[CYA] Chapter 168: Break the Rut (Patreon)

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c-a_CjE6Y0Um3H8JDxHe963q6UeANyLRJnSpLJxKw6o/edit?usp=sharing

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<Alex, Real - Dorgon Calls for Aid, Innominate Dining Hall>

Juba gave him a flat look. “My friend, you are speaking craziness. I’ll send my drones with you, and help through them, but no. I will not be going into a confined space with unknown, venomous things.”

Alex nodded. “Fair enough.”

All the other Initiates continued to give Alex skeptical looks.

They’d called Juba to see if the man would, in fact, be happy to support Alex’s insane plan.

As it turned out?

No. No, he would not.

Alex was undeterred. “We can scan the station upon arrival, and if it’s too much for us to handle, we send off the update, and move on.”

Kaylee’s features shifted away from baffled as she began to nod. Others threw up their hands, or expressed disbelief in other ways. Still, Kaylee cut through the noise. “I think that actually makes sense.”

“What?” Grant turned on her. “You can’t be serious, Kay?”

“I am, Grant. The Imperial reward for investigating—even if we don’t solve the issue—is nearly as great as that of fully dealing with the pirates. There’s also the fact that the star system may provide some nice benefits as well. It’s a new type of mission, and it seems that it might help with Alex’s personal growth. Depending on what the scans show, it might help many of you with advancement.”

Pilar arched an eyebrow. “Not you?”

Kaylee shook her head. “No. I am getting plenty of experience whenever the ship does anything. It’s not as much as killing monsters, but it’s a constant influx. I’ll be in a rather nice position by the time we arrive, assuming we make it.”

That branched off a half-dozen other conversations, but the tide had turned.

The general sentiment was becoming clear.

They'd go to investigate the distress signal.

As that conversation wound down, the other Initiates exchanged meaningful looks, and then all of the women-folk bid goodbye and left Grant, John, and Alex behind in the dining hall alone.

Alex narrowed his gaze, looking between the two other men. “I’m not getting married, so you best not be about to kidnap me for a bachelor party or any such nonsense.”

John grinned, and Grant barked a laugh. “I suppose this could look like that.”

John sat down across the table from Alex, pulling out a drink. “It’s nothing like that, Alex.”

Alex arched an eyebrow. “So… what is this? Some sort of intervention?” He frowned again. “I’m not trying to get myself killed with the venomous things.”

Grant waved that off as he sat down a bit away from John at the end of the table, the action notable as it very clearly made the seating not two against one. “Nothing so sweeping as all that. We’re just worried about you.”

John nodded, taking a drink. “We’re in a spaceship, Alex. In space. Do you realize how amazing that is?”

Alex nodded. “Yeah. It’s a neat ship, and we’re gaining a lot of good experience.”

Grant gave him a flat look. “Alex. I know I wanted to be an astronaut as a kid, and I know not everyone goes through that phase, but this is still just about the most awesome thing I’ve ever done. Coming after the cheese and chocolate fondue mix of the last scenario? This is practically a vacation.”

John smiled. “It might be a bit of a calm before the storm too, knowing what’s coming at Dorgon.” The marksman shook his head. “We’re going to be droptroopers, Alex. We’ll be making planetfall through enemy fire and landing in hostile territory, fighting bug monsters. That sounds…” He huffed a laugh. “That sounds almost as bad as the undead city.”

Alex shrugged. “Yeah, but we’ll have backup, and we’ll have a longer timeline to get it all done.”

Grant sighed. “So, we’re heading toward eleven months of sci-fi war with our magical powers and you?”

Alex closed his eyes and sighed. “I’m training.”

“You’re training.” Grant agreed. “You’re not recuperating, taking time to recover, or anything. You’re sparing with Juba every time you can, and with the rest of us when you have space. You’re constantly working on your various spells, and working to improve. Even when we’re in meetings, you seem to be doing double duty. I mean you say you’re hearing what’s being said, but is that really true? You’re overloading yourself.”

“And that’s… bad?” Alex was genuinely confused.

John sighed, giving Grant a quieting look. The younger man deferred to the older. “Yes and no. I have no doubt that the skills and training you’re investing in will be invaluable to you in the coming fight, but are you going to be in a good place to utilize them?”

“What do you mean?” Alex’s throat was suddenly dry, and he created water to solve that even as he waited for John’s response.

“Alex, I know what a man looks like when he’s trying not to think about something. You are driving yourself to distraction, and if this was pre-System, you’d be close to burn out.”

Alex grimaced then shrugged. “But it’s not pre-System.”

John nodded. “You’re right. It’s not. Instead, you’ll likely burn out right when we get to Dorgon. Then, you’ll die and take those you’re watching over with you.”

Alex flinched, looking down at the table.

Grant cleared his throat. “We don’t know what’s eating at you, man, but we’re here. We’ll train with you, we’ll be with you, we’re a team, even if only for a short time.”

John added in his two cents. “We’re not going to make you talk with us, but we are going to be here with you. Alright? You aren’t alone, and you don’t have to carry your burdens alone.”

Alex huffed a laugh. “Alright. I hear you.”

“Do you?” Grant asked with all the forcefulness that his twenty-something years could bring to bear.

“Yeah. I’ll… I’ll train in here when not sparring. You’ll be welcome to join in. I won’t hide in my room unless I’m sleeping.” Alex took a moment of silence for all the chair-time that would take from him, but these benches weren’t uncomfortable… at least not really.

John snorted. “Forget that. I have work to do all over the ship. You’ll come with me.”

Alex gave him an incredulous look. “What now?”

“You heard me. You want to be training your reading of magic, right? I thought I heard you saying that.”

“Well… yeah?”

“Well, I need to go all over the ship, and that will give you plenty to inspect, and keep you from falling into a rut.”

Grant was nodding along. “And I need more sparring practice too, so I’ll be joining you and Juba.” He grinned. “Moreover, Kaylee said she likes a man who can cook, so I’ve got to brush up on those home-ec skills. I’m quite a bit rusty.” He gave Alex a predatory grin. “You’re an older guy, lived alone, right?”

Alex returned a flat look. “I’m mid-thirties, Grant. That’s hardly an ‘older guy’ age.”

Grant waved him away. “My point is, you know how to cook.”

Alex groaned, putting his head in his hands. “I can, but it’s not because—”

“Great! Then, you’ll be teaching me what you know.”

He gave the younger man a glare, but it lacked much heat. “Fine.”

John put his hands on the table and pushed up to his feet. “Alright. Come on. We jump in two hours, and I need about an hour’s help before you take a rest.”

Alex looked at the older marksman. “Shouldn’t I sleep until we jump?”

“Would you actually sleep?” John cocked an eyebrow.

Alex grimaced, thinking of the list of things he wanted to do. “No…”

“There you go, then. Come on.”

He sighed, standing to his feet as well. “Fine…”

Grant clapped Alex on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine, Alex. We’re here for you, no matter what comes.”

Alex sighed, then gave a weary—but still genuine—smile. “Thank you, Grant.”

John lifted an eyebrow. “Just Grant?”

Alex gave John an unamused look. “I know how this works. You’re about to pawn off a bunch of your tasks on me.”

John laughed. “I knew you were a smart man, Alex. Let’s go.”

The three men left the dining room, a bit more warmth between them than had been there before.

<Alex, Real - Dorgon Calls for Aid, Innominate Kitchen>

“No, Grant, you can’t just eyeball the amount of salt.”

“But that’s what my mom always does.”

“And is your mom new to cooking?”

“...No…”

“So then, until you don’t need instruction what are we going to do?”

“Follow the recipe…”

“That’s right.”

“...But—”

“No buts!”

“...Fine.”

Alex hovered over Grant’s shoulder, ensuring the younger man actually followed the recipe.

“Weren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

“I’ve slept enough lately.” He reached forward and tapped the paper on the counter. “Does that say a mounded tablespoon?”

“...No…”

“Then why have you mounded it?”

“Because I don’t have a scraper.”

Alex extended his hand, pulling a butter knife from his Inventory mid-motion as he handed it to Grant.

“...Thank you.”

Alex nodded. “Continue.”

It was an interesting thing, watching Grant follow the recipe. It reminded him a bit of magic and what he was learning about the language of power.

The recipe was perfectly understandable to Grant, but that didn’t mean that he would follow it. In the same way, it seemed that just ‘saying it right’ should make magic do what he wanted it to, or really, make it obey the System.

There really was some odd break between the System and magic, and Alex didn’t really think it was as simple as lingual comprehension.

“Grant…”

The bigger man paused, liquid measuring cup half full of water from the sink. “Yes?”

“What kind of water is called for?”

“Cool.”

“Is tap water cool?”

“Yes?”

Alex sighed. “Use water from the filter over there. It comes out colder.”

“But it’s not supposed to be cold.”

His eyebrow twitched. “That’s why we’re not using ice.”

Grant sighed, then dumped the water he’d gotten in the sink and moved over to the drinking water spout.

Alex had actually found tailing John to be very interesting, and it had put his Speed Reading and Spherical Sense to incredibly good use. He would definitely be tagging along with John whenever he could, going forward.

Cooking with Grant, however? That was turning out to be an exercise in frustration.

“Are you sure you want to learn to cook?”

“Of course I do!”

“Then why aren’t you following the instructions?”

“I am.”

Alex gave him a flat look.

“I mean… I basically am…”

“Which means you aren’t, and you’re making excuses.”

Grant sighed. “It’s just… so tedious. I mean, do you read instructions when you get furniture that you have to assemble?”

“Yes.” Alex answered easily.

Grant gave him an incredulous look. “I don’t believe you. Men don’t read instructions.”

It was Alex’s turn to sigh. “And we never ask for directions, and we don’t cry in public, and we all love football. Does that about sum it up?”

Grant shrugged. “I guess.”

“How old are you again?”

“Twenty six.”

“Well, it seems that no one’s had the talk with you yet.”

Grant’s head whipped around, his eyes going wide. “I know where babies come from!”

“What?” Alex blinked in confusion for a moment. “No! Not that talk. You aren’t a teenager, Grant.”

“Oh…” The man colored. “Then… what do you mean?”

“The ‘what it means to be a man’ talk.”

He shrugged. “I mean… I think I get it.”

Alex sighed. “I disagree. So, listen closely. I’m only going to give you a part of it.”

Grant grimaced, then nodded. “Fine.”

“Good. You are a man. Therefore, if you pick your nose, then men pick their noses. If you ask for directions, then men ask for directions. If you refuse to help someone in need, then men refuse to help.”

Grant’s expression had shifted to one of confusion. “What?”

“Whatever you do, Grant, is something a man does, because you are a man. This isn’t an ideal to strive for, it's a simple truth. I think you are on course to be a good man, but that’s a whole different thing, and I think that we can both agree that what separates men from good men has nothing to do with asking for directions or following instructions.”

Grant snorted a laugh at that. “Well, fine, I guess that makes sense.”

“So… the recipe?”

The younger man sighed, giving Alex a sheepish glance. “Can you help me understand this?”

Alex moved over beside him. “I’d be happy to.”

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