Chapter Text
"Hmm... log? Yeah, log." Angel popped a piece of egg into her mouth, looking at Gregory expectantly for the next word.
Gregory looked back at her from across the mess hall table, idly cutting his piece of steak as he did so. They always tried to meet during lunch, and usually, they ended up playing Word Chain.
"Are you allowed to use words that short?" He asked with a smirk. Angel rolled her eyes.
"There aren't any rules in Word Chain," she spoke with a tone of mock seriousness. "So. Your turn." And with that, she smirked at him and leaned forward on her palms.
Gregory sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Fine. Greg, that's my word." Angel burst out laughing before pointing a fork at him accusingly, a bit of egg still hanging off its metal surface.
"Excuse me, but you can't use your own name Greg." Now it was his turn to laugh.
"Can you think back to, oh, what was it? Oh yeah, thirty seconds ago." He grinned at her. "I believe what you said was 'there aren't any rules in Word Chain.'" He quoted her while trying, and utterly failing, to imitate her voice.
"Fine," she laughed. Then, she paused for a moment before grinning and speaking again. "Gregory."
Silence hung in the air for a brief moment, before Gregory pointed towards himself. "Uh, yeah? Right here." She shook her head in response.
"No, no, no, that's my word. Gregory." She ate the last piece of her egg and leaned back in her chair, arms folded across her chest. "Your move."
Gregory opened his mouth and closed it again multiple times before he finally found his words. "Huh. Well fucking played." A pause. "Yodel? I dunno, Y's a tricky word."
She shrugged. "Yeah, there aren't a lot of Y words. Unless 'yeah' counts."
"It doesn't."
They sat together in silence for a few moments, not sure how to proceed. They never could keep their interest on Word Chain for long, as they always ran out of rules to break. Finally, Gregory spoke.
"So, how's your team going?" He knew that Angel was in charge of the Training Team, and she always took the opportunity to talk about how proud she was of them. As expected, her eyes seemed to brighten immediately.
"They're doing great!" she answered warmly. "Mason's getting better at his job every day - if he spoke up more, he'd be a great second in command." She chewed her cheek for a moment in thought. "But with that said, I think Basil will be a better second. He's honest and nice, and not to mention quick thinking. Enough so to run the place if I... uh..." she chuckled. "Well, nobody lives forever, right?"
Gregory frowned and said nothing. He'd seen too many deaths, and didn't find her dark sense of humor amusing. He didn't like making a big deal out of such things though - after all, the only other person he'd met at the Wing who didn't have a bit of a fucked sense of humor was Mika, who... had his own issues.
Angel swallowed nervously. "Uh, sorry Greg. I didn't mean to bother you." Gregory nodded slowly.
"No, it's fine." He sighed, then leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. "I... just be careful Angel, alright? If anything happened, I'd... the organization would miss you."
She gave an affectionate smile. "That's nice of you Greg, but we both know that you don't give a damn about the Wing."
He scoffed. "That's not true. Wasn't I talking just yesterday about how much I loved the Wing?"
She raised an eyebrow. "I believe your exact words were, if you'll excuse my language, 'Lobotomy Corp can go to fucking hell.'"
He chuckled. "You're taking that out of context. I believe what I said before that was-"
And just like that, the bell rang on the silver clock on the wall.
Slowly, the people in the mess hall started to stand and leave, one at a time. The chatter dulled and quieted, replaced by murmur and worries. With a sigh, Angel stood up and stretched.
"Looks like it's time to get to work, Greg." She smiled. "My team needs me. I'll stay safe for them, all right?" Gregory stood up and nodded, before pointing at her accusingly.
"You better promise that." And in response, Angel gave a gentle sigh.
"All right. I promise."