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 Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2022 9:03 pm
It was just routine, Aliez told himself as he pressed the button that would take him to the warp pad in the house in Negaspace that the Commodore was using.
He wasn’t trying to be intrusive. He just wanted to check on the Commodore’s overall health. Something that the Commodore had agreed to prior to Aliez showing up. It was standard to get a checkup, although with the lack of professionals (of which he did not consider himself) he wouldn’t have been surprised if the Commodore had declined his request.
Aliez didn’t show up just with the intention of checking on the Commodore’s health, though. He’d brought his newest culinary experiments (although he supposed he shouldn’t call them experiments if the intention was to eat them). He had everything carefully packaged in a reusable bag.
Once he stepped off the warp pad, he made his way over to the kitchen area of the little house so he could start putting things into the refrigerator (and also assess what the Commodore might need) while he waited for him, since he wasn’t in the room he’d immediately entered.
“Sir? It’s Aliez,” he called, because he didn’t want to make him think it was someone else that he wasn’t ready to meet with.
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 5:09 pm
The refrigerator was stocked with dwindling necessities; it looked as if Lyndin hadn’t been out shopping recently. It probably wasn’t particularly surprising, considering how careful Lyndin was about food waste. The living room was a bit cleaner than usual so it looked like he might have finished one project and hadn’t moved on to the next. A blanket was folded neatly on the couch, and a pillow was stacked atop of it. He was sleeping in the living room again, so his current project must have been important enough to keep an eye on. He’d built a small, disk-like platform, and had a battery pack and a computer connected to it. Energy orbs–no doubt collected by the Negaverse–were in three different jars, hooked up to various readers. The computer was running some sort of scan, but it looked like it still had a good while to go. “Aliez, welcome.” The Commodore had allowed himself a bit of luxury; he’d freshly bathed and hadn’t completely redressed in his full uniform. He wore his boots and pants but he’d left his cape and jacket elsewhere. He still wore a pale blue undershirt and managed to look dignified in that while he carried a box of what appeared to be miscellaneous technological gadgets. Most of them appeared broken, so it was safe to assume he was either scrapping them for parts or making repairs. Some appeared to be Velencian, some appeared like they were from Earth. “Please forgive the mess, I thought this scan was going to be done last night but there was a read malfunction. The electricity down here has a mind of its own. I put up some scanners on the roof to see if there’s anything to be done about it, but I’m not particularly optimistic. How are you doing?”
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 5:14 pm
He tried not to be too nosey about what the Commodore had in his refrigerator, but since there was more than enough space for what he’d brought, he was glad he decided to bring some along.
It was difficult not to stare when the Commodore made his way into the room without his jacket -- which wouldn’t be the first time Aliez had seen him without it! It was just uncommon. And he bet Vyn would be particularly jealous.
The bag he’d brought was carefully folded up and deposited into his subspace for the time being, and he turned to watch as the Commodore brought in his most recent project. Of course he would be working nonstop, no matter what. They should all be, and yet he was concerned that a number of their fellow Velencians had forgotten about their home -- had forgotten about everyone who lived there. Their families and friends, on a world doomed to wither away unless they found a way to stop the deterioration.
Or had Caedus’ starseed returned to the Cauldron in the hopes that that would work.
“I am well,” he said hesitantly. Physically he was. He hadn’t been in any alterations beyond that strange, dark, sticky world many of the citizens of Destiny City had been pulled into not too long ago. And any injuries he got could be aided with his own knowledge of first aid, or he could just slap one of Andreiya’s plants on himself.
It was a good thing! Having something that could heal them was good! He just wondered if his skill set would be obsolete sooner than later -- which was also good! He just would have to figure out something else to excel at.
“I brought some food I made. Stuffed peppers and a mushroom soup I thought you might enjoy,” he quietly explained as he glanced back to the refrigerator. Both vegetarian, of course.
“I shouldn’t need to take up too much of your time. Just a standard checkup. Are you feeling okay? Getting enough rest?” Probably not, but he expected the Commodore to brush it off.
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 5:21 pm
“Your culinary prowess is impressive. I appreciate your efforts, and I will appreciate them more when I sit down to eat. Thank you,” he said; he placed the box down on a table and brushed his hands off on his pants before he turned to face Aliez. “I had a few hours of rest last night.” Probably because he knew Aliez was coming and anticipated the question. “I ache less. Better than last month, but I don’t know if there’s much more for me to heal. I can feel Velencya’s energy coursing through me, but it feels heavier. I wish we could go back, I would love to spend some time near the core. It might help me recharge. I’ve gotten some positive reports, though. Things are going well up there. There’s enough latent energy up there that they’ve been able to siphon it into Velencya. I hope that means things will be stable up there for a while yet while we finish our tasks here.” He reported on progress better than he reported on his health, but he seemed at least somewhat relaxed. He didn’t look as tired as he had the last time Aliez visited. “I’m making progress on my projects, I hope to have a report up for review soon. How are your projects going? Andreiya’s just sent me another file but I haven’t read it yet. He seems excited, he’s said you and Vyn are making a lot of progress.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 5:28 pm
Aliez wasn’t sure if he would consider edible the same as impressive. The food he made wasn’t bad by any means. He followed the recipe, he tested everything for taste, and he had the others try some of the food as well before he could deem it worthy of bringing to the Commodore.
Its saving grace was that it was fresh and not any of the prepackaged meals or rations the Commodore might be tempted to eat when he was stretched for time or care.
He pressed his lips together in a tight line as he watched the Commodore and listened to his findings and asked about his project with Andreiya and Vyn, and shifted the conversation quickly away from his health.
Aliez knew even if he pleaded with the Commodore to sleep more, he likely wouldn’t. He didn’t have the luxury of time like himself and the rest of the Vanguard. They were safe (relatively speaking) on Earth. They weren’t stuck on a dying planet, and they weren’t dying because that planet was dying.
“Andreiya has promising results to more of our experiments,” he shared, even though that wasn’t why he was there. And the weary, somewhat distressed look he gave the Commodore probably read very clearly that he was only answering to be polite.
Well… he would talk more about their project if they had results that would better aid the Commodore.
“Back home, did you have anyone asking you to slow down when you were pushing yourself this hard?”
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 5:34 pm
Lyndin inhaled a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. He released it quietly, with such skill that it would have been difficult to notice if Aliez hadn’t been paying close attention. He suspected Aliez was paying close attention. He’d noticed the look earlier, and whatever intentions he’d had to side step concern were easily forgotten. Aliez was smart, he wasn’t naive. He knew Lyndin, and it made it a bit more difficult to just brush aside his concern. Especially when he’d taken such an interest in making sure he stayed healthy. “Not really, no. But the duties are different back home, and easily spread across a number of us.” Things were different on Earth. Their Commanders had fallen. Most of the Vanguard were still Cadets. A mission that should have taken a few weeks had taken months. Almost a year, by Earth standards. In the grand scheme of things, they hadn’t been here for that long, but everything seemed to take so much more time when they’d failed the initial mission. He hadn’t even received any reports that anyone had seen Caedus in so long that he didn’t really even know where to start. Lyndin hid desperation well. He looked put together, for the most part. He seemed like he knew what he was doing, like he had a plan. Maybe he did. Maybe he was just good at pretending. “Caedus used to, a long time ago. But we were very young. Even back then he didn't understand. I suppose the Council has had some words for me in the past, too, but it’s never been a problem before.” But things had been different before. Something on his face relaxed as he looked over Aliez. “Am I worrying you?”
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 5:51 pm
Not so long ago, Aliez’s instinct would have been to try and mitigate his own concern by reminding the Commodore that most of the Vanguard worried about him. That he was important to them and they wanted to make sure he was healthy.
He would have tried to push it away from his own feelings, and instead remind the Commodore that he was a medic and it was his job to worry about his health.
“Yes,” he said quietly instead.
Maybe he was out of line. He knew the Commodore only brushed aside his own health concerns because he didn’t want anyone else to worry, but in doing so, he was just making them more concerned.
“Do you dread my visits because you know I will draw attention to your health?” he asked, because he couldn’t help but wonder if the Commodore let him visit just to indulge him, because he didn’t seem to make many changes in ways of trying to take care of himself.
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 5:55 pm
For a few seconds, Lyndin didn’t speak. He didn’t seem upset, only contemplative. Aliez was usually quiet, and he seemed quick to please and cautious to avoid disrupting anything or upsetting anyone. It must have taken a bit of bravery for him to answer honestly, and that weighed heavily enough on Lyndin that he took a bit of effort to try and relax. “No. I don’t dread your visits. They are a good reminder. I slept last night because I knew you were coming. I thought you’d fuss over me if you knew my sleep schedule. Between you and Fae-Fae, I get in a good few hours of sleep a week. I am happy to see you and know that you are doing well. I do have a bit of concern every now and then that you will be dissatisfied with my health. There are some things I cannot change. But, you bring me good food, and you remind me to rest. I get very invested in my projects,” he admitted, looking to the spread across the table. “I am used to neglecting my own needs. Back home, there is the expectation that if I need a break, there are others who can cover for me. Here, we are much more limited. I keep telling myself that if we can just finish our mission, we can go home. Perhaps I have again overestimated the time and effort these tasks on Earth will require. I know my limits, but I suppose I have been pushing them of late.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 6:00 pm
Home was not a goal that Aliez could fault the Commodore for. It was his goal as well. Even as he tried not to get disheartened with their lack of observable progress. Andreiya was doing well. He was making strides in their research.
Meanwhile Vyn learned more about earth and its plants and continued to be an excellent front line of defense (and offense), and Aliez? He tried learning about medicine and healing as much as he could. Food was important too, but he doubted it would be his efforts that got them back to Velencya.
“I do not wish to request you reduce the time you need to work on your projects,” he clarified, hoping that the Commodore wasn’t expecting to be harassed about it. “But there must be other things that the rest of us can assist with to ensure you are resting properly.”
He took a moment to glance around the little house, and then gestured to the kitchen.
“You should not be spending your time cleaning or purchasing food. We can do that for you,” he insisted, but paused and added, “If you would allow us.”
He could compromise. He would leave the Commodore’s desire to work on projects alone if he promised to rest if they did the domestic chores for him.
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 6:06 pm
Lyndin considered this for a moment and then, without much protest or hesitation, nodded. “That’s a good suggestion. I can look into it. I don’t want to take any of you away from your projects, but if you’re worried about me not taking enough time to rest…” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his current experiment. “I suppose Velencya has left me a bit spoiled. The daily chores really do build up and eat into your time here on Earth. I would be grateful for the assistance. Perhaps, if I can make a few more breakthroughs, I can even delegate some of this research to those that might be interested.” It was food for thought, at least, and he did seem to be seriously considering the offer. Finally, he nodded again. “We can try that, if you like. What would you like to see from me, then? If you’re helping me with such things, what can I do for you?”
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 6:15 pm
Aliez relaxed a little, grateful that the Commodore was willing to take his suggestion into consideration. That was enough. More than enough. As long as the Commodore was willing, then that was better than nothing.
“You working on your projects is already enough for me,” Aliez insisted with a small shake of his head. “I don’t have nearly as much experience as you, or many of the others. So if I can spend some time helping to do the chores, then I hope the extra time you get to work and rest will be enough of a contribution to matter.”
He gestured to the couch then and held up his Source Stone to indicate that he wasn’t just there to lecture the Commodore about getting more rest. He really did want to give him a quick checkup. “When you’re ready, Sir.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2022 6:24 pm
Lyndin couldn’t help but laugh softly; he shook his head and followed Aliez’s silent instruction to take a seat on the couch. He sat up straight but made himself easily accessible so Aliez could give him his checkup. “All right, thank you. For all of this. I’ll have to do something for the rest of the Vanguard one of these days, it’s been so long. I don’t want to let any of you down.” He was tired. Not running at optimum efficiency. He could have benefitted from more sleep. He could have benefitted more if Velencya wasn’t in so much danger. But, he breathed in a deep breath. He relaxed. The damage he’d done to himself on the hill wasn’t enough to take him out. He wasn’t falling apart yet. And, if it would make Aliez feel better to see that he was still alive and well enough, he was happy to have these checkups. Happy to have whatever help he could get. This might not have been what any of them wanted, but they were in this together. He could do better. He would do better.
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