| Step Into the Ring |
| Summary: | Augie hunts down Duke to talk about a note he received. |
| Date: | 22/December/2012 (OOC Date) |
| Related Logs: | Right before A Radical Planning Session |
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| Viper Pilot Berths |
| TBC |
| December 22, 2004 (PWD #13) |
After more meetings, Duke is getting whatever little time left he has to sleep, even if just for a couple minutes, to rest his eyes, because he's an old, old man. At this particular moment, he is in his bunk, apparently sleeping but not really. The curtain is not drawn so there's nothing that prevents other from finding him there. He is currently wearing his off-duty greens, dog tags hooked on the wall inside the bunk, resting there while he keeps his eyes closed. Also…there's not a lot of people here at this particular moment, everyone's outside doing something.
Coming back to the ship and catching a letter with not only his name but the name of an AAR he didn't have access to more than confuses Augie a little. And seeing the other names on it furrowed his brow more. Bennett, darlin', what have you roped me into this time? He considered visiting Petra, but seeing as the air boss signed the letter, it's to the Viper's Pit he heads, checking to see if Duke is awake first by rapping on the metal above his bunk.
"I'm awake…" is the response that comes from Duke at first, without even opening his eyes. He takes a deep breath and exhales, shifting a little before finally opening them. He finds Augie there and he just shakes his head "Why can't it never be some beautiful girl…" With that said, he swings his legs outside and sits up, jumping down afterwards and rubbing his fingers over his closed eyes. After that, he pats Augie on the shoulder and says "What's going on, Augie…" He takes a deep breath and arches his back, tilting his head from side to side afterwards.
"Sorry, boss, you musta missed how the gals were dressing at the dance last night." A bandage is wrapped around his left hand as the DC offers the letter to Duke. "What have I been volunteered for this time? I read the report, but I can't make heads or tails of the reasons y'all need a firefighter."
"Don't remind me, I totally did…" says the man, knowing full well that he stayed back and…worked. He looks at the bandaged hand before he takes the offered letter and reads it. "Aha…" Yeah, yeah. But before saying anything, he looks at Augie's hand and says "What happened to your hand?" Then he looks at the letter again. "Because regardless of you being a firefighter, you are one of the guys that /do/ know how to keep people safe." He takes a deep breath and offers "I feel uneasy when it comes to sending crew to this spot, even when all precautions have been taken"
"Got distracted while I was playin' at the shingdig last night." Augie shrugs his shoulders, leaving at that. "String snapped, caught me in the hand." A little chuckle, as he considers, and nods. The explanation is good enough for him. He doesn't go prodding any further with the questioning. "Do you need me suited up in full gear, or is this just a 'watch our asses' operation?"
Duke just shakes his head and says "We'll see what the outcome of this meeting is, but if you happen to go in one of the Raptors, I'll want you in anti-radiation gear, like all the rest" He just shakes his head after that and takes a deep breath "I'm telling you, while I do understand the need to investigate, I just…don't enjoy the idea. Plus, we are talking about very high levels of radiation here, not a game at all" Also, he doesn't ask anything else on the hand incident. Yep, there's an understanding there.
"Well, that explains Bennett's role." Augie says, nodding his head as he listens to the unofficial brief. "So MOPP gear. I'll pack the cutter and the axe too, just in case we need to open a can or two. We taking a corpsman on this trip? I'm first aid and SAR trained, just getting a feel for the profile."
"MOPP gear for sure." says Duke, rubbing his eyes once again. "I'm unsure who will go in this trip, which is why I need to talk with Petra as well…and yes, since Captain St. Clair was there during the first encounter, she'll probably fly the Raptor, or one of them at least" He clears his throat after this and says "Meeting should take place soon enough, a lot of information will be laid in the table then and there."
"Alright, was just making sure I wasn't mis-sent this. A bit of that goin' around, from what I heard." Augie chuckles. The mention of Capt St Clair causes his eyes to cast to the side for a moment, before he shrugs. "I can catch the rest of the good crap there, then." he finally comments. And with that, he tries to change the subject. "So, when you gonna hit the gym for some hand to hand training?"
Duke shakes his head "It wasn't an error, worry not" he smiles a little at this and then tilts his head when he looks away at the mention of Bennett. Still, Duke won't push for details on this. "Oh, we'll all catch the rest of this, I'm also interested in what Major Petra's ideas are on this. But anyway…" and then Augie asks about training at the gym "Are you that much in a hurry to kick my ass? What did I do to you?" asks the DCAG, offering a faint, amused smile. He takes a deep breath and offers "Umm, let's see…I think I get a few free hours tomorrow, we can try then"
"Naw, I just think that the Air Boss shouldn't have to worry about a pretty botanist putting him on his ass unless he wants her too." A chuckle at that as Augie leans back on his heels, and folds the orders to drop into his pocket. "So you really stayed here for Saturnalia? The girls were going all out to impress. A shame that you ducked out. Kelsey-bird at least could play the no drinking card." He doesn't push, much, but he knows of Duke's recent past, and he may be prodding his friend to see what may be the deal.
Duke chuckles with amusement at Augie's first words and then says "Well, you said she was pretty right?" He just shakes his head at this and then ruffles his own hair "No, I know what you mean, perhaps I should practice a little bit. I mean, I've been going to the gym from time to time, hit the punchbag and all" And when Augie moves to the topic of Saturnalia, he just shakes his head "Have a lot of things to do, a lot of meetings to be planned with my Pilots and ECOs and a lot of flight footage to go over." In this particular case, there are no specifics linked to his past that forced him to stay away from the party. Luckily.
"A wise parajumper recently told me not to bury my head in my career. Now, between you, me, and the Viper outside, we know it's a bunch of shit." Augie responds, as he considers. No words of the ex. Good. "Yeah, her name's Suri. The botantist that is. If you want, I can introduce you to her." A double.. well, it'd be a date for Suri and Duke.
"The problem with that is that sometimes, someone has to do exactly that." says Duke "And in a way, when I divorced Laura and ran, I kinda did just that…and almost drowned myself in alcohol in the process, but at least I failed on that angle" He sniffles and then nods. Now, he looks at Augie and considers, shaking his head after that "Nah, I don't think I'm ready for the dating thing yet. And, Suri? I think I might have met her before…briefly." He thinks on this matter for a few seconds and says "Yeah, Yeah…the Botanist, I did meet her a while back. Yeah, she's a very good looking lady."
"You gotta enter the ring sometime, Duke. I know that Laura was.. yeah. I was there. I never married her, so I don't get tall of it. But she's moved on, so should you." Augie points out. "And with this being an eighteen month cruise, you have plenty of time to…"
Anything else he says is lost as the intercom and Petra's voice summons them and Bennett to the map room.