john risks an eye (and then some) winning gale his bike... but gale refuses to ride it anywhere. it confuses john to no end when he catches him walking to the mess hall the day after he gifts him the bike; he slows his own down to keep pace with gale and says, "did you forget i risked my life getting you your own set of wheels?"
gale gives him some excuse about wanting to explore the base at a leisurely pace on his first proper morning there, and john just shrugs, maybe teases a bit more, but ultimately lets it go (though he does keep pace with him the whole way to the mess.)
except this isn't a one–time thing. sometimes it takes gale triple the time walking as it takes john to bike somewhere, but no matter what, he insists quite adamantly that he prefers to walk. it stings a bit, because john loves to show his affection through gift–giving, and seeing gale's bike locked in the same spot day after day feels a little like rejection, but he brushes it off, turning it into a challenge to get gale to ride the damn bike.
a bit of extra pressure via teasing one morning, and, weird– john thinks his ever–stoic friend might actually be blushing when he makes a joke about, "you scared of crashing? can fly a plane but can't ride a bike?" and gale gives him a stiff "course not" in return. that piques john's interest, and he does love flustering gale, especially when it's so rare to get a reaction out of him like that.
so when they make it to the mess hall, john riding his bike at a slow crawl and wondering why he even bothers taking it anymore when he takes just as long as gale in his refusal to leave his side, he presses again as they sit down across from each other.
"if you're not scared, just ride a loop with me around base when we get back, and i'll drop it," he proposes. gale doesn't meet his eyes when he gives him a firm "no thanks, john," but he might as well have just waved a red flag in front of a bull. "why not?" john kicks at his ankle under the table, and gale does look up then, if only to glare.
john waits patiently for whatever increasingly ridiculous excuse gale might give him this time, only to see gale's shoulders slump a bit, studying john's face for a beat longer before he lowers his eyes once again and mumbles, "don't know how to ride." john huffs out a breath of laughter, then stops when he realizes gale isn't laughing too.
"you're serious?" he asks, and gale nods, leaning back in his chair, cheeks a lovely shade of pink. "my dad never taught me to ride, and he never wanted to spend the money to get me a bike growing up, so." john immediately feels terrible for all of his jokes and pressuring, and for being unable to tear his eyes away from his blush.
"well, that's alright," he says easily, not wanting to embarrass gale any more than he already has. "i'll teach you."
that's how they end up in a secluded field after breakfast, and it's john's turn to feel a little flushed as he keeps a firm hand on the small of gale's back to help him stay upright, promising he won't let go until gale tells him to. gale picks up on the skill almost instantly, unsurprisingly, and john beams at the boyish excitement on gale's face when he finally gets going on his own.
mornings are much more exciting when john has someone to race to the mess hall, though he lets gale win sometimes just to see his favourite smile.
'you sound like my dad, john.' well, john hopes he's outdone him now.
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crazy how in c2 they'll have three extensive convos checking in with each other while traveling like an hour in-game meanwhile in c3 they've been on the moon for days and still haven't discussed the following:
laudna fucking ate a guy
imogen's mom is a mythical legend amongst the enemy
orym vs. laudna's response to imogen giving into predathos
how did chetney suddenly learn to make hypnotizing toys
delilah briarwood
"some of us are expendable, we should get captured"
anything and everything they said during the trust exercise, including but not limited to:
laudna not being able to distinguish her thoughts from delilah's
imogen's disgust at delilah's inevitable presence
chetney's fear that his new family will leave him
orym's feelings about dorian
fcg relieving stress through murder
fearne's insecurities about their chances of success
ashton's guilt about the shard
and more!
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