Chapter 20
“Dude, it'll be a literal party” Ryan chuckled, “not a mission in disguise or anything! That Airship ain't gonna take off until next week!”
“But I just want to go there in my spacesuit, Ry” Ezekiel said. “You know, because of the idea that Sam mentioned this morning.”
“Oh, a pox on--”
“Excuse me?! You promised not to be rude about them anymore!”
“Dammit. They should know that I'm the worst at keeping promises...”
“We could go in diapers. Imagine if they serve alcohol there and we both get horribly drunk to the point where we'll temporarily become incontinent!”
“That's not a bad idea at all. Everyone should do that, and especially those who are crazy about cocktails and such.”
“Why are you guys planning to get that pissed, actually?” Izuki asked. “Pardon the hidden pun, but still.”
“No, no, it's just a thought.” Ezekiel burst out in awkward laughter.
“Izuki, you're a wimp for not wanting to drink anything alcoholic” Ryan sneered, which was rewarded with a head-bonk from his best friend. “Oof!”
“You know that people can decide stuff by themselves at this age, right? You don't have to be the judge of that.”
“Fine, but we should get ready soon, since the party will officially start in less than an hour, and look at everyone else!”
“Uh... they're not even dressed in formal attire? What kind of party do you think we'll be attending soon, a five-star ball in a palace?” The timid yet silly crewmate burst out in laughter.
Ezekiel's statement was absolutely right. Every crewmate of the main cast was currently present in the main room, and they were all planning on going to the party. They knew that it was going to be an informal party with a homely atmosphere, so they threw on what they wanted, and only Nico wore some semi-formal attire because they still wanted to impress RHM and their manager at the headquarters somewhere. It consisted of a wrinkled dark green blouse, a loose black necktie and grey track pants that strongly resembled jeans, and it was secretly their utmost favourite outfit.
Oswald was dressed in his favourite oversized dark blue hoodie and some comfy cyan track pants. Underneath, he briefly borrowed one of Sam's plain white onesies so that his diaper wouldn't be visible immediately in case he'd bend over or something.
Sam wore their average everyday outfit that consisted of a dark grey, short-sleeved Don't Hug Me I'm Scared T-shirt, comfy dark green track pants, a wine red vest and a suiting white paisley bandanna. Underneath their track pants, their diaper was covered by a nice set of bloomers so it wouldn't be visible immediately either for the same reason as Oswald.
Izuki wore the same as Sam, except for the fact that his white T-shirt sported a colourful floral pattern and had a chest pocket, his track pants were lime green, he wore regular underwear underneath them (was that even a good idea?), and he wore a plain lime miniature loop scarf instead of a bandanna.
Lyn wore a comfy, sporty, red, upper-leg-length dress with long sleeves, suiting lacquer mary janes, and white tights. Her hair sported a clip with a red fake hibiscus in the front.
Medley wore a cute baby pink dress with a candy pattern, magenta wedge heels with bows on the front, off-white panties that showed some signs of wearing, a ginormous magenta bow on the upper back of her head, and rose quartz earrings. Her face sported eyeshadow, blusher and lipstick that were all in similar shades of pink, purple mascara, and tiny heart-shaped fake gems were stuck to the 'temple' sides near her eyes.
Ace wore a wrinkled dark blue blouse with a plain white T-shirt underneath, as well as dark blue formal pants that were also quite wrinkled, and a loose black bow tie. As for shoes, he decided to go for dark blue flip-flops since the mercury was slowly rising lately after all.
Pepper also decided to go for a semi-formal look in her purple blouse, black T-shirt, lavender knee-length skirt, black tights and purple lacquer pumps. Her hair had been fully straightened and was now of upper-back-length.
Jules wore their favourite grey tracksuit with a new set of brown sports shoes, as well as the iconic black Nirvana T-shirt with the yellow logo.
Hermie wore her second favourite tattered plain orange T-shirt, a fitting short-sleeved black jeans jacket with several buttons pinned on it, black jean shorts with fishnet tights, and black, lacquer, knee-length platform boots. Her face sported orange eyeshadow and thick black mascara and lipstick, and her pierced nostril, ears and auricles sported dark grey and orange accessories. And, of course, her spiked collar and bracelets couldn't be forgotten either.
As for Ryan and Ezekiel, however, they still had trouble deciding on what to throw on, and their bickering had annoyed most of the others by now.
“Just disappear into your dorm rooms and don't come out until you guys finally wear something 'special', y'hear?” Pepper almost commanded them.
“Yes, ma'am” the two best friends said in unison before swiftly going upstairs to change their clothes.
“To me and Nico, those two always listen... it's almost a miracle!”
Most of the other crewmates chuckled in response.
After what seemed quite some time and half an hour prior to the party's starting time, Ryan and Ezekiel were finally ready. They both wore the same clothes because they felt like 'twinning', except for the fact that they didn't wear them in the same colour palette, of course. Ryan's outfit had the orange colour palette, while Ezekiel's had the yellow one. In any case, they both wore a psychedelic short-sleeved T-shirt with a chest pocket with loose-fitting jeans and fitting sneakers. Little did anyone know that underneath, however, diapers were also present, even if they weren't covered like in Sam and Oswald's cases.
“We're good to go” they chuckled to Pepper.
“Then let's” Nico said, as they stood up and clapped their hands hard.
The party had started around 5:30 p.m., and all of the living buildings of the A row were invited, including A-1, where the main cast lived. There were six rows of buildings, so that was a good resource to have eveningly opening parties on the Airship until it would officially become a missionary location.
For the party only, speakers were hung on the ceiling of almost every room, and they played quite the variety of songs that one would mostly hear on the radio, so nothing special, really. The music was provided by one of the two computers in the communications room, and since it was all being played automatically, nobody was actually there to keep an eye on that computer.
Most of the guests were present in the kitchen since they were all smitten with the foods and drinks, while one-third of the totality preferred to be in the lounge room to play some darts, billiards or one of the board or card games.
“It's an honour of you to invite us to the first official opening party of the Airship, RHM” Nico said, as they rose their glass of champagne. “Cheers to this one.”
“Cheers indeed” RHM said, clinking his glass against the green-clad crewmate's. “What do you think? Nice atmosphere for a party, huh?”
“Surely. Not too formal, and not too informal either. I fully approve of it. Are you still planning on a speech, by the way?”
“Oh, good of you to mention it, I indeed should! However, it's probably too much of a hassle to gather everyone within the blink of an eye, so I insist on doing this in the communications room.”
“In that case, I'll go with you.”
“I think the manager should do the same.”
“What are they even planning?” Ryan whispered in Ezekiel's ear. “They kind of look like they're... plotting? I don't know, really.”
“Let them be” Ezekiel replied. “They probably want to gather everyone here for a speech, but that'll take too long with this many guests, trust me.” He threw the last few centilitres of beer into his system and belched hard. “Dude, this beer fucking slaps. You should take a second order soon, too.”
Meanwhile, in the lounge room...
“It was a good tip of you guys to still go in a... you-know-what” Izuki said to Sam and Oswald. “Like, there are only four toilets around here, and before you know it, they're all occupied while nearly everyone is drunk and consistently throwing up and/or suffering from the runs.”
“Good thing they actually made the atmosphere around here a little familiar” Hermie said, “judging from the fact that diapers are still present in the med-bay.” Some looks went her way. “What, can't I approve of something that's actually good for once?! Izuki is probably right about the drunk thing!”
“Yeah” a neighbouring crewmate with black, shaggy hair, rectangular glasses and buck teeth stated, “she's right, since the alcohol is quite popular now...”
“I always feel like--” one song sounded from the speakers, until it was mercilessly interrupted by some sort of radio noise, followed by RHM's voice as amplified by a microphone. “Dear crewmates!”
“Ooh, a speech...!” Oswald whispered, “and not just one either...!”
“I want to thank you all for attending the first official opening party of this fine Airship. In a week, this will officially become a missionary location for missions alongside the Skeld ship, Mira HQ and Polus. I know you lot are very eager about this, and to be honest, so am I.” Some snickering of the crewmate leaders and manager were heard. “Hereby, I'd like to bring out a digital toast to this party and the upcoming opening of this location for all of the living buildings in the A row! Cheers!”
“Cheers!” everyone else in the Airship exclaimed back.
“Thank you, thank you. Now, to go back to the party itself...!” The song that was interrupted just now was simply being played from the start again.
“Hey, you guys” Henry the assistant said as he entered the lounge. “Would you like anything to eat and/or drink?”
Nearly everyone (mainly over the age of 21) replied with an alcoholic beverage and some savoury snacks, because what would a party possibly be without them?
“Does the cafeteria also serve cherry coke?” Oswald asked. “Preferably completely sugar-free.”
“Could I please have some apple juice?” Sam asked.
“Yes, we also have cherry coke and apple juice for you guys. Everything will be coming right up!” Henry swiftly went back to the cafeteria for the orders.
“Apple juice...” an arrogant ginger crewmate snickered. “How childish!” They soon got smacked in their face by their buck-toothed acquaintance, though. “Ouch! Can't I express my opinion?”
“Not in an illogical way, no, Jordan” he said. “But that young gothic lady was right with her and the nerdy boy's statement just now.”
“Yeah, but that dumb blondie who asked for apple juice also has a plushie with them, and I don't think that's acceptable for a civilised crewmate.”
“Yes it is! Good gravy, why can't you just let people do what they want?”
Lyn, who was just in a heated game of billiards, decided that it was enough with the bickering, and she practically slammed her cue down to shove the two neighbouring crewmates away from one another.
“Don't just judge people like that... Jordan!” she snapped to the ginger. “You don't know what Sam's been through, and you probably don't want to know either since the majority of that is... not quite positive, to say the least.”
The buck-toothed crewmate smiled and applauded in approval, as did most of the other crewmates in the lounge.
“You're a confident someone to just say that with such thought deep within you” the mother crewmate named Jolene said. “Could I get your name?”
“It's Lyn. That's L-Y-N, by the way.”
“Well, Lyn, you look like you're possibly a very skilled crewmate for someone who only just started. Oh, don't ask how I know. I've seen Nico's message back when they lost Holden, Davey, Cal and Monika in that nasty crash recently. Very sad, but I'm glad that you're willing to resume their honour.” She adjusted Jerry, her baby son, in a more comfortable position.
“We're also newbies” Izuki said as he pointed at himself, Sam and Oswald. “I'm Izuki, by the way, not to be confused with Izuku.”
“I'm Oswald” the nervous redhead said, “and this is Sam, my... moirail.” He quickly turned to Sam, who seemed a tad nervous at the moment. “Are you still doing alright?”
“I wanna huddle in the med-bay with you, Ozzy...” they whispered.
“Ah, obvious.” The germaphobe briefly turned towards his fellow crewmates. “Sam is a tad tired. If you're looking for us, we'll be at the med-bay, alright?”
“Alrighty” Lyn said.
“Do whatever pleases you” Izuki said.
“I might just head there soon too” Hermie said.
Oswald lifted Sam into his arms and they calmly made their way towards the quiet med-bay, where they made themselves comfortable on one of the beds.
“A bit crammy” Sam chuckled tiredly, “but I'll let it slide for now.” They huddled their chin into the top of Chu's head as Oswald popped their pacifier into their mouth. “Ah, that'th a lot bettah. Thankth, Oz-- I mean... Dada.”
“It left a massive impression on you, huh, Sammy baby?” the nervous crewmate whispered. “And that Jordan person wasn't too nice either... they should seriously learn their manners.”
“I agwee...”
Only a little later, Henry, along with his co-assistants Ellie and Charles, happened to pass by with some foods and drinks, and he almost dropped his tray upon suddenly seeing Oswald and Sam on the bed.
“Are you guys feeling alright?” he asked somewhat anxiously.
“Relax, Henry” the redhead chuckled, “Sam's just... tired, that's all. And they don't want to be alone, since we're moirails, you know?”
“Oh, I see...” The clumsy assistant briefly turned to his colleagues. “Do you mind if I drop off two drinks here?”
“No, no” Charles said, “do whatever pleases you. Ellie and I will be at the lounge.” He and his bright-red-haired colleague went off carefully with their trays.
“Then, there you guys go. One completely sugar-free cherry coke and one apple juice.” Henry placed the drinks on the vacant bed, but couldn't help but notice one certain detail about Sam. “Oh! I... I didn't...”
“It's completely normal” Oswald said laconically, noticing that his moirail's pacifier was apparently seen. “Nobody is too old to have a binky. 'Too old' is also just an illusion, you know?”
“Y... yeah... sorry, I really don't know how to react normally... please forgive me... I... just barely see it every day, but from now on, I probably will...”
“Not quite a need to apologise, but thank you for the drinks, too.”
“Oh... anytime...!” Henry breathed deeply, patted Oswald's shoulder and ruffled Sam's hair, and carefully went off with his still occupied tray.
“The wohld thtill be weahning...” Sam lisped with a slight smile.
Oswald got up from the bed, swiftly drained his cherry coke to ease his nervousness, and subsequently took something out of his utility bag.
“Guess what, Sammy baby...” he softly chuckled as he showed them their nursing bottle before screwing it open and pouring the apple juice into it.
“Aw, thank you, Dada...! That be tho thweet of you...!”
“Now, open up the hatch...!” The nervous crewmate sat back on the bed and started bottle-feeding his 'baby'. “It's a good thing that I secretly decided to bring it, huh...?”
Sam simply smiled in between their session of drinking, and they also swiftly drained their drink, most likely to ease their own nervousness as well. Once their thirst was quenched, they popped their pacifier back into their mouth and closed their eyes.
“We should probably head back home, judging from your energy level, Sammy baby” Oswald chuckled. “Remember how Nico said they won't mind that?” He got up from the bed and lifted Sam back into his arms.
“You awtho be tiwed, Dada...” Sam mumbled. “We thould bwuth ouh teeth an' go to thweep...”
“Not a bad idea. Then let's.”
The two moirails headed back to their living building, and on their way, nobody in the Airship really minded the fact that Sam 'slept' in Oswald's arms with their plushie and pacifier. The world is indeed still learning that a sight like this is very often not negative at all.
“Dude, it'll be a literal party” Ryan chuckled, “not a mission in disguise or anything! That Airship ain't gonna take off until next week!”
“But I just want to go there in my spacesuit, Ry” Ezekiel said. “You know, because of the idea that Sam mentioned this morning.”
“Oh, a pox on--”
“Excuse me?! You promised not to be rude about them anymore!”
“Dammit. They should know that I'm the worst at keeping promises...”
“We could go in diapers. Imagine if they serve alcohol there and we both get horribly drunk to the point where we'll temporarily become incontinent!”
“That's not a bad idea at all. Everyone should do that, and especially those who are crazy about cocktails and such.”
“Why are you guys planning to get that pissed, actually?” Izuki asked. “Pardon the hidden pun, but still.”
“No, no, it's just a thought.” Ezekiel burst out in awkward laughter.
“Izuki, you're a wimp for not wanting to drink anything alcoholic” Ryan sneered, which was rewarded with a head-bonk from his best friend. “Oof!”
“You know that people can decide stuff by themselves at this age, right? You don't have to be the judge of that.”
“Fine, but we should get ready soon, since the party will officially start in less than an hour, and look at everyone else!”
“Uh... they're not even dressed in formal attire? What kind of party do you think we'll be attending soon, a five-star ball in a palace?” The timid yet silly crewmate burst out in laughter.
Ezekiel's statement was absolutely right. Every crewmate of the main cast was currently present in the main room, and they were all planning on going to the party. They knew that it was going to be an informal party with a homely atmosphere, so they threw on what they wanted, and only Nico wore some semi-formal attire because they still wanted to impress RHM and their manager at the headquarters somewhere. It consisted of a wrinkled dark green blouse, a loose black necktie and grey track pants that strongly resembled jeans, and it was secretly their utmost favourite outfit.
Oswald was dressed in his favourite oversized dark blue hoodie and some comfy cyan track pants. Underneath, he briefly borrowed one of Sam's plain white onesies so that his diaper wouldn't be visible immediately in case he'd bend over or something.
Sam wore their average everyday outfit that consisted of a dark grey, short-sleeved Don't Hug Me I'm Scared T-shirt, comfy dark green track pants, a wine red vest and a suiting white paisley bandanna. Underneath their track pants, their diaper was covered by a nice set of bloomers so it wouldn't be visible immediately either for the same reason as Oswald.
Izuki wore the same as Sam, except for the fact that his white T-shirt sported a colourful floral pattern and had a chest pocket, his track pants were lime green, he wore regular underwear underneath them (was that even a good idea?), and he wore a plain lime miniature loop scarf instead of a bandanna.
Lyn wore a comfy, sporty, red, upper-leg-length dress with long sleeves, suiting lacquer mary janes, and white tights. Her hair sported a clip with a red fake hibiscus in the front.
Medley wore a cute baby pink dress with a candy pattern, magenta wedge heels with bows on the front, off-white panties that showed some signs of wearing, a ginormous magenta bow on the upper back of her head, and rose quartz earrings. Her face sported eyeshadow, blusher and lipstick that were all in similar shades of pink, purple mascara, and tiny heart-shaped fake gems were stuck to the 'temple' sides near her eyes.
Ace wore a wrinkled dark blue blouse with a plain white T-shirt underneath, as well as dark blue formal pants that were also quite wrinkled, and a loose black bow tie. As for shoes, he decided to go for dark blue flip-flops since the mercury was slowly rising lately after all.
Pepper also decided to go for a semi-formal look in her purple blouse, black T-shirt, lavender knee-length skirt, black tights and purple lacquer pumps. Her hair had been fully straightened and was now of upper-back-length.
Jules wore their favourite grey tracksuit with a new set of brown sports shoes, as well as the iconic black Nirvana T-shirt with the yellow logo.
Hermie wore her second favourite tattered plain orange T-shirt, a fitting short-sleeved black jeans jacket with several buttons pinned on it, black jean shorts with fishnet tights, and black, lacquer, knee-length platform boots. Her face sported orange eyeshadow and thick black mascara and lipstick, and her pierced nostril, ears and auricles sported dark grey and orange accessories. And, of course, her spiked collar and bracelets couldn't be forgotten either.
As for Ryan and Ezekiel, however, they still had trouble deciding on what to throw on, and their bickering had annoyed most of the others by now.
“Just disappear into your dorm rooms and don't come out until you guys finally wear something 'special', y'hear?” Pepper almost commanded them.
“Yes, ma'am” the two best friends said in unison before swiftly going upstairs to change their clothes.
“To me and Nico, those two always listen... it's almost a miracle!”
Most of the other crewmates chuckled in response.
After what seemed quite some time and half an hour prior to the party's starting time, Ryan and Ezekiel were finally ready. They both wore the same clothes because they felt like 'twinning', except for the fact that they didn't wear them in the same colour palette, of course. Ryan's outfit had the orange colour palette, while Ezekiel's had the yellow one. In any case, they both wore a psychedelic short-sleeved T-shirt with a chest pocket with loose-fitting jeans and fitting sneakers. Little did anyone know that underneath, however, diapers were also present, even if they weren't covered like in Sam and Oswald's cases.
“We're good to go” they chuckled to Pepper.
“Then let's” Nico said, as they stood up and clapped their hands hard.
The party had started around 5:30 p.m., and all of the living buildings of the A row were invited, including A-1, where the main cast lived. There were six rows of buildings, so that was a good resource to have eveningly opening parties on the Airship until it would officially become a missionary location.
For the party only, speakers were hung on the ceiling of almost every room, and they played quite the variety of songs that one would mostly hear on the radio, so nothing special, really. The music was provided by one of the two computers in the communications room, and since it was all being played automatically, nobody was actually there to keep an eye on that computer.
Most of the guests were present in the kitchen since they were all smitten with the foods and drinks, while one-third of the totality preferred to be in the lounge room to play some darts, billiards or one of the board or card games.
“It's an honour of you to invite us to the first official opening party of the Airship, RHM” Nico said, as they rose their glass of champagne. “Cheers to this one.”
“Cheers indeed” RHM said, clinking his glass against the green-clad crewmate's. “What do you think? Nice atmosphere for a party, huh?”
“Surely. Not too formal, and not too informal either. I fully approve of it. Are you still planning on a speech, by the way?”
“Oh, good of you to mention it, I indeed should! However, it's probably too much of a hassle to gather everyone within the blink of an eye, so I insist on doing this in the communications room.”
“In that case, I'll go with you.”
“I think the manager should do the same.”
“What are they even planning?” Ryan whispered in Ezekiel's ear. “They kind of look like they're... plotting? I don't know, really.”
“Let them be” Ezekiel replied. “They probably want to gather everyone here for a speech, but that'll take too long with this many guests, trust me.” He threw the last few centilitres of beer into his system and belched hard. “Dude, this beer fucking slaps. You should take a second order soon, too.”
Meanwhile, in the lounge room...
“It was a good tip of you guys to still go in a... you-know-what” Izuki said to Sam and Oswald. “Like, there are only four toilets around here, and before you know it, they're all occupied while nearly everyone is drunk and consistently throwing up and/or suffering from the runs.”
“Good thing they actually made the atmosphere around here a little familiar” Hermie said, “judging from the fact that diapers are still present in the med-bay.” Some looks went her way. “What, can't I approve of something that's actually good for once?! Izuki is probably right about the drunk thing!”
“Yeah” a neighbouring crewmate with black, shaggy hair, rectangular glasses and buck teeth stated, “she's right, since the alcohol is quite popular now...”
“I always feel like--” one song sounded from the speakers, until it was mercilessly interrupted by some sort of radio noise, followed by RHM's voice as amplified by a microphone. “Dear crewmates!”
“Ooh, a speech...!” Oswald whispered, “and not just one either...!”
“I want to thank you all for attending the first official opening party of this fine Airship. In a week, this will officially become a missionary location for missions alongside the Skeld ship, Mira HQ and Polus. I know you lot are very eager about this, and to be honest, so am I.” Some snickering of the crewmate leaders and manager were heard. “Hereby, I'd like to bring out a digital toast to this party and the upcoming opening of this location for all of the living buildings in the A row! Cheers!”
“Cheers!” everyone else in the Airship exclaimed back.
“Thank you, thank you. Now, to go back to the party itself...!” The song that was interrupted just now was simply being played from the start again.
“Hey, you guys” Henry the assistant said as he entered the lounge. “Would you like anything to eat and/or drink?”
Nearly everyone (mainly over the age of 21) replied with an alcoholic beverage and some savoury snacks, because what would a party possibly be without them?
“Does the cafeteria also serve cherry coke?” Oswald asked. “Preferably completely sugar-free.”
“Could I please have some apple juice?” Sam asked.
“Yes, we also have cherry coke and apple juice for you guys. Everything will be coming right up!” Henry swiftly went back to the cafeteria for the orders.
“Apple juice...” an arrogant ginger crewmate snickered. “How childish!” They soon got smacked in their face by their buck-toothed acquaintance, though. “Ouch! Can't I express my opinion?”
“Not in an illogical way, no, Jordan” he said. “But that young gothic lady was right with her and the nerdy boy's statement just now.”
“Yeah, but that dumb blondie who asked for apple juice also has a plushie with them, and I don't think that's acceptable for a civilised crewmate.”
“Yes it is! Good gravy, why can't you just let people do what they want?”
Lyn, who was just in a heated game of billiards, decided that it was enough with the bickering, and she practically slammed her cue down to shove the two neighbouring crewmates away from one another.
“Don't just judge people like that... Jordan!” she snapped to the ginger. “You don't know what Sam's been through, and you probably don't want to know either since the majority of that is... not quite positive, to say the least.”
The buck-toothed crewmate smiled and applauded in approval, as did most of the other crewmates in the lounge.
“You're a confident someone to just say that with such thought deep within you” the mother crewmate named Jolene said. “Could I get your name?”
“It's Lyn. That's L-Y-N, by the way.”
“Well, Lyn, you look like you're possibly a very skilled crewmate for someone who only just started. Oh, don't ask how I know. I've seen Nico's message back when they lost Holden, Davey, Cal and Monika in that nasty crash recently. Very sad, but I'm glad that you're willing to resume their honour.” She adjusted Jerry, her baby son, in a more comfortable position.
“We're also newbies” Izuki said as he pointed at himself, Sam and Oswald. “I'm Izuki, by the way, not to be confused with Izuku.”
“I'm Oswald” the nervous redhead said, “and this is Sam, my... moirail.” He quickly turned to Sam, who seemed a tad nervous at the moment. “Are you still doing alright?”
“I wanna huddle in the med-bay with you, Ozzy...” they whispered.
“Ah, obvious.” The germaphobe briefly turned towards his fellow crewmates. “Sam is a tad tired. If you're looking for us, we'll be at the med-bay, alright?”
“Alrighty” Lyn said.
“Do whatever pleases you” Izuki said.
“I might just head there soon too” Hermie said.
Oswald lifted Sam into his arms and they calmly made their way towards the quiet med-bay, where they made themselves comfortable on one of the beds.
“A bit crammy” Sam chuckled tiredly, “but I'll let it slide for now.” They huddled their chin into the top of Chu's head as Oswald popped their pacifier into their mouth. “Ah, that'th a lot bettah. Thankth, Oz-- I mean... Dada.”
“It left a massive impression on you, huh, Sammy baby?” the nervous crewmate whispered. “And that Jordan person wasn't too nice either... they should seriously learn their manners.”
“I agwee...”
Only a little later, Henry, along with his co-assistants Ellie and Charles, happened to pass by with some foods and drinks, and he almost dropped his tray upon suddenly seeing Oswald and Sam on the bed.
“Are you guys feeling alright?” he asked somewhat anxiously.
“Relax, Henry” the redhead chuckled, “Sam's just... tired, that's all. And they don't want to be alone, since we're moirails, you know?”
“Oh, I see...” The clumsy assistant briefly turned to his colleagues. “Do you mind if I drop off two drinks here?”
“No, no” Charles said, “do whatever pleases you. Ellie and I will be at the lounge.” He and his bright-red-haired colleague went off carefully with their trays.
“Then, there you guys go. One completely sugar-free cherry coke and one apple juice.” Henry placed the drinks on the vacant bed, but couldn't help but notice one certain detail about Sam. “Oh! I... I didn't...”
“It's completely normal” Oswald said laconically, noticing that his moirail's pacifier was apparently seen. “Nobody is too old to have a binky. 'Too old' is also just an illusion, you know?”
“Y... yeah... sorry, I really don't know how to react normally... please forgive me... I... just barely see it every day, but from now on, I probably will...”
“Not quite a need to apologise, but thank you for the drinks, too.”
“Oh... anytime...!” Henry breathed deeply, patted Oswald's shoulder and ruffled Sam's hair, and carefully went off with his still occupied tray.
“The wohld thtill be weahning...” Sam lisped with a slight smile.
Oswald got up from the bed, swiftly drained his cherry coke to ease his nervousness, and subsequently took something out of his utility bag.
“Guess what, Sammy baby...” he softly chuckled as he showed them their nursing bottle before screwing it open and pouring the apple juice into it.
“Aw, thank you, Dada...! That be tho thweet of you...!”
“Now, open up the hatch...!” The nervous crewmate sat back on the bed and started bottle-feeding his 'baby'. “It's a good thing that I secretly decided to bring it, huh...?”
Sam simply smiled in between their session of drinking, and they also swiftly drained their drink, most likely to ease their own nervousness as well. Once their thirst was quenched, they popped their pacifier back into their mouth and closed their eyes.
“We should probably head back home, judging from your energy level, Sammy baby” Oswald chuckled. “Remember how Nico said they won't mind that?” He got up from the bed and lifted Sam back into his arms.
“You awtho be tiwed, Dada...” Sam mumbled. “We thould bwuth ouh teeth an' go to thweep...”
“Not a bad idea. Then let's.”
The two moirails headed back to their living building, and on their way, nobody in the Airship really minded the fact that Sam 'slept' in Oswald's arms with their plushie and pacifier. The world is indeed still learning that a sight like this is very often not negative at all.
