Everyone loves the sun!

[Anonymous]

Sunshine had never been more happy in her life. She practically jittered as she went class to class,
nothing could cut down how exciting all of this was and people who didn’t love being a candidate
just weren’t doing it right. You had to be good to be a good student to get through, you had to want it and Sunshine very much wanted this. This was everything she could ever hope for, finding out she was psychic and could be a Pilot one day? Best day of her life.

After pushing her short hair out of her face she gave a stretch and rolled her shoulders. Though she wasn’t a very big fan of the brawling, sometimes her chest got in the way and it actually did hurt when a boob got squished. Sunshine looked down at the books she was holding at her side and pursed her lips before she took the long way back to the dorms.

It felt like a wander day.

Her tail flicked behind her as she walked, an extra source of balance. Her footsteps were light and what she really wanted to do was run but that would hardly be allowed in the hallways she was a candidate! They were important! They were pre-Pilots.

It’d been almost a year and the possibility of one day being able to be a powerful Pilot was still a source of excitement. Of course her mentor was one too. He knew Sabela.  Sunshine hadn’t seen him much since she was still only stage 2, all the meetings had been quick and painless. Sunshine was sure she was supposed to be constantly worried about passing, because she was meeting with her mentor but...

Eee, Pilots.

So, while her mind wandered she had a stupid look on her face, her eyes half closed and a dreamy smile. The little jewels at the base of her horns - only there still because they were near impossible to move without amputating the things - caught any light available. Her footsteps were quiet and her pace was quick.

Which would probably be why she didn’t see anyone that might have been coming from the other direction.

[Tally]

Cross carried a datapad in one hand and weaved his way through the hallways of the ATC, not really paying attention to who he passed.  He had this route memorized and went through his schedule as he walked, navigating with his peripheral vision.  He had a long way to go to get to the next item on his agenda.  Candidate Fox was roughly seventy floors down and clear on the other side of the building from him.

About halfway there he started wishing he'd taken that extra week of leave they'd offered him.  The healing bullet wound in his stomach started bothering him the more he stayed on his feet and he was definitely feeling it now.  Could have been worse, though.  He could be bed-ridden like Rosales.

So they'd take it easy today, go over his expectations for Fox and get her on track with the training.  He encountered her mind and then moments later found the candidate herself, walking toward him from the other end of a hallway.

The girl had her head in the stratosphere.  That kind of unawareness wasn't going to fly with him.  He'd have to cure her of that.  Good enthusiasm, though.  Reminded him a little bit of himself when he was a new candidate.

She didn't even notice him as they drew across from one another.  He waited until she was a couple steps past him then used his drill voice.  "Fox!"

[Anonymous]

The noise made her jump slightly and her tail stuck out and she felt bad for the person the guy was screaming at. Then she remembered that she was Fox. Oh shit. Sunshine quickly fixed it though, backtracking quickly and falling into a salute with her shoulders back and her chest out and her arm straight and her head up. Her tail flicked back and forth a few times before she forced herself to stop so it just trembled beside her leg.

It was always tough to keep the appendage still when it was built to sway.

“Yes sir Pilot Let–Letend-“ Darn his last name, “Yes, Sir Pilot Cross, Sir! Pilot Candidate Sunshine Fox apologizes for not noticing you, Sir!” Her heart was beating quickly, this was scary! Being called on! Not noticing that her mentor was standing there and she walked right past him. Embarrassing! What was she supposed to do now? Stand in a salute? Comment on the lovely white walls and her lovely grey uniform?

Uhhh. “How are you today, Sir!” Sunshine hadn't moved away from her salute or rigid posture, so the whole thing probably looked a little funny.

[Tally]

Cross had to press his lips together to hold back his laugh.  He'd never had that reaction to a candidate before.  He shouldn't be having that reaction at all really.  He was supposed to be serious here!  Her role model!  Her rock!  This was serious business and deserved all the gravity he could bring to it...

...but her scrambling and rambling was just funny.  And endearing.  And not something he could tolerate when she was addressing him.

"Candidate Fox."  Cross mastered his expression back into a hard mask.  "Firstly, it's Leh-TEN-der.  Secondly, don't ever talk about yourself in third person except when identifying yourself to a superior you've never met before.  And thirdly, once you have saluted a superior you stand at attention until your superior leaves your presence or instructs you to stand at ease."

She was, perhaps, a bit of a scatterbrain.  These were things most candidates got beat into them during basic.  Though if nothing else, it was cute to watch.

[Anonymous]

Sunshine kept her hand at her head until Pilot Letendre mentioned standing at attention. Her hand instantly went down and she puffed out her chest, stood even straighter and her tail flicked a few times before she wrapped it around her leg so make it stop moving. She could do that! His name, her name and attention.

“Yes, sir!” Sunshine was a little confused as to what to do now. Did he just want to check up on her greeting etiquette? She probably failed that, but she refused to disappoint him further! “What can I do for you, Sir?”

[Tally]

Cross swiped through the screens on his datapad, getting the info for her schedule and the evaluations she'd received from Rosales and her instructors.  "Shutting your mouth would be a start," he said, checking what was up next on her schedule.

She's have to get beyond this over-familiarity with her superiors.  It did not incline him to keep her on his good side when she started questioning him.  It was only one of the myriad of problems he had to solve with his candidates.  He was beginning to wonder how Rosales kept up with all this.

"Come.  I'll walk with you to your next drill.  I want to observe."  He started walking and expected her to follow.  "Now that you've graduated, more of your instruction will fall to myself and other Pilots and you will train less with the ordinary soldiers.  Before you pass to the next stage you will have to display the gravitas expected of a candidate. And you will have to display it consistently and upon demand."

[Anonymous]

Confusion and she gave a nod and kept her mouth shut further, lips drawn tight and into a frown. Well, she supposed she deserved that, she was still figuring out the finer details and this Pilot was new to her, so she'd figure out his querks and what he didn't like soon. Talking appeared to be it. She could do that. Sunshine nodded towards him and kept her hands at her side, her position relaxed.

Sunshine stared after Cross before she started to follow, her footsteps quick while she was catching up. She was confident in her abilities, she had no need to be nervous, but it was a change having your mentor watch you at your drills.  Seemed more need to show off, but showing off made you sloppy. So she'd just... do what she normally did. If that wasn't good enough, she'd just practice and try harder next time.  That should be okay.

Unfortunately there was a bump in the road.  She didn't know what a gravitas was. Consistantly and upon demand. The gravitas. Sunshine just nodded solemnly and entered the room where the next drill was taking place, looking towards her mentor fleetingly before she fell into line and stood at attention. It was a more physical drill, which would be good. It went without  problems, it was just as long or as short as it ever felt and Sunshine had worked up a sweat and earned a few bruises. She wasn't outstanding, but she wasn't awful, average of a stage 2 candidate. Only thing out of the ordinary was her balance and that could be explained away because of her tail.

[Tally]

It pleased him that she was able to follow a simple order, and he expressed that pleasure by not making her life any more difficult on the way to the drill.  He could have.  If a candidate was pissing him off or disappointing him, he could find a great many inconsistencies and faults to take issue with.  Posture, a wrinkle in their uniform, even the thoughts in their head.  He let Sunshine off the hook until it was time to pass her off to the drill instructor.

He used the time to make some last minute adjustments to her schedule and update her profile with some of his own comments and observations.  He took notes not just on her performance but also her state of mind.

There wasn't much time until her next class.  Before she had to leave again, he caught her to answer a thought she'd had earlier.  "Gravitas is seriousness, dignity.  It refers to your demeanor."