| The Dream, the Training and the Hormones |
| Summary: | What starts as a discussion on a dream, ends up being something completely different. |
| Date: | 29 Nov 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Everything related to Shiner's training, also, everything related to the freaky dreams. |
| Players: |
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| Pilot Berths |
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| The battlestar's pilots call this place home. Bunks line the walls with grey curtains to cover their sleeping areas. Lockers sit between each pair of bunks and a round metal table sits in the center, furnished with simple but comfortable steel chairs. A hatch at the rear of the room leads to a communal head. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #276 |
Almost the entire room is empty at the moments, just a few pilots around, doing their own thing. Wade is here as well, he is fully dressed in his pilot uniform at the moment, and he is laying on his bunk. The back of his head is pressed against the wall and he idly reads the content of two sheets of papers. By the looks of them, they have been folded over and over again. From time to time, he runs his fingers over his chin as if thinking about something. The man takes a small tin cup with water and drinks from it, before he starts reading again.
The hatch opens and Andrea strides in, already half out of her flight suit as she moves to get out of the thing. It really doesn't breathe at all. As she walks to her locker, she nods to Drips, and pauses for a second, before shaking her head and mumbling something under her breath as she goes to her locker.
Wade looks up for a moment to see who steps inside the room. He narrows his eyes as he sees Andrea and then places his attention on other two pilots that are walking out. Now, it's just Andrea and himself there, nobody else. Wade sits up and stands after that, looking at the woman "Hosedown…" he presses his lips together and then looks at the sheets of paper he is holding in his hand "Did you, by any chance…had a strange dream, that involved me and, some other people?"
Hands pause in pushing off the flight suit as Andrea jumps at the sudden mention of her name. "Wh-what?" She turns to face Wade, her eyes widening. "I… uh… how…" she takes a deep breath. "Gods, I must talk in my sleep, or something. I didn't even tell my diary about that. Yeah, ok, I had a dream and you were in it, but it wasn't anything… you know…"
Wade presses his lips together for a moment, not saying anything. He takes a deep breath and then moves his fingers to his eyes, rubbing against them. He looks a little tired, but not overly so. Maybe it's because he has been trying to make sense out of a puzzle "Tell me about your dream" says Wade, not really saying anything in particular about what she mentioned at the end.
"It was… ok. A bunch of us were hanging out in the rec room, just killing time, and then some ensign stood up and had a detanator in his hand. He asked us… something. Like whether or not we knew God, something like that, and then he pushed the button and boom. Except we weren't dead, we were somewhere else. Tauron, maybe." She shakes her head. "You, me, that Reporter chick, and some enlisted I haven't really met. You see, just your usual whacko dream stuff."
Now Wade runs his fingers over his hair, takes a deep breath and shakes his head "Alright….alright…" he clears his throat and, just to do a trial test of things, he asks "Did you, at some point during that dream, asked an old guy for a radio? Or something like that? And, do you remember anything that I said during that dream? Anything at all?" Oh yes, he is more than interested in knowing that for sure.
Andrea takes a full step back from him. "How…" she asks, her eyes widening. "How did you… yes, we were stranded on the planet, and I was trying to hold the gang together. Everyone was acting crazy, and this old man kept talking about… fishing?" She closes her eyes as she tries to remember. "There were birds. An Eagle and a sparrow, and chicks. Theirs, I thought. And a snake, killed the Eagle. I just wanted a way to contact Cerberus, to get back…"
Shiner knocks lightly on the hatch, poking his head in worriedly. "Uh… bad time, sir? I can come back later if you like?"
"Frak…" mutters Wade and shakes his head at that. He hands Andrea those two sheets of paper and he says "Don't show them to anyone, just read them." The content of them, have detailed information on what happened during that dream, so she'll know…it was the same dream, and they interacted within that dream. Freaky dream is freaky. "Ok…I spoke with the…" and then Shiner knocks on the door. His attention moves to him and he just shakes his head "Not at all, Mr. Wright. Something you need?"
Khloe comes up behind the apprentice, with her intentions on entering the berths stymied by his uncharacteristic politeness. Rather than make herself known, she folds her arms across her chest and waits for either him to jump out of his skin at realizing there's a Captain with anger issues behind him, or he gets out of the way of the berths. Hopefully it's the prior, because that's more fun… at least, according to her. But hearing Wade's encouragement, she realizes that opportunity for shocking the would-be nugget is about to pass. "Open or closed, nugget. In or out. I'm sure you can figure that out," she barks from behind.
Andrea's widen farther as she scans the pages, but then folds them up when she hears Shiner. "No, no worries, come on…" then that familiar barking. Andrea slips the pages into her locker and nods at Wade. "Come on in, unless you feel like walking PAST her right now."
Shiner gives Andrea's comment a flash of a grin, then takes a pace into the berthings, stepping aside hurriedly for Khloe. He's got his stick with him, but it's resting over one shoulder. "Sorry, sir! Didn't see you stalking me there!" he quips amiably, apparently in a cheery mood today. "Lieutenant Duncan, sir, I got a couple of questions about the books and stuff?" he notes, absently lowering his gaze in order to ogle any Captain backside which might just happen to pass him.
Is Wade going to say something about Shiner lowering his gaze to look at Khloe's ass? Not really, why should he, right? Eyes are to be used! Now, as for his question "About the books and stuff" repeats Wade with a bit of a very faint, very brief smile. He nods to this and adds "Let's have it. What do you want to know?" He clears his throat at this and then looks at Andrea, offering a slight nod to her as she moves those papers inside her locker. Now, he looks towards the door, preparing a salute that comes to play as soon as the Captain walks in "Captain" is offered, and then he returns his attention to Shiner.
Khloe gives a quiet 'harumph' sound as she passes by Shiner, eyeing him and his cane with narrowed eyes. But as he's asking Wade directly, she doesn't intervene, instead heading for her locker. A quick turn back and forth of the combination and she tugs it open. She's listening, though, to the ensuing conversation - and it seems she's entirely missed the discussion about dream weirdness.
Temporarily out of the spotlight, Andrea leans back to think about what Wade told her. She then turns to get out of her flight suit, when she suddenly grins and sees Khloe go to her locker. She can't see anything, but she does mutter under her breath, making it sound like that she is memorizing numbers. Gotta keep the captain on her toes, right?
Shiner takes that as invitation, heading over to the table and leaning up against it as he swings the bag from his shoulder and retrieves what could only really be described as 'My First Viper Picture Book'. Flicking through the first few pages, Shiner sets the book down on the table and points to a simplified picture of a wing, with aerodynamic lines drawn all over it. "Here, sir. I just don't get it. It says it's all about air pressure and flow and stuff, right? But space doesn't /have/ air," he points out triumphantly.
Wade walks towards the table and looks at the book while Shiner flips through the pages. He nods to Shiner's question, finding it acceptable and starts "Well, Mr. Wright. First of all, you need to understand that the Viper is also capable of Atmospheric flight, so these diagrams you see here, are applicable." He nods to this and, to make it simpler "It works both in space /and/ the atmosphere." He rubs his fingers over his cheek and then clear his throat "Having said that, physics still apply in space, so you want to have this type of design, because it's…" he seeks for a word to use with him "…maneuverable, it's built for speed, it's built for combat, it's an agile bird that, with this design, it greatly aids you in combat. Understand?" He looks at Shiner now, seeing if he has any other questions. "In Space, you rely a lot on these…" he points to he points in the nose, the wings and the back of the tail "These are pressure thrusters, they help you handle the ship…position it better." Now, he crosses his arms over his chest, and waits to see if Andrea and Khloe want to add something.
Khloe shrugs out of her uniform jacket and immediately tucks a hanger inside; holding it up, she then takes a stiff-bristled brush to it, doing her best to remove any particulate that may have accumulated during the day, before hanging it up in her locker. Then, she crouches down to unlace her boots. She's sufficiently removed from the conversation to directly contribute, but she does occasionally glance towards them as Wade offers explanations. Boots unlaced, she kicks them off, then tucks them neatly in her locker. She fishes out a pair of sweats, rolled-up military style, and a black mesh bag, likely destined for the showers in the near future.
Ignored, Andrea shrugs and changes as well, peeling out of the flight suit in favor of some sweats to tide her over until she feels like heading to the showers. She shakes her head in amusement, however, at the question Wade is asked. Messing with this nugget had some promise.
"Thrusters!" Shiner interjects as Wade points them out, nodding proudly. Yes. He has learnt part of the bird. What a scholar. And to show off? "D-7822P and D-7822S, with titanium casing parts FS-C33…" and then he trails off. Because Andrea is getting changed. Dragging his attention back to Wade, however, he nods. "So you need air for the wings in atmosphere, but not in space, but the wings are still a pretty good idea to be manoeuvrable. So why don't Raptors have them, too?"
Wade presses his lips again after hearing the last question. No comment is made after Shiner states the ID tags of each part. "There's no air in space, Shiner. You know that." That's the first he says "The Raptors fit another purpose. First of all, a Raptor has two crew members, a Pilot and and ECO. Plus, they can carry more people in them. That is why folks call them, 'buses'. Still, the task of a Raptor is damn important but you'll learn about that at some point." Now, he takes a deep breath and he finishes with "Ok, the Raptor, given it's surface, has more spots to place control jets. Any deckhand that works with Raptors will tell you that. So, that does help movement. /But/ still, like I said, a Viper and a Raptor fit different purposes. A Raptor is not as agile. Altho I've seen Pilots do amazing things with Raptors, to be honest."
If Shiner was distracted by Andrea's quick strip, then Khloe's changing out of her uniform trousers should give him an aneurysm. The Knights SL takes her time cleaning the trousers much the same way that she did the jacket before hanging it up, and then tugging on a pair of what are probably men's mesh trunks.
Andrea continues chuckling to herself as she pulls on her off duty sweats, and then closes her locker. The memorized part numbers are particularly rich… this is what happens when a knuckledragger transitions to flight school. The chuckle is cut off, however, as the pages fall out of her locker, and she picks them up quickly. She'd much rather she'd forgotten about them.
Shiner gawps as Khloe strips, making some attempt to hide it but generally failing, eyes hanging out of their sockets. Still, he nods along to whatever Wade says, rubbing the back of his hand across his mouth. "Uh… yeah. Buses. Got it, sir," he repeats inanely. "I bet you guys can do amazing things in Raptors, yeah. Oh man, I want to be a pilot so bad."
Wade sighs as he sees Shiner moving his attention to other grounds. He shakes his head at this and then claps his hands, hard, right in front of Shiner's face "Focus!" snaps the man at him. He narrows his eyes now. He doesn't care if he is admiring some nice ass, but he still needs to focus. "I bet you do, Mr. Wright. So, that means that next time, you won't be so easily distracted, am I right?"
Closing her locker, Khloe takes up the rolled-up sweats and her shower bag and is about to trundle off to the head, but Wade's sharp declaration to Shiner causes her to actually pay attention to what's going on. She glances up at the pair, her eyes falling on Shiner, mainly. Any normal human might respond with embarrassment at that sort of ogling, either out of shame, prudeness, or vanity. Khloe, instead, glares plainly at him. "Protip, Mr. Wright," she says, the vehemence dripping from her words. "In the berths, we don't want to see it, hear it, or smell it. Cold showers, usually, become your best friend. Also, you should look up the word 'fraternization' in the Midshipman's manual I gave to you." And with that, perhaps with an arrogant swagger in her step, she departs for the head.
Andrea leans back against the locker and watches as Khloe swaggers out. It's enough to make her forget about the papers again, if temporarily. Some day, she would have to talk to the Captain about calling out a man for looking and then putting on a show immediately after. Sure, it was fun to mess with a guy's head, but they didn't want to actually break the kid. Unless they did. That could be fun, too.
Shiner starts at the clap, cringing back a little. "Uh, yes sir! I mean no, sir! I just want to fly, sir," he insists earnestly. "I've got like the whole first chapter memorised and everything." He rubs at the back of his neck as Khloe admonishes him. "Sir, I wasn't!" he denies, then clears his throat as she leaves. "I didn't say anything, sir!" he defends himself hotly to Wade.
Well…damn it. Wade, after what he did, can't really look at Khloe as she swaggers, because what image that would give, right? Some other time perhaps. For now, his attention stays with Shiner and he nods "Good, I'm glad to know that. Know that it's not just about memorizing tho, you also need to /understand/ what you are memorizing" Now he clears his throat and he adds "I know you didn't say anything, Mr. Wright. I'm just demanding your attention, if you wish to become a Viper pilot, that is all" But of course, good comments are to be made as well "I'm glad you decided to stop by and asks questions, it shows your interest in learning and that is always a good thing. Keep it up"
Making his way in from the corridor outside, Malone looks a bit lost in thought as he glances between the others for a few moments. "People…" he offers after a few moments of pause, before he goes silent again, heading in the direction of his locker.
"She wants me," Shiner tells Andrea solemnly. "It's clear to see." Still, he gives Wade a grateful smile, nodding. "Thanks, sir. You did say I could stop in if I had questions. You can totally ask me about any part of the Mark VII, too. I've, like, done nothing but study. I take the book with me to the shitter and everything." I bet Wade regrets touching it now. "Go on, ask me where the control rods fit to the auxiliary support fins or anything. Go on!"
Andrea laughs out loud at that. "Yeah, you're right. She's TOTALLY playing hard to get. Instincts like those, you are totally gonna make a stick in no time at all." She gives him a grin, then looks over at Malone. "Don't you think so, Splash? How long before our little nugget here bags Poppy, do you think?"
Malone blinks a bit as he hears that question, and stops his walk, turning to look over at Shiner for a few moments, then to Andrea, before he shrugs. "Oh, I don't know… 40, 50 years? Give or take a few?" It's offered with a perfectly straight expression at the moment.
Shiner snorts. "You wait and see, sir. When I make it as a pilot, you'll see. The women are only keeping their hands off because I'm a deckie. The civvies love me."
Wade pays little attention to the actual conversation at hand and just lifts one finger at Shiner "Don't get cocky. I will ask, and you'll have to answer…but it won't be right now." He takes a deep breath now and nods to Malone "Splash" The man does look at that book, ew. "Keep studying, Mr. Wright, you'll need it" Now, the man walks to his locker and opens it, looking for something inside.
"Yup, don't get cocky. Pilots are a very mature, humble group. We wouldn't know what to do with an ego on the team. Remember, there's no 'me' in team." Andrea wags a finger in imitation of Wade. "Now be a good nugget and go get us all something to eat, will you? Nuggets these days, bringing a question to the berthings without proper gifts. What has the universe come to?"
Malone offers a bit of a nod to Wade, before he grins very briefly. If that's for Shiner's statement or Andrea's words, that's currently unknown. He keeps quiet for now, looking between the others, a bit thoughtfully.
Shiner considers the request, patting down his pockets, then nods slowly. "Something to eat, aye aye, sir." He takes up his picture book again, shoving it into his bag. "Anything you don't eat, sir? So I know not to get it from the galley? Not a vegetarian or any of that weird crap, right?"
"Something snacky, if you would." Andrea looks over at Wade and Malone. "What do you guys want? Maybe cookie has some fresh rolls, or something like that?"
Wade looks at Andrea now, completely neutral expression. He presses his lips and shakes his head at that, but…still…he doesn't say anything about the request. "Mr. Wright, have you been reading your Officer's Handbook as well? While I agree you are using 'sir' now instead of, well, other options…" Beat.. "You are missing something. I am for example, on duty, and I am a ranking officer. As a Midshipman, you need to salute ranking officers when stepping into a room" Now he looks at Andrea and he shakes his head "Nothing for me"
Considering that question for a few moments, Malone shrugs, "Something snacky sounds good," he says, after a few moments of pause.
Shiner eyes Wade at that, raising an eyebrow. He may be new to nuggetdom, but he's been at the lowest rung of the ladder in the fleet for a good year. He glances around the room, then shrugs a shoulder, throwing up a salute as requested. Not about to argue, for perhaps the first time in his life, he simply agrees, "Aye aye, sir."
Andrea sighs, then nods to Wade. Ok, she'll stop poking his nugget with sticks.
Wade offers a salute to Shiner and then lowers his hand "Mr. Wright, this is not to put you in a hard spot, or anything around that nature. It's all part of your training, that is all" He nods to this and then looks at Andrea for a moment, perhaps this time, trying to define where those sheets of paper are at the moment. His attention finally goes back to Shiner and he asks "Any other question you had, Midshipman?"
"Uh, yes, sir," Shiner pipes up immediately still with that look of confusion. "Is this a duty area, then, sir? I mean, no offence if I'm wrong, sir, but I got told no saluting in berthings, or in the mess hall, or sickbay, or whatever. We did a whole lot of saluting stuff in basic."
Malone listens to the others for now, stepping the rest of the way towards his locker. "He's probably testing you, Midshipman," comes the quiet comment from the former law student, what seems like a few lifetimes ago.
Andrea decides that now is probably the best time for a shower. Standing up, she heads for, well, the head. "Next rule, nugget? If your SL says salute, you say, uh, 'how hard?' Knock yourself out, if you have to. Now to shower. Hope there's room in there next to Poppy."
Wade listens to Shiner as he speaks and then looks over his shoulder at Malone. His attention goes back to Shiner and he offers a light smile "Good, good…it's a good thing you remember that" Now, he nods in acceptance, smiling a little bit more "It's not required, no. But do keep that in mind at all times when you /are/ on-duty. Alright?" Now, his attention drifts to Andrea and he can't help but to chuckle a little.
"Um, well, we don't usually salute on the deck, either, unless we're… y'know… reporting and shit, sir," Shiner points out, scratching his neck. "But yeah. Saluting. Got it, sir. And now you want munchies, yeah?"
"Should be designed for more than just two people, unless said two people would be enormous," Malone remarks a bit absently, before he looks around for a few moments, then back to his locker. Opening it and looking around inside it.
Wade just looks at Shiner after he says the 'munchies' part and he shakes his head "No, no Mr. Wright, I don't want munchies" To this, he shakes his head and then closes his locker, finally taking his helmet with him. "You should go back to the Library or the Sims, Mr. Wright" Instead of getting stuff to eat for the other pilots. With that, he makes his way towards the exit and speaks "Clear eyes and steady hands" and he is /gone/.