ACT 1 – DISCOVERY
Chapter 12 – Interference
Today had gone very well so far. As Oneakka had hoped, Jin had not only remembered Seeal, but the two of them had fallen into a long excited conversation recalling planets, bars, and marketplaces they both knew from out beyond the border.
It had been nice to see Raven talking about her past with some pleasure rather than the usual wary frown she used whenever she recalled her earlier life outside the Alliance.
She hadn't gotten through a great deal of her life story since she'd last seen Jin, since her and Jin had repeatedly gone off topic discussing planets and apparently rather infamous characters from outside the Alliance. It had seemed a little bit telling to Oneakka that Jin had known most of the rough bars, in which Raven had initially worked at as a bouncer, as well as the interesting types who had frequented them. Clearly Jin's life as a Trader had been more colourful than Oneakka had previously known, but he didn't mention it.
He'd instead simply sat and listened to the stories, occasionally asked questions, and just enjoyed the strange contrast of watching his honorary Uncle and Raven in such happy relaxed conversation with each other. An outsider looking in would never have known the two hadn't seen each other in almost two decades.
He'd also enjoyed the surprisingly intense relief in finally understanding why Jin had thought it appropriate to introduce young Seeal to the dangerous sport of pit fighting; Jin had explained his reasoning and why he'd given away Father's forged guardian knife to her, and Oneakka's faith in his honorary family member had been fully restored. It had also been interesting to hear that Raven had already been showing signs of her bolshie attitude back then; considering how she'd been treated by the Glisi and had been forced to live on the streets, her natural stubbornness and confidence had clearly helped her stand up to those who had bullied her and others. But it seemed Raven had been shocked by the revelation that she'd already been a fighter before starting at the pit fights, which had been pretty amusing for Oneakka.
With all the excited chatter, he'd almost forgotten to show Jin his draft design for the snake tattoo. While Raven had left to use the bathroom, he'd spread the sketches out on Jin's dining table, explained why he'd picked the snake imagery and asked for Jin's opinion. Jin had given almost excessive amounts of approval, seeming surprised at how very "Ugun" it looked. Some of that might have been Jin just being enthusiastic about anything he did, but Oneakka had done his research in designing the Ugun snake symbolism.
Whatever the reason, he'd been pleased with Jin's approval and had found himself telling Raven about the snake's Ugun meaning when she had returned to the table, and Jin had told her how almost everything on Ugun had been decorated with painted or carved designs. Oneakka remembered well how every building - be it hut, market stall, workplace or home - had been covered in varied artwork. As a boy, he remembered being shocked at how dull and drab the buildings had been on other worlds, especially as he'd spent the rest of his life since mainly in military facilities or ships. Often he'd wondered if Ugun just seemed so bright and colourful in his memories because of nostalgia and grief, but Jin repeatedly confirmed Ugun was just as he recalled.
That confirmation could be further verified as Jin had pictures of Ugun in storage, but Oneakka had never wanted to see them.
Especially as he knew his family were in a lot of them, Jin having been testing out the then-new image capture technology in the later years of Ugun.
Fortunately today's talk of Ugun had quickly returned to Raven and Jin discussing non-Alliance planets, saving Oneakka from making the request to close down any further talk about his homeworld. Then, in what seemed no time at all, four hours had passed.
Seeing the signs of growing tiredness across Jin's face and the increasing amount he shifted around in his seat to alleviate his painful joints, Oneakka had made their excuses to leave. Jin had grown tearful during the goodbyes, which wasn't unusual; however, today Oneakka saw more tears of happiness in Jin's eyes as he and Raven hugged each other tightly. Jin had repeatedly asked Raven to visit him again and she had promised him that she would. Then, as they had headed up the garden path to the residential main path, Oneakka had looked back to see Jin stood outside his portico, waving them goodbye. Raven had waved back enthusiastically, showing more open joy than Oneakka had ever seen in her before, her earlier nervousness a long distant memory.
As they headed off together along the path out of view of Jin, Oneakka had taken in the bright cheerful grin she'd given him and hadn't wanted to leave Bakhau just yet. It wasn't as if they had a set time to return to the Facility, so he'd found himself suggesting they could go see the nearby two-storey marketplace that Jin had told her about. Seeming eager to see more of Bakhau she'd been really keen at the idea, so they'd taken the Ground Transport further into the city and had spent over an hour walking around the many shops in the large pyramid-shaped marketplace.
It had felt a little strange at first doing something so mundane as shopping with her, though the simplicity of it had been a little bit altered by the clear delight of the local Bakhau people at seeing an Elite in the marketplace. Word had seemed to get around too, as each time he and Raven left one of the shops, a crowd had formed outside, everyone eager to send him the Bakhau sign of gratitude. There hadn't been quite as much of the gentle touching to his arms and shoulders during the shopping, the Bakhau providing him some space, but there was a near constant audience during the trip.
Inside the shops, the Traders had all attempted to give him things for free, which he'd avoided by saying that it was Raven who was interested in the goods. That had resulted in her being offered some excellent discounts, which she'd used to buy a nice deep blue patterned blanket, a small wooden sculpture of a tree, and an outfit for Aki as a gift for Massa.
All the walking though had started to make his legs and wound site ache, so he'd found various ways to discreetly lean against units, tables or the shop's doorframe to take some pressure off his muscles. Despite the cardio he had worked on in Rehab, he hadn't done quite that much simple walking in a long time. In the Rehab Gym he could get up a good short sprint on the running machine, but it had turned out he could also get a good session just going shopping with Raven.
Towards the end of the shopping spree, while leaning in the doorway of a footwear seller's shop while Raven tried on some sandals, a retired Bakhau Military General had approached him. Oneakka had recognised the female's face and name, and had been introduced to her young granddaughter. He'd accepted the little sprigs of the local flower that the little girl had offered up to him with a noticeably shaking hand as she gaped up at him. Remembering Raven's comments from earlier, Oneakka had made sure to smile at the girl and thank her before she and the General left with a grateful smile.
Before any more of the watching Bakhau decided that giving him flowers was a clever new idea, he'd headed into the shop to find Raven purchasing two sets of sandals, an amused smile on her face as she looked at the small flowers in his hand. He'd made it clear to her that he had smiled at the little Bakhau child and, not knowing what to do with the small stems of flowers, had given them over to Raven to carry.
She'd slid them into the band holding her hair in its long tail.
Every shop in the marketplace seen, and Raven very impressed with the experience, they'd headed back towards the Portal on the Ground Transport. Once they disembarked they'd stopped at a food stall to purchase a very belated Midday Meal and had sat on a stone bench under a blossom tree to eat. No one had approached him while they'd been eating, which had been a bit of a relief, though the local children running gleefully through the water fountains had kept staring at him. After awhile he'd noticed that a group of the younger ones had started up Elite vs. Wraith play fights, chasing each other through the water as they enacted what appeared to be a big dramatic battle to win ownership of the park.
It had been all really relaxing, and he'd thoroughly enjoyed the simple act of sitting on the bench with Raven, drinking in the sweet-scented breeze and the warmth of the dappled sunshine shining through the leaves of the blossom tree above them.
It had been a perfect end to their trip together.
Well, apart from discovering that his muscles had ceased up somewhat from sitting on the bench, but he was sure he'd concealed the extra effort it had taken him to stand up and get moving. Once they'd been walking towards the Portal, he'd felt much better.
Once they had returned to the Facility they had parted ways in the main lobby, Raven to meet up with a work colleague for project work, and he had his afternoon Rehab session. After all the walking, he'd decided on just a gentle stretching session, not wanting to push anything before his medical review tomorrow, and the afternoon's Physical Therapist hadn't concealed his clear relief all that well. The session had gone well and Oneakka was feeling very good about the review tomorrow. He'd already surpassed all his cardio and weight targets well before today, so the easy session had been rather nice.
He'd then had a shower in his quarters and was now on his way to the Canteen to meet Raven and Massa for Late Meal. Once they'd eaten, he and Raven could do their usual walk to see Belka and her young; they'd sit on the grassy slope together as the goatlings raced around them, and he would take pleasure in one last evening fully enjoying Raven's company.
It would round off a really good day with her that he would remember fondly as he returned to sparring and, soon enough, battle-rotation out of the Facility.
It was well past time that he returned to his normal life, and once he passed his review tomorrow he would be able to be useful again. He'd start up on non-battle rotation work in the Facility, finally be allowed back into the main Gyms to get sparring again and recertifying on all weaponry…and he'd start to put some distance between him and Raven.
But that was for tomorrow. For this evening, he could let himself enjoy her company a little longer.
As he strode into the Canteen, he glanced round the room only to see that Raven was already sat at the usual table, Aki sat across from her in his high seat. A glance towards the food selection revealed Massa was filling his tray with the evening's meal. Everyone had gotten here early this evening it seemed.
Oneakka headed towards the food, picking up a tray as he exchanged a smile and nod with Massa who was heading towards their table with a full tray. Oneakka took his time selecting his food, ensuring he included plenty of foods to help repair his aching muscles overnight and support his energy levels ready for the medical review's tests. He'd already planned what he'd eat for First Meal tomorrow morning to help fuel him up for the review, but it didn't hurt to prep the way with a focus on muscle repair and a good night's sleep.
Food selected, he headed towards where Raven and Massa were in deep conversation. As he reached the table, he saw that Raven had given Massa the outfit she'd bought for Aki on Bakhau.
"…it'll fit him fine," Massa was reassuring her as Oneakka set down his tray in front of his usual seat. "Better to have some room for him to grow into it," Massa added as he held the baby-sized top up against Aki. Aki grabbed at it with interest. "See he already loves it. Thank you, Seeal."
"You're welcome," Raven replied to Massa before smiling round at Oneakka as he pulled out his chair to sit down next to her.
She was still wearing her flattering red top from earlier.
"Had a good afternoon?" She asked him.
"Yes," he confirmed as he sat down. "Rehab session was easy. I've already passed all my targets and can lift my heaviest weight in months," he found himself abruptly boasting.
"Very impressive," Raven smiled. "How about climbing down out of Transports or getting up off benches, have you practiced those?"
Damn it, she had noticed the bench moment.
Typical of her.
He didn't respond though, just narrowed his eyes at her before turning his attention to his food. As he did, he noticed that she'd almost finished her meal; he guessed their late Midday Meal hadn't satisfied her enough.
"So, you enjoyed Bakhau, Seeal?" Massa asked from across the table as he stirred a spoon in the small pot of what looked like mushy bean stew that was Aki' meal for the evening. Oneakka glanced to Aki, the boy's eyes fixed on his meal being prepared for him, dribble coating his lips.
"I really did," Raven replied to Massa with real feeling in her voice, but Oneakka kept his attention on Aki as Massa offered the first spoon of the stew to the boy. Holding onto one corner of his tray ready to move it, Oneakka leaned back a fraction in his seat, waiting to see if there would be a repeat of the projectile spitting from yesterday.
But Aki seemed happy with today's food, sloppily chewing his soft food with flashes of his bright white baby teeth.
His own food safe from baby splatter, Oneakka picked up his cutlery.
"Jin told me about Bakhau's massive indoor marketplace," Raven continued, "so after we left Jin, Oneakka took me there for some shopping."
"Oh? That's nice," Massa replied with some tone in his voice. Oneakka snapped his eyes up from his first forkful of herb-flavoured grain-filled pie and focused on Massa's face, but Massa was turned towards Aki as he fed the babe.
Oneakka kept his attention in Massa's profile though, waiting for another comment…but nothing else was said.
Massa had been very well behaved lately, not making any insinuating comments about Oneakka's friendship with Raven. In fact it was a far too dramatic change for Massa, but as it had coincided with when Halling had left on the Sythus, Oneakka guessed Halling must have said something about the inappropriate teasing.
That Massa had obeyed Halling's warning was something of a strange miracle to Oneakka, but he'd been more than grateful at the change of late. Still, there had been just the touch of misunderstanding in Massa's voice just then…
Raven's elbow touched against Oneakka's, snapping his attention round to her to find her smiling at him.
"I really enjoyed our day out together," she told him, the warmth of her bare elbow feeling hot against his own bare forearm.
He felt the frustratingly instant rush of happy relief to hear that she'd liked their trip.
"There was no arresting of anyone," she continued, "no one tried to kill us, and no buildings collapsed down around our ears," she joked, though it was a pretty accurate summary of what usually happened when they'd travelled anywhere together.
"True," he agreed as he held her dark gaze. "But I really wouldn't expect that to last," he joked in turn.
She let out a sudden sharp laugh, her whole upper body rocking back as she chuckled. "As if we would be that lucky," she sniggered, her cheeks almost as rosy as her red top as she reached for her cup of Athosian tea, her elbow leaving its place against his.
He turned his gaze quickly away from her bright attractive profile to Massa, but Massa was, rather suspiciously, still intently focused on feeding Aki.
Feeling it was safe though, Oneakka returned his attention to Raven to see that she was still grinning at his joke.
It was stupid how good he felt about that.
He'd made her laugh before, hadn't he? He couldn't quite remember if he had.
He glanced back across the table again, but Massa was busy wiping Aki' chin.
Oneakka made himself focus down on his own food, realising he'd not even eaten one mouthful yet. He lifted the forkful of food and chewed on the tasty piece of pie.
The patch of skin on his arm that she'd touched still felt warm.
It was just basic animalistic hormones.
Nothing he couldn't control, especially after tomorrow.
"So, are you going to see Jin again, Seeal?" Massa asked into what had been a quiet pause around the table.
"Definitely, we've already set a date for me to go visit again," she answered.
Oneakka looked round at her. "You have?" That hadn't been during the visit today.
"I sent him a text link when we got back," Seeal replied. "I told him I'd look up that planet name we couldn't remember…?"
He nodded, recalling the conversation, but he was a little surprised at how quick she had been in her word to Jin to report back on the forgotten planet name. Which was fine, he was glad she was staying in contact with Jin as both of them clearly wanted. Of course she would go visit Jin without him there…
He frowned at the strange stirring feeling in his chest at the thought.
"Jin said that he's got tons in storage from his trading days," Raven explained to Massa as she set her bowl down on her tray.
Oneakka glanced at her tray, seeing that she'd finished all her food already, with just her usual Athosian tea left to drink.
"He thinks he may have some things from when I was competing in the pit fights," she continued. "Almost certainly at least one poster that he thinks has some of my fighting stats on it."
"I would imagine they were very good fight stats?" Massa asked her with a smile.
"I did okay," Raven replied with a shrug and a smile.
Massa grinned as he nodded. "You beat this one in a fight," he said as he pointed at Oneakka, "so that's the most important stat."
"She only won because she shoved mud in my eyes," Oneakka clarified.
"A win is still a win," Raven argued, unsurprisingly.
"You only won because it gave you the chance to run away," he reminded her.
"And successfully escaped, therefore, a win," she told him firmly, her chin up high and her gaze holding his boldly.
He gave her a glare through the staring match, but it held no real challenge; instead it felt more like a game of who could hold the serious look longer.
"He had to put medicated drops in his eyes for days afterwards," Massa supplied the traitorous information.
Oneakka glared at Massa. "Don't tell her that!"
"I already knew anyway," Raven stated proudly.
"It was just preventative," he pointed out. "Just to make sure I didn't get an infection. You didn't do any damage."
Her victorious delight then shifted into a soft smile as she tilted her head sideways as she looked at him. "Aw, good."
He had no idea how to react to that.
Fortunately, he heard Massa snigger, so turned an obviously required glare on his friend instead.
"I've pushed plenty of things in his face before," Massa told Raven as he ignored the glare.
"Yes, and unless you want me to tell Seeal all about what those things included…?" Oneakka let the threat hang.
"I'll be good," Massa promised instantly.
"What things?" Raven asked eagerly.
"So you liked the marketplace on Bakhau?" Massa asked her, bluntly returning them to the former conversation.
Pleased that he'd won a small victory against Massa, Oneakka grinned down to his food. The pie tasted wonderful, so he made short work of it as Massa and Raven talked about Bakhau.
As the table went quiet, he looked up to see Massa was scraping the last of Aki' food out of the little pot.
Time to start a new conversation.
"So," Oneakka stated, "tomorrow is my medical review," he reminded them.
"What?! Really?" Massa interrupted with mock-shock as he leaned back in his chair. "You haven't mentioned that at all."
"Honestly, you could have given us more advanced warning, Oneakka," Raven joined in the sarcastic teasing.
"It's an important day," he stressed. "After the review, I can get back to battle training and start working again."
"If you pass your review," Massa added, his gaze full of the usual cautious warning Oneakka had faced every time he'd been hurt in the past.
"I've surpassed all my targets," Oneakka reminded him. Raven muttered something that had included the word 'bench' in it, but Oneakka pretended he hadn't heard anything. "So, I wanted to thank you both again for your help these past months since my injury."
He'd thanked them before, but he wanted to commemorate the moment this evening.
"You have both helped me achieve this stage of my recovery," he added seriously, looking from one to the other.
Massa smiled at him. "Of course, my friend. We were happy to help."
Oneakka smiled back at his old friend. As much as he hadn't enjoyed this painful recovery process, Oneakka was still grateful for the time it had allowed him to spend with Massa.
"So, are you saying," Seeal asked slowly, drawing his attention round to her, "that you are grateful that you stuck to your entire medication plan?"
He rolled his eyes at her repeated mentioning of this fact, but it was all part of the game between them.
Which was fine because that was what friends did: tease each other.
"Sure," he agreed reluctantly.
She lifted her chin up again, looking at him with a bright shine in her eyes. "And therefore that I was right to ask you to see it through?" She pushed.
"I don't remember you asking," he pointed out. "You dared me."
"You were the one who decided to take up the challenge I set so that you could prove you didn't need the meds," she countered. "And I clearly proved my point that it was the right thing to stick with the entire med plan."
"A medication plan that I designed," he reminded her. "So I'm the one who was proven correct."
She rolled her eyes dramatically and he grinned at the clear moment of victory.
Though, as he looked away from her, he found himself looking at Security staff member Smee stood a short distance way….looking at Raven.
Then, abruptly, one of Raven's hands appeared in Oneakka's view, seemingly waving to Smee. And Smee waved back with a smile.
"It's time I get going," Raven uttered as she started getting up from her seat.
"Going?" Oneakka frowned at her as she set her tall cup of tea in an available slot on her tray, clearly preparing to leave. "Go where?"
This was supposed to be their last evening together.
Where was she going?
"I've got the first experiment to get to," she answered as if that explained anything.
Oneakka frowned at her. "What experiment?"
She had picked up her tray now. "You know, the one about my Glisi cold-resistance."
He did recall she'd said something about agreeing to the Facility's scientists running some tests on her to study how she was so tolerant of the cold.
"I thought you'd given blood samples already?" he asked.
"Yes, I did that weeks ago," she replied. "These are the practical experiments now, testing how much cold I can take while they measure my…" she frowned. "I think my heart and skin responses; I didn't read the whole thing."
"You didn't read the details on the experiments they're going to do on you?" He asked, shocked.
"I read the safety stuff," she confirmed though. "I mean all the technical science stuff. Tonight I'm going to be holding objects of different temperatures to see how my body reacts."
"What kind of temperatures?" Oneakka demanded.
"You know, different ones," She frowned.
"Like freezing temperatures?" he pushed.
"Possibly."
"Those can be dangerous, Raven."
"Yes, I know that Oneakka," she stated with a warning glare now. "I'm a Glisi. I grew up surrounded by snow and ice, so I know cold can be dangerous," she said sarcastically. "And you're getting dangerously close to using your Elite tone with me."
Which had gotten him in trouble with her before. "I'm just showing concern," he explained. "As I would for anyone," he added quickly, "about something like cold."
That had sounded weird.
"I'll be fine," she replied, smiling at him again now.
It was fine for him to be concerned about her wellbeing – friends did that.
"Where are the tests?" He asked.
"In one of the Research Labs behind the Healing Bay," she answered. "Apparently it's a confusing labyrinth of rooms back there, so Smee is going to show me the way because he's worked security detail everywhere in the Facility."
Oneakka shifted his gaze to the Security male, whose loitering made more sense now. "I see," he considered the male closely.
"So I've got to get going," she added, drawing his gaze back up to her. "Good luck with your review tomorrow," she told him. "Let me know how it goes."
So she was expecting the experiments to last all evening then, which left no chance of visiting the goats together.
"I will," he replied, crushing down the disappointment that threatened to growl its way up into his throat.
She nodded at him with a bright smile and then walked away.
Heading towards Smee, who was smiling widely at her as she approached him, the male clearly more than happy to show her to the Research Lab. Smee was probably planning to hang around too so he could walk her back to her quarters afterwards…
As Raven neared Smee, Oneakka watched the male reach out and take her tray from her…and she let him! Smee then took two steps away, set her tray down on the disposal area and then returned to her side. He hadn't even emptied the tray into the cleaning and waste chutes, so it hadn't been all that helpful of him; he'd only moved the tray a metre at most for her.
The tray removed, Smee fell into step with Raven, the two walking away down through the Canteen. Their backs were to Oneakka, but he could see Smee's profile because the male had his eyes fixed on Raven as they walked and talked.
Yes, clearly Smee had leapt at the chance to show Raven to her experiment. Probably had planned it for days…
The couple reached the exit out of the Canteen and disappeared from view, no glance back or anything.
Whatever, it wasn't his business how the two got on.
He was just surprised he'd not been told that her experiments started tonight…his nice last evening with Raven ruined.
It didn't matter anyway; he'd go visit Belka and her young alone.
He looked back down towards his meal, only to notice that Massa was watching him from across the table with an annoyingly amused frown on his face.
"What?!" Oneakka snapped at him.
"Nothing!" Massa replied instantly, both palms coming up as if Oneakka had pointed a weapon at him. "I'm not saying anything," Mass stressed with too heavy a touch of amusement in his voice as he lowered his hands.
"Saying anything about what exactly?" Oneakka demanded. What did Massa think he'd seen?
"No," Massa dropped his attention to the table and his own food that he'd not touched yet while he'd fed Aki, "I'm keeping out of it."
"Out of what?" Oneakka pushed.
"I promised I wouldn't say anything more about this, so my lips are sealed," Massa stated, mimicking crushing his lips closed between his fingers.
Promised? So Halling had told Massa to stop talking about…certain things about Raven.
"There's nothing to discuss," Oneakka stressed.
"Exactly," Massa agreed as he started eating his meal, his eyes fixed down on the food.
Oneakka shifted his attention to his own tray, scooping up some kita pieces baked into a sweet pudding.
Good, Massa should keep his stupid theories and comments to himself. How exactly Halling had gotten that promise out of Massa was a mystery; getting Massa to drop anything that amused him was a feat that Oneakka had never been able to achieve, even with begging, negotiation, or threats.
He had to wonder how Halling had managed it, as Massa had never listened to Halling like that before.
Unless….
What if it hadn't been Halling?
What if it had been Raven?
Abruptly that made more sense, because Massa would probably listen to her more than him or Halling. Which meant…she hadn't liked the teasing insinuations and had put a stop to it.
Which was fine, Oneakka hadn't liked the teasing either.
Maybe she'd even been embarrassed by the comments, found them uncomfortable?
Not that it mattered.
It was fine if she had.
He suddenly desperately wanted to ask Massa what she'd said and how she'd gotten him to keep his 'promise' so well.
But that would be admitting he knew what Massa had meant, because he didn't and wouldn't….
He frowned confused down at his pudding.
It might not even have been her who had talked with Massa…
"What time is your review tomorrow?" Massa asked into the tense silence.
He knew the time, Massa was just using it as a way to start up conversation again.
"An hour after the end of First Meal," Oneakka replied without looking at Massa, instead he reached for his cup of juice to help with what now felt a rather cloggy pudding in his throat as he swallowed it.
He drank down a good helping of the juice and set the cup back down on the table, his eyes straying to the Canteen's exit again.
If Smee was going to be loitering around outside the Research Lab, he had better be keeping a careful eye that Raven wasn't pushing herself in the experiments and that the scientists were treating her with respect. Not poking and prodding at her like she was some abnormal thing. She already believed the Glisi' stupid theory that she was somehow cursed just because she was so much smaller than the other Glisi. She was a perfectly normal sized female, taller than average in fact.
"…hopefully it means that they either haven't found anything yet or they're still in a hyperspace flight out to that asteroid field," Massa's voice registered.
Oneakka tore his eyes from the Canteen exit.
"Exactly," he agreed, assuming from context that Massa was referring to the Sythus.
It didn't matter that his evening with Raven had been ruined; it had been foolish of him to put so much importance on it.
It was, in fact, just more evidence as to why some distance from Raven was so important.
The sooner he could get back to sparring and return to battle-rotation the better.
He'd be useful again and far away from these foolish hormonal reactions.
00000
TBC