|
Post by Arthur on Jun 5, 2012 17:29:33 GMT -5
[Thread Info: This is open to all AFN members! Setting is the coffee/break room where everyone goes to get their precious, precious coffee or red bull or doughnuts or whatever. Mingling is not mandatory, but is encouraged for healthy relations between all AFN members. So go go go!]
It was a sad day when Arthur substituted tea with coffee.
It was just in general a sad day. He woke up early that morning (or what passes for morning in the deep darkness of space, but Arthur was still running on Earth time) with a feeling of dread he could not explain, and debated the benefits of getting out of bed. A good major would never shirk duty though, so he clawed himself out of bed, got ready, and went to the staff room to get a very stiff drink.
Rum and coffee. Yes. No one would spot him dashing the coffee with rum. Staff room was positively deserted.
Arthur was a bit ahead of time that 'morning' though, so he settled for sitting on one of the armchairs in the staff room whose sole purpose was to be as uncomfortable as possible, and sipped his rum and coffee as he flipped open his work folder. Paperwork he took to his bedroom that was never finished. Oh my, the work of a parliamentary major was never done. Arthur had the growing urge to 'accidentally' spill his coffee on it and give himself precious moments of peace.
He could, possibly, get away with it...
|
|
Ivan
New Member
Major - Division V
Posts: 32
|
Post by Ivan on Jun 5, 2012 18:07:10 GMT -5
Ivan paused in the doorway. The break room was empty except for one person, Major Arthur Kirkland of the Parliamentary Division who was drinking coffee as he examined a file of paperwork. Fortunately someone who would not try to bother him so early in the morning, unlike Jones, who seemed to exude joviality at any hour of the day. He walked into the room and went to pour a cup of coffee, ignoring Kirkland until he returned to his paperwork. He turned slightly so that the wall was at his back and so he could still see Kirkland out of the corner of his eye. The Major sipped his coffee again. Ivan raised his own cup to his mouth and sniffed it discretely. Then he sipped. The coffee was mediocre, but seemed to be poison free. Ivan touched at the pocket of his uniform where there was a flask of vodka. Perhaps when he returned to his office, if Kirkland saw him...
|
|
|
Post by Arthur on Jun 5, 2012 18:15:05 GMT -5
Arthur glanced up when he heard the door to the staff room open, and hurriedly looked down again. Major Braginsky. Arthur spoke to the man quite regularly - for business reasons, of course. Parliamentary and Intelligence divisions were very important for each other, since diplomacy and economical works were difficult without the ever so important treasure called Information.
He sipped his rum and coffee, spotting Major Braginsky doing the same after a suspicious sniff. Arthur abandoned his attempt to read his paperwork in favour of Braginsky watching, feeling strangely uneasy. The silence was so awkward. Arthur could ride any silence, awkward or not (it was a necessary skill for those of the Parliamentary Division) but he was very tired, and well on his way to being a bit drunk.
He was, and forever will be, a lightweight.
Arthur caught the Russian's movement, and mentally smirked. "You can add it to your coffee," he spoke aloud, his eyes still trained on the word 'the' on his paperwork. "I'm too busy reading this paperwork to notice."
|
|
|
Post by Alfred on Jun 5, 2012 18:26:00 GMT -5
Alfred F. Jones was many things. A man of many talents, one might say. He was smarter than the average bear (though he didn't often show it). He was talented with a map and battle plan (He didn't get his spot in the AFN for nothin'). He was a great shot with any weapon thrown his way (He had marksmanship ribbons to prove it.) And he also had a knack for tic tac toe. However, what Alfred F. Jones was not, was a morning person.
Years upon years of military discipline had done little to really rectify this. If anything, all it did was instill a habit of setting his alarm clock at least an hour and a half earlier every work morning so that he could trick his brain into thinking he was waking up later than he really was, and a relatively unhealthy addiction to caffeine. It usually took him at least 5 cups of coffee before leaving the house to allow him the cognitive ability to function on a normal level.
This morning, Alfred had only managed to have four cups of coffee. This was perhaps because he had taken a longer shower than usual (The hot water was just so nice, and he lost track of time, and - HOLY SHIT HE WAS RUNNING LATE). Not to mention the unpredicted hyperjump traffic jam around the warp circle of Beta9 that cause him to run even MORE behind schedule. That was a headache. (Served him right for living so far off from the AFN station, he supposed...) After a lot of cursing and groaning, Alfred had finally arrived... and with enough time to slip into the westward staff room on the upper level for a fifth cup of coffee.
To be frank, he almost didn't notice Arthur or Ivan. It wasn't until after he'd made a beeline for the coffee maker that he even registered that anyone else was in the room. And just who they were didn't register until after he had managed to down a good half of the cup.
"....Oh. ...MORNIN'!"
|
|
Ivan
New Member
Major - Division V
Posts: 32
|
Post by Ivan on Jun 5, 2012 18:27:19 GMT -5
Ivan's eyes snapped to Kirkland's face but the other man seemed engrossed a spot on his paperwork. He hesitated a moment, he didn't want to appear weak and it was still early, he knew he should wait. But the flask seemed to weigh in his pocket, gathering invisible kilos by the second.
Kirkland still had not looked up from his paper work. Ivan smiled slightly and removed the flask, he poured a little into his cup. Then he raised the flask again. "Would you like some?" he said.
|
|
Ivan
New Member
Major - Division V
Posts: 32
|
Post by Ivan on Jun 5, 2012 18:30:30 GMT -5
Before Kirkland could reply Jones trundled into the room, his head down. He pour himself a cup of coffee and took a long drink. When he lowered the up he looked up a Ivan, blinking. "Or you?" Ivan said
|
|
|
Post by Arthur on Jun 5, 2012 18:36:52 GMT -5
Well the staff room was filling quickly. Arthur stared mournfully at his paperwork then up at the ceiling as if beseeching a cruel God for mercy. The vodka sounded tempting, but he already had some rum working it's magic, so he rejected Major Braginsky's offer with a small shake of his head.
He closed his folder. Nothing will be done at this point. "Good morning, everyone," he said in a rather resigned tone of voice. "Wonderful weather we're having." Wonderful indeed. Sub-zero blackness of space with star radiation for that little extra bit of excitement.
|
|
Ivan
New Member
Major - Division V
Posts: 32
|
Post by Ivan on Jun 5, 2012 18:58:07 GMT -5
He nodded and glanced back at Jones who still had the look of a sleepwalker. With an imperceptible shrug Ivan closed the flask and put it back in his pocket. He sipped his coffee. The staff room was beginning to fill up, he turned to step around Jones and wend his way to the exit.
|
|
Yao
New Member
Major- Division of Exploration and Discovery
Posts: 4
|
Post by Yao on Jun 5, 2012 19:13:38 GMT -5
Yao leaned back in his chair, stretching his stiff muscles and cracking a few joints in the process. He'd just pulled, yet another, all nighter and was in desperate need of caffeine. Normally, he wouldn't be one for coffee, but beggers can't be choosers. He could only hope no one was in this early, catching him in his disheveled state; Yao's uniform was a tad wrinkled and some ebony locks had worked their way loose from his pony tail.
He made his way, slowly, to the staff room, not really paying close attention to his surroundings. Yao let out a large yawn as he rounded the entrance to the staff room. However, when he refocused his eyes, he was shocked (and somewhat embaressed) to find several of his colleagues already there.
|
|
Matthew
New Member
AFN Civilian Worker- Science and Medicine head
Posts: 34
|
Post by Matthew on Jun 5, 2012 19:46:33 GMT -5
Matthew walked past the corridor, paused for a moment to gawk at the odd number of people in the room for the time period the ship ran on. With a shrug he continued his march past the break room and to his lab. In his hands were a vial and a plant, behind him was his large Alien Polar Bear-Bug from the arctic lands of Newd, the planet that scientists went to study on while in school. The large creature had a haul behind it which it was dragging rather quietly after his master. The off green-white-purple beast made a noise of disgust as coffee flooded the poor thing's nose.
"Kuma, hush, the vial's turning green from your breath."
|
|
|
Post by Alfred on Jun 5, 2012 20:55:11 GMT -5
Alfred was usually pretty quick on the response when someone directed a statement at him, question or otherwise. However, as was starting to be a common occurrence this morning, he wasn't quite fast enough. And Ivan's offer of vodka was almost forgotten as Lili, and Yao rounded the corner. And well dang, there was his brother walking by. It seemed as though he wasn't the only one with the idea of a quick coffee run in this particular break room. Neither was Arthur, or Ivan. Awkwaaaard. (Just how close to other offices was this break room anyway? Clearly, it was a junction, or the happening coffee stand. In his opinion, the coffee was rather craptastic, but it was better than the tinted, foul tasting water the US military tried to pass off to their grunts as coffee. He supposed his taste had been dulled somewhat to find this stuff tolerable.)
Idly, Alfred adjusted his uniform, before shoving a hand into one of the front pockets of his pants. He leaned against the counter, and crossed his legs at the ankles. That ever present smile had slowly turned into a sort of smirk. "So, was there some sort of Inter department meetin' about goin' on in here? Guess I just musta missed the memo." He chuckled, before taking another swig of his coffee. It left barely another sip to idle at the bottom of the cup.
|
|
Ivan
New Member
Major - Division V
Posts: 32
|
Post by Ivan on Jun 6, 2012 1:32:40 GMT -5
Catching the sardonic edge in his voice, Ivan looked up from his watch to flick a glance at Alfred as he passed him, allowing a small smirk sliding onto his own face. If he didn't have an appointment in the Medical Wing he might have stayed to bate the Lieutenant Colonel. He rather enjoyed talking to Alfred, he was so easy to work up. Alfred met his eye.
|
|
|
Post by Arthur on Jun 6, 2012 7:42:03 GMT -5
Arthur eyed the door to the staff room as if judging the distance for a good, panicky sprint - or a graceful tactical retreat. Normally this staff room was practically dead, and Arthur claimed it as his own to sit and go through his paperwork before having to go to his office - maybe this was why he woke up with a sensation of dread. Maybe his future self had telepathically sent messages to him as he awoke to warn him of this horrible future.
He drained his rum and coffee, and took out his packet of loose tobacco from his pocket, starting to roll up a cigarette. Smoking was prohibited in the staff room, but fuck that noise, Arthur needed a good smoke.
"Not a meeting, sadly - just the cosmos conspiring against my morning," Arthur replied. He finished rolling his cigarette and quickly lit it up. He gave Alfred a deeply suspicious look. "What are you doing here, Alfred? Aren't you supposed to still be comatose in your bed?"
|
|
Yao
New Member
Major- Division of Exploration and Discovery
Posts: 4
|
Post by Yao on Jun 6, 2012 18:10:59 GMT -5
Yao let out a sigh as his presence in the staff room went, for the most part, unnoticed. Jones did make a crack at the growing occupancy, inquiring if this was due to an un-announced meeting or whatever, but Yao disregarded it, opting instead, to quickly get his caffeine and make his escape back to his office. There, he could make himself a bit more presentable before meeting with a new recruit to his division later that morning.
After filling a disposable mug with the stimulent and flavoring it with a fair amount of creamer and sugar, Yao made his way out of the slightly crowded room and back to his office.
|
|
Cody
AFN
Saving the galaxy one wombat at a time!
Posts: 2
|
Post by Cody on Jun 6, 2012 22:31:28 GMT -5
Coffee? Of course not. The mere thought of the stuff made Cody want to gag. He much preferred his tea. Tea had more of a feel of 'cleanliness', as it were. It didn't leave such an overwhelming aftertaste, either. Actually, considering the other things that the explorer liked, he didn't fully understand why coffee conflicted with his taste buds so. It had just always been that way, so Cody had just easily accepted it.
Nonetheless, the man found himself heading towards a break room anyway. Break rooms (most of the time) had kettles, which would be useful to make himself a nice cup of tea. Not only that, but break rooms also (if you got there early enough) had free food. Now -that- sort of 'charity' was always welcome, in Cody's opinion.
He briefly covered his mouth and nose when the first whiffs of that brown sludge made their presence known to him. Maybe this was what had distracted the discoverer enough to not look before marching right into the break room. Or maybe it was just due to being slightly over-worked. Either way, Cody had not been exactly looking where he was going and bumped right into his boss; who had just-so-happened to be trying to leave the break room at that very moment.
The explorer jumped back immediately, a slight look of worry displayed across his features, "Gah! Sorry, mate! I didn't see you there." He added a nervous chuckle to this before briefly looking over the other man's shoulder to peek inside the room. It was like the entire AFN was in there! This surprised Cody, but also humoured him, making that grin of his appear almost instantly. The word 'almost' being used here because of the mild fear of 'no more free food' arising, but then quickly washing away once he saw that some was left. He then looked back to Yao, motioning to the room behind him.
"Yao! There a party going on in there, or what?"
|
|