O Captain, My Captain

Taako let out a huff of air to blow his hair from his face and then glanced over his shoulder to look at Davenport, “A lot of trees, huh?” He repeated, laughing a little as he thought about the cycle his captain was talking about, “That was real crazy, I’m pretty sure everything else was big, we didn’t change sizes.” 

He was moving around the kitchen fairly quickly, adding spices to the pan and humming as he worked, “So we don’t know what’s down there, and we don’t know how long we’re going to be waiting to lang?”

Taako watched as Davenport climbed the barstool and smiled, he would admit the first time he had seen the Gnome climb onto a taller chair he had let out a little giggle, while Lup did some golf commentary in his ear, but he was a much more mature elf now, he only smiled a little. He took a moment to let him get comfortable, and eyed the counter to see what he had missed before swooping around the kitchen as Davenport spoke, “Something filling and fancy, gotcha.” At least he listened to some of the instructions.

He started with a fresh pot of coffee before bringing out the ingredients Davenport listed, plus his own flair of course. “Steak, potatoes. I make a great steak, I really do. It’s going to blow your mind, my man.” He grinned as he moved about the kitchen. “So what to we think of this plane so far?”

“So far? Not much,” Davenport answers. “It’s a lot of trees, I haven’t really seen anything but trees. I haven’t flown low enough to see any signs of wildlife, but that just means that it’s probably normal sized. Which is a relief, remember that cycle when everything was like 200 times its usual size and we were the size of dolls? That was wild.”

“Ah, well if it eases your mind at all, I wouldn’t be taking them as orders and if I didn’t want to bring you something I would tell you to get off that butt of yours and get it yourself, driving or not.” He grinned as he said it, “We wouldn’t do things for you because you’re the captain, after all these years I think it would be more a family, or friendship thing.” He pointed out, shaking his head a little as he lead the way to the kitchen, walking a little slower than he normally would when there was an opportunity to cook. 

Taako lead the way to the better of the two kitchens on board the ship and stretched his arms, tying his hair back as they got inside, “I can whip you up something nice if you don’t want leftovers, what do you say? It will take no time at all, and I’ll even make you some fresh coffee.”

Davenport scales the barstool at the island counter, grateful that it’s bolted down at the base so it doesn’t wobble as he climbs it like a ladder to sit across from Taako’s work space. He scratches idly at the countertop, flaking away an old bit of food or something that Taako missed during one of his meticulous kitchen cleanings.

Taako folded his arms at the expression on the other’s face, knowing he was thinking about saying no but then unable to help a little smile as his stomach made a sound, “Sounds like you can’t resist me.” He teased his captain lightly, stepping back as the other climbed out of his chair and placing his hands in his pockets as he started to walk. 

“If you need anything to eat or drink while you’re being hyper-vigilant captain guy, you realise that you can ask us right, I insist you don’t drink old coffee when we could make Magnus bring you fresh.” He rolled his eyes just a little and looked down at Davenport, looking a little lost in thought for a moment, “Really, you need to take care of yourself or you will have us all worried sick.”

“I know I could...” Davenport rubs anxiously at his neck. “I just. I don’t know, I feel guilty. I’m already your captain, I don’t want to take advantage of the fact that you have to be obedient by ordering you to do menial tasks like bring me coffee or a sandwich or... I don’t know. It just seems demeaning. I respect all of you too much to send you fetching me things like an errand boy when I have two perfectly good legs myself.”

Taako let out a little groan at the news that he hadn’t yet seen anything, he knew that meant more flying around trying to find something encouraging that would let them know where and when to land. He pursed his lips in an impatient pout and stepped back as the chair turned, leaning back and folding his arms as he looked down at the captain, “You look terrible right now.” He pointed out, gesturing to the Gnome’s tired face with the flick of a hand, “You need to rest yourself up, my dude, where will we be if our captain gets sick?” 

He cocked a hip to the side and rested a hand on it as he looked Davenport over, this happened every year, it was like he couldn’t allow himself to rest until they had found the light or worked out if it was safe - he didn’t want to risk anyone getting hurt despite their apparent temporary immortality. Taako let out a little sigh and his expression softened as he thought for a moment, 

“How about we put this thing on autopilot - I’m assuming it can do that - and we take you to get some good, good food in the kitchen? I finished cooking not too long ago, it isn’t too late for you to have dinner.” He suggested, “We won’t miss the light, I promise.” 

Davenport opens his mouth to protest staying in the cockpit to look for the light, but he’s interrupted by his stomach giving a plaintive squeak, reminding him that it’s been a good fourteen hours since he peeled his ass out of the pilot’s chair to scrounge something from the kitchenette in the lounge. To make or locate a full meal would require going to the lowest deck, and he just wasn’t willing to do that while they were looking for the light.

@gnomedad liked for a starter

“Hey, cap’n’port! What do we know about cycle thirty seven? Anything interesting down there yet?” Taako leaned his elbows on the back of the captain’s chair, his chin resting in his hands and a bored, maybe a little tired expression on his face, “Just that, after all the fighting last year I could do with a whole year of napping, you feel that?” He added, raising his eyebrows as he looked at the gnome, before turning his attention to the window that allowed him to look out over the new land they had encountered only days before. 

It seemed fairly uninhabited, no tall buildings, a lot of trees and greenery, but they couldn’t be certain until they found something or until they were able to land, they all knew the drill by now, but Taako was feeling a little more uncomfortable than usual, for no particular reason much more than it was taking a little longer than usual and he was bored, so if bothering the captain was going to ease his boredom somewhat then it was what he had to do.

“I’m not seeing much yet,” Davenport admits. They’re on their fourth fly-over of the planet. He changes his orbit slightly with every pass, hoping to see something new, but he hasn’t been able to spot so much as a scrap of civilization. They usually at least catch a passing glimpse of the light falling by now, even if it falls somewhere on the other hemisphere it’ll usually at least leave a light trail for a few minutes, long enough for them to at least take note of the general area it fell in, but so far... nothing.

Sighing, he turns around in his seat and rubs his hands over his face. He’s been at the helm for four days straight now. He always pushes it when they’re first looking for the light, taking micronaps in his chair when he can catch them, but if there aren’t any people in this world anyway, it might not be worth it to make himself sick over waiting for the stupid thing to fall. He tries not to be jaded about it, but sometimes calculated losses have to be part of the game plan, or they’ll never be able to stock up enough energy to really fight when they need to.

an updated tattoo reference for my beloved gnome...