[Synopsis: MrEgg has recurring nightmares about the night before he left home...Usually, he doesn't talk to anyone about such things, but when someone overhears him one night, he doesn't find himself with much of a choice.]

[Location: The Skeld]

I present to you, a new entry to the "Player won in AUL 8 and became besties with MrEgg" timeline! What, too big a mouthful? Yeah, I figured that myself...Oh well. Enjoy anyways. XD

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I can't, I can't take it anymore...

MrEgg shut the front door behind him, walked down the old wooden porch steps and stood in the front yard, hoping the noise of the fight in his parents' room would be muffled by the doors and walls separating the two parties. It didn't help much, though. The wooden, slightly decrepit walls of the old house were only so thick, after all.

He covered his ears and crouched where he stood to block out the noise, but just as he did, it seemed to only grow louder...He swore he heard his mother screaming; from what he could tell, she was either furious or terrified.

Maybe both.

He had no cellphone on him. He couldn't call anyone for help. And he had no friends or parents of friends that would help in any way. But he was afraid. Why was he so helpless? He was almost an adult, so why couldn't he-

BANG

...The sound seemed to rattle the whole village.

MrEgg's visor widened, and his hands rose to his mouth. Did he just hear the sound of a...? No. It couldn't be, could it?

He dared to open up his ears...He was greeted by silence.

Something bad's happened, he said to himself. I know it...But how bad? Not the worst, right? M-maybe it was just a warning shot, or...something along those lines.

He knew deep down that he was in denial...He knew deep down that everything had just changed, and in a terrible way.

Tears in his eyes, MrEgg slowly made his way back to the front porch, knees weak and hands shaking. He would stay out here tonight, sleep here even...He wouldn't dare go back into the house. Not now...Maybe not ever.

But before he could even take the first step up the rickety stairs, the front door burst open before him.

The brick red crewmate that was his father stood there, rifle in hand and specks of crimson dotting his white shirt.

"You're next."

MrEgg staggered backwards and fell to the ground, his hand raised in a futile means of self-defense.

"No, no, Dad, no please don't!"

"Don't call me that...You were never my son. I didn't want you."

He lifted the barrel and pointed it at his visor.

"...Nobody does anymore."

BANG

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...

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"AAH!"

MrEgg woke up in such a panic that he nearly fell right out of bed. His breathing was fast and hitched and his heart raced, and he panted loudly with each breath out.

...He'd had that same dream again. The dream about what happened to his mum when he was seventeen. But this time, his father had bothered to come after him with the gun, too...That hadn't been how it'd gone down in real life all those years prior. What made his mind come up with such a morbid end?

...Why did he have to think things like that?

MrEgg clenched the covers tightly and pressed his face into them, letting go of the tears in his eyes as he tried to reassure himself.

It was just a dream...It's not going to happen again, MrEgg, it can't, it won't.

That was when he heard the sound of the knob to his bedroom door turning, and he froze, breathless and wide-eyed, as he stared at it.

No.

The door opened, revealing a red figure in the doorway, just as he'd feared.

"No, no, DON'T HURT ME, STOP!!"

"MrEgg, is everything okay in here?"

He gasped, startled by the voice that sounded nothing like his father's...The figure flicked the light on, revealing himself to be a brighter, softer cherry red instead of a brick color, wearing striped pyjamas and a beanie on his head rather than an egg and a white shirt specked with his mother's blood.

"I...P-player?" he asked, blinking to adjust his eyes to the light, Player coming more and more into focus.

"Yeah, it's me," he said quietly as he entered the room, shutting the door behind him. "What's goin' on in here? I heard you shouting in here, and it sounded like you were tossing and turning. Did you have a nightmare?"

MrEgg didn't answer him right away...He was still processing everything, replaying what had just happened through his head. The old house. The porch...The gunshot.

His father...

He felt his visor gloss over with tears as he looked up at Player again, still holding his covers tight in his hands.

"...D-do you remember that time I told you about...when I left home?" he asked him. Player nodded in response, sitting down on the bedside next to him.

"Is that what your dream was about?"

"M-hm...I-I've had it more than once," he admitted. "Ever since it happened...Twice, m-maybe three times a month..."

Player's visor widened.

"Oh my God, I...I had no idea. You never said anything about having dreams about it."

"It's not always exactly how it really was, though...T-tonight, he...f-found me on the porch, aimed at me, and..."

He couldn't even say it...It was too much. He couldn't take it anymore.

"...MrEgg?" Player asked him. "You okay?"

"No...I...I don't think I ever really will be..."

He started curling up into himself as he fell apart from the inside out, tears flowing freely down his reddened cheeks.

"Oh, MrEgg..."

The crimson bean sighed pensively, not really sure how to handle the situation. As much as Player just wanted to give him a hug, he didn't think that alone would be enough considering how grave the situation turned out to be. He needed to go the extra mile.

"...Hey."

Player rested his hand against MrEgg's hand and gently eased it away from his visor so that the two of them could look one another in the eye again. The pink crewmate still sniffled and hiccupped, but it seemed like he was starting to calm back down.

"Hm...?"

"You don't seem ready to go back to sleep just yet. How 'bout you...come with me out into the Cafeteria for a bit?" he offered. "Just for a bit. I mean...we can talk more, if you think it'll help, y'know?"

Figuring he had nothing to lose, MrEgg wiped the back of his hand across his face in a vain attempt to dry it, then nodded at the red crewmate and kicked the covers off of himself, planting his feet against the cold, metal floor of the Skeld.

Player stood up from MrEgg's bedside himself, and he led the way out into the hall, away from the crew's quarters and into the main portion of the massive ship...The endless scape of stars outside the Cafeteria windows kept the room lit just well enough for them to find their bearings as they sat down at the table closest to the trash chute.

"Here, here...Just sit tight, MrEgg," Player said to him softly. "...Can I get you a cup of tea? Engineer finished putting up that coffee station yesterday evening, tea included."

MrEgg nodded lightly before folding his hands across the table and leaning his head down against them, and Player headed over to the station.

"Any requests?"

The pink crewmate sniffled again before answering verbally.

"...Chamomile, if there is any...please..."

"Sure thing."

He approached the coffee station and spied the correct tea bags within seconds...Player decided he'd make himself a cup as well, so he placed two separate bags into a pair of styrofoam cups before pouring the hot water over them and letting them steep. He wasn't certain how MrEgg liked his tea, so when they finished brewing, he squeezed a bit of honey and half a packet of lemon juice into each cup and stirred them in before returning to the table. Upon receiving his hot beverage, MrEgg slowly lifted his head back up and took a small sip.

"Does it, uh...taste okay?" Player asked him.

He got his response when MrEgg emitted a content sigh and took another drink from the cup.

"It's very good, yes," he confirmed, voice still a bit creaky. "Thank you..."

The red crewmate took a seat beside MrEgg and took a sip from his own cup, staring down at the table...The only noises keeping total silence at bay was the soft, ambient whirr of the Skeld's engines as they carried them across the expanse of space. Player wasn't sure if the quiet between them was comforting or unsettling...so he dared to break it.

"You, uh...wanna talk about it?" he offered. "I'm all ears, if there's anything you want to get off your chest."

The pink crewmate let out a shaky sigh before taking another sip from his cup.

"...I don't believe there's much else to be said," he replied. "Other than what I spilled in the bedroom, at least."

"I didn't know it was that bad, MrEgg."

"...I'm sorry you had to find out this way. I...I probably woke you up too, didn't I? Surprised I didn't wake up the entire ship..."

"Actually, I was already awake."

MrEgg perked up curiously, his tired, bloodshot eyes widening slightly.

"You were?" he asked. "I...um...At this hour? Wh-whatever for?"

"Sometimes I just lay awake in bed thinking about stuff...'Specially recently," Player confided. "There's been a lot of drama between the crew recently, so I've kinda been thinking about how to deal with some situations if they ever happen."

"What? You mean, like, between you, Veteran and Captain?"

"That's one thing...among a few others. Ninja's gone AWOL again, Bro and Stoner had a fallout a while back, TheGentleman hasn't been on for almost three weeks...Well, I guess I can sort of understand that last one, considering what happened with 'you-know-who.'"

MrEgg nodded in understanding.

"I hope he's alright. I hope...he hasn't done anything to him."

"Eh, I think we'd have heard something about it on the news if that happened," the red crewmate assure him. "...But I guess that's all I really need to say about that issue myself. Don't wanna get you all worked up again with my worrying, y'know?"

"Hm..."

MrEgg nodded again, breaking away eye contact from his companion to take another drink from his tea.

"...Just know that whatever happens in this crazy place, you're not alone," Player said to him. "We've both had our own drama to deal with recently, so...might as well look for one another when the going gets tough, right?"

The pink crewmate didn't answer right away, but he did look him in the eye again as he finished off his tea.

"...I suppose you're right," he decided. "...Thank you, Player."

"No problem, egghead."

Player spread out his hands and invited him in, and MrEgg gladly accepted...They stayed like that for a few long moments, letting their worries slip away just for a little while.

"...You doing better now?" the red crewmate asked after a bit.

"M-hm...I guess I needed that."

"Think you're good to head back to bed now?"

...He was met with silence.

"I mean, I understand if you're not. A dream like that would probably put me on edge, too."

MrEgg pulled away just a bit to look Player in the eye again...There was a look of desperation in his visor, despite him trying to hide it.

"...I've got an idea," Player said to him, standing up and reluctantly letting go. "I'll be back in just a minute, okay? Hang tight."

The red bean took off towards the crew quarters again, leaving MrEgg by himself once more...The pink-clad crewmate could already feel his palms starting to sweat again.

He said he'd be right back, he assured himself. He won't be long...He shouldn't be long. It'll be fine...

His attention was drawn to what sounded like soft mumbling coming from Player's room, and he could just barely tell that his light was on from where he sat in the Cafeteria, so he hadn't gone back to bed and left him in the dust.

...I'll be fine.

After only a couple of minutes, he saw Player finally coming back into the Cafeteria, a load of blankets and pillows piled up in his hands looking like it was about to topple over any second. But just when MrEgg thought everything was going to come crashing down, the red crewmate plopped everything down onto the table, then one by one, started spreading the sheets and pillows out across an open area of the tile floor.

"Sleepover?" he offered. "My sister and I used to do stuff like this whenever I was in bad shape, so I figured it was worth a shot."

"Oh...Huh," MrEgg remarked, tilting his head curiously. "Well, I suppose it'd be worth a try."

"Get comfy. There's plenty o' stuff to go around."

MrEgg shrugged a bit in acceptance, then sat down and made himself a nest of cushy pillows and blankets on the floor, Player doing the same right beside him. The side on which the two of them would put their heads was slightly elevated for extra comfort, and a few of the blankets were partially loose so that they could cover themselves up if needed...The Cafeteria wasn't particularly cold, though, and Player found himself needing a bit of extra breathing room that night.

He settled down into the cushy pile, resting his head against his mound of pillows and crossing his hands behind him. MrEgg did the same, except he opted to pull one of the blankets over himself and snuggle further into the comfortable heap.

"...Thank you, Player," he rasped. "For...all of this. I just...I hope I'm not being a bother with all of this. You didn't have to-"

"You got nothing to worry about, MrEgg," Player assured him. "I mean, what are friends for, right?"

A smile finally came to the pink bean's face, and he sighed contently, wondering what he could have done to deserve the companionship of the crimson crewmate across from him.

"...I guess you're right," he decided. "...Though expect me to try and return the favor at some point."

"You don't have to do that, Egghead."

"Maybe not, but...I don't know. I'll think of something, even if it's small," MrEgg promised him, stifling a yawn. "But thank you again...Goodnight, Player."

"G'night, MrEgg..."

The pink crewmate closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep within less than a minute. Player stayed awake slightly longer, keeping vigil over his buddy to ensure that no more bad dreams plagued his head.

...And when none came, he followed him suit into the land of slumber, and neither of them arose until the Cafeteria lights came back on the next morning.

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...Sorry if this one felt a little rushed; in all reality, it's been sitting in my drafts for several months, but I only decided to finish it now, and got it done in a relatively short, motivated burst, lol. That happens sometimes.

But hey, I got to write floof about the precious egg boi again! Hope you enjoyed! :D