Jack Cooper, recognized as a galactic hero, has returned to Harmony and been reunited with BT-7274. Pilot Sola Kione notices that despite this, he eats alone, and extends a flag of friendship with a simple cereal bar. She isn't the only one to notice his arrival, but Rifleman Nathaniel Ryan isn't quite as outgoing. Maybe just a little push can get Ryan to step outside his comfort zone enough to say hello…
'Little Wonders' is a roleplay-adaptation written by AO3 user Kieran (SunGryphon) and myself; a second-look at the AU 'Take my Hand' coupled with the Protocol Three AU '100% in Love/Admiration, Attraction, Devotion and Respect" AO3 series by Kie, where we dive deeper into the what ifs and what they can bring.
Cover drawn by shedarart on tumblr
The mess hall was noisy, but it was a good kind of noise. People were happy, jubilant even, that they were still alive. The tile floors and plasticrete walls reverberated with the sounds of laughter and conversation. They'd won the battle, and had hope, even if the war still had no end in sight.
Pilot Jack Cooper sat alone at one of the tables, eating something they claimed was cornbread, but managed to not look or taste anything like it. He looked at it skeptically, wrinkling his nose and narrowing his eyes at it, as if that would suddenly turn it into real cornbread. People swirled around him on their way to and from other tables, occasionally grabbing his shoulder, patting his back, or offering a wrist for a bump. He'd said 'Thanks, but I was just doing what anyone would do' so many times that the reply had become automatic, and he wondered if he'd ever actually be able to finish eating, not that he really wanted to, if he was honest with himself.
Pilot Sola Kione was also skeptical that the food they'd been served was actually food. She stared at her tray, then headed for her usual table before she realized it was full. She sighed dramatically and made faces at her crew as she passed them, scanning for an open seat somewhere else. Her eyes passed by the ACE table, the grunt table, the cadet table, and something that looked suspiciously like a soccer mom pep rally table, dismissing each in turn. Her eyes fell on Cooper a moment later and she nodded to herself. That will do.
She slid onto the bench across from Cooper with her chin perched on her hand, smiling impishly as her tray picked up her momentum and kept going after she'd stopped. She casually reached out a hand to halt its movement before it toppled off the table, her chin never leaving her other hand, her eyes never leaving the other pilot.
"Greetings, Destroyer of the Great Typhon," she smirked, a playful twinkle in her amber eyes.
"Thanks, but I was just doing what anyone would do," said Cooper, before startling a bit that someone had actually sat down with him. "Uh.. I mean... nice catch!" He opened another serving packet of butter and smeared it across the cornbread, his expression less hopeful and more resigned.
Kione laughed, sitting up and flipping her thick black braid from one shoulder to the other. She picked up her fork and stabbed at the cornbread, looking at it blankly as the cornbread defied her efforts to puncture it with a resounding clunk.
"This isn't cornbread," Jack muttered, then grabbed a bite of something that may have been a carrot. She shook her head and turned her attention to the rest of her food.
"What are doing sitting over here alone, Pilot?"
"Honestly, it's because I couldn't decide where to sit. It wasn't that long ago I was just a Rifleman, but I still have a hard time believing I'm a Pilot, even after everything that's happened." He stabbed another hapless vegetable with his fork, "You're... Kione, right?"
"That's mah name, don't wear it out." The other pilot chuckled, reaching into one of her pockets and coming up with a handful of cereal bars, offering one to Cooper. "Don't touch the meat today. Cookie can't cook pork very well."
Cooper took the bar with a nod, "Thanks for the warning, and for this." He waggled the cereal bar before setting it aside and taking another bite of veggies.
"The family calls you Coop, but I'm guessing you'd rather be called Cooper?" she asked, opening one of the bars.
"I'm fine with either. I got used to Coop but then when I got promoted..." His mouth quirked up in a half smile, "Well, maybe I do like Cooper better."
Kione cackled and took a bite of her bar, chewing quietly and swallowing. "They rub off on ya, huh? All right, Cooper. Anyone Lastimosa would trust with BT, I'll at least gladly respect their choice of form of address."
Cooper's face briefly broke into a sunny grin at the mention of BT's name, which Kione noted with a slightly raised eyebrow, before he carefully schooled himself into a more neutral expression, giving up on the food on the tray and opening the cereal bar instead.
"How long have you been a pilot?" he asked, then took a bite and sighed happily. She finished her cereal bar before answering.
"Let's see... Two years... one month...and maayybbbee 13 days, give or take. Hmph, you'd think by now they'd finally promote me. But I guess not," she replied, glaring at the vegetables on her plate, picking through them and muttering about texture.
"Heh, there's spots in the system where I'm still recorded as a Rifleman. Do you want to get promoted?"
"It'd be nice, I could buy more cereal bars..." Kione looked longingly at her empty wrapper, before smirking and looking back at Cooper, "However, they all know I suck at taking responsibility. It'll probably take a near death experience for that to change."
"Yeah, I know what that feels like. Of course, I had the near death experience and I still don't want that kind of responsibility."
"Shit... I could never almost lose my titan like that. I'm glad to see him back, and with a good pilot too. You're a natural. " She looked around the mess, noticing that most everyone had finally sat down. The conversations, while still boisterous, seemed muted as more mouths opened for food than for talking.
"I don't recommend it," he said, and frowned slightly. A moment later he brightened and flicked his fingers in a wave at someone who called "Hey Coop!" from a nearby table. "It's... I dunno what your Titan is like but... BT is a friend. It was ... heh... it was not something I'd discuss over dinner." He picked up the remainder of the cereal bar and stuffed it in his mouth. Kione glanced over at the person who'd called out to Cooper, noticing that someone sitting at the same table had turned his head and was staring intently in their direction. Even at this distance, she could see the bright green of his eyes.
"I understand." She continued to watch from the corner of her eye as green eyes said something quietly to the soldier next to him and got a nod in return, and his face turned a little paler than before. He continued to stare until he was startled out of it by the hearty back-slap delivered by the guy on his other side, and turned his attention back to his food, but still snuck glances now and then. Cooper finally finished chewing the chunk of cereal bar, and prodded at the vegetables.
"Well... I guess it's better than the field rations they give us. Still, seems a waste if they can't get someone to cook the meat properly."
"I'm not sure why they gave him pork and cornbread because he's amazing at cooking everything else..." Kione grumbled. She leaned over the table towards Cooper."Don't mean to startle you, but someone's been staring at you a bit more than usual. Rifleman, table five, your eight o'clock."
"Hm?" He swiveled around but the Rifleman in question noticed the movement, his eyes widening before he quickly turned away and hunched down over his food, shoveling it into his mouth as quickly as he was able. Cooper shrugged and turned back, "Dunno, I guess if he wants to say hi he will." He started picking over his tray for any missed food that was actually edible. Kione stared at Cooper with an extremely disappointed 'you have no idea how to peek' expression plastered across her face.
"I could call him over, maybe he knows you?" She glanced over at the clock on the wall - just a few minutes before she should start heading to the Titan bay.
Cooper shrugged and smiled, glancing back at the Rifleman who was still resolutely applying himself to his food.
"Sure, maybe he does." There was something familiar about him, but Cooper couldn't put his finger on it.
"What are you doing after mess?"
"Didn't have any particular plans. BT and I are supposed to just 'take it easy'-," he replied, air quoting, "-while the neural link finishes repairing. I guess they want to make sure nothing weird happened since it's never been done before. So no training for us, yet."
Kione nodded, then noticed that the unknown Rifleman had apparently finished his food. He suddenly stood up with his tray and hurried away from his table, chased by the laughter of his table mates. He was walking resolutely towards the conveyor that fed the dirty dishes into the kitchen to be washed.
"It's probably a good idea that they're grounding you. By the way, If you want, you and BT are free to come visit my bay to chat if you get bored. I'm there all the time," she said, then leaned back and shouted "Rifleman!" after the retreating grunt, a devilish grin plastered across her face.
The Rifleman startled and tried to hunch down even more, but turned and looked over at her. She waved him over cheerfully, and someone from the table he'd been sitting at wolf-whistled. A faint blush settled across his cheeks as he started walking towards them, his expression resigned and wary. Cooper turned and watched him approach, looking curious.
"Yeah, yeah we can do that. Chatting is definitely on the list of approved activities." Coop's voice dropped slightly, "Huh.. he looks familiar..."
"Does he?" Kione asked, lifting her eyebrow as the Rifleman got closer, straightening her shoulders and sitting upright. Being 5'5", she never quite projected that feeling of authority into anyone she summoned because usually they ended up being taller than her. She wasn't exactly trying to intimidate the Rifleman, but it was a habit to look bigger than she really was. In this case, it seemed to work. The Rifleman definitely noted the 'air of authority', almost but not quite standing at attention when he got to the table. He let out a breath and gave an awkward little wave.
"Hey, Coop... Good..." He cleared his throat, "Good to see you alive..." He turned his attention to Kione, since she was the one who'd waved him over, and nodded a polite greeting despite the blush on his cheeks, "Ma'am?" It was Cooper's turn to stare intently, trying to place where exactly he'd seen this Rifleman before. Kione's face twisted into a smirk. Oh, this was going to be fun.
"I saw you watching Cooper here. Didn't your mother teach you it's rude to stare?" She tsked, shaking her head, "What's your name, Rifleman?"
"Ryan, ma'am. Nathaniel Ryan." He glanced at Cooper, then back to her. "It's just that Cooper and I were in basic at the same time, and I just found out he's the Pilot that saved my squad back on Typhon... I'm g-glad to see he's a-alive."
Cooper made a fair impression of a deer in headlights at this revelation. Kione's eyebrows lifted.
"Well why didn't you say so?" She patted the seat by her, "Sit down, there's no need to be a shy guy." Ryan cleared his throat, glancing at Cooper again, his blush deepening.
"I.. uh... maybe another time, ma'am. I gotta go get my room readyforinspection." He rushed the last bit out, looking like he was on the verge of some kind of breakdown. "Sorry, goodtoseeeyouCoop. Ma'am." With that, he nodded again, and walked away as quickly as possible. Cooper watched him leave, still looking a little dumbfounded.
"What was that all about?"
"I have no idea. But he knows you, and he seems..." The pilot paused. What did it seem like? Was what she saw...? It was fairly possible, but she realized it might not be best to mention it. She gathered her wrappers and picked up her tray. "Eh, never mind. I don't know what was crawling in that kid's MCUs. I'm going to head to my bay, Jenny's probably getting impatient."
Cooper chewed the inside of his cheek, looking at the door the Rifleman - Ryan, was it? - had escaped through.
"Hrm... Ah well." He stood up and grabbed his tray, "Impatient, huh? That seems like an odd thing for a Titan to be." He walked with Kione to drop the trays on the conveyor.
"She's VERY number-oriented, and hates it if I'm late. In the human world Jenny would be like that one manager that everyone despises because you checked in from break thirty seconds late." Kione joked, quickly sorting her trash and silverware from the dishes to make it easier for the dishwasher. "It's annoying, but for someone who used to always be super late... You have to adapt when someone's breathing down your neck about it. Especially when they weigh over 40 tons."
"That sounds like it took some getting used to... I'll come with, I should say hi to BT anyway."
"You have NO idea." At the mention of BT, she looked over at Cooper, "As I said, you can bring him to the bay if he wants. There's enough room for three titans since Jenny's 'neighbors' moved to a different base."
"Better get a move on then, don't want you to be late."
Kione nodded, and exited the mess with Cooper trailing behind her. Up ahead in the corridor, she caught a glimpse of the Rifleman ducking back around a corner, and furrowed her eyebrows. When they passed the spot, however, the Rifleman was nowhere to be seen.