All In Good Fun

Posted on Sun Jan 16th, 2022 @ 2:38pm by Commander William Gerhard

Mission: Mission 5 - Babel
Location: Gymnasium - Deck C
Timeline: Day 274; 1350 Hours
1139 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Maddison breathed steadily as she worked the heavy bag in the gymnasium. She always enjoyed doing so when she wanted to forget about their situation or had a particularly stressful day. Even with the passing of time, her mind still went back to that day aboard the Caelistis, abandoning the captain. It had been a first for her, something that felt like failure but one she determined not to repeat.

William entered and made his way over to one of the benches. He had been unable to sleep and he felt a good round on the heavy bag would help tire him out. But he stopped when he heard the familiar sounds of someone working it, so he turned and watched Maddison deliver several perfect strikes. He cleared his throat between strikes and saw her stop and look at him.

"And here I was thinking I was the only one who couldn't get any rest," he said as he folded his arms in front of his tank top. He tossed a towel to her so she could wipe the sweat from her forehead.

"Thank you, Sir," Maddison replied as she caught the towel. "I haven't been able to get a full night's rest for a few weeks now," she continued as she made her way over to the bench where her water bottle was located.

William nodded as she grabbed her water bottle and drank, "I know the feeling, what happened back on that ship...," he trailed off as he looked down at his feet. "And you know the rule, no rank here in the gym," he said with an upraised brow. He then reached into his bag and pulled out his wraps and began looping them around his wrists.

Swallowing her sip of water, she placed the bottle back onto the bench. "Sure. What's on your mind?" she asked, approaching the man.

"You still upset about the whole ensigngate," he asked with a slight grin. His momentary lapse during the rescue mission had made its way through the armory team. It was being referred to as "Ensigngate" and was quickly becoming an inside joke with his department.

"Upset? No, I expect that lack of judgement at times from you Academy Zeroes," she replied with a grin, using the term for officers who went through the Academy for their commissions.

William grinned back at her, "Well, that opinion might change. I wasn't always an Academy Zero, Back in the day I was a Chief on the Bradbury." Not many of his shipmates knew that he was prior enlisted, which made his slip up even more comedic. He finished wrapping his wrists and looked at her, "I was going to work the bag, but perhaps you'd like to get the chance to get a few hits on your CO." His challenge held no malice, and he enjoyed sparing with members of his team. It kept their skills proficient and boosted morale.

Maddison smiled and shrugged. She was impressed to learn that Gerhard had been prior enlisted. "Sure, I'm game." She moved to don some gloves nearby that were laying on a nearby shelf.

He made his way over to the mat and waited for her to join him. He grinned slightly as he brought his hands up at the ready. He knew that she was a skilled fighter, but William was just as competent. "Loser has to recalibrate the targeting sensors," he asked with a slight grin.

"Ha," she replied, returning the grin as she stepped over onto the mat opposite of him. "Better go now and get a head start then," she challenged as she brought her hands up into a neutral fighting stance. She then began to circle him, watching his posture.

William smiled slightly as he circled her to the right. He threw a few jabs at her torso and connected while he brought his hands back up to protect his face from the roundhouse punch she sent his way. Having thrown the opening punches, he waited for her to respond in kind as he kept his eyes on hers for any tells.

Maddison grinned. as she nodded at Gerhard's defense so far. She then launched herself into the offensive, spinning on the balls of her feet, launching herself in a double roundhouse kick.

Her kicks caught William slightly off guard as he put his hands up to protect himself. Her offensive was aggressive, and he found himself giving ground. He spotted an opening and threw a haymaker which carried a little more force than he would've liked. As his fist connected, he felt the bones in her nose fracture as he pulled away. He immediately saw bright red and knew that he had just broken her nose. "Shit," he said as he breathed heavily. He saw her clutch at her nose and turn away from him. He went over to her to see how bad the injury was, "How bad is it?"

Maddison blinked several more times, shaking the fogginess from her head, but grinned. "Not bad, I've had worse," she commented, recalling the several injuries she had sustained while playing Rugby growing up.

He looked at her and grinned. He could tell by her reaction that she was not offended he had caused an injury. He began pulling his gloves off, "Well, how about we put the match on hold and let the good doctor check you out. I can't have one of my best people with a disfigured nose." He motioned with his shoulder, "Come on, I'll walk you to sickbay."

"Such the gentleman, Sir," she joked, holding her nose as she stood. "Of course, one could wonder if that was on purpose," she teased as she began to make her way out of the gymnasium.

William walked with her out of the gymnasium and headed towards the nearest turbolift. He looked at her with an upraised eyebrow, "Of course not. If anything, one would expect I would have the broken nose due to the whole 'Ensigngate' mix up." He pressed the lift call button and waited for the hatch to open before they stepped in and he pressed the appropriate deck button.

Maddison chuckled as she tried her best not to get blood on the deck of the turbolift. "Nonsense. I told you that I expect that level of aloofness from you commissioned officer types, Sir," she joked.

William laughed slightly as the turbolift halted and slid open. It was a straight shot towards sickbay, and he caught a glimpse of Dr. Avira seated in front of one of her microscopes. "I wonder if the good doctor will let me reset the bone in your nose then," he said slyly as they made their way to the double doors.

"Not a chance, Sir," she replied as they closed in on sickbay.

 

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