There were two reasons why Yellow had refused to become a lawyer, or any job relating to the court. First because it was buttdragingly boring, and second because she did not want to have the power to decide whether someone lived or died in any capacity. The very idea horrified her, and yet the universe was forcing it upon her anyway. And for the person she had no idea how to feel about no less. well she did, but she also didn't? It was complicated…

Her brain was still filled with rage and sadness, believing one hundred percent of the words she'd said, that they were the cruelest person she'd ever met pretending to be her friend just to torture her. But her heart on the other hand? It was trying to suppress it, like a little boy trying not to cry because of the messed up gender rolls society pushes on us at such a tender age, but it was still there. A spark. A twinge. A soft little voice, asking 'What if?' What if their friendship had been real, even if just a little? What if Red had kept her alive afterwords not to torture her, but because they'd begun to care as well, just a little teeny bit? Maybe? Hopefully? … Please?

And even if they hadn't, what right did that give the girl to say whether they lived or died? Especially since they never even actually gotten around to murdering anybody, not even managing to make an attempt. Thanks to Yellow…

I managed to stop them from killing anyone before, albeit accidentally. I could keep doing it. But can we really afford to take that risk? If I'm wrong and they're as evil as they make themself out to seem and I mess up… if they do kill somebody… Yellow didn't know if she could forgive herself if her actions caused one of her crewmate's deaths. That should make the choice obvious, right? Wrong, because that same logic applied to Red too, even though she now knew that they weren't actually a crewmate at all. They still felt like one to her. Despite everything, she still felt that attachment to them that she'd felt before; it was frayed and brittle, but it was still intact. The thought of them spiraling helplessly out of the airlock, dying in the void of space because of her choice—it made her feel sick. So that wasn't an option; that left only one.

She clears her throat softly, ensuring she has the whole crew's attention before speaking. "I've made up my mind." She says as confidently as she can muster, voice a little raspy from her emotional breakdown earlier. "Even though this hurts, a lot, I just don't think we should eject Red, at least right now. They only vented and sabotaged the lights that one time, and that's just not bad enough to deserve death—Green, don't start, I'm not finished." She adds when she notices that said guy was about to start ranting. He closes his mouth frustratedly and is quiet.

"Yeah, i know that they thought about killing us, but they never really got around to attempting it. Surely at least one of you has thought about murdering someone before. And yes i know it's not quite the same, but it's very similar."

"Surely you don't plan on letting them roam free though," Green says, keeping his voice low so as not to get stopped again.

"Of course I don't. I'll be with them 'round the clock, not that I wasn't doing that anyway. After all i did a great job keeping them from killing anyone before, I can do it again. I can even follow them through the vents if necessary, so I'm clearly the one best for the job. If they do really try and hurt someone again or sabotage the ship, then, and only then, will we eject them."

white mulled this over for a moment. "I suppose that's reasonable. Everyone else?"

"…I think it'll work." Purple says.

"Didn't think you could be so serious Yellow, but yeah it's good I guess." Blue added.

"Personally I'd be more comfortable if we just ejected them now, but I'm clearly outnumbered soooo…" Green.

"Then it's settled." White said, turning swiftly to Red. "red, you've been granted clemency. Don't blow it."

{Red is an impostor, but was not ejected.}

{One impostor remains…}

Yellow wiped the sweat off of her brow. she and Red had finally managed to get the latter's bed into her room, and even with the impostor's extreme strength, it was quite the ordeal. It was at moments like these that they wished they could turn off the gravity generator for a bit to make things like this easier. and also, they were really wishing they'd just kept their mouth shut back at the meeting. If they had, things wouldn't be so weird now. Yellow wouldn't be so stoic and quiet when she was usually so cheerful and upbeat.

"…Are you really comfortable with this?" The impostor asked before they could stop themselves. It wasn't really the best thing to say after all this, but they couldn't take it back now—couldn't take any of it back.

Red let out a deep sigh, plopping down on her bed across the room from where she had put theirs. "Honestly, not really. But you had plenty of chances to kill me before which you didn't take, don't see why you'd start now, especially after I spared your butt. Also, I'd be even less comfortable with you being a good ways away from me after I promised to watch you. I take my tasks very seriously, you know."

"I… I guess that's fair…" They follow yellow's example and sit down on their bed as they trail off. there was so much more they wanted to say to Yellow, but it all got jumbled up in their brain before it could reach their mouth until they weren't even sure what it had been to begin with.

So they just sat, silent. Useless.

Yellow opens a drawer next to her bed and pulls out a coloring book and some crayons. She flips it open to what seems to be a random page and begins coloring. Red watches. they aren't sure what else to do, what else they should do. Even though they're at the right temperature, their body feels cold. But like the pains in their chest from earlier, it was more inner than their actual body.

A splotch of pink catches the corner of their eye, and they turn to see Axie and Lottie. They don't know if it's just their imagination or if they're just projecting, but the axolotls seem to be moving a bit less animated than before. They surely couldn't fathom what had taken place in the cafeteria earlier, but perhaps they could sense the change in atmosphere.

"Urgh!" Yellow's angry exclamation makes Red jump, and they turn towards her in time to see her thrust the book and crayons on top of her bedside drawers. She stands up, hands balled into fists, and begins pacing erratically.

"Are you… o—"

"No." Yellow says harshly, cutting them off. "No, no nononono…." She trails off, muttering more to herself then to the impostor. She then stops, suddenly, turning towards them with an unreadable expression. "do you actually care?"

the question is asked with a tone that seemingly wants to convey emotion but can't seem to fully bring itself to. Red doesn't like this new Yellow. She's strange and unpredictable and—

Do I care? They find themselves repeating the question in their mind, turning it over and over again. Do I care?

Unfortunately Yellow doesn't notice that their lack of response was because of thought, or she's just too caught up in her own emotional turmoil to notice. "Ugh i was probably right the first time, wasn't I? You just hung out with me for the lolz, right?"

"what? I… I wanted to have someone to back me up… to vouch for me," they confess. For some reason they felt like being honest was right in this situation.

Yellow laughs, but it's not like any she's done before. It lacked all humor and joy. "Ahaha, of course. I'd be the perfect one for that, wouldn't I? Betcha if I walked in on you standing over a dead body, covered in blood, my stupid self would still find a way to justify it."

"I—"

"I don't want to talk anymore." Yellow says bluntly, and if anything else, Red is glad that at least her honesty is still there. She turns off the lights, leaving only the faint glow of distant stars out the window to aluminate the room. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Good night." She gets under the covers and rolls over, back turned to the alien.

"…Good night," They say softly, and get into bed themselves. Still, they can't help but glance across the room at their x-vent buddy ever so often. Her chest is rising and falling slowly, but it looks fake, like she's forcing herself to breathe deeply.

and that's when it hits them like a laser. they don't know why it does, or how, but they somehow know. the pain they've been suffering, the coldness inside of them. That feeling… it's guilt.