[PRP] Two guys, Two Raptors, and Pizza! [Puds&Dragon][FIN]

[XDragon]

Roy adjusted in his seat, listening to Talon speak about his early life for a moment and nodded here and there. Granted the story was short-ish. He him self was only twenty-one and was too young to remember the end of the war. Though, his parents were killed by some unknown...

"Really? Well, if it makes you feel any better, this wasn't my dream either." he replied, finishing his glass of beer. "But it's grown on me, to say the very least..."

With that, he poured himself another glass of beer, chuckling. Ok, so he was lightning up. Maybe it was something about Talon's attitude, or the alcohol..but either way, he was being more social. "No worries, I won't tell anyone about your skill." he said with a smirk. "But it's a good skill to have...I wish they taught us that in the Academy."

As he went to comment on the weapon upgrade, the food arrived. Oh it smelled absolutely fantastic. The cheese was melted to perfection and the crust baked just right. Roy sighed contently, and took a slice for himself, folding the crust in half and taking a bite out of it. He caught Moe's action and started to laugh, once he swallowed his piece of course. Oh this was priceless, but he did hope not all MRZs were like that....

"So, how long have you been around? In service I mean."  

[PuddleInk]

It wasn't the most exciting thing to talk about, but hey, at least it got that solider to ease up and relax a little. Maybe that was why he talked about that life...Maybe.

"I figured as much by the way you treated those mechanics. They're hard working folk you know... Maybe you should be nice to them and they'll fix your little combat problem, huh? " He snickered, noticing that the boy had downed his first glass already. And here Talon was halfway through his first ...

It could be Talon's attitude. Then again, he had a very disarming personality while around other folks. Must be why the Emperor and the Superior Officers threatened him with the title of Ambassador. That thought paled him a little, but he made up for it by taking a good chug of the drink. "Taught what?" Talon said, having spaced out for the latest part. "Oh! Scrapping? Its easy. Grab a welding torch and practice. After you burn yourself twice you stop doing it. Its not all too hard. But Then again its best left for the blue collars. " He said with a sarcastic smugness that probably came from being told that many times.

Too many times actually.

Hey...at least he got to play with fire back then. That had been fun.

Moe nommed on the Pizza and acted all cute and innocent to what it had just done. In fact, Talon made a point to ignore the cuteness. Acknowledging the MRZ for doing something like that would never be good, he thought.

Then he was asked how long he had been in service...Which was probably a tricky answer. "You mean since being pulled from my civillian life in my service to the Emperor? I'd say about six months or so. I'd gotten so used to a desk job that this is an interesting change. I miss my studio by the theatre though. Yourself, kiddo? " Yes...Talon called anyone three years or more younger than him 'Kiddo' if he thought highly of them. So far...Roy wasn't a complete moron. Maybe they'd work together on missions one day. Once Roy got his combat cherry popped, hopefully. Talon didn't want to be responsible for the younger kid just yet.  

[XDragon]

Roy tilted his head to the side. "But... i told them the...oh..." he nodded, quickly shutting up. It clicked in his head what Talon was talking about. "Yeah. Maybe I'll bring them a pizza...." he contemplated, tapping his chin in thought.

He took another bite of the pizza, savoring the flavor. Ah he needed to remember this place well. Actually, Talon seemed like the guy who would know good places to eat. Well, for now this was fantastic.

"That doesn't sound...huh I guess you could perform patch jobs on your Zoid right? I really don't see why they don't teach us that in the Academy. Oh well, I suppose that's why we leave it."

Roy took another sip of his drink, watching Moe eat the pizza, then at Talon. Somehow the MRZ eating perplexed Roy, it didn't seem good for it. Then again, what did he know? he didn't even know what MRZ's were until a few moments ago. "Me? It was my parent's wish that I go, so when I came of age, i was sent to join. Figured it was the least I could do...it was in their will anyway." he said with a shrug.  

[PuddleInk]

Now the boy was getting the picture. Take care of the mechanic and the mechanic will take care of you. Kinda like his relationship with his pal Mallard in the maintenance/docking bay. Boy that made him wonder how Tyrant was doing... "Make it two and they'll love you for as long as you bring them Pizza. "

He'd mention maybe being nice to them and minding the P's and Q's would be enough to get respect out of the grease monkies, but Talon'll let Roy figure that out on his own.

For now He'd enjoy the Pizza before the next orders were given out. He half payed attention to Roy and shrugged. "Sort of. I dont' carry around with me anything to patch Tyrant with. The gear is heavy and you don't nessecarily need it for scouting missions. I"m sure if you beg hard enough, the Mechanics might teach you..."

Talon stopped eating and refilled his beer, thinking all the while. It was dangerous when he did. "Yet you didn't answer the question you asked. How long have you been in? " The rest of the information was filed away for later use.  

[XDragon]

Roy snickered. Yes, pizza was the magical cure for everything. It could make friends, cheer up people or anything good. Yep! It was indeed the magical food. "Really? huh. I might just throw in a sixer for 'em." he said, nodding a bit.

The cadet looked at the amount of food they had before them. Really, two XL pies for them? Sure Roy was hungry but this was a lot of food for them to eat. Then again, Moe was around and the way that little guy was eating the pizza, this might barely cover it. So he took a sip of his beer, wetting his pallet. "Really? huh.. good point. I'm sure having some welding gear in your zoid could end badly if it explodes." he replied tapping his fingers on the table.

"Oh? Uhm..." Roy paused, raising his hand to his chin again. "Well...about two months I suppose. Graduated from the Academy four months ago, and they gave us two months leave. Gives time for us to get our Zoids and such."  

[PuddleInk]

Now the boy was getting the idea! Amazing...And he seemed to be coming out of his shell. Then the name made him think a bit. Davenport ... Talon mused that name to himself. He'll hit the records library after this for some good old fashioned reconnaissance and intel. None the less, Talon gave a small smile and raised his glass to the kid as though approving of the idea.

The amount of food was rather much, but hey... left overs were far better than the mess hall junk in his opinion. Sides, it didn't cost all too much on his salary. Okay, so it was expensive, but this was a once every two month thing. "The explosion could/would destroy not only the pilot but the Core as well. Which is a reason why only ZOIDs with cores behind specialized blast shields are outfitted with welding equipment, or they are underwater and designed specifically for that job. Its also heavy, as I've said before. "

The rapping at the table was annoying. But not as annoying as Moe grabbing another slice of Pizza and chowing down. The waitresses found it adorable, so Talon just sighed and stared at his MRZ with reluctant acceptance. What else could he do about it? Nothing it seemed. "Ah...Not all that long then. " He slowed down on his pizza consumption, he had already eaten about half of the X-large by himself, not to mention that Moe was on its fifth slice...

Talon rapped his knuckles against his chin as he thought... Then something rather serious escaped his lips, "Did you hear about the attack on the Republic President? " Might as well quiz the new guy about current events. There was something dead serious about the calm and casual gaze of the easy going Talon. It was like he wanted to know what others thought of it to get a better grasp...or maybe he was just being a jerk. Either way, Moe didn't care so it probably was all good, right?  

[XDragon]

Roy looked at Talon, just staring at him for a moment. "Of course I did. The Republic had some ball for the president and a gunman got in, tried to kill him but their general took the bullet. Our government was quick to announce we had no hand in it and...yea" he finished, nodding slowly. "unless I missed some details..." he said, tilting his head to the side. He took another sip of his beer and another slice from the pie.

"So, in your six months of service...anything interesting happen? What kid of missions do they have you do? What do I have to look forward to?"  

[PuddleInk]

Talon raised an eyebrow and smiled, somewhat unkindly, "How about you actually think your own thoughts and come to your own conclusion. You're pretty good at regurgitating exactly what they tell you. "

Suddenly, he felt like he should be leaving and heading out somewhere. This was quite annoying. The boy seemed like he hadn't had an original thought ever. Unlike some of Talon's own team mates, Roy honest to god didn't seem to want to think. Yet even so, he felt a pang of pride that the office without him was still making killer stuff. Sigh... The real power was the ignorance of the people.


At the question about his own missions, Talon kept that wolfish grin, "You can look them up and do your homework if you want to survive." Okay, maybe that wasn't the kindest thing to say to the just starting out Cadet, but hey... he wasn't the kindest person to talk to once you got to know him or slight him in some sort of way. Ignorance about his own faction got him pretty worked up. Made him honestly ponder turning rogue..for about five seconds then he got over it. But still.... It was a slight against the Emperor in Talons opinion.

"My first major mission I ran into a Republic scout, then their General. " That was all he was giving out. The rest...well it was written up in the report in the library for anyone to read. Including, attached, a copy of the letter he received soon after and a photo of Moe. "If your thinking its all blood and guts kid, you've got another thing coming to you. If you want that go talk to someone who has a death wish. I'm not it. "

 

[XDragon]

"Oh? Well sorry my answer isn't sufficient for you. I know the gist, and clearly nothing major came of it, at least not involving us. So yes, that bare minimum is fine for me." Roy responded in kind. Sure he could have listed the various things he had occupying his mind at the time, but surely Academy business would just be mocked by Talon before him.

Talk about a change in attitude. Wow, seemed like something crawled up Talon's a**, set up residence and then died. Oh well. Roy had two options, return the hostilities and challenge the man...or be t he bigger one and let it slide. And what better way to stick it to Talon than to be the bigger man?

"Well, ain't that something? I figured as much but I thought even those could be interesting." Roy said with a kind smile as he took his beer and once again took a nice long sip of the beverage. Ah, that hit the spot. Yes, alcohol did have it's benefits.  

[PuddleInk]

Everyone had their demons. This just happened to be Talons. And if Roy had mentioned he'd been occupied with Academy stuff, Talon no doubt would have said that to be no excuse. It wasn't.

He forced himself to calm down. Getting upset over that sort of thing was going to get him nowhere. A drink was taken--or would have been taken had Moe not lept in the pilots lap and guzzled down the beer. Talon could only stare in horror. "Moe! NO! My Beer! " He didn't have much to say after that. That was a true buzz killer. The MRZ just blinked at talon and then seemed to giggle as it set its head on the table, obviously full, and looking completely innocent. "Bastard drank my beer! " He mumbled pouring himself another glass full and taking a careful sip.


This was when he totally forgot what he had been upset about earlier. He blinked at Roy for a moment or two, "Whaaa?" By the obvious blank look on Talon's face, it was clear he hadn't rememberd going off on the lad. "Oh! The republic makes the best Turkey sandwiches in all of Zi! " He nodded and drank his beer in peace, grinning from ear to ear.  

[XDragon]

Leave it to Moe to go on and ruin Roy's anger and to kill this potentially hostile moment. Oh that was good though, but maybe Roy wanted to show this guy he had a spine and wasn't some academy punk like he thought. Oh well, it was probably better to be on this guy's good side than not..

"Haha ouch..." Roy chuckled, shaking his head. Yeah, Moe seemed to know the perfect time to destroy tension and was quite good at it. "So, MRZ's drink beer and eat pizza. huh... now it makes me wonder too what was in that manual." he said, smiling once again.

The next think out of Talon's mouth just confused the poor boy once again. And he was doing so so well before too! But no, this talk of turkey sammiches was just...out there. "Wh-what?" he asked, processing the information given to him. "I...is that there specialty or something?" he asked, scratching his head. "So, where's your Zoid?"  

[PuddleInk]

"I'm sorry. I've been under a lot of stress lately. " Moe just wagged its stub of a tail and hooted--wait, that might have been a coo-- of contentment. Pizza was good. Talon was glaring at the MRZ then he continued his little statement.

It, naturally, involved turkey sandwiches. "Yeah. Had one for lunch the other day. And I Don't think so. I think their lunch folks just make them better than our BLT's. " Oh yeah. Talon dissing the lunch staff. This wasn't news. And to prove it, Moe grumbled and demanded pettings by bumping Talon's hand with his shield covered snout. Absently, Talon obliged.

They really were made for one another, it seemed. A goof ball, and a guy that was quite obviously on top of the game.

Then there was the question about his own Raptor. Talon shrugged. "Green Tyrant is down at maintenance getting the cooling system overhauled. He's the green one with a temper. So far he only lets Mal and I in the cockpit. I think Mal only because Mal washes his hands a lot. " There were others in his team, but he hadn't seen them in a while. They were probably out and about doing who knows what! "Mal should have it all fixed up by now... They might have yours done too. "  

[XDragon]

"it's ok...sorry on my end too." Roy replied nodding and finishing his second glass of beer. Yeah, that was a good amount of alcohol for him...not enough to get him buzzed, but enough to ease up. Still, this pizza was fantastic so he helped himself to another slice.

"Oh don't get me started on the dining staff. I've never seen meat that looked so...non-meat like. It's kind of scary what they whip up.." Roy added with a slight shudder. The things they whipped up. ugh, sometimes it didn't resemble food. It was like some amorphous blob that was apparently edible. To know the Republic was getting better food than he was, well that just stunk. "Yeah? I hope to sample it one day. Gotta see for my self, ya know?"

"Oh, yours is the green one? I saw it...looked a little annoyed at some of the staff there. I think he was going to snap at one if it came close. I guess the AI is temperamental huh? Glint's pretty calm himself. He hasn't put up a fight yet...then again, we haven't done anything mission related yet".  

[PuddleInk]

Boy, this guy really was a green horn. Talon grinned. Okay. Maybe he'd drag the kid out for a little run or something. Yeah....He'll file the papers when he got back to the hanger. A little scouting mission wouldn't be too bad to we the boy's whistle.

"Not really. Least there isn't rocks in it. " He added with a smile and another bite of pizza. Mmm..Good stuff. Course, that was when the bill came. Talon snatched it, paid quietly, and started diviing up the remaining Pizza

Moe chirped and opened its maw in a large yawn.


Talon nodded, pouring himself another glass. This would be his third...Right? Huh. Must be really watered down. "It's always a bit annoyed. Nothing new there. And he wouldn't dare. " Duh...his Zoid hadnt' developed a personality yet. He hadn't piloted it too much. Most any pilot could tell him that.

Talon stood up and pushed Moe out of his way. "Later Roy. " Talon moved to leave. Sure..it was a jerk move, but Talon had paied for lunch and all. And he said a maybe to the run thing. OH well...Talon and Moe headed back out to the hangar to check up on his own Zoid and if it was done, move it back to the holding Hangar.  

[XDragon]

Roy sat there for a moment, placed an order for a pie and luckily, one just came out of the oven so he took it to go with a six pack of beer. It was his way of saying thanks to the mechanics who worked on White Glint.

"Hey Talon!" Roy called as he quickly came up behind him. It was really all luck that he happened to catch up to the man on their way back to the mechanics. "I didn't get to thank you for the meal...so...thanks." he said, smiling slightly and nodding.