A Spaceman

Chapter 39--One week later...

"Do you think our families will be coming yet?" Quentin asks, looking out the window of Logan's dorm room.

"They said they'd have them in by nine," Liesel says, she's looking as well. I've got no family to look for so I'm sitting on the floor with Logan helping him fix his whites up. He and Liesel are both battle management positions, so they are having the ceremony with us.

"I don't know what I'll tell them," Logan says, sadly. He's been low ever since the pilot's test. Frequent hugs and bedtime stories have helped. "It's all been so horrible and I don't want them to think I had a miserable time."

"You did have a miserable time," Cadet Obvious says from where he's reading three tablets at once. I gave him mine and Logan gave him his and Liesel gave him hers if it would keep him occupied and out of our way while we try to get ready. I don't know how he had access to new books when he was complaining just the other day that he didn't have any but he was begging for tablets so we just took what we got.

"I know, but I don't want them to worry about me," Logan says, wringing his hands.

"Just tell them that---you made friends----and tell them about how Titus never could flip you in combative, that was funny and---"

"And?"

"I'm working on it, it has been horrible!" I say.

"And about how I got sent to IDMT twice, after the numerous violent deaths and sexual assaults there is an element of humor to them getting me high twice for no reason," Quentin says.

"Are you done with the iron?" Titus asks, looking down.

"If you'll talk less, I'll just do yours after I do mine," I say.

"Okay," he says.

"Why don't you have an iron?" Logan asks.

"We're not in our room because SOMEBODY got in a knife fight in the middle of it," Titus says.

"Oh, I'm sorry Titus, next time, would you rather I let you be raped so that there won't be a crime scene in your room?" I ask, very, very sarcastically.

"NO!! Strangle anybody you want in my room, Tom, I love and appreciate you," Quentin says, very quickly.

"No, but if you'd rolled her through the window, the crime scene would have been outside---just---saying---something to improve on ----for next time---ow, stop it----," he laughs the last bit as I crawl up onto the top bunk where he's lying to tickle him.

"Next time!?" Quentin says.

"Stop talking about killing people please, I'm traumatized enough," Logan begs.

"So am I," Titus says, wiggling away as I leave him be.

"I'll traumatize you---what're you reading anyway?" I ask, giving his leg a good shove before crawling back to the floor.

"Books," he says.

"I got that; I thought you'd read them all," I say.

"I did, I have new ones. Thank you Leavitt," he says, adding the last part robotically.

"You got him books?" I ask Leavitt, surprised.

"No, I told Wilde that if she didn't give him access to the military library, then she was going to have another murder to investigate," Leavitt says.

"Is he that bad?" Liesel asks, amused.

"You don't even know---we're not in our room anymore because it's a crime scene --for the best possible reasons, don't look at me like that Tom---so instead where are we? A freaking closet. A freaking closet with mats, and supplies and things and on a nightly basis he rearranges them into various demonic shapes and symbols looming over my pallet," Leavitt says. "So, he needed entertainment."