"Goodness graciousss..." Coyote slurred, leaning into Phoenix's shorter form. She huffed, fastening his arm around her neck in support.

"Great balls of—" He began to shout before a hand clamped against his mouth.

"Oh my god, shut up!" Rooster whispered furiously, glaring down at the man.

"If you people get me kicked out of my own home," Luke quietly began from where his back was turned on them, wiggling his key into the front door.

"Sorry," Bob muttered sheepishly, though it was no fault of his.

The group of five stumbled into the corridor, eyeing the place up.

Phoenix whistled lowly as Rooster raised his brows, impressed.

"Your old man's got quite the place." Bradley spoke up, eyes trailing up the staircase.

"Yeah," Luke reluctantly replied, shifting on his feet. "The living room's in here." He pointed lamely, to which Rooster immediately followed confidently.

"Y'all got any booze?" Coyote smiled, moving to sit on one of the couches, tossing his arms up to rest on the back of it.

"Nice try, buddy." Phoenix smirked, moving to sit next to him. She was easily the most sober out of them all.

Bob moved to sit in the armchair nearest Coyote and Phoenix while Bradshaw moved to stand near the large bay window, eyeing the many picture frames propped up there. His eyes squinted in the dim light as he leaned to get a better look. Luke awkwardly stood near the entryway, watching the room.

"So, Bob how you feeling about me being your pilot." Phoenix smirked, eyes mischievous. Bob chuckled, leaning back in his seat.

"Well, I don't know if I'd—" He began, but Luke easily tuned them out, moving to the other side of the room to stand near Rooster. He eyed the man's calculating gaze before the other noticed his presence. Rooster didn't move to stand straight and meet him, eyes still focused on pictures.

"You always wanted to follow in your Dad's footsteps?" Bradley questioned quietly, not looking at him.

Luke reeled slightly, taken aback by the questioning before quickly recovering.

"Yeah," He began with a murmur. "It seemed like the right thing to do." He shuffled a few steps closer, eyeing a picture in particular that showed a four year old him on his father's knee. "You must have felt the same?"

Rooster immediately stiffened, moving to stand straight and turn to stare at him with intense eyes darting between him as well as across the room at Phoenix and the others.

Luke's brows furrowed before he connected that the others didn't know, immediately giving a stiff nod of understanding.

"Yeah," Bradley cleared his throat, meeting Luke's eyes. "I did."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of dry heaving.

"Coyote, I swear to God, we will get kicked out of not only this house but the entire Navy if you puke in an Admiral's house." Phoenix spoke sternly, moving to grab the man by his shoulders, and hoisting him upwards to stand on wobbly feet.

Rooster shot a lop-sided smile to Luke before turning to face the group.
"I'll take him home." He offered up, but Phoenix quickly shook her head, waving a hand in the air.

"Nope, I should be headed anyway. Gotta be fresh faced to meet our instructor tomorrow." She smiled, though it looked more like a grimace. Bob cursed under his breath eyeing his wristwatch, mumbling about leaving as well.

"Looks like you'll be the only one to see Pretty Boy's baby photos." She gestured to the picture frames with a wink before grabbing on to shoulder's of the men either side of her and steering them toward the corridor.

"Ha. Ha." Luke muttered after her, showing a rude hand gesture behind her back as she walked off.

Rooster hummed in acknowledgment, placing his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"It's good to see you, Bradley." Luke began, testing the name out on his tongue for the first time in decades.

"We've seen each other often enough." Rooster laughed.

"You know what I mean. I don't think I've had an actual conversation with you since I was, what, six years old?" Luke smiled quickly, throwing a hand up to rub at the back of his neck.
"I'm glad we're on the same mission. Non-assholes sticking together and all."

Bradley smirked at that, shaking his head lightly as his looked down at his shoes.
"How's the Admiral?" He questioned, tilting his head in earnest.

"He's doing alright." Luke lied, a small grimace on his face. "He's been putting me through the ringer."

Rooster let out a laugh. "How's that?"

"Makes sure I'm living in his house when I'm stateside even though I'm at the ripe age of 35. He's also sure that I should be married by now but I'm not sure how those two rules coincide." Luke shrugged minutely, tilting his head with a smile that Bradley easily matched.

"Sounds like a dream." He murmured in reply. It was intended as sarcasm but Luke could tell he meant it in sincerity.

"Yeah," Luke agreed easily. "Hey, why don't you stick around for a beer.

"Sure," Bradley replied, accepting the offer quickly with a smile.

It only took an hour of talking on the couch and ten minutes of comfortable silence for Luke to fall asleep, head resting against the back of the couch.

He woke up in the morning with a headache and sore neck. When he turned on his phone to check the time, he noticed a text notification from the night before under a previously unmade contact name "Rooster".

Rooster: Let myself out after some snooping. See u at the base Pretty.

He sent a quick text back before quickly getting up to head for the shower.

Pretty Boy Kazansky: I'm afraid to ask what my contact name is.

After breakfast, when he was preparing to leave with keys and phone in hand, there was a reply.

Rooster: You offend me. I would never.