Sulking and Building

Posted on Sun Jan 1st, 2023 @ 8:58am by Warrant Officer Iryna Voznyuk & Staff Sergeant Nathanial "Nate" Cusack

Mission: Sojurn
Location: Marine Barracks
Timeline: Day 245 23:00
3391 words - 6.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Iryna had been stewing for hours in the MACO common area in the dark. The command area was just sofas and tables between the barracks and the training area but it offered them a place to commune. She had a mug of the moonshine that the MACOs had been brewing on the side with McManus’ help. She was still working out how to tell her people the changes in the department and how MACOs would now be under Armoury and the Executive Officer. It was not going to be much a change but it would be a bit of an adjustment for them as they had been isolated first under King and then his replacement. It had not brought them closer to the fleeters but that was all about to change. She took another sip of the moonshine and frowned as the light was turned on.

"Now, here's a rare sight."

Leaning against the door frame, his uniform jacket unzipped, Nate Cusack folded his arms across his chest and grinned. "Aren't their rules about drinking alone in the dark? If not, there should be." After a pause, he added glibly, "There needs to be at least one other person to fill you in on all your terrible choices, or at least encourage them. Or hold your hair out of your face." Astute eyes, a little too sure of themselves but basically well-meaning, studied Voznyuk for a moment. "That bad?"

The woman rolled her eyes just slightly at the man and frowned taking another sip. "No rules about it and to be fair drinking alone is better. This last couple of weeks has been draining." She reminded him before giving him a dark look. "It could be better." She said her accent was heavy from the booze. She leant over pulling another mug towards her and held it out to him. "If you are going to stay there I should offer you a drink."

With his lips pulled into a faint half-smirk, Nate pushed off the wall and reached for the mug. "And I'd be impolite to refuse. Probably court martialled for the impertinence."

Which was, as it happened, a completely ironic statement given that it was spoken with just the right amount of irreverence to classify as the breach in protocol he was referencing. And, though it was light-hearted and probably aimed at trying to lighten the mood, it was also just plain cocky given the amount of times Voznyuk had been forced to pull him into line. Nate had a goal though and enough stubbornness to see it through to the end, or his end, whichever came first.

He was going to make her laugh even if it killed him.

"Quite possible Staff Sergeant. But you are not impertinent boarding on insufferable, for your information." The woman commented pouring a large amount into the mug as he took it in and sat down next to her. She poured more into her own and just say back. Her uniform was still all intact minus her belt which was stored in her locker far away in her quarters.

Wisely having opted for his own seat, adjacent though it was to his brooding superior, Nate sprawled as was his wont and then pondered the silence, and the darkness, with increasing curiosity. A partial rise to his feet, bent over, allowed him to drag the chair around on more of an angle to face the surly Russian and he balanced his mug-arm on the knee of the leg he tucked beneath him as he studied her.

"So, drinking alone in the dark and not busting my balls over something. We about to bury someone again?" It wasn't a quip, it wasn't a jest or joke at anyone's expense for all the phrasing was meant to take a little heat out of it. There had just been too much thinning of their numbers recently, it was starting to seem like a regular thing.

"No, not unless someone finally does you in," Iryna assured not at all wincing that his head had gone to that instead of anywhere else. It was not at all her usual approach to dealing with something but she had no choice but to keep it in until she had the chance to tell everyone tomorrow. "But it has to wait until tomorrow when we have a joint meeting. I put it up on the notice board earlier," She indicated to somewhere behind her where there was notification of the joint armoury and MACO meeting.

Cusack made a show of craning his neck towards the noticeboard he almost certainly rarely checked. In the process, he frowned, not a fan of cloak and daggers and less inclined than usual to have a lot of patience with secrets after the recent depletion of their numbers. One clear shot at the asshole's head was all it would have taken; any concerns about discharging his rifle in an enclosed space should have been mitigated by the fact that he didn't miss. No holes in the side of the ship, just holes in parasitic lifeforms that killed his friends.

"So what's the plan until then?" He turned back around to face the woman. "Are we drinking until we forget or drinking until dancing on tables seems like a great idea? Help me out here."

"Well, my plan had been to drink until I pass out and someone finds me and takes me to bed. Dancing on the table is only fun if everyone is doing that." She reminded him seeing the frustration on his face. Her plan had been to drink until she got brave and went in search of one of the engineers that wanted some fun and no strings attached. "You do not need to stay here long, Nathanial." She told him gently. She did not want her mood to darken anyone else's night when everyone seemed to be settling into the new, new, new routine.

"When have you ever known me not to outstay my welcome?"

It was an easygoing jest at his own expense. Whatever was going on with Iryna, it wasn't currently in danger of transferring to Cusack, who made an artform out of casual flippancy until the chips stacked up and provoked his temper. She'd been distant of late anyway, which only heightened the appeal of taking the rare opportunity for conversation. She was feisty at times. He enjoyed it, mostly.

"Besides, sounds like someone needs to get you to bed in one piece."

His eyes twinkled.

The woman turned and looked at him and shook her head at his behaviour, how he had ever gotten on Atlantis under King she would never know. He was playing a game he had no hope of ever winning with her. “You think that should be you hmm?” She asked.

And other times, that feistiness was more claw marks than he could deal with. It was, Nate had learned, ridiculously easy to get a rise out of some people. He had long ago given up any pretense of offense that people were so willing to believe the worst of him, despite the fact that his actions very rarely constituted what people assumed his comments actually meant. Did he speak when he shouldn't? Frequently. Was he keen to go several rounds with a snarling lynx with a superiority complex who took too much delight in reminding him he wasn't good enough for her?

He shook his mug and drained half its contents in one gulp.

"I can always just call cleaning crew to tidy up your mess if you prefer."

“Nathanial…” Iryna said lowly in a tone that said she knew that had struck a cord. They bantered back and forth easy enough to know how to strike each other and strike hard. “You could indeed.” She finally decided to say to him as just sat there empty mug in hands.

Nathanial. Always the insistence on using the name is mother called him. Sweeping his cup in her direction, Cusack dipped his head and added, "Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and someone worth your time will pick up on your whole passing out plan."

He drained the rest of his drink and leaned forward to set the mug on the table between them. He'd been down this road too many times before. She was in a mood, but it wasn't something she was going to talk about. And, rather than accept any sort of offer to distract or divert her tension, innocent or not, she'd spend the rest of evening taking pot shots at his integrity. They were good together on the field, had pulled each other through too much to be completely devoid of respect. Hell, he liked her spirit, liked the fact that she held her own in a room full of testosterone. But she turned others into punching bags when she was like this and life had been just shit enough lately for him not to trust his own right-hook.

He started to rise.

"Anyone in particular I can go get for you?"

“Nate…” she finally said his chosen name. She hated the nickname, it felt wrong even as she said it she leant out to touch his arm keeping him there unable to leave without wrenching himself free. “This happens every time we get close to something but what is wrong, this is not like you.” She was not the type to cling to someone but she could not help but feel how much tension he had himself.

His frown of incredulity, entirely genuine, cut through the flash of annoyance to allow Nate to raise his eyebrows at her. "The only thing we're getting close to is another round of 'Cusack needs scraping off my boot'."

With an effort, he drew in a breath and exhaled his frustration, which admittedly wasn't wholly directed at her, though he was miffed at how quickly she could thrust a fist into his best attempts at optimism. "According to you, there's nothing to talk about until tomorrow. And me sitting around to make sure you make it to quarters in one piece is apparently counter to your actual plans, unless I missed something in the subtext of repulsion." It wasn't that his ego minded the constant rejection, it was more that he'd actually been trying this time to make sure she was okay. Nate regarded her for a moment, studying her features whilst simultaneously giving up on any attempt to actually figure out what she was thinking.

"You're not the only one stuck in this pit, you know." His tone, at least, had softened with resignation. "You keep biting every hand that tries to help you up, you're going to wind up stuck on the floor permanently."

She could not breathe a word of what was happening and it was why she had set abut drinking by herself in the dark until he had stumbled on her. It was a mess and not something to wanted to explain right then and there when they were both stressed. “Not according to Lieutenant Darru and his genetics tests but I do understand what you are saying and feeling.” She finally decided was the safest way to say anything. Half jest, half truth. “You do not repulse me.” She finally added.

For all his faults, Cusack didn't fish for compliments. Voznyuk's opinion of him on a personal front wasn't really the issue, though his usual attitude of not wasting time on lost causes currently suffered the minor setback of there not being a whole lot of alternatives to redirect his attention towards. Their numbers kept depleting, however, and the marine sure as hell didn't want to spend the rest of his days unable to look sideways at his squad mates without risk of having his eyes gouged out. His eyes dropped to where her hand still rested on his arm and he consented, with a degree of weariness, to reclaiming his seat with just a shake of his head.

"What do you want then? Do you want to be left alone? Do you want to talk about something else? Do you want to drink yourself into whatever stupor you had planned and I'll bet a week's bacon you can't drink me under the table?" He spread his hands. "Your call, boss."

“I know for a fact I can drink you under the table but please stay I will try and be less biting.” The woman said simply. “This is engineering brew.” She added pouring him another mug of it before filling hers up more. It was slightly sweeter than the previous brew that the joint efforts between engineering and some of her more younger colleagues were creating but it was not too bad. Did not leave you will th a nasty afterburn.

Curiosity was the perfect foil for his frustration. Though he still regarded with knitted brow, Nate sat up a little straighter and opted for thoughtful consideration before he spoke again. Something was definitely up and if Vozyuk was back-pedaling on the snark to make promises he was pretty sure she would struggle to keep, it was a very big something. Probably something he wasn't going to like.

As he took a sip of the more palatable drink, Nate realised for the first time that there was something possibly quite lonely about the woman's apparent need to get drunk alone whilst brooding, an indication that she didn't really have anyone to seek out in a tight spot. As had been pointed out to him numerous times, seeing things from other people's perspectives wasn't always Nate's strong point but he wasn't disinterested so much as just inept. It was an awkward consideration because it was much easier to see Voznyuk as an antagonist. In many ways, the constant bickering was not even that objectionable, it certainly kept things interesting whilst their entire purpose for being on board dwindled away to little more than collateral damage. He watched her, not very sure that he was the right person to bolster her spirits, but found himself making a begrudging effort to at least try.

"So is there a topic we are allowed to talk about?"

"Tell me about your home." She requested quietly. It was a subject some did not want to talk about but she was sure from hos openness he would be more than willing to at least speak about it. She had never been able to place his accent in a group so maybe there and then alone for once maybe she could get to know him more than the person she had to constantly smack down for silly stuff.

Cusack's eyebrows shot upwards. In the entire time he'd known her, he'd never once known the Warrant Officer to show an interest in people's personal lives. Certainly she'd never given any indication she gave a damn about his. "Dad's a Californian boy, grew up just outside San Francisco. Met Mom whilst traveling and settled down back near her family in Sydney. Australia," he added. "Ever been?"

The woman ignored his eyebrows they spoke of surprise and shook her head. “Too hot. I did basic in Japan and then worked my way around ships and bases for last couple of years.” She said thinking of all the places she had been but Australia was not one.

"Nothing wrong with a little heat." He kept his eyes trained on her face as he took a sip and then, because apparently they were doing this, lowered the mug to ask. "What about baby Voznyuk? Where did she call home?"

“Not in the slightest but I would melt.” She assured quickly. It was a complete 360 from where she had lived as a child. “Khabarovsk. Russia’s coldest city.” She shrugged a bit. “Winters were cold and dry, but summer was still warm and humid.”

It was on the tip of Nate's tongue to make an observation about the likelihood of anything melting her but, in a rare moment of introspection, he decided provoking her probably wasn't going to be as rewarding as usual. Swirling the contents of his mug in slow circles, he settled for screwing his nose up in silent protest. "Can't say the cold appeals too much. Not to live in anyway, snowboarding's another thing entirely. Still," he mused, downing a swig, "a mound of snow would be a change of scenery at least."

“Something different would be nice.” She finally conceded. She was under no illusions that something as simple as a change of scenery would add a lot more of boost to the Marines than what she could could create or the news tomorrow was going to bring.

As it turned out, holding a civil conversation with the woman was a lot more challenging than simply riding the usual waves of friction. Nate mulled over his moonshine a while, not enjoying it so much as just biding his time for its effects to kick in. Not for the first time, he wished for his vinyl collection, though any kind of music would have at least cut through the awkwardness. Leaning his head to the side to prop up on the span of three fingertips, he watched his drinking partner instead before asking, "First thing you're going to do when we get back." Nate was well aware of the odds and not at all prone to lapses of fantasy but she looked like she could do with an injection of hope.

The woman sighed and jumped fully into the fantasy that he wanted to live in for a few moments. "I have an aunt who runs a restaurant and she makes the best Pierozhki which is basically a filled pastry. She makes them with sweet and savory fillings and I have practically been dreaming about them at points. I just wanted to be able to go there and sit and people watch and not have every single person know me or feel like they need to say something to me. I miss people watching. What about you?" She offered back to let him live in the fantasy with her.

"Straight up the coast with the surfboard," came Nate's immediate response. It stood to reason, especially if anyone paid attention to the sheer amount of time the man spent working out, that his recreational preferences veered towards physical pursuits. "That or take the bike inland. Nothing like central Australia if you want to go days without seeing another person." This was perhaps more of a surprise unless someone keenly observant had noticed the way he sometimes snuck off into his own corner. It was usually whilst he was servicing his equipment, a way of looking occupied whilst not making it obvious that he was brooding. Life on a starship was always going to be a challenge; he'd not signed up for it to be indefinite.

“There is such a thing of too much people.” The woman nodded that she would not at all complain about the lack of people. She was fed up of people if she was honest deep down. “I would love to just have a night without hearing everyone around me.”

A slow, surprisingly self-reflective grin actually softened Nate's expression for once. "Not much chance of that around here," he pointed out, indicating with his mug that their current situation was proof enough. "At least, not without a decent amount of pre-planning."

And, whilst he didn't feel exactly bad about interrupting her night and inserting himself into it, Nathan at least appreciated the fact that Voznyuk hadn't shied away from speaking her mind despite the obvious relevance. That was the tenacity in her personality that he did admire, the paw-batting without the claws out. "Could always take our brew for a walk, see what we can find. I might even promise to leave you there if you're still standing by the time we figure something suitable out."

Iryna looked him over and shrugged. “Lead the way.” She said. It was not in an ordering tone but a simple request. She rose with the glass in one hand and bottle in another stepping back to to allow him to ride as well