This Week's Theme: What is your character's lifelong dream? Why didn't she pursue it?
"I really don't understand the question."
"Boring!"
Lex glared at Al before continuing. "I'm serious. What do you mean? I never wanted to be anything. I am what I am, eternally."
Al rocked back in the chair, laughing. "OK, point taken. Popeye here is sorta right, we don't really have ambitions that way. And since he lacks imagination to come up with an answer, I guess it falls on me. If I had been human, I think I woulda been a rock star."
They all laughed, and Al jumped up on his seat. "C'mon, can't ya see me up on stage, struttin' my stuff, kickin' it with my boys?" He played a few licks of the air guitar in a Hendrix style, then jumped off the seat. "And let's not forget the groupies!"
"Delightful."
"Ah shove it up your ass bird-boy, you're just jealous." Al strolled down the aisle to the galley and opened the small fridge. "Orange for the boss!" He tossed the bottle across the aisle in a lazy underhand motion. Gideon reached out with both hands, and guided the bottle to safety.
"Water for the wuss..." This time Al threw the bottle full force. It sped across the aisle at high speed, then came to an abrupt stop inches from Lex's head. He was looking out of the small window, and without turning his head he said "Thank you Al." The bottle gently floated down into his hand, and he smiled.
Al rifled through the bottles, selecting a handful by alcohol content. "Come to papa..." He shoved a few miniatures into his pockets, grabbed a handful more, then returned to his seat. "Sorry toots, didn't see anything you woulda liked in there." Maria smiled politely. "That's fine, I've brought my own..." She patted a small pouch tied to her belt. It rattled as she did so, the vials inside shaking against each other. Just enough to take the edge off..."
"So what was your big dream Maria?"
"Hmmm? Oh, I never had any unfulfilled ambitions. I've been everything I could want to be, at one point or another."
"Really?"
She nodded and looked at Al. "I've been around you know. For a long time. Not as long as you, I'll grant you, but... I've been a librarian, scientist, writer, adventurer, hunter - even a queen, briefly. You can do a lot in 4000 years."
"What about when you were a little girl? C'mon, didn't you want to dress up in pink and be a ballet dancer?"
Gideon started to choke on his orange juice, and tried hard not to laugh. Maria's eyes darted to her left, and he coughed. The edge of her lips betrayed the slightest smile as she narrowed her eyes and stared at him. "What, you don't think I could have been a ballet dancer?"
Gideon was still spluttering slightly. "No, it's just... what I meant was... well they didn't exactly have ballet in ancient Egypt did they!?" She smiled. "True, and we weren't exactly encouraged to dream. I suppose freedom was my dream as a child, and I got that." She ran a hand through her hair, lifting it away from her face. "What about you Gideon? What's your dream?"
"Me?" Gideon put his drink down and rubbed his chin. "Well, I guess I always wanted to be a soldier..."
"Doesn't count." They looked at Al, who unscrewed the lid off of a fifth miniature of vodka before draining it. He shook the empty bottle at Gideon. "You only wanted to be a soldier because daddy was a soldier. That was psychological, to get his approval. It's not what you wanted. So come on, think deeper. What's the dream you had, the one thing you wanted to achieve?"
Gideon breathed out, almost a sigh, but mixed with slight irritation. He bit his lip. "I guess... a father."
Al raised an eyebrow. "Like a priest?"
Gideon shook his head. "No, like a dad." He took a sip of the orange juice and continued. "After I lost my mother, I spent so long on my own it was like I'd lost my father too. I didn't have the kind of family my friends had. So I guess that was the thing I always wanted. A wife, kids, a home. Family." He finished the drink and placed the glass on the table. "But with the army, and everything that happened after that..." He didn't need to tell them. They were already a part of that everything. He shook his head and looked out of the window. "Let's just say, I think it's probably a little too late now..."
Too late for him. True, he wasn't that old, but in this line of work? It didn't exactly afford him a social life - not many opportunities to meet a woman, and definitely not one who could deal with his "issues". The only person who came close was Maria. He turned from the window and caught her looking at him intently. She dropped her gaze quickly, and shuffled the papers in front of her. She knew what it was like, to long for a family, for that closeness with other people. She hadn't known that feeling in a long time. And she also knew how it felt to consider it to be too late, that there was no point in trying for something that she couldn't have, even if it was as close as someone sitting across from her. She cleared her throat.
"Shall we... shall we discuss the mission?"
Gideon nodded. "Yes, we should. Al? You're going to like this one..."
