“You put anything fun into my baby sister's notebook yet?” Inelius asked.

  Raine smirked up at him, not breaking stride. “That's for me to know and you to find out.”

  They were walking along the grand pavilion on E-Deck, a massive, open-air arboretum designed to combat the crushing monotony of deep space. Sunlight, perfectly simulated, filtered through the leaves of genetically engineered trees. Off-duty personnel lounged on benches or strolled along the paths that wound between blooming flora and artificial waterfalls.

  “I spy, with three of my four eyes,” Inelius said, “a human, white-haired and tall as fuck.”

  “Hi Soren!” Raine yelled, waving her hand over her head. “Hey Tamiyo!”

  The dynamic duo were walking right toward them, Soren towering over the light crowd of foot traffic.

  “Hey you two!” Tamiyo called back. “Just out for a casual stroll?”

  The four of them came to a halt in front of each other, and Inelius said, “Yeah, just some nice downtime. What about you two?”

  “Just finished up some meditation,” Soren answered.

  They all began idly walking again with none of them intentionally leading.

  “How’s that going, by the way?” Inelius asked.

  “Good,” Soren said. “It’s helping cut through the noise in my head. Focus on the powers. Hopefully make them a little less chaotic.” He cast an affectionate, fraternal look at the blonde CIPHER next to him. “Having a good guide really helps, too.”

  Tamiyo didn’t say anything back, but she looked up at him with a small, satisfied smile and her antennae flicked proudly.

  They all wandered together for a minute, the conversation light and easy, when they came upon a familiar doctor. He was roaming by himself, hands in his white coat pockets and a contemplative look on his face.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Raine asked as they came upon him.

  “Hmm?” Elias looked up, only just realizing they were there. He spied all of them, landing last on Soren, then answered, “Mysteries of the cosmos.” He fell into step without even needing an invitation, and their group grew to five.

  After another minute of destinationless patrol, Raine suddenly stopped. “Hey, Tamiyo. Why don't we give the boys some guy time?”

  The three men exchanged confused glances.

  “I don't know if that's necessary,” Soren said.

  “No, I think she has a point,” Tamiyo teased. “You do all spend most of your time surrounded by powerful women. That's gotta be intimidating.”

  Inelius opened his mouth and added his voice to the overlapping chaos Soren and Elias were already giving in protest about any intimidation they may be suffering. Tamiyo and Raine exchanged amused glances just as the group started walking past a bank of elevators. Then Raine asked, “Alright, well, how about we go check out that food court?”

  Everyone looked where she was pointing.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Inelius saw Raine grab Tamiyo's hand and scramble into an open elevator. He, Soren, and Elias all turned just in time to see the two CIPHERs waving with wide, innocent smiles as the elevator doors slid shut. The three men looked at each other and all lightly chuckled.

  “Well,” Inelius said after a moment, “food court then?”

  “Sure,” the other two shrugged.

  A slightly awkward silence hung between them as they started walking again.

  “Sorry,” Soren spoke up after a minute. “I've always been kinda shit at socializing and making friends. Not sure what you two do for fun, but I was never really into what the other soldiers liked doing back… before.”

  “Sounds like there's a story there,” Inelius noted. “What did the other soldiers like doing?”

  “Mainly getting drunk and acting like idiots,” Soren answered immediately. “Constant gym rats, not that there's anything wrong with working out. It just… was always a contest. No room for weakness.” His eyes drifted up, a contemplative trance. “As beautiful as the lacravida are, I think what I like the most about them is how emotional connection isn't shoved down into a dark hole and never addressed.”

  Then he looked back, as if realizing neither of them had responded. “Sorry.”

  Inelius shook his head with a reassuring smile. “Nothing to apologize for.”

  “What did you do for fun before the military?” Elias asked gently.

  “Hmm…” Soren breathed out. “When I was a kid, I liked to draw, but it never really went anywhere. I was always self-conscious about it. Never practiced enough to make something of it, so the habit died out pretty quick. My mind wandered… winding up with abilities like this would've been a dream come true when I was a little boy. The reality of it is a bit different though… Music is nice.”

  “You like to play?” Elias asked.

  Soren let out a self-deprecating chuckle. “Oh no. Never been good at playing.”

  “Not what I asked.”

  “Hm,” Soren responded. “I suppose it’s not.”

  He was quiet for a long moment, lost in thought. Then he looked at them. “Well, what about you two?”

  “I dabble in painting,” Elias said. “And reading. I always liked reading a little, but Violet got me into it more after I moved to Berilinsk.”

  “What do you read?” Soren asked.

  “Oh, I'm a sucker for romance novels,” Elias answered.

  “My family are fishermen,” Inelius said. “I kind of distanced myself from it after my sister drowned when I was a kid, but I still have a guilty pleasure watching vids of professional fishing competitions.”

  “Shit, I didn’t know that about you,” Soren said. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Thanks,” Inelius responded. “It was almost thirty years ago. I’ve mostly made my peace with it.”

  “Wait, how old are you?” Soren asked. “Just curious. Not like I really have room to talk.”

  “True that,” Inelius said. “I'm 33, just a couple weeks older than Violet, actually. What year were you actually born?”

  “2051.”

  “Damn,” Inelius breathed. “So you're technically…” He trailed off, doing the math in his head.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “7,931 years old,” Soren answered.

  “But all things considered, I'd place you around age 40,” Elias observed.

  “39, yeah,” Soren nodded. “2090 is when I got trapped. Seems like I'm kind of frozen at that age, other than being, y'know… bigger.”

  “Oh man, I don't like this,” Elias said with a theatrical groan. “I'm 45, that means I'm the oldest one in this group. That means I have to act mature.”

  “Eh, growing old is mandatory,” Soren shrugged. “Growing up is optional.”

  “There's a strange irony to those words coming from your mouth,” Inelius grinned. “Elias, you look damn good for forty—”

  A booming voice suddenly broke into their conversation. “As I live and breathe, is that Elias fuckin’ Blackwall?”

  All three of them turned to see a lacravida striding toward them. She wore tan-orange robes accented with rich, brown leather, and her brown hair flowed loosely in waves past her shoulders.

  A wide grin broke across Elias’ face. “Bashana! Good to see you!”

  The two of them clasped hands, then embraced in a firm hug. When they stepped back, Elias looked her over with warmth in his eyes. “I don't know if I've ever seen you out of uniform. Don't tell me you followed me down the dark path of retirement.”

  “Nah, not yet,” she answered in an amused tone. “Maybe someday soon. I'm just on leave.”

  “And yet you're here,” Elias noted. “You've gotta be at least what—Colonel now?”

  “Yep,” she nodded with a flicker of pride. “Colonel Windbane, to be specific.”

  Elias shook his head in surprise. “That's just a badass name. I'm gonna have to get the story on how you earned that sometime.” He turned and gestured to the two men beside him. “These are my friends, Inelius and Soren.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Bashana said, her gaze sweeping over them. Her eyes lingered on Soren, a look of mild surprise as she had to actually look up at him.

  “Soren, Inelius, this is Bashana,” Elias said. “She used to give me orders back in the day. Actually, she’s the reason I first met Riza.”

  “Oh shit,” Bashana said, her brows raising. “You still hanging around her?”

  “That I am,” Elias said proudly. “She invited me to the village she ended up retiring to. Been there five, six years now—somewhere in there.”

  “Well, what are you doin’ here?”

  “Uh, long story,” Elias shrugged.

  Then Inelius saw a small figure peeking out from behind Bashana’s leg—curious eyes, a wild mane of dark hair, long ears covered in fuzzy, brown hair, a simple T-shirt, trousers, and tiny little hooves.

  Bashana noticed him looking and laid a hand on the back of the child’s head, ushering her forward. “This is Norivea. Nori, say hello.”

  “Hello,” the little lacravida said in a small but firm voice.

  Soren crouched down with a soft smile. “Hello, Nori. My name is Soren. How old are you?”

  She looked up at her mother, then back at him, and fiercely answered, “Five.”

  Inelius chuckled. “Fiery little thing.”

  “Most lacravida are at that age,” Elias noted with a grin.

  Bashana smiled affectionately at her daughter, then looked up, her expression turning weary. “Sorry to cut this short, but I have to get to basically the other side of the ship and hope my friend can watch Nori while I attend a retirement ceremony rehearsal.”

  “Want us to watch her?” Elias asked casually, as if offering to hold a drink.

  Bashana paused, her brow furrowing.

  “Wow, Elias,” Soren said. “Just like that? How many years has it been since you two saw each other? You think she’d just trust you with her daughter?”

  “Well,” Bashana shrugged, “Blackwall isn’t just anyone. He was awarded a Medal of Valor while under my command.”

  “Wait, really?” Soren asked.

  “Also,” Inelius added, “he’s been living surrounded by lacravida for over five years. It’s not like he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

  “Hmm,” Bashana said. Then she crouched down to her daughter’s level. “How about it, Nori? Want to hang out with these goofballs instead of watching Mom do boring parade practice?”

  Norivea looked at her mom, then at the three strange men. Her eyes landed on Soren last and she asked, “Can I ride on your shoulders?”

  “So direct,” Soren said with a wide smile. He reached out and picked the little girl up, plopping her onto his shoulders as he stood. She let out a squeal of delight, her tiny legs kicking with excitement.

  “Okay,” Bashana said, smiling. “You break her, you buy her. Nori, you behave yourself.” Just as she turned to leave, she said, “Thanks, Blackwall.” Then she strode away.

  Norivea made happy little child noises as Soren meandered his way toward the food court, exaggerating his steps to rock her from side to side.

  “What do you feel like eating, Nori?” Elias called up to her. “Anything you want, our treat.”

  “That one!”

  They all looked where she pointed to a vendor stall with a sign displaying an array of cakes, pastries, and sugar-dusted treats.

  “Uhh,” Elias hesitated.

  “You said anything she wants,” Inelius chirped.

  “Yeah!” Norivea piled on, bouncing on Soren’s shoulders.

  Elias chuckled. “Okay, how about this, Nori. I’ll get you some sweets after we eat some regular food. Deal?”

  “Don’t think I’ll forget!” she squealed.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it,” Elias said. “I want some sugar myself, anyway.”

  After perusing a handful of vendors, they landed on a combination of grilled meats on flatbreads, followed by bowls of frozen yogurt. To Inelius’s surprise, Norivea made less of a mess than he’d anticipated. Then she even helped stack their empty plates with an eager excitement before carrying them back to the vendor and throwing all their trash away.

  As they sat eating hot, mini-donuts covered in cinnamon and brown sugar, Soren picked up a pen someone had left at their table. He idly tossed it through the air, aiming to land it inside a forgotten cup at a nearby, empty table. It missed, clattering to the floor, but Norivea still squealed with joy and ran over to grab it. She came sprinting back, shouting “Again!”

  Inelius tried next, his shot landing marginally closer to the cup than Soren’s had.

  And as they continued, the afternoon slowly devolved into a beautiful cascade of questionable decisions.

  Full of donuts and sugar, they found themselves in a quieter section of the pavilion, competing to see who could flick coins the furthest, roughly aiming for a large planter box fifty feet away. Elias provided dry, running commentary on their form as Inelius showed Norivea how to hold the coin between her thumb and middle finger and flick it. It took her several tries to get the hang of it, but finally, she sent one flying. It sailed past the planter, out of sight, and a moment later, from the other side, someone yelled, “Ow!”

  The three men grabbed the child and ran, stifling laughter the entire way.

  When they felt like they had successfully escaped the perceived threat of life in prison, they slowed to a gasping, laughing halt. Inelius had Norivea cradled in a four-armed bear hug, her own giggles muffled against his chest.

  "Soren!" she squealed, squirming to be let down. "To Soren!"

  Inelius rocked her back and forth, gaining momentum. "Alright, you little chaos gremlin. One... two... THREE!"

  He tossed her in a gentle arc through the air. Soren caught her with ease, both of them laughing. Before he could even set her down, she was already pointing at their next target.

  "Elias!"

  Soren obliged, and the good doctor caught her with surprisingly deft hands, a broad smile on his face.

  "Neels!" the little girl shrieked. She hadn't been able to pronounce his full name since they met.

  As soon as Elias caught her again, she yelled, "Soren!"

  Around and around she went, her delighted laughter getting louder with each toss. And with every throw, the distance between them grew slightly larger, step by step, a game of high-stakes, five-year-old lacravida hot potato. Then, in a surprising turn, when Elias caught her, she pointed back at Soren. As they obliged her request, Inelius glanced behind him, realizing he was up against one of the pavilion’s shallow, decorative ponds.

  He stepped up onto the low wall and held all four of his arms up, waiting for the impending child projectile.

  Soren launched her.

  Norivea shrieked like a tiny, joyous comet sailing through the air.

  Inelius caught her, and a breathy, “Oof!” knocked out of him as the little lacravida collided with his chest. He tipped backward and fell into the water with a massive splash, holding Norivea out away from his chest. He landed on his back, the water of the pond just deep enough to go over his head.

  He sat up, sputtering and shaking his head to get the water out of his eyes. Norivea was laughing so hard she sounded out of breath. And when Inelius looked around to get his bearings, his gaze drifted to the overlooking balcony on the next floor up.

  He froze.

  Raine, Tamiyo, Amalia, Violet, Veolo, Brana, and even Brolgar were all leaning against the railing, watching them with deeply amused expressions. They were accompanied by Aurania Enderchild, the tallest, strongest lacravida alive. Next to her was Riza Emberfell, the living legend. And standing between them, her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised, was Colonel Bashana Windbane.

  “What. The actual. Fuck. Do you three idiots think you’re doing?” Aurania tried growling in irritation. It came out more as an amused purr as she failed hard to keep a grin off her face.

  “Uhhh,” Inelius said, his brain failing to form words.

  “Uhhh,” Soren and Elias said in concert.

  “More throw!” Little Nori squealed from Inelius's arms.