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New Starts Are Fun Part 2

***

Skittering from her bonded's shop to the Feien HQ hadn't been nearly as difficult as Lorelei had anticipated it might have been. Then again, there were no spelled corridors or locked doors to keep her from flying there like there were at home.

She was rather proud of herself, really, that she had managed to make it there all by herself without Athan. She grinned at that and hit the buzzer to allow herself inside, but came to a stop when she heard other people. Their voices were much too loud to be Feien.

***

"Not generally," nodded Antipov. "If anyone who is unauthorized attempts to enter the building, security merely locks the door. Surveillance is constant." That went without saying; Fleet Security was legendary for monitoring everything on Fleet property.

"Though that didn't much help with the rampant murder and murder attempts," Beckham said. "Security doesn't really get involved in feien issues. Galatea can die here perfectly in sight of the cameras if she likes, unmolested."

"Of course." And she meant it. Serafima believed utterly and fully in the Fleet and trusted their measures. "Is the building open all hours or are there designated times? Should we report in at regular intervals?"

As the big people talked, Galatea stared around the various rooms with big eyes. A bit nervous at the newness of it all, she fidgeted with a piece of her long hair for a moment before firmly controlling herself and again lacing fingers together in a "ready" position. Realizing that Dr. Beckham had been discussing her, she raised her head. "Oh, no, sir. I will not die. I will be most careful."

At that, Antipov actually looked rather furious. "We have been bound by an agreement to not interfere with the affairs of the local feien. Galatea is not a local feien, she is Fleet personnel, and furthermore, the security systems were put into place by Adomital himself!" His voice rose as he spoke until he was shouting at the doctor.

It had been a while since Ice had been in the fleet building. She wasn't sure it was a good idea, really... not after how much trouble had happened while she was gone. That and Silva was now a killer because she hadn't fulfilled her job requirements.

But that wasn't going to happen again. Squaring her shoulders she walked up the stairs and into the waiting room, stopping slightly at the sound of voices. Was it a time to interrupt? Then she heard Antipov yelling.

"Maybe I should come back later..." She muttered.

"Then things should obviously change," Dr. Beckham said, perfectly mild, but there were two bright spots of colour in his cheeks. "Considering that wasn't the fatality the bond of honorary Fleet personnel? I'm a doctor, Director. In my opinion, we should give all of the juvenile feien the same level of care we give the Fleet ones!"

Realizing they weren't alone, Beckham toned down his rising volume, and rubbed his temples as he glanced woefully at Ice. Then he smiled at Galatea. "Just keep yourself safe."

Antipov huffed with displeasure but silenced himself. "You'll note that the locals come and go at all hours; since the security personnel are always here we saw no reason to limit access," he said.

***

Hadrian was still in the habit of feeling quite out of place in the 'headquarters', but regardless it seemed quite difficult to actually speak to other feien if he was to avoid it. It seemed fairly unlikely that you might run into another feien anywhere but their own home or this lounge area.

Encouraged by the other feien's presence, Hadrain failed to really pay much attention as he trundled into the room, and so ended up stumbling right into a shouting match. He stopped dead at the site of Antipov - whom he had not met and suspected by his tone of voice that he did not WISH to meet...

Lorelei skittered back and away from the door when Ice walked in. Really, she ought to be a bit more careful, she thought to herself. She was quite small in comparison to.. most everything and everyone else, and therefore could be easily stepped on.

She made a face at that. What a sucky way to die! She snickered at that despite herself and took to the air to avoid being trampled should more human-sized people decide to enter the building.

The yelling startled her a bit, but she decided that if they were all busy yelling at each other, no one would bother her if she headed towards the lounge.

She did just that and inadvertantly trailed after the other Feien that flew by. She hadn't seen him before!

***

"Of course." Galatea's little face glowed with honest eagerness. "I will. The Captain has allowed me to learn many things already and I do not fear any danger if I am with her. She is strong." As if repeating it again and again was some sort of rosary for her.

Serafima scowled at Beckham. "I would appreciate it if you did not treat her like an infant," she said cooly. "If you believe they are living beings with emotions and brains, then kindly act as if she has enough self-preservation to protect herself."

"It's not a case of believe, Captain, it's a case of cold hard fact," Beckham said, trying to not get angry again. "Galatea is a child. Treat her with dignity and respect, but let her play. I gave you a manual on child-rearing. You'll make your own judgements as to what to apply and what not, but please do read it."

"I did. I found it to be full of useless, soft psychobabble."

Galatea bit her lip and suddenly launched herself from her bond's shoulder to land on Dr. Beckham's and tugged gently at his ear. "Please, sir," she whispered. "She does take care of me. I eat well and have nice things."

Antipov reached up and pressed a finger against his temple, which was a polite way of informing other Fleet members that you were accessing a neural net link. "Ice," he called out, turning to look down the hall towards the waiting room. "How fortuitous to find you here."

Ice sighed, wishing she could pass the group as easily as the feien had. They were arguing over things she didn't really want to comment on, but she couldn't help herself.

"Silva killed a juvenile because he was the one that was poisoning all of the others. Just because they're younger doesn't mean they're true children." She said softly.

***

Hadrian backpeddled quickly once he realised what he'd gotten himself into, inadvertantly backing into Lorelei who had been following him. Given that he had been back up rather quickly, he bumped into her rather hard, and he tumbled a bit, letting out a little startled yelp.

Raphael frowned slightly as the voices began to quiet. He had been on a late-night walk-home with Magiale when he'd noticed feien, and even a human, entering the HQ.
Magiale had immediately told him to go and check it out on his own. She had been yawning.

The yellow feien silently peered at the one-way window before letting himself in. The place appeared to be rather lively, at least liveliest he'd ever seen it. He followed quietly behind Lorelei, wincing when Hadrian bumped into her.

Lorelei squealed and landed with a tumble to the ground when Hadrian backed into her. She flushed a bit, if only because of the noise she had just made was a bit unlike her normal self. She brought herself to her a feet and a flexed out her wings to check for damage, and thankfully found nothing but a mild bruise that stung only a little.

Her hands and knees were a tad scraped, though, but it was to be expected with how she landed. She blinked a bit owlishly and glanced towards the other Feien. "You alright?" she asked quietly.

Her attention turned away from the other Feien and landed on Raphael. "Oh. Hello," she murmured in greeting with a small wave as she blushed faintly as she was fairly certain he'd seen her rather ungraceful fall.

The traffic cone colored feien spun around rapidly to help Lorelei up, looking incredibly contrite. He was so concerned that he might have hurt her, that he forgot entirely that he was trying to remain quiet and unnoticed. "Oh no! I'm sorry! I didn't see you. Are YOU alright?!" He said, crouching next to her and looking really very sorry. At least this seemed to indicate that he was fine.

Raphael blushed in return, partly because he felt like he was being stared at, with all these people everywhere. "Hello," he said with a friendly smile, directing it also towards Hadrian. He was now close enough to be audible by the other Feien, though still a safe distance away from them.

***

"... so."

"So."

Kojak held back the urge to roll his eyes, instead focusing on sucking one of the lollipops Wren had a large amount of. They were left overs from Halloween and had this odd taste that ... took some getting use to. But now that he was use to it, he couldn't get enough of them.

Probably had to do with the sweet tooth he had. Though, really, Halo was sweet to have shrunk the things down after he swiped some from Wren to have. Strictly speaking, however, thievery was bad. Just not when it was from Wren and it involved suckers.

"It's better," Kojak finally said to Wren as the approached the fleet building and before they went inside, "that I get you to take me."

"Why?" Head twisting, Wren peered at his feien curiously as he used his hand to twist open the door knob.

"That way I don't have to deal with your attempts at stalking me." That charming smile was in place and Wren faltered for a moment, response dead on his lips, before he just scowled at Kojak.

"I am not a stalker," he hissed out as they entered.

"Overprotective. Obsessive-compulsive. Worrisome. Irritant. Take your pick, Wren." Kojak's smile turned devious for a moment, before shifting back into that cool look of his. "But really, you're all of those things."

"Whatever." Wren shook his shoulders enough that Kojak went tumbling off. The feien rolled in the air, falling towards the ground, before he finally lifted himself up in flight.

"Maturity is a problem for your kind, isn't it?" Kojak smiled kindly, hovering in the air in front of Wren's face, before twisting around. He looked around briefly before focusing on the sign that directed towards the lounge. It had, before he focused on Wren again, looked like there were others heading that direction. He was long over do for some socializing outside of those at the house.

Rurik did NOT count, but Valsharess was good company.

... though, there looked like there were others trying to head that direction too. Smile in place and totally collected, Kojak headed towards the other feien and the lounge.

Wren was just shaking his head, muttering something under his breath, and listening to the tell tale voices of others in the building that were bound to be people that weren't feien. Hands shoving into his pockets, he moved forward and busied himself with looking about the reception area. It had been far too long since he had been anywhere near here.

Lorelei made it to the lounge just as another person walked in, accompanied by yet another Feien. It was the livliest she'd ever seen the HQ since she had been bonded to Athan. She smiled faintly at that as she landed on the arm of a couch and settled herself there.

It would make for a very entertaining evening, but first, she needed to heal the bruise on her wing. Flying with it aching was a bit of a nuisance she could easily do without.

***

Unfortunately, Hadrian didn't seem to want to be the first one to move either. There was an odd pause as both feien waited for the other to go first. The moment was broken by Burgundia's voice, which was quite unmistakable. It drew Hadrian's attention, although he wasn't sure if he was relieved to see someone he knew or not.
The fire feien turned back to Raphael and laughed brightly, "Right...shall we ACTUALLY go this time?" He gave a little jump, to flutter in the air, drifting slowly in the direction of the lounge - though still facing Raphael.

Raphael started slightly, then smiled himself. "Yeah..." He looked a little embarassed.
He flew past Hadrian, perhaps a bit faster than he might have intended. "Have you been here often?" Raphael asked rather casually, if a bit stiffly, practicing his Small Talk ability.

"Nope, just once." Hadrian said, catching up with Raphael easily. If there was one thing Hadrian didn't need, it was practice talking. He seemed cheerfully ready to chat about anything. He could use some practice with the idea of 'quiet indoor voice' though...
"What about you?" He didn't seem to consider Raphael not knowing where the lounge was any kind of indication of the amount of time the other feien spent there.

Raphael nodded at Hadrian as they entered the lounge. "I've been here..." he had to think on it. "Not very often," he answered sheepishly.

Lorelei kept to herself as she healed the bruise on her wing. It wasn't much, but she could at least heal small scrapes. That particular talent was helpful when she was exploring the house, but she wanted to become stronger so she wouldn't have to worry or fret over little bruises.

She pouted faintly at that thought until she realized what she was doing and forced herself to stop. Weren't those other two Feien going to come to the lounge, too? "Ahh well," she said aloud with a shrug of her shoulders. She could at least hang out for a while. Flying back to Twilight Designs didn't exactly sound appeasing, anyway.

The two feien Lorelei had been thinking of arrived in the lounge in very short order. Raphael however, seemed to immidiately lose interest in conversation, and instead found a comfortable place to doze off.

Hadrian hung about near the doorway. He waved cheerfully at Lorelei, but wasn't entirely sure where he stood with her, given her previous reaction to him.

***

Rose was already clattering around in the kitchen, putting the textbook next to M's horrible coffee maker. "I don't know why she wants to give it to him," she said, still in that funny high voice, when Antipov came in. "It'll only start an argument."

"I feel it'll surely be enlightening," Dee said, not sounding too upset at the comment. "Everyone needs a little God in their life. As for arguing, well, I've never backed down from one yet. I'm not inclined to fear, Momma."

"The Captain looks forbidding, doesn't she," Rose carried on. "Djerod said she was a little distant. Well, just make sure he sees it, Director, I'll be off again. I have a bit of the flu, I'll have to introduce myself to the Captain later."

"Wait a minute," said Antipov, discarding his beer onto the kitchen counter. "What on earth are you doing on your feet with the flu? Djerod let you out of the house like this?" Since the Director of Science wasn't in the room, Antipov could get away with using his first name.

Actually, he was getting away with an awful lot tonight.

"Dee, sweetie, why don't you go and wait in the front room?"

After a few moments' hesitation, Burgundia left. Rose continued patting the book in place, as if that would make it more easily viewable.

"It's not bad flu," she said vaguely. "Just... Flu; I just wanted to get out of the house for a moment. Mild curiosity about Captain Rabik. Maybe. She's very pretty. Reminds me of... Oh, I don't know. I escaped past Djerod, anyway. I've probably been getting on his nerves. And that sounds terribly martyr-y. It's a terrible crush tonight, isn't it? I'd better get going. Say hello to everyone for me, Director."

Since there was no door on the kitchen, it wasn't as if their conversation was entirely private. Antipov held up his hands. "Wait, wait. Sit down and have some tea."

He could just hear Djerod's ire at Rose walking around like this in the HQ. Since she was here, he was going to send her back in good condition so at least he could argue that he hadn't been completely heartless and kicked her out into the snow.

He pulled out one of the kitchen chairs. "Sit down? Please?" And my, he hadn't lost his touch from his days in Moscow.

"Ple-a-se don't be nice to me." It came out as more of an exhale. "Well - I mean - that sounds awful, but say something acerbic, Director. Anything else and I'll scream out loud. It does mean a lot to me for you to be sweet; I'll tell Djerod, how sweet you were. I should just get home to him now. I don't have the flu; not really. You know I don't. I just... There's so many people here, aren't there? I didn't expect this many. I'm hopeless at the moment, Director. And I mean more than usual. Make sure M gets the book, Dee'll be disappointed if he doesn't."

And so Antipov was acerbic; with a twist of his mouth into a frown he reached out and grabbed Rose by the arm. No, he hadn't lost his touch since Moscow -- and that included his less savory doings. "Into my office. Now." It was clearly not a request.

"Shouldn't you be with the Fleet officer?" It was the only card she had; Rose, otherwise, just looked resigned to being dragged to his office.

Without another word, Antipov dragged Rose after him into his office and closed the door behind them.

***

"Dee?" Ice asked as she caught sight of the gray feien coming out. "You're Burgundia, right? Soho's sister?"

The Cold feien paused, alighting delicately down on a table near Ice; she eyed her for a few moments before realizing who she was, dipping into a pretty and languid curtsey, fastidiously smoothing her black cloth back around her knees as she straightened.

"You're her bond," Dee said. "I'm most pleased to finally get to meet you, ma'am. Ruby is indeed my precious li'l sister, truth be told."

"She loves you a lot. Always talking about you. And she gave me this letter--" She said, digging into her pockets and pulling out a feien sized note and handing it to her.

Dear Dee

I'm going to New Yor with Mister Silva Demon and Aleric. I'm actually going to have an adventure of my own! And when I get back I promise, promise, promise I'll tell you ALL about it! Love you!!
Ruby Soho

"She told me to find you." Ice said. "And now I have!"

Burgundia read the letter about three times. An unusual and extremely bright smile came over her; she looked up to Ice, and sighed.

"I do suppose she had to have an adventure sometime," Dee said. "Cousin Silva better bring her back in one piece, or there'll be hell to pay. Thank you kindly, with all my heart. This means a lot to me."

"He will. He always does." Ice said with a grin. "And just in case I sent an amazon with them." Her grin turned wicked. "Never trust a man to do a woman's work, ne? But I should get going. I'm hoping they'll call me tonight. It was nice meeting you, Dee."

"The pleasure was all mine," Dee said sincerely. "You take care of yourself."

"And you." Ice said as she headed for the waiting area. She nodded at Beckham and the Captain. "I should get going. It was nice to meet you both." She said with a nod before heading towards the door. "And Galatea? A map to my house is on the desk over there if you want to come over. Anytime."

"Often." Dr. Beckham gave Galatea his warmest smile. "I'll be here to see how you're getting on and how the Captain is healing up."

He turned to give a nod of farewell to Ice. "Nice meeting you," he said.

"Oh!" Galatea quickly turned to bow at the retreating Ice. "Thank you, ma'am," she replied. "I will try to send word ahead of time. I don't wish to inconvenience you but I would very much like to meet Soho and the others." Which was a bit of a fib but she wanted to try, at least, for Serafima and Beckham's sakes.

Ice just grinned and waved as she headed down the stairs. She might have been lying, but it didn't matter. Soho and she would hit it off fast enough, she could almost tell.

***

Athan muttered darkly under his breath, grumbling to himself about one thing or another as he entered the Feien HQ. It was always something. Always. That thought made the scowl on his face darken somewhat. All he was there to do was to retrieve his Feien, but as he headed into the waiting room he stopped dead in his tracks.

His face twitched somewhat, just below his eye. Apparently the day was doomed to end unpleasantly. He gritted his teeth as though bracing himself. Perhaps, he could just... walk around Wren and he wouldn't turn around and notice. Right.

And demons didn't steal souls.

Wren didn't steal souls -- he just ate them. Besides, it wasn't stealing if the people gave them to you! Well, that and it wasn't stealing if the people gave them to you. ( It wasn't his fault that he viewed taking someone's soul as giving it to him. If people didn't want it taken, they would fight for it! Not just let him up and take it and keep it for later consumption. Wren's stomach rumbled slightly. He really could go for a soul about now ... Maybe one of those lollipops from Halloween that tasted like souls might hold him over. Except they were all at home. )

A small pout on his face, Wren twisted around at the sound of the door opening and closing. The pout quickly changed into a wide smile. The kind of smile that so clearly spoke of trouble, especially since fangs were visible. "Athan," he said pleasantly, "fancy seeing you here."

Kojak, meanwhile, was speedily moving along towards the lounge. Well, that is if the rate he moved at could be considered speedy. Not that he couldn't move fast in short bursts, but flight wasn't all ways his specialty. There was a sureness about him, however, in the way he carried himself.

His tail swayed lazily behind him as he entered the lounge, stopping in mid-air, arms folded behind his head and lollipop held loosely between his fingers as he surveyed what was now in front of him as well as the other feien present.

"Indeed," Athan grated out in a low voice as he resisted the urge to fidget nervously. "If.. you'll excuse me," he replied as he made an attempt to step around the demon and head towards the other rooms to see where Lorelei had ventured off to, "I have.. other matters to take care of."

The Feien in question was still sitting on the arm of the couch she had landed on when she'd first entered the lounge. She tilted her head to the side and peered at the new Feien curiously. She hadn't ever met him before. She had already seen so many new faces since she had come to the HQ, that it didn't come as a surprise.

Her attention turned from him towards Hadrian and Raphael briefly. She offered the other Feien a small smile and waved in return. She supposed she ought to introduce herself. She pulled herself to her feet and stretched out her red, bat-like wings.

"I'm Lorelei," she said to both Kojak and Hadrian.

When would Athan learn things were not that easy. Especially when it came to Wren. "You know," Wren said, his tone still light and conversational, "it's a wonder to see you here." That smile on his face and the glint in his eyes was clearly the same as when a cat had just caught a particularly fat canary.

"Oh and I think Hawk's been wanting to see you," he added as an after thought.

Back in the lounge, Kojak's attention shifted from Raphael and Hadrian to Lorelei. ( Though, for some reason, he thought one of the previous two were familiar, but he was likely mistaken. ) Tail curling around his thigh, Kojak flew to the couch and landed on the arm a bit away from Lorelei.

"Kojak," he said with an infectious smile, "a pleasure to meet you." His gaze focused on those present. "All of you."

"Pleasure to meet you...er...or know your name anyway. We already met really." Hadrain said, with a warmth that suggested he was secretly relieved she wasn't upset about being bumped into.

He noticed Kojak somewhat belatedly, mostly only because Lorelei was addressing the newcomer as well. Away from the fleet personel Hadrian was feeling a good deal less concerned, but after two slightly rocky introductions, he decided he might as well wait for the juvenile to introduce himself first.

So it was only after Kojak had spoken, and joined Lorelei on the arm of the sofa, that Hadrian spoke again. "Hadrian. Nice to meet you as well."

Lorelei nodded towards Hadrian, small smile still in place as she tried her best to remain cordial to he and the other Feien that was sitting a little ways away. She hadn't a lot of experience with social gatherings, at least not with her own kind, but she would manage.

"Yes. Nice to meet you, formally, Hadrian.. and Kojak," she answered before wrapping her wings about herself to keep them out of the way.

Athan, on the other hand, wasn't having nearly so good a time. He was trying to avoid being social. He didn't have any desire whatsoever to hold any sort of conversation with the demon. He was mildly thankful Reyna was there. The woman was tolerable alone, but paired with her friend they were .. well.. demons.

"Isn't it though? I do go places every now and then, as shocking as that may be to you," he replied curtly before his features softened for a brief moment at the mention of Hawk. He wanted to ask him how he was, as he had seemed a bit out of sorts last they had met, but he bit his tongue and resisted that urge. He was trying to avoid Wren. Not strike up idle chatter about his Shadow or anything at all for that matter.

"... well, no, I'm a bit shocked you're here of all places. Reyna hadn't mentioned you had a feien all your own," Wren's smile turned to that of bemusement. Athan, clearly, wanted to get out of talking to him and he wasn't going to make it that easy.

It might've been easier if he had just taken the Hawk bait ( or just take Hawk, please ; cranky seers do not make good house residents ), but obviously that wouldn't work. So, another route it was! ( Really, it was bad that he got such joy out of this. At least he was playing nice for now! ... which probably only made Athan more paranoid. Whoops. )

Kojak stretched his arms out, cloth wings ruffling a bit as he did so, before finally popping the lollipop back into his mouth for a moment. There wasn't much left of it anymore.

Hadrian seemed a bit on the nervous side, a little shy, and Lorelei a bit awkward. Maybe things would ease if ... a conversation got going. "It's been a while since I've been here, you know," he said after a moment. "Still not use to the new decor." Kojak chuckled a bit, tail unwrapping from his thigh and swishing back and forth.

Galatea reluctantly fluttered to a rest approximately two feet from the other feien, eyeing them warily. She wanted to go back and sit on her Captain's shoulder very, very badly but that would be disobeying so she couldn't. It would also disappoint Dr. Beckham so that made it twice as worse. For a moment, she studied the three and then, delicately, she coughed.

Perhaps she should have paid more attention to the doctor when he had suggested how to make friends.

Being the only adult in the room...Hadrian was feeling oddly tall. Its curious to feel tall when you are only about the size of beer steine.
"This'll be the second time I've been in this room," Hadrian admited, "I think I liked the 'shop' better. Its seemed friendlier somehow."

He turned at the quiet cough, to smile encouragingly at the shy looking Galatea. "Hullo."

"Shocking," Athan answered curtly. Really, it was. He knew how Reyna was, and doing things to spite him was something she couldn't resist. Ever. He sighed and and fidgeted, despite his best efforts, with his pendant as he realized with a sudden clarity there was no escaping Wren. At least not easily.

"Yes," he admitted, "I have a Feien. I am here to retrieve her so that we can go home." And that was it. He was there to fetch her and leave. Not stay and chat.

The flaw in that general plan was that Wren was in his way, and Lorelei had no real interest in leaving at the moment.

"I wouldn't know about the decor. I've only been here a handful of times myself, and wouldn't know what it looked like previously," she admitted, divulging more information that was typical of her nature.

She nodded her head towards the purple Feien in greeting and offered her a small wave. "And you are?" she asked quietly.

Flushing immediately at the attention (though she -did- ask for it), Galatea cut a small, sharp bow. "My name is Galatea, please," she answered. "Captain Rabik and Dr. Beckham told me to come over and meet you all." She paused and smiled shyly. "I am pleased to meet you all."

Lorelei blinked over at her curiously. She had been with the fleet personel that she had been so interested in. It was somewhat tempting to ask her what it was they had been discussing, but didn't really feel it was her place. Not to mention asking a direct question like that wasn't something she'd really do.

"Nice to meet you, too," she replied instead.

... and thus, Wren wins, because Athan can't escape and his feien didn't want to leave and oh boy, the demon got to play with one of his favorite people! Wren did so love talking with Athan.

"Well, if she wanted to leave, she'd be up here, I'm sure. Well, unless she's ot the type to express herself. I mean, Kojak's all ways making sure I know just exactly how he feels." ... or that was probably because he grated Kojak's nerves and the only way to get Wren to leave him alone was to point out the blatantly obvious.

Or insult him with big words. Not that Wren didn't know what those big words meant, but it usually gave Kojak a few seconds to get away while Wren thought of bigger words to throw back. Bless him.

"So when did you get your feien," he asked, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"... first time for me," Kojak offered. Mostly because he hadn't truly come into this place since it opened up besides peeking inside. Generally, his curiousity did not get the better of him, but he had wanted to explore lately. "But I suppose the old place was friendlier. Both places have their own ... feel to them."

Tilting his head, he leaned back to look towards the other feien that entered. Smile still in place, he offered a wave at her. "Hey." There was a brief pause, before he grinned impishly. "You know, if you were told to socialize with the rest of us, you should come on over. I promise we won't bite or anything. We're friendly." He looked towards the other two, as if they'd go along with what he said.

"And my name is Kojak, pleasure to meet you."

Hadrian thought the bowing was a nice touch...although it seemed oddly stiff when the juvenile did it. He had noticed her with the fleet personel before, and wondered a bit a the phrase told me to come meet you. Since it only seemed appropriate...he bowed back.

His bow, of course, wasn't very stiff or formal - it was in fact a bit overdone and foppish. "Hadrian, and its true, I do not bite. Its a pleasure to meet you."

Galatea's eyes roamed from one face to another and then back again in a circuit. "Were you all born here?" she suddenly asked. Then she flushed again and quickly laced her fingers in front of herself to avoid fidgeting. "I'm sorry. That was probably rude of me."

"I said I was coming to retrive her," Athan repeated. He wasn't there to wait until she was ready to go and magically appeared to inform him of such. He was tired. He was cranky. He did not like Wren. Home was where he wanted to be. Not playing games with demons.

"I recieved her... several months ago," he went on with a wave of his hand. He didn't remember how long it had been. She was there. He was stuck with her. End of story.

Lorelei refrained from commenting about whether or not she bit people. She supposed she could if she wanted, and in fact, she'd discussed it briefly with Reyna. She smirked faintly at that, but didn't bother to voice her thoughts aloud.

The subject of her 'birth' she also remained quiet about. She hadn't exactly been delivered to Athan as a bloom. She just sort of.. existed, and it suited her just fine.

"What was the previous HQ like?" Lorelei asked curiously, forgetting herself for a moment. There was just.. something about Kojak that was annoyingly charming and it made her want to talk.

It wasn't rude for any reason Hadrian could see, but it was a bit disconcerting to him anyway. It made perfect sense that feien would be born...elsewhere. But he didn't really know anything about the fleet, and Galatea probably didn't know anything about Gaia. He tried to be encouraging, but he had an open sort of face and his expression faultered even as he spoke.

"Dunno why it would be rude to ask. I was born here."

"Is Gaia nice?" Relieved to not have injured any feelings, Galatea relaxed slightly and a crooked smile was Hadrian's reward for such a gracious answer. "I have only just arrived. I have not even left the shop yet. I don't even know where the Captain and I will live yet either. She hasn't told me."

Definitely a lady in need of some loosening up. Kojak's tail swished back and forth once more. "Born on Gaia, you mean?" Not that Kojak knew where his bloom was born at, he knew he was born on Gaia and the feien that summoned him. It'd be ... interesting to meet his 'father' someday. "Yes, I was." He didn't know about the other two, however.

"... and it wasn't rude," he said, lips quirking up just slightly. "Just curious, aren't you?" That she was asking meant she was likely a Fleet feien like Rurik. "... and, yes, Gaia is rather nice. What I've seen of it, at least. There's a lot out there to explore."

His attention shifted back to Lorelei and he absently ( or it looked like it was absently done ) scratched his cheek in thought. "Suppose it seemed a bit more cluttered, to me at least. Not as organized as this place is. Friendlier like Hadrian said, I suppose."

Wren just shook his head, tail finally uncurling from around his angle and waving back and forth in the air in tune with his mischievous mood. "Really? I've had Kojak for just over a year now. He was a Christmas gift, actually. Kind of like Hawk was."

At that, Wren just stared blatantly at Athan, before continuing on. "Though, Kojak's likely met your feien if she's here and he's here. Deities know where he got off too." Not that he cared, he knew Kojak could take care of himself. But, you know, he was overprotective.

"Gaia is quite nice. But I've found that most places are, in fact." He smiled, warmer now, as if encouraged by Galatea's own smile. "I suppose," He added, warming to Kojak's description of the old shop, "I like clutter. But it wasn't just that you know. It was the sort of clutter. There were odd ancient things in the corners, and books covered in dust, and odds and ends you would have to search for to find. And it felt warm...for some reason. All wood and cloth and clutter."

"Hm.. sounds like my bonded's house.. but.. I don't know if you could call it at all friendly," she murmured as she rested her chin in one hand as she contemplated over that. It was cluttered and a bit of a mess, but it seemed to be more of an organized mess than anything.

"I don't recall being a Christmas gift," Athan chuckled, but there was nothing good natured about how he laughed, "And speaking of Christmas gifts, did you get yours?" He smirked broadly at that and once more crossed his arms over his chest, simply waiting for the demon's next remark.

"... well, if you say it like that, Hadrian, it was like an organized mess." Which was, he thought, something that's a sign of genius. Or had he read that somewhere? Kojak mentally chuckled to himself, before nodding in agreement with Hadrian. "But, yes, I was thinking the same thing. It was warm. Cozy." There was a brief pause. "Not that this place isn't, but it'll take some getting use too."

"... Athan," Wren's smile turned a bit too friendly and potentially dangerous for the man. "Just be happy I don't know the location of your house. Or that I'm on my best behavior, otherwise you would've been pelted with several pieces of coal all ready. I was a good demon this year, I'll have you know."

"This... This isn't the place that has always been here?" Galatea frowned, trying to piece together the hints. It seemed as if they were saying that the Fleet hadn't always been on Gaia but that was silly. The Fleet were marvelous. Why wouldn't they be -everywhere-? Why shouldn't they be?

Athan snorted a bit indignantly. "Don't tell me you actually believed that was truly a piece of coal." He laughed again and idly pushed his hair out of his face, "I hope you didn't toss it out. It was really quite valuable." Really, he was just amused he had managed to rile the demon. It wasn't the safest or brightest of ideas, but it wasn't the first time he'd done so, either.

Lorelei remained quiet and was content for the moment to simply listen to the other Feien chatter on about the previous shop. She almost wished she had been around to see it. It sounded interesting and would've been terribly fun to explore.

"No, it's not. There was another place before this one. Before the Fleet took over everything." Kojak shifted, tail lazily coiling back around his thigh before unwrapping just as fast. He was tempted to fly up towards the back of the couch and have a seat there instead of standing.

"Oh, no, I kept it." Mostly out of spite. "And I somehow doubt that ANY gift you give me is truly what it appears to be." Wren snorted, folding his arms behind his head and tail twitching in slight irritation before slowly relaxing. "I learned my lesson with the Hawk's Eye gemstone that you gave me that wasn't really a gemstone."

"I see." The little blood feien nodded solemnly. "That was very nice of them, then. The Fleet does good work. This place seems nice." She paused and then, more shyly, added, "You all seem nice, too."

Hadrian had been hoping someone would explain it a bit better. He still wasn't entirely sure what had happened when the Fleet took over everything. But he nodded in agreement with Kojak anyway, "Hasn't been that long ago really."

"You seem nice too." Hadrian said to Galatea, pleasantly. He was thinking that possibly the Fleet did do some 'good work' anyway...

"Do you come here often, Mr. Hadrian?" Feeling more at ease from the warm reception by the others, Galatea padded her way across the cushions to stand close to the other three feien. "Is your bond here as well? Are they as nice as you are and as strong as my Captain?"

"... well, yes," Kojak said slowly, before just smiling and going on. "They rebuilt when the old feien place was destroyed." So it was nice of them -- even if there was more behind it in the end. They didn't have to rebuild it and let them come in or let their bonded in.

"Thank you. You seem rather sweet yourself." Kojak winked at Galatea, though it seemed like flirting, it was mostly harmless.

Lorelei smiled at the other girl faintly before rising to her feet. "I agree. You all are very nice, but.. I think I ought to be going now," she replied, smile still in place. She glided off the couch and away from the other Feien with a wave over her shoulder. Really, she'd like to stay longer but she was rather tired from flying all the way to the shop by herself earlier. Perhaps, she ought to have had Athan bring her instead.

She frowned slightly at that thought but looked a bit surprised when she entered the waiting room to find her bonded already standing there. And he did not at all look pleased. For a moment she thought perhaps he was irritated with her, but upon closer inspection it was obvious he was irritated with the shorter man that he was speaking with.

"Oh good. It would be a shame for such a lovely gem to go to waste," Athan replied smoothly as Lorelei landed upon his shoulder and settled herself into the folds of his robes near his neck, "And I do mean, that. I even promise it won't awaken into some sort of creature and attach itself to you."

Lorelei arched a brow and glanced up at Athan. What was going on, exactly?

"I intend to start coming here often." Hadrian said, "But I've been travelling for awhile, and this is only the second time I've been in here." Close up, the orange feien actually felt warm, even from a comfortable distance away. It matched his smile. "And I don't travel with my bond much, and I don't know about your Captain, but I'm glad to have my bond and I hope your's is as nice."

He waved after Lorelei, calling goodbye after her.

"Good night, Lorelei!" With a wave of his hand, Kojak watched Lorelei leave. He should consider leaving soon himself. He hadn't thought about spending a lot of time here, but the company was nice.

Dear sweet not so merciful deities. Athan had given him another gem. What the hell was wrong with the man? Did he think he could spite him by giving him a gift? "... somehow, I believe you. I don't think you'd risk bonding another to me, least it actually make good on it's threats of -- well, no. If it put me out of your misery, I'm sure that'd do you some good." Wren snorted, eyes drifting to the feien that entered the scene.

"Still, don't worry. I've got the perfect gift in mind for you. I just have to pick it up at some point." Wren smiled benignly. "You'll love it, I promise."

Eyes lighting up, Galatea nodded. "Oh, she is so smart and strong and clever," she answered Hadrian, "and she... Oh. Oh, dear." Suddenly, she looked pained and turned on her heel to wave forcefully at the long-disappeared female feien. "Oh. She's gone." Turning back to the others, her face looked glum enough to summon a rainstorm. "That was rude of me. She was so fast, though. I will have to apologize when next I see her." She looked to the remaining two for reassurance. "That would be alright, wouldn't it? Mr. Hadrian? Mr. Kojak?"

"I don't think most people get to upset over apologies, but they might say they're unecessary sometimes." Hadrian answered, "But I bet she won't be to worried about it."

Galatea seemed so....young. Younger then the other juveniles he'd met. It was making him feel sort of ... would paternal apply to a feien? Well, it reminded him of Burgundia's request that he teach other feien. Not that he thought he was any good at it, or had much to teach really.

Kojak merely chuckled. "My bonded is ... nice and probably a bit different from what you'd expect. He is intelligent, I'll give him that, but very protective of his charges." And short, don't forget short.

"I'm sure it'll be all right, Galatea. I don't think she'll mind, especially if you apologize next time. If you even need too." Kojak smiled widely, assuringly. "When people have to leave, you don't all ways get time to say goodbye." Galatea was a bit ... naive, all most. In a way that he couldn't remember being himself. He had all ways been mature. More mature than his bonded, even. Or that was how he thought of it.

Whatever amusement might have been written across Athan's features vanished, but it wasn't replaced with a scowl or anything of that sort. He remained calm, and collected despite how frazzled he felt. "Just remember it's the thought that counts," he replied before turning on his heel to leave.

"I'll tell Reyna you said hello, and good evening to you, Wren," he called over his shoulder as he left in a flurry of dark robes. His Feien was back into his care, and he therefore had absolutely no reason to stay. He allowed a small smile at that.

Time to go home!

"You are both right, I'm sure," she agreed with another of her curious quick nods. "Some things happen very fast." Then she offered Kojak a crooked smile. "I don't think, though, that there is anything wrong with being protective of those you care about. I don't want anything to happen to my Captain, after all. Which would make me protective, too. Your bond sounds very nice."

"You're right, of course." With a bemused smile of his own, he nodded in agreement with Galatea. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to Wren, but when I was younger, and even now, he doesn't all ways remember that I can take care of myself." Another small pause, before he added. "I'm sure you would like him, if you met him."

And speaking of Wren, he actually pushed the scowl off his face at Athan's exit and wandered his way towards the lounge. "Kojak? Oi, know you wanted to visit, but unless you want to head out on your own later, we should probably get home."

"Speaking of my bonded," Kojak said with a small laugh, "that's him."

Immediately responsive, Galatea turned at Kojak's words to bow to Wren. "Hello, sir. It is a pleasure to meet you."

It was endearing, the way Galatea refered to her bond as 'her Captain'. It reminded Hadrian a little bit of his own tendancy to refer to his bond as his mother. He was enjoying the company, but it was getting quite late. He had a fairly long flight home, and honestly he really did want to spend the night at home tonight and not camping out. He'd been working on his little lantern house a bit and was just a bit excited to spend the night in it.

"Its been a pleasure to meet both of you, but its gotten quite late." He smiled his wide warm smile at both of them. "I've got a bit of a trip to get home, I'll need to get going if I'm going to get any sleep tonight, unfortunately."

He waved, "Goodnight, Galatea. Kojak." He made sure, specifically, to give Galatea enough time to say goodbye, before flitting out into the night.

Galatea waved energetically to Hadrian, grateful and smiling for his kindess at allowing her a proper goodbye. As she turned back to Kojak and his bond, though, her ears perked up at a voice in the hallway.

"Galatea? Where are you? The Doctor has left me with more instructions and that includes seeing that you get enough sleep." Serafima appeared at the door with her hand held out, palm up. She glanced at Wren and nodded curtly in greeting. Then she glanced back to her little charge and raised an eyebrow. "Coming?"

"Yes, ma'am." Immediately springing to the air, Galatea fluttered over to land on the offered hand. Then she turned to wave at Kojak. "It was very nice to meet you," she called out. "I hope to see you here again."

Wren's steps all most instantly came to a halt, especially at the way he was greeted. Being called sir was ... like. Odd. Very odd. He blinked, stunned briefly, and barely noticed the other feien leaving as he entered.

"... er, hello," he finally managed, a smile on his face. Reflexively, he moved his hands to push up glasses that were no longer there. He pulled his hand back quickly though, when he caught himself. "Nice to meet you ... ?" Wren trailed off, waiting for the other feien to introduce herself.

Kojak, however, was about to do so. He waved good night to Hadrian, before he spoke up. "Galatea, this is my bonded, Wren. Wren, this is Galatea." He made gestures to both of them while introducing them, smile on his face all the way.

Never mind he did now how Wren reacted to being called sir. He remembered the last time.

"Oh, well, nice to meet a friend of Kojak's." The demon's voice was warm, as he approached the couch, and looked down at the two feien before holding out a hand for Kojak to fly onto.

The feien did, just as Galatea's Captain called.

"Pleasure was all mine," Kojak said simply, smiling as he made his way to Wren's head and settled comfortably against one of his horns for the time being. "It'd be nice to see you again." He would have to make sure and come visit more often. He really did miss meeting other feien. "Good night!" he called to her before both him and Wren made their own way out to go home.

Galatea waved again at the retreating forms and then, obediently, stood at attention for her bond. "Yes, ma'am," she murmured. "Is it time to go to our quarters?"

"Indeed." Serafima lifted her hand to allow Galatea to step off onto her shoulder. "The kind Doctor has finally left, not before giving me a yard of instructions, of course, and the Director had previously given me our quarters. The house is not far." She paused then and seemed to consider something for a long moment. As she thought, she crossed towards the door. Finally, she sighed under her breath. "Hide in my hair, Galatea," she ordered mildly. "I am given to understand that not many Gaians are aware of you and your breed. It would be safest for you to stay out of sight."

A happy smile flickered over the little feien's face before she could once more school her features to dutiful blankness. "Yes, ma'am. I promise. Thank you."

Captain Rabik gave her a moment to secure herself and then, with an inner bracing, she stepped out the door. This was where they were stuck for however long. Then, and -then-, she could return to duty. Somehow, she thought this would please Galatea, too. If not, oh, well.

Journal of Capt. S.A.Rabik

EC1+6M2, 1

Galatea has approached me with some fairly impressive blueprints for a house. It seems that she has gotten the idea of building her own house within our quarters in mimicry of another feien - fire sphere, Hadrian. She is quite intelligent and has given a good amount of thought as to materials and architectural design. I am pleased to say that my initial impression of her post-bloom is correct. A hard-worker and very polite. After some discussion, she requested a set of Legos, a children's toy, which seems to be both sound and proportionally correct for her. I understand they come in many colors but I plan on obtaining all of one shade for her. It is more sensible and, I believe, more in keeping with her needs.

I have let her sort through my box of mending supplies and she has chosen a few empty spools and some thread and fabric scraps. I am not sure what she plans to do with them but it will probably be practical.

I wonder when Dr. Beckham will return planet-side in order to once more torment me with his incessant prodding and poking.

As the tall, leggy blonde materialized in the center of the room she felt shivers run up and down her back. As many times as she went through the process it never felt right to her. Repeated experience meant she no longer felt the need to vomit afterwards, but the shiver remained.

Dr. Akari generally made it a point to remain in her research sector in the Fleet, never traveling between dimensions. She lived in the same area as she worked, she took food by delivery and cooked it herself instead of taking advantage of the Fleet's cafeterias or the restaurants in the rec-dems, she did anything she could to avoid ever using one of the "portals" or the disembarkation rooms. Not because she couldn't tolerate it -- in Dr. Akari's experience there was nothing she couldn't do if she put her midn to it -- but because she just preferred not to. It was as simple as that.

Today she was making an exception because while she hated dimensional travel, she did not let her weaknesses show. Only her, her physician, and a handful of the dem techs knew about her issues with dimensional travel. Her coworkers and most of the Fleet merely believed she was somewhat eccentric and very reclusive. She worked alone on her precious biosystems and while she was not protective of her research, few of the other scientists showed any interest in the complex genetic engineering or biochemistry required to create a living computer.

Dr. M was the exception, and probably the reason she had agreed. That, and...

Akari's petite, carefully-painted red lips twisted into a frown. For Dr. M, dimensional travel was as simply a thing as washing his hands or writing a note. Suggesting that they meet here was nothing to him, a mere afterthought. She forced herself to smile. She could have had any of the single men in the fleet she wanted on this evening, even some of the married ones, just as she'd had them in the past. She knew she was generally considered to be the most attractive single female: tall, blonde, green eyes, slim body with curves in the important places. She was practically a pariah in the science community, idolized by many of her male coworkers (who were generally terrible with women) and resented by her female coworkers who found her too provocative, too inviting attention, not professional enough in her miniskirts. Akari merely ignored them, kept her skirts as short as they would go, and advertised her legs (her best feature, she knew). She had one important ally in her assertion of sexiness, the Lady Admiral, and that was really the only ally anyone needed in the Fleet.

Her skirt tonight was white, her stockings solid black. A tight dark blue top hugged her form, covered by an open white labcoat. The outfit promised nothing and hinted at everything. Dr. M, aready a fairly assertive lech, was bound to like it, and it was merely her work clothes for the day. As much as she wanted M to enjoy himself on this date, she did not want to encourage him too much.

Checking to make sure everything was in the right place, Dr. Akari glanced around the waiting room. So this was Gaia.

If Dr. Akari was confused as to where exactly she was supposed to go, her confusion did not last long. Down the hallway, the door to Dr. M's office popped open and just as quickly snapped back shut. In the intervening two seconds Dr. M slipped out into the hallway, fumbling the boxes in his arms. He nearly dropped one and, scowling at the door, backed up against the opposite wall.

Akari turned at the commotion. This was it. She composed her face into an expression of confidence and control and strode towards Dr. M, her lab coat swaying and gold heels quietly tapping against the carpet.

"Dr. Akari," said Dr. M, flustered, but then, he was always flustered. He was also shivering slightly, but that too was normal for him. The red heart-shaped box he was holding rattled, clearly the noise of a dozen bits of chocolate shaking in their wrapping.

"Hello, doctor," replied Akari smoothly, and if her legs were her best attribute, her honeyed voice was a close second. She made sure to stop a few feet away from him so he wouldn't feel crowded. She respected his genius, but she knew just as well as everyone else that he was sometimes fearfully insane, and she would rather avoid a scene. "Are those for me?"

She squinted slightly at the strange set of paper cat ears on his head. As much as she liked cats, it was an odd choice of headgear.

"Yes," said M authoratively, thrusting the gifts towards her. He still kept his back against the wall.

She took the boxes. "Thank you." The other, non-chocolate box was wrapped in white tissue paper with a red ribbon. It was the right size for jewelry. She desperately hoped it was something understated or she might have to call the whole thing off right now. "May I open this?"

M nodded, gulping. He thrust his hands into the pocket of his lab coat. "Pasha sug--gested," he offered as explanation.

Akari was immediately relieved. If anything, she could trust the Intelligence Director to be decidedly professional in his romantic tastes. By experience she knew he only gave women the gifts they expected. He was terribly cold like that. Tonight she was grateful for that infamous dispassion.

She lifted the wrapping with one of her immaculate fingernails and popped open the red jewelry-store box. Valentine's earrings. She smiled, a smile which was sure to be mistaken for appreciation for the gift but was actually because as far as understated went, this was ideal. Not only were the earrings nothing special or expensive, they would be inconspicuous under her hairstyle. "Thank you," she said sincerely, and delicately took a step forward.

Dr. Akari was about a foot taller than Dr. M, so really the only thing she could do was lean over and peck him lightly on the forehead.

Dr. M immediately flushed red in pleasure. "Welcome," he chirped, bouncing slightly and wondering if he should fake a seizure and look up her skirt. He remembered someone's advice -- Antipov's? no, Parson -- that faking seizures on dates was probably not the best plan. ("But it does have its merits," Parson said. "I mean, if nothing else, you get to look up her skirt. But save it for dates that aren't going well.") So far, this was going fine, and spectacularly for anything involving Dr. M. He grinned broadly.

Tucking the earrings into her coat pocket, Akari looked around. "I don't suppose any of the local feien are around?" It was hard to know where to look for them. The office was the standard human sort, no special rooms or facilities for feien that she could ascertain.

"Mmmm," hummed Dr. M, still bouncing and twitching. "No, I don't suppose so. They're usually here." And they usually swarmed him upon his appearance, or at least it felt that way.

"A shame," remarked Akari. "Boreal Snap suggested that I investigate them while I was here." And given Snap's occasionally cryptic instructions, Akari was as yet unsure what that meant.

"The current ones or the dead ones?" asked Dr. M.

Frowning, Akari tilted her head to the side. "I'm not sure." Possibly Boreal Snap was merely asking that Akari interview any of the feien she might have previously met, but since she supplied no names...

Dr. Akari's train of thought, however, never quite reached completion as a sudden sound towards the front of the offices signaled a door being thrown open. A voice, crisp and impatient, soon followed. "Galatea, this is nonsense. It was not necessary to come here at this time of night for whatever you forgot. Surely it could have waited until morning."

"Both pointless," said M. "All of our current data is in my office, everything. Genetics, psychological profiles..." He trailed off, possibly because that was all the data the fleet kept track of, possibly because of the arrival of Galatea and Serafima.

Dr. Akari turned at the voice, halfway hoping to find the magical answer to Boreal Snap's request, but resigned to the fact it was a mystery she may never solve. Picking one's battles, after all, was one of the most important parts of being successful.

Oblivious to the others in the building, Galatea was only aware of her bond's displeasure and she screwed up her face in agony, safely hidden by the room's half-light. The irony that what she had lost was to be a gift for the Captain was too painful to even consider. Quickly, she darted from couch to table and hesitated, fluttering near the entrance to the hallway. "Perhaps I left it in the kitchen," she murmured. "May I?"

Serafima motioned ahead with a nod. Then she moved to follow the little blood feien into the hallway. Picking up voices the nearer she got, however, she stopped abruptly. Waiting to see if she could recognize them.

Dr. Akari stared down the short hallway, somewhat annoyed both at the interruption and M's apparent sudden bout of muteness. "Yes?" she demanded sharply. "Can we help you?"

Dr. M watched Akari, content to remain where he was until this little game of hide-and-seek was resolved to something, and if he had to, he could always slip back into his office. He couldn't take Akari with him, but sometimes in dangerous situations, there were casualties.

One of Serafima's eyebrows rose for an instant before she once more schooled her features to bland politeness. "Pardon me," she replied and there was nothing of color in her voice; Dr. Akari's sharpness had apparantly as much effect on Captain Rabik as a toothpick against a diamond. She registered the familiarity of the other woman instinctively, though, recognizing Fleet just as she also recognized the unusual situation of a woman in close proximity to Dr. M.

Apology delivered, though, she dismissed whatever the other two had been doing and turned to look at something they could not yet see. "If you believe it to be in the kitchen, go there by all means," she said lowly. "And hurry up."

"Yes, sir." Galatea, if possible, immediately looked more miserable. Now others had seen her failure. Lovely.

Dr. Akari recognized Serafima from somewhere in the Fleet just as Serafima recognized her, even if neither was truly acquainted with the other. Sometimes that was how it went. There were too many people in the Fleet at this point to know them all personally. Several years ago the situation had been different and Akari had known each and every person working in the Fleet personally. But she was against pointless reminiscing.

"Have you lost anything?" she asked, still speaking coldly. Her manner with Serafima was very different than her sultry, seductive tone with Dr. M mere moments earlier.

"No." And that was that. Clearly Serafima was not in the mood to elaborate on anything.

With a swallow, Galatea fluttered further down the hall, looking left and right until she found the kitchen. She gave one quick look at the other two, knowing that she was now visible to them, and then gave a polite little nod of her head in acknowledgement.

Then she was gone into the kitchen.

Dr. Akari crossed her arms, used to a certain degree of hostility from other females, and turned back to Dr. M. It took her a moment to soften her expression and address him. "You look very nice."

Normally she was the one receiving that comment and not giving it, but Dr. M was hardly the most socially-experienced of geniuses. He could be forgiven for missing a few cues.

"Yourself as well," said M, monotoning and pressing his back harder against the wall. "I like the blue."

Dr. Akari refrained from giving an annoyed sigh. This was not how she envisioned the evening going at all. They should have been at dinner by now, but Dr. M seemed unwilling to leave the safety of the wall. Particularly not with this woman and her feien in the area.

The sigh she ended up giving was nonchalant. "The ears?" she asked, feigning curious interest in the white paper headband.

"A disguise," said M quickly, giving Akari a moment to wonder if he actually thought they made him look like a real cat before continuing, "On Gaia, most people put things on their head." He snaked one of his hands out of his pockets and tapped the headband.

"How..." Dr. Akari thought a moment. "Clever." She smiled as cutely as she could. Normally, of course, she didn't do cute. She was more the mature, sexy type.

"It's a, peculiar habit among Gaians but, there is a strong prevelence, of human/animal hybrids in Gaian society, or at least modifications to elicit, such perceptions of hybridization. I'm working on a, social investigation into the habits, of the populace." Dr. M gave a small gasp. "I have the data. Would you, like to see?"

Not even having to pretend she wasn't listening (she honestly did not give a damn about whatever those other two were up to), Serafima moved to stand outside the kitchen door, arms crossed over her chest. There was a faint clatter from one of the cupboards and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. For such an intelligent being, Galatea had begun acting rather irrationally as of late. The house-building was one thing. Spending an hour watching the home improvement channel on their television was another. Now this nonsense. She had only agreed to escort Galatea because of the darkness. The feien was so small, easy prey for an alley cat or some other beast. Serafima had to admit that she would have been concerned if Galatea had ventured without her.

Suddenly, the little blood feien reappeared. Not expecting her bond to have moved to the doorway, though, she had to flutter backwards a bit ungracefully to avoid colliding with the woman's face. There was a folded piece of paper clutched in her hands. "I found it, sir," she whispered.

"Good. Then we can leave." Serafima glanced over her shoulder at the other two. "We interrupted something."

Unfortunately, it seemed that everybody seemed desperate to interrupt their date: Dr. Beckham flickered into view, materializing with apparently no ill effects and trying - and failing - to hide a grin as he saw M and Dr. Akari together. The news had obviously gotten around. He looked neat as ever: he was carrying his suitcase, and one hand was pushing away a dark forelock of hair out of his eyes as he appeared.

"Hullo, you," he said. "Ahem. Don't mind me. Ah. Dr. Akari, you look lovely as always. M, you look, ...." The doctor reached around for a word, "... dashing."

He paused, and his voice was kind but a little bit cooler: "Evening, Captain. And - there's Galatea, look you. How are you?"

Dr. Akari's mouth pulled into a thin frown as she turned towards Dr. Beckham, knowing exactly why he had probably followed here. She coudl not fault the sentiment, but it was still annoying to know that she was probably the focus of so much gossip back in Central. "Dr. Beckham," she said coolly, but not without a drop of honey seeping into her words. It was almost instinctive to turn on the charm when dealing with men.

"Doctor!" Galatea's face lit up, embarrassment momentarily forgotten as she clutched the paper tighter and looked upon one of her other Idols.

Lovely. Now they would -never- leave promptly. Nonetheless, Serafima nodded at Beckham. "Hello, Doctor."

"I was just, telling Dr. Akari about my research, into Gaian social behavior," said Dr. M to Dr. Beckham. He was finally starting to lean away from the wall. "A fascinating subject. Perhaps you could lend your medical expertise?"

A strange invitation indeed. Dr. M was probably as good a doctor and surgeon as Beckham, he just tended to view his patients more as experiments and less as, well, medical patients.

"Well, ah," said Beckham, attempting tact. "I'm sure Dr. Akari doesn't want me interrupting your, .... visit; I'm sure I couldn't offer anything of insight that you could. In fact, I'm sure Galatea knows more than I do, I'm afraid."

His smile at the feien was warm and gentle. "It's good to see you. What's that you have there?"

While his question was meant only kindly, the immediate look on Galatea's face was one of almost physical pain. Fluttering over to him, she perched on his shoulder. "It's for my Captain," she whispered into his ear. "I'm so sorry, sir. I didn't know you were coming to Gaia tonight and I don't have yours ready."

"You're not to mind that," Beckham whispered back. "You know the Ca - I mean Captain Rabik - always comes first, don't worry about me."

"But I do. Worry, that is." Galatea's free hand hesitantly touched Beckham's hair for a moment before darting away; the connection had barely even qualified for the name of "butterfly-light". "You are important to me and that is what this day is about. So I ought to have made you something in time even if I did not think I was going to see you."

Serafima watched the whispered conference warily. While she trusted Galatea, she did not doubt the doctor's penchant for meddling.

Dr. M looked hurt at Beckham's dismissal. He puffed his cheeks crossly and looked at Akari.

Sensing a tactic, Akari said sweetly, "Tell me, when you say animal-human hybrid, what sort of hybrids?" She smiled in a manner that emphasized how unbelievably perfect her lipstick was.

It was a good tactic, thoroughly distracting M from Beckham's refusal (however kindly that refusal was intended). "The most prevalent traits, are feline and vulpine, with small incidence of birds and canines. Mostly, it's modification to appear as if having ears of a cat, fox, or dog on one's head. Presence of the traits, merits inclusion into certain social groups. I haven't yet finished, my survey of the people on Gaia. It's difficult with such a transient, population. Not only, does the number of Gaians increase daily, to too does the percentage of people adopting animal traits. This is despite political outcry, over the appearance of, the traits."

Somewhere in that long, wheezing speech Dr. M stopped leaning against the wall and enacted a more casual stance. He could almost be mistaken for a normal perosn, except for the occasional twitch f his arms, which were still shoved deep into his coat pockets.

"Give me a kiss on the cheek and we'll call it quits," Beckham said kindly, looking rather relieved that Akari had saved the conversation with M. He hated to make anybody unhappy, and got distressed, even if it was, well... M. "That's what Astru does. It will make an old man like me happy."

"If you're certain, Doctor." Cheeks pink, Galatea glanced over at her bond and then gingerly edged around on Beckham's shoulder, using her free hand to balance. Then she closed her eyes and leaned forward and kissed his cheek, somehow turning even pinker in the process.

Serafima couldn't help it; she blinked at her feien's actions and felt her posture straighten reflexively to the strangeness. Then she shifted her gaze to narrowly study the good doctor's face instead as if working out some incredibly complex, unbelievably foreign puzzle.

"Political outcry?" echoed Dr. Akari, tilting her head curiously. She never really bothered with politics. Biocomputers were her life.

"The, American State of the Union address. We're not American, but, I've found it, beneficial to keep up with current events in that country." M bounced. "Would you, like to eat something?"

Poor Dr. M. He really was trying, Akari supposed. "Of course. I would love to," she said. Unfortunately, she was beginning to dread this devolving into, well, every other date she'd had in the past five years, only without the sex at the end.

Suddenly, M made a smile that was not predatory, creepy, or unnerving in any way. It was a nice, genuine smile. "And I would love, to hear about how the, EM data storage field, development is going."

Then Akari smiled, too. So much for Jaden's predictions. "I would love that," she said sincerely, and strangely, when she was being sincere she sounded a lot less sultry than usual.

"Excellent," said M, pleased his ploy had worked. God forbid he be forced to keep up any sort of romantic pretense for more than an hour. "Reservations!" He stuck his arm out in the direction of the front door. "I can show you, the animals traits on the way."

"Thank you," Dr. Beckham said gravely. "It means a great deal to me, Galatea."

His smile to Serafima was a bit mirthless, though he tried to jolly it up. In his heart of hearts, Beckham honestly wished and tried to like the woman more. "I have a Valentine's day gift for you, Captain Rabik. It's a checkup."

Dr. Akari diplomatically hooked her arm around Dr. M's, friendly more than romantic, and stepped with him towards the door. "Happy Valentine's Day," she said to Beckham as she passed in a voice so honeyed it could have drowned a man. She even followed it up with a wink in Beckham and Serafima's direction.

"Goodbye, you two, and happy St. Valentine's," medical doctor called out after them, and then - simply because he couldn't help himself after Akari's wink - gave the old tired saw that had probably been yanked out of a tar pit, it was so ancient: "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Tell me," said M as they disappeared through the door, "how have you dealt with the atomic positioning instability?"

There was no stranger pair, him short and nervous and covered head to toe, her tall and collected with legs up to here on display for all the world to see, but so far as tonight was concerned, there was no more perfect pair.

The contemplative look immediately left Serafima's face and she prevented her instinctive scowl by simply wiping all expression from her features. "Is it Valentine's Day, then?" she asked dryly. "Please don't go to any trouble on my account. Feel free to give any gifts to Galatea. I am certain she would appreciate them far more than I would." She paused. "And I assure you that I'm in perfect health and ready to return to duty at any moment. There. Your examination is complete."

Still on his shoulder, Galatea smiled, pride erasing her shyness. "The Captain runs every day," she informed Beckham. "And does her exercises."

"Nonetheless, I'd like to check you up to see how you're doing," Beckham said calmly. "You can feel fine even as what's going on inside you isn't, look you. It's for your own benefit. It'd be impractical otherwise, and you like practical, don't you? I'll give you a nice, short checkup. I'll be doing a full physical once a month, mind."

"Fine." The ice of the word made Frosty the Snowman seem like Hawaii's new spokesperson. "Will you see to me here or at my quarters?"

"Your quarters, Captain." It was kindly put: nonetheless, there were thermometers in Serafima's future, and that was never nice. "Shall we, then?"

"Of course." Serafima considered Galatea for a moment and then unbent enough to offer a semblance of a smile to her feien. "Galatea, if you like and Dr. Beckham does not mind, you may stay with him as he follows."

"Thank you, sir." Beaming at the permission, Galatea settled herself down onto Beckham's shoulder. She knew that he would have to walk fast to follow the already-turning Captain and so slipped tiny fingers into a seam and held tight.

EC1+6M2, 28

I have not written in a while but that does not mean I have been idle. Now that my physical training is on track, I am more determined to work on my magic abilities. However, I do not want to bother Hadrian. So I have decided to post a notice on the board at the Fleet HQ. I have seen other things written, advertisements and posters for things. Perhaps I will be able to locate someone willing to train me.

I also met the most unusual female feien at the HQ the other day. She is very loud and energetic and physically affectionate. Her name is Marne. She told me that, if she has a party, she will invite me. I hope she does. I think a party might be nice. Though I do not know how I feel about her touching me so often. She even kissed me. She is very unusual.

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To Whom It May Concern:

I am searching for someone to tutor me in feien magic. Time and place can be at your discretion. I am open to suggestions and my time is flexible. Payment negotiable. If you are interested, please contact Galatea c/o Captain S.A. Rabik c/o Fleet Headquarters. Thank you.