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(A/N: For anyone reading, feel free to use the first names I give these characters in your own writings if you want. Heck, use the head-canons and backstories too if you like them. Or even any ideas in general. They're pretty open-source.)

Triangle

Ryley got along well with Engineer Berkeley and CTO Yu. Ozzy had figured from the start that he would, particularly with Berkeley, and sure enough the chef had been right. He always was. The man had a good sense for people and relationships. Ryley got the feeling it probably stemmed from his years running a café. Goodness knew how many woes had been spilled out on him. Goodness knew how many people he dealt with on a daily basis. In a job like that, where being a people person was an asset, you were bound to catch onto the subtle nuances better than most.

"Robinson," Berkeley said as Ryley joined him in the cargo bay after being summoned there by Hinkle—a technician and member of the command team who oversaw Parts and Services—and Senior Engineer LaFette. Neither of them met him when he arrived though. They were busy with their own tasks. It was instead Berkeley who was tasked to greet him and give him the rundown.

"What's happening?" Ryley signed.

"An issue with the vending machines," Berkeley replied.

"Apparently the Technicians and Engineers can't live without them," Yu said from behind. Ryley turned curiously and saw her approaching them with an amused smile.

"Don't lump me into that lot," Berkeley said.

"Why? You're by far the worst," Yu answered without missing a beat.

"Funny," Berkeley dryly replied. He then looked at Ryley. "Once you're done with this child's play, I have something a little more substantial I could use your eye on."

"If anyone sees me working outside my job description, I'm fired and brigged faster than you can blink," Ryley signed.

"Yes, well fortunately for you I know how to dance the fine line between essential and non-essential damn near perfect," Berkeley replied.

"Don't worry Robinson. If anyone tries to get on your case for it, I'll jump on theirs," Yu added, a twinkle in her eye. "I've already set Hinkle straight, so that's one less problem you need to worry about." Ryley tentatively smiled. Truth be told, even though Yu was technically his immediate supervisor, he hadn't been around her or Berkeley much. Yu's absence was understandable. She was busy and only getting busier. She, Hinkle, and LaFette made up a sort of trifecta, given how closely their departments worked together, and were constantly on the go with little time to get hands-on with their underlings. After Yu learned how Ryley had been treated by the staff he headed up though—no doubt she'd heard the story from Keen—she'd tried to get a lot more hands-on. Started using Berkeley as a go-between for her and him.

"Come on, deal with the vending machines and the coffee maker and I'll show you the other thing," Berkeley said.

"The coffee maker. Now there's the real essential," Yu said with a somewhat self-deprecating smirk. "Hey Berkeley, you know how they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach? Well, the way to mine is through caffeine. Something to think about."

"Bite me," Berkeley said.

"You say as if I haven't already," she replied, walking away. Ryley started and looked at Berkeley in disbelief, who was as red as red could possibly get. Ryley raised an incredulous eyebrow.

"I… she was kidding!" Berkeley insisted a little too quickly. Ryley kept staring him down. He shifted uncomfortably. "We were a little drunk!" he blurted gracelessly.

"How often have the two of you been a little drunk?" Ryley signed, a mischievous and teasing glint lighting up his eyes.

Berkeley grimaced then sighed defeatedly, resigning himself to the fact he'd just been exposed. All he could really do at this point was keep as much of his dignity intact as he still could. "More times than she's been a little drunk with Keen," he answered. "The hell does she see in him anyway?"

"Right. The hell does she see in the tall, handsome, sophisticated, battle-scarred, no-nonsense, commanding presence that is Second Officer Keen?" Ryley signed.

"Go to hell, Robinson," Berkeley replied.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to pry into that drama. It would just be too depressing," Ryley signed.

"How about you go do your job?" Berkeley bluntly replied, eyes narrowed and arms crossed. "Come find me when you're done, and I'll show you the other matter." He stormed off in a bitter temper and Ryley winced, feeling a little bad. He really hoped he hadn't pushed it too far with Berkeley. He hadn't meant to upset him. Much.

Subnautica

It was about an hour before Ryley figured out what was going on with the vending and coffee machines. When he did, he couldn't help but smirk in amusement. They'd been sabotaged. By two separate people. If he had to guess? Berkeley and Yu. Doubtless each of them had decided to go and sabotage the thing the other held dearest just to see how it worked out. He was genuinely curious how that would go over. He chuckled and stood up, dusting his hands off against one another. The two could really get under his skin sometimes, especially when they went after the escape pod supplies or other things he looked after, but hey, it was ultimately just something to do up in the dead of space. He supposed he should go find Berkeley now. His smile fell a little. Apologize also, he inwardly added before setting off.

He found Berkeley in the Prawn Suit bay, examining some of the damaged suits and looking mildly annoyed. Ryley cleared his throat as he approached. "Huggins has been using the prawn suits to play catch with meteors again," Berkeley said, looking back at Ryley.

"I'm sorry for what I said," Ryley signed.

"No, it's alright. You're honestly not wrong anyways," Berkeley ruefully said. "At the end of the day I'm her side piece at best. She never admits it, and Keen always denies it, but it was always him she had it worse for."

"I mean, to be fair Keen's not an easy guy to compete with," Ryley signed with a dry look on his face.

Berkeley snorted, a smile dancing on his lips. "True enough." A sad and somewhat rueful look filled his eyes. "He has it all. Looks, brains, build, height, authority, conviction, courage…" Ryley grimaced. His own smaller stature had always been a sore spot for him, which lowkey added to his resentment of Keen, petty as it was. Berkeley shook his head bitterly. "Really what chance do men like you and I have against that?"

"Ouch," Ryley signed, frowning.

Berkeley ruefully smirked. "Deny it," he challenged. Ryley grimaced a bit. "The man has at the very least a head on most every other male aboard this ship say Ozzy, a few others, and the absolute unit that is Hollister."

Ryley outright laughed at this. Hollister was indeed something else. Burly, big, and in better shape than most young men, woe to any upstart who tried to take him on in a wrestling match. Ryley had seen it happen. "Ozzy told me that once upon a time, Keen as a young upstart tried to take the captain on in a wrestling match and walked away completely humiliated," he signed.

"You can bet I would have paid to see that," Berkeley said. "John is over six feet and built like an athlete. A prize to be sure. Her prize. I'm really just the consolation."

"Is Keen even interested in women? Or in any relationship at all?" Ryley dryly signed. He'd never seen the man express interest in anyone, frankly. Well, besides Yu, but even that was more a casual interest than a genuine intrigue it seemed. Berkeley knew the SO far better than he did though.

"Keen is… indifferent. Not disinterested, not interested. I've seen him serious about Yu and no one else. In high school he experimented a little. Decided it really wasn't his cup of tea, but probably wasn't out of the cards either if he got interested enough," Berkeley said with a shrug. "Whether that's stood the test of time and the passing of raging teenaged hormones I don't know. Nor do I particularly care. The point is he still displays enough interest in Yu to keep her hopes up, but not enough for her to believe it's a guarantee. The man gets under her skin like no one's business. Frustrates her. I think she likes that. Considers it a challenge."

"So why are you still holding onto her?" Ryley signed curiously.

Berkeley ruefully smiled. "Because she's my Keen. Displays just enough interest to keep my hopes up, but not enough for me to believe it'll be a guarantee, and I'm just mad enough that I'll accept as much up until the day she makes her final choice."

"I could never be bothered with any of that. Not that anyone was ever really interested in the short mute with a testy temper," Ryley signed with a somewhat bitter expression on his face.

"Lucky you," Berkeley said, smiling wryly. "It'll save you from this sort of drama. Anyways, down to business."

"What did you want me to look at?" Ryley signed, nodding in agreement.

"To be honest? Nothing. I just wanted to see how you've been holding up. I haven't exactly been blind to how your subordinates treat you, or to the tumultuous tension with Keen, or to the disdain and prejudice you've been subjected to every day since we embarked on this ridiculous voyage… You've gone from having numerous allies to very few, and I'm… Oh blast it all, I'm worried about you," Berkeley said. "So is Yu, but she's not going to be the one to say it, so I might as well."

Ryley started, then looked deeply touched. There was a pause. "That was… unexpected. Thank you, Cameron. For caring enough to check up. It's been… something else," Ryley finally signed, smiling fondly but ruefully at the man. "Keen helped make it a lot more bearable, to be fair, but still."

Berkeley sighed. "John is a good man beneath the no-nonsense, all business, Alterran exterior. You just have to work to find it is all. Sometimes he'll give you glimpses, but it's all you'll ever get until he considers you a trusted friend. Or ally at the very least."

"I know," Ryley signed, looking a little disheartened. "I believe you, and Oz, and Hollister, and everyone else who's ever said it to me. It just… it feels like earning his respect or anything more than his disdain is out of the cards for me at this point."

Berkeley looked sympathetic and nodded. "You want to know how many years it took me to break through?" he asked. Ryley tilted his head curiously. "Six or seven, thereabouts," he continued with a smirk. "I met the man in childhood, and the only reason I got anywhere with him at all was because I was two or three years younger, admired and looked up to him, and clung to him like a leech. Yu and I followed John around like puppies for years, despite all his attempts to drive us away, and by the time I reached high school, he'd become accustomed to our presences. Suddenly, almost overnight, he became extremely protective towards me. Never would have made it beyond freshman year if not for him. I half suspect his sudden turnaround had something to do with Yu. She and Keen hit it off a little faster then me and Keen did, and I suspect heavily that was because of how persistent and determined Saran is. When she sets her mind on something, she does it, and you're not going to have a hope in hell of stopping her. Keen calls her the most aggravating woman he's ever known."

"Because she pierces through his armor and sees past the airs he puts on," Ryley signed, nodding. "Funny how that works out for some and backfires for others."

"It's all about how you present to him the fact you can see through him," Berkeley said.

"Too little too late now," Ryley signed with a sigh.

"I wouldn't say too late," Berkeley replied. "You're just going to have to work a little harder than most. Honestly, if you don't want to put forth that kind of effort, no one will blame you. It takes determination beyond the ability of most to break through to Keen as is, let alone for someone who earned his ire to do it." Ryley grimaced and looked down. He wasn't sure he was willing to put forth that kind of effort. "No, don't feel so bad about it," Berkeley said nudging him gently. "You're really not missing out on much." Ryley huffed a laugh, smirking, and nodded. "Now, did you find out what was wrong with the vending machine?"

"Saran Yu," Ryley signed, a glint in his eyes.

Berkeley started and frowned in annoyance. "Of course. Why am I not surprised?" he asked, crossing his arms. "I swear that hobby of hers is going to get us all killed one day."

"Death by starvation?" Ryley teased.

"Up yours Robinson," Berkeley bit, frowning at him. "But in all seriousness, no. Just the other day I nearly ended up punching a hole through the cargo bay with a repulsion canon because she in all her infinite wisdom decided to tweak the drone's programming. Said it was like me now. Didn't like being told what to do."

Ryley chuckled. "You really don't," he signed. "I've seen you drive Keen half up a wall because of it."

"How else can I get back at him?" Berkeley asked, a grin spreading across his face and a mischievous glint lighting up his eyes. "She claimed it was all that kept her from being so bored she took a spacewalk in her skivvies."

"Spicy," Ryley teased, a playful glint in his eyes. "Tell me the truth, what did that do for you?"

"No comment," Berkeley flatly said, frowning at him.

"Did you and her get a little drunk that night too?" Ryley teased.

"No comment," Berkeley answered. The smirk crossing his lips, though, told Ryley all he needed to know, and he chuckled in amusement.

"Berkeley, Robinson, back to work!" they heard someone call. Both of them grimaced and looked dryly over. Keen. "No one gave you permission to take a break. We're about to enter an asteroid belt. We need all hands on deck." Ryley and Berkeley glanced at each other out the corner of their eyes and smirked. Both of them dropped to the ground, putting their hands on the deck. Keen started and stared at them in disbelief like he couldn't comprehend what he was even seeing. Frowning, he put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes. "Don't be funny. Get up off the ground."

"Why? We're quite comfortable here," Berkeley replied.

"Cameron!" Keen snapped. Berkeley sighed in annoyance and stood with Robinson.

"How about you pull that stick out your backside for once John?" Berkeley bit. "Get a sense of humor."

"As if you're one to talk about humor," Keen bit. "You're about as dry as they come."

"At least my dry humor still passes for humor," Berkeley said, smirking as he walked by with Ryley. Ryley chuckled and Keen glared daggers into both their backs before sighing in exasperation and letting it go.

Subnautica

Ryley was more than a little pleased to find himself working alongside CTO Yu. It wasn't often he got the opportunity, and when he did, she usually delegated him tasks a little more fitting to his experience and know-how. Things that were actually somewhat challenging. "Did you find out what went wrong with the coffee machine?" Yu asked.

"Berkeley," Ryley signed, smirking.

"Humph. Of course. Why am I not surprised?" Yu said, rolling her eyes.

"Like minds," Ryley signed.

"Not really. He's more the petty revenge type," Yu said. "Getting him to retaliate is always a riot though.

"What's the story with you three anyway?" Ryley signed before taking down a rope and throwing it to her.

"Three?" Yu asked. Ryley gave her a look and she shifted a little uncomfortably. "I suppose you've heard more than a few takes on it," she said, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Just Ozzy's and Berkeley's," Ryley signed. "Honestly surprised there aren't more. It's not exactly a scandal, but it's the most interesting thing going on up here right now aside from Elheim, Wilson, and Huggins."

"Most others know how to mind their business. Usually Berkeley's pretty good at that too," Yu said. She sighed in some frustration. "I won't even try to guess what Ozzy has gleaned over the years, but I'll go out on a limb and say Berkeley's take is that he's my side piece?"

"Isn't he? I mean, Keen's not exactly easy to beat, but somehow I doubt he's very interested in that kind of pleasure," Ryley said.

Yu huffed a bit of a laugh, smirking. "You're not wrong about him being hard to beat, but believe it or not there's more to attraction than looks and presence." She finished the current task and quickly moved to the next one with Ryley.

"I'm not questioning that," Ryley signed. "I'm just curious. I mean Berkeley and Ozzy can speculate all they want, but they can't exactly presume to know your thoughts. Sometimes what others see through your actions isn't what's going on in your head."

"Oh, I know. Who's anyone to presume they know what anyone else thinks? I mean we're people, it's in our nature, and more often than you'd think, we're right. Other times, though, we couldn't be more hopelessly wrong," Yu replied. She considered the situation and sighed. "Keen was the first boy I ever crushed on, Berkeley was the first friend I ever made. Our parents knew one another well, so Berkeley and I grew up together. I met Keen in the second grade. He was in third. I'm not sure what it was, but something fascinated me about him. Berkeley and I were attached at the hip, so it was only natural Berkeley met him too, and suddenly he had a new hero. I must admit I was a little jealous. I had always been the one Cameron hung around with and looked up to before, then suddenly Keen was taking him away. That grudge faded quickly enough though, in the wake of my infatuation. In high school Keen stopped looking at me as a nuisance and began to display a little more interest. You can bet I made sure of that. By the time Cameron reached eighth grade, John and I were unofficially dating. He never was one for making things official straight away, but I was his date to prom. He promised that he would be mine as well, but… Well, you know how Keen is."

"Alterran through and through," Ryley said ruefully. "Job first, relationships last."

"It was more loyalty and love for Hollister that drove him away. He wanted to be something the man could be proud of. He wanted to prove himself. Hollister was his hero and Keen knew from the moment the captain scooped him up in his early adolescence, that one day captaining a ship like his surrogate father was what he wanted, so he put all his focus on that. He was off on an expedition come my prom, so I took Berkeley instead. The problem was Berkeley had developed something of a crush on me over the years, but I had never seen him as anything more than a little brother," Yu said.

"Ooh… The 'bro zone'," Ryley said, grimacing.

Yu harrumphed. "Anyone who says those can never be broken out of is either bold-faced lying or deep in denial," she said. "I made it clear to Berkeley on prom that he would never be more to me than a brother, and that hurt him I know, and I hated myself for it, but at the time, it was what it was. My focus in life was twofold. Career and Keen."

"Clearly that's not how it stayed given you and Cameron like getting a little drunk together," Ryley signed.

Yu outright laughed. "Is that the euphemism he used?" she said. "I like it. He was always clever that one." Ryley chuckled, nodding. Yu grinned playfully, but her eyes were sad and that couldn't be denied. She turned her head from Ryley to look elsewhere, and her sad smile vanished. He frowned in concern. "Berkeley went away to study abroad after his graduation. Get his mind off how things ended between us, get over his crush, hopefully meet someone else and forget he'd ever felt more for me than friendship… Alterrans are good at running and hiding from those sorts of things—pretending they never existed, lying to themselves about their own feelings or fleeing them… He was gone for years. When he finally returned, well, suddenly he wasn't the same little boy I remembered who always followed me around demanding answers to questions or asking for advice."

"I'll spare you the embarrassment of the cheese and say it for you. He was a man?" Ryley signed, smiling gently.

"And how," Yu said with a frustrated sigh, drawing her fingers through her hair. "Sometimes the years barely change you at all. Sometimes they make you unrecognizable. He was the latter. I was out with Keen in the park. We were sitting on a picnic table chatting, catching up on each others' lives because for the past few years, we hadn't been able to see much of one another. He'd been off expeditioning with Hollister, I'd been off studying and advancing my career. We'd missed one another so made plans to meet up and speak, then this young man who looked familiar but that we couldn't place approached us and we fell quiet because we both felt like we'd seen him somewhere but couldn't remember where. He was young, healthy, extremely good-looking. He actually garnered a wary frown from Keen, who presumed he was coming to make a play for one or the other of us. He said our names and we must have looked completely confused because then he sighed and said, 'You don't recognize me, do you?'. It was about that time it clicked. I can't imagine how flabbergasted we must have looked, because he smirked and chuckled with that ridiculously attractive little glint in his eyes showing up and those cute little dimples on his cheeks… The features he gets when he lets his humor shine through and chase away the stoic, dull, annoyed look usually on his face. I remember flushing. I remember my heart skipping a beat. I remember feeling ashamed about it because, well…"

"For so long you'd seen him as just a brother, and your reaction to him in that moment was definitely not how a sibling should react?" Ryley signed, smirking a bit.

"I could barely make myself spit out his name, and the way he grinned and laughed, the way it lit up his face…"

"Did something to you it definitely wouldn't do to a sibling?" Ryley teased, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Yu smiled gratefully, aware of what he was trying to do. It was helping. Even if only a little. "Keen was first to snap back to his senses. He stood, welcomed him back, and Berkeley grinned and gave him a bear hug. Keen of course was flustered, he was never very touchy-feely. Berkeley knew as much and was probably just trying to get under his skin, but John returned the hug anyway. Even settled into it a bit and smiled. They'd developed a close relationship all their own over the years. One that was clearly more sibling-like than mine had ever been with Cam."

"Relationships change, Yu," Ryley signed. "Maybe when you were younger yeah, it was genuinely sibling-like because children don't exactly think about romance like this, but I mean, to be fair it was probably fading for him into your teens. You just couldn't see past the kid in turn until he came back and suddenly wasn't one anymore. It's called a bias. Heard of it?"

"Get patronizing, Robinson, and I might just feed you to the boys in parts and services," Yu said, frowning at him. She sighed. "But you're not wrong." She shook her head. "I remember standing there in shock. He went to hug me, but I retreated in horror. Not because I didn't want to hug him, I just… I was scared to… The hurt in his expression when I pulled away… I won't ever forget it. Maybe that's part of the reason he developed this notion that he would never be more than a side piece if he became anything at all. He told me he wasn't going to ask for more from me than friendship."

"I'm going to guess he never did? When we Alterrans say things like that, generally we genuinely mean them. Our word is like a contract all its own. It's about the best thing we have going for us," Ryley said. "Assuming there's no double-speak or 'hidden clause' in our words, we mean them."

Yu shook her head. "You're right. He never requested more," she said. "That was all me. He was thrilled, don't get me wrong, but it was all me. It always is with either of them… The first time we really were a little drunk. Keen and I had gotten into a bad argument, he'd stormed off, and I broke down. Berkeley tried to comfort me without overstepping and I guess he figured a bar was a safe place to go. FYI, it wasn't. Don't bring your sad, depressed friend of the sex you're attracted to into a bar. Life tips from CTO Yu. Cameron was naïve like that though. At least in those sorts of ways. It just… kept escalating from there. It didn't take Keen long to realize he had competition when he started feeling bad about how he'd left things with me and came back only to see Berkeley and I far closer than we had any right to be. Of course, since nothing had ever been made official, it just got complicated instead." Ryley was quiet, taking this in, and for a moment there was silence between them. "You know Robinson, you have a way of making people open up to you. Like Oz. Be careful what you do with that power," she said. Though her tone was teasing, he heard the strain in it.

"Right. None of my business. Sorry," Ryley signed. "Don't worry. I know how to keep quiet."

Yu gave him an unimpressed look and he responded with a mischievous grin. She couldn't help but smile back before looking around. "Uh oh, look out. Here comes Hinkle," she warned, spotting the man in question approaching and looking mildly irritated at something or other. "Deep breath. He might want to rant. Especially when he catches you out of your station." Ryley huffed a half-laugh and set about making himself as unnoticeable as possible.

Technician Hinkle stood out among the other Alterra drones. No one could really place why though. He got along with Danby fairly well, but aside from the doctor, Hinkle didn't have much for friends on board the ship. Or anything that could even pass for them. Ryley had tried to be friendly with him, but the guy didn't seem to be great at picking up on social cues, so came across as disinterested and snobbish most of the time. A real stick in the mud.

"Robinson, why are you out of your station?" Hinkle demanded.

"My help was requested," Ryley signed. Surprisingly enough, Hinkle had known sign language from the start. It wasn't something Ryley had figured the guy would have learned, but he wasn't complaining that he had.

Hinkle gave Yu an annoyed look. "Do I really have to run through this matter again, Saran?" he demanded.

"Oh lighten up Peter. There are tasks that need doing that are more Ryley's expertise than anyone else's. Alterra wants only the best, remember?" Yu challenged.

"Corporate will hear of this if it keeps up," Hinkle said.

"What will it matter a million miles from home base?" Yu replied. Hinkle glared at her then harrumphed and marched away.

"Thanks," Ryley signed.

"No problem," Yu replied, smiling at him. "Hinkle's a corporate stooge, but my goal is to break him out of his little shell by the end of this voyage and see what he hides away under that plain exterior of his."

"You figure it's something wild?" Ryley signed.

"Miracles do happen," Yu joked, grinning. Ryley laughed and the two went back to work.