Hello everyonee!! Here's chapter 2! If you do enjoy it, feel free to commentt!! 33

Pony Express long-haul space freighter "Tulpar"

Crew: Eight

Planned Shipment Duration: 382 Days

Elapsed Transit Time: 148 Days

I looked around at the lounge, Daisuke and Swansea we're sitting right in front of me in the bar as I prepared snacks for them, it was already past lunchtime and everyone had their fill except the two, I looked at my brother as he ate the sandwich with haste, a huge smile on his face as he took his time savoring the flavors.

"Damn kid, you really nailed it with this one, great job with that." Swansea looked at me as he complimented the dish I prepared, a small smile appearing on my face as I felt a little embarrassed from the compliment I was given. His face always had a frown in it but I knew that it wasn't really how he felt.

"Thank you, but it's really just a simple sandwich mixed with different sauces and vegetables, we still had a lot of food in the storage room sooo, I might as well use it." I replied to him, turning around and cleaning up the utensils and spills I made on the kitchen counter, although the machine that Pony Express provided was useful for preparing food, I'd still want to do things myself, especially since the dishes that the machine made were just programmed.

As the two ate, I heard them talking about their tasks, Swansea was constantly nagging my brother to do his job properly as he always mocked him for being stupid or whatever but I knew that the two were just bonding and Daisuke doesn't really take things like that seriously. I took a deep breath after wiping the mess at the kitchen counter, my mind was always remembering the thing that Maki told me.

Captain Curly and Jimmy were always close but now it seemed like they were having arguments, just yesterday I saw them talking in the hallway near the cockpit, talking about something like a psych evaluation, just like the Captain had with Anya yesterday too, Jimmy looked tense while Captain was just…relaxed, maybe they're doing well already.

"Guys, guys! Can we talk? I have something to tell you." I heard Anya's voice from a distance as I turned around and looked at her. Maki was walking beside her with his coat removed and hanging in his arms, Daisuke and Swansea also stopped their bickering before turning to the pair. Kashka, who was sitting on the couch, looked over to the noise.

"What is it? If it's nonsense then I don't have time for it, we still have to fix the foam "someone" triggered in the vents." Swansea spoke, curiosity filling my mind as he stared at my brother while speaking. 'Did he…trigger the emergency foam..?' I thought to myself, thinking about why he was up in the vents in the first place, and a little worried too.

"It's important! We really have to talk about this. Me and Maki talked about who's birthday we should celebrate on this trip, since we only get one celebration every trip we have, I think we should celebrate the Captain's birthday, Maki already agreed to it so we're just waiting for you guys to choose!" Anya spoke, it wasn't that loud, but her voice had happiness and excitement in it.

I looked at my brother, as we both made eye-contact, Swansea stopped walking away as he pondered over the idea. It wasn't really a big deal to me if I didn't celebrate my birthday here, and maybe this is a good idea to help the other crew members become closer.

"I'm alright with that, when are we going to celebrate it though?" I asked, checking the time, it wasn't still night based on the theme the TV screen was playing, as Anya nodded happily at me, before my brother spoke up. "Sure! I mean, the Captain does deserve that, so let's go on with it!" He had a smile on his face as his voice echoed in the room, with Anya glaring at him before speaking swiftly.

"Pst-! Be quiet you idiot! Captain might hear us-!" I laughed softly at the interaction as Daisuke shrinked in the bar counter, scratching the back of his head. Swansea turned to Anya and nodded, walking back to the table and taking a seat in it. "Alright kid, just this once, I'll go with it."

"I'm fine with it, there's nothing wrong with a celebration, especially for Curly." Kashka spoke, making everyone turn to her direction before I gave her a nod which she returned with a blank stare. 'Weird..why does she look at me like that?' I thought to myself as Anya's excitement interrupted me.

"Awesome!" She raised a fist in celebration, before she looked at Maki, prompting him to walk in front of her and speak with a calm and quiet voice. "We'll be celebrating it today, so let's start preparing and all that, let's just hope that the Captain won't be leaving the cockpit soon." He spoke, everyone nodded including me as the work started.

Anya started to set up the table, while Daisuke and Swansea decorated the lounge with different lights and hung them around, mimicking a birthday party theme. I started gathering different materials to bake a cake, noticing that we didn't really have a lot of ingredients for it as I just opted to make a simple cake for the Captain.

"Anything the cook needs help with?" I heard a voice beside me as I turned and faced the Doctor. A small smile on his face was evident as I let out a small laugh before turning back to my work. He walked around the kitchen counter and leaned next to the bar counter as I spoke.

"Nothing really, you could probably prepare some drinks, I heard we had a few orange juice powder left in the drawer just beside you, it's the last ones we have so…I guess we could use it for this." I heard him hum at my instructions as he started moving behind me, opening the drawers and started making the drinks.

I was doing my work silently before someone poked my back, startling me as I jumped a bit before turning to the person and glaring at them. Maki laughed at my reaction as he went beside me and opened a drawer, grabbing different glasses for the drinks as he spoke. "Just making you relax, you look like you're about to murder the cake."

"Hey you-! I'm just focused alright? And don't get me started with that, you look like a panda with how big your bags are." I replied to him in a teasing tone, as a shocked expression appeared on his face before speaking again.

"Wh-what? I'm not a panda, Fuyu!" I laughed at his face, before slapping his shoulder and wiping off some whipping cream on his face. "Hey- stop that-!" He spoke, grabbing some whipping cream on the counter and placing some on his hand before slapping me softly with it.

And so a bunch of whipping cream was wasted, and ended up in our faces. I looked at Maki, whose face was filled with tons of whipping cream, and he stared at mine, who also had a lot of whipping cream in my face and hair before we both laughed loudly, I noticed Kashka staring right at me but I didn't really care too much about it as we both rushed to the sink and opened the water as we cleaned our faces. 'She's on it again, those stares..' I thought to myself while washing my face.

"We shouldn't be wasting this but...heh..heh heh…you looked like a real panda with how white your whole face was." I giggled at him as he took a sigh and laughed softly, the cake was already finished and the drinks were already prepared, and the whole plan was going well.

It had been a few hours since we started preparing, Jimmy arrived at the lounge and agreed to help out. He went to help Anya with making balloons and spreading them all over the place, while I placed the drinks and plates on the table. Daisuke found some party hats in one of the drawers of the bar, as he gave one to each of us. Meanwhile Kashka remained on the couch, browsing through a magazine she found on the desk next to it.

Now all we have to do is wait. And after a few minutes, the star of the show finally showed up.

"Surpriseeee!" and so everyone's voice echoed in the lounge, including mine.