=/\= Begin Log =/\=
Chloe woke up at 0530, normal for her on a day she had duty. She didn't want to leave the warm bed but she did anyway. Richard was still asleep so she left him there. He could still sleep for a few more moments and she didn't want to bother him since he had been staying up lately. Going into the bathroom she tossed her shorts and t-shirt she slept in on the floor getting into the shower.
Spending a good amount of time in there, she grabed a towel wraping it around her before she got out. Leaving the bathroom, and her clothes on the floor too mind, she went into the bedroom. Keeping the towel around her with one hand she kneeled down and with the other started to shuffle about in her duffle for a clean pilot's uniform.
Richard sat up in bed. He’d been in that state where he was no longer asleep, but not really awake, and as a consequence, hadn’t wanted to get up. However, he was awake enough now to slink down the bed towards Chloe, and pull the back of the towel off, to let it fall open. He chuckled mischievously.
"Hey, it's cold!" She said somewhat upset with him, but not really. Grabbing her towel back she wrapped herself more securely this time then grabbed the uniform from her duffle. "What was that for?" She asked as she tossed her clean uniform on the bed, pulling her hair to one side over her shoulder. Her blonde hair was growing much longer than she normally kept it, which was very short. Now it was growing way past her shoulders.
“Fun?” He replied innocently.
Starting to braid her hair tightly in a complicated weave. She didn't want it to get tangled while she had her helmet during duty. She couldn't help being too mad at him. "If it wasn't so cold in here I wouldn't mind so much." She grumbled some. During the night she had woken up several times and told the computer to turn the temp up, but there seemed to be something wrong with it, because it still stayed the same cold temp.
Chloe had always hated being cold.
“Its not my fault its cold. They haven’t cracked the environmental control systems yet.” Richard grumped on the bed.
Sitting on the bed with her back twoard him as she finished with her hair she gave a sigh. "You should start getting ready. Duty shift starts soon for you too." She mentioned. Earlier her back hadn't been turned to him but now it was noticeable that there were black marks starting on the back of her neck going down her spine and was hidden farther under the towel around her. "They better get to fixing the enviromental controls soon or Im going to have to replicate another blanket.”
“Nag nag nag.” Richard said, getting off the bed and walking to the bathroom. “You’d think we were being selfish focusing our efforts on getting the tactical systems upgraded.”
"I didn't say that, Richard." She said calmly. It was a very good thing that she had a very mild temper and was almost always calm. It she wasn't they would always be playing off eachother. Standing up she let her towel fall to the ground, then started to get dressed into the uniform she had pulled out.
“Then replicate another blanket then.” He said, tossing his clothing off and stepped into the shower. “I have enough demands from everyone on this station, the Klingons and the Erassains, without you adding to them”
She didn't say anything after he got into the shower. She wasn't hurt by his words, she knew how much stress he was under at the moment. Finishing getting dressed she went to the replicator getting a cup of coffee and making it how he liked it. She set in the bathroom for him with out saying anything before heading back into the main living area. She got some breakfast, having too. If she flew on an empty stomach she got sick.
Richard stepped out of the shower, and after drying himself off, noticed the mug of coffee. He sipped at it gladly, feeling the warmth of the java seep into his sleepy muscles and sluggish brain. He threw on a duty uniform and walked into the living area. “Thanks for the coffee.” He said.
"No problem." She said from the couch eating a bowl of oatmeal, which she had ordered hotter than normal. "Do you know where the pilots are going to be working on?" She asked currious. She was currious what she would have to do here, and she was tring to bring some conversation to the room rather than silence.::
“I’m detaching a combat wing to support Easy Company during their assault on Norris Eight.” Richard said. “They may need air support, and I want it on hand for when they do.”
"That will deffently give me something to do." She liked the idea, it would give her more than her fair share of action, and would allow her to do something she loved to do- fly.
"I've felt useless too long." She said finishing her breakfast and putting away her bowl.
Richard nodded. “Major Nolan will brief you when you arrive on the deck.” He said.
"I expect Nolan will." She said, watching him oddly. "Is there something wrong, Richard?"
“I just don’t like the thought of sending you into harms way.” He said, honestly. “I knew it would have to happen eventually, but doesn’t mean I have to like it any.”
"I can't have you saying that, Richard." Her voice was soft. She knew his late wife had been a Marine too, and had died that way. "Im a pilot, and I love it almost as much as I love you." She said watching him closely. She didn't like it when he had to leave and go in harms way when he was on duty but she knew it was what he did.
“I know, and I would never ask you to be anything else.” He said. “Just know that I do this with bitterness in my heart.”
"Im one of the best pilots around, Richard. Im not braging, Im just good." She said as she walked next to him. "Im going to be fine out there."
“I know.” He said, a weak smile on his face. “Amanda was the best damn marine under my command, and she still got herself killed. I consider myself one of the very best, and I still get shot up, slashed, blown up and usually chewed out by Harper on every mission I go on. Don’t expect me to like putting you in danger, but I’ll do it because it is my job and it is your job to do it.”
He put a hand on her arm. “In here, you’re just Chloe, my love and my desire. Out there, you’re Lieutenant Merau and I’m General Sharpe. Once I step out of this office, I won’t be allowed to focus on your plight directly, so let me have my moment with Chloe, instead of with Lieutenant Merau.”
Her arms slid over his shoulders, hugging him tightly. "I love you, Richard. Know that, and don't forget it." She said quietly, whispering it into his ear.
“I won’t.” He said, putting his arms around his fiancée, and planting a kiss on her lips. “Don’t you forget that I love you too.”
She kissed him, then pulled slightly away. "It's 0630, Richard." She had to be on duty in several moments. Moving toward the door, she gave a smile, "I will never forget."
=/\= End Log =/\=
MGen. Richard Sharpe
CO
1st MEF
2d Lt. Chloe Merau
Pilot
501st Air Group, 1st MEF
