Talking animals were not as much fun as Jim had hoped. The novelty wore off after about two minutes. The herd of donkeys acted like a bunch of eight year olds that had never learned manners. Jim was getting very tired of them telling the exact same joke to each other.

"Hey guess what? You're an ass!"

"Hey! Hey! Guess what? You're an ass!"

Jim looked over at the orange cat standing beside him. "Is it too late to muck out the horse stables?"

"I'm afraid so, pequeño." Puss laughed and gestured to the pen of donkeys. "Go. Grab a donkey and bring him here. We shall scrub them and then release them into this other pen." The cat jumped up onto a barrel nearby. "And by we, I mean you."

Jim drew in a deep breath. "Donkey washing it is." He nodded to the closest donkey. "C'mon then. Let's get you in the water."

The Donkey bulked. "No way! I ain't getting in there!"

"Yes you are. All of you are."

The donkey skipped away from him with a flick of his tail. "Am not!"

Jim let that one go. "You then." He turned to the next donkey. "C'mon." This one was more compliant and went with him willingly. Jim nudged him into the pool of water. He drew a deep breath and waded in after him.

The water was uncomfortably cold. His clothes clung to his body. Jim shivered. He grabbed the soap and a bucket off the edge of the pool. The bar of soap dangled from a loop of rope. Jim slipped it over his wrist. He drug the bucket through the water and sloshed it up over the donkey's back. Flipping the soap up into the palm of his hand he set to scrubbing.

The donkey climbed out of the water awkwardly. He shook himself dry, spraying Jim in the face. His tail flicked and whipped several large drops of water directly into his eyes. Jim flinched away in disgust. "Ugh."

The Donkey trotted past Puss. The cat dropped a towel onto his back and let him into the clean pen.

Jim turned towards the herd behind him. "Well? Who's next? Get in here." None of the donkeys even looked at him. Jim planted his hand on his hips. "Well? Let's go. Someone get in here." He did not appreciate being ignored.

One of the burros glanced at him before trotting off to go play with his friends.

"Move it donkeys!"

They did indeed move. Away from him.

Jim slogged out of the pool and stalked over to the closest donkey. "Come on, you ass. Get in the pool." He caught the donkey's harness and pulled. He did not move. The donkey dug his heels into the ground and stared back at him stubbornly.

Jim tried pushing. He tried pulling. He tried ordering. The donkey did not move. Frustrated, the teen turned towards the one beside him. "You then. C'mon." He grabbed the donkey's harness and started to the pool.

The burro walked with him. When they reached the edge, Jim gestured towards the water. "Go on then." The donkey looked down at the water. He looked up at Jim. The donkey gave him a naughty smile.

Jim flew backwards as a large head rammed into his stomach. Water splashed all over the floor as he plunged in. The donkey skipped off to the braying laughter of his friends.

Jim sat up. His hair was plastered to his face. He lifted the dripping locks out of his eyes and glared at the lot of them. "Alright, you mules. It is on."

Jim surged out of the water dripping from every inch of his body. If the donkeys wouldn't go to the water, he would take the water to them. He snatched up the bucket and drug it through the pool. The soap was still secure upon his wrist. Gritting his teeth in determination, Jim went after his first target.

Puss watched in clear amusement. Jim chased down donkey after donkey, throwing buckets of water on them and chasing them into corners to scrub and clean them to Puss's standards. More than once he climbed onto them in an attempt to maintain control. More than once he was bucked across the room. But every time he forced himself back up and threw himself back into the fray.

When the cat was satisfied with a donkey, he tossed a towel across their haunches and let them into the clean pen. Each successful donkey gave Jim more drive. He turned to his next target and lunged. He caught a leg. The donkey took off. The boy clung to the burro's ankle as he was drug across the room. His body skimmed over the floor, slipping on the puddles of water. In it's panic the donkey surged straight into the pool, pulling Jim in head first.

Jim leaped up. He threw his arms around the donkey's neck and set to scrubbing. He released his target and turned towards the next. He was going to win this.

It was several hours later that the last donkey trotted into the second pen. Jim dropped his bucket and sunk down against the wall. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. Everything was wet. He smelled of donkey. His body hurt.

But he had won.

Puss stretched his back and yawned. "That was exhausting to watch. Come. Your lunch arrived while you were cleaning."

Jim did not want to move.

His stomach growled. He forced himself to his feet. His hip hurt where he had landed on it at some point. Limping slightly, Jim made his way across the room. "Please tell me I don't need to do anything else with those animals."

Puss laughed. "You do not. Though you would have been more successful if you had sung to them."

Jim snorted. "You got the wrong man. Matt might serenade those beasts, but I most certainly will not."

Puss leaned back in his seat and crossed his ankle over his knee. Jim found his boots a little hard to get used to. "Matt might have gotten them into the pool willingly." He handed Jim a plate with a cold cheese sandwich and an apple. It wasn't much, but Jim was not about to complain. He dove in with fever. He was starving.

Puss smiled over at the youth. Jim was busy scarfing down his simple meal and did not notice. The cat shook his head. To be young and stubborn again.

Jim wiped the back of his hand across his mouth as he finished. He stood up and wiped his hands on his wet pants. "Alright. What's next."

Puss jumped down from his seat. He landed directly in a puddle. "Next you mop this mess up. I shall go and arrange what comes after that. Never leave an area before you have cleaned up the destruction you have caused."

Jim groaned. "Yes sir." He trudged over to the mop that walked into the room. He snatched it up and got to work, shoving puddles of water towards the drains located strategically across the floor.

As his muscles fell into the familiar rhythm of cleaning, his mind wondered back to simpler times. A bucket, a mop, a scrub brush. A familiar cyborg pointing out when he missed a spot and grinning behind his back. The heavens stretched out above, below, and all around as they sailed through open space. The security of artificial gravity and the simulated atmosphere.

He leaned against his mop and let himself dream. He closed his eyes to better see the stars that twinkled in his memories. Silver's laugh filled his head. He could still hear his adoptive father telling him stories about each one.

'That one there is a small sun. Only six planets, but each planet has at least fifteen moons. Except, of course, the twins. Two planets that rotate each other. Locked in a private dance, they're each other's only satellite.'

'Look here now, Jimbo! That one is the way Scroop came from! Not too far from that fancy academy our lovely captain went to. Think she'd like if I reminded her they're neighbors?'

'Jimbo, are you dreaming again? You always have your head in the stars. Come. Point to one. I'll tell you it's story. Ah, that is a good one. That is the sun that 'swabthedeckia' and 'getbacktoworkastan' orbit.'

Jim smiled over his memories. It hurt to recall those peaceful moments, but the pain felt good all the same. The loss only emphasized how very much he had loved him. Jim shook his head to clear it and forced himself to refocus back to the task at hand. Puss would not be happy if he did not get this finished in a reasonable amount of time.

For just a moment he considered reaching out to Sy. It hurt to keep this bundled up inside. To pretend like Silver was no one to him. But that had been a condition of his acceptance. If he wanted to be in the military, Silver did not exist.