AWD #036: Under-Thinking
Under-Thinking
Summary: Phin and Kelsey, sitting in the sims. No one was harmed in the making of this log, except a few girlish dreams.
Date: 12/02/2013 (OOC Date)
Related Logs: Directly follows Flesh and Bone
Kelsey Phin 
Flight Simulators — Deck 2 — Battlestar Orion
The Air Wing has access to flight simulators to train pilots off the ground in combat maneuvers and situations that are hard to replicate with regular dogfight practicing and this is their home. A rectangular room, the hatch opens up beside the bank of computers that control the simulations and what is seen by the individuals when training sessions are in progress. The sims are actual cockpits cut out of old frames and installed here to function exactly as the real thing, right down to oxygen plugs for suits. In front of each cockpit, complete with armored glass, are LCD screens that cover most of the front view to the front and above. There are two Vipers, two Predators, and one full-cabin Raptor available.
Tue Feb 12

The ship is a tad busy at the moment. On the plus side, Phin has the sims to himself. Or so he thinks. He's plunked into one of the Vipers, going through an advanced atmospheric drill that's heavy on tricky weather and low visibility flying. He's not flying it terribly careful, lots of spins and rolls and pushing at the limits of what the program can do while maintaining 'realism.' Looks kind of fun, though.

There are no more bulletin board posts to read.

Its been a tough first twenty four hours for Kelsey. She'd barely moved into the bunks and Zach dragged her out on a milk run recon to Helios Beta. The results are already circulating under Milkshake and Buzzkill's names. The girl looks tired as she returns to the sims with a cup of coffee. Its awkward seeing PO3 pins on a flightsuit, probably. But she walks up behind the Viper pit and watches with some interest. Okay, that seriously does look cool.

Phin lets out a "Woo!" as he executes a barrel roll. His actual scores on whatever program he's working are probably going to be odd, since he's clearly just playing at this point. He can't play forever, though. Eventually the program ends and he brings his faux-Viper in for a computerized landing. He doesn't bother with going through the motions of post-flight before popping the canopy and removing his helmet. He's practicing in full flight gear as well. He just leans against it for a sec, breathing deep. Kelsey's not immediately noticed.

Oh hey! Kels knows that voice. She grins happily behind her mug of coffee before realizing something. Legs trot her back over to the control panels and she uses a blank monitor screen as a mirror. Unzip that flightsuit a bit. She looks harried, but the quick touch-up helps and then she's back over there just in time to see Phin crawling out. The nugget smiles, watching him as she leans an arm against the rear of the sim. "That was some pretty crazy flying, sir! Very nice. Is that the stuff they teach you in normal flight training?" Be cool. Be cool. Try not to stare.

"Oh. Wescott." Phin sounds a little surprised. And, maybe, like it took him a second to remember her name. At least he gets it right. But he's polite and friendly. Phin is generally polite and friendly, if kind of distant. "Hey. I didn't know anybody else was in here. I was just kind of messing around." He shrugs. "I guess. They do teach the aerobatics, at least. Bumper showed me some of his moves back when I was in flight class on Picon." Poor rattled Duke.

"Hi Phin," Kelsey says a little too quickly. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to spot that she likes him. The little quirks and anxious movements. "No, its fine. I was just going to flip through some of the sims and try take-offs again. Nothing nearly as fancy as that stuff." She doesn't mention Bumper. Yeahhhhh. "Just workin off some pent up energy, huh?"

"Yeah. I know what you mean." Phin says. Though he sounds vaguely frustrated. "Puts you in a different head-space. Kind of clears everything out. Sort of. These aren't quite like the real thing. Anyway. I don't really have the room reserved so…it's all yours." Not that he takes off just yet. "You ever flown anything? Like, for real?"

Kelsey bites her lip, watching the frustration cross him. "I hear that you guys come up here to work off stress sometimes." 'You guys', because Kelsey's brain still hasn't processed the paperwork that everyone else has. "You seem kinda stressed. I can go. Major Sheperd says you guys get all priority." The question, though has her straighten and she shakes her head. "Lords and Ladies, no. I'm not even allowed to touch the flight controls when I sit in stuff. Not til the Major says so. But I just kinda sit in the sims and pretend its real for now. Try to, anyway."

Phin shrugs. "Like I said, it's not like I've booked the room or anything. I was on my way out, actually. The fake version's not really doing it for me tonight." At her answer, he looks a little surprised. "Really? So you went to all this work to get into the wing, without ever having gone up in a bird before? Why?" He leans an elbow against the faux-Viper and studies her, blue eyes curious.

He's looking right at her with those eyes. She's trying not to stare. Fingers splay and she lightly stabs a few into her flattened palm of the other hand. "Uhm," she says intelligently. "I- no, see, I went up with /Bumper/ in a Predator. He let me sit in a backseat. But, like, I didn't get to touch anything. It was suuuuper neat. But I never got to fly." Kels looks a little vulnerable for a moment as her gaze drifts down and she forces a smile, the next words coming quietly. "But I wanted to fly because I want my family to be proud of me. Wherever they are."

"They wouldn't be proud of you if you were a mechanic?" Phin asks. Not that he really waits for an answer. "I mean, it's not that special. It does feel pretty good, though." That does make him smile, though not exactly at her. "First time I ever got off the ground I was ten. In a paraglider. I was on this summer day trip with a bunch of the other guys from…" He shrugs. "…anyway, we all used to get one trip every year, that the state'd pay for. And that time it was cliffs. Just the beginner hills, but it still seemed really high at the time. And I got up there and I let go and…it was just like nothing else I'd ever felt before. It was like I was free, but still in control, y'know? All I could think about after I came down was that I wanted to do it again."

Kelsey doesn't answer that. Maybe she doesn't know the answer. The nugget just looks up at him with wide eyes as he describes the experience. "My Gramma used to ECO Predators in the first war. She said there was nothing else like it. That sounds like a pretty awesome experience. I wasn't allowed to do crazy things like that. I mostly stayed in town and got drunk or did swimteam stuff. It sounds like you had some great opportunities." Kels tries to be positive, smiling as she says it.

"Yeah. Nothing but opportunities back in the Bay," Phin mutters wryly. He doesn't share anymore of his childhood memories. "Anyway. Whatever. It was a long time ago." A pause and he asks, "So, you never do anything crazy?" He cracks a little half-smile, though it's also a little wry.

A turn in the conversation and Kelsey chuckles, smiling a little at the memories. "Oh geez, yeah. Well, you know, nothing -crazy-, but fun for our little town. We'd jump into the old quarry and go swimming. Get smashed." Obviously the pinnacle of entertainment, her hometown. "I like to try and be spontaneous, but the military doesn't tend to agree with me, yanno? Grrrr. Plans! Rawr! Be here for this thing and be early to wait twenty minutes for no reason grrrr!" she laughs. "What about you?" Kels asks with a hopeful smile.

"I'm told I over-think things," Phin says. Not focusing on her. His blue eyes are faraway. Focus kind of up in his own head. "I'm getting kind of sick of doing that, though. Just feels like a lot of noise sometimes." His eyes finally do flick back to her. Thoughtfully. He couldn't possibly have missed the way she looks at him, even if he's always tried never to be more than briskly polite. "Anyway…look. I've got a few hours to kill…you want to get out of here for awhile?" In case the 'Do you want to go hook up?' message in that was too subtle he adds, "Yggs told me about a linen closet on this deck where nobody ever resupplies in."

"My dad used to say that over-thinking just means that you aren't challenged enough in other ways, so you exert your extra brain power needlessly spinning wheels on the easy stuff." Kelsey makes a face with the offered advice. "Maybe you need something else to occupy your time and challenge you." That could be totally innocent or not, but one never knows. There's a halo there above her, whether or not its cracked and broken is less clear. The one question gets a smirk from her, heart leaping even in her eyes. But the last gets a /big/ grin. "I could be persuaded. Could be a good place to kill some time, too." Oh she knows all too well what he meant the first time. "Shall we?" Kels asks with a playfully cocked head and smile.

"Cool," Phin says. "Meet you there in like ten. I've got to swing back to the berths for…stuff." He's a pro-condom guy, at least. With that, he strides out of the sims. Briskly. Because he'd better do this before he can talk himself out of it.


A decent amount of time later…

Phin is laying naked and sweaty on the floor of a ship's linen closet. Breathing deep. He's intense. That much can be said for him. He was not much of a talker, and isn't really saying anything now. He has pulled a surplus sheet up to his mid-section. Because apparently modesty is something you get back in touch with after frakking a girl. His focus is on the ceiling, kind of off in his own little world again now that he's done.

Wow. Intensity. Its not what every girl dreams of, but sometimes its what you need. She settles down beside him and pulls the blanket up over her own hips and rests her head on his chest as she exhales. A hand wipes the sweat from her brow. "Best spontaneous action ever," she concludes with a grin, her hand coming to rest on his stomach.

Phin turns briefly back to her to flick a quick smile back, though he doesn't linger laying there long. "Yeah. That was fun." He reaches for her hand, but it's to move it off his stomach. With that he stands up, and starts to get dressed. Reasonably quickly. As much as he can. He misplaced a shoe during that.

Kels is basking, oh yes. Even more-so when that hand touches hers, but its to move it away? And he's getting up? She watches him get going so quickly and she gently tugs the blanket up over her breast. There's confusion on her face, starting to mix wit ha little hurt. "Where are you going?" she asks quietly. "Don't you want.. to.." to what? She doesn't finish.

"I've…uh, got an early shift tomorrow," Phin says as he zips up his trousers. Which is totally the opposite of what he said before. He still hasn't found his shoe, and he starts rooting around in a hamper of towels looking for it. "You might want to hang out here for like fifteen minutes or so after I leave. So it's not like we're…sneaking out together. Nobody minds their own business on this ship."

"I thought you said you.." And it fades. Kelsey stares up at him as he keeps searching. "Phin, what did I-" She's nervous, not really sure what's happening. And then he tells her to wait and leave and her heart and face fall as one. "Okay," she whispers. Kelsey turns her eyes from him and looks towards her own flightsuit in the corner and wraps the blanket more around her. "I'll find your shoe. You can go."

"Thanks," Phin says. "And, uh, thanks." For the memories. He does offer her a quick smile. "I can come back and get it later, though. It's cool. Uh…I'll see you around, Wescott." If she'd had a phone number to give him, he'd totally be promising to call her sometime. Some indefinite time.

"Yeah. No problem. Always one for being spontaneous," she says, trying to force a smile. A last bit of hope is eeked in there, but deep down she knows, especially with that sendoff. The hatch closes and she hugs the blanket around her, leaning against a box on the ground and fighting off her own mind and emotions. She'll need those fifteen minutes. At least.

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