Junebug

chapter 5

Little happened between going back to your dorm last night and right now, where you stood in front of Ben who held out a small plastic case that held an earpiece similar-looking to the comms earpieces the rest of the task force wore on missions.

"Once you put this in, we'll get a direct audio feed from here into the game. You'll be able to talk to us, but keep it limited," He started as he handed the case off to you, letting you take it out and examine the piece. "We'll use it to keep you updated on things out here."

You nodded and secured the piece into your ear. It would take the feeling some getting used to but it definitely wasn't uncomfortable.

You stepped into the testing chamber and went through the usual 'ready?' 'yes' conversation before putting the gloves on.

As the floating feeling came and went, your eyes opened back up to find yourself back in the canteen. Each time you came back you grew more and more excited for what was to come.

"Testing, testing. Can you hear me?" Eve's voice crackled in from your ear piece. "There's a button in the center to activate the mic." She added.

You fumbled for a moment as you located the button with the tip of your finger before engaging the mic. "I can hear you," you responded lowly.

There were a few moments of silence before her voice crackled in.

"Great!" She said giddily, leading you to believe that silence was her celebrating with those who were monitoring this as well.

"Now that we know this works we'll leave it reserved for when you have questions or when we're about to pull you from the simulation." She responded as you gave a short verbal response of affirmation before the earpiece fell silent again.

A wave of nausea reminded you to look back down to your plate and notice the absence of your fruit. Aw man.

As you contemplated trading with another soldier for their piece of fruit given your most untouched tray, you were spooked by a sudden presence at your table.

"Gaz!" You announced, looking back at the Sergeant. He stood across from you, tray in hand and looking back at you with a slight smile.

"Mind if I sit?"

You nodded in affirmation and watched as he sat across from you – particularly you were watching with interest the orange that sat intact among the rest of his food.

"No one else's clique wanted you at their table?" You snickered teasingly, pulling your eyes from the citrus fruit and landing on him. He chuckled softly, shaking his head.

"Ghost's opting to do paperwork, Price eats in his office, and Soap's off doing...whatever he does." He murmured, shrugging slightly. "So I figured I'd come n' socialize with the newest member of 141."

A flutter of warmth lit up your chest as a smile graced your lips at the explanation.

"Soap's explained the training bit, yeah?" He questioned as he pulled a bite from his food.

"Cardio with you, guns with Price, sparring with Ghost, and explosives with Soap." You recited and he nodded.

"Meet me at the track tomorrow at 6am for a few warm-up laps. I'll record your time and give you pointers, then we'll move to the rec gym and get on some dodge tactics and evasive maneuvering until lunch" He explained, and you nodded along as you slowly worked in your head how you were going to ask for that orange.

Was there a way to ask too casually? Maybe you had to be formal about it. Could you be too formal when asking for an orange? 'I do say my dear sir, mayhaps I request the wonderfully delectable-looking piece of fruit you have there?' You paused. Were you really overthinking about a piece of fruit?