Sunday Snippet: Uniform Differences

December 30, 2018

I hope everyone who celebrates had a terrific holiday. Mine ended up being lovely; very low-key and quiet with family. The days after have been filled with catching up with friends. I got to spend time with my two best friends from high school last night and we had the best time. So nice to catch up after such a long time.

It's been a slow week for television. My focus is off right now and background noise gets distracting sometimes. I did catch some Classic Who while catching up on the dishes and doing some cooking. I'm into the web planet episodes right now.

Started the Thanksgiving episode of The Flash. Really hope to get caught up on my CW shows soon. Watched Midsomer Murders's final episode of series thirteen. Nice to see how Barnaby the first retired.

I also caught another episode of Babylon 5. I'd forgotten about this one and it was nice to see Dr. Franklin fight a moral dilemma. Also watched an episode of The Sarah Conner Chronicles. As a standalone episode, it worked well.

And that's pretty much it for my light week of viewing. Tonight's post is from Uniform Differences, a novella that started with a two-word prompt of "respect me".

Here's the mini-blurb:

When it comes to respect, Tegan Gruss and Ellsworth Boshuk have a few uniform differences when defining how to show it. Ellsworth is tired of her constantly busting his chops—he's her superior officer—but Tegan doesn't care about rank when someone isn't worthy of her time or effort and Ellsworth is very worthy.

And a sneaky peek…

Ellsworth flung his hand out. "Respect me, Tegan. Me. Not the rank, not the uniform. But the man inside it." Not too much to ask, right?

Her brows knit. "I do, Ells. Why would you think differently?" She shook her head.

He made a garbled choking sound. "You disobey orders, berate my decisions, and ignore protocol. How can you possibly respect me?" If she defined respect by those actions, he needed a new dictionary.

She sighed. "Look, Ellsworth, do you see me doing any of that with Tipton?" She waited a beat. "No. And why don't I?" A rhetorical question because she continued. "Because I have zero respect for the man and could give two shits if he gets anything right." She got up and moved closer to Ellsworth. "Everyone knows how I feel about him. So think about it, Ells. Why do you think I give you crap?" Her eyebrow arched.

He started to get a general idea. Didn't mean he agreed with her analogy.

She poked him in the chest. "I do it because you're worth my time and effort." Holding his gaze, she finished. "Tell me you get that."

Ells thought about it for a few moments. She made a good point even if it sucked balls. She didn't give Tipton anything more than she had to and avoided interacting with him unless necessary. His promotion didn't sit well with her but she couldn’t do anything about it.

Ellsworth conceded. "Okay. I guess I do understand. But, geez, Tegan, can you tone down the obnoxious stuff?" He lowered his voice. "Seriously, we don't have to butt heads all the time, do we?" Maybe five times a day instead of a dozen.

Tegan shrugged. "Can't make any promises, but I'll attempt to be less abrasive." She added one small concession. "Especially when I don't have to be."

Ellsworth cracked a smile. "And when would that be? I think I'd better nail down some specifics so we're not hitting this wall again." He made a show of reaching behind him to get a notepad.

Tegan waved a finger back and forth. "Uh-uh. You know I can't be pigeonholed into a commitment. I work on the fly." Her laugh bubbled up. "But nice try."

Ellsworth joined her mirth. "Hey, at least give me points for the attempt."

She sobered. "I don't have to. You're already off the charts." Her breath hitched a little. "And you can forget I said that."

He could… but he wouldn't.

This poor story sat neglected and forgotten for the longest time. I haven't even featured it on the blog yet. Welcome to the universe, my friend.

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

ML Skye