two losers didn't stand a chance, heh heh...Say what were their names again, you remember?"

"Pffrrt..."

"Take that as a no...Whatever, let's get out of here before we get busted."

"Pfft!"

Both Impostors fled from the bodies and hopped back into the vent they'd emerged from, vanishing as quickly as they'd appeared.

...Engineer sighed deeply, looking down at his dead body. He'd been reduced to a ghost; silent and invisible to all of those who were still alive.

"Man...And I was suspicious of PoopyFarts, too. Guess the crew will have to figure that out for themselves..."

He turned around to face Gnome...She looked especially glum, now.

"...My point stands," she said to him, slowly starting to float away. "Sorry I didn't do a very good job of protecting you...I think I'm just gonna hang around the Office until the game ends."

"Wait, Gnome."

He hovered after her and took her ghostly hand in his own.

"Come on...It's okay. MrCheese is always like that when he's an Impostor; I doubt he really meant it."

"Yeah..."

That didn't seem to help the matter much...Engineer gently lifted her visor up to look her in the eye; he'd never seen this side to her before. She was almost always bubbly and cheerful, even as an Impostor. Seeing her so depressed was just...heart wrenching. He hated seeing her like this.

...And he knew he was the one to do something about it.

"Babe...You said you finished all of your tasks, right?"

"M-hm...Don't you have an upload to do in Comms?"

"Yeah, but...it can wait a little while. Can I show you something?"

She nodded lightly, and he lead her through the walls of Electrical and up towards the western seismic stabilizer. They hovered past the cliff of the high plateau the outpost was situated on, overlooking the landscape below them.

"Normally when someone comes out this way, they're too focused on resetting the seismic stabilizers to pay any attention to the view...I only noticed it myself few rounds back, after I'd already been killed. What do you think?"

"Wow..."

The ground beneath them was a landscape of curved, jagged rock peaks that stretched on for miles, the tops of the mountains and the ground at their bases covered in a white blanket of untrodden snow, which was still falling from the dark skies above.

"It's beautiful..."

"Isn't it?"

"Say, babe...What is it that makes the ground and mountains here on Polus purple? Do you know?"

"The surface of the planet's rocky crust is mostly composed of what is called 'imperial-grade porphyry,'" he explained. "A fine-grained igneous rock which is formed when a rising magma flow is slowly cooled down while still deep underground, and then more quickly as it approaches the surface, usually in the form of a volcanic eruption. It's theorized that the jagged mountain ranges scattered across the planet's landscape are remnants of volcanoes that went extinct several millenia ago, which explains why there's so much of it here...The purple porphyry covering most of Polus is incredibly rare on earth, and it was highly coveted by the ancient Roman Empire. The emperors used it to decorate their palaces in order to display their power and influence, and the substance only became more and more precious over time."

"Wow..." Gnome whispered again, turning to face him, a new flash of wonder in her gaze.

"It's really something special to look at, isn't it?"

"Hee hee...yeah."

"What's so funny?"

"You know, you would blend right into that landscape, you know?"

"Why, because I'm purple?"

"Yeah..." she nodded. "...And you're probably the most precious thing I've ever had in my life."

"D'oh, stop it, you..."

Engineer's slightly see-through face gained just a tad more color, and he waved his hand in a playfully dismissive manner. Gnome managed a few giggles herself before looking him in the eye again.

"Well...All jokes aside, I really do mean that."

She took him by the other hand, looking more serious now.

"As I was saying...before we got killed, and all...When I saw that you and I were in the same boat, that stirred something up deep inside of me. It kinda drew me to you, and...Well, the next thing I knew, I'd fallen head over boots for you!"

"Is that all true, Gnome?"

"Uh-huh! And ever since we then, I've felt so much more at home here! Like, we always have each other's backs and when we're together, we're stronger, right?"

Engineer's face continued to light up, the spectral sparkle of his eyes showing clearly through his visor, and he pulled her into a side hug, happy to find out that ghosts could display intimacy as well as the living could, rather than just phasing through one another as they could do with the walls.

"Heh...I-I know I'm one to use a lot of advanced terminology, but to be honest, I doubt I could have said any of that better myself...You really do make me feel special, Gnome. I'm glad I could do the same for you."

"Awwwwww..."

They continued to admire the landscape below, their heads leaned against one another and their ghostly tails loosely intertwined...They both wished that the moment could last forever.

The two of them ended up completely losing track of time, and after a while, everything suddenly faded to into black.

Defeat

MrCheese and PoopyFarts had not only emerged victorious, but had done so COMPLETELY undetected by the crew. Nobody had ever found a body or called a meeting.

When they were all transported back to the dropship, the two Impostors congratulated one another for their smooth kills. But the crew wasn't at ALL happy. Especially Player.

"This is ridiculous!" Player fumed. "We barely had any tasks this round, and the bar was almost full, too! Only ONE thing had to be done, and we'd have won the round!"

Engineer tensed as realization dawned on him...He'd never taken his tablet to Communications to upload the data from Electrical.

"Uh...Sorry, Player. I was going to finish up as a ghost, but, uh, heh heh...Gnome and I got a little side tracked."

"We could've won that round! What were you...!?"

He stopped in his tracks, then sighed and facepalmed.

"You know what, I don't even want to know what you and Gnome were doing...Why is it that even when the odds are in my favor, I can never win this game?"

"Hey, maybe one day you'll come out on top, Player," Gnome reassured him. "Engie, how 'bout next time we finish up everything on our list before enjoying the view?"

"I second that," he nodded. "Hey, maybe next time, we won't even have to die. We can just sit by the dropship."

"Sounds good! Say, it's still pretty early in the day. When we finish up here, do you wanna, maybe...I don't know, head down to the park for a while?"

"Sounds even better. How 'bout I teach you how to play frisbee golf?"

"Ooooh, that sounds fun! You have some of the best ideas, babe..."

"Hold up. Did I hear someone say 'frisbee golf'?"

Their party of two was joined by a third member. Veteran had broken off from the rest of the crowd to get in on their conversation.

"Um...Yeah. I said it," Engineer answered him.

"Dude. I freakin' LOVE frisbee golf. But not a lot of people know that, since it'll probably ruin my 'pro gamer' face and make me look like some kind o' geek."

"You don't say...?"

"Yeah, but like...YOU'RE a geek, so I can trust you with that kind of information. But that doesn't matter; I just wanted to know if I could get in on this action."

"Well...sure! The more the merrier, right, Gnome?"

Gnome's initial thought was that Veteran would turn into the third wheel of their planned date, but when she thought about it a little more, the idea grew on her. She might get to know Veteran a bit better if he tagged along, and in turn, she thought she might feel even MORE at home with the rest of the gang.

"You know what? Yeah! Let's go, all three of us, after this next round!"

"Sounds awesome."

"Alrighty, lock and load, everyone," Captain announced as the starting timer started to count down from five. "Time to start the next game..."

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Engineer mentioned in AUL 8 that he and Gnome go frisbee golfing(or "frolfing," as he called it) with Veteran on the weekends, so I thought I'd add in a little backstory to coincide with that.

What'd you think? Sappy enough for ya? Lol