Trychon picked up a stirring rod from the condiment tray in the table and began to spin it around in his hand. "Enough about us though... You were about to talk about life as pilot cadets?"
Ari leaned in a bit so it was easier for the group to hear her, as it was a bad idea to complain too much when you weren't sure who was listening. "Oh, it's not as exciting as it sounds... Our professors all have great stories about everything... and yet they have us run routine boring simulations continuously and repeatedly."
Lana nodded. "Yeah... I don't regret coming here, and I'm sure life will be much better when I get out. To be honest, I often dream about living life as a civilian pilot. Even a small gig. Just to be off planet and moving."
Raezyr set down his drink. "No kidding? Trych here is always giving me a hard time saying we'd be doing better if I'd had any sort of formal training."
Trychon nodded. "It's true. Raez is a great pilot... but we get overlooked for a lot of the best paying gigs because we have no real credentials. At this point though, we're hoping to build up a decent reputation... I don't have time to be sending off my pilot to get real learning. I'm sure it will come in handy."
Lana smiled at him. "How sweet of you to care. So how'd you get into this business if Raez is the pilot?"
Trychon picked up his drink again. "Oh, don't tell him this... but I don't really do anything other than give him a hard time. You don't pick up too much growing up on your own in a forest."
Ari waved for more drinks. "Wow! What was that like? What did you do?"
"Oh, I mostly dreamed of spending my time off-planet... or at least somewhere with decent food... and read books on bad pick up lines."
The whole table laughed as another round showed up.
-------------
The cantina had shifted crowds, although staying busy. Many left and many took their place.
Raezyr put his drink down in disgust. "Wait, wait... so you're saying that they don't even have you plotting your own hyperspace routes yet? You're right... I always thought the dorm life would be my bane if I went to Academy, but I think you're correct. The monotony sounds killer."
Ari shook her head. "It's real bad."
Trychon nodded. "I always told him that the dorms wouldn't be too bad. It's all a matter of relative view. It's gotta be better than being alone most of the time. We've been meaning to take a tour for some time and never got to do it. I want to try the cafeteria food. You hear so many stories and never really can tell what to think." He noticed that Ari was sitting quite a bit closer to Raez than earlier that night. He was pretty sure that Lana was inching his way too, but he couldn't be positive.
Lana nudged him. "You've mentioned food like... 6 times tonight. Is that all you think about?"
Raezyr laughed. "Nearly. Not quite though."
Trychon laughed with him. "Live off our cheap rations a month, and you'd understand."
Ari looked at Lana. "You'd love the academy then. Some of the best cooks work overnight."
Trychon looked into the distance. "Wow..." after a few seconds, he continued. "Even if we took the tour though, I'd bet that the cafeteria isn't usually one of the stops. That's part of the reason I haven't pushed TOO hard to get Raez to take the tour with me."
Ari nodded, and glanced at Lana again. "You're right... you'd never see the cafeteria that way. Fortunately though, visiting hours just started an hour ago."
Raezyr looked at her. "That seems odd." He heard Trychon in his head. Don't. Argue.
Lana looked around and her voice dropped a bit more. "Visiting hours are whenever your buddies are on guard post."
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