Chapter Text
It really was all Nate's fault. After his lecture, he was hurrying through a back corridor at the security conference, texting Tom and paying no attention to his surroundings. His Marines would have been ashamed, even if the conference did have security levels that would satisfy a terminal paranoiac.
Talk well-received. Heading out for drinks with Tavington before my flight. Will cadjm
Nate rebounded off of a very solid chest and started to topple sideways when his arms were grabbed firmly and held until he regained his balance. He looked up into a pair of arresting and very amused blue eyes, and from a distance heard a Nordic-tinged voice caution "Careful, Captain Fick. Such poor attentiveness in a Recon Marine can't bode well for your survival prospects."
"Um, okay." He breathed out, slightly hypnotized. Very blue. "I'm sorry for the collision, uh..."
"Örlogskapten Bradley Carl Hans Victor, Swedish Marinen. I attended your talk on training and integrating Afghan security forces. Very interesting. But if I may ask, how do you propose--"
"Excuse me, sir, but we are past due in the Belleau conference room." Nate hadn't even noticed the solidly built, carefully expressionless man standing next to them.
Bradley grimaced, and muttered something in Swedish at his assistant. The poker-faced reply made him frown even more. "My apologies, Captain, but I have an unavoidable and unendurable engagement. Will you be attending the last day of the conference?" He seemed to notice that he still had Nate's arms clasped and released him, looking slightly self-conscious.
"No, actually, I'm flying out tonight." He dug into his bag and pulled out a card. "Here, my e-mail and phone at CNAS and--" he quickly yanked out a pen and scribbled "--some other contacts I can be reached at." He awkwardly offered it.
"Thank you, Captain." Very nice smile, too. They moved past each other, and really, Nate was only human. The glance back was just...examining a foreign military uniform. Right.
Örlogskapten Bradley Carl Hans Victor. Dammit, where had he heard that name before?