Chapter Text
After playing football for a while and winning, Bob was thrown into the water by Rooster, apparently too tired to set him down in the sand. It was fine by him. He had been getting hot anyways, sitting in the burning sand.
He stood up properly after floating for a bit and wiped his face off. Bob walked back to the clothes and towels in the sand to clean his glasses and relax some more before heading back to the houses that Top Gun had supplied everyone with.
As he was relaxing, he decided to just lay in the sand (he was sure he’d regret it later when he was taking a shower).
Rooster came and plopped himself beside Bob. "Soo, you got anything planned after this? Everyone is going to The Hard Deck for some beers, if you wanna join us."
"Sure, why not?" Bob replied to Rooster’s invitation. Everyone packed up, shaking sand off all their shirts, and shaking sand out of their shoes, making their way to The Hard Deck after drying off completely for a few beers. It wasn't packed. It was late, but not that late yet, so people were slowly packing in and it's relatively calm. Bob sits in the chair next to the pool tables to watch everyone else play as he eats a cup of nuts and sips on a beer. He doesn't make any move to spark up conversation or join the game, he'd rather observe as Hangman wipes the floor with everyone else.
To be honest, he wasn't sure how to feel about Hangman. If he was being completely honest, Hangman was just like everyone says he is. He truly lives up to what everyone thinks he's like. Nonetheless, Bob's noticed he's not as much of a dick as he seems to be. He knows when a boundary is crossed and doesn't cross it again. He gets under your skin, but only enough to make you annoyed; once you're pissed and about to knock his teeth in he dials it back. He doesn't show it physically, but you can tell by his eyes he cares for the team. That's what Bob sees, anyways. He's observant, because of how often he isn't noticed, or rather, how often he isn’t approached if he is noticed. Hangman's always poking at Rooster, and will make jabs here and there at everyone else, but it's never to cause any actual harm.
"Hey Bob! Come and play for a bit!" Speak of the devil.
"Uh, no thanks Hangman, I'm good!"
"Cmon, one game and you can go back to watching us play."
"One is okay, I guess."
While setting up to play, Bob can hear Rooster in the back, singing whatever song he's playing on the piano. It's nice, honestly, Bob has always loved when Rooster played the piano, he has an amazing voice and plays impressively well. Bob sets up to make the first play when Hangman smacks his upper thigh from the back with his stick, causing Bob to shoot up in surprise. Spinning around to face Hangman, Bob looks at him with wide eyes, a look of 'what the fuck man' spread across his face. Hangman just shrugs and acts like nothing happened.
Bob goes back to his previous position and takes the shot. After a while, some beers, and a break to sing 'Great Balls Of Fire' with Rooster at the piano, Bob is about ready to head home.
Hangman had been acting weird, putting his arm around his shoulder and inviting him to play more rounds of pool with the team (which Bob did accept, not actually being able to say no to people), but even then, Bob shook it off as Hangman getting friendly with him. He sat next to the piano while Rooster played, happy to listen to him sing his heart out and slam away at the keys. Maybe Bob had taken a liking to Rooster, but who didn't? He was nice, and actually really fun to hang out with. Not to mention he was good looking even if the Hawaiian shirts and jeans were out of style a long time ago. When he and Hangman weren't at each other's throats, Rooster was good company, and Hangman was actually decent despite all the teasing. They're great people on their own, despite their egos blown so wide you couldn't make them think they weren't as amazing as they are at what they do. Being together was the issue. Rooster’s a typically calm person, but also the life of the party– Hangman is just a dick,which means they don't always get along.
After hours of hanging at the bar, dancing and drinking, Bob went home. It got a bit too crowded so he decided to head home after saying bye to everyone. He spun his keys around his finger and walked to his car, still singing 'great balls of fire' in his head. He slid into his car and drove off in deep thought, mind clouded with thoughts of why Hangman would be getting all touchy touchy– now of all times. Sure, he's tried to joke around with Bob, and even complimented him a few times, but other than that he was always off with girls or picking fights with Rooster. So why him? And why now? He resolved to think about it more after the mission. He's got other things to worry about now, like his more than friendly feelings towards Rooster. He couldn't possibly be thinking about relationships now, not in this line of work. When you fly in planes like he does there is always the chance you may not come back alive. It's worse when the person you're interested in is also in that line of work, because then there’s double the worry. Bob knows deep down that Rooster is an amazing pilot and he shouldn't be worrying like this, but it still eats at him nonetheless.
It wouldn't hurt to try, right?