At The Game

Posted on Thu Apr 10th, 2014 @ 5:58pm by Lieutenant Commander Ciaran McIntyre & Lieutenant Commander Horatio Hawke

Episode: Orphans
Location: Holodeck

[ON]

The crowd erupted into a cacophony of triumphant cheers as ninety thousand fans leaped to their feet; Guadalajara had just scored another goal and the home crowd in the massive Estadio Chivas was appropriately excited. Maybe more than appropriately in the eyes of the two disheartened figures right in their midst wearing the colours of the soon-to-be-defeated Real Madrid.

Horatio turned to his glum-looking companion and shrugged hopefully, “There’s still ten minutes,” he said, not really believing what he was saying, “they may still pull this off …”

"If they turn it round now, I'm buying everyone in this damned stadium a beer." McIntyre gestured to the middle of the park. "If they'd hauled him off twenty minutes ago and brought Mountford on they might, might have had a shot."

"Ah, you're probably right," Horatio agreed as he deftly dodged a wayward elbow from the excitable fan next to him that might have knocked his beer to the floor. He looked at the man and thought about deleting his projection, just to give him some room, but decided against it. The holographic replay was supposed to bring the real feel of the game to life - inconsiderate Chivas fans and all.

As play got underway again and the crowd settled down, Horatio decided to try and distract Mac from the drubbing his team was receiving. "What do you make of our new captain?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the ball as Real's fullback pushed a pass through to one of the midfielders.

"Oh come on!" McIntyre bawled as the midfielder dawdled on the ball and saw a strong challenge cede possession to Chivas. "I like him. My kind of person, you know? I've never really had a captain who seemed to be on my wavelength like that."

He took a long swig from his glass, watching on as Real Madrid's inability to pick a pass was exposed time and again. "What do you make of him?"

"I wasn't sure what to make of him at first," Horatio said, finishing off his drink. He'd found Williams's preference for informality over military discipline hard to take at first. But to Horatio's own surprise, he had started to appreciate the captain's way of doing things. "Informal, for a starship captain. But he's growing on me."

"Informality tends to. You'd better watch or you'll be as flippant as me in no time." Mac laughed at the mere suggestion. "I'm sure he'll be as formidable as the best of 'em when the chips are down."

Horatio laughed as he lifted two fresh beers that had appeared next to his feet, demonstrating one way in which watching a game in a holodeck was superior to the real thing. "If I'm ever as flippant as you, my friend," he said as he handed one drink to Mac, "something will have gone seriously wrong." He held up his drink and smiled, "To Captain Williams," he said. "May he be as formidable as the rest of 'em when the chips are down."

"To Captain Williams." Mac echoed.

"And how are you finding our new ship?" Horatio asked after a moment. The game seemed to have entered a slow period where the Chivas players were just winding the clock until full time.

"I like it." He stated flatly. "The regime fits me nicely and the department seem up to scratch. It's nice having someone like Lieutenant Fredericks around to keep on top of the I am a Security Officer- hear me roar side of the job."

"It's certainly different from the Endeavour," Horatio nodded, feeling a twinge of nostalgia for the old bird. He liked the new ship, but it still didn't feel like home yet. He shook his head and made a conscious effort to focus on a positive. "But, hey," he held up his drink again. "I'm second officer here. Which means, technically, I now outrank your drunk arse."

Mac took a moment before shooting a sideways glance at his companion. "I thought you'd always outranked my drunk arse."

Hawke stopped his drink rising half way to his mouth and looked back at Mac. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea which of them had seniority; it had just never come up. "Really?" he said and lowered his drink as the referee whistled full time. "Well, I wish you'd told me sooner!"

His friend grinned as they rose from their seats. The holographic crowd had begun to file out of the game, their disappointment palpable but not shared by either McIntyre or Hawke- they already knew the score. "Like you'd let me forget it if you knew."

"Well now we've removed all doubt," Hawke said with a sly grin. "Brace yourself, my friend."

"Oh, brilliant."

[OFF]

Lieutenant Horatio Hawke
Chief Flight Control Officer/2XO

Lieutenant Ciaran McIntyre
Chief of Security