Mech Pilot who is Nocturnal.

Lolly sat in her quarters, absentmindedly tapping her pen on the desk and gazing distantly through the wall.

She always felt rather aimless in the evenings when they were between missions. It was a good time to get errands done, maybe finish writing up any reports she hadn't gotten around to yet, but she'd done all that in the afternoon.

Technically they should have had training in the afternoons, but Nova was... well, she wasn't the kind of superior she'd had back in the Imperial Navy. No-one here was, really. They called themselves Corporals, Lieutenants, Captains and such, but they didn't act like it most of the time. What was the point of having a schedule if you were just going to ignore it?

Riz spent all her time working on her mech, which made it difficult to find an excuse to spend time with her. Perhaps she could could enrol in extra training; basic engineering or mech combat or something? Hex was Hex. Convincing Hex it was worth the energy to stand up and unhook her brain from Cat for 5 minutes was hard enough; getting her to do any sort of squad training would be impossible. She'd been eager enough to drag the new girl off to interrogate her about her mech though...

That was another thing about Star Liberty that fucked with her: why did everyone have personalised equipment? Ok, it's not like they have factory planets pumping out their own designs and had to make do, but there were limits to—

"Hey, eh, excuse me, Lolly?"

She turned to see Quinn standing in the open doorway, apparently unsure whether to knock or just come in.

"Oh, hello Private Barrett, I was about to come and find you," she said, standing up and gesturing for the other woman to enter. "What can I do for you?"

Quinn took a step inside, then hesitated. Lolly gestured to the desk seat, and sat herself down on the bed.

"I wanted to— I feel our introduction was rather... rushed, and wanted to greet you properly. I know what Nova said, but should I use your real name? I don't actually know what it is... And I wanted to ask about Hex."

Lolly sighed.

"No, Lolly's fine. It would be confusing if you used anything else, and, well, it might as well be my real name at this point." She'd meant to talk to Nova about that, when it had begun to stick. Nova had probably meant it as a kindness, but it wasn't a nice nickname. It wasn't a bad name, but the reason behind it was insulting, and besides, it felt weird when someone else picked your name the second time around too. It was years too late to bring it up at this point though.

She dragged her hand over her face, as if to wipe the train of thought from her mind.

"What do you want to know about Hex?" she asked.

"I don't know really. What's her deal? She doesn't say much — doesn't move much either — as if she doesn't care, but she also seemed genuinely interested in my mech? I guess I'm just curious what role she plays in the squad? And if something happened to make her like that? Or is she just some kind of tech pervert?"

"It's probably not the best move to accuse your squadmates of being perverts right off the bat. I know they're... unconventional, but that isn't going to make you many friends," warned Lolly.

Was this girl socially inept, or just unused to even the scant hierarchy they had here? Both? Maybe just running on nerves. Lolly couldn't remember her time being a Private, but it seemed like a time where nerves could override common sense.

"Besides," she added wistfully, "you'd probably be better off talking to Riz; she has a much better handle on Hex."

"I tried to talk to talk to her in the cafeteria, but it seemed like she was just trying to show off in front of the others, and then left in a rush," said Quinn. Her eyes seemed to be showing concern, but there was a slight blush to her cheeks too.

"Ah. Well, I'm sure you'll get on soon enough, Private. She'll be in the hangar if you want to try again."

"She's in the hangar again?"

Lolly let out another sigh. "Yeahhh, she'll probably be there all night. Her and Hex both. Riz'll either pass out in her mech, or momentarily gain enough sense to crawl to bed at 3am, and Hex, well, Hex is basically nocturnal."

"Nocturnal?" asked Quinn, eyebrows furrowed with concern.

"That's part of the reason she seemed so lethargic earlier. A small part. On missions she'll sync with the rest of us, but on station she's asleep half the day."

"That seems... troublesome."

"Ehhh, do I like it? No. Does it really matter? I don't think so."

"And Corporal Nova allows it?"

"Nova knows what she's doing. Hex wouldn't do anything that would harm her team," said Lolly. She tried to give a reassuring smile. She wasn't good at this. Nova was the leader; Lolly was only second-in-command on the technicality that she piloted the ship.

"I see..." said Quinn, unconvinced.

"Look, when I first met her, I thought she was avoiding me, but she's basically like that with everyone. She's there when it counts."

"But she's close with Riz? Well, I guess I'll go talk to her, see if I can make us get on. Thanks for the chat."

She stood up, tucked the chair neatly under the desk, and left, pausing only briefly to remember the direction to the hangar.