Honey I'm home! - OTA

[movetheearth]

Their arrival back in camp was pretty uneventful. Hitching a ride back was easy enough as was sneaking out the back of the truck and getting inside the camp, especially since Martini could slow down time and give them a pretty clear route back to their rooms. Parting from his boyfriend in the corridor of the mens dorms with a lingering kiss Ric had

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[slimy_droog]

Richter was not alone in the mess hall for long. Toad entered quietly and noticed him there. Ah, the go-to guy for booze. Smirking, the green-skinned man climbed onto the wall and crouched there, observing Ric.

"Buenos nochays," he purred, his accent mucking up the dialect.

[movetheearth]

"Fuck me!" Ric slid off of the kitchen work top, looking around before finally gazing upwards at the ceiling. He sighed, crossing his arms and glaring at Mort wishing he's spotted him entering the mess hall earlier.

"What you mean is buenas tardes my sticky compadre."

[slimy_droog]

"Do I?" Toad looked aside, contemplating. "Guess you're right. You seem to know about it more than I do."

He hopped down and landed on his hands and feet. Standing upright, he walked over and reached into the cupboard.

"Damn it, Wade ate all his fruit roll-ups. Or hid them." He cocked his head sideways to regard Ric.

"What'chu makin'?"

Dumb question, but he felt like being a tease.

[movetheearth]

He rolled his eyes as he resumed him place back on the counter, feet drumming more gently against the cabinets now he had someone to talk to.

"Probably ate them all, seeing as we're meant to be moving camp he probably thought it better safe than sorry. Especially in a camp like this." Ric glanced at the coffee jug, it was only half full and taking an eternity to fill. "This here is a small hadron collider that I've constructed using only the materials I could find in this room. If this works then I'm hoping to make a death ray and test it on Stryker."

The smile that accompanied the sarcastic comment wasn't malicious, instead Ric was just messing around knowing full well that Mort could work out he was waiting for coffee. "You see everyone just assumes I'm just this stunningly handsome moron but actually I'm a stunningly gorgeous genius in disguise."

[a_soul_awake]

It was probably Atticus's fault that Hope wanted coffee at this hour, but being annoyed about it was pointless. Her growing love of coffee went right along with her growing love for the man himself. It also got her out of the lab once and awhile.

She strolled into the kitchen with the coffee mug she had brought with her earlier that day and smiled at Ric who seemed to be waiting for coffee as well.

"Hello, Ric," she said pleasantly.

[movetheearth]

Ric smiled, raising a hand up in a short wave of acknowledgment as Hope approached. Though he didn't slide off of the kitchen work surface he sat up, trying to look a little more presentable.

"Hello Hope, how are you today?" Ric always had time for Hope, especially when she'd been so patient with Martini when he'd been ill. Plus she was easy on the eyes. "Waiting for coffee or walking your pet mug?"

[a_soul_awake]

"Quite well, thank you. Yourself?" She was rather amused he straightened up, most people here wouldn't even bother with that much.

"Just coffee," she said, taking a quick look at her mug. It was one of Atti's, not hers actually. "Been waiting long?"

[movetheearth]

"Bien gracias Hope, but even better for seeing your pretty face obviously." Ric knew she wouldn't fall for his charms but still it was nice to be able to harmlessly flirt.

"Yes actually, I think the machine has gone on strike. It's taking forever to fill up, though when I came in here it was empty so someone clearly didn't follow the correct coffee etiquette and refill." Ric flicked the machine which just continued to fill the jug one drip at a time.

[toywithyourmind]

Jason made his way to the mess hall Razi sticking close to his legs. The puppy was down without Nicky and so was the boy. He sighed and headed to get food stopping when he saw Ric. While Jason had spent plenty of time talking to Martini he wasn't sure if he'd ever really talked to Ric.

"Martini is back then?"

[movetheearth]

Ric glanced at the kid watching as he approached, they'd shared a few brief words at team meetings but never held actual conversation. Sure Ric has spoken to Nicky before, the kid didn't seem half bad at all and for a moment Ric wondered where the hell he was.

It took Ric a couple of moments to realise this must be the kid Martini had mentioned.

"Yeah he is, though don't know where," He jumped off the counter, kneeling down to hold a hand out towards Razi. "Where's Nicky?"

[toywithyourmind]

Jason gave a nod glad that one of his friends was around to talk to. He looked thoughtful wondering if he should tell him or not before shrugging. "Nicky is locked up for now. I am watching Razi for him."

It was said calmly but there was an obvious anxiousness about the boy. He wasn't really sure what to do with himself when he didn't have Nicky around.

[movetheearth]

"Locked up?! What the hell happened?" It was only after his sudden outburst that Ric realised how uncomfortable Jason looked. He sat back on the mess hall floor.

"Sorry kid. What happened? You alright?"