Now's as good a time as any for this

[prismphantom]

[Another ugly skirmish with the BETA... plus kijin stuff piled on just for good measure afterwards. And the people weighing on Selena's mind the most? Well, the Zhar Battalion of course.]

Lt. Colonel Latrova... fighting the BETA on a constant basis is dangerous enough. I just hope that the enemies you face within the Russian bureaucracy don't decide to further retaliate against you. Whoever planned that operation the way they did might not be happy with how things played out, and considering what the Zhars have to deal with already...

For you and your men, I hope they don't decide to take out their frustration on the battalion. It was bad enough seeing the Glory Stars go through... what they did. And the size of the battalion doesn't mean any one life in it's less valuable.

[She looks over at a tupperware box she recently got in the mail. It's from Captain Symphonia... with 'Feliz Cumpleaños' written on the top, with a large amount of seemingly basic looking cookies inside. It's a few weeks past her birthday, but considering the circumstances of the rest of Team Jelba's current mission she doesn't hold it against the Captain. Thus she still opens the box and helps herself to one, immediately humming softly as she closes her eyes, leans back against the wall, and savors the taste. Well, not before...]

Elma?



Yes Selena?



Take some of the Captain's handiwork and see if anyone would like to try it. In spite of what happened out there, it was still an improvement over everything last month so... not to sound like a certain insensitive someone but maybe a small celebration's in order.



Are you sure you're not just saying that to try to wean yourself off of these?  Their nutritional value isn't all that great and since you've been transferred to the Unity Group you've gained 2.3- ohnono aaaahahhhh S-Selena-

[Oh dear.  Poor Elma's comment got derailed as Selena picks him up by his head.]



Of all the things I'm grateful you can do for me, being a weight scale ISN'T ONE OF THEM!

[And with that poor Elma's going to be punted down a hall.  Not that it's going to get in the way of him delivering those cookies to anyone interested later on though... just he's also going to have a big dent in his head once more.]

Comments

Neither did Steam until he checked Alpha 3's birthday chart for Touma

[prismphantom]

Birthdays sometimes have a habit of creeping up on Team Jelba. Between work and needing to keep up appearances if we're on an intelligence-gathering mission, we celebrate them when it's safe to remember we actually have them.

And mine's on the 21st. Right after... what happened to Yancy, and on the same day that Kanade left us.

[Selena's silent for a short but noticeable period of time, in memory of those Unity Group members no longer around before she just lets off a weak, sort of forced chuckle.]

There I go again, I'm spoiling the mood.

[star_of_sad]

... Oh.

Well. That's in the past now. Please, don't blame yourself.

It happened, we can't do anything about it now.

[prismphantom]

... You're right.

There's still things we need to worry about, and getting worried about that all defeats the purpose of all of this.

Go ahead, let's see if you like the cookies.

[star_of_sad]

[Way ahead of you Selena, Setsuko is already chomping away.]

[prismphantom]

[Selena just laughs. The poor girl's been through a lot recently, so seeing her enjoy the cookies so enthusiastically eases Selena's worries about her.]

Always wonderful to see a new fan of the Captain's cooking. I'll have to make sure he know too.

[star_of_sad]

What can I say, it's... very good.

[prismphantom]

That's the Captain for you... the only person I've met who can cook my favorite foods better than Elma can. He always felt it was like a duty of his; to make sure his cookin was the absolute best for his team, his family.

I hope you get to meet them some time, Setsuko. They really are amazing people.

[star_of_sad]

Sometimes I forget that Team Jelba has more members than just you and Albhard.

The sentiment is shared, I hope to meet the rest one day too.