A good day for beer. [Rina!]

[Rhi-Rhi]

Strolling down the halls with a twelve-pack of beer tucked under each arm, Shiloh made a beeline for Finaa's dorm room. Today was just one of those days that called for beer and personal time, and what better way to spend it than with his best friend? Granted, she'd invited the cripple and he was a little annoyed by it--alright, more than annoyed; he had wanted to spend the time with Finaa and Finaa alone--but she'd asked him to play nice and so he'd suck it up and deal for her sake.

As long as he got to see her, it was all good; he could manage. He'd missed her.

And she sure sounded like she needed some down time. He knew he did. Time to just be himself, drink himself silly, and get out of that stiff uniform, sexy as it was (if he did say so himself). So, he was dressed in his usual, skinny jeans, a shirt, and a jacket over it all, but only an idiot gracie couldn't figure out why he was out of dress code.

He got a few envious looks from other candidates milling about the halls and met them with a smug smirk before roughly shoving on past. S'right, I have beer and it ain't for you. Perks of being a Pilot. One of many. Candidacy had been hell, his fellow Pilots he didn't trust so far as he could throw 'em, but the benefits of being one were niiice. Like the pay and the status. He was kind of getting used to that.

It didn't take long to reach Finaa's room, and he rapped his knuckles on the door twice before waving his wrist under the sensor and letting himself in. "Heeey, special delivery. Broughtcha a present!" he announced with a wide grin at Finaa, pointedly ignoring Val even though you couldn't miss the kid.

Fuckin' interloper. The jealousy was irrational, but he couldn't help it.

He walked in and plunked the beer cases down on Finaa's bed, and once his arms were free, he promptly pulled Finaa into a warm hug. "Missed ya, girl. You been doin' okay?" he asked--and then frowned, spotting Val from over Finaa's shoulder. Sitting in his rickety wheel chair near the foot of the bed, the kid was staring silently at him and he could just feel the anxiety radiating off of him and it was getting on his nerves. He relaxed his grip on Finaa a little, though he still held her close against him. "Chill. I ain't gonna smash yer arms or nothin'. You didn't tell 'im anything weird 'bout me, didja, Finaa?"

[Anonymous]

After getting the phone call from Shiloh, Finaa was a bundle of excitement. She felt a little guilty that she had ruined his plans for alone time. She would make sure he got it, she had missed him too. It was so easy being with him, comforting. He was her safe place and she could use some chill time after all the recent stress.

And beer. Beer was always welcome in Finaa's book. It was such a shame Shiloh had the worst taste in beer.

Smiling at Val, Finaa reached over and ruffled his hair, "Relax sweetie. I promise Shiloh wont bite. He's really nice once you get to know him. He acts really grumpy, but he doesn't really mean it. Get a few beers in him and he'll forget he's mad that he wont get laid right away."

There was a knock on the door, causing Finaa to turn as the door opened. It was hard to resist the urge to lunge at him right then, but she managed to wait until the beer was set down before hurling herself into his arms with a squeal, "Shiloh! I've missed you!"

It felt like it had been ages since she had seen her best friend. Leaning up, Finaa planted a kiss on his cheek, grinning, "I did no such thing. I told him what a nice guy you are." Letting go of Shiloh, Finaa snagged two beers, passing one to Val, "It's okay. Shiloh knows he wont be getting that threeway I promised if he is a jerk to you."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Val shot Finaa a skeptical look as he grabbed the offered beer. Nice, eh? Finaa must have a different definition of 'nice' than he did, then, because if ignoring him and glowering at him when he wasn't ignoring him was 'nice', then--bah. Who was he fooling? This was the ATC, where nice was when someone didn't bludgeon your legs.

And Val didn't trust that Pilot. He was still a Pilot, and one misstep could mean a world of pain. Oh well. He'd be nothing but polite and gentlemanly to the Pilot, even though he already found himself not liking him--not just because he was a Pilot, but because his lower caste accent was grating on his nerves. It wasn't as bad as that one dummy, Col, but it was still annoying. He didn't know if he'd ever get used to the complete and utter language slaughter.

Cracking the beer open, he wrinkled his nose as the strong, sour smell wafted upward. The fuck? Couldn't he afford anything better? Wasn't Finaa supposed to be his best friend? He glanced over at the two and frowned. They looked genuinely happy together...

With a sigh, he took a swig of beer and choked on it, but managed to get it all down without spraying any. "Gods! What is this?" he blurted, holding the can away at arm's length and staring at it like it was a snake. It tasted like piss!

"Beer," Shiloh intoned, leaning into Finaa's kiss and sneaking in a quick butt grope while Val was distracted, and then he couldn't help but laugh. Finaa told Val he was nice? Even Shiloh knew he wasn't; he didn't make an effort to be and was pretty damned upfront about hating the world, and proud of it, too. Unlike the majority of the world, at least he was honest and didn't try and fake nothing. But before he could say anything to that effect, he perked up at the word "threesome."

"Wha? We're havin' a threesome?"

Somewhere between hearing it and saying that, he'd stepped away from Finaa and already gotten his belt unclasped and his jeans unbuttoned.

Across the room, Val choked on another sip of beer.

[Anonymous]

Val's reaction to the beer made Finaa laugh. It was rather adorable, he seemed so shocked. "Shiloh has the worst taste in beer. He refuses to admit to it, no matter how much I try and convince him other wise."

Taking a sip of her own beer, she made a face, "You just have to push through it. Once you drink enough, it actually starts tasting good." Finaa gave Shiloh a heated look at the butt grope, smiling at him.

Finaa wasn't deluded, she knew that Shiloh wasn't nice. Not to people that weren't her anyway. Part of her liked that, that she was special to him.

Then Shiloh was undoing his pants. How did he even move that fast? Sputtering, she choked on her beer as she tried to laugh, "Shiloh! I was kidding! Stop traumatizing Val!" Wiping her mouth, she shook her head, "I don't think Val is ready for that. Now, let's try being nice," This was accompanied by pointed look at both the boys, "and enjoy our beers and my company."

Smiling brightly, Finaa took another swig of beer. It wasn't too bad once you got used to it.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Shiloh froze, on the verge of shimmying out of his jeans. "Huh? Y'were?"

He looked down, pants ready to be flung off, then back up at Finaa, who was choking on laughter and beer, and Val, who looked positively horrified. A scowl darkened his face, cheeks going a little pink for jumping the gun like that, and with a mumbled curse he jerked his pants back up, buttoned and zipped the fly, and started to buckle his belt. "Shoulda said so," he muttered, still a tad embarrassed for being over-eager but c'mon, he liked sex. Nothing wrong with being enthusiastic. "Ain't tryin' to traumatize no one, but'cha said 'threesome' so I thought...ugh, guess I shoulda known, dude's in a wheelchair."

And he hadn't the slightest clue how the mechanics of that would work. Didn't stop him from being pissy, though.

Val rolled his eyes, relaxing again now that Shiloh wasn't whipping anything out, and held his breath so he could get down another gulp of beer. He still gagged a little. The stuff was awful...but it was also alcohol, cheap, watered down alcohol, and if he forced down enough then maybe he could get drunk. That would be nice. So with that thought firmly in place, he took another deep swallow.

Maybe it'd help get the image of an almost pants-less Shiloh out of his head, too. He did not need to see that.

"I look good without my pants, gracie, so shu'up," Shiloh said, and Val jumped, having momentarily forgotten about, uh...yeah, mind-reading Pilot. His body went rigid, but when Shiloh only grabbed a beer and cracked it open, he loosened up again with a sigh. Friend of Finaa's or not, having a Pilot in the room was still disconcerting.

But he was going to try. He didn't want Finaa smacking him again or anything. Rolling his eyes again, he looked to Finaa. "I told you it wasn't me you had to worry about."

[Anonymous]

"Aww babe." Finaa moved over to Shiloh and gave him a hug, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, "Don't worry. When Val goes home and you behave tonight, we can do anything you want tonight." Take a step back, she gave Shiloh what she hoped was a smoldering look and repeated, "Anything."

Moving away from Shiloh, Finaa took a seat on her bed, crossing her legs underneath her. She blinked, not having been aware of Val's thoughts, giving Shiloh a strange look, "Um. Yes. You do. Don't worry."

Taking another drink, Finaa sighed, switching tactics, "Please guys? Can you both just try to get along? I just want to have a fun night with two friends. Let's try a topic change, okay? Shiloh, you gonna stop by for the masquerade? What's everyone going as?" It was a lame topic, but it was all Finaa could think of at the moment. She just...wanted to have fun and for two of her friends to see how awesome they could be. She didn't want Val to be scared of Pilots forever.

[Rhi-Rhi]

"...Can we kick him out now?" Shiloh 'pathed back, but he was only half-joking. Which meant the other half was quite serious and damned hopeful. Whores were a good fuck and a decent release, but they weren't his friends and he didn't give a shit about them once he was cleaning up and gathering his clothes. It was different with Finaa. It didn't feel like he was screwing her just to screw her, because he was horny and she was there.

He loved her.

Just not like that. Fuck no. She was his best friend but he wouldn't ever wanna date her.

Following Finaa to the bed, he sat beside her and took swig of beer so he didn't say anything else that would land him in trouble with her. Right, right...good behavior. The last thing he wanted was to upset Finaa. Swallowing beer, he thought for a moment. Oh right. Masquerade. Shit. He'd forgotten all about it and now that he remembered, he really didn't want to go. There would be too many people and it was stupid social event thing and argh, but that bitch PR chick said he had to.

And the Imperial said her words were backed by him.

Craaap.

"Uhh..." He shot Finaa a look as though asking for help. "A...uh...TRIM experiment? Shit, I dunno. A cop? Whaddabout you?"

Val only snorted and crossed his arms. "I was planning on skipping. My options beyond 'token handicapped kid'--oh, excuse me, 'token handicapable kid'--are a bit limited."

[Anonymous]

Finaa shot Shiloh a grateful look that he was actually trying. It meant a lot to her. She wanted to drink a beer and try and have everyone get along. She knew Shiloh probably wasn't the best person in the world so show Pilots weren't all....assholes, but he was the one she knew best.

And Finaa loved Shiloh. He was one of her closest people in the entire world. She just got frustrated he never showed that side of him to anyone else.

"Oooh. Cop! That's sexy! I vote Cop! Gonna have handcuffs?" Finaa took a drink of beer and beamed, "Me? I'm totally going as Jewel from Jewel and the Projections!" It had taken some serious editing of some of her outfits and a care package from home, but she had a costume almost ready.

Her perky mood was rather effectively killed by Val's statement. Her bright smile vanished and she just gave Val a hurt look, "Why do you do that? I'm trying to have fun, have a good time with some beers and friends and you pull that. Why? Your legs are crushed? I really can't have a lot of sympathy for you Val. You were told what to do to fix it. You want to be too proud to do it? That's your call, but stop being a fucking bitch about it."

Finaa knew it was harsh, but it was true. And she was tired of Val's attitude. He was a pretty cool guy when he wasn't whining, "I like you, Val. But if your gonna be like this, you can leave. If you want to stop your pity party for five minutes, get drunk and have a good time, stay."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Fuckin' gracie!

Finaa's mood wasn't the only one to plummet. Shiloh felt things had been starting to get exciting, what with the handcuff talk--which had gotten him thinking about using said handcuffs on 'Jewel'. What could he say? Only Finaa knew his weak spot for that show, and he had sworn her to secrecy to tell not a soul, but yeah. If he could fuck a cartoon, Jewel would be it. And with Finaa's abilities, he could!

Then Val went and had to be there, and say shit.

He turned his disapproving stare on the kid but for Finaa's sake, kept his mouth shut. Not like he had to say anything, anyway. He'd been in Val's shoes before; he knew 'the look' and 'the talk' and it was a terrible thing to undergo. He didn't envy Val an ounce, though he did let the corner of his mouth twitch upwards, feeling kinda smug that it wasn't him for once.

leaveleaveleaveleaveleaveleaveleave

...Though on second thought, if Val left then Finaa would be depressed and depressed Finaa was depressing.

Fuck. Actually...

staystaystaystaystaystaystaystaystay

There was a long moment of silence. Val just looked back at Finaa, mouth open like he wanted to say something and then closing again. Pure shock painted his face, because no one before had ever said something like that. Not even here. Here, it had been a lot of pity. He expected pity from her. And much as he thought he didn't want pity, he often found himself pitying himself. But Finaa...

She called me a 'fucking bitch'...

He didn't know what to say, honestly shocked into silence for one of the few times in his life. How did you respond to that?!

After a few more moments, he dropped his eyes.

"I'm...sorry," he sighed, rolling his beer can between his palms anxiously. This was the one friend he'd made here so far. Pride be damned, he didn't want to lose that. "I am. I..." Finally he picked it up and chugged the rest of it despite the foul taste, then set it aside. "I think I need to get wasted."

[Anonymous]

Finaa watched Val, that disappointed look on her face as he worked through his thoughts. She was a little nervous about his response. She liked Val, he was witty and fun to hang out with when he wasn't pitying himself. And she didn't want to lose him as a friend, but enough was enough.

She sagged a little in relief when he apologized and a bright smile reappear on her face, knocking back her own drink, "I'll drink to that." Things were still a little tense, but not so bad. And they just needed to leave this little moment behind them, that was all.

The beer was a little warm now, but the taste was growing on her, "So, I heard a rumor that some stage 2 girl wasn't taking her birth control and got herself knocked up. On purpose. Because she thought that would get her out of training."

Finaa had no idea if that was true or not, but one of the girls in her class had passed it on to her.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Well, that new topic was at least good way to get off the subject, especially since Val didn't really know what to say even after his apology had been (he guessed) accepted. But that was enough to grab his attention. He straightened up in surprise, eyes going wide, and froze in opening up his second can of beer.

"What'd they do to her?" he asked, kind of afraid of the answer. For all he knew, they probably made her abort...by kicking her down the stairs.

Shiloh shrugged, downing his own beer. "Prob'ly had it 'terminated'," he said. "Fuck if I know. Made her do trainin' anyway an' kicked 'er in th' gut? Let 'er have it 'cause they want more psychics? Iunno. Never paid much attention."

[Anonymous]

"Probably." Finaa shrugged her shoulders, taking a long swig of beer. She had learned to drink it fast so she could get drunk enough to not care what it tasted like. That was her Shiloh all over though. Could afford the good stuff, but he went with what was familiar. He only ever got better beer when Finaa made sure to mention an exact brand.

She giggled into her bottle as she remembered the time she had just asked for good beer. And Shiloh had brought the one step up shit beer. Poor baby had no idea why she had laughed when she had seen it.

"Some people just don't make sense. I mean....even assume she can keep the baby, wouldn't you think she would figure out it's right back into the program?" Finaa was glad she had total control over her reproductive capabilities. None of that baby stuff thank you, "What about you Shy? Got any good Pilot stories? Some racy gossip?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

“Oh yeah, tons,” Shiloh said with a grin, cracking open another can of beer. “Like, all th’ Royals’re dirty ol’ pervs. Like one, he’s fuckin’ a fourteen-year-old, an’ he’s prob’ly ‘round fifty. It’s one of th’ other Pilots’ sisters, too.” He threw Finaa a pointed look. “Yer mentor Gabe’s sister. Speakin’ of perverted old Royals, Roman—Val, that’s yer mentor innit? Well, he got caught fuckin’ Gabe in an elevator. Bart saw an’ prob’ly joined. Heard a belt was involved. They’re both like thirty years older or something. It’s like a theme.”

He paused to take a swig of beer, wetting his mouth. “Though ya’d appreciate those bits. Basically, Pilots like ‘em young, so watch out. An’ don’t think havin’ no legs’ll stop anyone,” he added, shooting a look at Val, who wrinkled his nose and took a drink to try and mask some of his disgust.

“Yeah, right…” he muttered, trying to repress his irritation. Why, gee, of course he always wanted to know about his sadistic mentor’s sex life and think of him having threesomes! However did that idiot guess? Ugh...

“Rachel is 14? Really? She seemed older.” Finaa was surprised to hear that, she had seemed a lot older when they had met washing Nuriel. But maybe she was just an early bloomer? It had happened before.

She took a long drink of beer, her eyes getting wider and wider as Shiloh went on. The sex lives of Pilots was intense! Though…she was starting to doubt the validity of these stories as Shiloh went on, “…Shiloh. Bart is like 40 and he and Roman aren’t 30 years older than Gabe. Geeze.”

Tilting her head back, she drained the beer and reached for another one. It was shit, but if you drank fast enough, it didn’t matter to much, “And don’t worry Val. Roman isn’t really into boys as far as I know, so stop teasing him Shy.” She smiled at the blond, “Though don’t feel too bad, I think you are plenty cute, even in the wheelchair!”



Shiloh rolled his eyes and shrugged dismissively. “Yeah, whatever. They’re still pretty old and rapin’ Pilots an’ Candidates young ‘nuff to be their kids. Ya can’t tell me that ain’t nasty. And,” he added, leaning forward and pointing at Finaa. “Ya can’t tell me Roman ain’t into boys. What’d I jus’ tell ya? He had a fuckin’ all-dude threesome! What’s that if it ain’t being into guys? He was inside ‘em, so what more d’ya need?”

Val rubbed his face, trying not to gag at the mental image Shiloh was painting, and though Finaa’s reassurance wasn’t all that reassuring, he at least liked the compliment. Besides, it was a subject change. He really didn’t want to know this shit about the Pilots.

“Well, that’s one person,” he said, letting his hand fall away and smiling a little.


“Shiloh. Really.” Finaa shook her head, laughing at how serious Shiloh was about the whole thing, “Besides, I am pretty sure Gabe has a thing for Roman. I mean, who wouldn’t? I would sleep with Roman in a heartbeat.”

Finaa leaned over and gave Val a kiss on the cheek, “Exactly! And I’m sure there are plenty of others too.” She then glanced over at Shiloh, “I mean, even Shiloh was jumping at the chance for a threeway with you.”


Shiloh made a face, nose wrinkling in disgust, and took another gulp of beer. “I wouldn’t sleep with Roman. He’s prob’ly into all sortsa freaky sadomasochistic shit.” And while Shiloh liked rough sex, both giving it and getting it, he drew the line there. No bondage (well, unless he was the one doing the tying), whips, knives…that sorta stuff.

But his mind was abruptly dragged from that thought when Finaa mentioned him wanting a threesome with Val.

Both he and Val whipped around to stare at Finaa, the word, “What?!” leaving them at the same time. Shiloh glared at Val for copying him, and Val glared right back.

“I was not!” Shiloh barked, looking at Finaa again. “I was jus’ sayin’, if havin’ a threesome with ‘im would mean getting’ sex with ya, then I’d do it. Jus’ sayin’. S’long as I didn’t hafta touch ‘im.”

“Oh, good, the feeling is mutual. That could have been so awkward,” Val said with a snort, but it was less snide and more…relieved. He shrugged. “I’m not into guys.” Especially not diseased lower caste ones, but for Finaa’s sake he didn’t add that bit.



Finaa hid her laugh behind her beer, taking another long swallow. They were both just so silly! And it wasn’t like Shiloh wasn’t into men, it was painfully obvious. They often fucked when Finaa was a guy.

“See, you two are finding things in common already.” She licked the top of her beer, snagging a drop that was about to slide down, “Though, I donno. Depends on how kinky Roman was for me. Besides, the man is gorgeous enough that if sleeping with him meant being tied up? Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.”

Finaa wasn’t really that into kinky sex, or Roman for that matter. Well, maybe a little into Roman, the man was walking sex, but she mostly was saying it to tease Shiloh.

[Rhi-Rhi]

“Can we…not talk about Roman?” Val cut in, grimacing and rubbing the side of his face. “I’m not drunk enough for this.”

Shiloh tossed another beer at Val—who jolted but managed to catch it, nice reflexes—and rolled his eyes at Finaa. “If ya like getting’ tied up, I could do it…” he said, and frowned. “He’s not that great lookin’. Looks like he ain’t slept in days. Anyhow, tha’s all the juicy gossip I got fer th’ week.”

He was quiet for a moment, sipping his beer, but then set it aside and added, “Oh yeah, how’s yer trainin’ stuff goin’? With yer mentor? He treatin’ ya right?”


“Okay okay!” Finaa laughed, amused by the boys reactions. She leaned forward again, this time kissing Shiloh’s cheek, “Don’t worry though. I think you are much cuter.” She wouldn’t lie, it felt nice to have someone being a little jealous she was gushing over someone else. That someone was actually afraid to lose her. It might be a little unhealthy, but it made Finaa happy.

“Gabe? He’s great. He’s been working with me so I don’t lose focus during intense situations. Though I still find it harder to think straight during sex than combat.” She huffed, taking a swig of the beer, “I keep bleeding thoughts into people and it’s just awkward.”



Shiloh relaxed a little when Finaa kissed his cheek, and loosened up even more when she said that Gabe was doing well with her. Good. Because if he wasn’t, there’d be words. However, the sex part piqued his interest and  he leaned towards her.

“Y’know, I could help ya with tha’ part, Finaa,” he told her seriously. “With th’ sex an’ thoughts part, since I figger yer mentor wouldn’t. ‘Cause tha’s important an’ all, case ya ever got tortured or something’.”

It made perfect sense in his head.

“Yes, because that’s the first method that will pop into any interrogator’s head,” Val said, finishing up half of his beer. He was starting to feel a little pleasantly buzzed.


Finaa laughed at Shiloh’s attempts to be selfless and helpful. It was rather cute how transparent it was, “I would love the help Shiloh. I need all the practice I can get.” Finaa curled up against the wall on her bunk, enjoying the beer as it started to work on her, “And I doubt it will be used for torture, but it’s a problem in combat. And I keep freaking out my girlfriend every time we make out and she gets a head full of my hormonal thoughts.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Shiloh's eyebrows raised. "Ya gettin' sexed in combat? Who ya fightin'?"

Val's face met his palm and he bit back a groan. It was so, so hard to keep in the comments, but after Finaa's telling him off, he thought twice before he said anything. "I don't think that's what she meant." Moron. He didn't know how Finaa stood him, but he guessed it was because he was dumb and easy or something. "You know. Controlling thoughts during distracting situations..."

"Yeah, yeah," Shiloh snorted, and scooted back on the bed so he could hook an arm around Finaa's waist and cuddle closer to her. And fuck anyone who said anything about him cuddling. "Yer hormonal leakage don't bother me."

Val made a face, cheeks puffed out with a mouthful of beer he'd been about to swallow.

Oh...

Gross.

[Anonymous]

Shifting against Shiloh's weight, Finaa curled into his lap, awkwardly sipping her beer in that position. She liked cuddles anytime and when starting to get a little buzzed? She was a sucker for them, "Thank you Val. And...thank you, Shiloh, for that lovely comment." Finaa gave him a amused, slightly exasperated look, "But yeah, I need help keeping my shields up, even when I can't super concentrate on them."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Shiloh ran the fingers of his free hand through Finaa's hair, not yet buzzed but well on his way there. "Well, s'like I said, I can help ya. Anytime." He paused. "An' not jus with th' sexy parts. I mean th' fightin' an' distractions an' whatnot. But also th' sex."

Because yes, he wanted that, too, and he wasn't about to let her forget that or misinterpret that.

While he was no master of shielding or anything, he was still a Pilot and perfectly capable of punching through a candidate's shields, even if he couldn't crumble another Pilots'. And hey, he still knew a thing or two about the basics, how to throw up a basic shield to protect your mind from all the psychic whatchamacallit floatin' around, and basic psionic assaults. Stuff all Pilots should know, nothing special.

Feeling pleasantly buzzed, which was like the best feeling in a long time, Val leaned back in his chair and sipped his beer. "So what's it like, anyway?" he said at length. "Fighting with psionics?"

[Anonymous]

Finaa rolled her eyes to Val, out of sight of Shiloh, "Thank you Shiloh. I'll take you up on that offer." It was adorable really, how simple Shiloh was. And, honestly, it was just...nice sometimes. Finaa took care of a lot of people, mostly because she cared. But sometimes, it was just nice to deal with someone who was just...simple. There was little complexity in Shiloh's life and keeping him happy and healthy was as simple as telling him they could fuck as boys and it didn't count as gay because she normally looked like a girl.

"You know, I don't really honestly know. I mean, I have done some, but it's mostly Gabe tearing my shields apart. And I don't..uh...really have much in the way of offensive powers."

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Sure ya do," Shiloh said, giving Finaa a reassuring squeeze. "Yer a shapeshifter. Tha's offensive."

"But not psionic," Val pointed out with another roll of his eyes. "That's physical."

"I know tha'!" Shiloh snapped, scowling, and Val looked away to hide his smirk. "Anyways, Finaa, ya can fight with me anytime. Not th' best at th' shieldin' stuffs, but I got enough. Maybe it'd help to do a little with someone less'n expert?"

[Anonymous]

Don't laugh. Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh. Shiloh wouldn't think it was funny at all, but Finaa thought it was adorable. He was trying so hard to make her feel better, and in a round about way, it was working.

It was hard to feel stressed out in the face of such...awkward eagerness. "Thank you Shiloh. That would be helpful. Every bit helps and all that." And well, for all the places Shiloh might fail, combat wasn't really one of them.

Though, she was starting to lose hope that even beer could make Val and Shiloh get along. They just seemed at each others throats and liked it that way. Which was disappointing, but, well, she would just have to give up for now. But that didn't really solve the problem about what to talk about now. Some nice, common ground...

"Um, so...I'm going to be washing a dragon. Nuriel, he's Pilot....um...." Finaa scrunched her nose up, trying to recall the Pilot's name, "Hamilton's dragon. And wants the girl candidates to put on swimsuits and give him a bath. And I'm technically a girl candidate."