(Untitled)

[sgmitchell]

He was man enough to admit, to himself at least, that he'd been hiding from just about every living person on the island since the beginning of May. There'd been so many things he'd done, so many people he'd gone out of his way to be a complete ass to, he didn't even know who to apologize to first, and he didn't even know how to apologize to most

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[2ndtechnician]

By the time he saw Col. Mitchell sitting on the steps it was too late to turn around. They had obviously seen each other. Arnold knew deep down that he needed to talk to Mitchell, but he was unsure of how the man would react. They had only just met before falling under the influence of whatever alien mind-control waves had hit the island, and their encounters while in altered mental states had not been pleasant. Arnold's ribs had only just recently recovered enough for him to take a deep breath without pain.

Since he knew it would be impossible to avoid Mitchell forever and he didn't want to upset Carolyn by being at odds with him, Arnold decided that he had no choice but to talk with him. He approached Mitchell and gave him his best Rimmer Salute. He then stood stiffly at attention and focused his eyes on a point just over Mitchell's head.

"Col. Mitchell, sir! As striking a superior officer is a serious violation of Space Core Directives, I am officially submitting myself for disciplinary action. Also, you should know that

[sgmitchell]

The man that interrupted his thoughts was among those he really didn't want to see. Aside from a lingering detached resentment for the men--for reasons both the fault of the man's own actions, and for the irritating alter-ego--his presence summoned memories he'd much rather never have had in the first place.

One of those, naturally, the man would have to summon up immediately. He glanced down at Austen briefly, drawing upon training that was just beginning to rust around the edges, before turning a thin frown upon a man. "We all...violated directives over those few days. If we threw all of the violators into the IPD prison, there'd be no one left to let us back out."

[2ndtechnician]

He thought about that for a minute. For several minutes actually. In the end he realized that Col. Mitchell was right. Locking up everyone who had succumbed to the mind control was a logistical impossibility.

"Still, I feel I must apologize for my actions. I would never have treated an officer with such disrespect under normal circumstances." He paused for a moment. "If I may say so sir, your combat skills are top-notch. You pack quite a wallop." An idea struck him and he gave voice to it before he changed his mind.

"If it's acceptable to you sir, I would like to request special combat training with your unit. Clearly my own skills have gotten rusty and I could use the refresher."

[sgmitchell]

He glanced up at the man skeptically. He chose not to respond to the man's apologies, because the less he thought about that scenario the better, and decided against responding to the compliment...because there really wasn't anything to say to that statement.

Instead, he concentrated on the odd question. Whether he really wanted to spar with the man. Separate from Teal'c and Doctor Lam for...so, so many reasons. "You're requesting lessons from me?"

[2ndtechnician]

"Yes sir. If you're willing to take me on, sir. The truth is, I..." His face twisted into a grimace. What the smeg am I saying? He was loathe to admit that his self defense skills were practically non-existent. Yet for some reason he had started to do just that. He was silent for a moment and then it hit him. Maybe that's the point? That part of being less of a smeghead is actually admitting that I'm not good at something and asking for help? The small part of him that was decent and wanted to change told him that was true. It didn't make it any easier though.

"The truth is my fighting skills are probably on par with your cat's." He was still grimacing, but at least he was managing to be honest with both himself and Col. Mitchell. "I clearly need to have some sort of real combat training. So if you're agreeable to it, yes, I'd like to take self-defense lessons from either you or the instructor of your choice."

[sgmitchell]

He allowed the man his silence to work things out in his head...maybe partly because he had an inkling of the pain the man would have woken up to the morning after their mostly pointless scuffle. For the most part, however, he simply had nothing to say.

Austen mewled, and Cam almost wondered if her sound was skeptical, before he ruffled her fur a bit, and shrugged. "Come by New Atlantis next afternoon. Pick something to wear that you won't mind getting shredded."

[2ndtechnician]

"Thank you, Col. Mitchell sir!" Arnold once again gave him his patented Rimmer Salute. "You won't regret this sir. I guarantee I'll be the most challenging student you've ever had! I'll see you tomorrow at 14:00 at New Atlantis." With that he turned and marched into the Compound.