[MillietheWarrior]

Annix glared down at Axel, ignoring her sister’s warning look. “Like haran you didn’t. You men are all the same; all you do is want, want, want. You don’t care who you hurt! Your little ‘I don’t know what I’m doing’ act might have my sister fooled, but it’s not fooling me. You know exactly what your doing. I know why your trying to get close to her, trying to win her affection and trust. It‘s not gonna fly here; I‘m not afraid to end you permanently if you touch her again.” She clenched her fists, arms folded tightly across her chest, her eyes glowing darkly. She stepped closer, but froze when Resmi’s chilling gaze landed on her.

Annix snorted, stepping back slightly as Resmi leaned a little closer to Axel. She felt horrible about all this; it was her fault Annix had treated him this way, and he seemed hurt, confused and completely baffled by what was going on. Her heart ached for him, because she knew exactly what she was going through. She tried to smile reassuringly, but old habits died hard, and her smile shook as much as her hands.

“Ah...d-don't worry. She won’t hurt you, I promise.” She glared at Annix, her teal gaze landed on the light pink eyes of her sister. “Please Annix, just go. Stand outside the ship if you want; if something happens, I’ll yell, but just…just go.” Annix looked at her skeptically, and then shook her finger in Axel’s direction. “You…You even think about touching her, and it’ll be your head,” she snarled, before whirling and tromping off through the door.

[15/4]

[Kallile]

Looking back towards Annix slowly, Axel pressed himself as firmly up against the pilot's chair as he could, cowering below her. To anyone else--this scene would have never happened and in it's place there would be a shouting match that would end with either a fight or both walking off in a rage-fillel huff. Axel was one of the only exceptions to his brother's--he knew there were no real enemies at the base and that his life was...rarely even really in danger. He would rather just take his hits, get yelled at, and take off on his merry little way to go find something else to do until whoever had done the hitting and shouting forgot they were mad at him.

Annix didn't work like that. She remembered everything about why she didn't like him and it showed quite often. But this was a whole new topic; one that Axel would be mesmerized by if he weren't so terrified of what Annix was going to do now that she had him cornered. She was going on and on about something he didn't understand...but obviously his brother's understood it. Annix was talking like he was the only one stupid enough not to get it. Axel frowned sadly and confusedly up at her, trying to come to terms with what he was being yelled at for."But...I don't like hurting anyone..." He mumbled softly. He didn't get it, at all. Why was he in trouble? Was...was he not supposed to talk to Resmi? Was she like his candy bar stash? Someone who no one was supposed to find?

As Annix walked off the ship with a final warning Axel seemed to melt back to a more relaxed state, although for once his face did not shift emotions. He looked at Resmi and smiled weakly, before looking down at his hands and carefully tucking them away from sight. "S-sorry. I'm not going to touch you or...or...anything. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be near you...I really did just come up here for my chocolate, I promise." He looked at her for a long moment, his eyes moving in almost frantic patterns across her face. 'Am I not allowed to talk to you either? B-be cause I can stop that too...I don't want your sister to be mad at me."

[16]

[MillietheWarrior]

Annix growled under her breath as she stalked out the hatch and down the ladder. If Axel made even on wrong move, Annix would dismantle him herself and use his spare parts to patch up her ships. Resmi, meanwhile, was still kneeling close to Axel, her face awash with worry and concern. When she looked at Axel now, she saw only herself; she saw her own fear reflected in his eyes, and the confusions she had always felt when she’d been hurt or screamed at by someone. She gently placed her free hand on his other shoulder, turning him slightly so that he faced her.

Although still shaken by everything that had happened to her that day, Resmi managed to keep her voice from wobbling as she lowered her head so they were at eye level and she was no longer towering above him. “Don’t worry about it, Axel,” she said as reassuringly as she could. She felt more like a mother calming down a terrified child than two full-grown adults talking to one another. “Annix…She-she’s very…um, protective...We…We’re very close, and she’s helped me get out of…a bad situation recently…She’s just…worried that something bad will happen again. B-but you haven’t done anything wrong, I promise you.”

Her hands shook as she took a chance, placing them on either side of his cheeks and gently shaking his head. “F-forget what Annix says. You’re the-the first one besides Annix w-who’s ever talked to me…like I...like I mattered…P-please don’t stop j-just because of what Annix said…I don’t like being a-alone all the t-time…And it’s…it’s nice to…maybe…have a real friend...that I can...trust?” She looked at him hopefully, wondering if she could call him a friend or not; would that offend him? Resmi wasn’t sure.

[17/5]

[Kallile]

Hs gaze wobbled up at her as she lowered down to his level, his body heaving with small sighs as he tried to come to terms with all the information being slammed into his head. Resmi was the only rock in this sea of confusion--she was at least trying to help him understand what the shab was going on. Yet, for all her helpful intentions, Axel found himself bombarded by new confusion.

"Why would I let something bad happen to you?" He asked, slowly loosing the childish fear in his eyes without Annix standing menacingly close. It was back to just he and Resmi and it showed in how quickly his body and mind seemed to relax from the 'attack'. But...he did go onto the battlefield a lot. One would have to assume he was used to quick cool-down times. He frowned deeply. "Who thinks you don't matter?"

There was a hint of anger in his voice at that. Heck--even he, a Clone, had mattered enough to drag borken and in pieces off the battlefield and put back together. Someone pretty and nice like Resmi had to matter twenty times as much as he did. They made more of him everyday.

The hope in her eyes brought him back from whatever dark and (shock and amaze--) thoughtful edge he was nearing. He grinned brightly, bouncing forward a little as if to give her a hug before Annix's words came crashing back into his head and he threw his back against the chair again with a more sheepish grin. "Of course you're my friend. Heck...you're probably the only one I have around here too."

[17]

[MillietheWarrior]

Resmi frowned softly, lowering her gaze. “Ah, n-no, I don’t think you would. It’s-it’s just, sometimes…bad things happen, and…t-there’s nothing you can do about it…It’s just something for-for Annix for worry about. Don’t mind it…forget it ever happened, all r-right?” She patted his shoulder, sinking back down to sit on her knees beside him. Her head jerked up sharply, and she stared at him as a small hint of anger seeped into his voice. Had she done something wrong? Said something wrong?

She brought a hand up to her face nervously, lekku twitching in some silent, unspoken language. “Ah, it’s-it’s nobody. N-nothing. Just…Er…just talk. That’s all. Ignore it please…” She was asking him to ignore a lot, and she hoped, judging from the way he acted, that he would. He seemed to be able to forget things instantly and switch to a different topic without missing a beat. She was hoping to use that to her advantage; he wouldn’t ask too many questions, or at least forget the things that slipped out.

She was somewhat startled as he bounced forward towards her, and for a moment, she thought he would hug her; her body froze, muscles bunching as she prepared to spring away from him, but then he stopped and leaned back against the chair. Resmi let out a sigh of relief, leaning forward again slightly to offer him a wobbly smile. “I’m g-glad…but…don’t you have other friends too? I-I mean, your so nice…Surely…There’s a lot of-of other people who want to be your friend.”

[18]

[Kallile]

Axel continued frowning softly at her; his face decidedly void of anger to accompany the frown, however.  She was asking a lot of him despite his short attention span and memory. How was he supposed to keep forgetting over and over that something bad and scary had happened to her...that people hadn't liked her or treated her nicely somewhere? Weren't those the kinds of things friends were supposed to help you fix?

He sighed but nodded at her regardless. He'd give in; he'd forget and let it slip to the wayside where he honestly would forget it had ever been brought up. He frowned a little, this time, at himself. "I suppose..." He murmured softly, slowly allowing the frown to change into an honest and mildly timid smile. "I'm good at it, after all. I still don't remember what Mech even sent me here to get."

He chuckled slightly and shook his head. "Just my brothers...and they use the word "tolerate" a lot more than the word "friend". But we're all brothers...so we all look out for each other. But it doesn't mean we all like one another. Lots of them don't like me or pretend not to because I'm so...I dunno." He paused, looking around the cabin as if the word he was looking for may very well be written on the wall somewhere as a helpful script. "Scatterbrained."

[18]

[MillietheWarrior]

Resmi wasn’t sure for a moment if he was going to just up and forget about everything she’d told him; how could she expect anyone to do that? Her heart beat painfully in her chest as she thought about everything she was asking him to forget. Maybe it wasn’t fair to keep it from him; he was so open and honest and he seemed to want to share everything that was on his mind with her.

But then, Resmi didn’t think he needed to know about the darker aspects of the world, so maybe it was best to keep it to herself; she didn’t want to see that angry light in his eyes anymore. “Ah…W-well, why don’t I help you…figure out what it w-was that he sent you here to get?” she asked, her voice barely trembling as it had been before; she seemed to be growing in confidence around him.

“No one else? R-really? That doesn’t seem…right…W-well, at least you have…one p-person you can call a friend.” She smiled timidly, tilting her head. “Your n-not scatterbrained; just…er, just observant of the world around you. T-there’s a lot of things to see, and it’s h-hard for anyone to focus on any one t-thing…I think you just l-like to see everything all at once…right?”

[19]

[Kallile]

The bright, familiar smile crossed his face again. Mostly, everyone always told him to "remember it on his own'. Well, as it was, Axel wasn't very good at that. And by the time his brother's were in the mood to start dropping hints they were annoyed enough to go and get it themselves. He was glad Resmi wasn't like everyone else, even if she was very shy and flinchy. "You'd really do that? Just for me?" He asked hopefully.

"Well, not really. Splice tries...but he takes a lot of side missions. He's almost never here, really...so it's just me and Grind and Mech. And Grind really doesn't like me. I guess I...grind on his nerves." There was an chuckle rather uncharacteristic for a Clone and purely childlike in nature. Yes, it was a bad pun and an even worse joke, but that didn't mean Axel wasn't thoroughly pleased with his little play on words.

His eyes, if it was even humanly possible, brightened at her reasoning to his otherwise handicapping mental state and he beamed at her. Yes--he was definitely glad she wasn't like everyone else. "Really? I like the way you put it a lot better...there really is a lot to see and learn...when you're not trying to blow it up on orders."

[19]

[MillietheWarrior]

Resmi folded her hands in her lap, legs gathered beneath her as she smiled up at Axel. He wasn’t scary anymore; Resmi had never actually felt comfortable around anyone like this but Annix. The straight-forward attitude and honest smiles on Axel’s face made it easy to be comfortable around him, and trust him. Resmi found herself watching him just to see the adorable expressions that crossed his face. “Of course,” she said, her voice slowly returning to a normal pitch. There was no need to fear Axel; he wouldn’t hurt her, of that she was certain.

“I don’t do much around here anyways except fix the ships when they come in. I-I’d like to help you, if I could.” Resmi didn’t know who ‘Splice,’ and ‘Grind’ were, but she certainly had already been told about Mech. She assumed the other two were his squad mates as well. Splice was the only one that sounded even remotely tolerable; if she was anyone else, she might’ve given Grind and Mech a piece of her mind for treating such a kind person the way he said they did. But Axel’s bright spirit didn’t seem dampened by it, nor did he seem to mind, so Resmi mentally put the topic to rest.

She giggled slightly at his lame joke, finding it somewhat amusing, even if it was a horrible pun. Axel just had that quality about him; she decided he could probably bring out the child and the laughter in anyone he met. She smiled lightly as his eyes brightened, intrigued by how happy one human being could truly look; she’d never felt even a smidgeon of the happiness he seemed to experience constantly. She wished she could be as carefree as he was.

“Yes. So the next time someone says something rude…Just tell them that I said that…and-and it’s true.” She smiled and hauled herself to her feet, dusting off her pants. “Now…We should, um, start figuring out what you were supposed to…find for…Um, Mech, was it? Do you remember anything he said to you about what it was you had to…go get?”

[20]

[Kallile]

Axel blinked up at Resmi for a moment, seeming completely intrigued that for once he had to look up to someone...until it seemed to dawn on him that he should probably stand up as well. With a grin and a bounce he hopped up to his feet and seemed to continue bouncing for a few minutes; a spring getting all the 'sproing' out of his system. "I'll try...but, uh, I can't promise I'll get it right when I have to tell someone. Words like to rearrange themselves if they hang out in my head too long."

He said this with a grin as he gazed out the cockpit window, seeming to scan the hangar for any sign of something that might spark his memory. His eyes glittered (as odd as that looked, especially on a Clone) and his face seemed to do the same.

"Oh! It was something from our last mission he forgot...but not chocolate. Mech doesn't hide stuff as good as me, Annix would have found it..."

He didn't finish his thought, instead his face fell at the realization that he would, in turn, have to ask Annix if she found anything upon their return. He glanced nervously at Resmi and gave a shakey smile. "I don't guess  she has a "lost and found" box, does she?"

[20]

[MillietheWarrior]

Resmi found herself smiling at Axels’ innocent enthusiasm. He was so much like a child, it was almost somewhat amusing. But behind that, she knew, was a warrior’s mentality. He was still a soldier, a fighter. He was still dangerous; but there was hardly anything dangerous about the Axel in front of her. He was sweet and kind and child-like; he was far from being the trained killer she knew he was, and surprisingly, Resmi wasn’t bothered by the thought anymore. She no longer seemed afraid of him, no longer cringed or flinched when he looked her way. Granted, some things might never change, but she already felt fairly comfortable around him; that was saying a lot for someone like Resmi.

“Something he forgot, huh?” she repeated, looking thoughtful. “Could it have been a datapad? Maybe part of his armor or weapon? Something you retrieved on the missions? Maybe it was a personal item. Can you remember anything about what you’re looking for at all?” She seemed infinitely patient, willing to offer up as many suggestions as it took until he figured out what he needed to find. She shook her head slowly, head tails twitching in some unspoken language.

“No, sorry….Can‘t help you on that. Annix…she, um, she doesn’t have one of those.” She felt a little bad, to be honest. “But don’t worry. I’m sure two heads are better than one when you’re trying to look for something. Let’s see…did Mech mention what this thing looked like? Maybe a general place he left it? I mean…you came in here for whatever he sent you to get…and your chocolate, right? So it’s gotta be around here somewhere…right?”

[Kallile]

Blinking down at her, Axel began laughing softly and quickly drew a hand up to his face to still his humor. "Mech would never forget armor or weapons--he'd lose his head before he forgot those." He said through barely contained amusement. In his eyes, however, it was easy to see that his mind was still mulling over his other options she was presenting and soon he seemingly forgot that he'd been laughing at all.

Datapad? Well...maybe. Did Mech carry a datapad, or did he make Splice keep track of all the technical stuff? Axel wasn't sure, but the safer bet was that the calmest and most level-headed man of the group would keep data. That man would be Splice. And SPlice never left anything behind. He didn't...think they had been on any sort of retrieval mission. And Mech certainly wouldn't have brought back anything personal--Axel wasn't even sure his squadron leader had touched anything not given to him by the Republic.

"I..." He started, rubbing at the back of his neck and drawing his eyebrows together as if concentrating the hardest he ever had in his life. "I....just don't know. But we always come straight off the ship and we go to get debriefed while Mech stops and talks with Annix about the ship. So...it's gotta be here or with her."

[21]

[MillietheWarrior]

Resmi watched silently as Axel switched gears once or twice, his mind obviously shifting from one thing to another. Her eyes didn’t stray from his face, intrigued and amused by the different emotions that flashed across it like a light. She could tell he was trying very, very hard to remember, but it just didn’t seem good enough. He obviously wasn’t going to remember without help from someone. “Well, maybe you can comm Mech. I’d…well, I’d volunteer to go with you to ask him but…I…I don’t like to…to leave the hangar.”

She rubbed her arm nervously, before tilting her head, lekku twitching slightly. “But I can act as a buffer between you and Annix, if you like. I can always ask her if she found anything that might’ve been left behind. But to be honest, I’m the one who usually goes over the inside of the ship; Annix is more of the mechanic, not the maid.” She smiled lightly. “That’s my job. Ah…but if you’d like me to ask…? I really, um, don’t mind.”

[22]