Millard had spent the entire time, the briefing was being held inspecting each person. He was not impressed, sure many of them were soldiers during the war, and each of them was some form of space wizard, however, none of that impressed him. They may have accomplished quite a few things during the war, yet he has little faith in their mental capacities. Sure some may be geniuses, yet they seem to be literal children with their actions. Millard didn't mind the slight playfulness, honestly, if they weren't playful at all, he thinks they would be extremely boring to him. Yet as he watches, each Star Marine had very little that showed their maturity. Some tried to feign maturity, yet others seemed to hold themselves differently. Not because of age, yet because of how they were brought up and what life threw at them. However, one stuck out like a sore thumb to him, Narvia. To Millard, Narvia is a liability rather than an asset. She at first seemed to be this young kind girl, yet on the simple remembrance that a damn lemon bar brought, she nearly broke down into a sobbing mess, needing multiple people to support her just to stop her from crying. Yes, they may be soldiers, yet this told him more than he needed to know: Some are truly kids.
Once the briefing was over, Millard just left, he needed a cigarette. Really, he needed more than that, he needed to get his mind off of things, because in honesty, he didn't find much to like about the kids. Was it unfair that he was bunching all the kids with the few things he saw? Yes. Does he care? No. One of them thought it was a good or proper thing to wish to stop him from smoking and Trajan from drinking, through taking their desired vice. Did Trajan need to stop before he hit the floor? Yes. Did that matter? No. Millard was more than willing to decide to not smoke in front of her, he just finds it annoying that Narvia girl also threw in that extra remark about smoking while crying, made him feel like she might have been fishing for some form of cutesy comfort, yet Millard won't hold that against her, he'll just have to make sure she takes extra care before she does something she will live to regret.
Millard made it to his room as he sat down and just leaned back in his chair as he looked at the ceiling as he left himself to his thoughts. He is trying to at least clear his pallet of what he saw today of the kids, maybe when he interacts with them in a one-on-one setting it will be different. Maybe today was a bad day, Millard doesn't know but he'll at least give it a shot, maybe he was just too moody today? Who knows? Yet immediately after some of these thoughts, he saw a large fellow walk in and set down some 'medication' for him and asked if he wished to party. Like any good soldier he said,
"Hell yeah, I'd like to party".
Abaddon sat down on Millard's bed and started to infuse himself with the good old Rau've drugs.
"Today was not the best day was it?" Once he got the use out of the needle he tossed it in a bag then threw it into the trash can.
Millard watched as Abaddon sat down and injected himself with what looked like some more of the Rau've stuff. Millard knew of this stuff because of Abaddon, as he asked if a Kaisoken could get high, and well other than magic, that was the literal only other thing known that can. As Abaddon threw a question out that made Millard lean back as he had the bottle of alcohol in his hand,
"Not at all. It could have been better for sure". Millard takes a swig from the bottle as he continues,
"On the same topic, how did you feel about the kids?" Millard wished to know Abaddon's opinion of the little super 'soldiers', maybe Abaddon saw something he didn't.
Abaddon had a feeling that it was going to be a drink out of the bottle night but at the start? He could tell that Millard was holding some judgments in him.
"Well, some are okay, some are damaged, some of them cry. Other than that, I was left with a mild distaste for them. I thought more of them would be more soldier-like. I have read a lot and describing some of them as Star Marines is truly a disservice to the Marines." Abaddon pulled out a very nice pack of cigarettes,
"I brought you some more considering you were mugged by a little girl", Abaddon turned away to laugh a bit as that was funny as hell.
Millard listened to Abaddon as he described how he saw the children. Millard agreed with Abaddon on this one, Star Marines. Millard knew many Marines, these kids didn't even fit the bill for what a Marine is, well one of them was big enough to be mistaken as a Marine, yet he is the only one, the rest look like some kids who were thrust into combat. Millard took a breath as he is here to forget that, not keep harping over it, as he looked back to find Abaddon had produced a pack of cigarettes for him. He laughed as he said,
"Yeah, she robbed me blind with that one. But at least some good came out of it". As he took one out as he started to smoke it as he continued,
"You really do buy the good ones. I just stick to the cheap shit you can find on station". As he leaned back and started lean back in his chair as he said,
"Well, we're here with them. I suppose to get to know them more closely would be easier than holding this slight taste in the mouth." As Millard looked towards Abaddon as he says,
"Well, I hope they can be a help. I was wondering, who would be helpful to the jobs here? I hope one of them has healing magic". Millard lets his mind wander a little as he tries to figure out who had what magic.
"What can I say? The idea of buying cheap just feels wrong to me. If I can afford to buy rich then I do. Now why I'm buying things that I can't even try is a mystery to me as well." Millard's idea on how to deal with some of these negative ideas is to get to know them,
"Maybe, I believe that some of them didn't get to show their maturity, some I am ready to be more disappointed as we get to know them. I will tell you that if Ariel steals my drugs I will have some words with her." It was a good question about their powers,
"Except for the ones who straight up said their skills, you can make an assumption that one of the twins has a healing skill. Other than that, I have no clue. It's amazing how little you can tell sometimes, speaking from personal experience. Mirrorshard's magic would have been quite a fight for them." Abaddon laid back and rested his head on his hands, trying to not destroy Millard's pillow.
"I really wanted to fight Mirrorshard! I feel like it's been ages since I had a decent fight. He may have at least stirred my spirit a little! But no, I sent him on a false mission. Well whatever, what's done is done." The drugs were hitting different today, maybe it's because he wanted to escape the den of emotions that was the meeting room, maybe it was him injecting more than usual, who knows?
"Eh it would make sense one of the twin kids would have it. They would probably want to look out for the other". Millard hoped Ariel wasn't their 'healer', or she will have to get over a lot of things fast, like his smoking. Millard listened, needing no need to talk, he hoped that what Abaddon said was true. Some of the kids being more mature than their introduction let on, hell, he was unable to see a few introduce themselves, so he was interested in those people, yet still, he had to just hope. As Abaddon spoke of Mirrodshard, Millard didn't leave the ship, because someone needed to keep the ship safe. And while that was happening he was straightening up his office. So Millard had no clue who this Mirrorshard was, nor his skill, so he asked Abaddon to enlighten him,
"Huh, what could that Mirrorshard guy do? He seemed interesting at least".
Abaddon sat up, excited to talk about his student. Abbadon's voice was almost giddy in a way as he spoke of Mirrorshard
"Well, first of all, it turns out my message is spreading. He had limbs and everything! Oh, how I wanted to test his mettle. But anyway, he was a swordsman, using his arm as the sword. But his magic was truly splendid, especially for how young he was. He was a bonafide mage slayer. If they would have fought him, I'm almost sure that they would have lost a great amount. I can only imagine him choking the last bit of life out of one of them, sucking every bit of mana. Oh, he was truly a monster in his own right. Not only was his magic superb, but I could also tell from his structure he was truly durable, I'm not sure normal explosives would be enough to damage him. You would need magic. But then that is where he would act as a mirror returning everything beautifully to the owner." Abaddon realized he was getting carried away. He gave a cough,
"Anyway, he would have been a very difficult fight.""Ah I see. Sounds like a real pain in the ass". Millard said once Abaddon finished his loving remarks of Mirrorshard. As Millard thought about what the kids came in carrying, most of them had very few weapons with them, most of them must have been heavily magic reliant, not bad, yet in situations like this, that is a death sentence. But Millard makes the remark afterward as he says,
"Hmm, must have been a great feeling for you. To know such a great student had sought you. I was wondering though, how old is the boy?" Millard was interested because if he was younger then he would be slightly less dangerous as he would be inexperienced still.
"Mirrorshard is only past his first century. He is technically an adult but compared to me and many other Kaisoken, he is still a child. I'm happy to guide the youth though, I see it as a noble duty for the old to teach the young. Even if leading them to their destiny ends up cutting your own short. However, many Kaisoken of my age or less try to preserve the world they grew in, hampering the previous generations", Abbadon's tone had shifted to one of self-reflection,
"I have seen many passionate men and women have their ambition snuffed out by our unchanging ways. I believe if I can create a path for change, whether for my beliefs or not, then maybe I can grow old as well.""Ah, a beautiful dream. One I hold similar sentiments to". Millard was in a bit of contemplation as he thought about why he was here. Then not too long after he thought about really anything else, as he said as he just remembered,
"Ah fuck. The kids are at that age. I think I need to deal with them before they run off and do something they live to regret." He thought about it, but as he stood up he felt the alcohol hit him as he then said,
"Ahh, nope, I'll leave that for tomorrow", as he sits back down and leans back, knowing this will probably be where he sleeps for the night.
Abaddon could see how hammered Millard was,
it might be best to put the doctor to sleep, any more and he might puke. Abaddon grabbed the drugs and put them in his bag, leaving the weed as it was legal. He now pulled the lemon bars out and set them in front of the doctor
"I'm going to get you some actual food. Drink some water while I'm gone." With that Abaddon went out of the room and headed to the kitchen to procure something to keep a hole out of Millard's stomach.
Millard watches as Abaddon gets up and starts cleaning things up. Millard thought it was fair, he felt the drunkenness in his legs as Abaddon leaves him some snacks to hold him over until he comes back. Millard waves to Abaddon as he says,
"Thank you, I'll make sure to stay put". Once he leaves, Millard opens up his minifridge to grab one of his many water bottles, as he drinks it quickly and starts munching on the Lemon Bars as he waits, thinking how he will talk to the kids about the more non-pg things couples can do.
Once Abaddon gets back, Millard eats for a bit before he heads off to bed. Knowing someone might want to ruin his sleep by waking him up because of their wish to see him be a 'Good' Doctor. All while Abaddon leaves to start working more on the ship, there was still quite a bit to be done before he could start to rest.