Emilee had just finished her dinner, she had kept to herself throughout eating at a table in the back of the hall. She watched everyone around her eating and talking, wishing that it was easier for her to make friends. After she finished her food she picked up her tray and took it to be dropped off before heading outside with her water bottle in hand.

She took in a breath of fresh air as she exited the mess hall, it really was a beautiful day today and she wasn't in a big hurry to head back to her dorm and sit there alone.  If she was going to be alone at least she could be enjoying the beautiful spring day outside she thought as she spotted a bench off to the side of the entrance of the building, and went to sit on it.  She crossed her legs under her and took a sip of water before looking around.  She spotted a few people scattered around but they were all involved in their own conversations.  She hadn't been in Tierney long enough to have met anybody that she would call a friend yet so she pulled out her phone to text some of her friends back home.

She smiled as she got distracted by watching someone playing with a dog, and when the dog ran up to her she patted it on the head and spoke to it before taking the ball the dog was carrying in it's mouth and tossing it back towards what she assumed was the dog's owner. She giggled a couple times as she continued watching them in between text messages. 

@vinigan

Lucien hadn't felt in a social mood today, not that it was that odd, even though he could make friends and chat just fine too many people for too long could get on his nerves. But then again it was always hard to adjust to new places after he had gotten a pretty close relation to his old unit. So far his time at base had been fine people had been friendly and inviting so he couldn't blame them for that, maybe except the constant complaint about comms gear not working as soon as he told about his job, even if often the problem was the fault of the user and not the gear.

He exited the mess-hall to have a cigarette and figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his evening. Outside he took a deep breath as he put on his covers so that some sergeant or officer wouldn't get angry for him not wearing a hat, even if this wasn't bootcamp. He looked around and noticed the young marine he had seen before, not that 'young' meant that much as they were probably close to the same age. something Jackson she was called. He thought to himself for a moment before he walked over to the bench offering a nod to Jackson. "You're Jackson right?" he asked not quite knowing how to start the conversation. He felt that was always the most awkward part of any conversation with a new person, the beginning, "Mind if I sit?" he asked motioning to the bench.


@emilee ,

When she heard someone say her name, she looked up from her phone "Emilee, but yes that's me." She smiled at the other marine recognizing him from her first day on base. When he asked if he could sit next to her she shrugged her shoulders and slid over a bit to give him more room. "You're Vinigan right?" she asked smiling, "I almost didn't recognize you without all the coffee." She laughed for a moment before turning serious again hoping that he realized she was just messing with him.

"So how are you liking it here so far? People seem friendly enough." She said before turning quiet again. She wasn't necessarily a shy person, but she really just didn't know what to say. When her phone signaled another text message she looked at it and smiled, but put her phone away without answering. Emilee didn't want him to think she was rude, and her friends from home would just have to get over it she was trying to make a friend here. She was tired of being lonely.

When she turned back to Lucien she noticed that he was wearing his cover, and realized that she probably should have been wearing hers too. She had taken her long blonde hair down when she'd returned to her dorm earlier because wearing it up all the time was starting to give her a constant headache. She hadn't even thought of fixing it before she went down to eat, but she noticed that there were several other's without and nobody had said anything to her. She was going to have to find out what the official stance on everything was here, because if she was going to have to stay in uniform all the time she was going to end up hating green even more than she already did. She gestured to his hat, "You like that thing so much you couldn't leave it at home?"

Tag: @vinigan

He offered a polite smile as she introduced herself, he wasn't quite sure how to take the shrug so he decided just to ignore it as he sat down on the bench as well "Yeah Vinigan, but Lucien is fine" he said offering his hand in a courteous handshake. At the joke about the coffee he offered an amused smile and nodded "Rather glad I'm not the Gunny" he said after all the Gunny seemed to have gotten most of the trouble.

As she asked about how he liked it so far he shrugged "It's been good so far, met a few interesting people so far and yeah very friendly. How you found it so far?" he asked curiously as she put away her phone. He thought for a moment to himself that he probably should write people back home, he hadn't really had that much time for it lately being busy with a lot of stuff.

When she commented on his hat he offered a polite chuckle "It's not as much like as necessary, trying to avoid having NCO's and Officers yelling at me for not following marine corps grooming regulations, besides it hides the haircut" he said in an attempt to at least end it on a funny note with a smile. "So where you from?" he asked not being quite sure on her dialect but it sounded familiar.

Emilee smiled as he sat and introduced himself shaking his hand when offered. "Nice to meet you Lucien." She smiled and shrugged her shoulders when he mentioned the Gunny, "Yeah, I'm pretty glad I was on the other side of that whole ordeal. Almost felt sorry for him, but not sorry enough that I would have traded places with him." That morning Emilee had just been thankful that she hadn't ruffled any feathers, and although it had been slightly amusing when the coffee had gone flying she had known better than to laugh.

Emilee nodded when he said that everyone was very friendly, and when he asked her how she had found it so far she smiled, "Oh you know... one place is just as good as another as long as there's a place to sleep, food to eat, and work to do. It's not home, but it'll do." Maybe she'd be able to be a little more excited about someplace if she wasn't so homesick, she missed her family and her friends terribly but she knew that if she wanted to be a nurse this was the only way to do it.

She laughed with him when he talked about his hat, and haircut. "Your haircut can't be that bad, everyone around here seems to have the same one. Makes it easy on the barber I guess only he has to learn one cut. Which is why I refuse to get mine cut anywhere near base, I'm afraid I might come out with the same haircut as everyone else."

When he asked her where she was from she turned to face him and smiled, "North Carolina...a little town that I'm sure nobody has ever heard of. How about you... Where are you from?"

Tag: @vinigan

He offered a polite smile as she didn't sound overly excited about Tierney, he had personally had any part of homesickness yelled out of him at Bootcamp, after all 'adapt' was a part of the motto, but then again he wasn't surprised that he reacted differently. "Trust me you'll start liking it here soon enough, I try at least As you said, there's food" he tried offering some sense of optimism.

Lucien gave a polite chuckle at the comment about the hair "It works, imagine how long hair would look after two weeks in the field with no shower or soap" he said with a smile even if field hygiene was a thing so it wouldn't be that bad but still probably not comfortable "You should try it, it might suit you" he said jokingly, not that it mattered much to him, he wasn't allowed to have long hair so he never would.

His smile seemed a bit more bright as she said she was from North Carolina "That's cool! I'm from South Carolina, Charleston to be exact, small world huh?" he knew it was a state over but still felt it was rather close, it had Carolina in it after all

He produced a pack of cigarettes and was about to take out one of the cigarettes before he looked over at Emilee "Mind if I smoke?" he asked not wanting to be rude and smoke if she didn't like smoke.


@emilee,

She smiled and nodded when he reassured her that she'd start liking it in Tierney soon enough. "I'm sure I will, just haven't had much time to look around and get to know anybody yet. The food isn't all that great, but it's edible so that's a plus." Emilee was positive that she would adapt just fine, Tierney was a pretty place and everyone had been friendly so far.

When he talked about being without a shower for two weeks she cringed a bit and when he told her she should try the haircut Emilee looked at Lucien like he was crazy for a moment before laughing, "Nah not everybody can pull that look off, and I'm afraid if I tried I'd probably be as attached to my hat as you are."

She noticed him smile as he talked about being from Charleston, "It's a very beautiful place, we vacationed there a couple times when I was growing up. We actually spent a lot of summers in South Carolina, I have a lot of good memories there."

When he pulled out his cigarettes and asked her if she minded if he smoked she shook her head. She didn't smoke but her daddy did, so she was used to being around it. "No, I don't mind at all."

Tag: @vinigan

He offered a friendly smile, it had seemed that that at least they both were trying to know someone, at least he'd say that it made it easier they were both the same age and both marines, and he could only agree with her about the food, but everything was better than an MRE.

Lucien couldn't help but make a small chuckle as she said she'd also be attached to her hat if she got the same haircut "I take it you're not a grunt?" he asked, she seemed to carry herself like someone who wasn't a part of the infantry, although even if she had been wearing civilian she'd probably be carrying herself like a marine though, after all bootcamp made everybody into a rifleman, so she knew her combat skills, she knew her close combat.

"yeah it's nice in Charleston right? I've been up in north a couple of times and it's also pretty nice, beautiful nature, lovely place to go camping, it's a place I wouldn't mind seeing again" he felt it was very interesting there, the nature was different from what they had in South Carolina which made it rather interesting especially since he was an outdoor person.

As she said it was okay he nodded and took out one of the cigarettes and lit it inhaling the smoke as he leaned back "So know of anything interesting going on around here today?" he asked curiously, probably nothing but was worth asking.


@emilee,

Emilee returned his smile, deciding that maybe she'd enjoy herself a bit more if she made a friend. What better friend than another Marine, she knew that at least he could relate to everything she'd been through since joining the Marines. She knew she could have joined any branch and still have managed to become a nurse, but she thought if she was going into the military she might as well join the best of the best.

"No... not a grunt. Combat Medic, for now. I'm certainly not scared to get my hands dirty and do my fair share though." She knew that boot camp had changed her, but she felt she was a much stronger person for having survived. There were a few days where she was sure that her survival was questionable but she had consistently managed to pull herself together and persevere. She had learned very early on to keep her mouth closed and to follow orders without question, a philosophy that had served her well thus far.

"Charleston is beautiful, so much history and beauty all in one place. Camping is great, my family used to go every weekend and there are so many places to camp all across the state. Virginia is another beautiful place to go camping, and though I never spent much time here in Tennessee it looks like there would be plenty of places here too. It never got old, I miss it." Emilee was starting to relax and feel a bit more comfortable talking to Lucien.

She watched him light his cigarette and lean back before asking her if she knew of anything going on today. "No, I don't know of anything. I really haven't taken the time to look around much yet, so I'm probably not the best one to ask. I was thinking about taking a walk around base tonight and seeing exactly what all is here, you're welcome to join me if you like. Walking is always more fun when you have someone to talk to, besides you never know we might find something going on."

@vinigan

He offered a warm smile as she said she was medic, a person one should always make sure to get along well with and so far it seemed to go pretty well, he was starting to like her. "I'll make sure to keep you on my good side" he said jokingly not expecting there to be any trouble they seemed to have enough in common, at least considering that they both seemed to like camping.

After he took a drag of his cigarette he nodded at he comment about Virginia "Yeah I haven't camped in that area much but is really nice, a lot nicer than camping out in the desert I can tell you that much" he didn't know if she had been in the desert, but he'd gotten more then enough of it from all the training exercises.

As she offered that he could join taking a walk around the camp later he nodded "Could be fun, I've been stuck in comms fixing equipment, so haven't really had much time to see stuff around-.." i was considering for a moment to go into more detail but he decided not to as at best it was probably be boring for most people. "I'm sure there'll be something interesting to see around base, if nothing else I'm sure we'll find something to talk about"

Emilee laughed when he said he'd keep her on his good side, "Yeah, I guess it's probably not a good idea to make a medic mad." She really didn't have much of a bad side as she could generally get along with just about anyone when she had to. "Lucky for you, it takes quite a bit to get on my bad side."

Emilee snorted when he said camping in Virginia was nicer than camping in the desert, "Anything is better than camping in the desert. It's like going to the beach without the benefit of the water, if I never go back there again it will be too soon. That has got to be one of the most miserable places I have ever been. I don't even want to see sand again anytime soon."

She smiled when he said that walking could be fun, because he'd been stuck inside and hadn't had much time to see stuff. "At least you've been doing something productive, so far all I've been doing is sitting through orientation videos and classes... it's been so long since I've seen an actual patient I might forget what I'm supposed to do." She nodded when he said that there would be something interesting around base, "Considering I haven't seen anything other than my room, the hospital, and this place right here... everything sounds interesting in comparison."

Tag: @vinigan

He nodded as she mentioned doing something productive, not that he had much choice it was his job and he did enjoy it even if it could be boring sometimes, but there was something fascinating about seeing electronics go from broken to working but then again technology had always been a fascination for him it was a lot easier than people that were very hard to understand usually. He let out a light sigh before looking back at her with a smile.

"So what made you decide to become a medic?" he asked curiously "I mean I guess in a weird way we do the same job" He offered with a joking smile "I make radios work you make people work" his smile became more awkward as he realised hos stupid his comment sounded.


@emilee,

Emilee laughed and smiled at Lucien before she answered his questions. "You know I'd never really thought about it like that." Tilting her head to the side she continued, "In a way you're right except no two people are exactly the same. Usually I don't do much making them work anyway, just trying to keep them from dying until someone else can fix 'em."

She sighed before answering the original question, "I really didn't decide to be a medic... I'm training to be a nurse, but I had to do something in the mean time and medic seemed to be the logical choice. The military wasn't really in my plans either, but it was the only way I could afford school... so you do what you have to you know?"

"What about you?  How did you end up here fixing broken things?"

Her laugh made him feel less awkward about his joke but he still regretted having made it, he was bad at the entire joking thing the marine corps had done a great job beating that out of him. "Well I still imagine your level of medicine is a bit different than the basic stuff I can do" he said thinking that a nurse most likely were better, she hadn't said she was a corpsman but knowing what they went through he thought she was at that level or somewhere around it.

He listened interested as she explained why she had decided to become a medic and it made sense, luckily the military wasn't the worst choice "Ah that makes sense, the military isn't the worst choice, but why the marines then and not the army?" He asked curiously, he imagined it would be easier to go through the army than the tough training of a Marine.

"As to how I ended up here it's less interesting, most of my family are soldiers a lot of them marines, just felt it was natural, serve my country you know and just seemed to be good with radios so made it my business, joined Recon, was there for awhile and now I'm here. At least that's the short version" He offered a friendly smile as he finished his cigarette and put the bud back into the pack before putting the pack back in his pocket "So when you served long enough for them to pay for your education, planning on leaving then?" he asked curiously.


@emilee,

Emilee wished she wasn't so painfully shy around new people, because she liked talking to Lucien even if it was painfully awkward at times. She smiled, "Yeah... and I would imagine your level of training in other areas is different than what I've gotten."

When Lucien asked her why she chose the Marines and not the Army she laughed and shrugged her shoulders, "Well I don't do things half way, and if I was going to join the military I wanted to join the best. Besides I had a couple Marines in my family, and you know how that goes... I'd hate to let them down." Yeah, the Army probably would have been easier but there were enough people telling Emilee she'd never make it as a Marine that she decided she wanted to prove to herself and to them that she could not only do it... but be good at it.

She listened to Lucien describe why he had ended up joining and smiled, it was a story she'd heard a lot in boot camp. Emilee spent a lot of time listening in boot camp and not a lot talking, it was something that had carried over into her current placement and she found that it tended to keep her out of trouble and she learned a lot about people and her job that way. She shrugged when he asked about her plans for the future, "That was the original plan... but it really isn't so bad here, so maybe... I don't know. My friends will probably all be married and have kids by then so I guess I'll figure that out when the time comes." She was quiet for a moment, "What about you? What are your plans?"

@vinigan