The Thief and the Commander : 06
Jan. 8th, 2001 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
manicdakChapter 06: On Golden Utopia
They materialized in the port room of the Golden City Spaceport, Capital of the Golden Utopia. It was all Ehren could do to keep a cap on his excitement for visiting the planet that he had spent so many years studying back on Earth. He knew it would do no good if he ran around admiring the architecture of the spaceport like a small child when the occasion of his visit was nothing if not somber.
They were greeted by a tall woman with ginger hair and sad eyes. She fell immediately into Robin's arms and he held her for a long moment. Ehren felt like nothing more than an intrusion. He wanted to run and hide in some far corner of the building and leave Robin to his family.
The mother and son parted after a moment and Galiana waited expectantly for Ehren to be introduced. Robin only frowned and stubbornly crossed his arms in front of him, making no attempts to even acknowledge Ehren's presence. Ehren did not want to be the root of any familial disagreements at that moment, so he stepped forward and offered his hand.
"Ensign Ehrenfried Behrendt, Ma'am," he said briskly.
"Such a polite young man," she said as she shook his hand and gave Robin a pointed glance before turning her attention back to Ehren.
"Tell me where they teach such manners. My son could use them."
"I was born on Earth, Ma'am," he replied in her own language.
Her face lit up with delight, and she dropped the intergalactic standard she had been using to address him.
"Where did you find this one?" She asked her son.
"It wasn't hard," Robin muttered. "He's been a thorn sticking in my side for the past ten months or so."
"Robin!"
"Please, Mom. Please. He's nothing more than an I-GAS spy here. Don't treat him like he's some kind of welcome guest, or my friend. He is absolutely nothing of the sort!" Robin stormed past his mother then, leaving her slack jawed in surprise at his outburst.
"I am so sorry, Mr. Behrendt," she apologized to Eheren.
"It's alright, Ma'am," he replied. "Please call me Ehrenfried."
"Yes, of course." She nodded. "I really do apologize. He usually isn't like this. We raised him better than that."
"This isn't a usual situation," Ehren said. "To be honest, I have to admit that he is more or less correct. I'm here on assignment to monitor him because of...well... You know."
"Feliu?" Her demeanor turned instantly sour at the mention of the thief's name.
"Yes," Ehren admitted. "I really don't even know what I'm supposed to do. My orders were not precise. I don't know if I'm qualified for this, and I think it's an entirely unnecessary intrusion into a personal affair. I have to follow orders, though. I think Commander Grey understands that despite all outward appearances."
"Honest," she said. "I like that. It's not often that an officer of the law questions his superiors in front of a high ranking government official."
"Thank you, Ma'am," he said. "Now if I may... I must find Robin...Err...the Commander."
"Yes," She agreed. They made their way through the spaceport and found Robin waiting by the curb aside the large, expensive looking transport that was parked there.
It was a silent ride through the city. Ehren spent it staring out the window at the towers rising up all around him. The metal was a sparkling gold in the sun and he thought it was no wonder the planet had earned the nickname it had. It wasn't as perfect as the name might imply, but it was a beautiful place.
When they arrived at Galiana's residence Robin immediately excused himself from their presence and disappeared into his room leaving his mother alone with Ehren. She invited him into her kitchen to help her cook a meal. Before long they found themselves seated at the dining room table.
"Shall I get Robin?" Ehren asked.
She shook her head. He glanced around the room, wondering if he was being negligent in his ill-defined duties by leaving Robin on his own. Galiana noted his nervousness and set about making conversation.
"It's nice to have company," she said. "I'm not used to being alone."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am." Ehren bowed his head.
"No need to apologize, dear," she said. "Why don't you tell me about yourself? I have to say, Aina would have loved to meet you. She always has had a certain fondness for people from The Milky Way Galaxy."
"Gosh," Ehren said, unsure of how he should respond. "I...uh...I think I would have liked to have met her too."
"So," she said, in hopes to keep the conversation from stalling right there with Ehren's obvious discomfort. What's more, she didn't want to break down in front of someone she considered a guest despite what her son had said.
"You speak Utopian?"
"Yes," he said, visibly relieved. "I studied ancient languages, and this one really... It sounds nice, so I decided to concentrate on it and this planet. I was beginning to think I would never get to see it."
"Lovely!" She smiled at him.
"I only wish the circumstances were different."
"Yes, I as well," she replied.
They drifted off into contemplative silence until Robin reappeared and joined them.
"Where have you been?" He directed the statement at Ehren.
"Cooking dinner," he glanced down at his plate. He was quite unsure of what it was that he had prepared, only that it was edible. He had prepared the foreign fruits and vegetables that he had only ever seen in textbooks before according to Galiana's direction.
"Or breakfast," he continued. "Or lunch. I'm not sure what time it is." He glanced out one of the many brightly lit windows with a shrug.
"Alpha Circada has just risen," Robin muttered as if it was something Ehren should have known. "It's midday. Where is your timepiece? What kind of wannabe detective is without a timepiece?"
"Leave me alone," Ehren grumbled and turned his attention back towards Galiana.
"I've only read about this!" He said to her. "I hope to see a sun-change while I'm here! I didn't even notice."
She was about to answer, but Robin cut in before she could.
"It's because you're thick," he muttered.
Ehren glared at him, feeling his own temperature rising. He didn't know if it was due to rage, or embarrassment, or both.
"I am not thick, Sir," Ehren said, putting contemptuous emphasis on the word 'sir'.
"Robin," Galiana warned, but he ignored them both.
He leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head.
"Go make me a plate, Recruit," he said.
Ehren didn't bother to hide his indignant expression.
"Please?" He said.
"I'm your boss. I order you to do it." Robin grinned at him.
"That's enough children," Galina interrupted. "Robin, I'm your boss, and you can get your own food."
Robin's teasing smile abruptly fled his face, and he nodded obediently at the admonishment.
"Yes, Mom," he said.
Ehren excused himself then and wandered around the apartment until he found a balcony and stepped out on it, closing the door behind him. Orders be damned, he wasn't going to hover over Robin. He knew if it were his family, he would want to spend time with them without a military escort.
He sat on a nearby chair and admired the spectacular view of the city. Alpha Circadia was burning brightly; low in the sky, and Ehren noted the faint glow of what must have been the previous star upon the horizon. He turned his attention away from the cityscape and pulled out his ICD. He smiled faintly, remembering the first day he had gotten up enough courage to stand up to Robin, who had taken a call on Ehren's device and then thrown it directly into a nearby wall, smashing it into pieces when he hadn't liked what the person on the other end had to say.
Ehren had directly disobeyed Robin's orders that day by refusing to fill out the mountain of paperwork that was the requisition form for a new ICD. It had all started a chain reaction that had led up to that day.
"It's your own damn fault you're stuck with him," Ehren muttered to himself in Earthian. His own language almost felt foreign to him at that point. It had been a long time since he'd spoken to anyone from his galaxy, let alone his star system, or his planet. It had been too long.
He dialed in his ICD to an appropriate time on Earth to reach his parents and nearly burst into homesick tears when he heard his mother's voice.
"It's Ehren!" He said, when she answered with a quick hello.
There was an excited flurry of activity on the other end of the line, billions of light years away, and suddenly his father was speaking into the communication device as well.
"So, what brings about this call?" His father asked. "Haven't heard from you in an age, kid."
Ehren chuckled softly.
"You will never guess where I am, you guys. I'm on the GU."
His mother cooed excitedly and congratulated him. He left out the story of why he was there. That wasn't the point of his call. He didn't even respond in any great detail when asked what it was like there by his father.
"It's just sunny a lot," he said. "Tell me about home. How's work?"
"Why do you want to hear about that?" His father chuckled. "I don't remember carpentry being one of your great interests."
"It's not," Ehren said. "I just want to hear about what you guys are doing. I want to hear about home."
"I told you, Henrich." He heard his mother address his father. "He misses us after all."
"He just misses pie," Henrich said.
"I do miss your pie," Ehren said softly. "And I miss you. I just wanted to call and tell you guys how much I love you. I don't talk to you often enough."
"You don't," his mother agreed. "We miss you too."
"So that settles that," his father said. "You're coming back to Earth."
Ehren laughed.
"I'm on assignment right now. I'll visit as soon as I get some leave. It's a really busy time. You should turn on the inter- news," he said.
"You're safe, aren't you?" His mother's voice suddenly took on a worried pitch. "You're only supposed to be a recruit in training."
"Oh!" Ehren laughed. "I forgot to tell you. I got a commission. I'm an officer now!"
His father let out a whoop. Ehren waited patiently for the tumble of of proud congratulations that emerged from the ICD and then told his parents he loved them. They laughed happily for a while, and Ehren indulged his mother by letting her tell him all about her holobook club. Shortly thereafter he said goodbye with a small contented sigh. He stood to return to the flat and came face to face with Robin, who was standing in the balcony doorway.
He didn't look angry or annoyed for once. He only looked upon Ehren with a sad resignation.
"You heard that?" Ehren cringed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."
"Don't be sorry," Robin said. "Be grateful. Let me show you to your room."
"My Room?"
"The Guestroom," Robin said. He lifted a brow and regarded Ehren curiously. "Do you really think I'm going to sneak out in the middle of the night, or do you just want to sleep with me?"
Ehren blushed to the roots of his hair with that comment and brushed quickly by him in hopes that Robin wouldn't see how flustered he had become.
"Where's this fabled guestroom," he said once his back was to Robin and his face had cooled down.
Robin led him to the room in question and left him to his own devices.
Previous || Next
They materialized in the port room of the Golden City Spaceport, Capital of the Golden Utopia. It was all Ehren could do to keep a cap on his excitement for visiting the planet that he had spent so many years studying back on Earth. He knew it would do no good if he ran around admiring the architecture of the spaceport like a small child when the occasion of his visit was nothing if not somber.
They were greeted by a tall woman with ginger hair and sad eyes. She fell immediately into Robin's arms and he held her for a long moment. Ehren felt like nothing more than an intrusion. He wanted to run and hide in some far corner of the building and leave Robin to his family.
The mother and son parted after a moment and Galiana waited expectantly for Ehren to be introduced. Robin only frowned and stubbornly crossed his arms in front of him, making no attempts to even acknowledge Ehren's presence. Ehren did not want to be the root of any familial disagreements at that moment, so he stepped forward and offered his hand.
"Ensign Ehrenfried Behrendt, Ma'am," he said briskly.
"Such a polite young man," she said as she shook his hand and gave Robin a pointed glance before turning her attention back to Ehren.
"Tell me where they teach such manners. My son could use them."
"I was born on Earth, Ma'am," he replied in her own language.
Her face lit up with delight, and she dropped the intergalactic standard she had been using to address him.
"Where did you find this one?" She asked her son.
"It wasn't hard," Robin muttered. "He's been a thorn sticking in my side for the past ten months or so."
"Robin!"
"Please, Mom. Please. He's nothing more than an I-GAS spy here. Don't treat him like he's some kind of welcome guest, or my friend. He is absolutely nothing of the sort!" Robin stormed past his mother then, leaving her slack jawed in surprise at his outburst.
"I am so sorry, Mr. Behrendt," she apologized to Eheren.
"It's alright, Ma'am," he replied. "Please call me Ehrenfried."
"Yes, of course." She nodded. "I really do apologize. He usually isn't like this. We raised him better than that."
"This isn't a usual situation," Ehren said. "To be honest, I have to admit that he is more or less correct. I'm here on assignment to monitor him because of...well... You know."
"Feliu?" Her demeanor turned instantly sour at the mention of the thief's name.
"Yes," Ehren admitted. "I really don't even know what I'm supposed to do. My orders were not precise. I don't know if I'm qualified for this, and I think it's an entirely unnecessary intrusion into a personal affair. I have to follow orders, though. I think Commander Grey understands that despite all outward appearances."
"Honest," she said. "I like that. It's not often that an officer of the law questions his superiors in front of a high ranking government official."
"Thank you, Ma'am," he said. "Now if I may... I must find Robin...Err...the Commander."
"Yes," She agreed. They made their way through the spaceport and found Robin waiting by the curb aside the large, expensive looking transport that was parked there.
It was a silent ride through the city. Ehren spent it staring out the window at the towers rising up all around him. The metal was a sparkling gold in the sun and he thought it was no wonder the planet had earned the nickname it had. It wasn't as perfect as the name might imply, but it was a beautiful place.
When they arrived at Galiana's residence Robin immediately excused himself from their presence and disappeared into his room leaving his mother alone with Ehren. She invited him into her kitchen to help her cook a meal. Before long they found themselves seated at the dining room table.
"Shall I get Robin?" Ehren asked.
She shook her head. He glanced around the room, wondering if he was being negligent in his ill-defined duties by leaving Robin on his own. Galiana noted his nervousness and set about making conversation.
"It's nice to have company," she said. "I'm not used to being alone."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am." Ehren bowed his head.
"No need to apologize, dear," she said. "Why don't you tell me about yourself? I have to say, Aina would have loved to meet you. She always has had a certain fondness for people from The Milky Way Galaxy."
"Gosh," Ehren said, unsure of how he should respond. "I...uh...I think I would have liked to have met her too."
"So," she said, in hopes to keep the conversation from stalling right there with Ehren's obvious discomfort. What's more, she didn't want to break down in front of someone she considered a guest despite what her son had said.
"You speak Utopian?"
"Yes," he said, visibly relieved. "I studied ancient languages, and this one really... It sounds nice, so I decided to concentrate on it and this planet. I was beginning to think I would never get to see it."
"Lovely!" She smiled at him.
"I only wish the circumstances were different."
"Yes, I as well," she replied.
They drifted off into contemplative silence until Robin reappeared and joined them.
"Where have you been?" He directed the statement at Ehren.
"Cooking dinner," he glanced down at his plate. He was quite unsure of what it was that he had prepared, only that it was edible. He had prepared the foreign fruits and vegetables that he had only ever seen in textbooks before according to Galiana's direction.
"Or breakfast," he continued. "Or lunch. I'm not sure what time it is." He glanced out one of the many brightly lit windows with a shrug.
"Alpha Circada has just risen," Robin muttered as if it was something Ehren should have known. "It's midday. Where is your timepiece? What kind of wannabe detective is without a timepiece?"
"Leave me alone," Ehren grumbled and turned his attention back towards Galiana.
"I've only read about this!" He said to her. "I hope to see a sun-change while I'm here! I didn't even notice."
She was about to answer, but Robin cut in before she could.
"It's because you're thick," he muttered.
Ehren glared at him, feeling his own temperature rising. He didn't know if it was due to rage, or embarrassment, or both.
"I am not thick, Sir," Ehren said, putting contemptuous emphasis on the word 'sir'.
"Robin," Galiana warned, but he ignored them both.
He leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head.
"Go make me a plate, Recruit," he said.
Ehren didn't bother to hide his indignant expression.
"Please?" He said.
"I'm your boss. I order you to do it." Robin grinned at him.
"That's enough children," Galina interrupted. "Robin, I'm your boss, and you can get your own food."
Robin's teasing smile abruptly fled his face, and he nodded obediently at the admonishment.
"Yes, Mom," he said.
Ehren excused himself then and wandered around the apartment until he found a balcony and stepped out on it, closing the door behind him. Orders be damned, he wasn't going to hover over Robin. He knew if it were his family, he would want to spend time with them without a military escort.
He sat on a nearby chair and admired the spectacular view of the city. Alpha Circadia was burning brightly; low in the sky, and Ehren noted the faint glow of what must have been the previous star upon the horizon. He turned his attention away from the cityscape and pulled out his ICD. He smiled faintly, remembering the first day he had gotten up enough courage to stand up to Robin, who had taken a call on Ehren's device and then thrown it directly into a nearby wall, smashing it into pieces when he hadn't liked what the person on the other end had to say.
Ehren had directly disobeyed Robin's orders that day by refusing to fill out the mountain of paperwork that was the requisition form for a new ICD. It had all started a chain reaction that had led up to that day.
"It's your own damn fault you're stuck with him," Ehren muttered to himself in Earthian. His own language almost felt foreign to him at that point. It had been a long time since he'd spoken to anyone from his galaxy, let alone his star system, or his planet. It had been too long.
He dialed in his ICD to an appropriate time on Earth to reach his parents and nearly burst into homesick tears when he heard his mother's voice.
"It's Ehren!" He said, when she answered with a quick hello.
There was an excited flurry of activity on the other end of the line, billions of light years away, and suddenly his father was speaking into the communication device as well.
"So, what brings about this call?" His father asked. "Haven't heard from you in an age, kid."
Ehren chuckled softly.
"You will never guess where I am, you guys. I'm on the GU."
His mother cooed excitedly and congratulated him. He left out the story of why he was there. That wasn't the point of his call. He didn't even respond in any great detail when asked what it was like there by his father.
"It's just sunny a lot," he said. "Tell me about home. How's work?"
"Why do you want to hear about that?" His father chuckled. "I don't remember carpentry being one of your great interests."
"It's not," Ehren said. "I just want to hear about what you guys are doing. I want to hear about home."
"I told you, Henrich." He heard his mother address his father. "He misses us after all."
"He just misses pie," Henrich said.
"I do miss your pie," Ehren said softly. "And I miss you. I just wanted to call and tell you guys how much I love you. I don't talk to you often enough."
"You don't," his mother agreed. "We miss you too."
"So that settles that," his father said. "You're coming back to Earth."
Ehren laughed.
"I'm on assignment right now. I'll visit as soon as I get some leave. It's a really busy time. You should turn on the inter- news," he said.
"You're safe, aren't you?" His mother's voice suddenly took on a worried pitch. "You're only supposed to be a recruit in training."
"Oh!" Ehren laughed. "I forgot to tell you. I got a commission. I'm an officer now!"
His father let out a whoop. Ehren waited patiently for the tumble of of proud congratulations that emerged from the ICD and then told his parents he loved them. They laughed happily for a while, and Ehren indulged his mother by letting her tell him all about her holobook club. Shortly thereafter he said goodbye with a small contented sigh. He stood to return to the flat and came face to face with Robin, who was standing in the balcony doorway.
He didn't look angry or annoyed for once. He only looked upon Ehren with a sad resignation.
"You heard that?" Ehren cringed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."
"Don't be sorry," Robin said. "Be grateful. Let me show you to your room."
"My Room?"
"The Guestroom," Robin said. He lifted a brow and regarded Ehren curiously. "Do you really think I'm going to sneak out in the middle of the night, or do you just want to sleep with me?"
Ehren blushed to the roots of his hair with that comment and brushed quickly by him in hopes that Robin wouldn't see how flustered he had become.
"Where's this fabled guestroom," he said once his back was to Robin and his face had cooled down.
Robin led him to the room in question and left him to his own devices.
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