Raff separated from his associate Bulger and they nodded as the Lieutenant strode toward the woman he was there to meet. The bartender turned to the woman and replied curtly to her,

"Only one person is on Mr. Terach's tab. That's Rhedara Shannon which clearly ain't you."

With a long measured stride, he slowly approached the bar and sat down, keeping one foot firmly on the ground and his back to the corner kitchen door. He gave a nod of thanks to the barkeep who slid a whiskey into Raff's hand. The barkeep whispered something to him and he stared hard at Machenet, keeping a hold on his temper. He slipped a hand across to the barkeep for the intel, the amount of money kept hidden.

He was here to give the woman a gentle smack down and she was already in her cups. Add it to the damn list. Raff downed the shot with a flick of the wrist and told the barkeep to leave the bottle. 

She was an Officer like Kat but that's where all similarity ended. The woman was over 30, single, a drunken partying wreck and definitely not in any position to lead even herself out of trouble. But he hated pulling rank. Raff had made the mistake of thinking that a casual setting would help her nerves about being called out by a superior. Which was only done for tasks or scolding. He wasn't even sure where to begin with this colossal fuck up.

"Machenet, who the fuck are ya tryin ta steal off ma tab? I ain't yer pal or yer friend. I called ya here ta meet, not ta mooch. Yer lucky I ain't in uniform and we're off the clock or I'd smack ya with an Article fifteen for theft."

Terach looked pissed as he poured out another shot of whiskey and sipped it this time.

"Yer here ta get yelled at, not given a pat on the back."

He downed the whiskey and looked at the woman with an unfathomable expression, his face a mask of stone for all it read. But it was clear he was not happy.

She snorted at the bartender’s words, but didn’t challenge them. Unfortunate. Looks like more of her pay would be going to drinks tonight than she planned.

“Relaaaax -hic- Leiutenant,” the woman sighed. “Just a joke. Lighten up a bit, yeah? It’s supposed to be my off day.”

The woman glanced up at her superior, able to read his dour expression in spite of the buzz of the strong booze. When he poured himself another shot, she knew she’d messed up big.

“Damn, the brewer’s outdone himself with this,” she took a swing then slammed down the mug. “Or herself,” she added with a slur. “Can’t be none too sure, I s’pose.”

Nadine paused as the man mentioned discipline. “Oi, tryin’ to embarrass me in front of my friends?”

She clapped the man sitting to her right on the shoulder and shook him: he jumped and quickly left the bar, wanting no part of the drunken woman’s stupor.

“Ain’t ya know you’re supposed to praise in public and crita-” her tongue ran over her teeth as she attempted the word again. “Criticize in private?”

The officer released a loud belch, waving for the barkeeper. "Another ale, cadet. Make it lively."

Raff looked at the barkeep and asked how much the woman had before he got there so he was surprised to hear only three lousy beers. He could see that happening to little bitty Red, but not Nadine who was only an inch shorter than his own six feet. As far as he knew, she was the tallest woman in Nevermere. She must've started her day with drinking somewhere else. 

It was like dealing with his step-dad Greglin all over again. A damn drunk that was even meaner on the rare times he was sober. The guy was glad that the sailboat wasn't his usual place and he only used it for military meet ups. The beer was vile, the ale was worse, but it was cheap-though he definitely wasn't paying for one copper of Machenet's drinkin habit. 

"Belay that." he said quietly to the barkeep, directly countermanding the woman's order. "How 'bout ya get us some coffee instead? I'll pay fer coffee fer us."

Damn he hated drunks. There was no winning with them. They had to make the choice personally to stop. Every word from them was total horse shit, drunk or sober until they wanted to change that. Raff rubbed a tired hand over his face and couldn't even bring himself to feel any embarrassment whatsoever toward her stupid behavior. And arguing with a drunk made ya just as stupid coz they'd bring ya down to their level and beat ya with experience. 

The barkeep set out a coffee pot and two cups and went away to take care of other customers. 

"If I were on the clock, yea it would be private-but you've made it public by choice Ms. Machenet. You're doing a fine job of embarrassing yerself by yerself. Try some coffee with me. It's not bad here." 

He suggested quietly, refusing to raise his voice or match her boisterous tone at all. Lieutenant Terach eyed the older woman and sipped at the hot black coffee, remaining calm and collected. The mercurial officer had some strange idea that someone had told her to be cruel with children--and Raff was the LAST person on Terra Nova to say anything like that. Anyone that heard of Raff knew that he took care of his siblings.

The officer paused at that, surprised by Terach's calm tone. Was there a hint of...concern there? Did the lieutenant actually care about the soldiers beneath him?

That she understood. That she respected. Nadine thought for a moment on what she'd do if she found Harley or Yvette out drowning their lives in their cups...she'd have the cadets cutting every blade of grass in the training field with their daggers. Or doing handstands til the sun came up, which in Nevermere, was, well...never.

It was easier to play the drunken careless fool than to fail expectations. Again. She wasn't proud of herself, at what she'd slipped into. Nadine had actually risen to officer quite quickly in her youth. Great leader, ambitious thinker, fierce devil on the battlefield. Now all she heard about herself was as an old witch past her glory days.

She'd let herself slip after the incident with Marcello. Officer Machenet had made a bad call. A serious blunder that cost a lot of men and women, including the one she'd treated like a brother. It was her choice to let herself deteriorate instead of growing from the ordeal. For her sob story, it was a rather pitiful one: women had lost sons and daughters and taken up arms to become powerful witches, and here she sat in the filthy Sailboat. 

Silently the officer took a cup of coffee, breathing in the scent before taking a solid gulp of the brew. It wasn't awful. Maybe she'd try the switch...to humor the lieutenant for a little bit, at least. 

Wrapping her fingers around the warm mug, she turned back to meet her superior's gaze. "What am I being reprimanded for sir? I'll make it right."

Raff almost got whiplash as the woman went from loud obnoxious party drunk to quiet Sirs. What was she playing at? Was Nadine dicking with him? Now she was mirroring his behavior like a good docile soldier after trying to steal on his tab! He barely stopped himself from sighing again, hating drunk games beyond belief. It sucked even more that he went right back in the habit of managing them. His right hand quietly thrummed along the counter as he lifted the coffee mug in his left hand to sip from it. 

The first thing he'd heard after his and Merk's promotions was that you were suddenly responsible for every single soldier under your rank. Everything they did, man or woman, good or bad was a direct reflection of you. The blame or credit rested on your shoulders alone when they fucked up coz they were acting under your orders and authority. But Machenet's case was different. She'd made Officer before he did and they were only eight years apart in age. But when he'd made Lieutenant as a Paired Soldier, she was still an officer. And now five years later, she still hovered at officer on the verge of demotion. 

His own battle with Merk's death had him drinking for 48 hours solid and when he woke up with a bottle in his hand, he'd shoved it away in disgust. His baby sister Cady was going on thirteen when she woke him like that and he'd never drank his sorrows since then. The terror in her eyes at seeing her only parental figure drinking like her own father had, had the girl looking at him in a way he refused to let happen again. He'd sold his soul to get rid of Greglin and he damn well wasn't gonna turn into him. Yea it was brutal losing his Partner after coming back from Coheed, he'd lost his mother, had no dad, and worked two jobs while raising his brothers and sister. But in Raff's mind there was no valid excuse to be a drunk. It was weak and cowardly. 

If there was one thing he admired, it was strength-body and mind. Self control, intelligence, the ability to command under tough circumstances and discipline over your own actions. He was thoroughly disgusted by and disappointed in Nadine. She was a strong woman that was a fearless in combat, but the interpersonal relations with her were nil. He'd intended to ask if she could take half his units that were on staff duty so Officer Winters wouldn't have to work so hard. But after tonight's quick performance, he now had zero faith that Machenet could oversee her own damn ass in public, never mind the lives and fates of the soldiers under his command while he was deployed. 

In answer to her question, he asked her sincerely,

"The fuck's goin on witcha lately Machenet? That last five times I put ya on overseer for the soldiers on staff duty, there have been incident reports every single time! That latest one almost got me and Stormcrest killed when you were supervising staff duty! Why ya droppin the ball on simple tasks?"

It was a fifty fifty shot she'd answer with the truth or not or pull some more stunts. He had no idea if she really was drunk, or just outright lying to his face-neither option was acceptable to him but there it was in a nutshell. Lieutenant Terach sipped his coffee and watched her with an intense gaze, his mouth in a hard grim line. Stormcrest knew that look from Raff very well and it wasn't a mood anyone wanted to be near. 

Nadine wrinkled her nose as she looked down into the mug, as if she would find her answers in the coffee.

There had been a lot of chaos under her watch recently. She hadn't considered it her fault: if the soldiers on staff duty couldn't handle themselves like adults, that was their own blasted fault. Never mind that some were the young fresh recruits just enlisted. She had to grow up fast, and so should they. Nadine shouldn't have to hold their hand to move simple cargo to a ship, or tidy up the barracks.

And the whole black powder incident? Officer Machenet had thought it was common knowledge the stuff was volatile. Of course Terach was worried about his precious little @berengar : thank heavens the star cadet of the year was uninjured in the little fireworks show.

A small smirk played across her face at the thought of paying the boy a visit.

Still, Terach sat glowering at her. She doubted she'd get out of this without some corporal punishment, but she'd lose her temper if it were a demotion. Officer Machenet was never great at anger management when not on the battlefield.

"I'm bored, Lieutenant," Nadine dipped a finger into her mug, swirling it around before pulling it out to lick it clean. "I'm tired of babysitting the children. I want back out in the fight. I do better there. You know that."