6159/Prepping for Memorial Day

Prepping for Memorial Day
Date of Scene:	08 May 2021
Location:	Quantico
Synopsis:	Rhodey and Colt plan a memorial day event.
Cast of Characters:	James Rhodes, Lester Colt

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James Rhodes has posed:
The Clubs in Quantico are a mess of military personnel in dress unfiorms - mostly Marine Corps personnel, due to the proximity, but with a number of higher ranked officers and attendant staff from other branches. The War Machine stands inert on a balcony, while Rhodey pads about from clump to clump of individuals in his duties as the liason between Stark Industries and the Department of Defense. He holds a glass of what's more than likely coke as he laugihs at some half-hearted joke offered by a Marine colonel, waving a hand about and returning some idle pleasantry. The entire mass seems to be partaking in some elaborate dance where one individual leaves a group to join another and spread their opinion on how best to address the matter of Memorial Day - the topic of the day.

Lester Colt has posed:
     Walking through one group to the next is a man covered in medals and ribbons. It's Master Sergeant Colt. He was told to lay low by shield, but it's hard to lay low when you're still actively working for the USMC. Still with luck people haven't quite put two and two together that he's the same 'terrorist' working for terror organization SHIELD that's currently schmoozing it up with a group of officers.

     He's got his hands down behind his back in a parade rest dressed in his enlisted blue dress. As he looks towards the colonel before him. "To a certain degree I agree sir, but at the end of the day I value combat effectiveness in my soldiers far and above their formality." Which elicits a light chuckle from the man who seems of a slightly differing opinion. "You never change do you Colt?" He offers with a bit of a light smile. "One of these days we're going to get you to OTC, and you'll be singing a different tune."

     "Respectfully, Colonel I'm proud to be right where I am." He remains with gloved hands locked behind his back looking over as he catches sight of Rhodes. "If you'll excuse me Colonel I've just spotted a friend."

James Rhodes has posed:
As if on cue, Rhodes seems to take notice of the Master Sergeant, a wide grin crossing his features as he offers a polite nod to his present company and breaks from the group to glide toward the active duty Marine. "Lester - doing well all things considered huh?" he jokes, taking a sip of his drink while clearly relaxing in his relatively casual sports coat. "I know you're uncomfortable in the uniform, but have you ever had to wear powered armor in a suit?" he quips with a laugh while taking a drink of his 'mixed drink.'

He turns slightly, shifting his footing about to stand beside his friend and rolling his eyes. "What's that line from the game, 'War never changes'? Neither does military beaurcracy. How have you been? I know how i'd like this whole Memorial Day ceremony to go, and I think I know how you and I would like it to go, but I think we're going to end up with a lot of parades. God I hate parades.." he muses, eyes flashing in amusement as he looks out over the crowd while some of the guests seem to give the pair an unusual berth of space.

Lester Colt has posed:
     "Haven't gotten the chance yet Rhodey." Lester offers a friendly smile in return breaking off that grasp behind his back to extend a warm and friendly hand. "Closest I've been is a jetpack in a tux" He lets out a low chuckle before just saying a bit under his breath. "Still not allowed back in beirut." Colt shakes his head slowly one side to the other throwing off the memories as he adds. "So I'll have to take your word for it, as the voice of experience."

     "Good ol parades and marching and shouting." He chuckles again before reaching down to a nearby table to grab himself a water. He takes a long sip downing half the glasses contents. "You know I did enough marching in basic that I don't need to do another batch every time a holiday comes around." He shakes his head once more.

     "Once upon a time they'd send me out to Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Carbombya, Siberia." He takes another sip from his glass. "These days it's Middleton, Gotham, Metropolis." A light click of the tongue. "Recruitment drives are well and good but I didn't go through all that training to stand in a stall."

James Rhodes has posed:
Returning the handshake with a wide smile, laughing quietly. "I think i've gotten spoiled working for Tony. Too much free time and not enough time leading Marines, or anyone else for that matter," he replied with a roll of his eyes. "A jetpack in a tux sounds inconvenient - you didn't have coattails did you?" he joked, taking another sip of his drink.

Letting out a sigh, he shook his head and glanced about the assembly. "Parades and marching are our speciality aren't they? When it's not actual warfighting. They wonder why re-enlistment is down...you were enlisted, where did you graduate from? Anyone pass out during your graduation? We had a pair at our commissioning. Locked their legs and all. I feel like it's something we should try to avoid at a Memorial Day ceremony..."

Rhodey shrugs again, chuckling again as he finishes his drink. "I need another drink - are you able to? I think I want some booze in this one. I try to avoid it but the reality of our military has kinda depressed me,"

Lester Colt has posed:
     "Not after I started flying." Colt gives a wide smile and a deep belly laugh thinking back to that day a moment longer. "You ask me it made the suit look a lot better right to the point the rest of it started burning."

     He takes another deep sip of water smile falling to a bit of a smirk. "Right here in Quantico, I was part of the draft back in the day" He nods about looking at his surroundings. "We had a lot of folks who really didn't want to be here but there wasn't exactly much choice at the time, on the other hand I was just a wide eyed kid happy to be away from his folks." He shakes it out of his mind.

     "Memorial day should be about remembering not about passing out or marching out, should be a celebration about lives." He pauses. "Unfortunately no, I tend to get in trouble when I drink, there's a reason I'm missing my good conduct pins."

James Rhodes has posed:
Laughing at the explanation, Rhodey pads toward the table that had been set out and poured himself a mixed drink, shaking his head again. "It's always rough being enlisted. Even back in the day, i'm sure. I agree though - between the two of us I think we can make things at least sort of acceptable. Allow everyone to have a good time, without being too formal. Maybe an 'informal' luncheon on the grounds?" he tested, taking a sip of the drink and grimacing. "I'm awful at mixing drinks - I usually let Tony handle it all for me," he observed.

"I don't mind the passing out. I like knowing the men are thinking of their friends, I tend to do the same on Memorial Day. If anyone wanted to attack they'd do it the day after when people like us are trying to recover. Getting in trouble when we drink tends to be our thing, isn't it? Remember that incident in Japan?" Rhodey asked, shrugging with a grin.

Lester Colt has posed:
     "Usually stick with straight whiskey myself, got a bottle I leave at the local bar for when I want to forget myself and wake up in a cell." Colt repositions himself refilling his water fresh with the supply.

     "I think the main problem is that I DON'T remember the incident in Japan." He takes another sip of water looking down at the glass. "Speaking of which I just remember waking up in a jail cell the morning after."

     He snaps his finger. "Mission Bar-B-Q." coming up with the idea. "We hire them for catering and make it a whole thing for the base, barbq, drinks, maybe pull some strings and get the USO, just make it a nice evening."

James Rhodes has posed:
Laughing a little too loudly, Rhodey glances around as he tries to check himself and recompose his stoic demeanor at the retort. Swirling his glass around, he takes a sniff of it before taking another sip and grimacing. "Are you jumping into the enlisted mafia? Are you allowed to do that as a spokesman for the military?" he snorted between laughs while idly trying to fix his sports coat and glancing out toward the balcony where War Machine sat idle.

At the mention of Mission, he begins to nod, gesturing about, "Yeah, yeah, and they love us already, and I guess they're not half bad. I had a pulled pork sandwich once from them - I can work the USO bit. Or more, maybe convince Tony to get them involved. A big pot luck type deal just outside Arlington. Make sure there's fresh and flowers. I'll go do it myself if I have to. Visit some friends. Hell, I may need to have a few more drinks than i'd like."

Letting out a sigh an shaking his head, Rhodey drops back down to a rather demure posture beside Lester and resumes offering polite nods and smiles to passing officers and the like. "I don't envy you - if you ever want to get out of all this, i've gota job for ya,"

Lester Colt has posed:
     Lester just laughs it off into his glass before filling back up with fresh water. He's obviously in higher spirits than when he got here, the man mostly smiles and having a good time. "Listen, a man's gotta keep his options open."

     He nods his head along liking how Rhodes is keeping up. Then comes the job offer. In a low voice he offers. "You know the wife already pulled me towards you know who" Referencing SHIELD of course as he leans down a bit further on the spot. "Not sure I'll ever stop being military."

James Rhodes has posed:
Shrugging as he gestures with his free hand, Rhodey grin and nods along with explanation. "If I didn't like Tony so much, i'd be in the same boat. I always hated private contracting," he admits while idly sipping at his drink - almost as if just letting the drink touch his lips and then lowering it. "I have to admit though, getting to do the Avengers thing and working with Tony definitely beats the hell out of military red tape," he professes, obviously trying to be rather convincing while still sympathziing with the loyalty to duty. "It's hard, bouncing between the two," he admits.

"What kind of promos do they have you lined up for, Lester? Got some dragon slaying commercial lined up? I met that guy, by the by. Excellent major, in my book."

Lester Colt has posed:
     "A lot more of it now than there ever was before." He admits after a spell looking down towards the table nearby. "Every day there's some new regulation." Lester shakes it off after a bit of looking down towards his drink.

     "They've got me lined up for more of those cartoons, few more toy commercials, and some damn terror awareness campaign." He sighs down low. "Also got me working the school track but that's what they've had me doing for years."

     "Listen I'll give some thought to it but don't expect me to go running towards it right out the gate" He looks towards Rhodes. "Need some time to think things through, especially with this nasty terror business."

James Rhodes has posed:
Shakes his head suddenly, eyes widening as he reaches out to put a hand on Lester's shoulder. "Listen - you're still doing something good. Cartoons, toys, whatever, it's important people have something to look up to, Les," he professes with a sudden sense of urgency. "Don't discount what you're doing. Cap did the same thing early on," he finishes with a nod, taking a sip of his drink.

"But, let's not dwell on personal matters.

James Rhodes has posed:
"But, let's not dwell on personal matters. There's something more important. Regardless of US, it's about -them-," Rhodey professes emphatically, "I like that idea of Mission. Let's see what we can do to get them drawn in. I'm sure the G-P will love it,"

Lester Colt has posed:
     "You know I never wanted to be an Icon." Lester admits before drinking a long sip of his water. "Never wanted to be anyone's hero for anything." He looks down towards the ground. "I only signed that toy deal because I got lucky and won that medal of honor." He shakes his head from one side to the other. "Just wanted an excuse to get away from home." A low chuckle escapes his lips. "But I guess I'm stuck being somebodies hero now huh?"

James Rhodes has posed:
Frowning, Rhodey allows his head to list to the side for a moment. "You didn't win it by mistake. It's not something everyone haves in them, Les. It just means you took what the Corps wanted to instill a little more seriously, y'know?" he offered with a weak smile, taking another tentative sip of his drink. "Toy deal or not, Marines will learn from you. You went through the Crucible. You know how they name things. Don't short change yourself," he finishes with a steady determination, nodding to empahsize his point. "People need toys and heroes they can relate to. Just like we need our friends here," he continues while gesturing out toward the window panes encompassing the dining hall out toward Quantico.

"Just like you and I need them, they need you."

Lester Colt has posed:
     Colt silently sips his drink looking down towards the water and his own reflection in the glass. He listens to the words of wisdom from Rhodes before looking back up taking pause for thought as he looks towards the direction of Arlington cemetery.

     "You're probably right, just felt for so long like I've been wearing someone else's boots." He sets himself up straight on the spot. "Got nothing but time to try and fit into them, even if they are mine."

James Rhodes has posed:
Scowling slightly at the assessment of military poltics, Rhodey finishes his drinks and passes the drink off to a passing attendant. "Whether i'm right or not isn't important, Les. Whatever is going on in the world," he waves his hand about again, shrugging, "None of that matters, compared to what our forebearers did. That's why Memorial Day is so important, even if they want to turn it into a spectacle. I don't think there should be any superheroism going on there... just... a dedication to the men and women who gave their all. Obviously we have a bit more context, since other branches don't care as much about their history, but we can do something great for this," he professes padding about in circles. "We should make it something big for Memorial Day. Something memorable."