A Place for Everything...

The medical supplies had long come in, somewhere in a foam cooler with some ice packs to boot. Vas just hadn’t a chance to load ‘em up with the doc’s infirmary turning into a revolving door of clients. So he found himself some other work to keep busy and checked on the medical supplies so they stayed cooled and intact till dust off.

He doubted anyone would begrudge a moment while he watched his childhood homeworld shrink away as the ship sailed into the black. Vas couldn’t help but feel a twist of pain in his chest, it would most likely be a pain he would carry for long a while. Still, better to feeling something than nothing at all right?

He trotted down to the cargo bay to haul the medical supplies to the infirmary. Vas handled the stuff with care like they were a bunch of fragile hollow eggs. The young punk turned to enter the common area about to lope into the infirmary when Jacy came up and drive by goosed him. True to form Vas jumped with a “Hey!” pinking around the edges.

Jacy winked and smiled trotting off, most likely to hide from Riley. Vas may not of known it yet but that woman had him wrapped around her pinkie. He didn’t seem to realize how long his eyes lingered, watching her go. Like watching a sunset on Sion. Vas got redder. He would have slapped himself were his hands not full.

In a way, it was so much easier knowing your place, how things worked. You didn’t think you just did. Out here, he was just a knot of emotions and insecurities.

Vas used a foot, to assist in opening the Med Bay doors. “Got a delivery for ya Doc.” Vas said cheerfully. “Need help unpacking it?” He asked looking for a clear counter to put it down on.

Dorian looked up from his pocket watch, the furrow in his brow disappearing. “Why, of course, Mister Vas. Ah’m always glad of a little help.” The pocket watch, with the new photograph tucked into its’ lid, snapped shut as it was slipped into a vest pocket. The medic surveyed the boxes as they came in, each bearing labels and packing lists familiar to his eye. “Ah,’ he observed when the foam cooler came through the doors. “Ah’ll take that one, thank yah.”

The cooler, with its’ fragile drugs and lifesaving bags of plasma and lactated Ringers, was popped open. *“Think what you like of her,”* he mused as he transferred the valuable cargo to the refrigerator, *“but Aello knew how to arrange an infirmary.”* The happy recipient of his predecessor’s organization was busy arranging small vials on a shelf when the doors popped open again.

This time, Vas was using a hand truck to deliver a small crate.

Dorian turned, his expression bemused. “What in *Qī gè dìyù* is that?”

“What? It's what you ordered.” Vas said carting the load into the med bay. “You wrote the list, Riley gave me a fistful of cash and this is the result.” The boy chuckled lining the empty counters with supplies.

Adler watched as the crate landed with a “whump” on the deck. “Ah can assure yah that Ah nevah ordered….” he paused to pry the lid open. There, amid a tangle of packing straw, a stainless steel top panel greeted his curious eye. “What did y’all get?” he asked, his curiosity piqued as he attempted to boost the item into the light. “Grab tha box fah me, wouldja?” he asked. “Hold it down while Ah lift.”

With Vas’ help to steady the crate, Dorian shimmied the heavy object from its’ confinement. At first, the timer and temperature settings offered the impression that they’d foraged themselves a fairly high toned kitchen oven. His eyebrows lifted slightly when he read the sleek print of its’ branding. “Denta-kiln-twenty-five-hundred,” Dorian recited. “Not on mah list, but...Jacy,” he turned to fix the punk with a crooked smile. “Jacy...am Ah right?”

“Yea Jacy.” Vas shook his head. She was sneak and half! No wonder she was so quick to use her funds. *I’m sure she must be pleased as punch with herself.* That girl needed a leash … to which Vas would NOT be holding that leash. “Right, not like we can return it so, where do you want it?” He asked.

“Guess Ah’ll be expanding mah “on surface” rate card,” Adler said as his eye swept the infirmary. “Ovah there,” he gestured with a tilt of his head, “That corner.” With Vas’ hands on the other side, the pair lifted and maneuvered the bulky appliance to its new home atop an open counter space. “Need tah anchor it for flight, an’ Ah’m sure it’d like some sorta power feed,” he mused. “Yah’d think Jacy woulda bought the “installation” package,” he chuckled. Sensing a certain...vibe...coming from the boy, Dorian said, “yah’ve been spendin’ a fair amount of time with our miss...what is it they call her? “La Loyd?”

*“We can get some tools, stick to the counter.”* Vas though absently. “What? No more than anyone else I think.” He said clearing his throat. “I knew Santo and Jacy I guess has seniority. So made sense sending us out together right?” Vas was vaguely aware that there was a place on Earth-That-Was, in a mythical land where a mighty river once flowed. Called *DENILE.* “She’s a nice girl is all.” Vas kept eyes on the Kiln, looking for the best way to anchor it.*Pay no mind to the daily goosing!* Or the rampant blushing for every innuendo she tossed his way.

“Yes,” Adler nodded with a secretive smile. “A very nice girl, indeed...and one who seems quite interested in your well being.” Okay, there were gentler ways to hold this conversation, but in the eons old communications of men such ribbing had become a rite of passage in and of itself. “Ah mean,” he continued, “last time Ah priced out one of these?” he tapped the kiln’s top. Truthfully, Dorian had never priced out such a bulky apparatus, as it stood in direct opposition to his theories of what traveling dentistry was all about...but that needn’t be admitted here. “Suffice to say, they’re not cheap. Still,” he observed, “the way she looked last night? Now Ah’ll tell yah, Ah’ve known a great many women. They all...nearly all of them,” he said as a notion of Lt. Riley came to mind, “do like tah dress a bit. But Jacy? A girl gets herself all gussied up tah that level....well,” he cast a sidelong glance Vas’ way, “she’s generally dressin’ for someone. Nothin’ tah be *Xiūku*ì of, Mister Vas,” he chuckled.

“Last night?” Vas blinked. He had really thought about how she looked last. He was a person of singuler focus! Give him a job and he did it. Did she get ‘gussied’ up? Very much to his shame he never actually noticed or even compliment her on it. He knew girls liked being complimented that much he knew at least. But of course, things had not gone as planned. He had been distracted by other things. “I guess I …” Vas tried not to look embarrassed, he failed. “... I had other things on my mind last night.” He admitted.

A number of complex emotions traveled Vas’ face in the moment Dorian spoke. *“Like Jacy herself,”* he observed as he listened to the punk’s response, *“there’s a good deal more than meets the eye.”* Shrugging off the answer and Vas’ growing embarrassment, Dorian covered. “That right there,” he offered, “is prob’ly why yah’ll wind up captaining yah own boat inside of five years. Yah do have a focus about yah. And if yah don’t mind mah sayin’ so,” the medic changed subjects, “moves as well. Ah’m still puzzlin’ ovah how fast yah laid out those two at the Lucky Cat. Is there a name fah that?”

“Laid out? Oh, the *jietou lese* back on Persephone.” Vas nodded remembering the event. “Ah, I just moved out the way and gave a little nudge on their way down to the floor. Nothing much. Supposed a little Drunken boxing and *Baguazhang* if you wana get technical” He explained not really thinking too hard about it. Even in the ensuing fight that took place after, it was just fun and games. Sure he took a shot to the face but he supposed that was normal.