Wynry settled into the seat, wiggling her hips slightly, as she remained totally ignorant of Akten's silent attention. She called for the voice activated lights and dimmed them slightly before she began her story.
"Deep in the Wilds, below the mist...below the canopy...stirring in the shadows where the moonlight never touches lives a man. He's not just any man though. He lived upon the poison of the Wilds, in the water, the air, the plants, and the animals, and his body slowly became a part of the land. He became a mist. He could go anywhere and do anything he wanted. One night, from the darkness shadows of the Wilds, lights from above disturbed his peace. He grew angry and floated from his home all the way to the world above. The closer he floated to the sky, the more he saw and the more he hated what he saw. Lights, hideous lights, were cutting through his darkness on the Edge of the worlds. People with lanterns and fires, with crystals, and unafraid of the darkness. It was offensive and he hated the comfort, the joy, and the light. He would snuff them out. Night after night, people would come to the Edge, walking with lights, and night after night, he took one. He snatched them to the Wilds below where they would stay in the dark and the shadow. They would stay unable to go back home forever. When their names were forgotten forever. Not in anyone's mind, they would become the mist and join the man in taking others. They become the Mysomenim and look for people who dare to wander too close to the Edge at night until the winds stop and the continents are no more."
It had been awhile since Akten had heard that story. He had grown up on Reylia where there were no floating continents but the stories were still around. He had heard that one from his mother many times before. Of course, the scary story had nothing on the horror of Cypher's comment after the story. Akten's jaw dropped open and his ears heated past what had to be boiling point as all the men began crowing their advice on the subject. Did he even dare look at the petite Wynry next to him? He turned his head slowly and gave her a sheepish, sly sort of smile. "Well, I..eh...maybe n' just because ye' stories are good, yeah?" The woman stared at him and her delicate brow raised in a look of trepidation before she started giggling.
Akten stared at her, grin frozen cheekily in place. Why was she laughing? Was that a good thing? She giggled and nudged him playfully and his grin widened. "You're funny Akten." Then she lifted herself up from the couch, leaving the spot where she had been suddenly cold. "Well, that's it for me. Good night, guys." Then she ruffled Cypher's hair before giving them a wave and disappearing down the hall.
*********
Koda looked at his fold out cot and instinctively twisted to get his back to crack a little. He had a love- hate relationship with the tiny little fold out mattress. He'd love to sleep and it hated to deny him the privilege. It couldn't be helped though. His bunk mate, Mihael, had close to 2ft more in leg and torso than he did and simply needed the larger bed that came bolted into the room. Koda had certainly slept in worse places at any rate. The mines on Noraxia III flashed in his thoughts and he shoved them out quickly, replacing them with the thought of sending his wife and daughter a message instead. They were a much better focus. He stripped down and tossed his old uniform into the hamper to be washed the next day, then replaced the lid on the hamper. Then he checked his fresh uniform hanging on the back of the door in neat order and made sure his gear was laid out, accessible and clean for the next day. There were several pistols ranging in larger to smaller, concealable caliber, a few knives both for utility and for the singular purpose of killing. He didn't wear those in the open but they were small, easily concealed, and efficient for hand-to-hand combat. There was a hope that he wouldn't have to use them, and a reality that told him the probability that he would have to was high. He unclipped his utility watch and placed it by the tiny fold out table serving as a night stand before crawling into bed and propping up long enough to send his family a message that would take hours to arrive and be untraceable back to any location thanks to the ship's code. No sooner had he finished, did Mihael come in and begin his own nightly routine which consisted of largely the same protocol. There was a slight comfort in the idea that standards could be the same or recognizable across other gaps that mere culture could hardly try to fill.(edited)
The man did whatever he needed to do and then stripped down to crawl into the bed less than a foot away from Koda's fold out. It wasn't much space to begin with and a wayward catch from Mihael's foot as he settled down made the point all the more obvious. Koda shrugged, not worried about being nudged in such small quarters. "Aye," he agreed. He thought the man was going to settle down but instead, he seemed to sit up a bit more and asked a curious question. Beyond the general's initial questioning and the men asking him simple things or group meals where everyone was talking, this was the first time he'd heard one of them attempt a one-on-one conversation with him.
Koda scratched absently at the stubble on his jaw and replied to the sudden compound question. "Eh, if I had my wife's sense of humor I'd probably say 'the same way you did, I walked'," he said, "But I'm guessing that's not what you meant. It's a bit of a loaded question, I guess. How I made it into the military or on the ship with rank?"(edited)
A slight smirk sneaked across Mihael's face. Of course the man would start with a joke. It was a nice way of trying to avoid a question. However, it was surprising that he came around and asked to have the question stated more clearly. He was sure that Koda was somewhat friendly toward Chips if he was here, but there was no telling. "Bot. I like tah know who et es dat I share a room wit. Tank dah gods ets nut a bed. I'd rater sleep on dah floor den share et."
Koda nodded in agreement to the statement about the bed. "Aye." The man's question was fair but also worked both ways. "Eh, those are two very different stories, but one is easier than the other," he admitted, " I went into the military as soon as I turned 18 to get off my home continent. You might have heard of Ewen, yeah? My Dah was from there but my Mam, eh she was a Reylian. They both died when I was around 10. I was raised the rest of the time on Ewen by my grandparents there. Eh... I'm not sure how to explain it but they are part of the ruling class on Ewen. I was a bit of a blemish on the family record, and the family business wasn't something I was going to inherit, so I jumped a transport ship the day I turned 18. Worked hard, got married to my wife, Laura and had my daughter, Vayle,. Military rank? I wanted to go for the special forces, after my aptitude exams, and did it. Served in a few campaigns on the fringe on the front and on special ops. I was transferred under General Kirit, and given a team for awhile before taking this assignment when it was offered by the Councilwoman." That was the short and sweet of his story. There were somethings he couldn't go into more detail on. "What about you?"
The man's story was pretty straightforward. There wasn't a whole lot to ask him about. These sort of things were a bit private and for now the story was enough. After all, they were still strangers and Mihael couldn't really expect much more than that. "I originally tink I would be tradesman. Dere was woman I like very much and during dah war she was hurt badly by dah Federation. I changed meh mind after dat. I agree wit her when I turn 17 and I volunteer for dah Chippequoti military. Et was never meh original plan tah be Elite. Turned out I was better at war den I expected and soon I was general of large portion of military. Dah Elite offer meh tah train and become one of dem tree times. When we come here, tah dah Alliance I finally accept because dey make offer wit more humility den before. Den, I am asked tah be here as protection for dah children." Mihael figured his story was going to be good enough for Koda and then immediately followed up to be sure his second question was still answered. "Do yah tink working wit Chips es easy?"
Koda listened while the man spoke. Love of family could drive a man to change anything for them if he had to. Something he hadn't understood until he had one of his own. He understood why Mihael had changed his mind and joined up. Koda hadn't known the man was a general or that their Elite were considered higher than some generals. That was something to keep in mind. Mihael repeated his question and Koda remembered he should answer. "Yes and no," he admitted, "I've only worked with the Chip men aboard this ship on this mission but I find them to be well-trained, efficient and hard working. So, that makes them easy to work with. It's harder to work regarding communication. There's a language barrier sometimes other times there are cultural differences. You stay to yourselves alot, so other than observation, it may be difficult to learn." He made his honest assessment and sat back some. "Why do you ask?"
Mihael noted that Koda's next answer was carefully put. He clearly didn't want to cause any great offense and Mihael shrugged. "I ask because I am curious. Dah Chippequoti are cautious people. I tink we're nut hard tah get along wit, but I tink yah fair when yah say dat we have language and custom differences. Dis sometimes es difficult. Et was very clear when dah sword dance was performed each time for dah Alliance dat dere could easily be misunderstandings. Et's easier tah understand Chippequoti ef yah jes ask. Most of dem will tell yah what yah want tah know."
Cautious was a decent way of putting it. Koda remembered the sword dance well enough, most Kaereleans did, and Mihael was right about that. "Fair," Koda agreed, "So, in the interest of curiosity. What do you think of this mission and it's people so far? And you were a General, yeah? Did you have a specialty?"
Now that he'd had his curiosity resolved Mihael expected to settle in and be done. That wasn't really what Koda had in mind though. It seemed the other man was suddenly chatty. "Dah mission es necessary for dah Councilwoman because of custom and I trust dat dah Emperor chooses dose on dah shep well." Laying back in his bed he put his hands behind his head and let one elbow rest against the wall and the other elbow stick out beyond the edge of the bed. "Meh specialty was training difficult soldiers. Many of dem became more distinguished ef dey lived long enough. What es yah specialty?"
The answer was bland and carefully worded without much thought. Well practiced. Apparently, Koda had either run to the end of the man's tolerance for questions or he didnt want to say what he really thought. The man was a trainer it seemed, which explained a few observations Koda had made. "Recon, offensive raids, Wilds Survivalist and Silent Flight," he answered.
"Oh, dah boring stuff eh?" Mihael made sure to keep his face void of emotion. He wanted to see how Koda would react to his little attempt at humor. "Sounds like yah needed someting like dis tah shake tings up for yah."(edited)
Koda sat his pad to the side and slid down a bit further into his fold out bed which gave an ominous creak. At Mihael's comment, he chuckled a bit. "Oh, aye. I needed a bit of a shake up from the humdrum ops, eh? I'm sure this assignment is a refresh after being a general for a bit too."
"Not so sure I would call et a refresh tah be laying en a room dat smells like Kaerelean. Whew..." Waving a hand in front of his face Mihael chuckle and then pointed to his bag under the bed. "Yah should use some of meh oils tomorrow. Yah would smell better."
Koda had been on long ops before and lead a team of his own. There was no better real icebreaker than a good insult. "Ah I'll be sure to scrub up tomorrow but, you're sure its not those smelly socks of yours? Man, stinking me out is bad enough, stinking yourself out takes talent."
If the man wanted to start tossing insults around like that Mihael figured it was time to move things up a notch. Sitting up some in the bed he reached down into his covers and pulled his socks off before tossing them at Koda's head. "Nut meh socks. Et's still yah stinky hide. Yah right, et does take talent tah make et smell so bad even yah notice."(edited)
Koda batted away the socks and shrugged with good humor. "Eh, you're probably right. I'll chalk it up to my Ewenian side."
Shorting a bit, Mihael found himself feeling pleased that Koda was slow enough that the socks actually got him, a little bit. "Yah got slow from dem too eh? Now yah try an insult for Chippequoti. Yah choose someting besides dah way we smell. I want tah see ef yah got any creative tinking, or ef dat's stunted too."
Mihael was actually goading him now and part of Koda wondered if there was a ulterior reason, but on the surface it was a light hearted jab contest. Koda gave a casual flick of his hand, gesturing. "Well, come to think of it, you do put a ton of oil in your hair. You've got enough up there to grease down a gun ten times over, but I figured you like to take care of it since its the only hair you've got." He made a point to scratch this chin meaningfully and let the stubble crackle under his nails.
The grin on Mihael's face got wider and wider as Koda mocked the greased hair and then noted it was the only hair on his body. "Well, nut quite." Mihael rubbed his eyebrows and blinked his eyes a few times to show off his eyelashes. "Yah observe dah obvious, but miss dah details. Anoter bad Ewenian trait?"
Koda grinned and laughed. "Aye, I think so." Ewenians were highly detail oriented and stickler for protocol but it was a bit fun to blame them anyways for this one. "It's almost as bad as watching you try to cook the other night. A few missed details there for sure," he jabbed back with a snort.
"What yah mean? Meh food was perfectly good. I made good Chippequoti food." Mihael protested that bit and realized he might have sounded a bit too sincere. "Well...yah problem es dat yah jes dun know what yah miss till I cook."
Koda smirked, hearing what might have been a touch of realness and gave a shrug. "That could be it. Maybe with a touch of salt too." To be fair Chippeqouti food hadnt been all that bad, different but not bad.
"Yah want meh tah be little more salty?" Mihael smirked and laid back. "I'm accomplished en dis."
Koda snorted and dropped his head back against the wall panel his cot was butted up against. "Aye. I dont think you make it as far as we have without accomplishing a little salt." He thought for a moment and then his curiosity got the better of him. "Out of curiosity, what trade were you going into before you swapped to the military?"
It sounded like their bit of conversation was drawing to an end and Mihael was about to settle in and then Koda decided to ask him a question about his past. Chuckling heartily Mihael shook his head. "Yah wouldn't believe meh ef I told yah. I was planning tah be a master cook."
Koda turned his head to toward Mihael and let out a chuckle It was too much after his jab about the man's mess hall skills. "I wouldn't have guessed a master cook, but now that I know, I've got some high expectations on your mess hall night." Koda let the joke rest as they chuckled a settled further into bed.
"Yah problem es dat yah dun know good food when yah see et. I will make very good snake gravy and bits wit sweet bread and some fruit. Yah will nut be able tah resist dat."
"We'll see," Koda said before reaching up to flip out the light. He hadn't met anyone who could cook snake better than a Reylian.
***********
Calysta fumbled with Isla's necklace, trying to dislodge the chain from her already made hair. She'd been fumbling with things all morning and this was the last of it. She let out a sigh and looked to Illya hopefully. "I think the chain is stuck, I can't seem to get it out, would you mind helping me untangle it?" Illya was sitting on the bed, dressed and ready to disembark despite the fact she was sure his knee was hurting. She leaned in for Illya to reach her without moving too much.
While he worked, Calysta was careful to keep herself from bumping his knee, and tensed up when she felt the small jostle of the ship landing at the brand new, and only dock at the Terran Colonies. What would happen when they stepped of the ship? How would they be received by the people she practically, though accidentally sent to slaughter? The engines were winding down and she looked at Illya with a small smile. "If I haven't told you lately, I'll tell you now. You're a good husband." When he finally released her hair from the chain she moved back but not before landing a kiss on his cheek. "Ready?"
***********
Dear Diary,
It turns out, the handsome fellow I met is named Ehud and we have our first date tonight. I'm a little nervous. I haven't done this in awhile and I hope I still remember how to be somewhat decent company. We are going to Kinte, somewhere I haven't been very often, but Illya assures me Ehud is safe to go with. He seems sweet and fun. I wonder if he likes to dance? I miss swing dancing. Would he be willing to learn? It's probably to early to think about those types of things since we haven't even been on the date yet. Here's hoping it goes well! Maybe I can ask about the dancing if he wants to go out again.....
"Deep in the Wilds, below the mist...below the canopy...stirring in the shadows where the moonlight never touches lives a man. He's not just any man though. He lived upon the poison of the Wilds, in the water, the air, the plants, and the animals, and his body slowly became a part of the land. He became a mist. He could go anywhere and do anything he wanted. One night, from the darkness shadows of the Wilds, lights from above disturbed his peace. He grew angry and floated from his home all the way to the world above. The closer he floated to the sky, the more he saw and the more he hated what he saw. Lights, hideous lights, were cutting through his darkness on the Edge of the worlds. People with lanterns and fires, with crystals, and unafraid of the darkness. It was offensive and he hated the comfort, the joy, and the light. He would snuff them out. Night after night, people would come to the Edge, walking with lights, and night after night, he took one. He snatched them to the Wilds below where they would stay in the dark and the shadow. They would stay unable to go back home forever. When their names were forgotten forever. Not in anyone's mind, they would become the mist and join the man in taking others. They become the Mysomenim and look for people who dare to wander too close to the Edge at night until the winds stop and the continents are no more."
It had been awhile since Akten had heard that story. He had grown up on Reylia where there were no floating continents but the stories were still around. He had heard that one from his mother many times before. Of course, the scary story had nothing on the horror of Cypher's comment after the story. Akten's jaw dropped open and his ears heated past what had to be boiling point as all the men began crowing their advice on the subject. Did he even dare look at the petite Wynry next to him? He turned his head slowly and gave her a sheepish, sly sort of smile. "Well, I..eh...maybe n' just because ye' stories are good, yeah?" The woman stared at him and her delicate brow raised in a look of trepidation before she started giggling.
Akten stared at her, grin frozen cheekily in place. Why was she laughing? Was that a good thing? She giggled and nudged him playfully and his grin widened. "You're funny Akten." Then she lifted herself up from the couch, leaving the spot where she had been suddenly cold. "Well, that's it for me. Good night, guys." Then she ruffled Cypher's hair before giving them a wave and disappearing down the hall.
*********
Koda looked at his fold out cot and instinctively twisted to get his back to crack a little. He had a love- hate relationship with the tiny little fold out mattress. He'd love to sleep and it hated to deny him the privilege. It couldn't be helped though. His bunk mate, Mihael, had close to 2ft more in leg and torso than he did and simply needed the larger bed that came bolted into the room. Koda had certainly slept in worse places at any rate. The mines on Noraxia III flashed in his thoughts and he shoved them out quickly, replacing them with the thought of sending his wife and daughter a message instead. They were a much better focus. He stripped down and tossed his old uniform into the hamper to be washed the next day, then replaced the lid on the hamper. Then he checked his fresh uniform hanging on the back of the door in neat order and made sure his gear was laid out, accessible and clean for the next day. There were several pistols ranging in larger to smaller, concealable caliber, a few knives both for utility and for the singular purpose of killing. He didn't wear those in the open but they were small, easily concealed, and efficient for hand-to-hand combat. There was a hope that he wouldn't have to use them, and a reality that told him the probability that he would have to was high. He unclipped his utility watch and placed it by the tiny fold out table serving as a night stand before crawling into bed and propping up long enough to send his family a message that would take hours to arrive and be untraceable back to any location thanks to the ship's code. No sooner had he finished, did Mihael come in and begin his own nightly routine which consisted of largely the same protocol. There was a slight comfort in the idea that standards could be the same or recognizable across other gaps that mere culture could hardly try to fill.(edited)
The man did whatever he needed to do and then stripped down to crawl into the bed less than a foot away from Koda's fold out. It wasn't much space to begin with and a wayward catch from Mihael's foot as he settled down made the point all the more obvious. Koda shrugged, not worried about being nudged in such small quarters. "Aye," he agreed. He thought the man was going to settle down but instead, he seemed to sit up a bit more and asked a curious question. Beyond the general's initial questioning and the men asking him simple things or group meals where everyone was talking, this was the first time he'd heard one of them attempt a one-on-one conversation with him.
Koda scratched absently at the stubble on his jaw and replied to the sudden compound question. "Eh, if I had my wife's sense of humor I'd probably say 'the same way you did, I walked'," he said, "But I'm guessing that's not what you meant. It's a bit of a loaded question, I guess. How I made it into the military or on the ship with rank?"(edited)
A slight smirk sneaked across Mihael's face. Of course the man would start with a joke. It was a nice way of trying to avoid a question. However, it was surprising that he came around and asked to have the question stated more clearly. He was sure that Koda was somewhat friendly toward Chips if he was here, but there was no telling. "Bot. I like tah know who et es dat I share a room wit. Tank dah gods ets nut a bed. I'd rater sleep on dah floor den share et."
Koda nodded in agreement to the statement about the bed. "Aye." The man's question was fair but also worked both ways. "Eh, those are two very different stories, but one is easier than the other," he admitted, " I went into the military as soon as I turned 18 to get off my home continent. You might have heard of Ewen, yeah? My Dah was from there but my Mam, eh she was a Reylian. They both died when I was around 10. I was raised the rest of the time on Ewen by my grandparents there. Eh... I'm not sure how to explain it but they are part of the ruling class on Ewen. I was a bit of a blemish on the family record, and the family business wasn't something I was going to inherit, so I jumped a transport ship the day I turned 18. Worked hard, got married to my wife, Laura and had my daughter, Vayle,. Military rank? I wanted to go for the special forces, after my aptitude exams, and did it. Served in a few campaigns on the fringe on the front and on special ops. I was transferred under General Kirit, and given a team for awhile before taking this assignment when it was offered by the Councilwoman." That was the short and sweet of his story. There were somethings he couldn't go into more detail on. "What about you?"
The man's story was pretty straightforward. There wasn't a whole lot to ask him about. These sort of things were a bit private and for now the story was enough. After all, they were still strangers and Mihael couldn't really expect much more than that. "I originally tink I would be tradesman. Dere was woman I like very much and during dah war she was hurt badly by dah Federation. I changed meh mind after dat. I agree wit her when I turn 17 and I volunteer for dah Chippequoti military. Et was never meh original plan tah be Elite. Turned out I was better at war den I expected and soon I was general of large portion of military. Dah Elite offer meh tah train and become one of dem tree times. When we come here, tah dah Alliance I finally accept because dey make offer wit more humility den before. Den, I am asked tah be here as protection for dah children." Mihael figured his story was going to be good enough for Koda and then immediately followed up to be sure his second question was still answered. "Do yah tink working wit Chips es easy?"
Koda listened while the man spoke. Love of family could drive a man to change anything for them if he had to. Something he hadn't understood until he had one of his own. He understood why Mihael had changed his mind and joined up. Koda hadn't known the man was a general or that their Elite were considered higher than some generals. That was something to keep in mind. Mihael repeated his question and Koda remembered he should answer. "Yes and no," he admitted, "I've only worked with the Chip men aboard this ship on this mission but I find them to be well-trained, efficient and hard working. So, that makes them easy to work with. It's harder to work regarding communication. There's a language barrier sometimes other times there are cultural differences. You stay to yourselves alot, so other than observation, it may be difficult to learn." He made his honest assessment and sat back some. "Why do you ask?"
Mihael noted that Koda's next answer was carefully put. He clearly didn't want to cause any great offense and Mihael shrugged. "I ask because I am curious. Dah Chippequoti are cautious people. I tink we're nut hard tah get along wit, but I tink yah fair when yah say dat we have language and custom differences. Dis sometimes es difficult. Et was very clear when dah sword dance was performed each time for dah Alliance dat dere could easily be misunderstandings. Et's easier tah understand Chippequoti ef yah jes ask. Most of dem will tell yah what yah want tah know."
Cautious was a decent way of putting it. Koda remembered the sword dance well enough, most Kaereleans did, and Mihael was right about that. "Fair," Koda agreed, "So, in the interest of curiosity. What do you think of this mission and it's people so far? And you were a General, yeah? Did you have a specialty?"
Now that he'd had his curiosity resolved Mihael expected to settle in and be done. That wasn't really what Koda had in mind though. It seemed the other man was suddenly chatty. "Dah mission es necessary for dah Councilwoman because of custom and I trust dat dah Emperor chooses dose on dah shep well." Laying back in his bed he put his hands behind his head and let one elbow rest against the wall and the other elbow stick out beyond the edge of the bed. "Meh specialty was training difficult soldiers. Many of dem became more distinguished ef dey lived long enough. What es yah specialty?"
The answer was bland and carefully worded without much thought. Well practiced. Apparently, Koda had either run to the end of the man's tolerance for questions or he didnt want to say what he really thought. The man was a trainer it seemed, which explained a few observations Koda had made. "Recon, offensive raids, Wilds Survivalist and Silent Flight," he answered.
"Oh, dah boring stuff eh?" Mihael made sure to keep his face void of emotion. He wanted to see how Koda would react to his little attempt at humor. "Sounds like yah needed someting like dis tah shake tings up for yah."(edited)
Koda sat his pad to the side and slid down a bit further into his fold out bed which gave an ominous creak. At Mihael's comment, he chuckled a bit. "Oh, aye. I needed a bit of a shake up from the humdrum ops, eh? I'm sure this assignment is a refresh after being a general for a bit too."
"Not so sure I would call et a refresh tah be laying en a room dat smells like Kaerelean. Whew..." Waving a hand in front of his face Mihael chuckle and then pointed to his bag under the bed. "Yah should use some of meh oils tomorrow. Yah would smell better."
Koda had been on long ops before and lead a team of his own. There was no better real icebreaker than a good insult. "Ah I'll be sure to scrub up tomorrow but, you're sure its not those smelly socks of yours? Man, stinking me out is bad enough, stinking yourself out takes talent."
If the man wanted to start tossing insults around like that Mihael figured it was time to move things up a notch. Sitting up some in the bed he reached down into his covers and pulled his socks off before tossing them at Koda's head. "Nut meh socks. Et's still yah stinky hide. Yah right, et does take talent tah make et smell so bad even yah notice."(edited)
Koda batted away the socks and shrugged with good humor. "Eh, you're probably right. I'll chalk it up to my Ewenian side."
Shorting a bit, Mihael found himself feeling pleased that Koda was slow enough that the socks actually got him, a little bit. "Yah got slow from dem too eh? Now yah try an insult for Chippequoti. Yah choose someting besides dah way we smell. I want tah see ef yah got any creative tinking, or ef dat's stunted too."
Mihael was actually goading him now and part of Koda wondered if there was a ulterior reason, but on the surface it was a light hearted jab contest. Koda gave a casual flick of his hand, gesturing. "Well, come to think of it, you do put a ton of oil in your hair. You've got enough up there to grease down a gun ten times over, but I figured you like to take care of it since its the only hair you've got." He made a point to scratch this chin meaningfully and let the stubble crackle under his nails.
The grin on Mihael's face got wider and wider as Koda mocked the greased hair and then noted it was the only hair on his body. "Well, nut quite." Mihael rubbed his eyebrows and blinked his eyes a few times to show off his eyelashes. "Yah observe dah obvious, but miss dah details. Anoter bad Ewenian trait?"
Koda grinned and laughed. "Aye, I think so." Ewenians were highly detail oriented and stickler for protocol but it was a bit fun to blame them anyways for this one. "It's almost as bad as watching you try to cook the other night. A few missed details there for sure," he jabbed back with a snort.
"What yah mean? Meh food was perfectly good. I made good Chippequoti food." Mihael protested that bit and realized he might have sounded a bit too sincere. "Well...yah problem es dat yah jes dun know what yah miss till I cook."
Koda smirked, hearing what might have been a touch of realness and gave a shrug. "That could be it. Maybe with a touch of salt too." To be fair Chippeqouti food hadnt been all that bad, different but not bad.
"Yah want meh tah be little more salty?" Mihael smirked and laid back. "I'm accomplished en dis."
Koda snorted and dropped his head back against the wall panel his cot was butted up against. "Aye. I dont think you make it as far as we have without accomplishing a little salt." He thought for a moment and then his curiosity got the better of him. "Out of curiosity, what trade were you going into before you swapped to the military?"
It sounded like their bit of conversation was drawing to an end and Mihael was about to settle in and then Koda decided to ask him a question about his past. Chuckling heartily Mihael shook his head. "Yah wouldn't believe meh ef I told yah. I was planning tah be a master cook."
Koda turned his head to toward Mihael and let out a chuckle It was too much after his jab about the man's mess hall skills. "I wouldn't have guessed a master cook, but now that I know, I've got some high expectations on your mess hall night." Koda let the joke rest as they chuckled a settled further into bed.
"Yah problem es dat yah dun know good food when yah see et. I will make very good snake gravy and bits wit sweet bread and some fruit. Yah will nut be able tah resist dat."
"We'll see," Koda said before reaching up to flip out the light. He hadn't met anyone who could cook snake better than a Reylian.
***********
Calysta fumbled with Isla's necklace, trying to dislodge the chain from her already made hair. She'd been fumbling with things all morning and this was the last of it. She let out a sigh and looked to Illya hopefully. "I think the chain is stuck, I can't seem to get it out, would you mind helping me untangle it?" Illya was sitting on the bed, dressed and ready to disembark despite the fact she was sure his knee was hurting. She leaned in for Illya to reach her without moving too much.
While he worked, Calysta was careful to keep herself from bumping his knee, and tensed up when she felt the small jostle of the ship landing at the brand new, and only dock at the Terran Colonies. What would happen when they stepped of the ship? How would they be received by the people she practically, though accidentally sent to slaughter? The engines were winding down and she looked at Illya with a small smile. "If I haven't told you lately, I'll tell you now. You're a good husband." When he finally released her hair from the chain she moved back but not before landing a kiss on his cheek. "Ready?"
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Dear Diary,
It turns out, the handsome fellow I met is named Ehud and we have our first date tonight. I'm a little nervous. I haven't done this in awhile and I hope I still remember how to be somewhat decent company. We are going to Kinte, somewhere I haven't been very often, but Illya assures me Ehud is safe to go with. He seems sweet and fun. I wonder if he likes to dance? I miss swing dancing. Would he be willing to learn? It's probably to early to think about those types of things since we haven't even been on the date yet. Here's hoping it goes well! Maybe I can ask about the dancing if he wants to go out again.....
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