Bobcat retorted, “Bullshit! You said if I could make a donut in the moon’s one-sixth gravity that you would ask Gabrielle out on a date!”
Jeffrey set his reports down. While he was holding some of the best information related to the moon’s surface known to mankind, he just had to hear what the base’s own version of reality-TV was up to today.
The three men spread around the table, taking their usual spots. William to Jeffrey’s left, Bobcat at the other end of the table and Marcus on his right.
Marcus grumped, “I was talking about a real donut! Not just marks on the Moon’s regolith. You know, with yeast?”
Bobcat’s head shook back and forth, “C’mon doc. You know better than that. If you don’t specify, I get to choose my definition. And I chose that a donut was done by wheels on the dirt!”
“Regolith.” Marcus replied.
“Whatever. So, how hard is it to ask Gabrielle out on a date? C’mon man, grow a pair. It isn’t like she hasn’t turned down a thousand men in her lifetime. All that would mean is… is…” Bobcat turned to William, “Help me out here.”
William smiled, “Hell no. I’m not about to admit I might, or might not, be aware that Gabrielle is as old or perhaps even older than two centuries. If a woman can be peeved when she hits forty, I damn sure am not going to say she is older than four-hundred. So, hell-to-the-no, you’re on your own.”
Bobcat’s response was, “Fuck you, my no-spinal-cord friend! And I mean that in the nicest way possible.”
William nodded, “Apology accepted.”
Bobcat turned back to Marcus, “My point is, I’m sure she has learned not to rip apart the shallow and delicate ego some men have. So, what’s your problem?”
Marcus looked between his two teammates and squeaked out, “What if she says yes?”
Bobcat slammed his hand down on the table making a loud ‘crack’ sound and then using the same hand to point at Marcus, “Perfect! Then you … you…” He looked back over at William again. “Shit, what would you say to a woman who has literally been around the block hundreds of times?”
William just smiled and used the widely accepted motion for zipping his mouth shut.
Bobcat gave him a look of disgust and turned back to Marcus, “I don’t imagine she has been out with a rocket scientist. Hell, you guys have only been around since what, the 1940’s?”
Marcus started to consider what Bobcat was saying when Jeffrey cut in, “Gentleman, as entertaining as this is, we need to move forward with our meeting.” He pulled out his folder containing their recent tasks and then spoke to no one in particular, “And guys? Just a footnote to end your discussion.”
They all looked over from their own papers.
He looked up and smiled, “Remember that she was in Europe and could very well have dated the original rocket scientists from Germany. Imagine if she had an evening with Wernher von Braun?”
Instead of causing Marcus to be more concerned, he turned thoughtful.
Jeffrey shrugged, sometimes he couldn’t figure out everyone’s motivation on the first pass.