Third Person - Complete

Kiss Kiss

Roberts stepped back from the video game console, glaring with irritation at the game over screen. He'd gone to dinner, seen Lewis sitting with two other women eating and talking. He had to admit, he'd found Lewis sexy as hell all through training and had hoped to get him a piece of that ass. Every advance he'd made she'd just blown off like he hadn't even tried. He would have sat with her, but the two women were massive and didn't look like they'd appreciate Roberts sitting with them.

Roberts shook his head, staring at his tray with the empty plate on it. He should have known that's why Lewis had turned him down. It was obvious, with her sitting with those two diesel dykes, that she was gay.

Feeling better about the fact that he knew why Lewis had turned him down, Roberts had eaten quickly. He'd put his tray on the conveyor then headed back to the barracks. He'd explored a little bit, finding a Day Room where a bunch of people were watching Armed Forces Network television, a game room with video games and pinball. Roberts had a couple of quarters in his pocket so he played a few games on the older video games, bought a soda, and headed back to his room.

Roberts had to admit, the silence of the barracks was strange, almost an oppressive hush that seemed to swallow his footsteps. The cold was surprising. It was April, warm at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, where he'd been at training, but here it was cold. Twice he'd gotten dizzy, having to lean heavily on the video game machine, but it went away quickly.

Roberts used his last dollar to buy a root beer, quickly lost two games on pinball, and headed back to his room. He could faintly hear music from some rooms before he went through the double doors.

When he reached the door of 275 he realized that he could hear music coming from inside. Classical music from the sound of it.

"Oh good, my gay room mate is home," Roberts snickered before he opened the door.

"Give me a second to look it up, man," An unfamiliar woman's voice said from the main room. "Which book is it in?"

"Unearthed Arcana, Ell-Tee," A man's voice said. "I'll get beers while you find it."

"Thanks," the woman said.

Roberts closed the door quietly, wondering who was in his room. He saw a short guy walking to the fridge, who glanced over and saw Roberts.

"New meat's here," the guy said. His face was familiar, but he wasn't sure from where.

"Oh joy, we're saved," That growling voice Roberts recognized.

What's an NCO doing in my room? Roberts asked.

"Be nice, Ant," The voice was Texan. "Colonel says no more lone rooms."

"Imagine if they put another E-5 in here? You two would be trying to kill each other before the week was out," The LT laughed.

"Eat me," Ant growled.

Roberts left the hallway, looking over to see the two tables he'd moved to either side of the dresser were back in the middle of the room and the chairs he'd stacked up were back around the two tables. The tables were covered with books, papers and weird covered dice. Patch was sitting behind some kind of foldable partition the height of a book that had four panels. The one who had gone to the fridge came back with a six-pack of beer, setting it on the table. Everyone took a bottle.

Roberts stared at everyone for a second, noting how much different they all looked in civilian clothing. Patch still had his leg brace on, but he didn't look as menacing as he had.

"What are you guys doing in," Roberts started.

"If you say  'my room', I swear to God I'll get up and shove a fist full of dice up your ass," Patch growled.