[AU] Without me you would be dead

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Поделиться125-03-2018 22:52:53

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

Cassian Andor, Kay Tooesso

Время: 11 BBY
Место: in a galaxy far, far away
Описание: Cassian is old enough to start helping out on missions, but apparently he isn’t old enough to do it on his own.

the timeline

• 10.V — Cassian is assigned to be Kay’s trainee
• 11.V — Kay and Cassian get their first mission and discuss how to approach it. Sometime later that day they go to Uquine.
• 20.V — a woman comes to them with a job, “a simple fishing tool which can provide access to internal messages of any network it’s implemented into.” They suspect she’s from a cell. (And she is from a fake one.)
• 21.V — in the morning after finishing the job they talk about why Cassian things the Empire is bad. Cassian passes the finished job back to the woman. Kay tinkers with commlinks turning them into GPS, and in the evening they both go to a (rebel) talk at a cantina called Low Deck. There are people watching them at the cantina. Kay gets thoroughly drunk, and Cassian has to drag him home. The apartment didn’t get searched as Kay thought it would.
• 22.V — Kay tasks Cassian with asking around about the people who watched them in the cantina the day before. Cassian learns from his friends that there are two cells, one is fake, the other is not.
• 25.V — a twi’lek and a woman (from a real cell) ambush Kay and Cassian on their home from a grocery store. They demand explanation about Cassian asking around risky question a few days ago. Turns out, the rebels know the woman, Marani, too. Cassian and Kay learn that Marani was about to switch sides when she was killed—right after she collected their work. Kay is forced to show the twi’lek his slave marks so the rebels would let them both go. Finally, they exchange contacts.
• 26.V — Kay suddenly leaves Cassian alone and goes looking for the Imperial cell.
• 27.V — The next day the fake cell comes and searches the apartment while Cassian is out.
• 29.V — a man (Elek), saying he’s from a local rebel cell, comes to Cassian with a job, he wants a simple decoding program.
• 30.V — Not succeeding in his endeavour, Kay returns to the apartment where he left Cassian. They exchange the news. Cassian explains what he did while Kay was absent and they come to the conclusion that their landlord is a part of the game, possibly helping the fake cell. They contact the rebel cell and learn that they got searched by the fake cell. Kay infects the datadisk Cassian is going to give their new client (Elek) from the day before with a virus to learn their hiding spot.
• 31.V — Cassian goes to pass the datadisk to the client (Elek). His task is to get intel but instead he gets kidnapped by Elek. Mist Osh (the landlord) paralyzes and kidnaps Kay. Cassian escapes.
• 32.V — Together with local rebels Cassian frees Kay, they kill Elek and Mist. After welcoming local rebels to the bigger Rebellion, Cassian and Kay go back to the rebel base. In the evening Kay asks Draven to reassign him, but Draven refuses.
• 33.V — Kay low-key tortures Cassian to teach him a lesson. Under torture Cassian tells Kay that the name of the girl he likes is Thea. Kay suggests Cassian should go to therapy and work through his issues caused by being an orphan on Fest and then an orphan on the rebel base.
• 34–35.V + Fruitfulness Day + 1–6.VI — Kay is training Cassian at the rebel base.
• 7.VI — Kay and Cassian get a new mission. They are tasked with getting intel from one of the rebel informants at Coruscant.
• 10.VI — Kay and Cassian arrive to Coruscant.

[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ]<a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a><div class="lz-hr"></div>Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer[/LZ]

Отредактировано K-2SO (16-09-2021 10:10:25)

Поделиться18109-12-2018 12:42:06

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

In the hastiness of their departure, Kay forgets his initial plan to eliminate every single one of Imperial agents around Uquine. However, if they are all like Mist and his accomplice, then there is nothing to worry about. Besides, not getting captured themselves at the moment is more important. Kay rubs at his eyes, sitting in his seat in the cockpit, and busies himself with the take-off procedures. It’s a miracle they didn’t get stopped, so they better not stretch their luck.
“It was the landlord,” Kay says tiredly in between talking to a dispatcher. “Recognized me from the good old days.”
It takes them another fifteen minutes to get off the planet and into space, and only then Kay admits he is tired. The buzz of adrenalin is slowly subsiding. The nav computer is calculating their route home. Kay set it to make something in between twenty to thirty jumps, so it’s going to take a while—just in case anyone decides to follow them. He rubs at his eyes again, putting down the headphones, and turns his head to Cassian.
“You did well. Congratulations on beating the odds,” Kay sighs and gets up. “Put the ship into the hyperspace and go sleep yourself. You can ask me a whole bunch of questions when we both wake up if you want.”
Kay starts walking away but then stops and turns back, “It wasn’t your fault they got me, I provoked them on purpose. It was the only way to learn if they got you or not. Do I have to bring a cup of caf here or you okay conjuring one in your mind to help you stay concentrated? And you better not skip sleeping. I have to teach you how to write reports before we get to the base.”
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Отредактировано K-2SO (09-12-2018 12:42:39)

Поделиться18209-12-2018 14:38:27

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]He needs a moment to remember what caf has to do about the hyperspace. Then he remembers. It was what, last month, and yet he remembers it as something distant, from precious lifetime. Before the mission started he was worried about entering and leaving the hyperspace. The rest seemed to be so easy.
Cassian shakes his head.
"I'm good. Thanks, Kay."
It is much easier now: he remembers they flight here, him entering and leaving the hyperspace, and the memory keeps him confident and concentrated. The ship jumps - and there's a white light and a quiet hum, mesmerizing, sedating. Cassian yawns and drags himself from his sit.
He is so tired he can almost feel a cot hugging him when he finally lies down. Instead of sleeping though Cassian thinks for a bit. He has a lot to think about.
About his odds. The second time should be easier, but the possibility of him dying is still high. After the first mission he treats numbers more seriously. It's not a game, not an adventure. People die on missions, and people get caught. Even when you do well, you just can't predict everything and people might get hurt.
About his questions. There's so many things he wants to know about Kay. So many things he wants to hear from him.
About his Kay. He used to be curious about him, and then he despised him, and now he likes him with all his heart.
About what happens next. What will their second mission be like? Is report writing interesting? What will the general say when he knows how well Cassian did? Did he really do well?
Questions and thoughts crowd round until there's a gridlock, and only then Cassian gives it up to the sleep.

Поделиться18309-12-2018 15:18:24

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

The kid says he’s going to be alright, and Kay trusts him. He goes straight to bed, barely manages to undress he’s so tired. Sleep claims him immediately, not leaving any time for obsessively overthinking his own emotions or his own life choices. He wakes up to the hum of the hyperspace jump, the ship rattling ever so slightly around him, the room dark and quiet. All the pains of yesterday catching up to him, his wrists still aching from the ropes.
Kay stays lying in bed. His deal was, if he gives the Empire this, they will let him go. He doubts they will, of course, he’s not a moron, but they might. They might. If he plays his cards just right, they might. Kay doesn’t like how long it takes him to convince himself it’s a valid plan. He doesn’t like pretending to betray the Empire to then betray the Rebellion, but the greater fates of the galaxy don’t exactly concern him. His folks are gone, so it’s only him, and he doesn’t have to care about anyone else out there.
Except for Cassian.
Damn that kid.
Kay sighs and gets up, carefully reassembling his calmness and his usual demeanor. What if he does ask the general to reassign the kid? What would his arguments even be? The mission is a kriffing success, and he can’t understate the kid’s input. Kay sits in the teeny tiny kitchen eating his porridge and feels trapped by the circumstances. The general will refuse him if there isn’t a good reason, and Kay sees none. Cassian is indeed doing good. He’s a smart kid. He also has this magical ability to charm old and gruff Imperial agents, apparently.
Kay imagines how it would go if he tells Cassian the truth. The kid would definitely never forgive him, that’s for sure. But then he will also give Kay away to the general, and there isn’t any need to guess whose words they are going to believe. So that’s off the table then. What would be his other options? Defect completely? Mist was right, the Empire will find him. He knows too much, he has too many skills that can be easily used against them, and above all, he’s ruthless.
Kay muses over killing the kid, saying it was an accident on the mission. It was his first, and he didn’t survive, it happens. It’s a very plausible explanation. The general probably won’t care. The general will be pissed at him for not doing everything in his power to save the kid. It isn’t a particularly good strategy, in the long run, the general being the one who shields Kay from everyone’s distrust.
Why didn’t they stop on Cassian disliking him because of Fest, for star’s sakes, that would be perfect.
Kay washes the dishes and sits back at the table with a cup of caf. He fetches a datapad—their belongings collected from the flat by the local rebels, thankfully, everything intact—and starts writing a report template he can use to explain Cassian how to write about the mission. The kid doesn’t have to do it this time or anytime in the future if they stay partnered, but it’s good to know. Also, it distracts Kay from thinking.
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Отредактировано K-2SO (09-12-2018 23:47:33)

Поделиться18409-12-2018 19:38:51

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]Cassian doesn't know how long did he sleep. He knows how to measure time in his mind, of course. Theoretically. In reality he still needs some help with this. Usually Cassian relies on small details around him, but in the hyperspace it's impossible. When he fell asleep, there was the hyperspace. When he wakes up - there still is.
Cassian stretches his muscles and lets his eyes mindlessly wander around his cabin. It should look like he has lived here for a while, and it sure does, but it doesn't feel like it's his. It's perfectly understandable, but still makes him think. He thinks too much now and believes that's Kay's, well, not fault, but an influence, an impact. Is that for good or for better?
He doesn't know. He isn't tired anymore, that's something. Kay must be already up. It's either that or someone broke into their ship while being in the hyperspace and casually drinks caf.
The smell is different, but Cassian still smells it, and it's nice. Everything in space is. The humidity is too low, so tastes are a little bit tasteless, smells a little bit scentless. That's why pilots like caf. It's not about extra energy, not about taste. It's just nice to have something that strong you can smell it even in the hyperspace.
He follows that smell and leans in the doorway watching Kay working. Does Kay have some place he feels is his? Does he need one?
"What you gonna do when the war ends?" he asks.

Поделиться18510-12-2018 00:14:36

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

Kay doesn’t answer, just motions with his hand towards the caf pot, wordlessly suggesting Cassian pours himself some before sitting down. The template he’s working on is almost done, and he intends to finish it before getting into any lengthy discussions. He also needs some time to think. It’s not like the thought of doing something once he gets out has never crossed his mind, but he never dwelled on it. It always seemed such a distant future that there was no point in giving it too much thought, especially when there were more pressing matters.
Finally, Kay sits back, scrolls through the template document one last time and lifts his eyes from the datapad.
“I’m going to find some decent planet to settle down and try my best to make a good life for myself there. No killing. No drugging. No spying. Something very simple and nice. Something that would bore me out of my mind, the quicker the better,” he says, looking at Cassian calmly. The things he is describing are impossible for him, and Kay knows it, but it’s nice to entertain the mental image for a little bit. Then he shakes it off, “But don’t mistake me for a fool, kiddo. I don’t plan on surviving the war.”
The precision with which he has to play his hand is too much to handle, and Kay isn’t sure that even his analyzing capabilities would be enough. In the end, he is going to put himself in a position where both clashing forces will have a reason to kill him on sight. Besides, living in the present gives him some advantages over his enemies and opponents. Like with Mist. The memory makes him wonder briefly what was going on in the Imperial Intelligence branch once he defected. It doesn’t matter, not anymore. It’s not his problem anymore.
“Why do you ask?”
Kay doesn’t ask if it’s Cassian’s question, if he came to claim his reward. He doesn’t say a word about the question itself, doesn’t name it the first, doesn’t put any restriction on the number of questions Cassian has left. Instead Kay just switches off the datapad for now and sips at his caf, making it clear that the conversation might get long, and he doesn’t mind it.
He still can’t quite believe the kid survived the odds and more than that, he did it in one piece, not even a scratch—not really. No broken limbs or ribs, nothing. That is impressive. But then again, Cassian did survive Fest as a child. How much worse can it get?
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Отредактировано K-2SO (12-12-2018 00:19:10)

Поделиться18610-12-2018 00:54:03

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]Cassian sits across Kay. His caf is not steaming, but it's warm, and because of that the cup is nicely warm too. Cassian breathes in catching as much strong caf smell as he can, then he drinks, slowly, because they have plenty of time. Because if him slowing down with thinking brought so much he has never noticed before, maybe slowing down with other things will work too. It does. The caf hits his palate, and Cassian just sits, feeling it, waiting Kay to respond.
But after a response the caf is unimportant once again. Cassian frowns.
"What do you mean you don't plan on surviving?"
He frowns even more, to the point where his frowns have their own little frowns.
"You will live and you'll have not a good, but a great life. The one you want for yourself, but a little better, because why not? Cause you are the best agent I've ever seen. If you can't pull it, then no one would. So you better try, because me - I'm not going to die. Well, except when I'm really old, then I believe I'll be quite tired with all the living. But before that I will live, and I will have a fantastic life! It's just..."
Cassian stops and sips his caf, his confidence and passion drains from him.
"I'm not really sure I know how to do that. Everything is temporary. Our bases, my quarters, assignments, people around. It seems the only permanent thing is the war. But if the only thing you know is war, how can you plan your life without it?"

Поделиться18712-12-2018 00:36:16

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

Cassian speaks like a true teenager—passionately, enthusiastically and naïve beyond measure. Maybe it’s Kay who’s become too cynical, too gruff. He listens quietly, enjoying the smell of caf chasing away the staleness of circulated air. The things the kid is describing are indeed good and desirable, but Kay was honest when he said he doesn’t exactly plan on surviving.
“Lo and behold, Cassian the Foreseer will tell you your future now, one hundred percent guarantee,” he says. “Because he plans on surviving the most unpredictable thing, being on the ultimately disadvantaged side of it, and he is so-o-o”—he makes sure to draw the o out—“sure of himself. He survived his first mission, after all. He knows things now. He’s a seasoned rebel now.”
Kay takes a sip of his caf and puts the cup on the table before reclining back in his place and crossing his arms in front of his chest. His face is as calm as usual, but there’s something clearly amused in his eyes. Maybe he shouldn’t worry about the kid after all. Just let him die on their second mission. He shouldn’t discourage Cassian’s bloated confidence then.
He still does, “If this is what you learned on this mission, it was a waste of time. As for your question, there hasn’t been a moment in my life when there wasn’t a war to fight. The galaxy is too vast and too different to be at peace. If you can’t survive without war, you just find the one you’d like to fight. Besides. It’s not like overthrowing the Emperor and getting rid of the Empire is going to stop the war. You might not be aware, being raised on Rebellion bases, but not every single soul in this galaxy wants to see the Empire gone. You’d be surprised at how many simply don’t see that big of a difference between the Galactic Republic, the Empire, and whatever the Rebellion wants to see as government.”
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Поделиться18812-12-2018 01:58:49

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]Cassian blushes.
"I didn't mean it that way," he murmurs.
He really didn't, although he doesn't know what makes Kay to mock him. Maybe he shouldn't want to live, or he shouldn't have a good life. Or it's a very personal choice, to live or to die, and if Kay made his and decided to die, it's a good choice whatever Cassian thinks of it.
Maybe, he should't have asked about the war and the future at all. After all, Kay is still his commanding officer, and Cassian is his subordinate. The mission is over, Nigel and Jeron are packed, and there's no need to talk to a Kay about thing people keep for conversations with their friends.
Cassian has friends. It's just, almost all of them are much older than him, and the are not just friends - they are officers and soldiers, and he is not, there is a military hierarchy between them, and sometimes he feels very lonely because of that.
Kay is nothing like them, but it doesn't mean he can be treated differently.
Cassian straightens a little bit regaining the proper posture, that for years tries to stand in for his natural, a bit wild slouch.
"Understood," he says and after a small pause elaborates. "I remember - there always are children who've lost their parents, no matter what side they supported. So, the war it is, then."

Отредактировано Cassian Andor (12-12-2018 14:15:16)

Поделиться18912-12-2018 15:09:12

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

Looks like he deflated the kid’s positive outlook on the world quite a bit. Kay doesn’t like the silence that unfolds after Cassian finishes talking, and he doesn’t like this brisk ‘understood’ even more. He sits, trying to decide if he can refrain from continuing this discussion or if him caring for the kid is a power he can’t withstand and has to oblige.
The power wins out, and Kay leans forward, putting his arms on the table and taking a less guarded position. “You’re too young to be jaded and cynical, it doesn’t suit you. That’s one thing. The other thing is,” he trails off.
It’s unbelievable he’s having this conversation with the kid he’s known only for several weeks. The kid he in turns wants to be gone from his life and to keep close to protect. For all his misgivings and sins, one thing Kay knows for sure—he doesn’t want to ruin anybody’s life this way. He isn’t cruel outside of work, he doesn’t like inflicting pain, feels no joy in seeing someone broken and defeated. Certainly not a sixteen-year-old teenager.
“The other thing is, you’re talking to an Imperial defector. My life is quite a bit more complicated than yours. You shouldn’t follow my words and beliefs or think that my truth will fit you. I don’t know how to plan a life without war if the only life you ever knew is war,” he says finally, exhaling with something akin anguish. His face quickly returns to its usual calm expression. “You figure it out on the go, I guess. Or find somebody who can help you figure it out together. A friend, a lover, a professional psychologist—someone.”
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Отредактировано K-2SO (12-12-2018 19:29:08)

Поделиться19012-12-2018 19:15:23

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]Kay sits differently too. Instead of Cassian who tries to look like he is very collected, Kay looks more relaxed. Cassian wonders whether Kay has to try or he really is relaxed.
He wonders but doesn't want to know, not for real. He can say he is old enough, and that he is a separatist, and its almost the same thing, and that a friend, a lover, a psychologist - or literally anyone would help Kay too if only he let someone to stay close to him, to help him, to talk. But he doesn't want to say it either. Besides, Kay lets him to stay close. Because of the general's order, for missions, for training, of course. But they talk, but he can ask questions. But all the mockery is nothing comparing to what Cassian endured in his life. Comparing with what Kay says when he is done with sarcastic remarks.
"It's hard to not catch it. I mean the cynicism. It's like a highly contagious disease. I'm trying as best as I can," Cassian says.
His shoulders slouch back for a second, then he sits straight again, but not that straight.
"You think you are still in danger because they recognized you on Uquine? You think, you'll be in danger forever? Why..."
Cassian stops. He understands suddenly that a month ago he wouldn't even think of the question he is asking. It's like now he can see more, and it's strange feeling. The fact he doesn't feel anything is wrong with his question is even stranger.
"Why didn't you just run away? You had you revenge, you killed your general. Why come to us?"

Поделиться19112-12-2018 19:45:36

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

Kay watches the kid relax a bit, and it soothes him way more than it should. There are other people who will take care of him, Kay reminds himself. Cassian has the general, has his friends on the base, other people in the Intelligence branch, and all of them will most likely do a better job of it. Kay just needs to get the kid back to the base. And then find a way to be less concerned with his safety on the next mission, if the general doesn’t miraculously decide to reassign the kid. The probability of that is very low. Very, very low.
For the second time since the assignment, Kay wonders what prompted the general to put them together in the first place. The man couldn’t have possibly known Cassian would be so good at getting so close to Kay. But maybe that is the reason. Maybe it’s a test. A trick to learn if he’s truly loyal and Kay has to pass it. He has to.
The kid is doing a relatively good job at analyzing their adventures and putting pieces together. Kay watches him calmly, not letting even a sliver of nervousness to escape. His body is still as relaxed as it was before he arrived at his somewhat unpleasant conclusion. He would like to think the rebel general wouldn’t stoop as low as getting the kid to do his bidding, even unknowingly, but he can’t rule it out.
Kay waits till Cassian finishes his question—and this one, for a change, he is fully prepared to answer.
“I made a promise,” he says. “A deal. With your general. I will kill the bastard if they help me escape and hide,” he says. A half-truth. That wasn’t the deal. “In return for their help I will keep working for them, will switch sides, not just desert but defect. It was a mutually profitable agreement. Nobody could get to the bastard except for me, and nobody would dare help me escape the wrath of the Empire except for them.”
Kay gives Cassian a long thoughtful look.
“Besides, it’s not like I have anywhere to go. Even if I had anyone left on Varadan, it was the first place they would search.”
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Поделиться19212-12-2018 22:46:36

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]"Oh," says Cassian. That he didn't expect.
It wasn't much of a choice like Kay says before. A choice between a life under the man who wiped out his planet and a revenge is not really a choice. Shouldn't be.
"I see."
He doesn't know what else to say. Kay doesn't need his pity, he was very vocal &bout it. What else he can do, if he can help, that Cassian doesn't know. He wish he could though, so the Rebellion wouldn't be another slaver with prettier, better label. So Kay has more choice than before he had before.
before.When the silence is too long, he scoffs.
"Well, if you are ever looking for options, I strongly recommend against Fest."
No one likes Fest but festians, and Cassian is used to it. It's fine. Although he thinks Kay might actually like it. Festian climate, it's eternal snow demands self-control and discipline, but it doesn't spoil Fest at all. Just like Kay.
"But you've escaped it, right?" Cassian suddenly asks, because there is something he can do. It goes against his upbringing, but Cassian knows the right thing when he sees it. And that is a right thing.
"They are not looking for you. That means you can... well, you could... would you though? Would you run away, if I help you? So you can choose instead of making doubtfully profitable agreements."

Отредактировано Cassian Andor (25-01-2019 14:04:22)

Поделиться19313-12-2018 00:08:34

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

Cassian’s comment about Fest actually draws a weak half-smile from Kay. It’s a rare occasion somebody would say something like that about their own home planet. Even though Kay himself wouldn’t suggest Varadan to any living soul, something about the way Cassian says it about Fest makes it, well, funny. Kay doesn’t know much about it, he just knows it’s cold and harsh, and there was a massacre which is, albeit partly, his responsibility. Somehow the kid still finds it in his heart to care.
It can’t possibly be true, there’s gotta be a catch. It’s gotta be a test.
For once there is a strong emotion on Kay’s face, and this emotion is surprise. His surprise is so strong it makes him straighten up, and look at Cassian intently, searching his face, his posture, quickly and rather obviously checking where is this coming from. If this is genuine.
“Remarkable,” Kay mutters to himself, making a visible effort to relax back into his previous posture. This doesn’t make any sense, and it makes it suspicious. “You’re a very peculiar young man, Cassian Andor,” he continues after a few moments of silence, surprise still ringing in his voice even though it’s gone from his face. “But no, I am not going to run. A deal is a deal.”
Kay can’t possibly imagine what did he do to deserve Cassian’s good regard. Quite possibly, it’s the simple fact of him being a child of war, forming a strong attachment to anyone who takes care of him. Something in the way the kid sits and talks makes Kay believe it’s not fake, or maybe it’s a wishful thinking. Everybody needs a friend; some people just pretend they don’t.
“Tell me about Fest. Why do you advise against it, do you not like it?” Kay picks up his cup and takes a few little sips. “I have to admit, I don’t know much about it despite... everything.”
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Поделиться19413-12-2018 01:54:32

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]It's a bad deal, but Cassian doesn't share his opinion. He suspects Kay knows it anyway, so there's no point in reminding him about it.
Kay smiles and turns conversation to Fest. Cassian looks down on 'despite'. After those first days he haven't been thinking about it much. It's still hard to acknowledge that the man who is responsible for what happened on Fest is the same man Cassian likes so much. He is fair, and smart, he explains things and never pushes Cassian but somehow still makes him to think, and see, and understand a world and people in it so very differently. And he cares about other people. The way he protected the general, saying he didn't know, so Cassian wouldn't re-channel his hatred towards other man. No one can do that and still be seen as a bad person. Even if he brought death to Cassian's homeplanet.
He doesn't take Kay as one. But he is grateful for 'everything' instead of 'massacre'.
"I don't remember it much. It's cold," he shrugs. "You can't stop, like, ever. You always walk somewhere, do something. If you stop, you'll get cold and maybe freeze to death. You don't cry outside, again, ever. You dress in layers, so you can adjust to the temperature inside fast. If you don't, you'll get sweaty, and you'll be cold outside. You never eat outside, even when you are really hungry, even if by the time you'll get inside your food is cold. You plan ahead, you think fast, or else you wouldn't probably survive."
He stops. He's telling about surviving on Fest, not about Fest itself. He starts again.
"There's snow everywhere, so falling down is okay; snow is cold, but it's soft. So you always get up and know better the next time. After the snowfall everything is covered, and clean, and really beautiful. Snowflakes sometimes tastes like salt, but most of the time it's just water, but it's tasty anyway to catch them with your mouth. The sky is very clean. And sometimes, if you are lucky, there's a northern lights in the night sky. If you see them, even if it's really cold, you'll get warm inside, because it's that beautiful."

Отредактировано Cassian Andor (13-12-2018 15:35:08)

Поделиться19528-12-2018 19:59:57

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

It doesn’t escape Kay the way Cassian looks down. It hurts the kid still, and Kay doesn’t like it, but the only way to stop perceiving something as trauma is to talk about it—or around it, as much as possible. Ease yourself into the subject that makes you ache. Kay knows, even though he never actually did it. It’s always easier to give advice rather than follow it. Unfortunately.
He listens intently, and at first, Cassian sounds perhaps too much like Kay would if he had to describe his childhood. The only difference being, for him he couldn’t cry or had to hide to eat not because of the harsh cold but because of the people who owned him. As far as Kay understands, on Fest everything is owned by winter.
The stop in Cassian’s description comes so suddenly that Kay turns his head to look at the kid to check if he’s doing okay. The kid’s fine and starts talking again soon, this time changing the angle from which he approaches the question. Now Fest sounds like nothing Kay has ever seen. He knows of snow, of course, but he has never been anywhere where there were northern lights. He saw them on holographs and holovids, but this was the extent of his experience.
“What else gets you warm inside?” Kay asks carefully, looking more at his own hands than at Cassian.
It’s a very interesting thing—to have some part of nature that makes you go warm inside. He suddenly finds himself searching for something like that in his own experience but comes up with nothing. Not a single kriffing thing. Maybe he forgot all of them. There had to be something when he was little. When he was happier despite everything. This thought prompts another one—is he happy now? Or is this kid, a child of war, someone who has been in this fight for as long as he can remember himself, somehow happier than he is?
It’s a good question, but Kay abandons it like a building on fire.
He’s a soldier. Soldiers aren’t supposed to be happy, they are supposed to serve their purpose.
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Поделиться19628-12-2018 23:53:48

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]Cassian shrugs, but before that he gives a small fast smile knowing he has chosen right. Kay is interested in a different, good side of Fest. The one Cassian likes to remember although he is not sure if that memory is real Fest or the idea of it, carefully separated from anything bad, purified from any evil, not real in any way.
He is not sure how long would he describe that imaginary Fest before coming clean and admitting it might exist in his mind only, so Cassian thinks he's lucky Kay doesn't ask more about his planet. He asks about warmth instead. Warmth is easier, but at the same time harder.
"Some small things, I don't know."
Ne, he's better than that, he wouldn't just shy away. Kay shared with him so mush, when he did good. And Kay himself does good all the time.
"Fire cracking. When senator Mothma speaks about the cause. When I remember something new about my parents. When I do something right and I think they would agree it was right. When pilots on duty doesn't have to fly anywhere and just chatting and playing sabacc and let me join. When I'm falling asleep after a nice busy day. When I dream in festian. When people I like are smiling. When they don't die. When the general... well, he doesn't do that anymore, but he used to bring me sweets from whatever planet he was on. It wasn't about the sweets, well... anyway, when someone is humming doing something. The smell of bread baking. Small things, you know."
He shrugs again.
"What do you like? If I'm not out of questions yet."

Отредактировано Cassian Andor (30-12-2018 18:39:18)

Поделиться19731-12-2018 23:53:22

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

“You’re not going to run out of questions for quite some time after this mission, kiddo,” Kay says quietly but firmly.
Cassian’s ‘don’t know’ unravels to be a lot of things. Some of them Kay finds surprising—like dreams in Festian, the fact that the kid even remembers the language after not speaking it regularly for so long—others don’t surprise him at all. The Rebellion finds its way even here, to Cassian’s happy place. It should be sad, but somehow it isn’t. It’s just quirky. Kay can’t remember a single talk that Mothma gave publicly to the members of the Rebellion. He was never interested enough to pay attention, propaganda from both sides going right over his head. It must be different for the kid.
He asked what Kay liked, and Kay has no uplifting or cheerful way to answer that question. His answer sounds grim and dark in his head. Despite being painfully true, it sounds even worse when he says it out loud, “Not being dead.” It’s difficult to like being dead, Kay is aware of that, but he can’t come up with anything else. After a few moments, he just adds, “And not being owned. Sorry, Cassian. I don’t get asked things like this often enough to come up with a convincing and cheerful lie.”
Not being owned seems particularly unattainable. At first, there were masters, then there was the Empire, now he is closer to freedom than ever, yet he is still owned by both the Empire and the Rebellion in this weird divorced-parents-shared-custody kind of way. Makes one wonder if it’s even possible to be free in this galaxy. Or maybe Kay just doesn’t deserve it. He honestly has no idea. Sometimes he is afraid that he won’t even recognize the freedom since he literally never tasted it. That he’ll pass it over or throw it away.
“Apparently I also like you enough to be happy to discover you are not dead too,” Kay admits after a short pause. His voice does this weird thing when it suddenly sounds very guarded. “The probability of it occurring because it is my job to train you and keep you alive is about”—he stops as if to calculate—“is only about forty-three percent.”

[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Поделиться19804-01-2019 02:52:29

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]"I'm not interested in lies anyway. And you like few but really important things, so it's good. Probably better than mine. You can be alive anywhere, it's easier to stay happy."
Cassian doesn't know what else he can say. Staying alive and free is something everyone should have. It's interesting how Kay puts it to words though. It's not being alive for him, but not being dead. It's not being free, it's not being owned. What makes Kay happy is not something he tries to reach. It's the things he is running from - his road gone so far.
Cassian isn't sure he understands, but he tries very hard to imagine how the world is when it's built from denyings.
He drinks his caf, looking for words of comfort he can offer, if he can do so at all.
"I'm glad you are not dead too, Kay. I like you, not because you are my lieutenant or a really good spy. I just like you, and if you need me as frie... Wait," he stops. "Why forty-three, how did you calculate that? And - are you glad or are you not that fifty-seven percent is something else than your job? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?"
Cassian doesn't ask if Kay would reassign him because of that. Partly because at the beginning of the mission Kay said he doesn't plan to. Mostly because he is afraid to hear the answer.
It would be the stupidest thing ever to stay assigned when he hated Kay, but to get another officer when he really likes him.
"Should I... You wouldn't... Should anything be done about it?"

Поделиться19915-01-2019 18:33:23

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

The kid starts with some kind of attachment mumbo-jumbo but luckily interrupts himself before it gets really awkward. Cassian certainly doesn’t need friends like him. The ones that will stay his friends only as long as it suits them in pursuit of their goals. The ones that wouldn’t batch an eyelash when shooting him down if that was what it took to achieve what they wanted. Kay doesn’t need friends, period.
However, the alarm in the kid’s questions sounds suspiciously similar to the alarm Kay feels when thinking about all of it. He should ask the kid to get reassigned. It’s the best way. He sure means to hurt the Rebellion—badly—one day, because that was the deal. But he doesn’t mean to hurt any specific person in the Rebellion. Certainly not a teenager.
Kay looks at Cassian intently. He could lie right here right now. Say he didn’t think about it, not yet. The kid would buy it. Cassian looks genuinely distressed. Distressed people are worse at noticing telltales and reading body language, too caught up in their worry. Too concentrated on the words rather than the movements.
Kay says, “People tend to bond strongly over difficult and terrible events or circumstances. That’s why the poor population on any planet out there is more strongly interlinked and intertwined than the rich population. That’s why soldiers in a squad almost instantly become if not friends then devoted allies. Whenever a person has to watch out for someone they inevitably find themselves growing attached to the said someone. It’s not good or bad, it’s a psychological thing, a perfectly natural reaction of a healthy psyche. We are programmed to behave in this way to survive. You are a teenager which also adds on top of that.”
It’s not an answer. Kay avoids the direct answer, all the direct answers to all of Cassian’s questions.
He keeps talking, “A good intelligence officer is trained to disregard such things. They are a nuisance in our line of work. You don’t have a luxury of attachments, not in the field, definitely not when you’re undercover. Whoever you like and however much should never matter when it comes to your task, to your goal. Any kind of attachment can and most certainly will be used against you one way or the other at some point. It’s good to understand the way they work though. Helps to emulate them when needed for the job.”
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Отредактировано K-2SO (15-01-2019 19:44:17)

Поделиться20017-01-2019 19:02:19

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]"But..."
He starts but doesn't really know what he wants to say. How he can contradict Kay's words. What is worse it's not like Kay is wrong. Cassian think about his general and silently nods.
It's not like Kay is wrong at all.
Still, Cassian shakes his head.
"Why can't you do both? To have attachments, but to put them aside when needed? I mean, we are - well, you are and I will be - Intelligence officers, not some sort of droids, that are programmed to serve."
He looks at Kay and quickly, before the man can say anything, he adds, "And the Rebellion is just so big. It's an idea, something that doesn't exist. Isn't it easier to fight for people you know? To do whatever you have to do and however hard it is not for an idea, but for your friends, for material and very real people?"
It may be easier. But it's also harder to lose a very real people as well. The massacre of Fest isn't the massacre of Fest for Cassian - it is the massacre of people he knew, and it makes it harder, but it also makes it right. They deserved to be remember by names.
Cassian looks at Kay and finishes his caf.
"I will do both," he says in not subtly stubborn way. "I will care for people and be a good intelligence officer. You'll see. And your fifty-seven percents is a good thing, I promise. Yet I won't bother you while we on the base if you don't want me to be around. Do you?"

Поделиться20122-01-2019 04:01:29

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

Cassian clearly can’t pick his side. He nods first, then he shakes his head, and it isn’t enough, so he elaborates on the topic. Kay listens to him almost absent-mindedly. This, for one, is a question he actually is fine with answering. Because the only person he truly knows is himself, and man does he have a complicated relationship with himself. However, it’s not a thing to be discussed with a teenager, especially the one so set to prove his experience and knowledge wrong.
The kid will learn.
Kay doesn’t say anything about it. There is no practical point in arguing right now. He knows this kind of stubborn resolve. Very childish.
Instead, Kay looks at Cassian with just a hint of amusement when he asks about the base. He says, “We’ll see.”
And for the rest of the trip, the only thing he talks about is how to write a report. Kay explains it in five clear stages—gathering information, writing an outline, expanding on the points that require more in-depth description, going over a report to make sure there are no mistakes and it can be read in less than ten minutes, and then shipping it off to a commanding officer. There isn’t anything truly difficult about it, there is a clear procedure to follow, and Kay makes sure Cassian understands it.
When it’s time to get out of the hyperspace Kay shuffles into the cockpit and takes his place. Once again, there is a cup of caf in his hands, but he doesn’t set it down anywhere this time. Just holds on to it and doesn’t look at Cassian—only straight, at the stars stretching into thin luminescent lines around them. Kay kind of has to decide now if he wants to get rid of the kid. He finds it difficult. He knows he shouldn’t so he takes a sip of his black caf.
The sourness stings his tongue.
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Отредактировано K-2SO (22-01-2019 04:02:04)

Поделиться20222-01-2019 15:11:22

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]Writing a report is easy, but boring. It requires the agent to strip his mission of any interesting events and to replace them with useful data. It's useful and necessary, and rather easy, especially after Cassian lets go his initial intent to describe everything that happened. He would fail anyway, he knows, because so many of the things that happened happened in his mind. The way he thinks, the way he makes his decisions, the way he waits - everything. It's hard to describe. Besides, 'everything' that happened includes Kay telling him bits of his story, and Cassian isn't going to tell anyone about that. So he sticks to the template and remembers how masterfully Kay cuts their mission until it is reduced to a number of short paragraphs.
They don't return to their previous topic, but Cassian is generally optimistic about his chances. He always has something to do on the base, and he has friend there but now he has Kay too and doesn't want to let him go. Back in the cockpit he sits in his sit and thinks about that, which makes leaving the hyperspace a surprisingly easy task. At least hyperspace doesn't say "We'll see". You do all you have to - an voila, you are safe.
Cassian smiles to himself, when he doesn't kill them the forth time out of the four. He's getting better and he likes it, although he quickly reminds himself about scary Kay's odds and hides the smile. He still has two mission not to die there because of how good he thinks he is.
"And we're back," he announces trying to stay nonchalant but failing it. "Alive and safe."
Cassian reaches the button to contact the flight operations but doesn't press it.
"I'll land us, Kay? If you don't want to do it yourself."

Отредактировано Cassian Andor (22-01-2019 15:59:48)

Поделиться20322-01-2019 17:12:32

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

Kay shakes his head, “You do the honors.”
He is so entangled in the process of resolving his little issue with Cassian getting too close, with himself getting too soft, that he simply doesn’t have brain capacity required to land a craft. Cassian does just fine on his own. Kay drinks the rest of his caf in a few long gulps and gets off the ship, a bag with Nigel’s belongings in one of his hands and the datapad with their reports in the other.
“You are free to roam the base and do whatever until I find you,” he says to Cassian. “The information you gathered on the mission is not to be discussed. You can describe the events themselves, though. Congratulations on surviving your first.”
Kay looks at the kid somewhat grimly before departing.
The moment he drops his bag off at this room, he goes straight to the general. Despite it being evening already, he finds Draven at his usual spot, working but not being busy enough to refuse a little meeting. After greeting him properly Kay closes the door behind and sends the reports from his datapad to the general’s. It blinks with received messages.
“Reports for the mission on Uquine.”
“It was so notable you came here to deliver them in person? Is everything alright?” the general asks perfectly calmly.
Kay knows that he’s asking about Cassian. The general doesn’t show it, he’s incredibly good at not showing it, but he cares about the kid. Cassian used to be his problem before a couple of weeks ago he became Kay’s. This is exactly what he is here to talk about. Kay nods curtly. Everything is alright with Cassian, but not with himself and not in a way the general should know about. However, Kay knows how to address the problem.
“I came here in person to ask you to reassign Cassian to someone else.”
The general doesn’t even look up from his datapad where he already opened the reports side by side. He sounds calm, even disinterested when he asks, “Why?” But Kay knows how to tell that, in fact, the general is interested, very much so.
“The attachment I formed to him might prove to be a problem in future missions.”
The funny thing is—Kay doesn’t even lie. It’s just not missions for the Rebellion he’s talking about, but the general doesn’t need to know the specifics.
“That attachment might actually do you good, Tooesso,” and before Kay answers anything, Draven adds, “Dismissed, lieutenant. Enjoy your time off.”
The bastard knows Kay hates his time off. There is nothing worse in the entire galaxy than a kriffing vacation on a kriffing rebel base. Especially now that Kay’s little problem is not resolved in any way, shape or form. And by the looks of it, isn’t going to be resolved, ever, period. He’s stuck with Cassian Andor forever.
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Отредактировано K-2SO (22-01-2019 17:19:39)

Поделиться20422-01-2019 20:46:44

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]Kay tells he is free to roam the base, and Cassian does just that. He has a lot of things to care about, to know about, to ask about. More than that he now has something to tell as well, which is new and nice.
So he doesn't waste any time and jumps right in the middle of the base life, fast and busy as it is. Cassian visits the kitchen and the mess, the communications, the repairs, the barracks - every corner of the base just to make sure his home is fine. He learns that when he was away the secret mishap with astromech droids has come to the end and it's not a secret anymore, not really. That no one died. That a small group of recently enlisted people who are his almost peers is not a group anymore, but a mechanic, a pilot, two soldiers, a flight operator and a pathfinder, and each of them have their own groups of acquainted, comrades and friends, and that 'almost' part now shows too well.
At first he asks and listens more than he talks. Then he finds his general - the general is as fine as he always are; fine edges with tired and busy and knowing there's a much more work ahead of him. Yet he smiles to Cassian, and Cassian beams back answering the man's little questions - what was the most important skill he has learnt, what was the biggest mistake he has made, was he hurt, was he useful - small things the general shouldn't really care about but he still does.
After that Cassian continues his wandering, now really telling bits of his mission. He tells the full story too in the hangar to the new mechanic and the new pilot. Both of them are on duty this night, but there are no alarms, no scheduled flights, just calm and cozy night.
"And it was the landlord all along," Cassian finishes. "So we've done what we had to and returned back, leaving Uquine with little less Imps then it had before."
The older mechanic who kept trying to sleep for the past hour snorts, "And bringing a little more of them here."
Cassian frowns.
"Is this about my lieutenant?"
He avoids calling Kay by the name just as he avoids general's name - it's easier and it balances his informal fondness well, or so he wants to believe.
'He's no Imp," Cassian says firmly.
The mechanic snorts again, "Yeah, right."
"He's not!" he is louder than he planned, and the calm and cozy night is just a night again, and it comes to the end soon.

Отредактировано Cassian Andor (28-09-2019 19:19:07)

Поделиться20522-01-2019 21:22:33

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

Kay finds Cassian in the morning in the mess hall, sits in front of him with his own tray of meticulously arranged food and says, “If you are worried we might get separated, the probability of it is low. Very low.”
He doesn’t say how he found that out, he doesn’t even stop, just goes on, “We don’t have any missions scheduled for another week, so you and I are going to do some evaluation, and if possible, training. Our schedule for today is breakfast, two hours of mental exercise, then physical evaluation—you are going to hate all of it, but it is necessary—and then I will devise our schedule further. Now. What do you know about the food you are eating? Why are you eating this, for example?”
Kay points at a random food in front of Cassian and busies himself with his own morning porridge, waiting for the kid’s answer. The stares he gets from everyone else in the mess hall clearly don’t bother him, he hardly even notices them these days. At first, it was mildly annoying, but now—Kay just accepts that people dislike him for no other reason than his past. He doesn’t feel the urge to prove himself to anyone. It’s the reason there are no known fights that included him—that, and the fact that he is so much taller than virtually everyone else at the entire rebel base. One calm stare from him is enough to scare even the most hateful of the bunch, and the fact that he only ever uses it when things are about to get dirty also helps. They know not to provoke him any further than that, for their own sakes.
Nobody wants to see Kay towering over them with that stare.
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Поделиться20622-01-2019 22:13:33

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]He is worried but isn't going to admit it and doesn't have any time to respond anyway. Because the moment Kay appears there is a mission in a week, a schedule and a promise that Cassian would hate that schedule.
Cassian looks at his breakfast and decides he doesn't have to include it into the 'all of it' section.
"The cooks are serving it, so..."
He knows it's one of those lazy answers Kay doesn't like and answers again.
"I've missed a base food, that's it. It's something like an omelet from gartro eggs, but without real garto eggs. It's made with an egg powder - it's easier to store eggs that way, and they taste better that way. There's cheese, and some veggies, and a toast with a poptree syrup. It's sweet - I like sweet. It's filling - I like that too. It has at least some taste. I mean..." he looks at sad Kay's porridge but doesn't critique. they are on the the base, and Kay is his lieutenant, despite how nonchalant he seems to be about the way he is treated around.
He takes a bite from his toast. He really did miss the food. He knows it's not very good, but he knows the tastes for long time. It might be not very good, but it tastes right.
"With my poptree syrup your porridge might be better too. I'll gladly share."

Отредактировано Cassian Andor (23-01-2019 10:40:21)

Поделиться20723-01-2019 17:35:54

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

“My porridge needs no adjustment.”
Kay finishes it so quickly as if there is still some rush. There isn’t, of course, because he is supposed to enjoy his time off, but Kay can’t do that. He never stops, not for a moment—always working, always making himself useful for the Rebellion one way or another. That’s why Cassian is going to have the most intense training week in his life. If Kay can’t make the general separate them, he’ll turn Cassian into the best kriffing agent at this base so the kid will come running to the general asking for missions alone himself. Youthful arrogance and bravery are going to become Kay’s strongest allies.
The war is on, general.
“There are different types of foods. My porridge is filled with carbohydrates that my body will burn slowly throughout the day to generate energy. A piece of meat you might see at lunch is the protein that would give a body almost no energy but will become building blocks for muscles after training. It will become building blocks for everything in your body when your system repairs itself while you sleep. Vegetables are helping your digestion, cleaning your intestines from all the messy food you dump into it. The sweet stuff, on the other hand, is only ever useful if you need a surge of energy in order to not fall asleep or to do tedious mental work. This is what you need to know about food. Don’t consume food mindlessly just because it is served in a mess hall, and everyone else seems to be perfectly fine eating it without thinking. You’re an agent. You need to be hyper-aware of everything. To know at least a little bit about everything you see around. To know enough in order not to die if your food gets poisoned. Simple foods with little flavor are the most difficult to poison. Finish your breakfast, fancy boy.”
Although the phrase is clearly teasing, Kay’s tone stays calm. As if there was no mission on Uquine, and they continue exactly where they left off after their first encounter at the base.
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Отредактировано K-2SO (23-01-2019 17:38:13)

Поделиться20823-01-2019 20:03:47

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

"Right," says Cassian watching porridge disappearing in Kay. "But are there carbohydrates in literally any other food?"
It makes sense, though. Cassian remembers different meals and tries to remember how he has felt after them. Was there any building and providing energy. There must have been. But the Rebellion cooks should know all of that too. That's why they have them, to occupy their minds so other people wouldn't be bothered with what and when they should eat. Kay demands Cassian to be aware even here and look out for poison - Cassian hopes Kay wouldn't enhance his lesson in nutrition with real poison. And he remembers very well dinners Kay cooked on Uquine. Cassian was never hungry after them, and he never was too tired, and maybe Kay knows what he is talking about.
Cassian digs into his eggless omelet suspecting it may be his last in a long time and tries to be hyper-aware of everything. Especially about Kay. How does he know they are not going to be separated. Did he do something about it? Of course he did - and because of that they are working together. Like a team, like real partners, even though Kay uses his super calm tone again and doesn't show any excitement.
Cassian doesn't show his own too, although it's hard, and to hide it's better he finishes his breakfast in two big gulps and sips a juice.
"And I'm ready. Now for that mental stuff you mentioned?"[status]odds? what odds?[/status][icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]

Отредактировано Cassian Andor (23-01-2019 20:03:56)

Поделиться20924-01-2019 22:41:23

Автор: K-2SO
Гость

“Yes, carbohydrates are found not only in porridge, if you are worried I might make you eat it every morning. It’s not my goal to change you. Just raise your awareness about the world that surrounds you to the level needed for basic survival alone on a mission, in a hostile environment. What you do with this information is not my business. It’s your life on the line, not mine.”
Kay watches Cassian consume his breakfast but he doesn’t look like a person who actually pays attention. He does, but on a minimum level. His mind turns to the next item on their schedule. He probably shouldn’t push Cassian too far, but they have to start somewhere. The mess isn’t the best place for it, though, they should find someplace quiet and devoid of other rebels. Kay can predict their reaction, and no one needs that kind of trouble. Certainly not him, even if he can explain it to the general, and the likelihood of the general believing him is rather high.
When Cassian is done with his food, Kay nods and gets up, waving his hand to indicate the kid should follow. He puts his tray with dirty bowl to the designated space in the mess and then leaves. There are training grounds outside, but Kay heads to the different side of the base, and they walk for quite a while before he stops. He turns and considers the distance. It should be fine.
“Tell me. Do you have someone you like here? Like a girl, or a boy, someone? It’s important. Don’t lie. Don’t talk. Just say yes or no.”
Nodding to himself, Kay leads Cassian a bit further and behind the nearest empty hangar—whatever was supposed to be stored here isn’t here anymore, or the Rebellion didn’t get it yet. There are no technicians, nobody around. Kay doesn’t go inside, he just circles the building so it hides them both from the road and potential witnesses.
[nick]Kay Tooesso[/nick][status]what are the odds[/status][icon]https://s7.postimg.cc/akubc07uz/Chiwetel_Ejiofor.jpg[/icon][LZ] <center><a href="https://swmedley.rusff.me/viewtopic.php?id=75#p815">IDENTIFICATION CARD</a> <img src="https://forumstatic.ru/files/0018/1a/00/81098.png"> Kay Tooesso, Alliance intelligence officer</center>[/LZ]

Поделиться21024-01-2019 23:35:55

Автор: Cassian Andor
Гость

[icon]http://s9.uploads.ru/vxoKZ.jpg[/icon][status]odds? what odds?[/status][LZ]Cassian Andor, your trouble[/LZ]Cassian follows Kay feeling ashamed. They are not on the mission, and Kay doesn't have to waste his time for training him or sharing his knowledge, yet he does, and what does Cassian do? He tries to wriggle out of that knowledge and to stay just as he are. It's not a way a good intelligence agent should react, and he still tries very hard to act like one. Even if it means he should try porridge as a breakfast, until he finds another source of carbohydrates he really likes. Yes, he can do that. He will - it'll be better than simply telling he would use the information.
They walk for some time, Kay is never telling him another word, and Cassian staying silent as well and trying to keep pace with his mentor. There are no people on this side of the base and Cassian can't stop thinking if Kay knew about it. If he chooses empty places because other rebels reminds him of who he was before. If anything can be done about it.
The question is so sudden Cassian freezes. He tries to understand why is this important and should the people he likes like him back.
"Yes," he says without asking and silently sighs. "But she doesn't really know. But yes, yes."
He's glad there's no one around. Cassian doesn't like to admit such feelings, because he knows it wouldn't bring anyone anything but awkwardness. He's too young, he knows it, and liking him that way can get people he likes into trouble.