After my talk with Isa, I thought about hobbies off and on. For a long time, I had been so focused on my goals that I didn’t really have time for personal hobbies, and now that I had time, I didn’t know what I liked. I mean, I played games, and at the academy there were sports and such, but that was more about hanging out with my friends than the activities themselves.

  I pondered the question for a few days as we traveled from Evon to Midding. Midding was an important system despite not containing a habitable planet. Rather, it had a large station that acted as a major trade hub, since three colony worlds connected to it. Unfortunately, like the worlds we had passed by, we had a mission and wouldn’t be visiting this time.

  The night after we entered the Midding system, I found Isa and Ani after dinner.

  “How do you know what you like?”

  Ani blinked in surprise. “Didn’t you say you were a lesbian? I thought that meant you had figured that out already.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I’m definitely a lesbian. No, like for fun.”

  Isa smiled. “I’m glad you’re talking our talk serious, Dax.”

  “What talk?” asked Ani.

  Isa waved her off. “Oh, I just explained to Dax the importance of having hobbies, especially on a ship.”

  Ani nodded. “Ah, yes. That’s important. Too many people without them end up blowing their paychecks on gambling or the like.”

  “What do you like to do, Ani?”

  “I read and do calligraphy. Well, hand lettering in general.”

  “Huh, that’s pretty cool.”

  Isa chimed in. “Obviously, I like building and inventing things, and they’re all totally useful, despite what the naysayers insists.” She stuck her tongue out at us.

  Ani rolled her eyes. “If you’re looking for hobbies, I recommend trying something creative. It’s a good balance for the rigor and rigidity of the military. Keeps your mind fresh.”

  I slowly nodded, considering the possibilities. “That makes sense. But how do I know what I’ll enjoy?”

  Isa rolled her eyes. “You try them out and see. Obviously, some things require supplies that we don’t have, but there’s plenty you can try now. For the future, though, remember that we’re on a ship so don’t go buying a bunch of stuff that takes up too much space.”

  “Right. I’ll keep all that in mind, thanks. Cards?”

  With that, I successfully changed the subject.

  The next night, I thought about what they had said and remembered one of Isa’s off-the-cuff ideas—write a book. I briefly considered trying to write a physics book, but decided both that there were plenty already and that I didn’t want to anyway. But I could try writing a story, how hard could that be?

  Two hours of staring at a blank document later, I decided it was very hard. Maybe writing wasn’t for me.

  I tried again the next night, but with poetry. That time, I actually got some stuff on the page.

  Flying through space

  Aether under my wings

  Not sure what to do

  Trying to find my way

  Yeah, the results were awful, the process was frustrating, and it took an hour and a half to write less than twenty words that barely made sense. How would I fly through space with aether under my wings anyway? I decided that poetry wasn’t for me.

  I though about trying calligraphy like Ani, but decided that was just fancy writing, and I didn’t want anything to do with writing after my previous two attempts. Instead, I pulled the stylus out of its slot on my tablet. I almost never used it—I didn’t much care about handwriting notes—but decided I’d try drawing. I pulled up the basic drawing function on my tablet and thought about what to draw.

  I briefly considered heading to the lounge and drawing people, but that sounded hard, plus I didn’t want people to ask questions about what I was doing. Instead, I pulled out a pair of ankle boots from the storage bracelet I rarely accessed those days and started sketching them.

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  The results were pretty bad. I knew nothing about perspective or shading, and I struggled with controlling the stylus. The actual act, though, I found relaxing despite my struggles. For some reason, I didn’t care if it was bad.

  Plus, you know, boots. Boots are great.

  After that, my interest was piqued. I looked through the ship’s virtual library and found a couple books on sketching. They were largely aimed at surveying and technical drawing, but I read through them and practiced the exercises over the next few days as we traveled from Midding to Elspeth, a system with a tiny station.

  By the time we arrived in the Elspeth system, I had improved slightly. My drawings were still a mess of disproportionate shapes, but they were better than when I started. I wasn’t about to show them to anyone yet, but I felt a smidgen of pride at my progress.

  Of course, I still found time to chat with the others and play games—that socialization was important both for my own mental health and for my interactions with the rest of the crew.

  From Elspeth, we could have quickly returned to Eryth, but that would have been pointless. Aether currents were strange—a trip that took nearly three weeks one direction could be done in a few days the other direction.

  Instead, though, we continued on for a few days to Harald. This was an important station, but not for trade reasons. No, Harald was on the border with the Coalition of Clans. Despite having friendly relations with them, we maintained a large military presence there, including multiple destroyers.

  We didn’t stay in Harald, either. We set off from there along the normal route to Doral Station but stopped partway in a system known only as G33SB10. The system was poorly surveyed, merely a pass-through system on the way to Doral, which was why we were there.

  We began by surveying the various planets in the system, identifying their makeup, size, mana bubble, etc., as much as we could. After that, we traveled the edges of the system, recording the details of the aether flows and identifying possible major currents. We weren’t going to follow them—while we were a scout ship, we were ill-equipped for a potentially months or even years-long journey to find a route back to a known system. That was the domain of specialized scout teams. Nevertheless, it was important to record the potential routes in case future expeditions were planned.

  During that time, I got closer to the second-shift crew and continued practicing my drawing. I was still a long way from being “good,” but I was getting more comfortable with it every day. By the time we started surveying the aether flows, I was willing to do some of my drawing in the lounge. I still refused to show anyone my work, but I didn’t hide the fact that I was doing it.

  Isa ended up being the most insistent about seeing what I was working on.

  “Come on, Dax! Show me! I’ll let you see the device I’m working on in exchange.”

  “Yeah, no. That just sounds dangerous—I’ve heard about some of the things you’ve tried making.”

  She hmphed. “How rude. I’ll have you know I only get hurt like thirty percent of the time, and most of the time it’s fixable with a First Aid spell.”

  I stared at her for a few seconds. “Yeah, that’s not really something to brag about.”

  The people nearby eavesdropping chuckled at that.

  She spluttered out some sounds, failing to form proper words before throwing her hands in the air and walking off. A few seconds later she turned back around and approached me again.

  “Please, let me see! I’ll love you forever.”

  I rolled my eyes. “More like you’ll love me for fifteen minutes then get distracted or fake-annoyed at something I said.”

  “That’s… probably accurate,” she admitted. “But still! My unconditional love for six minutes, isn’t that worth a peek?”

  “Nope!” I said cheerfully.

  She responded with wide, sad eyes. “Pweeeease?”

  “Ha! Your antics may have worked on a lesser foe, but I am stronger than that!”

  She flopped onto the couch next to me, a dramatic sigh falling from her lips. I made sure to lock the tablet before she could grab it or peek over my shoulder at it.

  “You are impossible, Pet.”

  “I thought we retired that nickname.”

  “Well, I felt it was appropriate. Maybe I’ll keep calling you it until you show me your drawings.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Call me whatever you want. I’m not showing you anything, at least not yet.”

  “But wheeeeeen?”

  “When it looks better than a four-cycle-old can do.”

  “I’m sure it’s already better than that.”

  She was right. My work wasn’t good but I at least had a basic understanding of perspective, unlike a child. Still, I wasn’t about to admit that to her.

  “Regardless, I’m not ready. Besides, didn’t you tell me to get a hobby for myself, not others?”

  “I don’t think I said that. Clearly your hobby should be for me.”

  I snorted, amused by her antics. “Oh? And what would drawing for you look like?”

  She put a finger on her chin, thinking. “Turtles.”

  “Turtles?” I asked.

  “Yes. Turtles. I forget where they’re from, but they have these hard shells that their limbs and head and such pop out of. Some live in the sea while others spend more time between land and water. They’re so weird, it’s great.”

  I turned my tablet away and unlocked it, switching so I could search the ship’s databanks. I quickly found an article about turtles and skimmed it, noting the picture.

  “They are pretty weird,” I admitted.

  “See! You should draw a turtle.”

  I thought about it for a few minutes before giving in. “Fine. I’ll draw you a turtle. But you better not make fun of me!” I said the last part in a joking manner, but I was actually a little nervous about it.

  “Can I watch?” she asked.

  I shrugged, pretending it didn’t matter, but it made me more nervous. Regardless, I agreed and started a new sketch, occasionally flipping back to my source image. Isa watched patiently as I drew a basic turtle over the next half hour, and she remained quiet the entire time. Finally, I finished and showed her the end product, though she was already looking.

  “You’ve only been doing this less than a month? That’s really good!” She seemed sincere, but I stared at her, looking for any sign of mockery or deceit. Finding none, I relaxed.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled, locking the tablet.

  “Of course,” she said with a smile.

  I was trying to think of something to stop the awkward when suddenly klaxons went off, signaling a call for general quarters.