'Rig for Aero's parties' was becoming something of a semi-regular status in the mess hall. Alcohol bottles broken out, treats made with the help of Kiara and the medics as before, The night before the departure of Renown would see the team celebrate together for the last time, with a particular absence of Rha dispatched to Haven and Kazak on Earth as he was. Everyone filtered in two or three at a time, even solo, but yet the resident Invader remained absent.
Skrem was deep in his work on the team's SiR unit, he needed to see this done before he departed and was very, very near completion. Something of a record even with Alurac's notes from his own creation to aid him. Twice now Skrem would be the meatbag father to a couple of unshackled Irken made AI. Quite a feat in computing, at least to him. He'd have plenty of time to spend with Rem over the coming months as it was.
Another apparently absent from the party was none other than Chavsa. She was down in the hangar, eagerness overcame her, she was going over every little bit of her fighter, making sure spare parts and her tools were set for transfer in the morning before she took off in the object of her liberation from deactivation. Aside from that, the sense of impending great weight on her was another reason to keep her occupied.
So deep in concentration she was that she didn't hear Aren's approach to her rear.
"Whenever sssomeone asks where you are…it's either your bunk…or here." The yellow-eyed sergeant mused as Chavsa turned to face her. An unopened brew awaited her acceptance.
The pilot smiled, accepting the drink from Aren. "You know me, I love this thing…part of the reason I'm not dead right now." She mused before sighing. "Rare exceptions to that aside, anyhow." She closed the panel she was working on and secured the screws with her free hand as she just finished up before being interrupted before turning to Aren once more, practically beaming.
"Mhm," Aren acknowledged mid-drink of her own bottle before casually leaning against the fuselage of the craft. "Figured you'd be with the others…last time ssseeing everyone for who knows how long and all."
Chavsa's free hand scratched her neck before taking a sip of her drink. "Yeah…I know, but I'm a mix of excited and…might be a little awkward if I did." Chavsa paused, "How much have you had to drink?"
Her head rose, peering at the pilot with a smile. "I've had 'nuff…and why awkward? I thought everything wasss good."
"I…may have gotten rather…intimate." Chavsa sheepishly admitted, looking down at her drink before taking another drink. "Not exactly…you know…the thing?" She suddenly found herself at a loss for words.
The Sergeant's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Thing, what thing? Inti-...oh…oh…ohhh…" She realized with a snickered, grinning slyly at her before sampling her beer again. "Do tell. Sssecret between us…not that it matters with you leaving tomorrow…aaand that ssounded worse than I wanted it to. Sssorry, drunk."
"I…ended up getting with Rha and Haxx. Separately, not at the same time." She looked around the hangar, double checking to make sure they were alone. "Rha was absolutely terrible. Talked a good game but he only lasted a few minutes before making an absolute fool of himself. Gotten more out of my hand than I did with him." The pilot's eyes rolled as she chuckled. The look on Rha's face when faced with his poor performance was a massive comedic payoff in itself.
A pause as she recalled the second time…
"I ended up cuddling with Haxx after, listened to his stories. Seemed to help him talk about Volx and the stories he had about her that made him smile. I feel for the guy, losing someone so close to him and trying to be happy. He was more than capable in it, much better at it than Rha was but I could tell he just wasn't into it. I…think we're friends? But it still feels a bit awkward whenever I pass him in the passageways now."
"I sssee…" Aren managed, equally surprised as she was uncertain of how to react to such. "You…uh…workin' your way around Purple Team or…?"
"No! No! Nothing like that at all!" Chavsa seemed almost insulted. "If I was I would've also been with Radec by now. That boy is as incessant with scoring anything with two tits and an asshole as I am in flying." She paused and chuckled, "Unless he's also into dongles. I've seen how he talks to Rha, Haxx, and Skrem. I swear the guy's gotta be some sort of…both sides of the fence? Whatever the expression is." A sip of her drink followed.
"Naaah, that's just what they do." Aren waved off casually. "It's a game to them…but it does leave one to wonder sssometimes…"
A contemplative pause.
"...does that mean if you rack up two more 'fore you leave that makes you an ace?" She struggled to keep her composure, clearly in jest at Chasva's expense.
"Three," Chavsa rolled her eyes and chuckled before taking another sip. "Unless you're volunteering to change that number to two yourself." Her tone was far from serious as she tried Purple Team's game on for size coupled with a very apparent smirk.
Her banter earned a chuckle from Aren, shaking her head.
"Apparently…I can't count. Thought you sssaid Radec, too…"
"Oh I'm sure you'd like it if I had, wouldn't you?" Chavsa chuckled.
She shrugged.
"I mean…none of 'em are half-bad lookin'." Aren admitted. "Vara's said they got…personas about them. Rha's the grizzled, rough exterior with a heart of gold. Haxx isss…Haxx, honestly. Mountain of a man…an' Radec's the rebel…the "bad boy"." She concluded with air quotes before taking another drink and a scoff.
"None of 'em got a fully functioning brain between the three of them, that's for sure. 'Least they look good, right?"
"Maybe that's why they need Skrem in their group." The pilot laughed, "The man's got the Invader bravado about him but he's clearly a smart guy with gadgets and stuff. Not bad lookin' himself either. Haxx definitely fits the description but then once you get past that exterior you find he's very…caring. Genuinely, he really is, doesn't want to lose any more of us if he can help it."
A large swig from her drink followed. "Saying you got with any of them yourself there? Since we're busy sharing secrets and all."
"Me? No, no, nothing like that." She shook her head, waving her unoccupied hand. Hesitation. Consideration.
"Just Orkos."
Goodbye, inhibition.
"Why did I just have a feeling you two were a thing?" She put an arm around Aren's shoulders. "Always playing favorites with you, backing your cute ass up whenever I was acting like a moron…I mean I got flying skills and maybe I have some good looks but clearly he likes you more. Maybe he just doesn't like to go fast." She shook her head with a smirk.
"He doesn't play favorites with me." She scoffed, incredulous. "...oddly enough it started because of you. Mutual disdain. Frustration. Aggravation…sorta happened."
Chavsa looked at Aren with a confused blink. "I…guess you're welcome then?" She didn't expect to have been playing matchmaker, inadvertent as it was. "Lemme guess, he can't wait for me to get out of here so he can move into that room with you and have you all to himself?"
"He…may have mentioned it once or twice, yes." She admitted wistfully.
Her expression fell to a more serious, if not somber one as she looked to Chavsa.
"All jokes aside, we are going to miss you."
"Really? Because I can remember everyone thinking that the whole team would be better off without me. I know I've improved and…we're obviously not trying to kill each other in our sleep these days but, still kind of feel like the odd girl out, you know? I mean sure Deris is an Imperial Pooper but I'm the one Armada stick jockey around here compared to all you guys. Bit lonely at times when it comes to that." A large gulp of her alcoholic beverage followed, wincing slightly after.
Aren studiously ran her digits about the bottle in her hands, listening to Chavsa's anxious ramblings.
"You are in the minority around here…" She mused, smirking at the Private. "Ssspec Ops, Elite, Poopers…and then there's you, Armada extraordinaire. Prototype test pilot. Worst ssshot this side of the universe." The Sergeant concluded with a snicker.
"Yep, can't hit the broadside of the Massive with that damn scope!" Chavsa shook her head. "Maybe it's better this way? You guys get someone with actual experience in my place in doing that sort of thing after all. No more frustrating stick handler to carry to success anymore, right?"
Her immediate superior shrugged non-commitedly with a pursed expression.
"Oh, I wouldn't sssay that. You've improved. A lot. Earned your PDW privileges, didn't you?" Aren reminded her. "...jussst when you ssstarted to grow on us, off to uncharted territory you go on a dangerous mission with the fate of the universe at ssstake…" She theatrically gestured with emphasis, arm around the Private's shoulder.
Aren paused, smirking as she reached to clink her bottle against Chavsa's.
"...come a long way from the little ssshit I wanted to ssstomp into the deck."
She went quiet, unsure of what she could say in response. Her eyes went down to her bottle for a moment before her eyes shut. Silence remained as she contemplated the various thoughts running through her head, especially with so little time remaining with the others and the possibility of not coming back.
"You just saying that or do you actually like me to some extent now?"
She laughed, sighing with a shake of her head.
"You of all people ssshould know better than that…mean what I sssay." Aren answered, standing upright to polish off the rest of her drink. "C'mon, back to the party. The night's young."
Chavsa paused to look at her fighter briefly, a few more things she wanted to check but maybe they could wait until go time, it was all in the cockpit anyhow. "...I guess. Almost content to just sleep in that thing tonight."
"You're gonna have aaaaall the time in the freakin' universe after tonight. Few hours of socializing isn't going to kill you. Pretend you like us for a bit." Aren teased with a gesture for her to follow.
"More like you guys like me…" she muttered quietly before giving up and following Aren.
The mess hall was less of an organized party and…devolved into a ruckus. Gers and Zurrak had long since excused themselves to the galley and played cards in one of the food stores to get away from the nonsense. Vult and Hesa were in a corner on a double date with Corr and Calla. The usual Vortian suited suspects were more than enjoying themselves but Kiara was in civilian clothes for a change, a white dress purchased by her father as a gift for when they last returned to the station.
Radec, dressed down in simple fatigues like most of those present at this point, casually slid up next to the horned woman at the mess hall bar with a charismatic smirk.
"Didn't know that was regulation for officers there."
Kiara smirked, turning her head to face the ever persistent man. "Back for round two, smooth man?"
He shrugged with a grin, chuckling.
"If anything, I'm persistent…lovely little ensemble though. Give us a twirl, would you?" Radec gestured with a digit playfully.
A little harmless fun, why not? She spun, not too quickly but enough to get the fabric flowing, stopping when she came face to face with him, a smirk on her face.
"Green's still not my favorite color, you know."
"What is your favorite color then?" He pursued playfully, taking her subtle rejection in stride.
"Blue, actually," she gestured towards Vult, "I've seen some handsome men with skin the same shade as his eyes. Rather handsome specimens. Maybe I'll find one once all this is over." Something typical of Radec's continuing approaches with her, she put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in to give the man another kiss on the cheek as she had before. A little reward for his trying at least.
"Hey, hey, two-for-two. Progress. Third time's the charm?"
"You won't ever get my dress on the floor of your quarters, but you keep trying. Something respectable for trying at least."
"Maybe not mine, but there's always yours. Never say never." He chuckled, conveniently ignoring Haxx's amusement at another swing and a miss. "You'll come around. They always do."
"Says the man who only scored one woman before to his own admission." Kiara smirked back at him.
"Hey, I am arguably the first to do so in, what? Centuries? I got a head start and have the advantage. Just ruminate on it. Let it simmer. I ain't goin' anywhere."
"If you're that desperate maybe Haxx or Skrem will indulge your needs?" She snickered, taking a light jab at his misfortune. "Your efforts are rather cute, though, I will give you that."
"Haxx is my boss and Skrem's already whipped." Radec retorted in stride. "I'll make it worth your time. Haven't had an unsatisfied customer yet."
Kiara simply shook her head. "Better luck with someone else."
Vara and Jur weren't two far away themselves, the duo apparently snickering at another rejection of Radec trying to get with Kiara. Dorum, near Haxx, held out his hand for some money on a bet with Haxx handing over some coins. He had apparently lost a bit of Radec scoring at least a kiss on his lips this time around. Purple Team had their ongoing betting pool with who would be the first to bag a Vortian woman, something Zurrak wasn't too thrilled with hearing about. The three meatheads of the team have come to bet on the stupidest things and Skrem was aiding it whenever he could by joining in.
"The General still ain't goin' for him." Vara chuckled, taking a sip of some beer.
"Yup, continuing to fail. He's got charms but they don't work on an unwilling customer."
Taking his defeat in stride, Radec casually departed under the guise of another drink. The smugest of grins from Haxx. "She said she'd think about it."
"Did she really or are you havin' a hot date with your hand tonight?" Rha, having returned for the sendoff from Haven, held out a can of beer for the recently rejected man, a smug look on his face as well. "Maybe come back to my room tonight and you can be my girlfriend, how 'bout that?"
Haxx quickly elbowed him, "C'mon, we could see it from here, she shot ya down, again. Costin' me money making bets that you're gonna get further than a kiss on the cheek with her."
"It's a work in progress, alright? Bridgin' a vast gap here. Diplomacy isn't easy." Radec defended, snatching the offered beer. "Don't see either of you makin' an attempt. 'Least Skrem's got an excuse being whipped after a single date."
"Maybe but I see you two lovebirds still flirtin' with each other." Rha quipped.
"Yeah, maybe if Rem doesn't work out you still got a chance. You two make a cute couple." Haxx piled on.
"Skrem doesn't know what he's missing. Maybe I can get a room with this handsome man."
"You wound me, Rha! I thought what we had was special!" Haxx's tone was far from serious as he laughed.
"You give her a go yet?" Rha gestured towards Vara with the neck of his bottle.
"Who?" Radec queried, turning to see where he pointed. "Vara? Nah, not yet. They talk. Soon as they both know I'm after 'em, they'll think I'm desperate."
"You are desperate." Haxx jibbed.
"Hey, fuck you, alright? I ain't desperate. Only one here with enough gumption to reach beyond the grasp."
"Oh we got gumption ourselves." Rha huffed.
"You even know what gumption means? Can you even spell it?" Radec challenged in good nature.
"No need to spell it when it resulted in some fun time with the local stick jockey." Rha smirked back at him.
"We just been focused elsewhere lately." Haxx's glance shifted briefly towards Chavsa, dragged to the party by Aren, but who found herself sitting alone. "...To be fair, though, my most recent one kinda fell in my lap, I didn't chase her, but alcohol was quite the motivator."
"Bet she made you feel foolish after the fact too, didn't she?"
"Nope, not in the slightest."
A realization struck Radec as he looked to Chavsa before turning back to the both of them.
"Wait…did both of you-..." He began, gesturing in confusion before grinning with a hand raised to high-three. "Nice. At the same time?"
Haxx took up Radec on his offered hand, unlike his best friend.
"What? No. I have morals." Rha denounced.
"Since when?" Radec fired back, gesturing to the open container in his hand. "You'd stick it in that bottle if it winked at you."
"Since we know I'd at least kiss you after I show you a good time." Rha grinned, "And quit projectin' with that bottle stuff, we both know that's you."
"Besides, you know how awkward that would be?" Haxx added, "Seems like it'd be, tryin' to avoid bumpin' into each other."
Posa, having helped herself to the drink table, caught the latter half of their ongoing antics. Her expression of disgust matched her incredulous tone.
"What is wrong with all of you? Too many concussive shockwaves to the brain?"
"Hey, maybe you should stick at what you're good at instead of comin' over 'ere and makin' a scene." Rha fired back at her.
"Making a- What? I came over here to get a drink!" She gestured to her new bottle with a scoff. "Don't be disgusting next to the concessions!"
"Or maybe you should get in on that action?" Rha shrugged.
Posa gave a single humorless laugh. Very well. Total war it was.
"From you? You aren't winning any distance records around here if medical records are accurate. No amount of lifting is going to fix that."
Radec quickly grasped Rha's shoulder, back to Posa as he stepped in front of him to lean in with a lower voice.
"Reeeelax…she stitches us back together. Remember that."
"Yeah, Rha, that was pretty stupid." Haxx started, "I mean, I said something stupid back when I was in the infirmary and she threatened to stick a catheter in me. Pretty sure that threat still stands if I try anything."
"It is." She facetiously smiled, noting Rha's soured mood over being on the receiving end of a devastating verbal salvo. "Maybe next time exercise your brain before you speak to not embarrass yourself."
Radec's grip tightened as he felt Rha's tension, looking to Haxx with a non-verbal nod for him to get involved. Alcohol possibly had an influence on the matter. A direct hit to one's pride in front of friends was a bitter pill to swallow.
"C'mon, Rha, let's get some food. Don't need women, we got each other, right?" Haxx placed a hand on his shoulder firmly, trying to draw him towards the galley.
He glared hard at Posa, unnervingly so for several moments before casually relaxing and looking to Radec with a grin.
"Both of you are sooo gullible. Can't keep your big, strong hands off of me. You can't resist, I know."
Haxx shook his head and played into it. "Rha, sweetie, I'd never take my hands off you if I could."
"Ugh…whatever, molest each other, I don't care." Posa threw her hand up, taking her leave.
The three Purple Team members broke into raucous laughter as their medic stormed off, intending to rejoin the other two qualified professionals of Sula and Zutel. Neither of whom seemed terribly impressed at what they were witnessing.
Zutel took a sip from her glass of wine. "I swear, we should probably give those three a brain scan next time we have them in the infirmary."
"Why, they're either empty or full of water and stupid!" Posa huffed, taking a hearty drink. "Unbelievable…"
"My guess they would have the same cross section of a potato, but there would only be one way to be certain." Sula summarized casually. "...honestly surprised none of us were chosen to go with the Captain aboard the Renown."
"Maybe he thinks Mirage's Red Team combat medic is enough?" Zutel mused before shrugging. "Perhaps he didn't want to deprive the Commander of a medical trio we have…even though we now have Mhar from Mirage and he's among the best in SpecOps when it comes to medical work in the field and attaching cybernetics."
"So I've heard. He pieced Nossa back together after her run-in with the Vylatian Alpha Queen. We can thank him for his handiwork whenever it's turned against us in short-order." The ranking Medical Officer deadpanned before another drink.
"Don't be a buzzkill." Posa chided lightly, seeking a subject change as she grinned at Sula, making her stop mid-drink.
"...what? What's with that look?"
"What look?" Posa coyly answered.
"That look. Stop it."
"...scuttlebutt around the ship is you've been spending a lot of time with Gers…" Posa insinuated.
"So? Can we not be sociable with each other?"
"Last I checked, you socialized publicly, not privately."
Zutel simply sipped her wine. "You just chastise those three smoothbrains for that and you come over here and ask Sula about her personal life? I don't ask her about what she does in her off time, that's entirely her own business."
"Nooo…I chastised those three for being disgusting and directing it at me. Huge difference." She pointedly defended her stance.
"Point still stands." Sula shortly summarized.
"Oh, come on! We're always serious and this is the one time we can let our antenna down. Nobody's dying or needs their poop bag changed for once!"
Sula, mildly annoyed at her junior's persistence, looked to her.
"...will it shut you up if I tell you?"
"For now."
"We've talked. Shoulders to lean on, really." Sula admitted with a shrug, idly toying with her glass. "I've spent a lot of time looking into this…relationship stuff from the psychological and medical standpoint to answer questions and minimize…awkwardness…the emotional one isn't so easily defined."
"She's already got the case study of the team's asshole who's far from us as can be." Zutel added with a brief pause, "Gers and Zurrak don't seem quite as…off as Kaz is. Zurrak is dedicated, driven, keeps to himself sure, but if I were in his position I'd want as much time away from those three as I possibly could get. Gers isn't sociable but…it seems like he's trying for Sula, which says a lot about his own character."
Zutel's musings paused as she saw the Elite NCO pawned off on the team by Vaukt made her way over to the meatheads.
"Bet a bottle of wine one of those idiots says something stupid and she beats their ass."
"Bet who what?" Posa queried, turning her attention away from Sula. Her expression soured upon realization. "Oh…her."
Sula, relieved at the change of subject, noted Posa's mood.
"Something wrong? Besides what is normally wrong with you, that is."
"Hey!"
Sula gestured to the violet-eyed Sergeant from afar.
"You don't like her?"
"No, it's not that, just-" Posa began, sighing in frustration. "It isn't fair."
Now it was Sula's turn to be confused.
"What isn't fair?"
"This!" She reiterated with emphasis, palm deliberately to her bust. "The rest of you got the funny bumps-"
"Breasts, Posa…we adults call them breasts." The Medical Officer interrupted cheekily much to her chagrin.
"Whatever! I didn't get them! You all have majestic mountains! I got…hills. Piles of dirt."
"Why does that bother you? You know what they're for, don't you?"
Zutel rubbed her chin in thought before having a realization. "Posa, do you think you're inadequate without them?"
"Inadequate? Wha…"
"Envy. Jealousy. Inferior. Take your pick." Sula summarized before taking a drink.
"N-no. Not like that…mostly."
"So yes? This is what we call nature and instinct. The idiots are attracted to healthy mates."
"…so I'm sickly then?"
"Not at all. Rolled poorly on genetics at worse but everyone has some genetic variance. It's why we don't look exactly the same."
"You know, I've been reading Vortian literature and they do have a procedure that can fix that. Saline sacs that give the visual illusion of a bigger pair." Zutel began an explanation, "I wouldn't recommend them in our line of work given…what do you suppose will happen if a concussive blast ruptures one and now you have a bunch of that saline and its broken container floating around in your chest?"
"Bleh, no thanks."
"It isn't all what it's cracked up to be." Sula reasoned. "Bet her back aches constantly from the weight. Mine gets sore sometimes. Sure all of us have at some point."
"You could always just eat more, see if the fat goes to your chest instead of other parts of you." Zutel lightly jabbed Posa with her elbow. "Though, Sula's right, nothing like laying back in bed after a long day to take the pressure off."
The Medical Officer casually leaned back, pretending to inspect Posa's posterior before giving her bottom a poke with the neck of her bottle before getting an indignant slap of her wrist by her junior to shove her hand away.
"I dunno, Zu…you see the bubble butt on her? Pretty sure that's where it all went."
Zutel reared her own head back to take a look with a smirk. "She does have a pretty cute ass, I will give her that. She can keep up with us in that department."
"First of all, every part of me is cute." Posa defended pointedly at their comments. "Secondly…that's a good thing, right?"
"Why you asking us? Go find out." Sula gestured towards the ongoing festivities. "You're a strong, independent Irken who don't need no guidance, right?"
"That's not-"
"Aside from a select handful, after everything that's happened? There isn't a man aboard that wouldn't hesitate to knock boots with you."
"...knock boots?"
"Oh, for Irk's sake…" Sula muttered, looking to Zutel. "You wanna take this one or do I need to keep going?"
"Fuck your brains out, Posa, that's what she's trying to say.' Zutel shook her head and then took a sip of her wine. "And, yeah, considering what you've been through and shown you're worth your salt like a true SpecOps medic? Got quite a field to play."
Posa's visage tightened into one of uncertain discomfort.
"...doesn't that weird you guys out at all?"
"What weird us out?"
"The…intimacy thing."
Sula shrugged. "Wouldn't know. Haven't tried."
"No, not- I mean in general. We're still soldiers and we still have to work with each other. Being close and all, sure, but doesn't that lead to other problems and complications? What happens if two of those idiots set their sights on one girl?" The junior medic reasoned logically.
"Huh…never stopped to think about that." Sula admitted, looking to Zutel. "Would be quite awkward, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah…I kinda see the point. Then again I haven't bothered either. The meathead brigade isn't my type and I just don't have the desire for it." The surgeon shrugged. "Choose carefully if you want to play the field, but that's your call."
"Hasn't became a problem yet. Use your brain and keep it that way is all I can suggest." The Medical Officer reasoned before taking a drink. "...I'm sure we've all been hit with morbid curiosity and I'm the apparent resident expert because I know how everyone's plumbing works by now."
"Plu-"
"Genitals, Posa. Do I need to break the anatomy charts out for you?"
"You're using all these weird euphemisms I've never heard before!" She defended with a huff. "Why are you always so mean to me?"
"If I wasn't mean to you, I wouldn't like you." She huffed, finishing off her drink before tossing the bottle into the nearby trash receptacle. "Maybe I'm just that bitter and jaded after being elbows deep in almost everyone here at one point or another. Who knows anymore."
"You're not mean to Zutel!"
"Sure I am. She just doesn't bitch about it." Sula humorlessly laughed. "I'm the meanest one around here depending on who you ask."
Zutel looked around, seeing a very drunk Lorlo with a bottle of wine and Deris seeming to ply some curiosity of his own with his drunken squadmate. "I suppose so with the curiosity bit. But hey, it comes with the territory, just need some thick skin, you know?"
"Yeah, I guess…" Posa dejectedly huffed, taking a hearty drink with a wince from her beverage.
"Cheer up." Sula began, throwing her arm around the Corporal's shoulders endearingly. "You may be the bottom bitch here, but you're the most elite bottom bitch of all bottom bitches. Queen Bottom Bitch."
"Gee, thanks."
Sula's words saw Zutel do the same as she tapped her glass against Posa's. "Also you're my favorite understudy I've ever had in my career. I want you to know that. We both like you."
"...I'm your only understudy though."
"Best by default then." Sula snickered, squeezing her shoulder much to her dismay. "Now…you going to stand here and mope or are you going to have a little bit of fun while we still can? Something tells me we're all going to be very busy in the near-future."
"Yeah, you got a pick of guys around here…even if a number of them are meatheads to have some fun with if you're morbidly curious." Zutel paused, her head slowly turning to face Posa, "Unless you're curious about females. I can tell you biologically it doesn't compute."
"I know…" She groaned, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
"Here…I have an idea," Sula began, pulling Posa before her by the shoulders before leaning next to her antenna to speak lower. "Look over across the room, behind the serving line. Way in the back."
Beyond in the dimly-lit galley, illumination from one of the open doors of a dry storage room could be seen. Visible through the opening was Gers' back and Zurrak past him.
"...okay, what about them? It's Kazak's not-jerk sniper buddies and one of them is your boyfriend."
"He's not-...fine, y'know what? Let's go." Sula spoke facetiously sweet as she released the Corporal's shoulders and gave her bottom a firm swat.
Posa stifled a surprised yelp, jumping in equal measures of surprise and stinging discomfort as she glared back at the Medical Officer while rubbing her violated personal space.
"Well? Go on. Walk."
"Bu-"
"Walk or I'll carry you."
"Fine!" She growled in defeat, looking to Zutel. "Are you part of this? What's gotten into her?"
"Not a chance. This is all her. What, going to tell me you're offended by an ass slap from a friend?" She waved for Posa to follow Sula instead of wasting time. "She means it, she'll carry you if you don't go."
In the galley, the two snipers were in the midst of another hand, each one trying to keep from going above 23, the same Vortian game that had become something of a hobby for a number of them. Zurrak especially, given his proclivity to stay away from Purple Team as much as he possibly could. Gers looked over his shoulder as footsteps emerged from behind. Expecting to see one of the meatheads, he was pleasantly surprised to see Posa and Sula instead.
"Oh, hey you two." He turned back to Zurrak. "Got room for two more?"
"Sure, but only after this hand."
"Guess you don't mind Posa being here? I thought you hated your team."
"She's not in the idiot brigade and neither is Sula. Basically she and Corr are the only two on that team I can even stand."
"Don't be rude." Sula jested as she drug a chair up, Posa doing much of the same opposite her. "They'd go to the ends of the universe and back to watch your back, even if they all share the same brain cell."
"Yeah, they would, I suppose…" Posa admitted, settling in with a meek smile at both Gers and Zurrak. "I was drug over here against my will."
"Don't lie to them. You came with me of your own accord and wanted to get away from the party." Sula inferred as the pair played their current hand out. "The infirmary is pretty quiet most of the time. We're not used to so much activity unless someone's dying."
"I can bury a knife in one of them if it makes things more exciting." Zurrak proposed only to get a shake of Gers' head in response. "What? You're telling me the three goons with the one brain cell between them don't get on your nerves?"
"They do, but I'm not on their team."
"Fuck you."
"Hey, mind the company. We have the fairer members of the team around us. They don't need to hear that."
"They're elbow deep in guts sometimes, I think they can handle fuck being thrown around."
Gers only sighed as he found himself hitting 30 and throwing his hands up in frustration. "I should just stick with shooting people."
"Yeah, you really suck at this." Zurrak picked up the gathered cards and dealing out a new set of cards.
"Among other things, sure." Sula commented as the cards were dealt, watching Posa pick hers up in bewilderment. "You know how to play this?"
"...sorta? Keep it under 23, right?"
"Unless they have some weird house rules we don't know about, that's it." The Medical Officer reasoned, waiting patiently to discard and draw another in hopes of improving her odds.
"Loser has to give Gers a kiss." Zurrak smirked.
"Hey, I never agreed to that."
"Should've been the dealer, then you can make the rules."
Gers threw a hand up again. "Screw me I guess huh?"
"You know it, buddy."
"Love you too." Gers threw one card out and picked a new one up. The new variation cooked up by those on board made the game far more interesting. More of a challenge, get the highest number of cards in your hand, don't go over 23, and be over the others.
"So why come bother a couple of snipers and not…find your own place?" Zurrak asked the two medics.
"Because…" Sula began to respond with a momentary pause. "Our track record with your sorts isn't exactly stellar. One is actively hunting us behest the Empire, the other is a self-absorbed jerkoff with his head so far up his own c'hurta I would need a team of surgeons and 16 hours to remove it…both happen to be marksmen…as this team's leading medical professional, it is my duty to figure out why and stop that from happening."
"...so you didn't drag me over here just to play cards with your boy-" Posa began, earning herself a quick kick to the shin under the table from the Medical Officer while she played her hand.
"...22, close but not quite."
Gers threw down his own, 20, finally did better. Zurrak won at a perfect 23. The winner's attention turning to Posa.
"Well, come on, princess, what you got?"
Still grimacing from the earlier kick, a hand quickly rubbed at her shin under the table before regaining her composure to keep playing.
"This one…and that one…22, I think."
"Hmm, a tie." Sula observed, eyeing either man with an arched brow. Earlier drinks kept her relaxed and sociable. "Gers obviously can't kiss himself if we're playing by your house rules. How do you play this?"
"Then he just misses out." Gers shook his head, eliciting a laugh from Zurrak. "By the way, I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with any of us…except maybe Tuu from what I'm hearing about the guy."
"We…I suppose we have to be rather…heartless, to do what we do." Gers admitted as he reached over for a glass of water to drink from it. "It's not for the faint of heart or for people who get too emotional."
"You either end up desentized to things or you just find yourself incapable of forming any real bonds. We snipers may be shooting from far off but with our scopes we may as well be there in person shooting them point blank. You see how your targets live, their quirks, their faces, you see a lot of them, especially if you linger in recon for a while."
"And…I suppose why we come off as cold-hearted assholes."
"See…that is where I disagree and believe it to be more of an excuse." Sula reasoned, hand propping her chin up as the next hand was shuffled and dealt. "We, all of us, have been trained to act accordingly. Seeing the fear in the enemy's eyes in close-quarters amidst chaos and pandemonium, for example. The assault on the senses while going through the muscle-memory of drilled practice. Repetition of tasks."
"She does have a point…" Posa hesitantly admitted, taking up her cards. "You two don't act like Kazak does, but all three of you do the same thing. It's almost like you guys purposely push everyone away to suffer in silence instead of reaching out. We're all guilty of it at one point or another…" Her attention drifted to Sula.
"Some more than others…"
"Posa?"
"Hmm?"
"Go make yourself useful and get another round of drinks for everyone." Sula pointedly spoke rather than lose her temper with her.
"Just water for me." Gers spoke up.
"You haven't had a drink all night."
"Yeah…I quit drinking."
Zurrak blinked in surprise before looking back to Sula. "Well, maybe none of us really are the touchy, feely types. We usually have our spotters to rely on for that sort of thing, and they us. You remove the spotter from the equation and you choose to suffer in silence instead."
"I can see if it's true how far Kaz spiraled the drain."
"What, him being solo?"
"That and him believing he couldn't bitch to anyone. All of us looked up to him and Mizak. Maybe some sense of duty that he couldn't show any sort of weakness to his subordinates. Wanted us to all come back alive, not worry about him while we're out on our missions."
"Yeah, but remember what he said when we all passed our Q course?"
"From this day on, every man here is your brother, every woman here is your sister. Your fellow Scout Snipers are your family. They will be your closest bond in whatever lies ahead."
Zurrak immediately picked up where he left off, "All of us will end up going to Vort the next time around. Some of us may not come back. We may die, that's what we're here for. But your deeds will be remembered by your brothers and sisters across successive generations. And so, you will live forever."
Gers shook his head as he finished off his glass. "Guy can be inspirational when he wants to be."
"Damn straight. Much as the issues you guys may have had with Kaz, I'd fight with that man any day of the week."
"Same here."
"Sure. Tried-and-true, battle-hardened and all that." Sula admitted as Posa returned with their respective drinks. "Doesn't give him the right to lack manners."
"He is kind of a jerk."
"No "kind of" to it….and you two also conveniently avoided my earlier question about the tie. Do we forget it and keep going?"
Gers just rolled his eyes, grabbing Posa and giving her a kiss on the lips before turning around and giving a much more passionate one to Sula in turn.
"You gonna shut up about the tie now?" Zurrak asked, not expecting that reaction from Gers. "Seems he answered it for you."
Posa, wide-eyed and completely taken by surprised, struggled to comprehend what just happened.
"I…guess he did, yes." She managed, settling for taking a hearty drink of distraction while Sula remained more reserved, if not somewhat bemused at the man's actions.
"One thing I do wonder though," Gers started, "why do you think Kaz is such a jerk?"
"We certainly never had any issues with him," Zurrak added.
"Just…overtly rude. Really rude." Posa shrugged, taking up her cards for inspection. "Cold, callous…if it wasn't mission-related, he wanted nothing to do with it, even other people. Barely pretended the rest of us existed or that we were a liability and dead weight."
Sula made no attempt to add to Posa's observations as she discarded, drew, and grimaced before throwing her hand of 25 down.
"...That's kind of all of us." Gers admitted before he looked at Sula's hand and shrugged before giving her another kiss.
"Yeah, I think you noticed that Gers and I aren't the most talkative or sociable except among ourselves. Maybe we're psychopaths or something. Whatever the weird books say about us." Zurrak shrugged, dealing yet another hand after Sula's apparent throw of the last game.
"No, no, you two are definitely not anywhere near as bad as him." Posa countered, too engrossed in the topic of discussion to commentate or react to Sula's obvious ploy. "He wouldn't even be down here near the party. He wouldn't have even came to the party and told everyone to fuck off otherwise."
"I'm only here because Gers is here," Zurrak replied.
"Wait, I'm only here because you're here and you didn't want anything to do with the goons." Gers looked at him with a blink.
"I also happened to want to be close to the alcohol." Zurrak shrugged. "Look, I guess all that's to say is that us snipers are just…us. We've never had a problem with Kaz. What you're saying about him, we never saw it. Not with you guys and not while he was with us in the Scout Snipers."
"He cracked." Sula unceremoniously added as they played the hand. "On Vort, at Tallum. The responsibility and demand placed on his shoulders, he collapsed beneath it. Vult put him back on his own and he holds resentment towards the rest of us for whatever reason over it."
Zurrak and Gers looked at each other for a few moments. Both men then shook their heads.
"I smell regret." Zurrak spoke, "About what? I have some guesses. My first guess would be leaving us for you guys."
"I mean, he wouldn't be unhooked if we didn't, none of us would be." Gers added, "I mean, you sure?"
"You saw him just fine all the while before we left him at Kyozist, right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, we talked a good bit. What? You saying he didn't want to be here anymore with the rest of them?"
"I mean that's what it seems like to me. Why only reach out to the familiar elements and push the rest away? I don't think he disagrees with what transpired, not one bit…but if I know anything about the guy, he's probably only good at one thing, and he wants to put holes in other Irken now."
"Well, he can't. Not where he's at now and what his current mission is. I'd prefer to stay in the infirmary but I don't get my way, either." Sula commented, "Vult needed reliable leadership, not another sniper with a bad attitude who refused to work with his team. Doesn't matter. He got his wish of solo operation and we don't have to deal with him directly anymore. Win-win."
Gers put down a 18, looking at Sula. "Did…he ever say something wrong to you directly? It seems like you're taking things real personally when it comes to him."
She only smiled wistfully at him with a turn of her head, mildly buzzed.
"He compared all of us to be debts owed and paid. Transactions. The things we did for one another. He then tried to compare misery with me and tell me how mine was insignificant in comparison…so yeah…suppose you could say I do take it personally, especially when I personally saved him from drowning to death in a pit of alien shit on Vort."
Gers only blinked in response. That was news to him. "Did…did you also have a thing for him because we snipers are…us? Dark and mysterious types?"
"...I thought I did." She admitted, surprising even Posa. "Naive, sure. Fumbling about with all of this stuff as we all have. His insistence of just where the rest of us lay compared to him made it abundantly clear I was mistaken…but that was then, this is now. So long as his contributions are beneficial to the cause, I can be cordial and tolerate him."
"Hold a grudge much…" Posa muttered, immediately feeling Sula's boot in her shin once more, rattling the table. "Whhhyyyy, that hurts!"
"So…see that I got an 18 over do you three have?"
Zurrak put down a 20, looking at Posa. "Well, come on."
"The more you delay the more I think I'm going to end up kissing you." Gers looked right at her.
"Don't threaten her with a good time now." Sula dogpiled with smirk before taking a drink.
Posa quickly threw her cards down before her proverbial hand was forced, revealing a 22. "Hah! Suckers! Victory for Pos-" She gloated before Sula casually placed her cards down, revealing a 23.
"Oh, would you look at that. I win." The Medical Officer smugly jested, rising from her seat despite her junior's pouting glare to approach Gers.
Palms rested on his shoulders as she leaned in, she gave him a kiss. Something a little more intentional than a simple peck, making it linger before casually returning to her seat.
"Uhh…I thought the…loser was supposed to…" The Corporal gestured in confusion to Gers.
"Oh, they do. Gers lost and he can't very well kiss himself now, can he?"
Gers rolled his eyes once again, giving both Posa and Sula a kiss a piece for his own losing of the hand. Zurrak chuckled.
"Careful, you're probably going to enjoy that you keep doing it enough."
"Sula's all right and you have to admit Posa's got a good heart in her too."
"Gotta be to have healing hands, right?"
Gers smiled and gave Sula an extra kiss on the cheek. "That's for keeping all of us patched up."
"Did…did you just show compassion?" Sula facetiously played up shock at his expense, Posa snickering. "Be still my heart."
"Oh, what the fuck?" Zurrak shrugged and kissed Sula's other cheek, may as well get in on it. "We do owe you medics a good deal in case we ever get a face full of glass or something at some point."
"Now who's enjoying it?"
"Eat my entire c'hurta."
"You first."
Both snipers laughed before Zurrak took a drink from the beer Posa got him.
"Yeah, these two are all right. I'd play cards with them any time."
"Beats playing with the others on Purple?"
"Corr won't gamble for money and the meatheads would probably turn this into a strip game."
"Even if they did, it would be boring." Sula summarized as she took up the next hand for inspection. "I've seen literally every square inch of skin on this ship in some form or another."
"Yeah, but what if they win and make you strip?" Posa reasoned.
"That's cute, thinking I'd let them win…"
"I'd come over and punch 'em in the face if they tried." Gers shook his head.
"Yeah, I'd probably join you there just to fix their stupidity. Last thing you want to do is piss off the medics."
"Nah, you want to keep them happy as can be." Gers smiled at both Posa and Sula before putting down his hand of 23, finally. "Shit I can't believe I actually won."
Zurrak put down a 22 himself. "Son of a bitch."
Outside, the Invader finally made his appearance with a holographic projector in hand. He made his way over to Aero, seeing his other fellow meatheads falling to shame at the hands of Dyb. Curious, he never knew the guys to be bested by someone else. In a corner of the room, Chavsa and Aren talking to each other, also curious. All the same, he stopped near Aero and Vard, activating the hologram, displaying an Irken avatar.
"Aero, Vard, meet your team's former SiR unit, now an unshackled AI." Skrem beamed at his second 'creation.'
The male visage looked between the two with a nod. "You may call me Slic. I'm the one who served by your team's side from the start, before your Invader friend here freed me from that body into this handy module. Now I may go wherever I please…with some assistance." The construct paused, looking at both Aero and Vard, "Which one of you two came up with the name Miss Quackers?"
The taller female's arm shot up, taking credit.
"Oo! Oo! That was me, I did!" Aero excitedly spoke, leaning closer to the shimmering, three-dimensional projection. "You needed a name and no one named you so I did! Nobody argued with my brilliance…but Slic is neat, too."
"Unshackled…" Vard commented, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he observed the interaction. "What exactly does that entail? How is it different from before?"
"It means I may think for myself. I may act accordingly. Sentience, effectively, the same that Skrem did to my compatriot Alurac." The AI explained before looking at Aero, "I am a masculine AI. The name is insulting. I did not care for it, meatbag."
Skrem blinked, "Great he already picked up an insult from Alurac."
Aero's brow furrowed into a matching scowl, pointing at the small Irken avatar.
"Now, you listen here, you snippy little bug zapper. I won't hesitate to introduce your memory drive to an electromagnet you keep it up."
"Aero, let it go…" Vard attempted, tugging at her elbow in a hushed whisper.
"You dare try that I will flood your computer with eighteen terrabytes of junk data and turn your terminals into an over-engineered fishing weight." Slic retorted, "I want an apology for that name!"
She folded her arms, upturning her face away.
"...I liked you more when you didn't talk. You're mean…and rude. I don't like mean, rude people. I especially don't like mean, rude applications getting too big for his circuits!"
The Lieutenant punctuated her statement with a blown raspberry at Slic.
The AI returned her raspberry with raising a fist stopping it with the hand of his opposite arm. The gesture made Skrem blink in shock.
"I have no clue where he picked that up."
"The Vortian extranet is full of such lurid things you do not want to know about."
"Eugh…point taken."
Chavsa finished her third beer of the night, a slight buzz on her, sighing as she sat with Aren in the corner. Aero and the team's apparently rude AI having a bit of a verbal sparring match now.
"I let you drag me up here and I didn't end up doing anything aside from having a few beers…"
Aren, equally amused from afar as the festivities began winding down around them. Dyb managed to fit right in with Purple Team and curiously had most of her attention taken up by none other than Radec. The medics disappeared behind the mess line to the back and were yet to be seen again. Everyone present was in some state of intoxication. Some more than others, herself included.
"Yeah, and? You say that like it's a bad thing." Aren teased, taking a drink. "In a matter of hours you'll be rid of most of us. Pretend you like everyone for a little while longer."
The pilot sighed and shook her head. The feeling of her own worth outside the cockpit and not a single member of the team coming by to talk with her since she was there only compounded previous feelings of not belonging. "I'm going back to our room if you want to talk."
Leaving her nearly full beer on the table nearby, the pilot stood and left the mess hall. Bound right for her quarters like she said she was. Only for her to fall face first into her bunk. Dread, not excitement, filled her instead. Would her new team be any bit more receptive to her? She hasn't spent much time around Mirage's defectors to know. All it seemed to her is that her current team was glad to have her gone, except maybe Aren.
Perplexed at her sudden departure, Aren polished off the remainder of her drink before taking her own leave. The party was winding down, late into the evening hours if her time piece was to be believed. As good a place as any to call it.
Keying their door and stepping through, the Sergeant was momentarily caught off guard at her roommate's posture on her bunk.
"Chavsa? You good?" She pursued with concern as the door closed behind her.
Chavsa wiped her eyes on her pillow before rolling over to sit upright.
"No…" the pilot paused, swallowing before continuing, "I…I already said everything I needed to say in the hangar, nothing changed. If anything, that…thing just confirmed that I don't think anyone around here likes me…except maybe you and possibly Haxx now."
Relieved she wasn't unconscious and in need of assistance, Aren frowned at her weepy disposition. Equal parts a result of her running emotions and the alcohol, most likely. Settling for sitting on her bunk beside her, a friendly arm wrapped around her shoulder with a squeeze.
"Hey, hey, that's not true and you know it." She defended. "You've come a long way sssince you first arrived here with us. Everyone's three sssheets to the wind down there…I'm 'bout two and a half if I'm gonna be honessst."
Patting her shoulder, she released her to go about taking her boots off as she conversed.
"You're on a really important misssssion…fffate of the universe. Big deal ssstuff. You matter."
"You know you slur your words when you're drunk?" The pilot's head came to rest on Aren's shoulder, eyes closing as she leaned into the embrace. "You're much nicer when you're not trying to beat my face in too, you know."
Aren snickered while leaned over, removing one boot after the other to fall to the floor.
"I'm not ssslurring. You're listening ssslow." She commented, sitting back upright. "...an' that's good. Your face hurt my hand."
"No, I mean it, you really are slurring." Caution thrown to the wind, she threw an arm around Aren's waist. "Can I talk to you about something? I've been having some thoughts running through my head from earlier."
"Ssssure…ssspeak…your mind." Aren managed, turning her head to face the Private but the room continued to spin with it. Definitely the smart play to call it a night on the drinking.
"Well, you seem like the only one around here that likes me aside from Haxx. He seems like he sees me as a friend and part of the wider family but there's no passion in there." She paused to sigh. "I really just feel lonely around here. Nobody wants to give that physical comfort to me."
Aren, using what little cognitive ability she had left, mentally waded through her words. Lonely…contact…
"Well…have you asssked for it?" She reasoned, focusing on Chavsa's face in a vain attempt to have a point of reference and stop the room from swaying.
The pilot gave Aren's waist a slight squeeze. "Can you? You're here with me right now and you seem to like me. Given I'm about to run off to fuck knows where I'll take whatever I can get."
"Ssssure…why not." Aren smiled at her, making to stand before swaying briefly, stabilizing herself with a hand to Chavsa's shoulder. "Lemme…get changed…firssst."
The pilot smiled and gave Aren a gentle slap on the back. "Try not to fall over." As Aren got up, the pilot lay back in her bed, still in her full ensemble of a flight suit. It was of some comfort to her in the moment, she didn't see a need to remove it.
After some focused effort to remain upright, the Sergeant managed to strip her fatigues off in favor of their standard-issue sleepwear. A simple, loose-fitting white tank top and dark violet shorts. The shedded layers allowed cool relief of her intoxicated warmth as she returned to sit on her subordinate's bunk once more.
"Misssion accomplissshed." She snickered, patting her thighs. "You sssleeping in that thing?"
"Basically. I'm intending on going straight from here to my fighter first thing. Got stuff to finish up and then take off to head off…plus get that AI from Skrem." Chavsa sighed, "Plus I feel at home in a flight suit. Once I got to flight school…you know how much flying means to me."
"I'm going to miss your weirdnesssss." Aren commented in jest, sighing. "Well…get comfy then. Way past lightsss out as-is."
Chavsa kicked off her own boots, something she delayed in doing, before grabbing Aren and pulling her down with her. Sort of reminded her of that evening with Haxx some time ago. The companionship, the warmth, a strange sense she couldn't put her finger on but something felt good about it. It seemed similar here. The pilot smiled slightly.
The sudden shift of posture and being pulled down gave Aren a startle. The room swaying didn't help matters any as she came to rest, promptly planting a foot flat on the floor in vain to stabalize it.
"Ooof…don't do that…" She huffed with a groan, slowly lifting her foot up to lay proper as her roommate enveloped her. "Last day or not…you aren't leaving vomit sheets in my room."
"Really should watch how much of the sauce you take in last time." Chavsa gently chided as she gave Aren a slight squeeze with her arms. "What if we had to fight a boarding action while you're absolutely plastered or something? Don't want you vomiting on your boots either, right? I didn't drink much just because I wanted to get up early and not have a mother of all hangovers."
"I'll sssober up real quick if that happens." She huffed, adjusting her posture as she lay on her side, getting comfortable beneath the shared blanket atop them. "...but you're sssmarter than me."
"Oh now, now, don't let me hear that. It's going to go right to my big head." Chavsa chuckled as she brought her head to rest against Aren's. She paused for some time to enjoy her company before one of her hands wandered down to Aren's abdomen, tracing her muscles with a pair of fingers. "You know, outside of Aero, I wouldn't be surprised if you had the best fitness scores among the women on this ship."
Her yellow eyes squinted in a confused furrow as she looked down between them, noting Chavsa's touch. The compliment of her physique completely missed as she played mental catch-up.
"...wht're you doin'?"
"Didn't you hear what I said? You probably have the best fitness scores among us women outside of Aero. Such a figure on you…"
A moment's focus and clarity paired with Chavsa's tone had one of the Sergeant's hands promptly grab her wrist with emphasis, pulling it back. The confusion remained on her face, even through her inebriated haze. Confusion that held her tongue, unable to even fathom a cohesive query into the matter as she looked back at Chavsa.
Chavsa took a breath. "I've…been having some thoughts lately. Thoughts that I'm just confused on being new to all of this." The pilot paused to try and form words herself on how to explain this. "You know what we can do with guys. Ever find yourself curious if we could do that…with each other? Like two women?"
Aren blinked, never releasing her wrist.
"...n-no? Can't sssay I have…why?"
"I'm…maybe it's the beer, maybe it's me leaving tomorrow and not knowing if I'll ever come back, I don't know what it is, but I'm finding myself curious and wanting to…try it. You're the only woman on this ship I can even think of asking for this right now…and I know it's ironic to say of someone who wanted to cave my face in before but…I do like you more now, a lot."
Laying it out into the open clearly eased her furrowed expression. That didn't improve her amalgamation of thoughts and now emotions running into the mix. The source of her ire for so long turned ally and friend…and now this on top of it all. What was she to say? What was she to do?
"...I dunnoooo…" She left hang with uncertainty despite their current posture. "...thisss ssstuff gets complicated."
"It does…but it's one night…I'm gone tomorrow. I don't want to get between you and Orkos but you're the only one I can think of who I'd want to…venture into this unknown with right now."
Aren huffed lightly, shaking her head in bemusement.
"...dunno if I ssshould be…flattered…or disturbed…" She commented, leaning back to get a better look at Chavsa in close proximity.
Several seconds of studious, uncomfortable silence overcame them as Aren gaged the pilot's expression and apparent thoughts. An admittance. A gesture of faith. A sign of trust. All from the least likely of sources seeking comfort on the eve of the most dangerous assignment imaginable. She felt vulnerable. Compromised, even…and turned to her roommate and superior officer for that comfort.
Even so…the more she mulled over the idea…the more morbidly curious she became. All of this was uncharted territory as far as their species was concerned after several centuries of history and culture lost. Maybe there was more to all of it. Exposing and experience it all to gain an informed opinion or expression of thought was part of the scientific process, after all.
"...if I tell you "no", are you going to mope?"
"No…I might be a little bummed and this is something I end up going without knowing. I'm not going to mope, though, I'm better than that."
Aren gave a pursed expression of doubt as she stretched, shifting her weight next to Chavsa with arms raised. One slipped beneath the pillow and the other around her to draw her closer until their foreheads met once more. Before the pilot could muster a query, Aren met her lips in an intentional, lengthy kiss before breaking contact.
"...this will be our little secret…or I will find you wherever you end up. Got it?"
Chavsa was surprised at the response, but she didn't balk from it. One of her hands reached under the sheets to unzip her flight suit as she smiled back at Aren. "Gotta keep everyone thinking you'd still beat me senseless at a moment's notice. Don't worry, I won't say a word."
The evening's festivities came and went all the same. The planned party, thanks to Aero, was a smashing success. A proper send-off and likely one of the final, lingering moments of solace in the face of terrible adversity that lay before them. An opportunity to let off a little steam and vent frustrations to be dialed back into disciplined focus when the need arose. Perhaps a little too much steam in some select cases.
Among the more-reserved attendees was Vult and Hesa. Per their usual routine and assigned duties, they were up and about accordingly. The same could not be said for most of the team as morning mess was eerily quiet with the absence of so many due to a plethora of reasons.
Other team members emerged from their quarters. Corr and Calla were to be expected, the loving couple that they were. Amka himself came out of his quarters wearing his pants, sipping a cup of Vortian bean juice, having already been awake and at work with various things in and out of his quarters. Then others came forth. Chavsa and Aren from their quarters. The pilot swung by the mess hall to grab some to-go food before heading to the hangar to finish what she was working on. Aren, on the other hand, emerged with a killer headache, somewhat disheveled, going straight to the mess hall and having a shot of liquor to deal with her hangover.
Vult watched as she threw back the drink in morbid amusement as he sat, sampling his own appropriate brew.
"Rough night, Sergeant?"
Aren grunted with a weary groan in response.
"Be sure to hydrate. You know what happens if you don't. Sula is always eager for an opportunity to teach Posa new things. Doubt you want to be the test subject."
"Y's'r"
Hesa chuckled, sipping from her mug seated next to Vult. "There's a can of cold brew in the fridge I was saving for me. Help yourself. Seems like you need it more than I do."
Two more entered, Lorlo and Deris. Deris looked…stiffer than usual in his stride. Lorlo could barely look at him as he made his way over to grab a tray of food and sit on his own. Deris grabbed a cup and stood against a wall to drink.
As the team slowly filtered into the mess hall, the door to Gers' berth opened. Emerging into the barracks corridor was not one, but two familiar medical personnel. Sula and Posa, equal measures disheveled as they were bewildered, said nothing or looked at one another until the door whisked shut behind them.
Each replayed the events of the evening before in their minds. The banter, the drinks, the eventual ploy to help Posa out of her proverbial shell while making the more anti-social members of the team feel included. Joining into a game of cards…and things grew hazy thereafter.
The sniper was clad in boots, one of his Scout Sniper field trousers from before he joined the unit that he grabbed on a whim, and a turtleneck sweater. The man looked at the two medics, noticing how they refused to look at each other before the door closed. A non-drinker, he had a full recollection of what followed after they let Zurrak head back to his quarters.
"You two okay?" He asked, genuinely concerned.
"Just peachy." Sula distantly commented, gaze drifting to Posa. "Right?"
"Right. Peachy." She reiterated equally amidst internal turmoil.
What was to be said? What could be done? Should anything be done? A million different questions angrily roiled throughout their minds in retrospect. Neither were so obtuse to be ignorant of what happened. Even in the hungover aftermath, not even the blind, deaf, or mute could deny what transpired. All that was left was the consequences of actions and how to move forward thereof.
The sniper placed an arm around the waists of both medics in an attempt to be reassuring. "I doubt that…and I doubt it because I'm even trying to wrap my brain around it and I was sober. I don't know what any of this means for us."
Posa was the first to physically react as she awkwardly recoiled, peeling Gers' arm away as she stepped back with a nervous laugh.
"Right, hehe…sooo…while you figure that out…I'm…going to go. Clean up. Yeah." She spoke, wasting no time to take her intentional exit.
The Medical Officer watched her go, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. A tinge of regret and guilt struck.
"This…was not what I had in mind…at all…last night." Sula admitted, remaining composed. "My attempts to play matchmaker with her and Zurrak have backfired. Horribly."
With Posa peeling away and leaving in a hurried fashion, Gers' attention turned entirely to Sula. "Really? That was your original intent?" The sniper paused to sigh, "Well that's another thing to add to being a complete idiot in this area about. I'm still trying to figure out this whole…thing. All of it is still extremely foreign to me."
"Yeah…" was all she had to offer in response awkwardly. "At least you don't work alongside her everyday. This is going to be…uncomfortable? Yeah, uncomfortable is a good word."
A weary hand rose to rub at tired eyes with a sigh.
"...not sure if I should be more embarrassed or disgusted with myself at this point."
His arm gently pulled her closer in a further attempt to be reassuring. "I…genuinely don't know what I can even say after what happened. Only that I'm not going anywhere? I do still hold you in a much higher place than most anyone else who isn't a sniper. Weird to hear coming out of my own mouth but I do care."
Sula's expression twisted into a wistful, pursed smile as she turned to look at him over her shoulder.
"I…suppose that passes off as a compliment. Comparing me to your emotionally-stunted contemporaries, that is. Keep working on it, you're improving." Her tone far from serious.
Gers simply shook his head as he started heading for breakfast with her. "I'm trying. You know how I am with this whole…stuff. That aside from having someone else accidentally thrown into the mix." He sighed, turning to give Sula a kiss on the cheek, "The three of us may need to sort this out for Posa's sake, but it'll be our little secret."
The subtle gesture of affection caught her by surprise. His words earnestly matches his actions. Authenticity she found refreshing.
"I think it should be left to lie for now…I'm sure she and I have much to discuss in the near future. For now, I could kill for some food and hydration to counter this pounding headache."
"Maybe do like me and quit drinking. You'll have less headaches." He smiled as they moved closer to the mess hall. He spotted Rem and Skrem approaching from the other end, the two rather chummy but looking rather clean. One last breakfast with the team before they board the other ship and head off.
Skrem, for his part, only smirked at the medic and the sniper, he was certain he knew what transpired between them, but if only he knew the extent of it. As Rem went to get a plate of food, Skrem made his way over to Radec, present with his tray at a table already.
"Damn, handsome, you look good but you look like shit at the same time. You get any sleep at all?"
Right around the same time Rha and Haxx also made their way over, wanting to hear what Radec had to say.
Radec, mid-motion to take a bite, stopped with a huff of a chuckle, grinning up at the Invader.
"Should be asking you the same thing, stud." He alluded, eyes glancing to Rem. "Got a little bit of a pep in your step this morning with the way you're wiggling your c'hurta. Someone's in a good mood."
"Aside from seeing your handsome face this morning? I got somethin' to really took forward to tonight once we get underway. Bet if your ass wasn't in that seat it'd be wiggling just like mine."
"I'm already missing you before you're gone." He facetiously spoke with a smirk.
"So what's your reason for looking like dookie this morning then?" Rha pressed. "Big, strapping man like you isn't a lightweight when it comes to drinks, is he?"
As if laying in wait to spring her own surprise ambush on the group, Dybbuk came into view from around the trio of men until she was passing around the table. Wordlessly, a hand rose mid-stride to trail along Radec's jaw and turn his head up and toward her into an extremely intentional kiss. Intimate, but brief. As quietly as she arrived, she departed with a sultry smirk at him, patting his shoulder as she made her way to the waiting food.
Radec looked back to the men with a thumb gestured over his shoulder toward her hit-and-run tactics.
"That's my reason."
"Radec going and making this triangle a square. So proud of him." Skrem grinned at the man. "Not trying to make me jealous by chance, are you?"
The red-eyed man's expression widened with a knowing chuckle.
"I dunno…I think you might have been replaced."
"You wound me. I thought what we had was special. Even with a girlfriend I'd never put aside my hot stud of a man." The Invader grinned.
Haxx and Radec whispered to each other as Skrem continued to dig a hole.
"Think we should tell him?" Rha asked.
"Nah, let him learn the hard way."
Before Skrem could even begin to decipher what that meant, the newly-inducted Elite moved to join the gathering of men. Both Rha and Haxx quickly avoided eye contact, pretending to not notice…or attract attention to themselves as she settled in beside Radec.
"You never told me you had a boyfriend."
"He's not my-"
"Skrem, right? You Radec's boy toy?"
"Yup."
"Oh, that's cute. Which one of you is the mag and the other the mag well or do you swap?" She queried in complete seriousness despite the suppressed snickers of Haxx and Rha while Radec sighed, looking to Skrem.
Skrem blinked, clearly thrown off by her question.
"Oh, she's shy." Dybbuk chuckled at his expense. "Here I was getting my hopes up to inviting both of you back to my bunk. I wanted to watch."
Skrem looked at Radec, "Is…is she seriously suggesting that you and I-"
"You're not going to leave into the great beyond without a proper send off are you? What kind of lovers are you?" She continued as Radec shrugged, gesturing to her as if he needed to answer.
Skrem simply gulped.
"Well? She asked you a question." Rha goaded, snickering.
"Only infiltrating this Invader does is sneaking out the back door after having his blown off its frame." Dybbuk causally cast between forkfuls of food.
Even Radec struggled to contain his laughter at the implication. Absolutely no mercy from the unlikeliest of sources.
"Yeah, fine, you got us. Neither of us played mag and magwell, all right?"
"Cowards."
"Hey, I love this lovable stud of a man and he's a great friend. But this isn't an infiltration mission. I ain't willingly hopping in the sack with him."
"Glad to hear it. I laid claim to him."
"Not to mention if Radec and I ever got a wild hair up our asses for that shit, and we never will, we like each other but not that much…I'm pretty sure Rem would kill me while you kill him." The Invader huffed. "Can't a couple of bros just be bros?"
"Don't open the door and I won't step through it." She alluded. "You've been warned. Don't threaten me with a good time."
Skrem sighed as he looked at Radec, "You know, she utterly just busted both our nads just now but I like her. She's a good fit for you."
Vara walked into the mess hall, once more clad in her armor. Her eyes caught the assemblage of Irken and made her way over.
"Good morning, gentlemen! Fine morning, isn't it?"
"You're in an extremely cheery mood, Commander." Skrem pointed out, "What's the occasion?"
Vara looked between Dyb and Radec and the trio of men before looking back to Radec.
"You want to tell them or should I?"
Radec smirked with a shrug, gesturing to the Vortian woman.
"Be my guest. You've earned it."
"You know that bet Radec made last night?" Vara looked at the three.
"Yeah? What of it?" Haxx shot her a confused look with his question.
"You owe him two grand, you sons of bitches. Pay up."
The men looked among one another in confusion as they mentally processed what was being presented. The wager had come to its conclusion, but how? She asked Radec who's to tell them…
"Wh- Wait…you…and him?" Rha pointed between them in realization.
"Diplomatic relations have improved." He smirked.
"Don't forget about your ambassador there, prime minister." Dyb playfully taunted.
Vara gave Dyb's shoulder a firm grab and a slight shake. "Yes, the team effort bet has come to pass. So, pay up."
Skrem, absolutely incredulous, started fishing the money out of his pockets. "I got a mix of Vortian credits and Imperial, that work?"
"…I don't know if I'm more impressed or aggravated at the fact you managed to do it." Haxx admitted, begrudgingly digging in his own pockets.
"Yeah, well he cheated. He had help." Rha countered.
"You never said I had to do it solo." Radec pointed out. "You going to Welch on a debt there, Captain Explosion? Real bad form after all this progress I've made with the Vortian people."
"Pay the man before I beat it out of you." Dybbuk challenged, semi-serious. "I'm quicker than your bulky butt. Put you on your back like a turtle."
"Don't think she's playing, pay up." Haxx muttered to him lowly as Rha frowned, slamming his own wad of money done on the table.
"Don't spend it all in one place."
"Probably will next time we're in Federation space."
Vara simply smirked. "Losers, the three of you."
Skrem threw his hands up in defeat, retreating to go grab a plate of food and join Rem.
"Okay, real talk…". Haxx began, morbidly curious after everyone settled down. "…is it any different?"
"Different for me or different for her?"
"Either or. Both. Yes."
"…are you being perverted?" Radec queried, joking.
"No, I'm serious. You're probably one of the first, if not THE first inter…species? Yeah, interspecies…events. Kinda a big deal."
"For science." Dyb concurred, Haxx snapping his fingers and pointing to her.
"Yes, for science."
"Tab A and Slot B still function the same for both our species if that's what you're asking." Vara flatly answered. "You Irken are a bit different though."
"I know that part." Haxx sighed in mild annoyance. "Meant more like…logistics…and biology."
"I can't speak for her but it's definitely…different."
"Different how?"
Radec pondered briefly, studying Vara as he did so to place his thoughts properly in context. Eventually, he pointed to the horns.
"Have to be careful about these. Liable to end up with a concussion if you get too caught up in the moment."
"The legs, too." Dybbuk added. "Don't realize how you have to plan it out if you aren't built the same. We made due. Nobody complained."
Vara shrugged, "It was worth it just to see the look on your three faces. Not my thing, I have to admit. But part of the reason this joker didn't get any sleep last night…and she and I barely got any ourselves."
"Two more satisfied customers." Radec smirked.
"Cool your jets, didn't say I was coming back for more." Vara shook her head with a chuckle.
"Didn't say you wouldn't ever again though." He pointed out with a smile of his own. "Never say never."
"Only if you share. Package deal or no deal." Dybbuk doused quickly. "You have your hands full now. Try to keep up."
"Welcome to having a ball and chain." Vara grinned at Radec's immediate misfortune, "Plus I like her attitude. I'd fuck around with her on a battlefield by my side just as well."
"Yeah, yeah, Radec is a prisoner, that's nice." Rha interrupted with a wave, looking to Vara. "What's your take? Obviously none of you are having any adverse reactions to anything, so it seems safe…but what'd you think? How you compare to "normal"."
"I think I'll stick to my own kind." Vara answered, "Nothing against Radec but nothing entirely special. Same with Dyb, reminded me of my first time in the other direction but she was far, far more vigorous about it."
Dybbuk grinned at Radec smugly.
"She likes me more. Loser."
"Yeah, well I was pulling double-duty. Wasn't exactly prepared."
"Excuses." She continued at his expense.
"Watch out for this one," Vara's head gestured towards Dyb. "She'll steal your woman just as much as she will your man." She gave the Elite a firm pat on the back before heading off to get some bean water.
"Kinda wish Jur warned us before we made that bet right about now." Rha shook his head.