Post-Mission Eleven: A Good Afternoon

Burgmond

Well-Known Member
Ayenee
Fort Miller


With a rustle of plastic sheets, Arete Surinus was gliding through the air above the cabins, descending in a large helix with a bagge package in tow - some fresh fruit to snack on, and some other things like shampoo. It was a pretty easy descent, and in about a minute the miniature soldier was walking like normal people do own the rows.

Meanwhile, Walter Hyde had been quietly running status checks on the power supply behind Arete's cabin. The power breaker was engaged, so no power was running through the cabin while Walter worked. His klunky laptop slowly went through the check-up, one process at a time; given how this is his last cabin check-up for the next two weeks, the technician was in no rush to see it through. Still, the processing power on that handheld sucked.

The laptop notified Walter that everything with the cabin was good to go for the next two weeks. With that notification in mind, he packed up his tools and computer, disengaged the power breaker, and proceeded to leave for the road, the Blacksmith's toolbox in hand.

As she approached her residence, the little angel called out to Walter as he rounded the corner from the side of the building. "Hey, uh, Walter was it? What're you doing back there?" She waved out with a free had, letting her groceries be supported by the other as she strode down the street.

Walter's heart jumped for a moment, hearing Arete call him out like that. "Oh! I - Yeah, I'm Walter.", he introduced himself lamely. Walter supposed that a bulkier Minkan like himself would look kinda out of place right now, anyway. "I was just doing some routine tech safety things; I happen to go around every two weeks to check on the cabins." Walter wasn't sure what to say next; he just stood there, thinking what else he could say.

"Your cabin's good, by the way! In case you were... Interested?" The man was pretty sure that wasn't what he wanted to say; he should have just asked what Arete bought or something.

She chuckled a little bit, partially at the man's awkwardness and also at his apparent just, nice-ness. "Hey, I'd like to know if it's doing okay! And even more if it wasn't!" She stopped in front of him when they were about half a meter apart.

"Oh! Well that's great, it's... Um, good to be aware?" Walter said with a sheepish smile. While there was silence for a moment, the technician tried to come up with something else to say; then, he remembered that she had a bag. "So, how was today? Did you visit the city for something?"

As paranoid as Walter could be, he couldn't hear the cold voice of denial this time. All he hears is just the occasional bird chirp, Arete, and his own voice; she just seemed... Brimming with spirit to him, like a all-round good person.

"Yup! Just some groceries though, nothing too special. The weather's pretty nice for gliding, and a little boost from time got me around in a flash!" Her teeth flashed the brilliant sunlight as she cracked open another smile again, before the blonde woman blinked and refocused, "Actually, what is it that you do? Normally, I mean - when you're not checking the cabins out? I mean I know it has something to do with keeping things running but..." She trailed off a bit awkwardly.

The technician looked down at his toolkit, then back to Arete. "What I do? I mean, I don't just go around checking cabins every two weeks, that wouldn't justify my paycheck, you know?" Walter shifted his pose as he briefly chuckled at his joke. "I check vehicles and electronic equipment, and work with a handful of engineers in the case something big breaks. Though if I don't have anything to do, I stay in my cabin...

Wait, no, she'll think I don't have a life!, he thought to himself. "You know, reading and... dance practice! Sometimes I go out on walks, too; Ayenee is pretty like that." Walter stood there, and wondered if he actually saved his dignity or just curb-stomped the shred of man-factor he had left. Probably the latter, if he were to be perfectly frank.

"Dancing? That's neat!" She was still smiling warmly, a little giggle came out at his joke. "You're not the only person who likes to spend time alone, though - I'm sure you've seen me on the outskirts of the area meditating as I normally do. I mean, I guess it isn't really all the isolated but it still is kind of alone, so that's... neat?" She shrugged awkwardly.

Walter closed the distance between them down to a third of a meter; he was steadily getting more comfortable being around Arete, despite his minor struggle with his anxiety. "Meditating? Are you a monk?"

A crunching of leaves could be heard as Eden made her way closer and closer to the pair. Shadowing them, almost, she stood a good distance away —or had at least— until jogging to them while waiving a hand with a sing-songy yell emanating from her voice.

"Ohayo!"

"Ohayo!" Arete instinctively, immediately turned on the spot halfway through starting a response to the Minkan, delivering a salute so obscenely perfect she probably studied how to do it for hours on end. She followed through after a few seconds, "Greetings, Shosa!"

From behind the angel, Walter promptly dropped his toolkit and saluted; he was quite fortunate that it didn't land on his foot. "Ohayo!" Walter spoke, in-sync with the other Santo-Hei who's a startling two feet shorter than he was. "I didn't think you'd be around here, Shosa; do you need something?"

After a sharp salute in return to the two enlisted personnel, Eden said, "I was going to grab Surinus-hei for some work, but if she is engaging in personal matters, I can find her while she is on duty."

"Hmm? I was just dropping off a few groceries and started talking to Walter. What did you need me for, Shosa?" Unlike much of the Kaiyo's crew, Arete had not been exposed enough to the gold-eyed woman's general kindness, and still insisted on being as formal as possible still.

Walter also happened to be one of the exceptions, however the same time, he did get a bad vibe from Eden; being around her might lead him to trouble."O-oh! Right, yes. It wasn't anything personal, Shosa, just... Small talk," the bundle of nerves said as he picked up his toolkit. "My apologies, I shall get back to work immediately." Even though Arete's cabin was the last assigned one he needed to check, he still made his leave.

"Are you all right, Hyde-hei? You suddenly well... Stuttered!"

"H-huh?" Walter froze, and quickly turned to Arete with a forced, nervous smile. If this were anyone else, then he'd fall back into a facade that is cold and intimidating, something he uses a lot to get people off his back. Now... Well, despite feeling cornered, he couldn't justify falling back to that purely because she was being too nice. "Yeah, oh yeah, I'm fine! Just..."

"... I mean, you know, private things, right? I don't want to just listen to you two talking about your job, Arete. It shouldn't be my business." The sweaty Walter reasoned. Then, he got worried that he might have hurt her feelings. Walter didn't question it, he just went with the logic. "I mean if you don't mind me sticking around, I.... guess I could stay? I don't actually have any work to do..."

"We'll keep talk all personal around you for the time being," Eden said with a wink in Arete's direction. "Though that may be hard as I know very little about Arete, in all honesty." Eden corrected herself, "Surinus-hei, that is."

"That seems to be the topic of the week, Shosa!" She chuckled a little bit, giving a sly wink back to Eden - even if she didn't really know why there was a wink in the first place. "I like to consider myself an open book, normally!" Even though she seemed to keep her formality, the woman's energy was positively bubbling through the surface.

Walter stiffened upon hearing Eden's words; She was being very mysterious, and Walter was fairly suspicious about that measure of suspicious Neko. Through leaps and bounds of overthinking, Walter concluded that this is Eden testing him, seeing if he continues to be suspicious due to the dark secrets -

Hold on, wait a minute, how do I even know that? How would she even know that? Walter thought to himself a little more, and concluded that given the lack of evidence, he must be assuming too much of her. Geez, maybe I do have a problem... Alright Walter, just chill out. Eden is probably just inviting you to hang out; nothing weird about that. Nothing at all.

"I... Well, okay. I don't know how to take that, but I guess I can stick around. Said the thoughtful Minkan. His posture laxed, and he got a little closer to the two, giving them half a meter of space between him and them.

"Ah..." Eden murmured as she looked around. "A good day for a walk together along the walls of the fort. Unless there is a better idea amongst our group?"

"I've no objections! Except, ah-" She wiggled her bag of produce and supplies, the plastic-based container rustling as she did. "May I put these away first, please? It should only take about a minute!"

"If you're going in," Eden said. "Pease, let us not get in your way. Walter-hei and I will simply chat amongst ourselves of nothing of note to you, Surinus-hei. We'll be here."

"Alright, heheh!" With another rapid salute the little one scampered off into the cabin's interior, groceries in tow, disappearing into her cabin with its door left wide open. Eden closed the door slowly and then looked to Walter with a conspiring look in her eyes.

... Remember when I said 'chill out?' Yeah, I lied. Red alert, red alert, RED ALERT! Walter began to sweat slightly, his heart beat increasing by small increments the moment he noticed that look in her eyes. "So, I... Didn't get to see you during that last mission. You know, the one with the pomegranate? Where did you go, exactly?"

"Northern territories," Eden said, then in a quieter voice, asked as she stepped forward and held Walter's arm, "Do you think she can hear us?"

Walter jolted when Eden grabbed his arm, and his tone shifted to be cold and collected. "Not if we kept our voices down, or changed to telepathy." He didn't appreciate being touched like that, almost to the same extent as him not liking his own icy retort, and it showed on his face. Walter took the cold edge off of his tone immediately afterwards. "I'm sorry, I'm not used to being touched like that. Why do you ask?"

"I want to know your intentions before we go further..." Eden muttered in a low voice.

The young Hyde was rather wary, wary of Eden's word choice. "I can promise that my intentions are not any different from the rest of the crew, Shosa." Walter's bright, orange eyes sized Eden up, his muscles tense, but he didn't make a move to break her hold on him. The Minkan had thought of a few ideas of what Eden could ask, but he had just decided to make no assumptions; it would risk miscommunication. "Now, please, continue."

"Mmmmm..." Eden made the soft sound and then backed away, smiling and looking anything but severe, "The rest of the crew is very much not interested the way you are, for certain, Hyde-hei."

At first, Walter looked at Eden blankly. Then, he furrowed his eyebrows while keeping a straight face. After that, a blush began to snowball on his face, all the while keeping his composure. "With all due respect, I... I um... You see it's just..." The technician couldn't come up with anything to shrug off Eden's observation; no excuse could help him. He had expected Eden to ask about his secret origin, but once again, he overestimated Eden. Or perhaps he underestimaded her.

Walter really couldn't how, or to what extent, but he felt out-played once again. "I don't know if these feelings are legitimate, Eden-Shosa. What if I offend her, scare her off, or... Things like that?"

"You'll do fine," Eden said, "as long as you are yourself."

As long as I'm myself...? Walter looked at his hands, then back up at Eden, and smiled back, his eyes warm with positivity. "Understood."

Eden nodded, smile staying.

Not a moment later, the door of the cabin slid open, the tiny sage within stepping back into the natural light. "Oh, you two could have come inside, you know!" She chuckled a little bit as she stepped off the porch, taking her place next to the other two soldiers. "Are we all ready?"

Walter looked over to the small soldier, and nodded. "Yeah, I'd say we're ready."

"Let's go, shall we?" Eden asked as she strode ahead of the other two, leaving them in her wake.

"Wait, right now- Hey! Wait up!"

"Well hurry along, I don't want to be confined to these walls much longer as the day is still young." Eden had said it all very matter of factly as she continued on.

Arete jogged up to close the distance between herself and the neko, her golden hair bobbing a little bit as she went. "Good idea!"

"We'll walk the walls," Eden said when her voice became hushed and she said telepathically in that same voice, "then go to a special place of mine..."

The little one sent her commanding-executive officer a look of curiosity, but decied that if Eden wanted to speak with telepathy all secret-like she probably well, wanted to keep this a secret. Kinda. ...Secrets are weird.

Walter couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Telepathically, he replied, "Something pretty and magical, right?" He really shouldn't be getting his hopes up, but at the same time...

"Oh," Eden replied to Walter, "very much so." Then, aloud, she said, "So, how was training at Fort Miller? Rigorous, I can tell, by the work ethic of the both of you."

"'twas alright, though I was told that specialization is something they can't really do? Which is kind of unfortunate I think... What with well, everyone having a role and such." The sage sniffled a bit, taking a breath of the fairly clean air. "I'd say it was overall quite effective, however. I certainly don't have a hard time finding out what to do."

"I breezed through the basic training regiment. It's thorough and concise, but I only got specilization because of some experience prior to enlisting; I don't know why they don't provide that service yet, despite it being around for almost twenty years." It was a true statement, although that 'prior experience' would have to be doing basic training beforehand. He was tempted to as Arete on what specialization she was looking into, but... Then again she didn't outright say it...

Then again, Walter figured it was a innocent question to ask. "Hey Arete, what specilization were you looking into?"

She shrugged, "I'm not too sure yet. I've been taking a look at my options, and it sounds like technicians are always welcomed. I think I also saw that apparently the ship needs a weapons operator? I don't know if there were already plans for that, though."

Speaking without thinking it over, Walter promptly said, "Well, if you're looking to be a technician, I could help you get started." His composure was well-maintained, keeping his feelings of panic from surfacing; he felt like it wasn't his place to offer something like a tutorship.

Eden's brows had gone up as she seemed to speed up, away from the couple.

Walter's orange eyes flicked over for a moment, having noticed the ever so suspicious Eden moving faster. He, naturally, began overthinking about it, and exponentionally getting redder. It wasn't what it looked like, right?! She didn't think I was - Oh. She was. Eden definitely was.

"Maybe..." The smol turned forward again from her look towards Walter to see Eden powerwalking away. "Hey, wait up!" Breaking into a jog again, Arete caught up to Eden over the next couple of seconds, with Walter catching up shortly afterwards.

Eden looked to the two of them as they all began climbing the stairs up to the wall of the fort and said, "Planet-based living is truly new to me... I have only ever been stationed on one in between ships."

Arete queried, "Really? I've never actually, ah... Left this planet's gravity well! I've lived here my whole life!" She seemed fully surprised by Eden's effective opposite-ness to herself, her mouth opened in a little o in surprise. "What about where you were born?"

"What keeps you here, Arete?" Eden asked, also answering, "I was not at my place of birth long."

"Really...? That's interesting!" She twirled a little bit of her golden-blonde hair, before she answered the neko's question; "I... I don't really know. I just was always kinda happy here, y'know...? Eden nodded in understanding

Walter had chosen to stay quiet, while the two talked, until he could come up with something to add. Very little came to mind, except the part where Arete displayed her feelings of contentment.

Eden stayed quiet as they got to the top of the wall of the fort, which was looking over Starlight Forest from this side of the wall. Teien Eden sighed out, thinking of the wife and child at one time all of her crew had known. Now, though, these personnel under her command didn't have any idea about Misaki and Kikyō. About the hurt of distance. They didn't know that this is where her thoughts strayed during talks of home. The Kaiyo in all its iterations had been home in her mind. If it was any longer, she didn't know.

She had stopped at the top of the stairs and then spoke out, "I am without a homeworld to get to know; do you mind if I get to know this one with you?" Her smile was chipper, but her golden eyes were pained.

"Wait really? You were born on a spaceship? That's cool!" Arete smiled back, her head tilting to an angle slightly. "I'm alright with showing you guys around, and the rest of the crew! But, ah... I don't know if we should try messing around too too much outside of the cities, I spent moooost of my life in them so I don't know much of the outside places..." She chuckled again, a little bit nervously.

Walter acutely observed the pained look in Eden's eyes; it was especially noticable to him, for personal reasons. He felt that pain so strongly that that he had to answer Eden with the only words that he could think of. "Ayenee's a lovely world. It's also just as likely to throw in a tar monster as it is likely to give us a pomegranate, but if we're giving the past so many chances to put us down, why not give Ayenee a chance to pick us up again?"

"Pick us up again? Nani?" Eden asked.

"Hm? Did I miss something, or...?" Miss Surinus paused, glanging between the two other soldiers curiously.

"How can it pick us up again, Hyde-hei. I am interested." Eden began walking, looking at the path in front of her instead of to the people at her flanks or the scenery at either side, one being the fort and the other, the forest.

Walter quieted down, and looked between the two women he is walking by, as he struggled for the right words that didn't have to resort to him going through his origins in detail. Going into the details of where he came from would make him sound like a delusional attention-hungry edgelord, or maybe even an enemy out of sheer circumstance. Which Walter didn't want; he wanted to fit in.

Walter jammed his hands in his pockets, rolling with the "tough man" act out of comfort. "I just think that some of us have things we don't want to forget, but we also don't like to think about them all the time, or... Talk about all the time. Or maybe our lives were just that boring that we decided to enlist here. This place is like an escape for people like them. If you just happened to have the chance to go somewhere else and begin again, right now feels like a good time, you know?"

Eden's brows pushed together and she said, "Things seem so simple in those words, and yet are perhaps too abstract to be understood when first hearing them. I will have to ruminate on your honesty, Hyde-hei."

Arete watched the little exchange silently and curiously. I wonder what Hyde-hei meant by all that? Forgetting but not forgetting... Starting new? Maybe... Arete decided that it was probably something to do with his past as a soldier. She certainly wouldn't call the military a cure for boredom - or a treatment.

"Heh, yeah, I guess we do that a lot." Walter said, purposefully cutting back on building off of his prior statement. Walter already had a chockful of ideas in his head from reading books and plays so much, and yet seldom told anyone about them because he thought people around him would think he was a preacher or something.

The Minkan decided to speak up again, this time asking a question to the two of them. "So, what do you two think of the Fort? It's not half bad, right?"

First to speak, Eden nodded and then looked out over the insides of the walls and said, "That cabin brings up good memories..."

"It's pretty nice here! I like how close we are to the city still, but we're not y'know right in the middle of it all!" The angel laughed a little bit, lightheartedly.

Arete has a nice laugh, and man does it suit her. Walter shook off the thought, and nodded back as he allowed Arete's mood to influence him.

"Yeah, I heard it's considered homely compared to other Star Army fortresses. Then again, I won't consider it homely unless they get a movie theatre installed here." Walter chuckled; it felt good to feel that influence.

Laughing again, Arete asked, "Well, I'm sure that's something they should take a look into! Can't have everyone moving out here, heheh!"

"I know right? I've been in this fort for four months, closer to five now, and nothing new has been added here aside from the Basic Training regiment. Fort Miller almost feels like one of those small towns that don't grow very fast, if I'm going to be frank." Walter smiled back at the angel, feeling a little fuzzier on the inside from listening to her talk.

The Minkan blushed lightly, and just realized he hadn't asked Eden what she meant by "that cabin". Maybe she was here before he was? "Wait, what cabin? I didn't know you've been here before."

"Oh, haha," Eden chuckled and looked to Walter, "I've busted skulls with my fists," she lifted a hand and a volumetric projection extended a few inches around her fist and wrist, then forearm, of a Mindy 4's arm with spiked knuckles. "And killed many in these types of cabins on a planet in the Kikyo Sector... You don't need to know more, besides that it was one of the times that a Kaiyō small team made a real difference in a battle." She felt a flush run to her cheeks and her golden eyes glinted as she stared at Walter and then shifted her eyes to Arete, saying more. "Have you two tasted battle in that way?"

Walter shook his head. "Never; the closest I ever got to was my mother's war stories. The bastard's a sword fanatic who would go on for hours about those stories, always in graphic detail." His orange eyes couldn't help but look at the projecting fist; he wished he could do that, but being a Minkan, he lacked that ability to do so.

"Hm- no, not really, Shosa. Aside from the simulators they had used in training here for me, and perhaps an encounter during the surveying mission earlier, I have no experience in combat. Certainly not experience against a foe who is actually well-armed." The angel sniffled a bit. Raised in the city, she really only knew of wars through news and propoganda.

"Hmmph," Eden exhaled. "Well you soon will."

"Oh?"

"You understand the repuation the Kaiyō has, don't you?" Eden asked in an amused way.

"Iiiii know that it's a ship of the Star Army of Yamatai. So it's a military starship...?" Arete turned her statement into a question tentatively.

The technician hesitated to respond, given that he had done no research on the Kaiyo II, but he felt obligated to say something. "I don't have anything to add; I don't do my homework a lot of the time."

Eden only laughed and for a long moment as she stopped walking, was quiet. She looked away from the two of them and to the forest beyond them, away from the fort.

Finally, she said, "I remember a day when my memories of life and death were unmarred, as well. Those days will come to pass," she said, then turned to look at them. "Are you ready for that?"

"Well... Maybe not," Arete responded mellowly, "But I feel like it's something that nobody could truly prepare for, anyways."

I want that to be true...[color] Walter gave Arete a look of mixed feelings, and then gave his attention to Eden afterwards. "Yeah, it'll turn out alright in the end." Truth be told, Walter had a bad feeling about this mission, but he those feelings under the guise of a gentle, confident smile.

The tall man nudged Arete as he looked her way, with a reassuring smile on his face. "Come on Surinus-hei, where'd that optimism go?"

"Bwuh? Oh, sorry - just thinking a bit too far ahead, ehehe..." The little one laughed a little bit nervously, before she took a nice, deep breath in, letting the crisp air revitalize her lungs. "Though I'm sure that when things start to happen we'll be able to meet them as needed. Just because we wouldn't be prepared doesn't mean we can't handle what happens!"

Eden looked grim, then nodded, a small smile spread on her face, and she said, "You two will make it just fine. Remember that we're here as a team, not individuals."

Walter nodded back, showing similar optimism like Arete's in his 'tough guy' act. "Yeah, we know; but thank you."

"Indeed. We'll go further together!"

"You know now," Eden said with a suddenness, "That's true. Arete and Walter," Eden began to go on, then paused. "Do you mind, since we are off duty? Well, since you are."

"Mind... What, Shosa?" The emerald-eyed girl tilted her head to the size slightly, curiously. The Minkan by her side stayed silent, but gave the same inquisitive look in his bright eyes.

Eden gave a slight laugh over the slight confusion, "Your given names, do you mind?"

"I- Um, oh... Right, first names! No, not at all!" Walter said hurriedly, embarrassed. "I guess courtesy's overrated anyway, right?"

Eden's brow raised a bit but her smile remained as she looked to him while he spoke his latter statement, then looked to Arete.

"Oh-yes, I don't mind either, Shosa! Sorry about the confusion, ehehe..." She chuckled a little bit awkwardly, her voice floating through the air around the trio.

"Nonononono, it's my fault as well, I should have seen it coming!" Walter spoke up again. "Yeah, I mean, we're a team, I think teams get familiar, so..." His elf ears dipped down, and blushed really hard as he realized he had trouble saying anything else on top of that.

Man, Walter felt very awkward for speaking up like that. He cleared his throat, toning his voice down faster than his blush could disappear. "Yeah Eden, I'm actually honored. Thank you."

Eden bit her bottom lip in full and then her top teeth showed as they let go of her lip and it pushed back out as she shook her head, "You don't have to be honored, by all means call me Eden around the crew when we're getting familiar. Have you two..." She looked at the both of them and did a small squiggly movement with her index finger towards them. "Gotten familiar?"

Arete's adorable little face seemed to jump up several shades of red nearly instantly after the captain directed that question to her. She'd overheard jokes and stories about how... intimate relationships between soldiers in the Star Army often became, especially when Nekovalkylria were involved. Her golden hair was tossed around like a dancer's dress as she shook her head negatively, very energyetically. "N-n-no! No we have not, E-Eden S-Shosa! I-I only met Walter.. .Today- really!"

Walter said nothing, and yet he wished so hard that he had a hat to hide under right now, and it showed physically despite his hardest attempt to maintain composure: his ears and face were beet red, and he avoided eye contact.

At Arete's words, Eden said, "Ahhh, so you have gotten familiar, I would say!"

".... Yes we have..." Walter said weakly.

"Being on a given name basis is highly fortuitous for a team to be. I am happy you two have gotten to that point with one another," Eden had said.

The technician, guilty as he felt, agreed in silence.

Eden looked to Walter, "What do you look for first," her face had gotten serious, "in another person?"

Eden didn't get a response immediately, but she got one nonetheless.

"Someone who doesn't make me think of home. Someone here who I could never find back there. One-of-the-kind... wishywashy stuff. That's what I wanted."

Eden put her hand on Walter's shoulder and said in a weary voice, "You're bringing this Neko to the cusp of tears, you know. It hurts to relate to your words."

Walter looked at Eden, his orange eyes directly at her yellow eyes, the Minkan being speechless. Anyone could see that Walter was, much against popular belief here in the fort, to be a 6'5" softie. "... Permission to hug it out, Eden?"

"Permission very much granted," Eden said as her hand that was on his shoulder fell down to be behind his back and her other raised up and held onto his opposite shoulder, hugging it out with Walter.

Walter had a major secret, one that he had made a dilligent effort to keep along with SAINT, and for four, maybe five, months now, he had thought he will keep it until the day he died. Now, as he hugged his superior, his heart aching, the first question that came to his mind is who he should tell it to first. Walter hated to keep secrets, absolutely hated it, and yet who could he tell it to? Who'd want to believe him?

A sort of warm stillness surrounded the two Yamataians, and with her little arms wide, Arete joined into the hug between them. Her feathery appeandages gently and loosely cocooned the trio as well, but she squeezed tightly with her arms. "I'm happy that we've had these opportunities... These opportunities to meet one another, to live out lives..." She mumbled her words quietly.

The hug lasted while Eden remained quiet, eyes closed and pressed on either side by either Arete or Walter. A small breeze drifted through the group, mostly deflected by the angel's coverage - but causing her to shiver a little bit instinctively.

"Ah- should ah, Shosa, Walter... Perhaps we should keep moving, before somebody starts thinking well, thinking that there's something going on?"

"I dunno, is there something going on?" Walter chuckled, and acknowledged Arete's request by letting go of Eden and gently breaking the hug. He rubbed his eyes, but the slight redness to them clued in that he may have cried a bit. "Yeah Arete, right now would be a good time; you didn't bring a coat with you, after all."

Granted, Walter didn't bring one either, but he purposefully didn't point out the little hypocracy in his statement.

"Well, yeah- though I think I'll be alright if we warm up a little by moving or, maybe uh, ducking inside a cabin for a couple of minutes?"

"Is there something going on?" Eden reiterated, "Yes, I think so. You two head back to the cabin, I'll be on patrol in just a few minutes and should stay up here. By the way," Eden said in a soft tone, looking with her amber eyes at them boh. "Thank you."

Walter nodded back towards Eden, smiling softly with eyes full of appreciation. "Any time, Eden."

"You are welcome, Shosa..." The little Surinus gave her commander a simple, polite bow of the head and upper chest. "May you always enjoy the life you have, and those forever after."

"C'mon Arete, didn't you say you were freezing up here?" Walter said with a 'follow me' gesture, and a subtle smirk.

"W-well it's a little bit cool up here yes..."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Walter looked over to Eden, nodded back one last time, and followed the path back to the cabins, standing tall for the sake of it. "Well come on before it gets colder, then!"

"Alright, alright!" With a final, gentle, and warm smile to Eden, the little angel quickly took to a run to catch up with Walter, heading back toward the cabins.

She watched the two leave with happy eyes, then when her face turned to look at the treeline, Eden breathed in deeply and blinked back two tears in each eye that still fell.

"She's really nice!" Arete exclaimed once she had caught up to Walter. "Oh, and ehehe, it isn't that cold out here! Though a sweater would still probably be nice..."

"Yeah, if I'd knew it would get this chilly I'd bring my coat." Walter felt the breeze flow through his uniform, chilling his spine. The setting sun gave the Minkan enough warmth to not warrant a complaint about the weather. "Yeah, I never formally met Eden before. I skipped the briefing of that last mission."

"Oooh, that must've been a bit awkward, heheh... I was there but I didn't really do much better!" She giggled a little bit, and the two of them turned up the stairs to the front porch of her assigned cabin. [color=#33933]"I didn't pay attention for the whole thing, ended up forgetting our whole goal until we were halfway through!"[/color]

"Oh yeah, you were that team that fought the tar monsters! I met one of them before, actually. Wasn't as big as the ones you found, but I was just out on a walk; I couldn't do anything to that little thing." Walter recalled the west team coming in to the City, and also recalled how people talked all about that and the forest incident. "How'd that turn out for you?"

"Wwwwwwwweeeellll... Uh, well, one of them tried to eat Gravity. That was... Unpleasant. Though somehow she ended up in the ocean...?" She struggled to recall the details of that specific encounter - her mind was in a bit of a panic when it all happened. "They didn't really seem to care about being shot though, which was really weird... Maybe it was part of their composition or something?" There was a short lapse as she twisted the doorknow and smoothly opened the door to the cabin, its decently-organized and neat interior lighting up automatically. But I'm glad that we all ended up okay! If... A bit shaken, eheh..."

Walter's eyes shot up in mild surprise. "Really? Well, I'm glad it wasn't you. I don't think anyone would like to end up in the ocean!"

"T-thanks, Walter...!' A little touch of rose briefly sailed across her cheeks, that he was worried about her like that. Or maybe it was just a bit of an aftershock from Eden's little... statement about the two. "Indeed, she didn't seem too happy about it at all, eheh! Now..." Ducking into her bedroom briefly, Arete opened the closet door with a tiny creak and rummaged through a couple of articles before dehangering a brown and tan sweater made with a little bit of thickness. Slipping it on as she turned, Arete's head popped out of the top and she shook it to get the hair out of her face. One wing, than the other, seemed to magically slip through the fabric behind her - though this was more an aspect of practice than some special power.

The Minkan didn't step into the cabin, despite how inviting the warmth of the cabin is. He peeked into the abode once, and promptly looked away out of sheer guilt; Arete looked really good in a sweater. "Your cabin's nice on the inside, by the way. You do a good job cleaning up after yourself." Walter also didn't want to leave something like that uncomplimented. Considering how often he had to deal with pigstys when he had to go into cabins, he really preferred clean cabins a lot of the time.

Except his cabin; it's absolute chaos in there.

"Thanks! It's what my father always said," she explained, "'A clean home is a happy home', it was. After all, it makes it so easy to get around and get things that you need!"

"Yeah, especially for me. Sometimes I have to go into other people's cabins if they got problems with lights or something. 'Have you tried turning it off and on again?' usually does it, though sometimes it's one of those 'I have a hole that just appeared in my wall today'." Walter sighed, and shook his head. "Not everyone's like that, but those extreme cases... Yare yare daze, they're not fun, you know?" Walter put his hands in his pockets, the tall man looking back at the shorter companion.

"Yeah, hehe," she giggled a bit, "I've heard about how much technicians are usually needed around here, especially with everything being all fancy and new and cutting edge and stuff!" Stepping back outside and closing the door firmly behind her, Arete continued a bit softly, "Actually..."

Walter tilted his head slightly, curiousity getting the better of him. "Yes...?" He had a hunch, but he won't dare follow through on guesswork at the tip of the hat.

"I was actually thinking about training to become a technician. As in for, the Star Army."

Walter suddenly remembered what he said minutes - or hours - ago, and went with that to inspire some hope. "Since we don't have any specialization programs here at the fort, you'll need to talk to a official technician or engineer for one-on-one tutoring, then make a request to change roles at the offices."

The Minkan paused, and continued. "So... That means my offer still stands; I'd like to be your tutor! I'm a excellent technician, and have... Some skills of a proper engineer." Granted, Walter's experiences with tutoring and training were mostly gruesome, overly intense, cacaphonous, and cutthroat, save for his second go at Basic Training at Fort Miller, so he never got a good grasp at what it meant to teach. Walter just didn't want to let Arete down if was given the chance to prove himself to be very capable.

She laughed a little bit, "Sure! I'm sure I'll be able to pick up on a few things as it goes along, as well." Being a technician wouldn't be THAT bad, right? Sure it might be pretty busywork-y but at least it would always give her something to do when she's got a moment of indecision, and it probably could even get her a job outside of the army, even.

"Yeah! I could get a lab set up, have some assignments prepared for you. They won't be like paper homework, it'll be more hands-on stuff. Maybe snacks, too?"

Arete chuckled, "Maybe snacks. We'll probably need a lot of those!" Her eyes seemed to twinkle a little bit, "Hands-on stuff seems to be most of the job anyways; I'm sure learning it that way will help out a lot."

Walter nodded, smiling from ear to ear as his heart melted a bit. "Oh yeah, definitely! You know, on both accounts." Feeling the euphoria of taking such initative, he pressed on a little more. "Is there any time that'll be convinient for you, by the way?"

"Uhhh- I'll have to check later. I'll send you a message or something when I get the chance, though! What about you?"

"Well, my schedule's a little messy, but I'm available on Tuesday and Friday afternoon, and I'm usually free on weekends unless they need extra hands on deck. And I do work a night shift, but that's strictly on Wednesday nights."

Arete laughed lightly and pleasantly. "Alright. We can try to get a first meeting together some time and then plan from there, I think. Let's say.... Friday afternoon, then?"

Walter gave Arete a thumbs up. "Yeah!" A light, cool breeze compelled Walter to put his hands back in his pockets. "I'll come back here in the afternoon and take you there. You know, the... Club classroom thing."

"Sure. Friday it is! Have a nice afternoon, Walter!" She said this cheerfully, then continued after a moment, "I think I'm going to have a snack and take a nap, eheh. That walk with Eden-Shosa kinda wore me out...!" She thought to herself, getting a little disconnected from reality for a bit, it seemed... Yes. Snuggling up in a pile of blankets felt like a good idea. The best of ideas.

The tall, humble Minkan chuckled back as he went down the steps, his front facing Arete as he walked backwards. "Yeah, same here; all that was a first for me." Walter waved back at the angel. "Bye Arete!" With that, the two finally parted.

It was a good afternoon for everyone.

 
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