Archive of Our Own ^beta

Fighter without a Navigator
On a whim
Fighters all drank their coffee black.
If there were one thing consistent with them— aside from their prone to violence nature— it was how they drank their coffee. Navigators usually put cream and sugar.
It was bad enough Deimos already didn’t seem like a typical fighter. He was muscular, but very lean. He wasn’t as broad as Fighters such as Cain or Encke. He was already teased for that. Teased for his hair, teased for his light colored eyes, teased for his small build, the way his voiced rasped; barely a whisper when he responded to commands. His Navigator always complained about that during simulation training and in air missions.
Deimos had one more thing he was teased for; the way he drank coffee. It wasn’t black like every other Fighter on the ship.
Deimos finally had a break from training one Thursday afternoon. He decided he’d get up early, while his Navigator was still sleeping and head to the cafeteria. He was looking forward to no Fighters other than him being around. The only ones up that early were a few Navigators and one of the staff members working behind the counter. He ignored everyone simply. No one really glanced his way anyway. Making his way to the coffee machine, he grabbed a metal cup to the left and poured himself a cup. Then he reached for the heavy cream, smiling faintly to himself. There were something about the way cream changed the texture of the black coffee so much; almost like how Fighters by themselves were black, but mixed with Navigators, they were something else entirely.
Satisfied with the amount of cream, he grabbed the cinnamon, then gently gave a flick of his wrist. Cain was not around to tease him. None of the Fighters were. Even though he stood out so vividly with his black hair around the pale Navigators. He was able to make his way back to an empty table and sit enjoy his drink.

Nothing could disturb him now.