| Introductions |
| Summary: | Daniel Petroski and Lauren Coll meet and discuss the state of the union, so to speak. |
| Date: | 19 May 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Leonis TP logs |
| Players: |
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| Ships Library |
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| Racks of books extend deep into this room, nearly darkening the overhead lights towards the back. The shelves are neatly labeled to each category with nearly everything represented here. Fiction, Sci-Fi, Romance, and everything down to comic books has been loaded up onto the shelves. A smaller research area at the back has a large table for maps to be opened-up. Nearer the door is a small library of movies that covers some of the most recent blockbusters and flows through some of the more campy movies from about two decades before. Next to the door, a Petty Officer can usually be found at a desk to help someone checkout their selections. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #82 |
It's been hard for the majority of those left on the Cerberus to relax, most likely, that being the case for Daniel who has felt on edge ever since the teams left for Leonis (his home planet, irony of ironies), the feeling of impotence leaving him restless and heavy-hearted. A bout of restlessness has brought him here after an attempt to eat supper in the galley where he's trying to watch a movie. Some form of 'romantic comedy', the images on the viewer's screen goes unnoticed as he stares at a point just above its uppermost edge.
Coll wanders into the Library and grabs one of those trendy fashion magazines off the shelf. Worthless and potentially trite considering the fate of the colonies, the Specialist doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Her orange coveralls are unzipped and stripped above the waist with the arms tied around her hips. Her aimless wandering takes her past Petroski and she glances to the screen. "I love this movie. Saw it twice when it came out. Luckily I was on Picon when it came out." She flashes a quick smile at the man.
Petroski's dark eyes come quickly into focus as his gaze darts towards the owner of that new voice, the woman given a glance that's strangely neutral; normally the kind of man to leer lecherously at someone he finds attractive, Coll barely gets a second look from Daniel before he returns to 'watching' the flick. "I can't say I watched it," he confesses, "And I have to say that I kind of regret it now. The lead actor's not bad. And the actress? She's okay as well." He's trying. He's probably falling flat but he's at least attempting to be social. "I'm Daniel. And you are…?"
"Coll. Lauren Coll." Her hair is matted from the helmet she wore down on Deck all day. There's smudges across her face, too. Some might find it attractive. Lauren doesn't seem to care either way. "Yeah. I'm a sucker for these chick flicks. I had a huge collection of them back in my apartment. I'd kill nights with a bottle of wine and a stack of them." Coll's eyes drift back to the screen.
"Pleasure meeting you, Miss. Feel free to join me if you're so inclined. Company would be rather welcome this evening." Daniel has assumed a slouch in the chair he occupies and brought another chair close by to kick his feet up onto but there are other chairs which are free for one to park their backsides on. "I used to shun movies, for the most part," he explains when there's a lull in the film's action, a fight between two girls which dissolved into a brawl in a conveniently placed 'puddle' now a scene between a guy and his best friend, the latter now bemoaning his bad luck with women. "I would sooner go see an opera or listen to an orchestra play. I think I missed out on a lot." Something catches his attention, an (un?)intentional turn of phrase made by one of the men on the screen, it getting him to chuckle briefly.
Coll just shrugs and sits down in the chair, crossing her legs as she drapes an arm over the back. The other hand goes to work getting the clip out of her tangle of hair. "Shun movies? Geez. Sounds like you're a pretty high brow kinda guy. I always liked operas but I only ever got to see them on the screen. You know, like the filmed stuff. Always wanted to go. Never had the time, though. Usually just kept busy with social stuff that my friends and I were into. Nothing fancy."
Daniel shakes his head, Lauren's assessment of him drawing a negative response out of the man. "I wouldn't say I was high brow, my dear. Maybe a snob but…" Stopping himself, he chews on his lower lip, not sure what to say now. A minute of silence passes before he manages to speak again, when he does tinged with a thoughtful tone to his voice. "I wanted to be like my father and aspired to enjoy life…and my parents' cubits…as much as possible while working on that." His mouth twitches and a slight line mars his forehead in a faint wince. He knows many of those who chose to serve in the military were not as fortunate as he was as a young man, and for a moment a trickle of worry over what Lauren will think of him tickles its way down his spine.
"High brow. Snob. Whatever. Tomato, to-moto. Just nicer way of saying it I guess." Coll doesn't seem like she's try to offend, just being herself and calling it like she see's it. Though she chuckles with seeing his expression. "I grew up poor for the most part. Sure wouldn't have minded being rich - that's for sure. I don't hold it against anyone, though. That'd be like people hating the poor for bein' poor. Its just mean. We're all just people at the end of the day. Warday kinda levelled the playing field, I guess. We're just a bunch of people. Nobody's gettin paychecks or inheritence anymore." She shrugs, looking at him. "All we are now's just the composition of the soul, you know? Value's got a different meaning." After a long shift on the deck, the country is pretty evident in her voice. Its not a redneck twang but more just a high-spirited drawl that tacks on at the end of certain words.
The spirit behind what Coll's said is understood even if Daniel doesn't understand what she means exactly, the comprehension bringing a bit of a light to his eyes where there was none before. "I wouldn't go as far as to say it's mean," he points out carefully. The movie's once again forgotten but this time it's for the sake of conversation that he does rather than being lost in thought. "It's human nature to hate people who are different from us. Not saying it's right, mind you. Just that it's part of what makes us…us. Makes us human." A hand is brought up and moved over his head, causing his wavy hair to stand up here and there in a fresh-out-of-bed style. "It has gotten us nowhere, of course. But I guess that's to be expected. Supposed we're meant to be divided in one way or another."
"Eh. I think we just hate because we're scared. I don't know if I'd say we hate out of difference, so much. Pretty common reaction to be aggressive when someone's threatened. Perception of threat is probably somethin' that really screws us. Lack of communication, morons running the government, people being people." The hair clip is finally dislodged and she scratches her head while fluffing out the mess of brown. Coll just watches him as she talks, though. "Division's an illusion. We see what we wanna see, I think. Some people see hate and fear. They see people alone and without hope after warday. Me? I see a race united into a common goal and cause. Saggies are going to toe the line with Gemenese and Capricans will face the fire with Taurans. Course, those're just the opinions of a lowly Specialist." She flashes him a grin.
Petroski's rather amusing to observe, his expression shifting quickly as Coll explains her POV, and his head is either bobbed or shaken as he agrees or disagrees. "Yes, I do suppose you're correct, Miss Coll. But even then, as united as we are…" Another swipe at his hair and now he's looking totally a mess, it lending a sloppy air to him as do the wrinkled suit pants and dress shirt he wears do, undoubtedly. "We need to find a commonality. Something to unite us besides the fact that we're all the humanity that's left, most likely, and that we're being hunted." Holding up a finger, he asks for a moment before he reaches over to where the blazer he wore here is fetched from a chair just to his left and a flask is produced from an inner pocket as are a lighter and a pack of fumarella. He holds them up, offering the woman a smoke and drink.
Coll seems entirely willing to be patient and wait for the man to finish. She withholds comment but does glance to the flask. "Smoke? No. Drink? Don't offer unless you want the contents to be emptied. I'm a bit of a fiend for a good drink." She just waits, smiling as her eyes rise back to his.
Petroski shakes his head and holds out the flask with a bit more emphasis, this time offered with a slight grin. "I still have a rather sizable stash, Miss Coll. Do not worry if you drain it. Plenty more where it comes from." The heavy conversation is left alone for now, it being something best left to ingest in small doses in Daniel's opinion. "So enough about me and my silly philosophies. Tell me about yourself, please?"
Lauren flashes her eyes with the words and reaches out to take the flask. She holds it delicately between both hands for the moment while she sniffs at the contents. "Mmm. Smells like a wonderful time off-shift." A grin appears to match the delight in her words. "Me? Well not much. I'm a pretty normal person. I eat, sleep, go to work, try not to get yelled at…The usual for someone like me. I'm a sucker for country music, too. And I have a very low pleasure threshold when it comes to boredom and distraction. Thus, I tend to be a threat to Chiefs and officers. Idle hands and all that. What about yourself?"
The flask is left for Lauren to enjoy, it not even given a glance as he still has a second vice to enjoy, that being the smokes he has in his other hand. One's extracted from the cardboard package and put to his lips but it's not lit just yet. "Myself? Oh. Uh, well, rich son to a Leonis politician and his doctor wife. Went to school on Caprica and then went to become the aide for the QUORUM delegate for Virgon. However, with the turn of events being as they are, I do believe I'll be signing up with the CMC. Or something. I've yet to figure out what I want to do, exactly." The lid to the zippo-like lighter is flicked open and the flame brought to life with the turn of the flint wheel, it brought to the tip of his cigarette which glows almost immediately.
"Oh yeah? I'm from Virgon. And proud of it, damnit!" Lauren preens a little before lifting the flask to take a quick sip. Pinkie out! She sighs happily with the drink and hands it back to Daniel. "But from politics to the Marines, huh? That's a leap and a half. Got an engineering degree on Picon, myself. Finally putting it to use on the Deck. What're you thinking of doing for the Corps?"
The flask is accepted and taken a pull from, the sweet Ambrosia just what the doctor ordered if his sigh is any indication. "Something I can do to help keep others safe. Of course Jesse doesn't approve. Or at least he doesn't approve of how I word my reasoning behind wanting to do this. It's not my fault, though. It's just hard to put everything I feel into words that doesn't ruffle his feathers." A second sip is enjoyed and the flask is held out again, his expression warming. "You're easy to speak to, Miss Coll. I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am for that."
"Jesse? Boyfriend?" Lauren lofts her brow as she takes the flask back to get another sip. Every time she does so she seems to perk up a little. Its like fuel to a fire. "So what's up with the bein' grateful thing? People on the Cerb don't generally like talkin' to you or just not finding the civvie accommodations much to your enjoyment? You don't seem too openly hostile so I can't imagine that people get put-off by you. Unless you start talking about how you used to think you were too good for movies. That makes things a little more dubious." She cuts him a wink and offers the flask back.
Petroski coughs once and then again, Lauren's query as to who Jesse is getting him to blush. He also shakes his head, having to let that suffice for an answer for a moment while he's trying to stop hacking up a lung. "No…no. He's a friend I made here. He is one of the corpsmen." The second question gets another form of response from Daniel, this time a low chuckle. "I've found that people usually tend to clam up when they find out that I am a fact finder. It was like I was just waiting for them to spill secrets to hold against them. Although it seems like that's becoming less of an issue." He looks at the woman and then the flask before he shakes his head. "I should go and get some sleep. Need to wake up early to hunt down some paperwork. You keep it and you can come get it refilled the next time we run into each other."
"Ah, okay. Doesn't hurt to ask. Sounds like a good friend, then." Coll seems content to sit there with the magazine on the floor beside her and holding on the flask while the movie plays on. "We don't have much of a government as far as I can tell anymore. Besides, what're you going to do? Cut our funding?" The woman just smiles. "We're stuck here together. Common cause'n all that. You got a deal about the flask, though. Have yourself a good night, Mister Daniel."