Obviously there was something shady going on when a lieutenant and a colonel got along as well as Riley and Rooks did. Besides the inevitable rumors, it had become a routine that every time Riley was left alone with the troops, he got ridiculed for his relationship with the colonel. Poor bastards didn't dare to risk pissing off the colonel himself, so they went for the second best option. Riley had collected quite a list of not-so-admiring nicknames, ranging from everyone's favorite "lapdog" to simpler ones like "kiss-ass" and more creative ones like "Rooks' personal bitch". Even though Riley knew he should've probably just ignored the dickheads, with his temperament that was no option – and he had never been sorry for his volatile nature.
For example, take that incident in the bar. Served that fucker just right to find his teeth scattered around the floor after calling Rooks a faggot because "there was no other reason why he'd keep a mere lieutenant whose only advantage was a pretty face as his personal aide". The colonel would've probably lynched the bigmouth gladly himself, but Riley hadn't been able to hold himself back. So, nowadays Riley was mostly known as "Colonel Rooks' angry guard dog" - and in all honesty he was growing quite fond of the nickname.
