| Lines |
| Summary: | Alessandra finally confronts Laskaris about an issue that's been weighing on her mind. |
| Date: | 15 Apr 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Wear and Tear |
| Players: |
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| Naval Offices — Deck 10 — Battlestar Cerberus |
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| This area is set-up much like any standard office building. Cubicles have been constructed using cheap waist-high walls, their contents left neutral for whoever needs to use them. Inside each cubicle is a desk with a laptop and chair. Simple overhead lights bring dull illumination to the room except over the back wall where each one of the colonies twelve flags hangs from its own pole. Fake, potted plants dot the room and seem to be standard issue along with the water cooler and coffee machines. Off the main room are a few private offices such as that of the JAG or CAG. |
| Post Holocaust Day: #47 |
Lasher's still on medical-enforced light duty, so once again instead of being out on CAP he finds himself here, tackling a stack of paperwork. He's alone in the cubicle he shares with Captain Valance at the moment, his top button unbuttoned as he scribbles on some official-looking form or another.
A ring of something rapping against the metal hatch sounds just before the cause of it peeks their head in, Alessandra making her presence known before she steps in, awaiting for permission to enter despite Laskaris having stated that his door is always open when he spoke with her in the sickbay. "Hello, sir. Is now a good time or should I come back later?" She hovers between the threshold of the room, one foot inside the office and the other remaining in the corridor, perparing to leave or enter the rest of the way, it dependent on the answer she recieves.
Laskaris' head snaps up at the sound of a voice at his door. He almost seems grateful for the interruption; the sheet he's writing on is quickly put aside, and he nods. "'S fine, Lieutenant. C'mon in; Blowback's on CAP, shouldn't be back for another few hours." He leans back in his chair, stretching slightly as he motions to Valance's empty chair. "Have a seat, tell me what's on your mind."
The threshold is finally breeched and the hatch is closed behind her, Alessandra effectively shutting them out from the rest of the 'world' when the metal door shuts with a thunk. "Thanks. Oh…uh, mind if I take this off?" She plucks at the uniform jacket while making her way to the offered chair, her brow creased in slight discomfort. "As for what is on my mind, there are several things. I might be here for a bit." Makes the fact that Blowback isn't due back for a while a good thing.
Lasher smiles thinly at the admission. "Longer you talk, the longer it is before I have to get back to this shite." He waves dismissedly at the papers strewn about his desk. He gives a slow nod at her question. "No, go ahead." His own top button is unbuttoned; even as a captain, Laskaris has never been the type to stand on ceremony. He just sits quietly, waiting for her to speak.
Alessandra's fingers begin to work over the buttons deftly although that's about as far as she goes with the display of swiftness, the rest of her still locked in a stiff, painful tension that makes her move as if she's at least 70 years old. "Well, first off, I'd like to offer you my assistance, s…" Blinking, she finds herself chafing at that and she hurriedly corrects herself; it's not that she doesn't respect the man and his rank. She's just have had no time to get used to it. "…Anton. Not just while I'm on light duty but even afterward. I'd like to put myself at your disposal for as long as you might need my help." The task of unbuttoning her jacket's finally completed and it's removed and set aside, leaving her in her tanktops and the rest of her uniform, the bulk of her bandages showing under the thin shirts.
Allie's shift to the familiar doesn't seem to faze Laskaris much, and he makes no move to correct her. His eyes linger for a moment on her bandages before he meets her eyes once more, his head tilted to one side. There's a brief pause. "Be careful what you wish for." He smiles, but it's only fleeting. "Well. I'm going to want you to concentrate on flying as soon as you're back on flight status — especially since I have no bloody idea how long we'll be saddled with double CAPs for the whole wing. However…" Lasher trails off, thinking. "I've been meaning to hand a couple projects out, and now is as good a time as any to start, wot?" He leans forward. "We've been lucky so far in that we've avoided any major engagements. That won't last, though. Sooner or later, we're going to strike back, and I want to be prepared." His fingers drum against the desk for a moment. "I'm going to start small and assume our initial targets will be behind-the-lines sorts of strikes - tylium refineries, communication relays, that sort of thing. I want you to write me a prospective plan of attack for, let's say… an asteroid-based tylium mining operation. Assume it'll be defended by a few AA towers and Raiders, but also make contingency plans for heavier defenses. Other than that… use your own discretion in what you put in there. If I like it, I'll bring it to the CAG and see about using it as a training exercise in the simulators. Most of our people have little training in attacking fixed installations, and I have a feeling it's something we'll need to learn."
That's a lot to take in but Allie manages to do so with little difficulty, mental notes taken as the Captain speaks. "Alright, I think I can make that happen. Not sure how good I'll be at it but I'll definitely give it my best." What is the worse Lasher can do besides tell her it won't work and to shit can the entire thing, after all. "I'll have it on your desk by the end of the week. Anything else?" Leaning back, she causes the chair she's seated upon to creak when she does, the strain on its joints causing the poor piece of furniture to sound off noisily. "And more importantly, how have you been, Anton? Everything alright with you?" She normally would word the query a bit differently but privacy combined with worry strips her of the desire to edit herself, self-censoring shoved to the side out of desire to find out how he's been faring the past couple of days.
"See that you do. Won't have anything less," Lasher notes briskly in that heavily accented voice. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes from his desk drawer, lighting one for himself before offering the pack to Allie. "Doesn't have to be perfect, though. If it's not good, we'll sit down and work on it until it is. I just want to have somethin' on the books that we can practice before we're actually thrust into the situation for real. Better to frak it up in the sims." His face goes blank as she asks her question. "Shouldn't that be my question?" he asks blandly, his right brow ticking slightly upwards. He shrugs. "Survivin'. I'm a little tired of comin' out of fights with bullet holes or a trashed ship for my trouble, but suren it beats the frak out of being dead, eh?" He takes a pull from the cigarette; a small glass ashtray is pulled out of the desk as the pack of cigs is put back in, and he flicks ash into it. "You?"
Alessandra takes the pack and one of the cigarettes is extracted from it, the filter then placed against her lips as she regards him, the pack returned in a timely fashion. "Yeah, we'll work on it," she mumbles around the butt. "I like the sound of that, to be honest." Of course 'we' could be the Captain and someone else but still, she can't help but to succumb to a bit of wistful thinking. When he turns the question about his wellbeing around on her only to then go ahead and answer it she can't help but to chuckle. "Yeah. I know what you mean, Lasher. But you're breathing still so seems like you're doing alright in my opinion." Now it is her turn to answer him, this being a bit awkward for her. "I've been better. Got a lot on my mind as of late." The smoke is pulled away from her mouth as she adds quickly, "Echo told me you two had a little chat the other day. Would…like to talk about that."
Lasher freezes, a guarded expression on his face, but he nods. "Yeah, ran into him in the head. Talked for a bit." He doesn't seem exactly sure what to say beyond that, so he settles for taking another long drag as he thinks. "Put me in a bit of a spot, to be honest." He doesn't clarify what he means there, simply watching her as he waits for her to continue. "Talk, then."
Alessandra sighs. "I am sorry he ambushed you with that. I was hoping to talk to you myself but I guess he thought it'd help me since I'm such a frak-up when it comes to shit like this." Laskaris' lit cigarette's eyed longingly but she allows for hers to remain unlit, the desire to start smoking at this particular moment outweighed by the fact that her lung's still healing. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't say anything before now, Anton. But at first I didn't want to rush and have you think me a slut since we really didn't know each other for long and then you got named the Sqadron Leader after what-his-fuck got transferred…" Oddly brave for herself, she doesn't really seem to hear what it is she's saying, the relief of getting this off of her chest compelling her to continue. "And now you're our Captain. I got a lovely sense of timing, don't I? Frakking peachy."
Oddly, something Allie says prompts a throaty chuckle from Laskaris. "You needn't have worried. Frak's sake, I know what the military life is like. You take what you can bloody well find." The comment about whats-his-frak — Kefir — goes conspicuously without comment from Lasher. "And… yeah. Now I'm here." He shrugs, shaking his head. "Putting all that aside for a moment… I'd be lying through my teeth if I tried to tell you you're not attractive," he admits, his face covering ever so slightly. But then, it fades, and his jaw sets. "But, at this point… you have to know it's out of the question." There's a heavy exhale of smoke as he regards the woman, and he shrugs. "I've crossed a lot of lines in my time, but that's not one I trifle with."
Alessandra blinks. "'Take what you can find'? Frak's sake, Anton. You're acting like I'd be settling. I don't think of it like that at all." Rising from her chair, Allie makes her way over to where Anton is only to sit again, this time upon the corner of the desk he's occupying. "Yeah, here you are. Here -we- are." There's a moment when she wants to be selfish, to beg him to give things a change, to give them a chance, but she knows that right now all anyone has anymore is their careers and to ask Lasher to jeopardize his for her would go beyond selfishness. "Just promise me one thing, eh," she asks while looking into his eyes, for once not blushing or looking away, Lucky finally confident enough to keep her gaze upon his.
There's a muffled snort at her first comment, and Lasher watches Allie as she moves over towards the desk. He meets her gaze, and nods soberly. "If it's somethin' I can promise… all right," he replies, blue-gray eyes locked onto brown.
"If you ever find yourself able to and are still single, remember how I feel about you and come find me, please." Alessandra pauses and then adds suddenly, her face deciding now is a good time to go red on her as she does, "And if you ever decide you want to trifle with the line you know where my bunk is." There's a quirk to her lips and a minute giggle in her voice when she says it but frak it all, she sure sounds serious despite the light tone she takes.
Lasher's caught off guard by her last, and he just sits there for a moment with his mouth half open, again not sure for a moment exactly how to respond. "Don't hold your breath." he mutters, coloring slightly. He leans back in his seat, cigarette still clutched in one hand as he crosses his arms over his chest.
Alessandra's grin widens some. "Over what? You becoming free to be romantically involved with me or you climbing into my bunk for a good frak?" It's Lasher's blush that emboldens her so, the coloring of his face further encouraging the brash behavior she's exhibiting.
Lasher's jaw sets again at the question, and he regains his composure, though he still doesn't seem quite sure whether to laugh or scowl. He shakes his head. "Just… don't push it, all right?" he asks finally, his eyes still locked on Allie's.
Alessandra shakes her head. "No worries, Captain. I won't push. Not my style. Ball's in your court for you to do with as you wish." Stretching, she winkles her nose and sighs, the motion getting her side to ache slightly after having forgotten about the healing she's still going through. "Do you have anything yu'd like to bring up while I'm here," she asks, the subject changed to one that should be a lot more comfortable all around.
If he's relieved by the change of subject, Lasher doesn't show it much. He offers a terse nod in reply to the former, pausing to take a drag before shaking his head to the latter. "I think that more than covers it, wot," he replies dryly, a thin smile pulling on the corners of his lips.
Alessandra nods and gets up, her jacket swept up and hung over her shoulder as she prepares to leave. "Thanks for listening to me and putting up with me, Anton. All kidding and teasing aside, I do care and if there is ever anything I can do to help you, no matter what it is, please do not hesitate to ask, yeah? And…no matter what, I cherish our friendship first and foremost. Anything that might happen later on down the road would just be icing, you know? Anyhow, should let you get back to work and I should get to work myself. Take care, Captain." It's with that that she begins to make her exit, her eyes kept on him for as long as it takes her to pass his desk.
And Lasher watches her go, swiveling in his chair to follow her as she moves away. "Yeah," he replies. He gives a jerky nod of his head, taking one last pull from the cigarette in hand before stamping it out in the ashtray. "Next time? Don't wait when you have something you need to get off your chest, eh?" He gestures with his free hand. "You see what happens."
Alessandra sighs and nods. "Yeah. Now I've made us both frakking miserable, right?" Lasher is looked at and she manages one last, warm, genuine smile. "At least you know." There's no pause after that, Allie's egress completed once she's finished, that statement allowed to hang in the air while the hatch is left open.