The emphatic headshake was... odd, and he couldn't place why. But he did place that name, DAX, "Your subcommander, right?" All he knew about the guy was that he'd been on the bridge with ZEX when the beast-thing had gone rampaging, and that ZEX had mentioned him once or twice since then-- in a positive light, and more fondly than he did his species as a whole, so... a friend, too, Zelnick guessed. "Is it impossible that he's been brainwashed? Or that it wasn't really him, just a really good copy? I mean... with a telepath or two working for him, I wouldn't put it past Landel to create our visitors from what we expect or who we want to see...."
ZEX's face against his neck started to bring that familiar flush up, but... but no, this was pure comfort, and he shook off the vague feeling of "oh god ZEX is feeling me up again" in favor of stroking ZEX's hair, petting him soothingly. "Absolutely, positively, one-hundred-percent certain that I'm Captain Zelnick, pilot of the flagship Vindicator, and not Caleb, science teacher." And he knew because he knew, every part of him knew that that he was and always be Zelnick, the kid from Unzervalt that wound up trying to save the galaxy.
He didn't give that reason; he had a feeling it wasn't anywhere near as good of a reason as ZEX wanted.
"And even if Max were a coward," he murmured, "you're not. No coward would jump on a big dangerous thing and help kill it, like you did last night." Gently, pretending that it wasn't as intimate as it looked, he reached back a foot to hook around a chair leg and tug it away from the desk, then stepped back to sit in it, pulling ZEX down in his lap.
*Signs ZEX up for SC* I want him to feel better~ ;_;
ZEX's face against his neck started to bring that familiar flush up, but... but no, this was pure comfort, and he shook off the vague feeling of "oh god ZEX is feeling me up again" in favor of stroking ZEX's hair, petting him soothingly. "Absolutely, positively, one-hundred-percent certain that I'm Captain Zelnick, pilot of the flagship Vindicator, and not Caleb, science teacher." And he knew because he knew, every part of him knew that that he was and always be Zelnick, the kid from Unzervalt that wound up trying to save the galaxy.
He didn't give that reason; he had a feeling it wasn't anywhere near as good of a reason as ZEX wanted.
"And even if Max were a coward," he murmured, "you're not. No coward would jump on a big dangerous thing and help kill it, like you did last night." Gently, pretending that it wasn't as intimate as it looked, he reached back a foot to hook around a chair leg and tug it away from the desk, then stepped back to sit in it, pulling ZEX down in his lap.