Jax found himself filled with a rather domestic kind of content as he watched his twin tailors work.

Hestia and Demeter had finally gotten themselves fully established in a somewhat small, but serviceable room provided to them by the Commander. With some machines both theirs and on-loan from one of the soldiers, they were able to begin work anew. They didn't have much to work with at the moment, but as Hestia was saying...

"... and Dr. Tygan was rather cordial about my asking about synthetic fibers," she replied to Jax's asking about materials. "Given time, we should have some fabrics through him. I will admit, I... rather miss the ready supply we had under ADVENT, but I will readily trade conveniences for following you, Holy Father."

"Sister is certainly right." Demeter passed Hestia a spool of thread. At the moment, they were catching up on patching holes and mending the casual clothes of the soldiers. "ADVENT could tempt me with all the niceties of the world, but they would mean nothing if I could not be with you."

Jax chuckled warmly, leaning forward on the chair he was on. "I very much appreciate the sentiment, my Tailors. Still, are you two certain there is nothing I can do to help you further settle in?"

Demeter shook her head. "Other than asking the Commander about the materials she might be able to acquire? Nothing, my Warlock." She smiled gently. "Your occasional visits are more than enough."

Hestia hid a smile behind her sewing machine. "If you could send Briareos down this way at some point I'm sure Demeter would appreciate—"

"Hush!"

That got Jax to laugh again, shaking his head. "I will entertain the idea of it... but if you are sure there is nothing else I can do, I will wait until you think of something. That being said—"

The tangent he was about to go on was interrupted as the door opened, causing the twins to look up. It was Mordenna who leaned in, looking around until he saw Jax. "There you are! For being eight feet tall and built like a brick shithouse you're rather stealthy."

He rolled his eyes. "I would not think myself 'stealthy' in any capacity of the word, self-deprecatingly I will admit. Perhaps more self-deprecating is that, at my size and build as you say, you were unable to find me. The mighty Hunter, unable to track someone that is... what was the phrase?"

"Oh, shut up." Mordenna batted a hand at him dismissively. "This is a huge-ass ship and doesn't exactly have a natural floor I can track footprints in. 'Bout the only thing I can track you by is your hilariously huge psionic signature and even then that gets a little inaccurate." He then looked over to the twins. "Oh, hi Hesi, hi Demi. Mind if I borrow the big lug over here for an hour or so? Maybe more depending how much he sucks."

Demeter cocked her head. "And what do you intend to do?"

"Target practice! Except, uh." Mordenna gestured. "He's shooting. I'm helping him shoot." A pause. "We're working on his accuracy, alright?"

In lieu of answering him, they both looked to Jax, who nodded. "Very well. Hestia and Demeter were just letting me know that they had nothing I could help with at the moment. My schedule is certainly free for the particular brand of tomfoolery you wish to engage me in."

"Hey." Mordenna pointed at Jax. "Accuracy is no fool's activity! I need to teach you how to shoot. There's also another thing or two I need to teach you, but that comes later. Basic accuracy is what we're aiming for here."

"Aiming for, brother?"

"And you will never know if I intended that pun or not and you will just have to suffer." Mordenna motioned for him to get up. "C'mon! I've already got your gun down at the firing range, move your ass."

Rolling his eyes again and bidding a quiet farewell to the Tailors, Jax got out of his chair and followed his brother, who expertly navigated the ship until they were passing through the Workshop and entering another door he'd never had the pleasure of going through. It lead down into what could be called the basement of the ship, which had storage containers packed to the ceiling. Before that, however, was a counter, and just beyond it, a cutout of a rather odd-looking Sectoid propped up against two of the boxes, the boxes themselves looking rather reinforced. His Disruption Rifle was on the counter, and he and Mordenna came to stand at it.

Mordenna gestured to him. "First things first—posture. Pick up your rifle and hold it like you're about to fire it but haven't seen a target yet."

What a strange specification. Still, Jax complied, picking up his gun and holding it about the only way he knew how. At his posture, Mordenna almost physically recoiled, shaking his head furiously. "Ok, ok, ok, this is worse than I thought. Well! First of all, finger out of the goddamn trigger!" He batted at Jax's index finger, which was indeed resting on the trigger. "A little thing called 'trigger discipline': keep your finger off the trigger until you are certain you want to start shooting. Rest it on the outside."

When Jax did so, he continued. "Alright. That's basic safety, but you have worse problems. That's... that's not how to hold a rifle at all. Stand still, I'm going to move you like you're a G.I. Joe." Jax thought the idea of being touched by his brother in a non-combat situation rather strange... but he kept his mouth shut. Mordenna was undoubtedly the expert here, and if he wanted his fire accuracy to be better, he would swallow his pride to listen. Mordenna reached over and brought the gun up, resting the stock against Jax's shoulder. He then made a few adjustments from there. "Christ," he muttered, "I hope you know I'm not ragging on you for your poor training. This is just some of the worst posturing I've seen."

"Apologies that I was never entered into a gun training college," he grumbled back, knowing that he wasn't being personally shamed but getting a little miffed nonetheless.

"Don't gotta say sorry to me. I'm angry at Cronus more than anything else." When Jax tensed up at that statement, Mordenna shook his head. "That's all I'm saying on it. Not mad at you." After a moment of silence and not being adjusted, he nodded. "Ok. I want you to mentally memorize this posture. Let your muscle memory copy it. Also if you're looking for compliments, at least you weren't holding onto the magazine for stability. I've seen resistance fighters do that and on more than one occasion I've watched them pry the mag out of their guns unintentionally while firing. Barrel support is good support." He then tilted the Disruptor Rifle a bit more towards Jax. "And look through the scope! I might've designed this as a thinly-veiled insult but I designed it nonetheless. The scope will help with your accuracy."

Giving a well-meaning "hmph," Jax leaned over to look through it. True enough, there was an aiming reticule, which he focused on the head of the Sectoid. "There you go," Mordenna chimed in. "Think you're ready to fire?"

"Mhm." With that, Jax put his finger on the trigger, squeezed, and... nothing. The trigger wouldn't even go back. After another failed attempt and examination of the gun, Mordenna shook his head.

"Safety's on. I'm surprised you've never complained about accidental discharges with it. Poor thing probably hasn't been flipped to in twenty years." Jax leveled a look at Mordenna to communicate his earlier grumbling, and Mordenna put up his hands. "Hey. I know I said I was going to teach you accuracy but knowing how to operate a gun comes with that. I'm not going to release you onto the field not knowing much else than murder death kill. They did that with me and it was terrible." Mordenna leaned over, pointing to a dial with four options that his eyes had glazed over. "Here's your mode select. Lowest is safety on. Second lowest is semi-auto. Next one is burst fire. The one after that is full auto, and pretend that one doesn't exist for now. Switch yourself up to semi-auto for the moment—that's a mode that fires once per trigger pull. After that, try again."

Sure enough, Jax switched to semi-auto and went back into the stance Mordenna showed him, looking through the scope and remembering his trigger discipline. This time, when he went to fire, a single shot roared down the range and struck just a little up and to the right of the bullseye on the Sectoid's head. Still, according to the cutout, he would have hit his target.

"See?" Mordenna gestured downrange. "A little off, but you'll get better with practice. Now." Mordenna reached down and grabbed what Jax recognized as his bag of ammo for the Disruption Rifle. "Show me your reload."

This, at least, Jax thought himself somewhat decent at. After Mordenna set down the bag, he unhooked his magazine, slotting it into the first strap and taking one from the back, hooking it in. Admittedly, he was used to having it on his hip, not on a table in front of him, and he felt a bit slower for it. Still, Mordenna nodded encouragingly. "Nice, nice. Y'know, since those things recharge themselves over time, I was wondering if I could cut out the bag entirely and just give you two bigger, sidecar mags."

At the terminology, Jax furrowed his brow. "'Sidecar...?'"

"Ah, yeah." Mordenna gestured as he spoke, picking up two of the other mags to demonstrate. "It's when you tape the mags together like this. Speeds up every other reload, since all you gotta do is flip it for the new one. With a few improvements to the recharge mechanism and a little counter in your scope to let you know how many shots you've got left, I think it'd work well. Thoughts?"

Indeed, Jax gave it a moment of thought. True, it would take some getting used to as he certainly wasn't familiar with it. Having just two mags would mean that if he started relying on his gun more in the future, he'd have to take it easy. But, as he always said, didn't he quite pride himself on his psionics? He could easily use his powers as he gave his gun a moment or so to recharge. Nodding, he put his gun at rest. "I believe that would work quite excellently. If you require my consent, consider it given."

"Fantastic!" Mordenna set the mags back in their place. "Now, let's track over to the Training Center. We'll get you some slightly more lifelike targets to shoot at and I'll help you get used to going from cover to firing position in a snap."

Making sure this time to snap to the safety on his gun, Jax followed Mordenna out. Perhaps this could be some rather nice bonding time.


Even as she vaguely know she had a "reputation" to uphold, Eliza had to admit that she rather liked hanging out with her soldiers.

The Commander was currently situated in the Commons, sat back in a chair and simply soaking in the atmosphere as the circle of her own soldiers she was a part of laughed, regaled her with stories, and bantered. It was nice to mingle with her own like this. Granted, she tried her best to reach out to Arachne and let her know she was wanted—but much like Firebrand, their Sectoid made it clear she was fine on her own, and would only be more comfortable with integrating with the other soldiers when she had a more comprehensive grasp on English. Since Wiki was teaching her... learning went on hold.

That left Eliza to talk with her usual soldiers. No Chosen, Schro was laying low, but with Sammy and a few of Jax's followers... it half-felt like old times. As old as "a few months earlier" was. It still filled Eliza with a comfortable nostalgia that kept her grinning as Benald and Pattie went back and forth over the specifics of a story, debating what was true and what wasn't. At this point, random people were chipping in with their version of events or offering alternative explanations, the real meaning of the story being lost under gleeful interpretation or practical joking.

Fine by Eliza. She was content to simply be, to be there as a physical presence amongst her own. Still, speaking of no Chosen... it'd certainly be a joy if any of them were here. She'd heard from one of the soldiers that Jax and Mordenna were last seen heading towards the Workshop, which put her heart at ease. The fact that the siblings were willingly hanging out with each other and Mordenna seemed to have gathered the will to be around Jax again gave her pride. Now, if only she could figure out if Fal-Mai was mingling with her brothers as often as she should. It was hard to tell—the other two she'd passed in the hallways occasionally. She'd never seen Fal-Mai without being directly approached by her. That shroud was certainly handling the work there, she knew that... but there was always the small worry at the back of her mind that Fal-Mai was avoiding her for some reason. She wanted to be optimistic and think that Fal-Mai was staying in her cloak as a force of habit, but ever since Jax had started avoiding her... the thought was there.

She must've been frowning, as Benald stopped where he was at and looked to her, cocking an eyebrow. "What, Commander, you think ten Chryssalids didn't seige up that tower and try to pull off Shen's ears?"

"Yeah, of course she doesn't think that, dumbass." Pattie crossed her arms. "It was fifteen. I'd know because five of them came after me."

Eliza went back to grinning, knowing Benald was trying to keep her included and her spirits up. "Ah, sorry. Lost in thought think about how, no, I don't think it was Chryssalids... you lot sure it wasn't ten or fifteen Faceless disguised as Chryssalids?"

That version of the story was enough to make Pattie slap her thigh in revelation. "Of course. Of course! Yeah it was fifteen Faceless! They just climbed up the tower and started fighting us and the robots!"

"Pats, I'm pretty sure they didn't fight the robots. If anything, the robots fought them."

"What's the difference?"

"Well." Benald shrugged. "I thought you knew, but I keep forgetting you're not the brightest crayon in the shed."

"Hey!"

"Don't hear you denying it."

With that, the story was forgotten as people focused on the back-and-forth between the two of them, summarily amused. That left Eliza to go back to her thoughts. Perhaps she could do the mature thing and simply ask Fal-Mai the next time she saw her if everything was alright? Then again, she was afraid of spooking Fal-Mai like she had Jax. Maybe there was a way to gently approach the issue without throwing up any perceivable red flags. Goodness, you're certainly putting a lot of thought into this. Well, yeah. Kindness and sensitivity took actual work. It was a lot harder to be nice than to be cruel. So Eliza knew she'd have to put the work in. Didn't make it any less rewarding when everything turned out swimmingly, of course.

Ah. Benald had Pattie in a friendly headlock. Knowing the two of them knew how to keep a camaraderie up without getting out of hand, she allowed a gentle chuckle at it. She'd had personal encounters with her soldiers before, of course, and she had practiced the same carefulness then as she did with the Chosen now. They knew her, she knew them, and it was the most likely reason Eliza could think of why they'd follow her this far and allow who she'd brought onto the ship. She'd like to think she fostered an atmosphere where they could bring their concerns up without fear of dismissal or rebuke. But, Elena's outburst combined with the general complaints she'd heard about Vlad... it made her wonder if she had to hold some kind of meeting to reinforce the idea again. At least she'd heard through the grapevine that Vlad was keeping his head down. She hoped Herod could succeed in getting Vlad to realize the feelings he'd hurt and just why his arguments were so abrasive. If Herod needed any pointers... perhaps she could have a talk with him later.

Still, she thought back to her original point. She really did wish one of the Chosen were here. Any one of them were just a treat to talk to, and she imagined they could get along with the soldiers well in this type of situation. Then again... it could just be her longing talking. Holding back a sigh as the soldiers switched to another topic, she clasped her hands in front of her. Her bleeding heart really couldn't keep itself from falling in love with all three of them, it seemed. It was something she knew would always remain a longing—after all, there were so many aspects in the way of it. First of all, societal norms dictated she'd have to choose one, and that brought its own problems. Even if all three of them agreed to be with her in a weird sort of open-relationship she hadn't seen outside of the "hippie circles" she'd heard one of her grandfathers rant about... did they see her in that way at all? Yes, there was the comforting, the confiding, the crying, but Eliza was just seeing that as being a true friend and Commander nowadays. It didn't necessarily show there was a founding there for a serious relationship. Would they even be attracted to her? Did they still feel attraction at all?

This time, she couldn't hold back a sigh. Herod, who was next to her, leaned over and kept his voice low as the other soldiers took no notice. "Something on your mind, Commander?"

"Oh, plenty," she replied, adjusting herself in her chair. "I've got a lot to think about. Always have." She leveled a tired, but joking look at him. "Commanding was a mistake. Take it from me; don't do it."

Herod chuckled, shaking his head. "Suggestion noted, I suppose. Still, anything you'd like to talk about?"

She set her mouth into a line. "I shouldn't bother you with my personal thoughts, Herod. You all have much more to worry about without me piling my own problems onto your plate."

"What, and not let me pay you back for the advice you gave me?" Playfully, he punched Eliza's shoulder. "It's alright, Commander. You don't gotta tell me, but aren't you the person who told me about the virtues of letting stuff off of your chest?"

He had her there. As much as she didn't want to go into her romantic troubles, Herod was one she knew she could trust. But the minute she opened her mouth to suggest something, the door to the Commons opened, and a lot of people looked over. Standing in the doorway was Elena.

About instantly, the mood shifted. The laughing and friendly talk died down. News travelled fast on the Avenger, and it wasn't a stretch for Eliza to guess that they all knew what happened between her and Mordenna. Still, she hadn't thought it would be this pronounced. She knew Mordenna probably had a better image amongst her own than his other siblings, but this shunning silence implied something more was going on.

Benald and Pattie sat backwards on their chairs to face her, and Pattie opened up. "Oh, look, it's little miss 'I gotta corner the big, bad Chosen alone.' Boo, hoo, hoo."

"Afraid to square up where there were people batting in his corner?" Benald scoffed. "Knew Reapers were slinkers, but you take the cake."

"Not all Reapers. Arsozu's chill. But you're giving them a bad name."

"Bad naming's about all she can do with her skillset—"

"Enough." Elena cut across the both of them, looking to Eliza. "Commander. I want to talk privately."

Before Eliza could reply, Rosa leaned forward from her perch on SYN. "Gonna get her off on her own to try to shittalk her, too? Guarantee you the beatdown we'll give you will make you think twice."

"Might as well let her," Benald said, doing a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Let the Commander kick her ass."

"Alright, alright." Eliza stood up, holding up a hand to cease the jabs. "I appreciate it, but let me fight my own battles. Try to keep the open jeering to a minimum. Don't care if it's deserved or not." When she got her respectful nods, she walked out of the circle and met with Elena. When they wandered out into the hall, Eliza turned to her. "Well, you have my attention. What do you need?"

Elena rubbed her shoulder almost nervously even as her expression was calm, looking to the side as she began. "I... I wanted to explain myself over that whole incident. If you'll listen to me."

Eliza shrugged. "People have committed far greater crimes in my presence and I've heard them out before."

"Right." She looked back to Eliza, crossing her arms. "It's... really no secret that Tomko was turned into the Hunter. Volk makes a show of denying the rumors, but every Reaper knows we lost one of our own, then a year later, he appeared." She looked away from the Commander again, face hidden by her hood. "I don't know what I was to him. Maybe something important, if things... if things happened like how I think they did. The wet patch on your shoulder wasn't exactly missable."

"As I intended."

Elena seemed to wince at that, but she continued. "Tomko meant a lot to me. And I'll be the first to admit I liked him in a different way than he liked me. We were good friends, at the very least. Can you see where I'm going with this?"

"Yes," Eliza said softly, "but I want you to say it."

She sighed. "... So when he shows up after killing our own and toying with us for fifteen years, eating at one of our feasts and being implicitly welcomed, I just don't know what to say." She paused. "Well, I suppose that's a lie. I knew exactly what to say, and you know I said it. I just didn't know what to feel. It looked like to me that he was mocking us. Standing there and spitting in the face of everything that had happened. And I... I just assumed he knew. Can't really blame me, with the way he talks. I assumed he knew that and that he knew me. When he called me 'Ellie' I just... well, you know." She looked back to Eliza, eyes a bit more vulnerable. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said all that to him. If he doesn't remember, then, well... we already lost Tomko fifteen years ago. High time I started acting like it."

Eliza gave herself a moment to reflect on all that Elena had said. To Eliza's ears, she sounded quite genuine—it was rare to see Elena like this, so openly revealing information as she was. Eliza could feel sympathy for her, and understood what it was like to lash out like that. But, there were still things left to be said. "All in all, I believe you, Elena, and I appreciate you letting me know what was happening. It's a humble act to explain yourself even when you know it won't get you out of trouble. However." She took in a calm breath. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. Regardless of who he is now... there was enough of Tomko left in Mordenna to make what you said hurt. But, I suppose you'd gathered that already. This won't be truly cleared up until you approach him and let him know you're sorry. Do you get me?"

Though she grimaced, Elena ended up nodding. "Yeah. I get you. It'll be the hard part. It's... hard not to look at him and both see the killer we've known for fifteen years... and Tomko."

"Hardly anything worthwhile in life is easy, Dragunova. But I shouldn't be telling you that. Reapers always prided themselves on tackling the tougher aspects, right?"

"Right." Her shoulders slumped, though if it was from relief or something else, Eliza couldn't guess. "Thanks, Commander. That was really all I wanted to say."

Eliza nodded. "Want me to let them know you're going to be making amends?"

"No," she said, half-turning to leave, "I deserve the coldness, at least. If he... if Mordenna thinks I'm being serious, he can let them know. Didn't think he'd have that many people in his corner."

"Like I said, he's been proving himself, as have his siblings and everyone else I let on this ship." She inclined her head to her. "But, I'll respect your wishes. Best of luck, Elena."

With a nod, Elena stalked down the hallway, footsteps quiet and hardly echoing, eventually leaving Eliza to her thoughts. She'd forgive Elena as fast as Mordenna did—forgiveness was kind of her department, but she wasn't the main person being wronged here. She sighed, looking back towards the door. Hopefully the soldiers had gotten back to their camaraderie. If not, it wouldn't take much from her to start it back up again. As much as Eliza had put Elena to the grinder, she didn't want her ostracized forever, as well as any of her soldiers. As soon as they could tune back their attitude, they could rejoin their fellows, was her belief. Hopefully Elena could find Mordenna soon and muster up the courage to get her apologies out of the way.

Well, only time would tell. With a hopeful spark in her heart, Eliza tapped the door pad. She could still have some fun before the day was up.


If Fal-Mai wanted to be a better sister, she supposed, she would have to start hanging out with her brothers more often.

So that was what was spurring Fal-Mai into following the general direction of Jax's signature, searching for him and hoping that perhaps he and Mordenna were together. She was... quite aware of how much she tended to simply keep to herself and put her cloak up as to not have to engage with anyone without her wanting to. The good part was that it did exactly that. The bad part was that she felt isolated of her own measure. Several times she'd passed either her brothers or even Eliza in the halls and... simply didn't engage. With her brothers she feared rejection. With Eliza, more of the same. But she'd resolved she'd never know until she tried. Her brothers were an easier start in her eyes. She supposed the next thing she might end up doing was hanging out with the regular soldiers more often. Edgar intrigued her, and she had to admit, the ravens were charming.

A few more turns brought her outside of the room that Jax was most likely in. This close, Fal-Mai could hear his signature. There was no music to it, but it was curiously harmonious of its own accord regardless—a low roll of pure power against her ears, but restrained naturally enough to be gentle. There was no intent to intimidate. His power simply was, like a natural force. Even so, there was something ever so slightly off about it that Fal-Mai had always been able to hear, but could never guess at what was wrong.

Satisfied at her dissection of his signature, Fal-Mai tapped the panel to the Training Center, stepping on in. What greeted her was one half of a room dressed in white and clad with armaments on the walls, with a clear control station to handle the other half. The other half was a holographic, but seemingly solid projection of an ADVENT city center. She watched as a Sectoid peeked its head out from behind an art fixture... and summarily had it shot off. Having nailed his mark, Jax crouched back into his cover, and off to the side, Mordenna nodded. "There you go. Honestly, if it were a real Sectoid out in the field, I'd imagine you'd have an even easier time of telling when they were sliding out. Y'know, feeling their signatures move, and all."

Jax nodded, but his eyes slid to the door as it closed. He raised his eyebrows, and Fal-Mai thought she was about to be addressed... but he looked back to Mordenna. "Quite so, but I feel as if your tips will be instrumental in simply capitalizing on it in the first place."

"All about keeping a cool head and your eyes on the prize." Mordenna took a datapad off of his hip. "Want to reset? Think with a few more we can work you up to a real shooting gallery. You're learning fast, honestly."

Ah. So Mordenna was teaching Jax how to shoot? How... kind of him. She knew that Mordenna had mentioned it to her in passing, but it was still quite a sight to see. Fal-Mai, herself, was self-taught. She was only limited by her weapon's range, but even then she possessed enough mobility to close the gap.

Jax shook his head, rising from his crouch and flipping a switch on the side of his gun. "Perhaps later. I believe our sister's here."

"Is she?" Mordenna clapped his hands together after putting the datapad back, squinting around the room. Since she wasn't focusing on her shroud very hard, once his eyes raked over where she was, he grinned. "So she is! Hey there, you sneaky bastard. Need something?"

Cover blown, but with no grudge held, Fal-Mai stepped out of her cloak. "I've nothing in particular to ask of you two. Simply the want to... convene."

"Oh? The ever-stealthy Assassin, wanting to hang out?" Mordenna pressed a hand to his chest in mock shock. "Bro. Bro you hearing this? Can you imagine. All joking aside, sis, sure! I was just teaching Jax how to suck a little less at making enemies take dirt naps."

Jax scoffed. "As if I was somehow deficient before, with my vast arsenal of powers?"

"Variety is the spice of life, dear brother." Mordenna pointed to their brother with both hands, thumbs up as if imitating handguns. What a curious gesture. "And besides, relying on one thing too often is bound to stop working eventually. Fal-Mai please tell our brother this."

As both their gazes fell to her—granted, Jax only did so after huffing at Mordenna—Fal-Mai felt implicitly welcomed, even if Mordenna had already stated she could hang around them. Knowing she was being invited to some of his trademark "banter," Fal-Mai shook her head. "And yet there is much variety in Jax's arsenal, is there not? While he does rely on his psionics, he employs multiple facets of them. I could make the same argument that you rely on guns too much."

Mordenna made a noise of exasperated disapproval. "First the Skyranger, now here?! Who the hell's side are you on? Look, man, I rely on multiple guns, a knife, and a grappling hook."

"'Multiple' being the new word for 'two?'"

"Yes! Yes, by royal decree of me, multiple can mean two. So I speak, so it shall be."

"Mordenna, Mordenna, Mordenna." Jax clapped a hand on Mordenna shoulder with enough force to make him stagger slightly. "There is a certain amount of pride in admitting defeat, I do hope you know. Surely you don't think you could win against the unified force of the two of us?" He paused. "My apologies. I suppose that would be multiple on one."

In response, Mordenna punched Jax's arm off of his shoulder, jabbing his finger at him. "I will end you. You wanna fight in the Pit? Huh? I will make you cry uncle faster than Bradford can crash this ship drunk."

"Ah, there we are. You see, brother? Not so hard at all."

"Mark my words I will destroy you."

Honestly, the exchange was enough to get Fal-Mai to laugh. It was so unlike all of their previous interactions—the playful fighting a stark contrast to the very real battles of snide comments and hurtful retorts. It was honestly so relieving. To see her brothers acting as she'd seen soldiers on the ship do towards each other... it gave her hope.

Jax looked to Fal-Mai and smiled gently, though it moved to fit his performative bravado as he extended a hand towards her. "You see? Our sister can only agree as to the foolishness of your charade. Honestly, Mordenna, if your skin is indeed that thin, I would soon suggest armor such as mine."

Mordenna looked like he had a hot, but funny retort to that for a second before Fal-Mai spied one of his telltale "eureka" moments, shaking his finger as it looked like he was bringing an idea forth. "Alright. Banter and potential sparring match set aside, that reminds me. I was actually looking into handling new armor as my next project, and I figured I could extend that to the both of you. Sis, Lily's excited to see if she can't fit you for a Wraith Suit because won't that be overpowered, and bro, I'm thinking about going behind the Templars' backs and rearranging your gauntlets to support their blades. Y'know. Close range. Zaps. Shields. The works."

As much as she was sure Mordenna meant the offer kindly, the thought of changing or even removing her armor felt... wrong, to her. She was quick to suss out that she should not be holding onto any gift from the Elders save to use it against them. After that, she felt mildly embarrassed when she realized she was putting up a minor fight over the idea of having to get used to a new texture of material for her armor.

Still, best to let Mordenna know what her hangup was, especially as Jax looked markedly more reserved than she did at the idea. "I believe such an implement will be a boon to me, especially if some of the things I have heard from the soldiers are true. However..." She pressed her mouth into a line. "You know how... hypersensitive, my skin is."

"Oh, that's doable." Mordenna waved it off. "I made you a mask that felt like the one before, if your reaction to it meant anything. I can modify the Wraith Suit to feel like your current set of armor. Might need a piece of yours for study, of course, but once I get the surface composition down you'd be able to have it back." He looked to Jax, whose mildly dampened mood was easily conveyed by his expression. Mordenna's voice softened. "Got any, uh, got any objections, Jax?"

Jax crossed his arms, taking in a breath and blowing it out gently. "I... would not like to move on from this armor yet. And my gauntlets are very... important to me. I think I could allow modification on them if Fal-Mai likes her armor."

Mordenna opened his mouth, looking for all the world like he was going to go on a tangent about the Elders. But, instead he sighed, shrugging. "Yeah. I can do that. Can I at least dye your armor?" At Jax's questioning expression, he continued. "Half of the reason I was suggesting this was because. Well. We all need a wardrobe change. We're all kinda still flying ADVENT colors here. Not to mention this," he said, tapping the Chosen emblem on his chest.

Jax gave it a moment of thought, then nodded. "You present a fair point. I would certainly allow a mere color change. Though, might I ask how you will do so?"

"Simple—few pieces of tape, some dyes—"

"Brother," Jax gently interrupted with, "I think you forget that we do not have a spare change of clothes."

Ah. Jax also had a fair point. The nature of Fal-Mai's physiology did not require her to take baths—something she was unsure if Helena ordained or if she shared it with her brothers—and she'd never felt the need to slip out of the second skin that was her armor. She had spare sets at her Stronghold before, but here? No such luck. All she had was her undersuit beneath, and she would not wear that while Mordenna was dying her armor.

Thankfully, Jax broke the silence he'd caused with that realization. "I believe I have a solution—once my Tailors finally have access to materials, I think we can, horror of horrors, accept casual clothing."

"What? What is this 'casual clothing' you speak of?" Mordenna did his best to look baffled. "I'm pretty sure we were all born in these duds. Quite literally for the samurai over here. What would you even wear casually? A Roman tunic?"

"Do not tempt me."

Mordenna heaved an exasperated sigh. "Guess I shouldn't. My idea was just going to be slapping a gas mask on you guys and having you stand still for like, oh I don't know, however long it takes for me to do the detail work?"

"An interesting way to speed up the process." Jax gestured with a hand. "I have mastery in the art of maintaining a pose for hours on end. Lest you forget the very pieces you griped about in my art gallery."

"You modeled those?! Bro. TMI."

To save Mordenna from further ribbing on Jax's part, Fal-Mai chimed in. "I would also be fine with such a solution—lest you forget you made me such a mask, and while I cannot claim expertise like our brother, I believe I would be able to stand still reasonably well."

"Hey, as long as you can stand more still than the ship when Bradford's taking it for joyrides," Mordenna replied, "it's fine by me. I'll see if I can't drag you guys to the side to do it. Hell, honestly? There's a lot of stuff I want to make for you guys. And... one thing I was considering making a gift, but you know me, bro, I get too excited about the stuff I make. Plus, I want to run it by you to make sure you'd like it. You guys wanna move this shindig to the Workshop?" When the both of them nodded, Mordenna took it upon himself to start marching towards the door. As they followed him out and they began to walk, he angled his head back. "By the way, you guys hear about that mission Eliza's planning?"

Right. That must be the one Fal-Mai had the pleasure of hearing about in-person. She bobbed her head before she spoke. "The one that investigates the cave, yes? Is it coming up soon?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Mordenna went back to looking at where he was going, gesturing as he spoke. "'Bout as much as we can gather, there's probably people holed up in there that are twitchy enough to fire on whoever's coming close. Which, honestly, don't blame them. Funny thing is, we're picking up hints of a radio broadcast coming from there, but at our current distance, we can't hear anything of it. Lizzie let slip a few details while I was messing with the Hologlobe over on the Bridge."

"You seem rather well-informed," Jax commented.

"I listen more than people think I do. Kinda gotta. Brain won't let me do shit otherwise until it starts fucking up." Mordenna shrugged. "But you guys basically know when that's happening. Speaking of, uh..." He rubbed the back of his neck through his hood. "... I know I already said it after it happened, but thanks for sticking with me when I came after. Y'know. That whole business with Elena."

The incident Mordenna was speaking of, Fal-Mai remembered, happened a few days prior. Fal-Mai had gotten a level and kind of distress she'd never felt out of Mordenna, and sought out Jax to make sure he was alright. By the time they'd decided to go search the ship for their brother, Mordenna had already made his way to them, a bit better than what his communicated feelings would've made them assume. She smiled gently. "It is only natural, isn't it?"

"Agreed." Jax walked forward enough to pat Mordenna's shoulder. "As you have come for and supported me, I shall do the same for you. And for you," he said, pointing that statement over his shoulder at Fal-Mai. "Lest you forget."

"I appreciate the reminders, brother."

"Ah, look at us." Mordenna looked back at them again. "Picture-perfect specimens of a happy family. It's so saccharine I could die."

"Try to die on my watch," Jax said, wagging a clawed finger at him, "and I will faster kill you myself."

"Dude. Wanna give that statement a second draft?"

Whatever witty retort Jax had for that statement, it seemed to die on his lips as the devil rounded the corner, assuredly having heard her name spoken. Elena stopped up as the three Chosen stared her down in varying degrees of hesitance to anger. It was Fal-Mai who acted first, walking up from behind Mordenna and standing partially in front of him. "If you've any sensible thoughts," she began, "you will let us pass you by."

Jax followed after her, taking the spot next to her and further obscuring Mordenna. "And if you dare possess sense," he added, "we will not have to explain why."

The dual offense of Fal-Mai and Jax seemed to make Elena falter, but she brought herself back up to full height. "I want to say something, and then you all can go." She swallowed. "I want to apologize."

Though Fal-Mai was initially taken off-guard, she remained resolute. Elena had harmed her brother greatly. Even if she wished to apologize... "Then you will do so where you stand."

Looking like she wasn't fond of that prospect, but equally didn't want to talk back to no less than three Chosen, Elena squared her shoulders. "... Mordenna. I... I shouldn't have said what I did to you. Should've listened to myself when I said you weren't Tomko, because that meant I really didn't have business saying all that. If you're... aiming for something different, fine. Good luck to you on that."

Elena's rather brief apology over, Fal-Mai glanced back to Mordenna. His eyebrows were ever so slightly pushed together, and he was looking down, not meeting anyone's gaze. The look was unbecoming of him—it was almost shy. Eventually, however, he crossed his arms and turned his head to the side. "... well I appreciate the apology, if nothing else," he began, voice quiet. "Doesn't really... remove anything you've said. Think it'd be best if things were like they were before and we just. Didn't talk to each other. At all."

Elena looked reserved at that, but she nodded. "I can do that." Her hands rested in her pockets, and she turned slightly, as if she was about to leave. "That was about all I had to say. I'll leave you three alone, now." With that, she completed the turn, disappearing down the hallway she entered from.

Fal-Mai waited until her footsteps told her that Elena was far enough away to not hear them. When they did, she turned back to Mordenna, who was running a hand through his hair. "Everything alright, brother?"

"Yeah. I suppose." He dragged a hand down his face. "I just—I don't know what to say to her. You guys know how she hurt me. I'm—I'm not used to someone actually getting to me that isn't you guys or the Elders. You guys I understand are family, we'll tick each other off. The Elders are bastards, as we know. But her?" He sighed, flicking a hand in a despondent gesture. "... I shouldn't let it get to me. How weak do I have to be to let a human bring me down, huh?"

"Not all humans, brother," Jax chimed in. "Though I don't blame you for saying so. Remember—Eliza ranks among them."

That was enough to get Mordenna to smirk as he shook his head. "I forget, sometimes. She just feels like one of us without being family, y'know?"

"An equal without measure," Fal-Mai added. "Sometimes, I would not hesitate in placing her above myself."

"Yeah. Need to do something for that poor girl." His eyes roamed to Jax, then the horns on his head. "... yeah, maybe I can do something like that. Help her in channeling her psionics, yeah? Perhaps I can even jerry-rig some gauntlets for her. Y'know, help her with training?"

Jax nodded at that. "The gauntlets first, I would imagine. Best to make sure she can control it without..."

"Hey, yeah, that's the idea," Mordenna followed up quickly, all of them knowing where that might be going. "I might need to take a few cues from yours—which, hell, we can do. We're heading down to the Workshop, I'd be able to take a look at them, right? Or are they surgically attached to you?"

He went "hmph." "I think you will find that I am able to remove them from my person satisfactorily enough."

"You have to understand why he asks, brother," Fal-Mai spoke, giving a small smile. "After all, you might be mistaken for relying on them exclusively."

Jax balked at that, clearly seeing where that was going. "Come, now! You were just defending me no less than five minutes ago, Fal-Mai. Et tu?"

Fal-Mai gave a small laugh. "I suppose I can relent, for now. I believe we were off to the Workshop...?"

Mordenna grinned. "Right you are! But don't stop grilling Jax with me, I could always use the assistance. You see the size of this lad?"

Off they walked, exchanging banter and the occasional idea from Mordenna. Fal-Mai would readily admit she would've never seen this as a possibility a month ago. The easygoing atmosphere was totally unlike what she was used to. But, it wasn't necessarily a change she was against. After all, this felt far better than the bitter competition they had been embroiled in for so long. Having them here for her, able to help them out and be helped in kind?

Fal-Mai could feel her smile growing. Her brothers were the best.