Mind Over Matter (Chris + Samantha)

[Chris Wilson]

2300, Oct 1st 2003; Hyperion Gym

Chris and Samantha had gone down to the gym after grabbing a late night meal. Chris needed to burn off some energy and get his mind off his thoughts from earlier. He needed to do something to change his focus, so why not a friendly game of one on one Pyramid. Chris tossed the ball out to Samantha. "Your ball Nova, Try not to let me steam roll you to much again." he prodded her with his comment then charged forward toward her, the score was 37-36 favoring Chris by one point.

She may have been small but she was fast and built like the ships bulkheads. He caught up to her and was standing to her back trying to keep her from pressing down the court. "so.. What do you think they got in store.." He paused as she broke past him and made it toward the goal. That was until he knocked in to her side nearly throwing her off balance and sending her to the floor bringing them to a halt once more.

Chris Reached down and offered her a hand up. "What they got in store for us at this run of the war games." He motioned his hand to make a 'T' to call for a time out as he caught his breath. They had been at it for over an hour now, and he could feel it. He didn't want to admit it but there were times he could tell he was no longer a young kid and able to go all day, not that he was in bad shape though or even that old, just not a kid anymore. "Got to let us old folks rest you know." He joked with her to avoid seeming serious. "But seriously any guesses on what you think they got planned."

Not that it was ever really that different. One group would play Colonials and the other side the Cylons. They would go at it for days and in the end they would stack the favor toward the colonials so they would win for the big media show boating efforts.

[Samantha Casey]

For Samantha the simulators could only do so much. Not being in a real cockpit, out in the black, zipping around through the stars made Sam edgy. She had way too much energy for one person to possess in general and unable to do what she truly loved left it all pent up inside her. To the outside observer she probably looked like a junkie the way she bounced her knee whenever seated, drummed her fingers on the mess table, or fiddled with the strands of hair that inevitably fell out of her tight bun. In an effort to release this aforementioned excess energy she had woken up at the crack of dawn, purely out of habit, gone for a run, spent as much time in the simulators as was allotted, then went for another, longer, faster run before showering (missing the fight between Tyler and Lars altogether) and ended up grabbing a late night meal with Chris. Still unable to release herself from the remaining energy she had taken Chris up on the offer to play a one-on-one game of pyramid.

Sam loved Pyramid. A game would certainly help to calm her anxious, aimless hands that yearned for her side-stick. That lovely hunk of metal with a soft plastic grip between her hands, gods it was almost better than sex….almost. She sighed.

For your listening pleasure

Her focus was instantly wrenched back to reality as a ball flew at her face. She caught it just in time, her hands lifted to eye level. She cocked an arching eyebrow at him, “Shut up Christopher,” she enjoyed using his full name, his reactions amused her to no end. With that she took off down the court toward the tip of the pyramid. Like her viper, Samantha was quick and light on her feet. What she lacked in muscle and sheer size in comparison to Chris she made up for in speed and agility. He caught up to her half way down and tried to block her from pressing further down the court. When he started to speak she took this as an opportunity. She ducked around him quickly and began racing towards the goal. Chris’s elbow stopped her forward momentum by jabbing into her side while his body rammed into hers and sent her sprawling to the floor. Damn him and his strength. She glared up at him but took his hand nonetheless.

“I don’t know,” she replied with a shrug, nodding at his ‘time out’ hand motion. She was also out of breath and in need of water. That didn’t mean that she couldn’t go on for hours. She was ready for another few games. She had to beat him of course. Sam nudged him in the shoulder with a smirky grin. “Need a break old man?” that teasing playful grin danced in her hazel eyes as she grabbed a water bottle, cracked the top and took a swig. "You've gotta say superiors, not old folks, unless you expect to never have sex with a woman again," she joked slapping him on the shoulder playfully again. She shook her head at him, "Have I taught you nothing as your wingman," she deadpanned, looking at him with a faux-serious expression which quickly morphed into an amused laughter.

“Probably the same as before, one side plays Colonials, the other side plays Cylons,” she shrugged nonchalantly. That wasn’t what she was thinking at all. Her mind had been buzzing with the possibilities of these war games and curious as to why this one seemed to be different. “We are going to the redline right? Do you think we will actually be fighting Cylons?” she asked her expression suddenly serious. She was quick to whip it back into place, composing her features into her signature effortless smile.

[Chris Wilson]

Chris stood there with her as they talked for a second enjoying the moment of rest. "Yeah I doubt it will be much different then it usually it. Same old game, we take turns playing the boogie-robots and every time we win the colonials are set to win. It gets old really but at least we will be out there doing something again." Chris stepped forward toward her as they were taking their break. "No if we head out to the Line we will spend five months floating out there."

Again he stepped forward a bit closer to her. "All those machines have rotted away in space by now, no one has seen a single sign of them in forty years now." Finally he steps in to only a few feet from her. "let me let you in on a little secret... never let your guard down." as he said the last part he batted the ball from her hands and tossed it toward one of the side panels of the court while he raced down toward his goal catching to ball as ricocheted back toward his new position. "You actually believe they are out there still Samantha?" He said as she caught up to him and came to try and slow his advance.

Chris may not have been a pro player but he was no slouch at it either. He weaved to the left to get her to react and as soon as she began to follow he bolted back to the right and lined up for the shot sending the ball sailing toward the hole. As his feet came back down to the ground he watched the ball sail close and closer all that could stop him from making another point now was a fiery little blonde not far from the goal.

[Samantha Casey]

Samantha’s face had been set in a serious expression, but even she couldn’t hold her stony composure long and burst into a laugh at her own suggestion ‘maybe they would find actual Cylons out there,’ yeah, and she had a million cubits. “Heh,” she scoffed to herself.

She shrugged. “Five months floating around. Eh, it could be worse. We could be stuck on a godforsaken planet doing manual labor and farming,” she teased Chris jokingly referring to what she would have been doing had she not joined the military on Sagittaron. Her birthplace was a point of controversy for many on the Hyperion. In fact many who didn’t know her and simply knew that she came from Sagittaron hated her on principle. It was a hard pill to swallow sometimes, but if anyone could break through someone else’s preconceived notions and blatant hatred towards her home planet it Samantha.

When Chris took a step closer to her the expression in her eyes was one of curiosity. Standing there, their proximity to one another was fairly narrow and she wondered why he needed to get so close. She had never been one of those people to dislike social interaction or have a strange need for distinct personal boundaries, but his words were what caught her attention more than the dissipating distance between their bodies. Her bottle was raised to her lips and she was taking another large swig of water, the ball cradled in the other arm in front of her when he swiped it from her. Her gaze morphed into a glare and she slammed her water bottled down onto the bench nearest her as she watched him for a second take off down the court after the ball. After a moment’s hesitation Samantha raced after him.

“How the frak should I know, I’m not ancient like you Captain, I wasn’t around during the first Cylon war,” she replied running past Chris towards the goal which the ball was hurtling towards a smirky smile on her face and that playful glint dancing in her hazel eyes once more. She jumped in an effort to deflect it but the ball made it through the hoop anyways. She caught the ball, threw it in the opposite direction allowing the ball to hit one of the boards and bounced off it as she sprinted towards her next victory. She left little time for Chris to take it from her as she grabbed the ball and ran towards the goal at the top of the pyramid doing a few tricky faints and turns around Chris as she went. “What do you think Chris?” she asked setting up a shot and jumping she hoisted the ball into the air, it rolled off her fingertips flying towards the goal. “Do you think they’re still out there?”

[Chris Wilson]

Chris' shot had made it mark widening the gap in score to 38-36, he now had a small lead. It was now just a matter of keeping it so she would not get ahead. He couldn't have the young pup betting him after all. "Hey now, I wasn't around during the first Cylon war either thank you very much."[/color] Chris had missed the first Cylon war by about seven years. Long enough for life to have settled back down after it. Aerilon was filled with battle scars back then though. He could remember as a child there were still building standing in part of the town that were half destroyed from the war. It was likely now forty years after the war that there were still a few that were left standing. Na Sollain was not known as a rich town and it had taken quite a toll in the war for such a small place.

It had though, it held a strong group position and both sides wanted their hands on it. Chris had never seen a Cylon and really never thought they would be seen again. "No there isn't anything left of them at this point"[/color] Chris followed Samantha down the court and toward the goal. Every step of the way she was ducking and weaving around him. Several times he almost had the ball but like Zeus bolt she was faster then one could react to some time.

They came to the end of the court and she let the small ball sore toward the goal. Chris didn't even make an effort to stop it. He was to far back and it was a perfect shot. "How about yourself think there is anything left out there, or any thoughts on where they went?"[/color] He walked over to her and grabbed the ball that had rolled back out toward then. Standing back up from grabbing it he placed his hand on her shoulder and smiled. "I guess though there are some out there still thinking they are out there or this ship wouldn't be around."[/color] The Hyperion had been proposed as a counter assault vessel for the Cylons. If they were to make an effort to go for the colonies the Hyperion would be at the point of crossing the line and heading for them, hunting them.

[Samantha Casey]

Samantha tried not to think about the possibility of the existence of Cylons. As much as she had wanted to become an ace viper pilot when she had first began her training in flight school and had hoped that one day she would outshine her peers by taking out some fierce competition and being written down in history books as a hero, she certainly didn’t like the idea that the enemy she would have to face would be the Cylons.

The blonde caught the ball as it sailed down from the hoop. Once again she tried to even the score between her and Chris. This was a game best won by the young. So long as she could tire him out at least. Samantha listened to what he said as she, holding the ball ran back and forth. Finally after much effort, Chris was not going to give up another point to her easily, and close to the goal again she stepped her right foot forward as if trying to get around Chris then turned in a clockwise circle switching the ball from her left hand to her right as she jumped up to dunk the ball into the hoop once more.

“I don’t think they’re out there. I mean, if they were why haven’t they done anything? What exactly are they waiting for?” she replied casually, “If they did exist I would guess they would go somewhere we aren’t,” she shrugged, “Beyond the redline is as good a place as any,” she remarked nonchalantly. “Yeah,” she scoffed. “Someone believes,” her voice trailed off as she glanced at the ground for a moment, “I guess it’s a good thing they do though, otherwise none of us would get to be here on the Hyperion and fly around in vipers for a living.” She shrugged again, “Of course maybe we’re really going out there to look for pirate.” At lot of the people from her home planet believed the Cylons were out there. Samantha had heard a lot of stories growing up. It was no wonder some thought the Sagittaron’s were either crazy hicks or simply dumb farmers with grand views.