All About the Game (Aubrey)

[Adrian]

Taylor was perfect in every way. This was something he knew deep inside his body. Other's may call it the heart but Taylor knew where real passion and certainty came from and it was located much lower than the heart. Yes, Taylor knew he was perfect. He had a body women drooled over and a smile that made their hearts melt and their legs open. He had slept with at least half the female personnel on the ship. Well...close to half, maybe a little less than half-He had slept with people, that was the point. And he knew he was amazing in a bedroom, or on a floor, or on a couch. Where ever, he was good to go, as always. He could deliver. That is what was known about him and whoever he went after he got.

Taylor had his eye on a new conquest. A young woman that would be the creme de la creme of notches in his hypothetical head board. Celebrities were visiting the Blade ship and Taylor would be the only one to score with one of them. This he also knew in a place deep inside himself.

So as he sat down across from Aubrey Casey in the mess hall he had no doubts that his charming smile and his beautiful body would win him a night in her bedroom. "Hi," he said, flashing the dimples and running a hand through his wavy hair. "Is this seat taken?"

[Aubrey]

It was sometime during the afternoon, as far as Aubrey knew, and the Mess Hall was sparsely populated; most classes were in session. The night before, Aubrey had hit the tequila hard with Suji. This morning, she'd woken up to a pounding headache and an uneasy stomach. Sitting in front of her was the breakfast she had missed earlier: some toast and a glass of ice water. Not much of the toast had been touched at this point, and Aubrey's hand seemed to be glued to the water in a death grip. It hadn't been this bad back in Los Angeles, when she'd gotten drunk at that Halloween Party. On the same note, she'd never really tried tequila before.

Aubrey glanced up at Taylor as he sat down across from her, pausing before she returned his smile in greeting. "Hi, I--um. No, I don't think it is." Not that what she said would've mattered, since Taylor had already sat down. Aubrey wrapped her other hand around the water glass and took a tentative sip.

[Adrian]

Girls, you know you better watch out. Some guys...

"That's good," Taylor said with a smile. Aubrey was looking...less hot than the stories about her implied. Taylor wasn't the most observant person so he couldn't pick out specific details like the circles under her eyes or the perpetual pain line between her eyebrows that led to his judgement on her looks, but he knew she looked less hot than he'd hoped. He didn't let this bother him however, since she was still a hero and sleeping with her would still add the same status to reputation whether she was on top of her game or not. Besides, they all felt the same when it came right down to it.

He began eating his food, his large bites falling just on the acceptable side of table manners, a large smile on his face as he looked at Aubrey and thought his thoughts. "So how are you today? Enjoying your visit to the Bladeship?" He asked. Not that he cared that much but he could pretend he did just to start a conversation that would lead other places. Taylor had a certain play book that he swore by and, right now, it called for him to play the partially neutral, mostly friendly host. He could do that well enough though he didn't understand why you couldn't just walk up to a woman and tell her you wanted to have sex with her. In rare cases you could, but in most cases that didn't work. He wasn't sure why that was so, didn't women want sex as much as he did?

[Aubrey]

Aubrey set the glass of water down, and then tore a small piece of toast off and nibbled on it. She'd had experience with aggressive guys before, and on some level she could sense--not exactly, of course--somewhat of Taylor's intentions. Her suspicion wasn't always the case, however, and she knew that. Maybe he was really lonely and bored and was just being friendly to one of the only people in the Mess Hall.

A tired look flashed across her face at his question, but she managed another smile. Her head was pounding, and she rubbed her temple before answering. "I'm doing alright, maybe a bit under the weather. But yeah, it's just fantastic here." By the tone of her voice, and despite her attempts at hiding it, it was obvious that she was not too keen on being here. "How about you? Are you a new recruit here, or something?"

[Adrian]

Girls, you know you better watch out. Some guys...

"No," Taylor said with a bit of a laugh, "I'm not a recruit. Not everyone can do what you all do," Taylor said, trying a bit of flattery since she still looked pretty...broken down. He hoped that changed. He didn't really want to drag someone back to a room. "I am a crew member here. Work on the Bladeship itself." He didn't elaborate on what job he had since it wasn't that glamorous. The only reason he was here was because his father had been the head of a free human colony and Taylor would have agreed to do anything to get out of staying and working for him even if that meant hauling shipments when they arrived in the Bug Fighters. At least the work was like a work out all in itself though he still went to the gym. Only when that Nineteen chick wasn't there though. He really didn't like being around her too much.

"So how long will you all be staying. You and," he paused, pretending to think, "Suji and Drake right? That's who's arrived?" Taylor knew there was at least one other person but there weren't that many stories floating around about him and he was male anyway so Taylor didn't really care. Aubrey and Suji were the names that had stuck out to him and he'd decided to concentrate on Aubrey. At least at first. He hadn't ruled Suji out completely.