Ordering the Fools[JT]

[Ben Shirley]

Everyone was having fun, and despite the fact that the whole group of men would be worked to the bone once morning came. They had to enjoy the time they had now, and made sure not to get Captain Patterson mad. They still had to give him a suitable cake, which was coming in, but it would take a bit of time. It was a good thing that Captain Patterson didn't get hunger until the cake was ready, and on top of that, he was having the time of his life. It was one of those nights in the war, that you will remember forever, even after death. Not one of those horrific night that would change your outlook on life forever, nor any of those operations gone wrong stuff. It was, one of those nights that would probably stay in your memory, a happy memory that you wished that you could relive. At the end of the war, you really want to relive everything. Such, was a joy.

Soon, the cart that had the mountain-sized cake came rolling in. Since the soldiers didn't know what kind of flavor Captain Patterson liked, so instead, they let Captain Patterson have his own custom cake with his most favorite flavors. They brought almost every kind of cream and such so he could do it himself. But of course, he gave the order, the men got the job done. It's always been like that for as long as Ben could remember, you get an order from a superior, you don't ask questions and get your ass moving to finish the order. Ben walked up beside Captain Patterson, and gave him a pat on the back while having a grin on his face.

"This is for you Captain Patterson. Tell us what flavors you want on that delicious cake, and we shall get the job done."

[MAJ Patterson]

Patterson just kept watching as the men danced about a bit and shared stories, laughing and smiling all the while, he was glad they could share this, the amount of troops present really spoke to him. He thought of all the times he had to come down on some of them, but he was doing it solely for their benefit, so mistakes never happened again, or at least the chances they would remained slim. He watched as every so often someone would try some stunt so show off usually ended alright, better then the rest could do, the occasional mishap came about now and again, but no one seemed hurt, and if they were they wouldn't show it, not and ruin the night.

Then it was as if some force parted the crowd and a semi large cart came wheeling it's way to the center of the mass and a hand landed itself on his back, he turned quickly to face one of the Corporals that braved the waters to allow this to happen. Henry smiled and offered the young man a more personal thank you, and firm hand shake with a serious look and a nod as if to say 'You did good man and I'm thankful.' and with a wink he listened to him explain what was going on and it drew somewhat quiet, most of the men looking either at him or the cake, it may as well have been a huge pile of money the way they stared, course luxuries like cake never came around. "What? No, no, you guys have at it, dig in, get what you want, I'll grab a plate of whatever is left after you've had your fill." He might have tried to look the part of high and mighty in the past, which he never tried to come off as, but he wasn't where he was if it hadn't been for the men that followed him, it was the least he could do for them. That and he had noticed the other brave Corporal fade away back toward the building and it had reminded him that he had indeed told the man to meet him at his office.

Patterson watched as the attention was rapidly turned and thoroughly focused on the treat at hand, and he slipped away for a few moments while he had the least chance of being spotted.

* * *

Upon arriving near his own office door there sat the missing Corporal looked to be asleep. The Captain walked up almost toe to toe with him. "For the record, I'm just gonna say you were praying." when the man looked up he would give him a wink so he knew it was ok. If he tried to salute he would wave it off, no need, not right now, they may have all been soldiers, but tonight, they were just going to enjoy this small escape from reality. "Why don't you come eat some cake, no telling how long it will last and I wanna drive around and guess who ate what by the colors they splatter on the ground in the morning." he said as he turned the upper half of his body and threw a closed hand with a thumb protruding over his shoulder. Was simply a joke as that was probably a disgusting game, but it sounded good at the moment.

[Cpl. Robert Anderson]

Robert awoke to the sound of a jeep pulling up. He was dreary at first but soon realized that he had fallen asleep at the Captain's Office. He looked at his watch quickly and was relieved to see that he was only asleep for about fifteen minutes. He saw the Captain start walking towards him. Great... He thought to himself as he stood and straightened his coat. He was about to throw up a salute when he heard the Captain make an actually quite funny remark. Robert looked at the man's face and saw him wink. He smiled just to show that he understood.

Robert was about to explain when the Captain kept speaking. He heard what he said and cracked a smile and a small chuckle but that faded. He replied by saying, "Sir. Mind if I be blunt with ya? I ain't the kinda guy to party, get drunk, and passout with a bunch of other yahoos. But I will take you up on that there offer of the cake. I can't even remember the last time I ate it." He said with a small laugh on the end t bring up the mood that was already very good for some reason. Robert was happy for the Captain. He might not particularly like him but, it was enough to look at the war from his standpoint. Patterson was in war before Robert was probably even born.

Robert started walking towards the jeep when he saw a man start to stumble out of the hangar. He was obviously drunk by the way he staggered about. He made it about three steps tword Robert and said, "May I have this...dance?" In between the pause there was almost a hiccup/belch. Before the man could say anything else he fell over. Passed clean out.

[Ben Shirley]

It was weird for Ben, to see that Captain Patterson was so humble and let everyone eat the cake before him. But just in case, since there was no guarantee that there was going to be any cake left for Patterson to actually eat, signaled for his brothers to take a slice for themselves and then take an extra slice and keep it so that Patterson could eat it in the morning. This was probably the last good cake they would taste in their lives, since they would need to live through the war first. Also, being a captain, thats a crap load of work to do during the day and night. So a good sugar booster would probably do wonders for Patterson.

But, they still enjoyed themselves. Sending Joseph to put the cakes in their bunkers, the rest of the Shirley Brothers drank, talked to each other, and teased each other all the like. It was supposed to be an night to remember, and it was going to be remembered for as long as they live, which was pretty completely undetermined during war. During war, your life span can change in an instant. Usually, alot of the newcomers don't follow the very simple rule.

"Grenades are your friend, until they leave your hand."

But what do they do? They throw the grenade, see it on the floor, say sorry to it, and then cuddle it like a loving mother. But, sorry doesn't cut it, and they get blasted in the face by shrapnel. It was a bad sight to see, as you get the feeling that you are surrounded by idiots. But, whether they were idiots or not, every soldier in the army was trained to shoot and trained to rely on their teammates. Because when war is involved, your going to need alot of friends. If you don't got friends, you better start pulling some out of the ass as if they were toilet paper.

The night was quite young, but Ben was already starting to get tired. Not drinking enough to actually get drunk, the Shirley Brothers headed to their bunkers, so they could get sleep and prepare for Patterson's hell tomorrow. He was nice, but he wasn't that nice. The worst he could do Ben thought, was make them go into the front lines with only a pen, ourselves, and no clothes. As they say, "The pen is mightier than the gun."

Whoever made that shit, was as stupid as hell.

[Nathan Whyte]

Closure

'Aight, let's divy up what you all want then:

Cpl Shirley: 7 posts - 9CP All post above 15 lines, but I think it's in you to pull out whopping page-long essays, it's something I'd reccomend of you.

Cpt. Patty 7 Posts - 9CP Similar length to Shirley's.

Cpl. Anderson: 5 Posts - 6 CP Less posts, therefore less CP. Simple equation.