“I low-key want to thrift it this year.”

“I’m sorry..?” Tira looked up from her junction box, picking up her screwdriver and shifting her weight to lean against the wall, screwing the box shut.

Charlie chuckled from behind an open cabinet, he was an assistant to the whole crew. Nobody knew what he was actually supposed to be doing, just that he was sent here by his parents to work an apprenticeship, “Well you know the holiday season is coming.. And like… I could use a new set of festive clothing” he waved his hand as he shut the cabinet and grinned over at Tira.

Brute bolted past, grumbling about some sort of unauthorized boarding of the submarine, he waved at the two while sliding down towards the reactor room. Charlie glanced at Tira before he pulled up a chair in the doorway to the junction room. He crossed his legs as he sat down, watching Tira quietly. “So, you got any family back home?” he hummed, adjusting the sparkling belt he had holding up his patchwork pants.

Tira stopped fiddling with a broken wire and sighed, “why are you still here, don’t you have work to attend to?”

Charlie shrugged, giving Tira a toothy grin “We’re docked and Tay doesn’t need me.” He ran a hand through his messy hair, “I don’t really know you very well, you’re very quiet.”

Tira groaned before sliding down against the wall, resting her hands on her knees. “I had some family at home.” She sighed, tapping her finger against the seam of her jeans. “It was a very small family, just my mom, my daughter and I.” Tira grumbled, letting her legs drop down to the ground.

Charlie nodded slowly, his eyes drifting outside of the room. “Huh.. that sure is small.”

“Yeah, family tends to dwindle when all of them die under the ice.” Tira grunted, lifting herself up to mess around with a junction box again, smoke slowly drifting from the compartment into swirling shapes above it. That seemed to shut Charlie up, he shifted his weight uncomfortably and pretended to be invested in a tear in his worn shirt.

“Anyways kid, good luck finding “thrifty” clothing out here. Best you’re getting is patchwork clothing from a band of outlaws.” Tira tilted her head in Charlie’s direction. Charlie nodded sheepishly and slid the chair out from the doorway. “Talk to you later kid, go see if Mari and Riley need you, I think Mari might be out in the station messing around with DNA stuff or whatever, Riley’s down dealing with the reactor alone.” At that excuse Charlie’s eyes lit up and he barreled his way down to the reactor room.

Tira and Tay, their amateur but well–kindled captain wandered the base they were docked at, they bartered and traded with some of the shopkeepers before standing in front of a frosted window looking out into the vast freezing oceans of Europa.

“So Tira, what do you think of the new recruits?” Tay asked, letting their hand rest on their hip.

“Well I’ve only really talked to Charlie. I know that Mari has been scaring Riley senselessly but I don’t know much about her otherwise.” Tira sipped on a beverage she had smuggled from a vending machine, feeling a soft bubbling against her lips as she drew away from it.

Tay nodded slowly, fussing with a broken pin in their hat, “Well Brute caught someone drilling into our ship. Said his name was Goblin or.. Something like that,” Tay paused to put their hat back on their head and shift it into its proper place, “I was wondering if you possibly wanted an assistant now that the others have one.”

Tira gave Tay a twisted confused look, “What. I work fine by myself I don’t need-”

“There’s a lot of junction boxes and screens on the sub.” Tay stopped Tira, turning to face her, “way too much for one man to do alone.” They patted Tira on the shoulder giving her a reassuring look “listen, If you don’t like it we can toss him out into the frigid waters with a disposable suit.” With that Tira chuckled, she put her head in one of her hands and breathed deeply.

“Fine.” Tira mumbled, a faint smile laid upon her lips, “Whatever, what’s the worst that can happen.”

Tay and Tira wandered back onto the Submarine after searching for medical supplies, Tira waved her goodbye and headed down to the lower levels searching for Brute and their new “prisoner.” She slid past the reactor room, the sounds of bickering between Marigold and Riley echoing off the metal walls.

Brute was standing next to the bottom docking hatch, his lips pressed into a thin line as he glared at the squirming being beneath him. It writhed and hissed at Brute before it tired and stopped struggling. It looked up towards Tira and shrieked, flailing its body towards the corner, readying itself to attempt to stand up.

“Soo thats.. Goblin.” Tira muttered, crossing her arms as she observed the somehow slimy thing before her.

“So it hissed.” Brute looked over his shoulder at Tira “Whatever it is, it isn’t human. It’s got the appearance of an adult man, and the mental capacity of a five year old.” Brute kicked it in the side and it crumpled over onto the hatch, groaning.

“Brute be nice.. That’s..” Tira took a second to think before she spoke, “maybe we just can’t understand it.” She looked at it more closely, It resembled a human however its skin was pale and almost translucent. It was slimy and dirt and rubble stuck to its entire body, a hint of green was noticeable where normally humans would blush red. It was completely bald and its ears ended at a point, its teeth were fangs. “Okay well maybe.. Maybe it’s simply just not human at all.” Tira coughed, she grabbed it by an arm and helped it stand up. “But Tay wants me to teach it to be my apprentice.”

Brute rolled his eyes and took one of his hands off the hatch opening button. He set his hands on his hips and grunted, “well good luck with that, you’re going to need it.”

Tira chuckled and nodded before attempting to climb up the sub, Goblin thrashing against her strength. “Stop moving” she hissed, “Or else I’m going to throw you out that hatch like Brute was threatening to.”

Tay and Charlie scrambled over the now smoking monitor of the submarine. It made a small fizzling noise as Tira dragged Goblin into the room. Tira smothered the feeling of disappointment rising in her chest and forced Goblin to stand up. She pointed at the monitor, leading Goblin’s wandering gaze to it. “Fix that.” she commanded, not expecting much.

Goblin hobbled over to the screen, he pushed Tay and Charlie away from it. He pried one of the screens loose, observing the hidden wires on the inside.

“No way he fixes that first try..” Charlie mumbled, nudging Tira. Just as Charlie finished speaking they all heard a crack of electricity as Goblin tumbled backwards, copper wires hanging out from his mouth.

Tira frowned, “Yeah, that’s about what I expected.” she strode over, picking Goblin off the floor and pointed to the broken wires that stood out sharply. “You CAN’T eat the wires. That’s how you die.” She shook her head disapprovingly before turning to Tay and walking back to the monitor, “Tell Mari to shut down the power for a second, I need to fix this mess.” Tay nodded and swiftly turned around to go down the opposite end of the submarine.

Goblin spat out the copper wire, wobbling over to Tira meekly. It observed as Tira observed the mess of open machinery, this was way above her paygrade. “This is why I let you do that,” she mumbled under her breath, “Because now you can learn how to fix it if something else makes the same kind of mess.” A hint of a smile smudged across her face.

Goblin was a fast learner. It had quickly figured out how to manage practically everything, except for steering. Mari had been hesitant to let Goblin learn the reactor but she quickly taught it, understanding that maybe it’s better to have someone who can do all of it rather than none of it.

“Are we all set to leave docking?” Tay called over their well used communicators.

“Rodg-r! I go- Rile- w-th me” Mari’s voice crackled over static.

“All good,” Tira pulled her com closer to her mouth, “Goblins set on the periscope with Brute for this mission.”

“That’s right, Someone make sure he doesn’t steal a suit and run.” Brute grumbled, as if that wasn’t his job.

“Alright folks! Here’s the mission plan.” Tay began, “We’re raiding an old station, a band of outlaws currently holds ownership over it. The facility is unstable so remember to bring your welding equipment. I heard there could be a big swarm of alien lifeforms somewhere between here and there so keep an eye out on the guns. Let’s get ‘em team.”

“Well Charlie,” Tira grinned, “Here’s your chance to get that so-called festive outfit.”