AU: Take To the Skies [Sean]

[Cobalt Weaver]

The Pilot Ridge was a fine enough vessel, Captain Weaver supposed. It was old and out of date and had probably served past her use, but no matter how he complained about it, the Captain wasn't very interested in getting a new one.

"It's expensive," he always said. "And there's no use in getting to know a new ship."

But he was currently re-thinking his assessment when the airship needed some (probably long-awaited) repairs and refueling before setting off on their next mission and what ship would be in the next fuel dock but the Vermont. A state of the art, gleaming dirigible, part of the Hammel Institute Research and Development's team. Cobalt wondered what brought them all the way out here to, as they say, the outer rim.

He had considered leaving, but his crew was due for shore leave, and Leila was about ready to throw him out into space if he kept them working too hard. And he supposed she had a point. So, he dismissed his crew, and would have stayed aboard the Pilot Ridge to oversee repairs if Leila and Danny hadn't shoved him out the door.

Limping heavily--it always took some work for his mech leg to get used to the change in pressure and gravity--he wandered around the space port, looking for a place to find food. And of course who should he run into (it was a small port, but really) but Captain Sean Neville: decorated Captain of the Hammel Institute's Vermont.

Cobalt gritted his teeth and then said, "hello Captain." It would do well for him to be polite, but he didn't have to be nice

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean got on very well with his crew; he viewed them all as akin to family – from Anya, his First Officer and closest friend (save his husband) down to Ann, the baby of the ship. That was what gave them the cohesion that led to their high mission success rate and resulting level of esteem.

Because he valued the crew’s physical and mental wellbeing, Captain Neville did not hesitate to grant shore leave at the first available (and safe) station. Everyone had a few days to go aboard the station and relax or contact their families back home or to eat something exotic that wouldn’t be kept in the galley, while the Vermont underwent necessary repairs.

Sean had chosen to shop. Josh’s birthday was only a month away, and he always tried to have something ready for his husband, even if he couldn’t exchange it in person. He knew that the other man appreciated the gifts regardless, and he did try very hard.

It was on his way to the marketplace, and through what constituted the enclave of dining areas, that the esteemed captain saw a familiar face. One not from his crew.

Captain Weaver.

He was notorious for his break from Hammel. On a personal level, he worked closely with Sean’s husband when Josh chose to moonlight. More than once, the captain had lost the opportunity to have his husband on board for missions before he had left with Cobalt on a mission here or there. Although their separation this time wasn’t the shorter captain’s fault; Josh was off with another ship entirely.

“Captain Weaver,” he returned the greeting with a single nod of his head. “Are you in for repairs as well?”

[Cobalt Weaver]

Esteemed, decorated, and meticulously polite, Captain Sean Neville was probably the most infuriating person Cobalt had ever met. Cobalt's jaw twitched, but he responded because he had no real reason not to. "Yup," he said, "repairs and some shore leave. The crew had been getting cabin fever a little bit, I think." Cobalt didn't really understand that, but he wasn't the only person aboard the dirigible, and he was the Captain, after all.

"How's business been?" he asked for no real reason except that, well, he sometimes liked to exchange notes with other captains. He just wished it was some other captain other than Sean Neville. At this point, he'd appreciate even Willow Kovacs, who was known as a hardass.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Unsurprisingly, Sean didn’t consider himself infuriating. The vast majority of his social interactions were with people who didn’t consider him infuriating, and he never went out of his way to needle other people. However, he also didn’t require Cobalt Weaver’s esteem, which went a long way in their interactions. Nodding sympathetically, he said, “It’s a bit like sitting for too long; we all need to stretch our legs occasionally.” Which was why he had never been stingy with shore leave.

“The same as usual,” Sean said, offering the shorter captain a smile, as though that was somewhat of a joke. “I can go into it with greater detail, but did you want to get a cup of coffee?” He was focused more on Cobalt’s desire to eat or drink something than the other man’s desire to be in Sean’s company. He wasn’t a stupid man, and he was able to detect other people’s opinions of him fairly easily; astuteness combined with the fact that Cobalt, in particular, had an expressive face when one knew where to look.

“Hammel feeds us well, but it’s always nice to have the opportunity to eat something else,” he remarked. Which was true. In fact, one of the reasons he enjoyed shore leave the most – when he and Josh would not have time to themselves – involved the ability to eat more exotic foods.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt didn't quite care if Sean was or wasn't aware of Cobalt's opinion towards him. They neither required each others' good will to get their work done, and their only social common ground was Josh, whom Captain Weaver liked quite a bit. It was mostly because of the navigator that Cobalt had been as relatively well-behaved as he had been.

"I do, yeah," Cobalt said. He wasn't hungry; he was rarely actually hungry. But he could always go for a cup of coffee. "Are we going in the same direction?" He asked less out of courtesy and more out of vague dread. He suspected the answer might be yes, since most captains were similarly addicted to coffee (most space travelers in general were--if not to anything else).

Cobalt made a vague acknowledging noise in response to Hammel. He still had Opinions about Hammel. "It's true. Galley food wears on you after a while," he replied reluctantly. He always ended up talking with Captain Neville whenever their shore leave matched up. He never quite knew why.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean confirmed that with a nod; from what he knew of this space station, to reach where he wanted to go, they would have to pass through the food court. “We are. All roads lead to fresher food,” he remarked, which was a bit of a joke. The central location of the food court area on the station made that more of a literal truth than it would be otherwise. The promise of a snack or a cup of coffee while shopping for his husband’s birthday made him smile despite the other captain’s obvious distaste for his company.

The remark about galley food was the understatement of the day. While Sean enjoyed his cook’s abilities – she did the best that she could with limited resources – at the end of the day, there remained a complete lack of variety with galley rations. The ability to eat real food, delicacies that were unrelated to diplomatic missions was a treat, and one not to be squandered. “We have to take advantage when we can.”

Sean walked with a long, confident stride, his uniform seemingly not wrinkling with his steps. “Ben is eager to see you,” he said, after a moment of silence between the two men. “I can’t blame him; I’d be the same way if Josh was station-side.”

[Cobalt Weaver]

"Eventually," Cobalt replied with a bit of a sigh. He supposed he shouldn't be so surprised or exasperated at this point. Somehow, he and Sean always ended up having to bear each other's company for a while. It was like some sort of cosmic joke, and Cobalt didn't think it was very funny. He also wasn't very interested in talking about food with Sean, and he doubted the other captain found the conversation particularly scintillating either. He was about to excuse himself to go do something else when Sean mentioned Ben.

Right. Ben.

He felt a little guilty having not asked about Ben more immediately. Cobalt had the unfortunate tendency to forget about personal life during a job, and it was always hard to switch during shore leave back to a less focused mentality. It frequently crossed his mind that he was sort of a terrible husband.

He cleared his throat. "How has he been? Is he on leave now or do you have your crew on leave in shifts?" That was usually how Cobalt ran his own ship, but he was never sure how other captains managed their crew. He would have to look for Ben later, in any case.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Talking about family tended to be an effective way in bridging conversation. While he was far easier going than the smaller captain, he was still able to sense the younger man’s discomfort. There was nothing he could do about that, given that he didn’t create their star paths, and, if he had his way, Josh would be a permanent crew member on the Vermont rather than only being assigned sometimes.

However, just as he was happy to listen to whatever Cobalt had to say about Josh, Captain Neville was also happy to share what he could about Ben for the other man. “He’s been fine, aiming for promotion, although he’d never admit that.” Sean smiled because that was typical of his navigator’s character. “I can only recommend instead of promoting without direction, but he knows how highly I hold him in my esteem.”

At the question of his shore leave patterns, he replied, “He’s still onboard, although I don’t enforce shifts. He wanted to oversee a mapping refit, but he should be down in an hour or two.”

That wasn’t long to wait in the grand scheme of life. However, now that Cobalt knew his husband was station-side, the wait might become interminable.

“Where are you off to when you pull out?”

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt couldn't help but smile at Sean's report of Ben's time aboard the other man's ship. "That sounds like him," Cobalt said quietly, fondly. Ben was a talented navigator and the only thing getting in the way of promotion was the fact that he was far too willing to stand in the background. It sort of drove Cobalt crazy, but there was very little he could do about that. As much as it pained to admit, Cobalt knew that Sean's recommendations helped a lot. "Thank you, for you vote of confidence," Cobalt said. Mostly for Ben.

Cobalt nodded. "All right. Thanks for letting me know." The advantage to forgetting about anything personal on a job was that Cobalt didn't usually get homesick. Now, however, he was struck with how much he wanted to see Ben. An hour or two felt like forever.

"We're off to do some routine patrolling," Cobalt replied, "nothing much to comment on. It's going to be boring as hell, so I thought it would do everyone some good to get a rest before we headed off. How about you?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“Ben deserves to be acknowledged,” Sean replied, which was his way of acknowledging the expression of gratitude. He knew that it wasn’t easy for Cobalt to express such emotions at all, least of all to him. As such, he wouldn’t rub it in the other captain’s face, or otherwise call greater attention to the situation. This was, after all, about Ben.

“And who are you patrolling for?” Sean queried, turning to look at the shorter captain. He didn’t know the answer to that, and Josh only went along on missions that wouldn’t violate his oath as an officer. Sean, likewise, didn’t pump Ben for information on the topic, because it was none of Sean’s affair. Even if he was curious, he wasn’t curious enough to get information by proxy.

“We’re off to Veritus-IV to preside over mediation.” There was nothing particularly confidential about the mission assignment, which was why the older Captain felt comfortable discussing it. Mining rights had a tendency to cause diplomatic problems, and Sean was particularly skilled at diplomacy. “Then we should get to go home for a bit.”

He hoped so, because it had been far too long since he and Josh had been able to spend time together. He missed his husband terribly.

[Cobalt Weaver]

"He does," Cobalt said in a rare agreement with Sean. He was blindingly proud of his husband, and hoped Ben knew that, even if it was hard for him to be verbally affectionate in general.

Cobalt, as (technically) a mercenary, sometimes was contractually obligated to keep his client's name anonymous. This was one of those times. And so, he shrugged and said, "a client." He didn't really mind people asking once, and sometimes he and his crew served as pretty much interstellar taxi drivers, which meant that he didn't need to worry about anonymity, so it was always a toss up as to whether he could or couldnt talk about work, even to Ben.

"That sounds interesting," Cobalt replied. It didn't really, but it at least didn't sound dangerous, which was always his concern when it came to Ben. "That's good, we should be home around the same time, then." It was always frustrating when his leave didn't match up with Ben's, and he knew that Sean and Josh missed each other as much as he missed Ben.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

So it was someone about whom it was best that Sean remained unaware; so be it. He was firmly committed to the Fleet, but he knew Cobalt well enough to realize that the other captain wouldn’t provide resources to someone who would put the Fleet, and thus Ben – if for nobody else – at risk of bodily harm. As such, he was content to accept the answer and move on.

“It should be fine,” he agreed, because it should. He could handle mining disputes while half-conscious. Perhaps something more complicated would emerge after they returned to Earth, but only time would tell.

As they passed a shop, Sean turned to look in the window. Exotic wares from far and wide. And he did owe Josh a present. There was time to peer inside. “I’m going to stop here,” he announced. If Cobalt wanted to continue without him to avoid the conversation, he wouldn’t take offense given how prickly the other man was. If instead the shorter captain wanted to stop with him, then they could continue the conversation. If nothing else, Ben might appreciate a small present as well, and Cobalt had a couple of hours to waste until reunited with his husband.

[Cobalt Weaver]

When Sean announced his intentions to go shop, Cobalt took the opportunity to flee. "All right, I'm gonna keep walking," he gestured down the mainway, "I'll see you later."

Hopefully much later, as far as he was concerned. He waved a brief farewell to the other captain before limping away in search of food and for something to do until Ben was off duty. He had a few hours yet, and it was a lively port, he was sure he could find something interesting for a while. He smiled a little to himself, in anticipation for seeing Ben again for the first time in a while. It was almost worth seeing and having to talk to Sean.

[ooc: wrapped! thanks!]