Lack of Direction

[Daxen]

Daxen was about to share his own life story when a loud "Marks!" made him jump. Next thing he knew, Fitter was running away and he could hear someone approaching. After waving a small, "G-G'bye...I guess..." he turned to see a kitchen manager walk towards them. Thinking quickly, he nodded, "U-Um...sh-she just left a-about t-ten minutes ago. Sh-She should be back by now." The manager gave a frustrated sigh, not believing Daxen for a second, and walked out.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Daxen returned to Kaden, "Wh-What were we talking about a-again?" He remembered something out planets...planets...planets...oh! His home! He nodded, "I-I come from Ortho. I-It's not very interesting. J-Just a lot of water and a m-mountain of paperwork to d-do anything. I-It wasn't a bad p-place to live, but it was a r-rather dull and limited life."

He thought for a moment again before continuing, "I-I got most fun out of m-my life when I went to college though. I-It's fairly liberal there as t-to what you can learn. I took a b-bit of languages, h-history, philosophy, and a b-bit of politics, in t-terms of diplomacy. I l-learned a lot of ecology though, a-and that's what I was interested in f-for...most of m-my life, I guess."

[Kaden]

"Have a good evening Ms. Marks," Kaden called as she hurried away before her boss arrived. Kaden stayed quiet as Daxen lied to him and when the boss glanced in his direction he just stared back, neither confirming nor denying Daxen's story since he wasn't sure if his word would hurt or help the case being made. When the kitchen manager left Kaden turned back to Daxen.

"I went to Ortho once for vacation when I was on leave. It was a very beautiful place though I suppose I can understand becoming frustrated with the monotony of the landscape. Still, it is a fair place to hail from and I'm glad you had the chance to attend college there. It's educational institutions are without peer, especially the law schools and colleges for civil law. Some of the Republics finest leaders studied there and the Fleet has its college there. I hoped to attend one day, I still do I suppose."

[Daxen]

Daxen was mildly surprised at Kaden's mention of a vacation. Sure, the few land-based areas were indeed beautiful, but it was hardly a hotspot for sightseers. Still, he was elated that Kaden could talk about Daxen's home planet. Another connection somehow made Daxen feel more confident. His shadow seemed to be shaking from excitement, but the young man didn't notice.

"It'll be hard for you to get into an Orthonian university. Like you said, a lot of prodigious people go there to get an excellent education, but unless you're specifically recommended by your home planet's higher-ups they're likely to shove a lot of forms in your face. Ortho has a lot of rules, regulations, and red tape to dissuade the riff-raff." His eyes widened and he quickly mentioned, "N-N-Not to say that y-you're riff-r-raff, j-just that as a U-UIR officer...w-well..." He trailed off, then suddenly lit up as if he had a eureka moment, "I-I could teach you some i-if you want? I-I used to tutor m-my classmates all the time. I-I mean, I can't teach you m-much without a textbook o-or a biodome, but..." He'll have to try to persuade the captain to let him grow a mini-ecosystem in one of the ship's rooms sometime. Psh, like that'll ever happen.

[Kaden]

"Ah. Well I do have a few patrons who would have spoken for me. My ambassador for one and my tutor but..." Kaden trailed off and his expression became moody and discontented as it always did when he thought of Earthfall and its repercussions. "They were on Earth when it disappeared," Kaden finished.

Ariun and Zahi had been friends and they had both been very good to him, taking him in and teaching him everything he would need to know to survive in the galaxy. When he had arrived on Earth he hadn't even been able to speak the language. He'd had no money and no resources to speak of. Ariun could have easily thrown him out on the street. His office as the Takatifu ambassador to the UIR did not oblige him to help every Safi outcast. But he hadn't. He'd taken Kaden in and introduced him to Zahi who had taught him the language and had instilled and helped inspire his passion for civil service. When Kaden had been facing destitution it had been Ariun who had suggested he join the Fleet and save his earnings so that he may have something to start off with when he got out. He owed them both his life and his position and he couldn't even help find out what had happened to them.

Kaden shook his head, trying to dispel the depression the thought left him in and looked up at Daxen. "Well if I distinguish myself in service I have full scholarship to the War College for officer training but I wasn't sure if I wanted to pursue that. The civil universities appealed to me more though I had heard they were hard to get into. I would be honored to learn anything you are willing to teach Daxen."

Kaden had to wonder at his circumstances. Here he was, confined to a cell, and yet the universe had seen fit to supply him with the opportunity to teach and learn, not once, but twice. With Deux he explored the intricacies of human society but it seemed Daxen was suggesting studies of an entirely different suite.

[Daxen]

Daxen gave a sympathetic, "Oh...I-I'm sorry..." at Kaden's mention of his disappearing friends. He's never known any from Earth, though he did know of a few classmates who planned on going there after graduation. He wondered how they were, and if they were alright. But he knew that dwelling on depressing things like that will only bring another hurdle in his life, so he decided to let his mind wander away from that topic for once.

He thought for a moment, "Hm...well it m-might be best to t-tell me what you already kn-know. You already said you studied b-biology, right? O-Or at least the z-zoology portion. I-I know a lot of l-languages; kinda h-hoped I'd visit a f-few planets to study th-their environments." Not much luck on that part, in retrospect. "Let's see...ph-philosophy, d-diplomacy...h-history especially..." Eventually he just stopped listing and started reminiscing about his college days instead.

[Kaden]

Kaden thought back over his education. It was hard to put the things he'd learned into the subject categories that the rest of the galaxy seemed to use. His teaching had been very mixed and had focused on how everything was one. He'd learned philosophy right along with physics. Biology with sociology. And how advanced he was in any subject was hard to tell. He'd never been given any tests, at least not in a way that could be reported or repeated later. Facts about the history of his planet had been forced out of him as he'd done dagger forms and his knowledge of military ethics had been drilled into him as he'd run laps after laps around his city's walls.

"I have studied the history of the UIR...ecology, biology...physics of course but nothing too advanced, just what any space farer should know...I suppose I can stop there. The other things will come up as they come up if they are needed. What did you have an interest in teaching?"

[Daxen]

Daxen's eyes widened. This guy was smart...really smart! He almost felt...intimidated. But he could tell Kaden wasn't an arrogant asshole, unlike his planetary kinsmen. He thought for a moment: Ecology, Biology, basic physics, and some history. Daxen shook his head, "I-I think we k-kinda learned the same things. Or at l-least a little b-bit."

Daxen really didn't know a whole lot to teach. He knew he successfully tutored a few people, but they were dumb as a fence post. He had no idea how to teach someone who had already mastered various detailed biological processes. "I-I guess we could just t-talk?...Oh!!!" He suddenly lit up like a lightbulb and reached into his bag.

He hesitated for a moment and got an almost sad expression before shaking his head and removing what appeared to be a diary. It seemed several years old; the binding was coming undone, and some of the edges had experienced weathering damage. Still, some of the letters on the front could be read: "K e's Big Bo k f Herbs an p ants" Daxen carefully opened the book and looked up to Kaden, "S-Sorry, but i-if it's not too m-much trouble, w-would you describe s-some of the plants found in y-your planet?" He took out a pen and sat there eagerly.

[Kaden]

Kaden looked at the book in Daxen's hands. He had never seen it before but a quick look at the cover was enough to tell him it was about plants and Daxen's question confirmed the theory that he'd gotten from the small picture of something that looked like a fern. "Yes, I can try," Kaden answered with only a moment of hesitation.

Speaking of Takatifu's wildlife, both plant and animal, was against Safi law. It was an odd law to have only because it governed one's behavior in a situation that almost never arose. Safi did not leave Takatifu and so never had an opportunity to speak with outsiders about their planet. But it was a law he had been taught with all the others and it had been stressed no less. He knew that it was to protect the planet as much as anything. The government did not want stories told of some special plant or amazing animal or rare mineral that would bring the galaxies greed down on them. But Kaden figured telling Daxen about a few of the more harmless plants that had shown up in the diets of some of his charges couldn't harm anyone, or so he hoped.

Still, he was always wary of breaking laws, even if they were the laws of man and not those of nature and so he was slow to begin. He started by thinking of the last animal species he'd been tracking before he had left the planet. It was an interesting, at least to him, species of water buffalo that lived on the plains near his home House of Leone. He had chosen to track them because the plains fell between Leone and Drago and the assignment had allowed him to go home on a regular basis to visit his family.

Pushing aside the complicated ball of emotions that always accompanied thoughts of his family he began describing the different grasses the buffalo was said to eat. He described what climates they were found in and in what abundance and did his best to go over how each reproduces and its growing season and habits. He then moved on to a few of the trees that the buffalo would strip the lower leaves from and tried to present all the information he knew about that species of tree in a clear a way as possible, conscious of the fact that Daxen would be taking notes.

[Daxen]

Daxen, as diligently as he could, took note after note as Kaden spoke. He was a surprisingly good note-taker, even writing things down when it seemed Daxen had lost focus again (perhaps that's how he managed to pass all his classes). He was a little curious though as to why all of these tended to be eaten by animals; nothing poisonous or adapted against predation. Still, he made sure he didn't miss out on any important information, asking for a few extra details here and there to really get everything he needed or felt he needed.

When Kaden finally finished, he noticed that he was reaching the last twenty or so pages of the notebook. He frowned and sat there silently for a moment before commenting, "I guess I-I'll have to get it r-rebound soon..." He sat there for a moment, contemplating. Had someone told him in college that one day he'd be on a sketchy ship conversing plant life with a handsome prisoner, he'd...well, he probably wouldn't notice the person in the first place, but he wouldn't believe it anyway!

He looked up at Kaden and asked quietly, "K-Kaden...what w-was your life in the UIR like? D-Did you have m-many friends?" He figured this might not be the most sympathetic of questions, but he was curious. He only ever had one good friend. A few comrades, sure, but only one that he could truly rely on.

[Kaden]

Kaden scratched at the thin layer of stubble that had started to collect on his cheeks. The scritching noise created by the movement bothered him so he stopped. He wasn't used to being anything other than clean shaven. The UIR fleet had strict guidelines when it came to such things. Officially soldiers were suppose to stay clean shaven in order to ensure hard seals of gas masks and various breathing apparatuses, especially pilots since they had to wear one every time they set foot in a Falcon. Unofficially, the UIR wanted to preserve the image of its officers as one of upstanding and clean citizens.

"Well," he began, looking over at Daxen, "it is cleaner," he said with a small smile, still rubbing his face and exploring the unaccustomed feeling of facial hair. "You know I haven't been here very long and I certainly plan on leaving at the captain's earliest convenience so to speak of it as another life is a bit extreme. But I do miss the structure of my days. I normally had somewhere to be every moment I was on duty and at least I had a purpose. It got a bit crowded on ships occasionally though, especially the large battlestars. I actually welcomed the break that transport duty gave me from the crowds," Kaden said before laughing a little to himself. "Transport duty," he continued, realizing that Daxen might not know what he meant, "is when you guard a trasnport ship of some sort. I was assigned to guard a military transport and that is how I got captured here. The captain went after that ship and caught me instead."

[Daxen]

Daxen tapped his pen against his face while he listened, trying to paint a proper picture in his mind of what UIR life was all about. Strict, rigid structure, a schedule to follow each and every day. While he certainly saw the benefit, it sounded so monotonous. Not that he'd ever probably notice; every day would simply seem new and dreadful.

He thought the transport duty bit was intriguing though. Traveling to far-off places, most likely dangerous if it's in need of a bodyguard. Daxen could see why Kaden was chosen. Such muscles, such manliness, such good looks. He blinked and shook his head for a moment. What was he doing, thinking about such things? Transport duty wasn't his cup of tea at all, how could he possibly consider it?

Kaden's account of how he got put on the Laika almost made Dax feel a bit guilty again, though he knew he couldn't do anything about it. The first time he saw Kaden, he was barreling down the hallways naked. Daxen figured it wouldn't really have been a good idea to pursue that matter. He decided to tell his own story, "I d-don't really know h-how I got here. O-One moment I was l-looking for food, and I r-remember seeing a supplies crate, a-and just followed it on. I think that's h-how I boarded the ship, th-though I don't really like it here. I-I got a small job helping the w-weapon handler, but I didn't r-really have that much of a choice. I-I guess the good thing though is that I'm f-finally traveling around and l-learning the things I want to learn." He held up the tattered notebook to prove his point.

[Kaden]

Kaden nodded in response to Daxen's story. "It is always good to have an opportunity to learn. I am trying to keep that in mind while I sit here which is why I am grateful for your company and your time. Any chance to talk to a different person, a new and fresh perspective, well it is always exciting to me. There is still so much about your galaxy that I feel like I don't understand. While my planet may be located right in the middle of it it might as well have been galaxies away for we did not learn much about the world beyond our own sky."

Kaden rubbed his cheeks and looked discontentedly down at the dull knife that had been provided with his food. "I do not want to tax your generosity Daxen," he began, looking up at the young man, "but do you believe it possible to get basic hygienic equipment such as a bucket of water? A bar of soap and a cloth to use it and perhaps a razor for this," he finished, rubbing a palm down the side of his cheeks. "I would not want to get you in to trouble so please feel free to ignore the request. Especially about the razor since they can be hard to find though even a small knife would be helpful?"

[Daxen]

Daxen stared wide-eyed for a moment before saying quietly, "Y-You're the second person who's e-ever been g-grateful towards me..." His face showed a mixture of shock and adoration, as if Kaden had made everything bad that's happened in the past few weeks (or at least today) disappear. Usually he hears comments like, "If you'd just pay attention more...," or "You're stuttering's annoying, get the hell away!" Because of comments like these he had grown to be introverted and socially anxious starting around age 10 or so.

At Kaden's request he shook his head quickly, "N-No! No trouble at all, K-Kaden!" He got up and looked around worriedly, hoping that there was a bucket of water nearby. Such things were somewhat of a luxury on a ship. He thought he saw a bathroom nearby, so he motioned to Kaden that he'd be right back and went off to look.

Somehow he did manage to find the bathroom, as well as a tin bucket left behind by a careless maintenance worker. As he was filling the bucket with water and grabbing a mass of paper towels, he immediately thought back to his days with Kane from college. His first and only best friend, Daxen came to realize that these emotions he had whenever he was near Kaden (the blushing, the embarrassment, the desire to get to know him) were rather alike to how he was around Kane. Though everything was a mystery to him still, he knew that something strange was going on biologically within him; he'll have to investigate later. Unfortunately for Daxen, he always managed to end up too sick to attend sex ed classes and thus never got a proper lesson on love. But oh well.

After realizing that his bucket has been overflowing for the past three minutes, he blushed, turned off the water, and struggled to carry the bucket, soap, and towels back over the cell, hopeful that no one would catch him in the act.

[Fitter]

Fitter's return to the kitchen after her period of absence had not slipped by unnoticed, as she had hoped. Instead, once she step foot into the hectic room, one of the head chefs started shouting at her, questioning where she had been and why she hadn't promptly returned. Fitter pursed her lips together, remaining silent during the rant. No, she had not realized how much time passed by; yes, she knew that part of her responsibility as part of the crew was to ensure the food was made promptly and delivered five minutes before anyone expected. And, yes, she knew that by wasting time while on a shift meant that none of the goals were going to be achieved because only with a dedicated team could the entire ship peacefully consume each and every meal.

Muttering apology after apology, a sense of relief fell over the tense girl as the man told her she could finish her hours that day by mopping the entire area designated for the kitchen. She bowed again with another apology and quickly backed away to the storage closet where the mops and other cleaning equipment were stored. The water/cleaning solution mix smelled terrible, in her opinion, and mopping reached the peak of her 'avoid' list. Her nose scrunched in distaste; at least she could people watch while she mopped. It was the only thing that made the task worthwhile.

As she reached the far corners of the area with the mop, scrubbing each and every inch (and removing Ero whenever he refused to budge from a bothersome position), her thoughts wandered back to the conversation that earned her this mess. Besides daily conversations with one of the busboys, Fitter had not found the opportunity to converse much with the other passengers on the ship. No one else occupied her room, nor did she have much time to linger idly; her long days often left her exhausted. So the conversation in the brig was a rather delightful one, even if it was a tad...disjointed. Kaden seemed like a nice enough person, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Daxen was quite peculiar, but in retrospect, she found it very amusing. As long as he didn't go off insulting her cooking again, he was fine in her book.

With determination, Fitter removed the last spot of oil from the floor and smiled, pleased with her work. There. Now she could put the mop away and grab a bite of her own to eat before...before what? She had nowhere to go and nothing to do, really. No, she would find something to bide the time. The sound of splashing water caught her attention. Curious, Fitter took a few steps to the nearby door and peeked into the hallway. What was Daxen doing with an overflowing bucket of water? Reluctantly, her grip on the mop tightened. If the chef walked out and saw that mess, she would be blamed, even if it wasn't in her area of jurisdiction.

"Daxen? Uh, what are you doing?" she blinked at the boy who struggled to carry all of the items in his arms. Soap, towels, water...it clicked. "You know the showers are on a different floor, right?" She drew the mop out, quickly wiping up the trail of water Daxen had left behind. Perhaps she should drag out the caution sign as well...

[Daxen]

Daxen jumped and had to pull off some serious coordination skills to keep from spilling all his cargo. He looked around and noticed Fitter staring at him with a mop in her hand. Realizing he was probably making a mess, he immediately blushed and started apologizing, "S-S-Sorry Fitter, I'm j-just getting s-some water f--" at the mention of the showers he only blushed more, "N-NO! Th-This is for K-K-Kaden! He said he w-wanted to shave..."

He sighed and carefully put everything down, "I-If you want, I'll c-clean up any m-m-messes I might've made. I w-wasn't really paying a-a-attention to what I was doing." He held out his hand reluctantly for the mop. He didn't want to keep Kaden waiting but he knew he had to assume responsibility.