Sunday Snippet: Nugget Training

Hello, February! We've got snow and slushy ick outside today. Perfect weather for the big game I won't be watching. LOL

So… The Flash definitely got Barry out his regular cell, which is terrific. Sadly, he ended up in a much worse predicament. Nice that he got to do a good deed before landing there.

Black Lightning continues to make me happy. I need a few hours to binge watch all the eps together so I can truly immerse into the universe. Looking forward to that.

I'm behind an episode of Riverdale. Need to catch up this week before the new episode.

Arrow… wow. I have so much love for this show. The dueling teams sadden me but I like where everyone is for the moment. I have a truly bad vibe that I won't share just yet but it's going to make me really angry if I'm right. Not mad in a bad way so maybe disappointed is a better word. Stay tuned. LOL

Got through another four episodes of Chicago Fire and I'm so glad the almost lethally lame fill-in chief is gone. Nice to see Welsh do something terrific for once.

I'm almost through season one of The Punisher. Gotta say this show pisses me off to no end but for all the right reasons. I'm kind of interested and waiting to see where they take the Lewis storyline. Right now it's not meshing well with the other parts. We'll see how it goes.

Also need to catch up on my period dramas. Hopefully, I'll have something for next week.

That's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Nugget Training, a fun little novella that started with a two-word prompt of "I'm blessed".

Here's the mini-blurb:

Bonnie Bash has issues with remembering boundaries and it gets her in trouble with Taggart Allen, her immediate superior—especially when she sometimes forgets she has to respect the rank. She quickly learns why she frustrates Tag so much when she's thrust into training a group of fifteen newbie pilots, nuggets, and not one has a clue or even cares about how the chain of command works.

And a sneaky peek…

"Bash! Hold up."

She paused by the door, but didn't turn around.

"I'll only take a moment of your time… unlike the ten minutes you spent hijacking my briefing." He grabbed her arm and tugged her to the side of the room. "What the hell, Bonnie?" She'd been more of a pain in his ass than usual lately.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Hey, if you can't take the heat, maybe you shouldn't be leading the briefings." She crossed her arms over her chest, closing off the chance for a friendly reminder.

Fine. He could pull rank with the best of them.

He gave a terse nod. "I'll keep that in mind. Now here's something for you to consider…" He pitched his voice low to keep the pilots milling in the halls from overhearing. "You don't have to respect my methods or, hell, even me, but you do have to respect the rank. And since we're on the topic of likes and dislikes..." He nailed the issue really pissing him off at the moment. "You don't have to like me on a personal level to follow orders—"

Bonnie pushed away from the bulkhead, dropping her arms. "Wait. Hold on. You know I like you. We've been friends for a long ass time."

Could have fooled him, especially over the past two weeks.

But… "That's part of the issue, Bonnie. Yeah, we're friends and all, but you know the extra pip means you don't get to be a raving bitch when I'm going over the flight roster." Warming up, he laid everything out for clarity. "Just because you don't like to fly with Brownie doesn't mean you get to have a say. I decide who flies when. You got a problem with my schedule; you come see me after the briefing." Wouldn't that be nice?

She grimaced, silently acknowledging his point. "Not always easy to find you after it's over. And fifteen minutes until wheels up doesn't give you much time to make adjustments." Her sheepish tone revealed the reason for her earlier attitude problem.

He quirked a brow. "Then deal. You have to know I didn't just plop you in with Brownie to piss you off. We're down a full squadron. If I could've made the roster work without putting you together, I would have." He shook his head. "Seriously, Bonnie. Cutting you slack is one thing, but throwing out a well-planned schedule is crossing the line. We have rank and chain of command for a reason."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I remember the party line. It's only thing standing between us and the enemy." As they both knew well.

Tag pinned her with his gaze. "Then do me a favor and keep your mouth shut the next time you're not happy with your choice for wingman."

Her lips curved in a saucy smile. "Yeah, I'm not stupid enough to make that a promise, but I won't disrupt your briefings anymore."  She bumped his shoulder with her fist. "And I'm sorry. For being a pain."

Tag couldn’t ask for more. "Wendell's coming back in two days. He'll have the next rotation with Brownie." They could talk each other into oblivion and neither would be worse for the experience.

Bonnie nodded. "Thanks." She made a move to go past him. "If I leave now, I'll have just enough time to get some painkillers from the infirmary."

Tag frowned. "Are you okay to fly?" She hadn't mentioned anything being wrong.

Bonnie flashed a grin. "I'm fine. I'm being proactive. Trying to ward off the headache I'll no doubt come back with." Her low, husky chuckle followed her out the exit.

Taggart snorted. "Always with the last word, that one."

She'd always been that way… why change now?

I'm having a lot of fun with this one. My brainstorm notes keep me entertained and I truly hope that translates onto the page as I continue writing.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye