Work and Distractions (Ch 2)
Ch1 (Diners and Late Nights)/Ch 2
“You called me in, Admiral?” Seresin said, standing at attention in front of his desk.
“At ease, Lieutenant, you’re not in trouble,” Cyclone said watching the kid, moving the papers he was looking at to the side.
“Didn’t think I was, sir,” Hangman drawled.
Cocky brat.
Despite that, the sharp line on his shoulders softened.
“Due to scheduling conflicts, the earliest we can deploy you is a month from now,” he said, watching the younger man who gave no indication whether or not he was disappointed. “However, your instructors say that you’re eager to work, much more so than whatever your paperwork implies. Additionally, it seems like you have aspirations to move up the ranks.”
“I like having something to do, sir, being higher in the ranks allows that and prohibits that at the same time,” Hangman said evenly. “I love flying, sir, but I understand that I can not do that all the time, might as well do something else between that.”
Smart kid.
“Well, Top Gun is empty right now. Only you remain in the barracks. Everyone else is preparing for the next batch of Top Gun graduates, maintenance, and catching up on administrative tasks. Might as well make yourself useful,” Cyclone said, handing Hangman a folder. “The mechanics are doing maintenance on the jets, you know your jet based on the manual, but you’ve never delved deep inside of it, have you?”
“Not more than what was required of me, sir, the Navy wanted the mechanics to focus on that,” Seresin replied, opening the folder with details on what he would be doing for the day.
“Well, back in my day, pilots and backseaters were more involved in hands-on, plane maintenance. Are you going to let us old timers be better than you at that?” Cyclone drawled out, staring at Hangman in the eye.
Seresin’s brow furrowed before he snapped the folder shut and straightened up, “Back in your day you were flying what would be now considered a fossil, sir,” Hangman said smirking. “I’ll go report to the hangar.”
“Good man,” Cyclone said, the corner of his lip twitching when he noticed Seresin leaving the room with a little more bounce on his step.
—
“How did he do? Any trouble?” Cyclone asked, approaching Warrant Officer Walker who was watching the mechanics and Seresin from afar who seemed to be delving in underneath the jet.
Walker snorted, giving a small smile as he rubbed his chin, “Eh, he’s just like the other kids in these parts.”
“Oh?”
“Young, confident, full of shit, but a good kid, this one works hard,” Walker said, smiling at Cyclone. “I heard this one was the last winner of Top Gun, I gotta say I was a bit worried. I know those kids talk a lot of shit, but damn, did I almost think you assigned him to me as punishment.”
“Not like you to judge a man before meeting him,” Cyclone said, crossing his arms, brows furrowed.
Walker shrugged, “The rumor mill is a bit more crazier these days, or that kid just special. Plus, heard some of the comments he said to his classmates, well, the kid has a mouth on ‘im.”
That’s saying something considering they were all in the military.
“He still got that mouth, but it ain’t anythin’ bad, just the usual young men talking shit and making fun with one another. Nothing close to what little I heard from ‘im before,” Walker said.
He mostly supervised the cohort from afar, and the few times he was directly involved, was a few minutes, with the men all in their best behavior. However, he did read the reports, but reports are for report keeping, not for a reflection of real life.
“I see,” Cyclone said, frowning and crossing his arms.
He watched as Seresin crawled out from under the jet, arms of his flight suit tied at the waist, and white shirt covered in grease. He stood up and looked like he was pouting when he looked down at his grease covered hands. Hangman finally noticed Cyclone when he looked up, grinning and giving the Admiral a two-fingered salute.
Cyclone felt Walker’s eyes in the side of his head as Cyclone nodded at the boy to go help out the other mechanics.
“You like the kid, don’t ya?” Walker mused, before Cyclone could reply the other man clapped a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it. “Bring ‘im around whenever, I’ll look after ‘im.”
Cyclone patted Walker’s shoulder in response.
—
“Is it true that you got engine oil dunked in your hair when you were an ensign?” Hangman blurted out.
Cyclone slowly raised his head from the paper Seresin gave him to look at Seresin with a raised brow. It was a week after Hangman started working with the mechanics, and if he wasn’t doing that, he was studying the documents used at Top Gun with him at the office. He was helping him sort through survey data, and the report Seresin produced was much more impressive than he expected.
Seresin simply stared back, curiosity sparking in his eyes.
“Where in the rumor mill did you find that?” Cyclone drawled.
“Warrant Officer Walker, Admiral,” Hangman said dutifully.
The vein in Cyclone’s forehead twitched, he should have figured that sooner.
Goddammit Lucas.
“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, Lieutenant Seresin,” Cyclone said looking back down at the paper.
“That’s why I’m confirming the facts with you, sir,” Hangman said, lips pressed tightly together to prevent it from twitching upwards.
“I can neither confirm nor deny those allegations,” Cyclone said drily, flipping the paper to the next page.
However, he couldn’t help but smile when he heard the hold back a snort, grinning brightly at him.
—
“-- You should hear about the time Simpson here wrote 10 pages of bullshit tryin’ to justify flyin’ in shitty weather for ‘practice’--”
“It worked didn’t it?” Cyclone said glaring at Walker who simply smiled at him in response.
“You grouch at all of the young’ins bein’ little shits, but you weren’t much different weren’t ya, Admiral?”
“And you grouch at your mechanics being lazy, but at least they haven’t been caught sleeping on top of a jet–”
“Hey, it was durin’ my lunch break! You know, the time we suppos’ to be relaxin’ ‘stead of doing all that dumb paperwork!” Walker said lightly bumping Cyclone’s shoulder laughing.
Seresin looked past one of the turbines of the jet he was working on and leaned over to Ben, an aircraft mechanic around his age. “They always like this?”
Ben snorted as he pulled at one of the wires, “I’ve only been here a few months, but the others say they’ve been at it for years. They tight, man.”
“Huh,” Hangman said curiously as he watched an Admiral get his hands dirty helping Walker with something with the engine.
“Anyways, come bring that ratchet and bring your ass down here, I’m gonna show you something–”
—
“Come on boys and gal! Your favourite Air Boss ‘ere buyin’ a round o’ drinks. Even Almighty Admirals lose bets from time to time, yeah?” Walker said grinning as he hooked an arm around Cyclone’s shoulder as he was walking towards the mechanics still working on planes.
Hangman has never seen the Admiral look so dishevelled, with grease all over his clothes, and an annoyed scowl on his face. He looked at Ben who simply shrugged at him in response, also unsure about what was happening.
“I’m going to make you buy us all a round once we get there, Lucas,” Simpson hissed as he pushed the other man away as Walker simply laughed in response.
“Maybe you’ll be buyin’ ‘nother round once we get there,” Walker said grinning.
“If it’s pool, the Admiral got you beat 4 times out of 5, Chief,” One of the older mechanics chipped in.
“20 push ups for that, sergeant,” Walker said, wagging a finger at him.
—
“What. The. Fuck.” Hangman said jaw dropping as Cyclone ran the table clean in a few minutes. The last shot brought the last two balls in their pocket at the same time.
Cyclone smirked at Walker, “Next round on you. Unless, best of 3 to make you feel better?”
Walker rolled his eyes, “Nah, don’t wanna ruin the good mood, prick, okay boys! Next round on me!”
Ben nudged Hangman’s on the shoulder, “I’m gonna get a beer, want another one?”
Hangman shook his head, “Nah, it feels like a Sprite kind of night.”
Ben snorted, “You get free drinks and you’re ordering one of the cheapest drinks on the menu.”
Hangman flashed a charming smile, “I’m a charitable man.”
Ben rolled his eyes before heading towards the bar.
Hangman took a sip of the beer he had.
“Enjoying yourself, Seresin?” Cyclone said approaching him, still holding the cue stick.
“It was a great show, sir, very impressive,” Hangman said, tipping his drink at him.
Cyclone smiled, “You play pool?”
Hangman shook his head, “Not really, Jav- Lieutenant Machado started teachin’ me when we first got here, but I barely get a straight shot in.”
“Want to play a round? Teach you a couple of things?” Cyclone asked, tilting his head towards the table.
Seresin took another sip of his beer, his feet shuffling a bit. Eyes darting towards his other coworkers before looking at the pool table. The bar was pretty crowded–
“Maybe next time, sir,” Hangman said. “Give me some time to practice, so at least I gotta chance against ya,” Seresin continued, giving his signature smirk.
Cyclone’s eyes softened, “I’ll hold you to that, Lieutenant,” he said patting his shoulder. “Go have fun with people your age, shoo.”
Hangman rolled his eyes, “Aye, aye.”
—
Cyclone set a cup of coffee and a paper bag on Hangman’s desk, making the younger man look up from his computer to narrow his eyes at the Admiral.
“Coffee and an apple pastry I got from out of base,” Cyclone said nonchalantly.
Hangman scowled, “What data am I gonna analyze this time?”
Cyclone smirked, “You’ll like this one, it’s survey data among the perspectives of both active, reserved, and retired naval aviators.” He watched as Hangman’s eyes briefly lit up as he handed the packet to him.
“I mean, I suppose this may not be as interestin’ as Chief Walker’s activities,” Hangman drawled. “But I guess I’ll make some time for this.”
Cyclone snorted, reaching out and ruffling the boy’s hair as he headed out, “Make sure to eat before you start!” He called out, ignoring the boy’s squawk of protest.
—
“--It may be beneficial to conduct focus group discussions or 1-1 interviews to get a more in depth analysis of the survey data, Admiral,” Hangman reported, as Cyclone skimmed through the file he was just given.
“Excellent point Lieutenant, are you interested in participating in said interviews?” Cyclone asked.
“As an interviewee? Yes, as an interviewer? Nah, I prefer being in the air rather than stuck behind a desk, sir, reading the perspectives is interestin’, don’t get me wrong, but not my main thing,” Hangman said, shrugging before slumping down on the chair in front of Beau’s desk.
Cyclone smiled at him.
“Good work, Lieutenant, I’ll go through it all tomorrow, and send it out to other sections for analysis.”
“Of course, sir,” Hangman said, giving a small smile. “Just,” Hangman paused and bit his lip, “Maybe get a couple of others to proofread it just in case, yeah?”
Cyclone’s eyes softened, “Of course, kid, but I’m sure they won’t find much wrong with it.”
Hangman turned away, a light blush rising up his neck.
“Anyways, are you free tonight?” Cyclone asked.
Hangman looked at him curiously, “Yes-?”
“Want to play pool?” Cyclone asked, watching Hangman’s conflicted expression. “I know a pool hall nearby, it’s not as crowded as the Hard Deck. I told you I was going to teach you a few things,” Cyclone mused before stopping. “It’s not an order, Seresin, just an open offer,” Cyclone said.
“I-sure, where is it?” Seresin asked.
Cyclone smiled and gave him the address and time.
“Don’t wear your uniform.”
—
“Uhhh, so I don’t exactly know all the rules.”
“Well, there are the base rules, and then some house rules, which can make a game of 8-ball slightly different–”
“Sounds complicated.”
“You fly jets for a living, you’ll be fine, kid. As long as you can tell whether the ball is solid or stripes, you’ll be alright.”
—
“Keep your elbow steady, don’t move upwards, until after the whole shot is done,” Beau said coaching from the side, watching the blond stare at the cue ball in concentration.
Seresin slid the cue forward, the cue slipping sideways on the bridge hand, barely hitting the cue ball making it spin sadly to the side, 6 inches from where it started.
Seresin groaned as he straightened up and pouted. Beau took pity on him and took the cue ball, placing it where it was before.
“Come on, kid, you can do it, chalk the tip and try again,” Beau said, handing him the chalk.
Hangman took a deep breath and readied himself again. His form was still tense, trying to get used to his footing. He hit the cue ball straight into the solid ball, making the shot. Hangman straightened up and gave a cheer.
He looked so young.
“Good job,” Beau said, smiling. “Now what’s your next shot?”
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