*Gafana Situations - Situations in need of an over arching story
--Dana has physical indelible markings as part of her military rank or culture (rank ID tatoos, perhaps, or cultural hair styles?). She wears a State #2 military uniform, and purposely wears it sloppily (jacket open, sleeves rolled up. All rank insignia are from State #1's army, though, and are in pristine condition.
---Thayla walks through the officer barracks and notices Dana's light is on. Without knocking, he walks into her room, seeing her at a mirror by her bed. Much of her hair is in small tight braids, but not completely. She's threading the braids by hand. She turns to Thayla. Dana: "It's customary to knock before entering." Thayla: "A soldier in our army has no expectation of privacy, no matter his rank." Dana asks if he had anything to report, and it's an "all is well" kind of report. Dana (who officially outranks him) dismisses him. He hesitates (he is her minder and attaché and can, if he believes necessary, overrule her). Dana asks him while still braiding "What's on your mind, Thayla?"
--Thayla "Why are you braiding your hair like that? It's not regulation." Dana: "It is in my army. And considering we're on the opposite side of the country from the bulk of the military, I don't think anyone will mind." Thayla: "It must take some time to braid those. Time better spent." Dana: "It's a bit of a fad back home. We have small little tools that make the braiding faster." Thayla: "That doesn't explain the why." Dana: "The answer to that is: Because I want to. Because I miss home, and this is how I can remember it."
--Thayla segues into his next though: "You miss your home, yet you serve here. I would not have served with you. I would have died rather than serve in your army, betraying my homeland." Dana (not taking the bait): "I took this assignment because there were more choices I could take by serving here, than dying on the floor of the HOS's office from a gunshot to the stomach." She looks Thayla over: "I may be a dog on a leash right now, but it's a very thin long leash. I can still mostly choose the direction I want to go in. And that leash could break at anytime. You, however, wear short chains. Your lead is directed totally by your master, and that chain will probably never break."

--Several years in, she's become, if not friendly by the natives, shakily respected by the natives. They all call her Tarheel, though, which she still thinks is a military rank.
---One day, Dana walks into her room and finds a beat up package on her bed. It's obviously been smuggled into the country, and it shows in how beat up the packaging is, and the signs of wear and tear. It's a hair braider from her country. Thayla calls from the door: "A dog on a chain may choose his own direction, if he drags the master with him."