What If I Said No? Would You Say You Love Me And Mean It?

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Juicy and Eddie are in a tournament of Shlavi (a form of chess they learned from the planet Polavit) when Josh comes in with two manila folders. He puts one on the crystal table as the game board is swiped away, progress saved until later notice.

"We've got a new one, get you're asses over here."

Narrator and Mully take their seats, Kevin walking in not long after.

"Alright, I looked through the file briefly, And from the looks of it, we're dealing with an Eclass rank. Nothing too hard hopefully, just a check in to see if the rumors going around the province are true or not and at worst, having to house the skillians under their guardianship."

Juicy nods, looking at the copy of the file that flickered in front of him.

There is a picture of a woman and a picture of what he assumes to be her two skillians. While the skillians look fine at first glance, the rumors seem to state otherwise, phrases like 'ungroomed, highly neglected' and 'possibly abused, very skinny and often bruised in strange places' flowing in the text.

"It's at Ketrou, so it shouldn't take too long, but just prepare tonight for the flight tomorrow morning."

Everyone nods. Juicy turns over to Eddie.

"We still going or are you dipping?"

Like always, he is painfully aware of his accent (from when he grew up under the Loupran-Council) and cringes slightly before trying to mask it. The attempt at covering, however, does not match against Eddie's scrutiny, who offers a sympathetic gaze when he catches the wince.

"Unfortunately not, friend. Not only do I have to go let Gabby know I'll be leaving some point tomorrow, but I also have to help prepare the ship this time. Maybe see if Narrator or Kevin wants to play?"

Juicy shakes his head as they both stand up.

"Nah, I'll just go take a nap or something."

He rolls his shoulders slightly before heading over to the sleeping quarters where he finds his bags, quickly packing the things he needs. He makes quick calculations so he can pack as light as possible. He's been told that he's too minimalistic.

He always shrugs and holds back the 'I've lived with less' that boils on his tongue.

He places his two bags (one for equipment and one for clothes) next to his cot, settling in for a nap after.

---------------

Juicy wakes up to the door opening, bolting up and out of his bed to stand by it.

He's met with a groan from Mully.

"Mannnn, I was hoping I would catch you."

Juicy shakes his head.

"In you're dreams, co-capt. I enjoy that private part of myself, not keen on giving it away."

Mully whines slightly, but Juicy pushes him away with a small smile.

Juicy finds everyone out in their pod-foyer, Josh standing by the door.

"You ready?"

Juicy nods.

Because they're part of the elite starflight-patrol team, they are required to take a fear assessment before every patrol, no matter how big.

The assessment consists of three categories. Visual, Auditory, and Mentality.

Visual is rather easy. You are placed into a confined pod that closes, and it will put you into different visual scenarios. Because they are the youth-enforcement team of the starflight-patrol, most of them are things ranging from younglings getting hurt to younglings being severely damaged and in vital conditions.

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