Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval!
The team found themselves at their leisure after a few days without an anomaly to investigate, allowing for early days, should they so choose. Connor had taken the afternoon to go visit Duncan for the first time in a long while; it was both painful and a relief to see each other since Tom's death. Abby, surprisingly wasn't in a hurry to go home to her quiet flat, knowing that Rex would have been fed by Connor when he stopped in to pick up some DVDs on his way to Duncan's; besides Stephen was here helping Cutter with reports for Lester and she wouldn't mind the opportunity to chat with him during a break. With that thought in her head she quickly headed to the electric kettle to heat some water for tea. It was as good an excuse to drop in on Cutter and Stephen as any.
The SFs on duty were newer members of the ARC, only a couple of months of experience working with the anomalies and the team of civilians that seemed determined to face death-by-prehistoric-beast on a regular basis. Blackwell and Parsons were not at all bothered by working with civilians, only that Professor Cutter enjoyed ignoring the chain of command as often as possible, and protecting a bunch of scientists from their own curiosity is occasionally more dangerous than the beasts themselves.
It was a not-so-very-well-kept secret that the SFs would often gossip amongst themselves, primarily about the civilian team; unfortunately they had not considered that they should watch their conversation topics while inside the ARC and double-check that their radios were not transmitting their conversation to anyone in possession of a radio themselves when Blackwell leaned against a railing and jammed the button on his radio.
Abby entered Cutter's office with three mugs of tea and before she could say anything she saw Cutter place his finger against his lips to silently shush her. Confused, she set down the tea and approached the desk to notice that the men had one of the field radios on the desk between them, listening to chatter as they worked. Her interest peaked; she set down the mugs quietly and pulled up a chair to listen in.
"...team is unnaturally pretty." Blackwell's voice was heard saying.
"I know what you mean, a pack of models strutting around the place." Parsons responded.
"Do you think they just happened to be that pretty? Or did Lester require a headshot of his scientists before he hires them?" Both men could be heard laughing.
'Well that answers the question of what team their talking about,' thought Abby as she glanced at her teammates grinning at the radio on the desk.
"Take Cutter, that accent alone makes people stop in their tracks around here. I know I certainly don't mind listening to him tossing out information like his lecturing one of his classes." Parsons' voice took on a decidedly conspiratorial tone.
"That's for sure. Cutter had to have full classes at University; I can just imagine all those young students staring dreamily up at their brilliant professor with the ruggedly handsome face. Not sure I would have been taking notes if any of my professors looked like that at uni. Never mind visiting his office, between him and his lab assistant, I'd have never gotten a full sentence out when I was a student. Now Hart, there's one exceptionally good-looking lab assistant. The tracking skills, and the way he handles a gun, that man could pull anyone he fancies, man or woman."
"Why don't you just bend over for him already?" Parsons laughed.
"Shut up. Just saying, if I were him, I'd never sleep alone." Blackwell's voice was thick with embarrassment.
"You won't hear me disagreeing, mate. He looks like he should be on the cover of a magazine, sure enough. The man bleeds self-confidence and carries his gun like he was born to it."
Stephen looked pleased with himself and grinned smugly at Abby and Cutter.
"Maitland is a little firecracker, isn't she? All feisty determination wrapped up in a short tartan skirt. A man would be stupid not to fancy her. I'm sure she's been the star of more than one wet-dream in this building." Blackwell chuckled, "not to mention the occasional voice calling her name during a post-mission shower."
"Hand the girl a snake and most men in this place are immediately adjusting their trousers." Parsons paused for a moment. "Probably some women too, now I think about it."
"Now there's a picture." Blackwell's laugh was a little lower this time.
There was a lull in the conversation as quiet greetings were shared with some other personnel roaming the halls. Abby took the time to take a sip of tea, hoping that holding the mug with both hands would shield her flaming checks. She wasn't sure if she would ever stop blushing as she avoided eye-contact with her teammates.
"What about Temple though?" Blackwell picked up the conversation again, presumably after the two men were alone again. "Under all those layer's he's got a figure worth looking at, to be sure. Caught the kid changing in the lockers more than once, all pale skin over a lean frame. I'm not the only one to look either, I can tell you that." Blackwell's statement made all three civilian teammates startle and glance at one another.
"That kid doesn't notice half the looks he's shot around here, I'm sure. Even the rest of the team seems to be pretty oblivious to the way the lads watch Temple."
"Yeah, well the civilians don't seem to notice him anymore than they notice us." It was hard to tell what emotion was tinting Blackwell's voice over the radio, but Abby suspected it was a slight bitterness.
"That's the truth. Shame too, he's openly chasing Maitland's skirt and she hardly spares a glance for the poor kid, let alone Cutter and Hart." Parsons' words brought frowns to all of the listeners' faces.
"What a waste. All that puppy-like energy and enthusiasm most make him one hell of a bedmate."
"Are you kidding? The kid has to be a virgin, all that awkward rambling and obvious self-esteem issues, no way that kid's been laid."
"Whoever does finally snag him will certainly have their hands full, but they'll be lucky. No doubt about it." Blackwell stated with certainty.
"Well, yeah, that arse has to be worth the trouble."
"Not to mention that mouth. He goes off on something or another and I can't hear a word of it, too busy watching his lips move and imagining them wrapped around my cock." It was Parsons' turn to laugh at Blackwell's words.
"Oh I know what you mean. Those big brown eyes staring up at me while he's on his knees. I am not ashamed to admit I've considered it."
"It's more than that, more than the pretty eyes and fit body, if it was just looks, more people would be watching the others more than Temple." Blackwell stated confidently.
"What?" Abby said at the same time as Parsons voice rang out from the radio, "What do you mean?"
"Come on, who in the Special Forces doesn't know someone who's had a lover or spouse step out on them while they were on a mission? Thing is, a bloke like Temple, he would be totally and completely devoted to anyone who took the time to show him a little affection. Hell, look how loyal he is to his team, and they treat him like a nuisance whenever they don't need him to pull out some genius solution or risk his life. Hell, the story I heard about his mate getting infected with some parasite and going crazy? Temple stood between his friend and a veritable firing squad to talk him down. Held the poor bastard as he died. Who doesn't want that kind of loyalty directed at them?" Blackwell's words had the whole team staring at each other, completely gob smacked.
"Now you mention it, it would be nice having all that attention and focus directed at one person. Got to be nice to know that kind of devotion would belong to you." Parsons spoke in a drawn-out and far-away tone like he was seriously considering Connor for the first time. "If he ever gives up on his teammates, I imagine the competition for his attention will get pretty intense."
"If the kid weren't so oblivious to everyone outside his team, he'd probably notice that it already is. Just the other day I saw more than one of the lads flexing their muscles in his general direction in the lockers, and he didn't even realize it." Blackwell laughed.
"One of those guys was you, wasn't it?" Parsons' deadpanned.
"Might have been." Blackwell's voice was even, unashamed. After a moment he continued, "Well, if either Cutter or Hart don't just bend him over a desk soon, I doubt the lads are going to be able to keep their hands to themselves much longer."
"Hell, I doubt any of them even realize that they have Temple so tied up in knots that he doesn't even notice anyone else, and if they did, I'm not really sure they'd care."
"If they did want him though, who do you reckon would win him over?" Blackwell asked suddenly.
"Well, as much as he fawns over Maitland, my money would be on Cutter. A good word from him and the kid lights up like a Christmas tree." Parsons replies after a brief pause.
"Yeah, but have you seen how closely he watches Hart? Not even sure he's aware of it."
"You two!" Lester's voice broke through the conversation between the SFs. "If you are done broadcasting your conversation to anyone with a radio, than perhaps you would be so kind as to shut up and get back to doing what I pay you for!" Lester's voice steadily rose in volume and after some shuffling noises the radio went silent.
After a moment of silence, Cutter looked away from the radio a little shocked. Connor was in the middle of all kinds of less-than-honorable attention and he had never noticed. He found himself feeling a surge or protectiveness towards his former student.
"Well, I must say I am glad Connor wasn't here to listen to that. Can't imagine how embarrassed he'd be." Cutter broke the silence and looked to his teammates. Abby had a pouty little frown on her face which Cutter found indecipherable. On the other hand Stephen looked to be rather lost in thought.
"How about we call it a night, I'm sure we could all use some sleep before the next anomaly." With that they all three teammates rose and murmured their goodbyes distractedly.
AN: I'm not entirely sure where I want to go with this yet, so please bare with my irregular updates! Thank you!