Reverie 》Bob Floyd

Chapter 11

Training was finally finished. Tomorrow, they would leave for the mission. 

But tonight, tonight was a night to celebrate. To enjoy. To have fun before the possibility of someone not coming home hit too hard. 

And there was only one place to go. The Hard Deck. 

Penny's bar was packed that night. Between regular customers, out-of-towners and Navy personnel, there was little room to move. 

But our group of aviators and others were gathered around the pool tables in the back. A game was going on, bets placed on the winning team. 

Most of the team, however, were messing with Hangman. The man had been sulking slightly ever since Reyna and Mari went back home. He knew they couldn't stay. Rey had work and Mari had school. Lord knows both had missed enough days. 

"Turn that frown, upside down Bagman. You're no fun when you sulk," Phoenix goaded him. She wasn't lying. It was strange to see him without a smirk or smile. She may not like him, but she had fun messing with him.

Hangman, being the mature man he was, simply stuck his tongue out at the woman. Rooster clapped his hands, as sarcastically as one can. 

Carter and Malina laughed along with the others as Bob came back with some drinks. Taking one, Phoenix quickly took Mal away from Bob. "We need to stick together tonight. Too much testosterone in the building." 

Cue all the men rolling their eyes at the jab. Mal simply looped her arm through Natasha's and took a sip of her drink. 

Focusing back on the pool game happening, the women watched as Payback made a shot they didn't think possible. 

"Damn, Payback. You've got a secret talent we didn't know about. You've been holding out on us," Mal tells the man. She would have made different bets if she knew he had this skill up his sleeve. 

Payback laughs. "Just because you haven't been paying attention, doesn't mean I've been keeping it a secret." 

Fanboy lets out an "oohhh," before taking his own shot. (He misses, by the way.) 

Coyote inserts himself into the conversation. "You make a good point, Phee," he starts. "We need to know secret talents. Out with it, everybody. Time to reveal your secrets." He waves his hands and wiggles his fingers as he finishes that sentence. 

Rooster takes the cop-out method. "You all know I play the piano already. That's about my only secret talent, sorry." He shrugs off the boos from the others. 

Phoenix goes next. "I'm a mean bartender. Penny taught me the basics the first time I was here and I really got into it." 

She was then surrounded by requests for drinks and told she would be mixing everyone drinks when they returned. 

Fanboy lived up to his name with his. "I'm a fairly decent artist. Part of why I got my callsign. I draw characters, mostly comic related." That didn't truly surprise anyone but they all insisted on seeing some of his work. (He was better than decent, he just wouldn't admit it.) 

Coyote's was truly a hidden talent because literally only one person knew about it. "I'm pretty good at lasso." When he was asked for more information, he elaborated. "I went with Jake on leave one time. We went to his family's ranch and they taught me the basics. I picked it up fast." 

Since Jake was laughing at Coyote, he was put on the spot for his secret talent. "I'm pretty good at surfing. Mari was really interested in it a few years ago. I was on leave for a good chunk of time during that period so I went with her to lessons while Rey was working. Started doing it myself to help her out. I'll say, it's pretty relaxing."