Shili Ke'leh

10

"21."

"That's osik, Fives!"

"Why, what is yours, Echo?"

"22!"

"Unless a shift had happened, which it did not, you do not have that!" Fives argued, "you cheat!"

Rex stared at the two as he silently judged the two arguing vode.

"Oh, judgy," Fives stated, "what do you have?"

Rex placed three cards down, a smug smirk covering his face as he reached for the desert rations.

"HOW?!"

Rex chuckled as the two arc's screeching caught everyone's attention. "Pay attention; it is not only fieldside that tactics come into play."

"Ah, come on!"

"Unfair!"

"Not unfair, only that you forgot how to play," Rex stated, standing up with his newly earned deserts.

-----

"Wasn't the Captain the one that got the extra dessert rations?" One of the shinies asked as they approached Fives.

"Yes?" Fives stated, questioning as to why the shiny was asking this.

"Then why does the Commander have extra dessert rations?"

Fives turned towards the shiny with wide eyes and a smile slowly forming across his face. "Thank you for bringing this up," Fives grinned before hurrying away to Torrents barracks.

-----

"So, Captain," Fives started as he slid onto the bench opposite Rex.

"What?" Rex grunted, lifting a fork of rations to chew.

"A little birdy told me that-"

"A shiny told you something?" Rex asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Fives mumbled before continuing, "they told me that the Commander has extra rations."

"And how is this anything for me to know?"

"Last time I checked, you were the only one that had collected spares recently," Fives pointed out.

"And are you suggesting that the Commander is unable to stock up and store spares for when they might be of more use?" Rex questioned, his fork placed down as he leaned forwards slightly.

Fives gulped, backing up with wide eyes as Rex's voice lowered threateningly, "no, sir," he got out shakily. 

"Good," Rex stated sharply before turning back to his food.

"I'm-" Fives stuttered before getting up, "going to go now, sir."

Rex grunted as he continued to eat.

-----

"How did it go, Fives?" Echo asked as he watched Fives quickly enter the barracks. He knew that the room had gone quiet, wanting to find out the answer as much as he did.

"I think I need new blacks," Fives whispered.

Echo's eyes widened as he got up and pulled Fives towards the quickly forming pile. "What happened?"

"It went from playful yet serious to threatening in a blink," Fives groaned, "he thought I said something negative about the Commander, and a switch flipped instantly."

"So we need to approach similar situations with caution and multiple plans," Echo mused.

"I want to know whether he's been giving the Commander the desserts, though!" Fives exclaimed, "he needs to get into a situation where he has to tell us!"