Sins and Fortunes

[Sombs]

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October 11th, 826 A.S. - Cortez

Entering the corridor to the canteen was, next to the shower in the morning, by far the most awakening experience one could have on the Apahanta, so Leon thought. It was less about the people that leave their quarters or keep the doors open while preparing for breakfast to talk with the people next door, although if he was honest, Leon liked that really much here. No, it was the scent of freshly ground and brewed coffee, combined with the scents of freshly baked buns, cut fruits and sausage and cheese. On a ship where the air was mostly clinically filtered and sterile, at least outside the personal quarters, these scents managed to be way more impactful. Especially the coffee.

The blond boy reached the canteen, took a tray and moved over to the buffet. The epicenter of good scents and tastes. His stomach was making sounds for a while now, simply since he forgot to eat anything yesterday in the evening. A few moments later, his tray was filled with various foods, ranging from a bowl of cereals over buns to a fruit salad and a pudding, as well as a cup of coffee. Carrying said tray to the bridge officer table, he sat down right next to Commander Aguilar, who was always the first person to arrive for breakfast, just to get herself a mug of coffee. She was also always the last person to leave, except if she was required to be somewhere else. Usually she sat there with her mug and a PDA, reading up on things. Ship status, crew reports, logistics, boring things that needed to be done by someone. Surely not by the Captain.

"Good morning, Commander," Leon sounded quietly as he placed his bum next to his superior officer.

"Good morning, Chief Engineer." She continued to read the report. "Slept well?"

"Mhm. And you?"

"Mhm."

And with that, he took the spoon and started to munch around with the cereals in the milk. It was a small bowl, so that was done quickly. A few other crew members entered the canteen and waved over to him and Sherry, but no other bridge officer was present yet. "Where's Ez?"

"With the baby," she replied idly while reading.

Leon sighed. "You know, I often forget about him being a dad now. Definitely not the role I ever saw him in."

"Yepp." She scrolled down, then took her mug and sipped a bit of her coffee.

"I guess times are changing. For the better or worse."

There were a few moments of silence. Sherry just kept on reading, scrolling down every now and then as well as taking a sip, while Leon simply enjoyed his breakfast, first clearing the bowl of cereals, then progressing with his bun. For some reason, everyone seemed to take their sweet time to get to the canteen. Not that there was anything speaking against it, as breakfast was usually from 0600 to 0700 and even then only optional, conditionally, but usually there was more going on around this time. But then again, Ezrael was with Abigail and Luna, so that took already two people away from the officer's table. And Sombra was probably not coming either because of that fact.

Just as he thought about that, he was proven wrong, as Noel entered the canteen and headed for the buffet, followed by a quickly approaching, almost ambushing Sombra, who seemed to intentionally trying to annoy or at least joke around with Noel. He watched the two for a while, mindlessly staring over to them, until he heard Sherry's voice.

"The Captain is insisting on me spending some time planetside."

Swallowing the bite, Leon nodded. "You haven't left the ship in a very long time. He might be right with that, Commander."

"You haven't left the ship in a long time either." She took a sip, her eyes still focused on the PDA.

"Well, I was pretty busy in the engineering."

"So was I with administration and command."

Leon reached out to take his bowl of fruit salad. "I'm still working on the upgrade of the recharger."

"I know." She turned took another sip of her coffee while waving her PDA in his direction, signaling she had read the reports. "I've booked a vacation week on Neo Tokyo."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Good. Miss Hookier will drop us off there with her transport and pick us up one week later."

Only now Leon realized what she said. "Wait, for me as well?"

"Yes." She still seemed to be focused on the PDA.

"Uh." He stared at his tray for a moment. What was that supposed to mean? A vacation with his commander? She was the most distant person on this ship, keeping pretty much everyone except Ezrael away from herself. Did she really want to get in touch with the crew now? "Thanks, I guess?"

"You're welcome."

For a moment, there was more silence. Then Noel and Sombra joined them at the table, especially the latter being overly giggly. The former had milk spilled and loose all over the tray.

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