A/N: i got a PM that there are some errors in the last couple of chapters that I either couldn't catch because of my screen reader or was blind to even after the many, many times I read and reread over them. Along with the usual feedback on what you thought of this chapter, a little advice on how to deal with those issues would be appreciated. Not that I'll djust ignore them because I hate the process of crossposting edits or anything like that… cough cough.

Yellow could see the tenseness in Red immediately as soon as her words left her mouth. The exact reason behind it wasn't quite clear to her yet, but it would be very soon. It had to be. It had only been less than a day, and she already felt like she couldn't go on this way. So how bad would it get if she let it continue? If they let it continue?

She took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully. She needed to get this right. "I didn't sleep well last night both because i was still trying to process everything I learned and how to deal with it from here on out. And I realized that even though you pretty much know my feelings and motivations through this whole… incident, I didn't and still don't know yours. I just assumed. First when i thought we were on the same page about being friends and the second time yesterday when the cat was let outa the bag and I assumed you were pure evil. That's just how the human mind works, i guess. We want to think that everything is either good or bad, black or white, that there's a hard line between the two you know? But things are hardly ever that simple, and I'm seriously doubting that this is an exception. … So, if you would be willing, I'd like you to tell me your side of the story from the beginning, far back as you can. That way we'll both know each other's perspectives and can work things out from there. Sound good?"

was that sadness in their eyes just for a minute? No, no—she can't assume, she needs to get the facts first and then she can look back on everything. Whatever the case, they now appear to be gathering themselves before beginning.

"My people are pretty much obsessed with the whole 'impostor' thing, so much so that our whole society revolves around it. Maybe we had another name at one time, other culture, but not anymore. On my planet, you are either an impostor or you're nothing. We have what you'd probably consider to be our true form, but we take humanoid shape as soon as we are able and stay that way for the most part. We speak this language even when it's just us to the point where we're more fluent in it than our supposed native tongue. It's honestly an extremely ugly sounding language though so I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing."

They clear their throat as they get back on topic. "A-anyway, we start training at these big isolated academies at a very young age, to learn how to blend in and sabotage the crew. I don't even remember my parents at all, that's how young I was. But I… well let's just say I wasn't winning any popularity contests, with my classmates or instructors."

"It took me forever to master even the most basic of sabotages. I couldn't see even a drop of blood without getting sick. I had to repeat classes who knows how many times. But I still wouldn't give up, because if I did I'd have to work some sort of menial labor job, which would automatically make me the lowest class citizen which I did not want. So I tried and tried until finally, I graduated with barely passing marks and was approved to go on my first mission, this one."

Yellow could feel her eyes widening. This was Red's very first mission? Cool because it means they never killed anyone, bad because ouch that must have made their self-esteem take a nosedive seeing as what happened with that.

"I… was made fun of a lot. Everyone was sure I'd get ejected before making so much as one kill since I was so terrible during practice runs, i was always the first one voted out. So I was determined to prove them wrong, that I could be as good an impostor as they were, that I was worthy of being a part of their society. So I arrive on the ship, meet the crew, and you immediately draw my attention. You were so naive, you didn't even know what an impostor was which seemed impossible for me. So I thought…" They trail off, not sure how to finish the sentence. Since Yellow is pretty sure she knows how this ends, she decides to help.

"You thought that I'd make a good first kill." Maybe it's just the sleep deprivation making her more confident, but she is surprised how easy it is to say, like having someone planning on murdering you is a normal everyday thing. Maybe it was because she'd had hours with nothing to do but think? Either way she was invested in this story now and wanted to see it through to the end. She had a hunch on where it was going and prayed that she was correct.

Red nods. "So I find you in Admón and go to vent to your location, and imagine my surprise when I find you doing the same! But more than that was how you were so calm about it, like this was just a normal thing. And even after I was clearly sus, you still wanted to make an alliance with me, wanted to be friends with me. That really didn't make sense."

Yellow holds back a snort. "Yeah to be honest, there was always a nagging suspicion in my mind that you could be the impostor, but like i said yesterday I felt a connection to you and that was stronger than yoursusness for me. I know it was naive and dumb of me but… I just wanted a friend so freaking bad and you seemed to be willingly giving it. Oh sorry for interrupting, please continue."

"It's fine. anyway I accepted because yes it would be good to have someone to vouch for me. But then when I went after Green when he was cleaning the cafeteria, you showed up to get a snack. And then when I went after Purple, you were there again. It wasn't the fact that I was being sabotaged that made me so angry at the time; it was the fact that you were doing it so effortlessly, by complete accident that blew me up the wall. I mean it's one thing to lose against someone who's actually trying, being accidentally sabotaged over, and over, and over was a whole other level of humiliation that I'd never experienced before."

Yeah, my conclusion was right earlier, no wonder I aced English class. Ouch.

"But even after all of that, i never did consider trying to kill you again. You are right that I could have easily done it in the vents and no one would notice for a couple days at least, but I never even thought of that. Maybe it's because I'm so terrible at being an impostor, or maybe… even back then… I started to feel the 'connection' you talked about."

Yellow snapped to alertness at those words. This couldn't be real, could it? She had to be dreaming or something. She looked deep into Red's eyes and… she'd never seen them like this before, clearly full of sincerity to her. They'd never quite spoken in this way before either; their tone had lost a certain edge to it that she hadn't noticed it had until it went away.

"Yeah, you may have kept sabotaging me, but you also did something else that no one did before. You treated me like an individual person and not just another cog in the machine that needed to be polished and bent into shape so it would work right. And that… sort of counterbalanced the negative parts… for a while."

"the emergency meeting," Yellow realized.

Red nods. "That… was not pleasant at all. I was reminded of why i had come and I was angry. Not at you, I see that now after thinking about it, I was mad at myself. I was mad at myself for getting distracted, for failing my one true purpose in life and it was all my fault, and I would die as a worthless piece of trash out in space. But i didn't want it to be my fault I—I wanted someone else to blame for all my troubles for once. To have at least that one shred of peace. And I chose the obvious. But… now that I think about it, even though I said those things to you, they were never really meant for you at all."

It's perfectly clear to Yellow now exactly what Red means. The impostor was actually calling themself pathetic. Berating themself for leeching off of others and not giving anything valuable in return, for getting in the way of their society, calling themself naive and useless. And that broke Yellow's heart all over again.

She knew that others might think her unwise for changing her views of Red so quickly, but the way they spoke and looked now… you can't fake something like that. You just can't. It was one of those cases that deep down in her very soul, she knew all of this to be true. It was just the same with her connection with Red that she really shouldn't have doubted it so much. None of the people who'd used her before had made her feel this way, so safe and accepted.

"I'm sorry, Yellow." Their apology, too, was delivered with that unbridled honesty. "I did lie to you, and you were right that it was extremely cruel. All of this is. I never should have done any of it and I'm really, really sorry."

Yellow sits, stunned, mind blown at the sincerity of it all. She can't believe this is actually happening.

"Uh…" Red seems to be a bit flustered, but yellow can't imagine why; they'd just spilled pretty much everything. At least, until they spoke again. "I also thought about the stuff you said yesterday and… well I couldn't believe that I made you feel that way before even when I wasn't actively trying to. I know that this might be selfish of me to ask after all I've done but… i-if you'd be willing, I'd like to try this whole friendship thing again. To be like we were before, except without the whole secretly plotting the crew's murder thing. To… make you feel accepted and stuff… but on… purpose this time. S-so, w-what do you say, Yellow? Wanna be my vent buddy?"

Yellow barely kept herself from squealing when she realized that they had asked the same way that she had done. she didn't, however, stop herself from leaping out of her chair, making Red jump out of theirs due to being startled.

"Are you kidding me? I've wanted that more than anything since our fight yesterday, but I thought I'd never have that again cuz like I said before, assumed you to be pure evil. But now that i know that I was wrong and we really were friends at least to an extent, of course I wanna keep going with it! Besides we are roommates now, so it would be pretty awkward going the way we were before."

Red looks surprised. "We're still doing that?"

Yellow snorts. "We may be vent buddies again, but that doesn't mean I can stop watching you. Rest of the crew's still on the fence, remember?"

Their face falls somewhat. "…oh."

"But it's cool; I'm sure you can make up with them later. For now… Can i hug you?"

And for the first time she can remember, Yellow sees Red smile as they hold out their arms for her.. "Of course."

Yellow feels her face practically split apart with a grin as she eagerly hugs the impostor, only realizing now how much she had missed their warmth. And how not suit like their "suit" felt. And when they wrapped their arms around her [she realized this was the first time they'd hugged her back how had she not noticed that before?] they were so gentle about it, as though she was an extremely fragile thing that could easily break as she must actually be compared to them as she's pretty sure impostor bodies can take more damage than human ones. It's just another sign that they really do care. She thinks with happiness.

Suddenly the gravity that she actually has her vent buddy back hits her (or maybe it's just her emotions being out of whack from sleep deprivation who knows) and her eyes begin to sting a bit. Red pulls back suddenly. "A-are you okay? … I-I didn't hurt you did I?"

"Not at all," She says, smiling through the slight tears. "Humans can also cry when they're really happy, or well any intense emotion really. Right now, it's cuz I'm happy. I know it might not make sense since you've technically been here all along, but I've really missed you."

"I missed you too."

Then they're hugging again, and Red doesn't seem to mind how long she clings to them (she has a problem where she hugs for socially unacceptable amounts of time.) But given the gentle rumble that has started up in their chest (a bit like purring but also not) they were getting as much enjoyment out of it as she was.

But right now, Yellow just couldn't make herself care that she was creating yet another oxytocin addict. Red was so wonderfully squishy and warm, and they were such a good hugger even though this was their first time, and it wouldn't hurt if she leaned on them a little more and closed her eyes just for a little bit…

Red was surprised out of the warm tingly daze they found themselves put into by Yellow and her strange hugging powers when she slackened in their hold, and her breathing and heart rate slowed. They gently moved her a bit to check, only to find that she had fallen asleep. The poor girl must've been completely exhausted and now that she had been relieved of her burden from last night, her mind could finally relax. and it was sure relaxed, alright.

A small squealing sound broke them from their thoughts, and they turned (slowly so as not to wake Yellow because that would be a crime) to see—

"P-Purple?"

"A-ah!" The medic gasped at being noticed and looked ready to bolt but held her ground. "Uh, hi Red. That was really adorable."

"How long have you been standing there, exactly?"

Purple looked even more anxious, fidgeting in place. "Uh, well actually I came here for breakfast just about as soon as you guys both sat down."

Red sighed. Great. they didn't plan on having an audience other than Yellow for that whole thing.

"I'm glad that you guys made up," Purple continued, seemingly oblivious to the impostor's turmoil. "And sorry about… well never mind, I know you didn't mean for me to know about all that so I won't talk about it until you want to."

"I appreciate that, thank you." They say, and they meant it. "Oh, and Purple?"

"Yeah?"

"…Sorry for scaring you. When I sabotaged the lights."

"Oh, so that was you. I mean I was pretty sure that it was after the whole thing yesterday but i wasn't certain. Yeah, I'm… I'm afraid of the dark."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. Anyway, I'm going to tell White to let someone else take over for Yellow today. She's obviously exhausted, and you don't seem much better either."

Now that the medic mentioned it, they did feel really tired. They nodded gratefully. "Thanks, that'd be great."

"Good. And by the way, if you ever wanted to… talk to the rest of the crew about this stuff… we've got the security footage here so if that would make it easier for you—"

"there's a camera in here?" they cut Purple off accidentally. they'd checked the security cameras and only found them in hallways and not rooms.

"Yeah, apparently there's a tiny one hidden in the wall somewhere that I needed a code to access it and some in other rooms. I can't imagine why that would be, I'll have to ask MIRA next time we stop by HQ."

Why would MIRA hide something like that? they wonder, surprised. that's not sus at all… it was almost enough to distract them from the fact that their intimate heartfelt moment with Yellow just now was all caught on film, almost.

"Yeah well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't show that to anyone else, at least for now. This whole talking about feelings thing is very new to me and I'd like more time to get accustomed to all of this."

Purple nods understandingly. "Got it. Now, I'll go tell White that Yellow won't be doing tasks today; you two go get some rest."

"Will do." And with that they're sprouting a few tendril appendages so they can more easily pick Yellow up, (much to Purple's fascination with a dash of fear) and carried her towards their room. They're not sure what possessed them to do these things so blatantly in front of the crew, but it was as nerve wracking as it was… freeing in a way? Like they could finally just relax and be themself, whatever that meant. But they could figure all of that out once they and Yellow had rested.

The exhaustion seemed to engulf them completely as they walked into their room. Yellow was still fast asleep, but when they tried to gently pry her off and put her into her bed, her grip tightened again and she made a discontented noise.

Well, guess I'm staying here, then. they decide, carefully maneuvering them both into Yellow's bed and pulling up the covers. Really, it was the least they could do.

Red thought that they might have trouble both fitting, but given the way Yellow all but engulfed them as soon as they both layer down the impostor didn't think that would be a problem. In no time they were out cold just like their human friend, and had the most restful sleep they'd ever had in their life.