One Night
One Night, Part 1
Summary: Sage requests something from Ramiro. It must be the beer, right?
Date: 156 ACH
Related Logs: None
Players:
Sage..Ramiro..

It's all cheesy, till someone loses a heart…I don't do a lot of drama, but this just fit so well. ;)

SETTING: Backdrop - Broken by Seether and Amy Lee

I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
I keep your photograph; I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

‘Cause I’m broken when I’m lonesome
And I don’t feel right when you’re gone away

You've gone away, you don't feel me here — anymore

-=============================================================================-

Panther Sports Bar Carina - Bar

156 ACH 24438 Souls


This bar is a place for the customers to relax and enjoy not only the drinks and food served, but also some major sporting events known to the colonies. The large, central bar is stocked with liquor of multiple kinds from every colony. The surrounding area has tall leather-topped stools and high tables. The walls are lined with low booths and on every surface possible is sports memrobilia.

Signed posters of Franklin Grofield, Vinnie Sinclair, Samuel Anders, and other sports figures are competing for space with Pyramid balls, catchers mitts, skis, bats, all with a signature on them and all affixed to the walls in some fashion. The bar also features large vapor Crystal screens that can show live images of sporting events over the Colonial Sports Network, or when the CSN isn't broadcasting anything worthwhile, there is a library of sporting events from Boxing to Pyramid.

-=============================================================================-

The rumors were true. Not only had Dane Ramiro returned to the Carina but this time he was sporting a new battlescar on his face! At least that's what a few of the children where whispering as lunchtime neared. With a duffelbag for leave and his jersey on his shoulders, he's an easy man to spot, what with how his name is simply on the jersey itself. With a wave to the bartender and a few nods from the Pyramid fans who've seen him play, he smirks at a few new pictures on the wall of their games on the Carina, immortalizing them in the sportsbar wall of history alongside the other various greats of the sport. Finding a booth, he slides into it with his back to the door for a change and orders some food. Eyes on the large monitor in the distance watching a replay of a match he's seen three times, he still manages to find interest in it.

Sage did hear about the cylons and the scars and the marines, pilots, and any others through the rumor mills, information and kids talking. Most times she believes her kids talking, cause they have a slice of truth in it all. Having finished a practice this morning and then a quick shower, she heads into the bar. Once there, she looks around for a familiar face and only sees his back. Making her way in that direction.

The first thing that Sage will notice is the scarring on the left side of his head. Apparently by the looks of it, a bullet missed his face but only barely. The face mostly left alone, the scar is a wide line about an inch in width that streaks from the very far portion of his upper jaw to cut diagonally under his left earlobe. Many of the marines have grazing scars, and Ramiro is no exception in this case. Something nearly took his head off, but didn't. Not sensing her, Dane lifts up the paper with a menu of sorts on it, a very small variety of food but lately there's a selection for a change. All with premium pricing. These are luxuries, not rations.

Sage smiles as she reaches the table and then just plops down in the booth across from him, "Hello, Snipershot." The smile continuing, although it begins to fall slowly as she does see the new scar. A slow blink following.

Dane looks up to see Sage and grins at the sound of his name. Sure enough, that grin falters a little as she's staring at her scar. He's got many of them, he doesn't mind, and shows it by giving her a little shrug. "Who'd have thought that they were reviewing film of me playing pyramid to practice their aim, right?" He offers, being relaxed about it. "How you been, Sagey?"

Sage begins to chuckle a bit after that, "Darnit, Dane. Don't you know how to duck?" Another curled lip smile comes across as she reaches for the new and improved menu. Glancing at the premium of it all now, she tosses it aside. "Better than you, it seems. How long in the hospital?"

"It was only a graze. Took my helmet off in the process but it was only a graze. So there I was bleedin all over myself on the battlefield no less." He says with a roll of his eyes. "Two days to make sure, followed by another three of not talking while waiting for the stitches to get the most of their hold. Happiest week of their lives, me having to slur my words like that." He smiles. "So how you been?"

Sage waits for the iced tea to arrive, which is about all she orders here and they know it by heart. Leaning an elbow on the table, she puts chin in hand and watches the marine across from her, "I've been good. And, wondering if you really did tell a couple of the girls you'd wait for them to grow up." The smile forms again.

"Wh'wait…what?" Dane blinks, tilting his head a little bit, smiling back at her. "Wow…no…I didn't say anything like that. Some kids developing crushes on me Sage? Who do I gotta watch out for since you know me…I'm oblivious to seeing these sorts of signs and horrible at reading signals. As much as a tactician I am, some things you have to put in front of my face." He chuckles, motioning to the menu. "Pitcher of beer?"

Sage begins laughing, "Oh it is far too late for that. Little girls get crushes on big, tough guys. You'll just have to deal with it." She gives a thought about the beer and then nods, "Why not, it's been awhile since I had some." Taking a sip of the tea, she sets it back down and cants her head now too, "What about you? Any older women after the hero now after giving him time to mourn?"


The worst is over now and we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
There’s so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

‘Cause I’m broken when I’m open
And I don’t feel like I am strong enough
‘Cause I’m broken when I’m lonesome
And I don’t feel right when you’re gone away


Dane turns to the server, ordering his food and the pitcher of beer with two glasses. Giving Sage time to order as well, he waits till the server is out of earshot before he rubs the back of his neck. Half-grunting as he talks, he shrugs. "I'm not sure half the time. I'm seriously cursed, Sage, I'm pretty sure of that in fact." He looks to her, reclining back in his end of the booth a bit as he drapes his arms over the top of it. "How do I say this without coming across as…an ass…" He says to himself, looking back to her. He lets out a small sigh, not an upset one but a lightly conflicted one. "…Hera, blessed mother of marriage, tends to be a common issue with me and women now. Some people say move on. Others say get stupid drunk and let the good times roll while I got em. Others say that feelings for me are a point of shame, fearing revenge by the goddess herself."

Sage gets comfortable in the booth, moving to lean back against the side wall and putting her legs up on the rest of the booth itself. She keeps her attention across the table as she listens. "So, either go enjoy life, since it is so short," her eyes moving to the scar on his face, "Which could be shorter than you think at times.." a slight shrug, "Or keep to the faith and find someone again. Or be alone. Tough choices there." She raises her tea and takes another long sip of the cool liquid.

"Yeah no kidding right. Trust me, I've already made my decision. I'm going to enjoy life and move on. Sure, it might make people uncomfortable but Nico would want me to do that. She'd want me to stay alive, move on, maybe even have a child of my own to pass on. What's the use of this repopulation thing if a young guy like myself simply steps back from it right?" Dane replies, shrugging a little bit. In the distance, the server is approaching with a pitcher and two filled glasses. Fame and Service have their benefits. "Can I ask you an honest question, Sage?"

Sage nods to the words, as he is probably right about his late wife. Not that she would know. Getting distracted by the pitcher, she does notice the beer looks better than she thought. "Homemade these days.." she murmurs and then turns back after smiling to the waiter and glancing to Dane. "Certainly, what's on your mind?"

Taking a moment to grab a finger-morsel of breaded food from his basket and popping it, Dane scarfs down the food quickly and swallows. Looking over the beer, he sets the pitcher aside so that he can sit up straight and talk with her as they drink. "Say you have a longtime friend that there's always been…tension with on a personal level. You're a girl, well…a woman, but if a girl likes you but is ashamed of her feelings for you, how does this sort of thing generally work out for women? Because men's brains work differently. I'm a late bloomer on even dating, so…go figure."

Sage picks up a piece also once the food gets sat down. She continues to chew on it and is ready to alternate between finishing her iced tea and starting on the beer. The iced tea is lifted up and when the question is asked, she just kinda pauses there, doing the eye blink over the edge of the glass itself. It takes a moment for her mouth and brain to sync up again and she finally swallows without choking. Wiping the edge of her mouth with a finger tip, she clears her throat a little. "Ashamed of feelings? Sounds kinda weird, Dane." Putting on her best professional voice here now. He's not talking about her. "If she is ashamed and pinning it on you, well, I'd say she has some major issues."

Dane downs a large drink from his pint of beer. A marine sized gulp. Setting the glass down, he shrugs lightly to always play the part of the understanding one. "Yeah who knows, right?" Dane replies, looking across the table to her. "If there's anything I've got right now it's a need to be painfully honest about some things, especially after all of the mixed feelings I had surrounding the marriage to begin with. In the end everything was good. Nico's a great girl, but when you take a guy like myself deciding to move forward when everyone knew Nico, I feel like there's this huge weight on my back about the idea to have to explain or detail through someone's feelings about whether or not they were second choice, or second best. It's not about that, it never will be. I'm not that kind of guy, you know?"

Sage watches him as she listens. Her own female brain parsing that as she reaches out for some other piece of fried food to nibble on. Taking up a napkin afterward, she wipes her fingers. "I don't think you need complications. But, then, it isn't my business either really. Do you love her? I mean, obviously there has been something going on there for awhile, just not voiced or focused on."

"Love? Gods I don't want to touch that topic with a ten foot pole for a while, you know? I mean moving forward is one thing, but that? That doesn't make me sound callous does it?" Dane asks, picking up his glass again to watch Sage. "I'm pretty sure you can guess the person, the general run down is this for clarification's sake. Way before we met, or even Nico and I met, there was this officer girl and there was some tension, but I was enlisted at the time. Big no-no in the fleet sorta stuff. Then I got mustanged, which started all the drama with Nico. Then you came in and made me realize just how much I need to pay attention to how I feel." He pauses for a sip of his beer. "I don't want to seem insensetive with you, Sage, because we're close but some things got said feelings wise on the Genesis, but then were doubled on with being ashamed of the feelings and it's so damned awkward that I can't tell if I'm causing anyone more pain. Sure, I don't need complication, it doesn't help me at all. I don't consider dating to be complication, but I sure as frak don't wanna be a living monolith of guilt for anyone, much less myself. I'm getting pieces taken out of me one week at a time and although I'm surviving this bitch of a war, I want time with me to be …" He pauses, searching for a word.

"….uncomplicated?" Sage may help or not. She does end up smiling though, "I'm sorry if I added any problems with all that. It was just kinda instinct. You, me, the moment in time." She goes for the beer now. "I mean, sure, what girl wouldn't want you to wake up too, or to even go to sleep too. We all have our little fantasy vices, I suppose." Drink.

Playfully, Dane flares his nostrils in Sage's direction as he gives her a matter-of-factly look and a salute with his glass. "You gettin ideas from those girls you keep an eye out for?" He says slyly, winking as he goes to take another sip from his beer. "Yes. Uncomplicated is a good word. That or…" He shrugs. "…lacking confliction. And don't be ashamed of what happened on the court, you know as well as I do that, well…" He leaves that one hanging with a shrug. The truth behind that moment evident. "So what about you, Sage, you got a line of fans around here, have you had someone to keep you interested around this place?"

Sage has to smile after that and sets her glass of beer aside. "Me? Sure, who doesn't have them hanging around? But, I've pretty much put my interest in those kids. Court life. Can't always have military heroes around, right? It's nice to still have people look up to you even in all this mess we have got ourselves into. Heck with the politics and the ravings of madmen and the craziness of all the rest." She takes another drink and sets it down.

"Gods wait till the kids see the new scar, I don't think it's gonna be ugly in the end but I'll never get rid of it. Don't want to. It's oddly good for morale." Dane replies, grinning quietly as he takes one more sip and sets his nearly empty glass aside. "Is there anything you need, Sage, that I can help with?" He asks her quietly, watching her from across the table. "I'm here for the weekend, and I was thinking of you bringing the kids to the court tomorrow for a few games…"

Sage watches him quietly, her thoughts off somewhere else it seems. But they still seem to encompass the marine across from her. His question has to be rethought for a moment, "Nothing you can do." She reaches out to pick up another piece of food again, and the nodding continues, "Games, sure. They'd like that."

"Nothing I can do?" Dane asks with a slight turn of his head as he pops another morsel of food. Watching her for a moment, he leans forward a little bit. "There's lots of things that I can do, Sage, I've got more pull than you'd expect." He says, refilling his glass and offering to fill hers.

Sage shifts her gaze to the beer as it is refilled and places her hand around it. When her gaze comes back to his as he leans closer, she removes her hand and then folds her arms on the table in front of her. Her own eyes meet his green ones. The sigh is slowly let outward, very slowly, "I .." she comes to a pause, "You want honestly and all? Okay, here it is. I want a night with you. No complications. No regrets. Just a night. Then, you can go back to your girl and do whatever it is you need to do."


‘Cause I’m broken when I’m open
And I don’t feel like I am strong enough
‘Cause I’m broken when I’m lonesome
And I don’t feel right when you’re gone away


Dane looks to Sage from across the table. While the expression isn't blank, it's definitely a Triad face of the sorts as he pauses to read her expression. His cheeks turn a soft red color, not quite what he was expecting, but he doesn't look surprised as he finds her eyes with his. His pint of beer sweats for a moment. Tilting his head a little, Dane watches her with his sniper's eyes as he brings the glass of beer to his lips and drinks. Setting the glass down, he lowers his voice as he replies to her. "Yeah?"

Sage grasps the beer glass now and drags it across the table toward her. Rivilets of condensation run down hers too and she doesn't worry about her own sweaty palm as it mingles with the water there. "Yeah. No one has to know." Her eyes moving to the foam beginning to dissipate and raises the glass, taking a very long drink. When she lowers it, she glances across to him again. Tossing that ball back into his court, one more time.

Dane watches Sage, eyes blinking as she notes that no one has to know. There's a certain strange loneliness to him, and his eyes close only slightly to have a small smile form on his lips. "Not so much for keeping many secrets anymore." He says, still watching her closely. Taking up his glass, he offers her another smile and moves to tap glasses with her. "…what are we gonna do with all this beer?"

Sage returns the clinking, "I mean, you know. I don't suppose you'd really want her finding out, right?" She takes a quicker drink now. A glance to the beer and then back to the table. "I guess, we drink it." Pulling in a deep breath and bringing her gaze back to his now, the quirky look coming back. "We can always blame it on being drunk. Best excuse out there." The nervousness is now showing through in her movements.


‘Cause I’m broken when I’m lonesome
And I don’t feel right when you’re gone

You've gone away, you don't feel me here — anymore

To be continued…

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