Locker Talk (IC, Stof Andrs)

[DoF Archive]

Date: 10/3/1997 10:53 AM Central Standard Time
From: Stof Andrs


Stof pulled his locker open and hung his coat up. The perfectly stitched Ambition logo on the breast looked out at him, the single facing eye of the Pegasus a perfect sea green. He looked at it as he unbuttoned his shirt, and a pang ran though him. He hadn't taken the Ambition out for more than a quick test run in weeks. He missed taking her on long runs, sweeping through space, able to tell how healthy she was just by the way the deck hummed
under her feet.

But until Kevyn was born, it was going to be short runs in the system and joy rides for his neice and nephew. And if that chance with Ethan came through, maybe some local ore runs.

Ethan Swan. Stof didn't know the man and had only seen him once or twice, but he gave Stof the willies. There was something about him Stof didn't like. Something that said he wasn't what he seemed. He didn't feel trustworthy to Stof.

That was why he'd put off contacting him about doing the ore shipping. The money was probably good, probably better than was making now carting tourists around the system in a shuttle bus, but at least working for the tour company he *knew* was honest work.

But still.

He wanted to take care of Kelli.

Stof sighed as he hung his shirt up. He pulled out a blue denim oxford with the triangular company logo stitched over the pocket and shook the wrinkles out. It wasn't a bad outfit--it was better than the other option, the jumpsuits. At least with the oxford, you didn't have to get halfway undressed to go to the bathroom, and no one thought you were a mechanic. And you didn't have rich old ladies ask you if you had anything on underneath, with a
gleam in their eye.

Stof felt a hand on his shoulder and turned. The round face of his co-pilot, Danny, grinned at him. "What say, old boy?" His laugh was rich, even this early in the morning. Stof had taken a liking to Danny when they first met. He was a man of good humor with a brown moustache that hovered over a smile that would appear with the slightest coaxing. His smooth manner in charming the ladies on the tour had impressed Stof, reminding him of his
oldest brother, Tirel.

"Morning, Danny." He gave his co-pilot a smile and slipped his shirt on. "You're in good spirits." Danny was always in good spirits, but small talk was better than locker room talk.

"Did you see that fight on the tri-vid last night, Stoffie?" Danny was already stripping out of his shirt and jeans at a nearby locker, pulling out a jumpsuit that matched Stof's shirt. He liked them better--he said he looked more like a pilot. Especially when he wore a turtleneck with it.

"Uh, no. I missed it." Stof started buttoning his shirt, got halfway up and realized he'd misbuttoned. He undid them, struggling with one that had gotten caught on a thread.

"It was quite a bout, Stoffie-boy, it was pretty damn good. You'll have to pick it up on the rerun circuit."

"I'll do that." Stof was meticulously rebuttoning his shirt, making sure he didn't misalign them again. He looked like a careful six year old when he did it, head bowed and tongue between his lips.

Danny pulled his jumpsuit up, zipping it to mid-chest, just high enough to cover the grease stain on his white turtleneck. "Who's got breakfast today?"

"You do," replied Stof, lifting his boot to the bench. He leaned over to tighten the laces. "I've got coffee. And Black is doing our precheck." Stof glanced up to see his partner's reaction.

Danny winced. "Black? Isn't he the one who forgot to empty the bilge lines twice last week?" The bilge lines were the onboard waste disposal & sanitation system--where things went when the toilet was flushed.

Stof nodded. "She is. The foreman really chewed her out about it, I don't think she'll forget again."

"I know," said Danny, mirroring Stof's posture as he zipped up his boots. "But if she forgets something that obvious, it makes you wonder, you know? Even if she does have great hooters." Danny often threw in things like that just to make Stof blush. While he'd meant it in sincerity today, it still had the same effect, and a medium-rare pink came over Stof's cheeks.

Danny chuckled and clapped Stof on the back. "Not that *you'd* notice, old boy." His boots zipped up neatly over the legs of his jumpsuit, he stood up. While Stof finished lacing up his boots, Danny slipped by him to go get their day started. He paused, looking at the photo taped to the inside of Stof's locker door. It was Kelli, smiling, robustly pregnant. Stof kept a similar head shot of her in his shirt pocket whenever he flew the tour bus.
Danny looked at it moment.

"She's a nice girl," he said, running his fingers over it slowly. "She's due any day now?"

Stof nodded. "Pretty soon."

"And it's a boy?" Like he had to ask. Stof had mentioned it so many times he was suprised Danny hadn't gotten sick of hearing about it yet.

"Kevyn, after her brother."

Danny's eyes didn't move from the photo as he talked with Stof. "You know, I don't know who's luckier. You or her." The forlorn quality of his voice made Stof glance up, pausing to watch his co-pilot study the picture. Stof expected him to say more but he didn't.

Instead, the bouncy grin came back as Danny turned. "Creme filled. Right?"

"Or glazed." Stof stamped the heel of his boot on the bench to settle his foot in it and straightened. "Decaf?"

Danny nodded, sliding his hands into his pockets. He was wearing his jumpsuit today. He liked it better than the oxford--it made him look more like a pilot and less like a golf instructor, he claimed. "Cream, no sugar."

"Alright. I'll be right out." Stof swung the door to his locker shut, his own eyes lingering on Kelli's smiling face. Her eyes sparkled and her hair shone. Her face was as alive as if he was standing beside her. Stof could all but hear her laughing quietly behind him.

Until the man turned away, Stof didn't realize Danny had been looking over his shoulder. He glanced after him, then closed the locker all the way. It secured with a click. Stof ran his fingers over his shirt pocket, feeling the card of the second photo in there, and turned to follow.