Disclaimer: I do not own Robotech; wish I did, but I don't. Harmony Gold does.
"So, getting into anything tonight?" he asked before raising the steaming hot mug of coffee to his lips and taking a sip. Lisa watched him out of the corner of her eye as he leaned against the edge of her desk. Swiveling her chair to face him she crossed her legs and leaned back slightly, trying to appear relaxed even though she was anything but. In fact she was sure he would be able to hear her heart beating furiously against her ribcage.
"Not really, no. Why?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even. Even after all this time he still made her nervous.
"Just curious, Friday night and all," he asked nonchalantly. He took another drink of his coffee and yawned. Just as she was about to respond Lt. Hutchinson walked up to them. The pilot slapped Rick on the back, causing him to nearly spill his coffee.
"Commander," he nodded in greeting towards Lisa. She shook her head at the boisterous young man but he ignored her, instead turning his attention to his squadron commander. "So boss, you rollin' with us tonight or what?"
Rick coughed into his hand and looked at her. "Gonna' have to pass tonight Hutch, already have plans."
The pilot looked back and forth from Lisa to Rick before shrugging his shoulders. "Your loss bro, see you on the flight line," he responded before taking his leave, high-fiving a confused Vanessa on his way out of flight ops.
Lisa watched Rick take another drink of coffee and shake his head at Skull's self appointed morale officer. If there was one constant in all their lives, it was certainly Matt Hutchinson's ability to have a good time. He was a good pilot, but an even better friend, and there wasn't a man or woman stationed at Fokker Field that didn't have a soft spot for the fighter jock.
Lisa shifted nervously in her seat, wondering just what Rick had meant when he had told Hutch that he already had plans. As if reading her mind he asked, "How does a couple movies and some takeout sound?"
She gave him a shy smile. "Sounds great, I'm off at 1800," she couldn't contain the overly excited tone in her voice. He grinned, pushing up from her desk and stifled another yawn.
"See you then Commander," he raised his coffee mug and nodded at her before turning and leaving flight ops. They had shared countless Friday nights this way, and even though she knew it wasn't really a date at the moment she couldn't have cared less.