Rag Doll Marine
Posted on 30 Oct 2020 @ 9:56pm by Ptolemy Cumberland & Lieutenant Theodore Winslow
Mission:
M1 - Emergence
Location: Infirmary
Timeline: MD04 - 2000HRS
1375 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure
Theodore stared at the two men silently taking them both in and wondering if it was the right time to interview them both when quite frankly to the bases new Chief Security Officer, they looked like hell. One looked exhausted and the other looked high after his operations to put teeth back in. He had checked with medical staff and they said he was in the range where he was allowed to interview but still, he just did not look right to him.
Finally, the silence got to him along with the Marine stood in between the pair shifting from one foot to the other. “So, someone needs to start talking? We know the state of the base and how much of a waste of time this for all of us right now.” He said simply.
"What's to say that I haven't told him already?" said the brown-haired man leaned against the bulkhead, his arms folded across his chest. The man was a little taller than average and skinnier than he really should have been his size. Yet for his spry build, he packed a whole lot of muscle, as evidenced by the fact he'd broken the former's jaw with one solid hit. Of course, that good have been the result of a liftime training as a boxer, but that was a bit besides the point. Ptolemy Cumberland had been the Sol sector middleweight boxing champion for the better part of five years before he lost the title. He made a solid run of it the year after, but fell short and never really could regain that summit again.
"It was nothing," the Marine Corporal offered, a bit loopy but glad to have things back in one piece.
Theo raised an eyebrow looking up from the PADD he carried to look at the older man and frowned. He was not in the mood to play the stubborn game or any type of game for that matter. “You might have told him Mr Cumberland but you have not told me,” He told Ptolemy before looking at the Marine. “Sure it was. How many teeth did you get knocked out Corporal?” Theo would have rolled his eyes if it was professional in front of that many people.
The man's jaw flinched involuntarily and he resisted the urge to touch it, blushing a bit at his own reaction. "I don't know. Like I said, it was nothing. It was just a... disagreement.," he explained lamely.
Ptolemy nodded slowly in agreement, "A difference of opinion," he clarified. "Nothing you need worry about, mate. The missus fixed him up right, so we can go on our merry, eh?"
They were still in the Infirmary, just outside the small isolation ward that the MP's had dropped him and Ada in. She was in there now with Minka, more than excited to have her mother back. It hadn't been all that long since Minka left Falkirk and their home for the last two years but for a three year old it might as well have been an eternity. He was glad to be back with her too, he wasn't sure if he could continue to do this solo, and as good as he was with his only daughter she had her mothers stubborn streak.
"Disagreements that end in teeth being lost are my concern," Theodore said quite honestly. "A difference of opinion is all well and good but is this really the time or the place for something like this to happen?" He wondered off the two men not missing the comment that his missus fixed the man up. Would it better to just get answers from her?
The Security Officer was all for putting this aside with the base how it was but he needed to be reassured that it was not something that would happen again. He might not have a working Brig but he would find somewhere to store them to cool their heels to allow his teams to do better things.
Ptolemy pushed himself off the bulkhead and turned to the Marine, offering his hand. "'S'alright, innit?" he asked.
With some effort, the Marine extended his own hand and shook Ptolemy's, "Yeah. It's all good," he agreed.
They shook hands firmly and briefly, then released one another as quickly as was appropriate. Cumberland looked to the Starfleet Officer and offered a crooked smile, "He's got his work to do and I've got a little one to look after. Don't expect we'll cross paths again. And if we did," he smirked, looking over to the man with a fake smile. "Won't be an issue, yeah?"
"No problem at all," the Marine managed with his own fake smile.
Theodore watched the scene with an intrigued expression wondering if they would be able to complete the roles that they were insistent that they wanted to play instead of just owning the truth. He was not going to force them to own it but he would leave them both with a warning.
“It better not be an issue or you both will end up in the Brig.” Theodore did not offer his own fake smile or sentiments to the mix but he indicated to the Marine that he could leave this interview. It was showing that he could not ever remember a Marine moving so quickly away from him before that by the time he glanced back at Ptolemy the man was gone. “You need to hold it a moment Mr Cumberland I still need to talk to the Major about all of this.”
Ptolemy was two steps away, eager to put some distance between them but at that comment he drew to a stop and heaved a profound sigh, "I really wouldn't do that, Lieutenant," he warned him quietly, not a note of threat but a note of worry in his voice.
Theodore looked at the man about to ask if the man was threatening him when he recognised the tone better. The colonist looked him up and down looking for a sign as to why he should not go and talk to the Major but found nothing. "And why would I not do that?"
"Well, let's just say that he'd have more than a broken jaw if the missus knew exactly why we were fighting," he explained cryptically. Truth was, the Marine had been lucky there'd be someone watching and even luckier that it hadn't been Minka that caught him. The former, because he had in mind to beat him to a bloody pulp (at least he had until he'd sent him to the deck with a single punch) and the latter because he was fairly certain Minka would have been in the brig after she'd finished with him. She didn't take kindly to his sort.
"You got to be kidding me?" Theodore said with a roll of his eyes. Why did people have to be so cryptic with things, it could have possibly gone a lot different if he had, had that part of the story. He did not take kindly to that type of person either and knew he would be watching out for him now as well.
"So we can agree to keep this between us lads? No need tell to the bear, yeah?" Ptolemy asked with a hopeful smile. He'd be happy to take the heat from Minka for getting into a scuffle if it meant not telling her the details and watching her go thermonuclear.
"If the Marine makes a scene or says something you now know who I am and I would like to be called. It is not acceptable." Theodore did not normally see things grey but shrugged. He had been married and he knew the type of man the Marine was. "Your wife, your problem," Theodore said simply stowing his PADD away.
"Cheers, mate," Ptolemy nodded before thumbing back over his shoulder as if to say he was going to get on his way. "I'll leave you to it," he added with a sly wink then turned and headed back to his wife. It'd been long enough that he was on his own with Ada. It was time to get back to life the way I was meant to be.
