Chapter 1142: YOUR MAGIC'S NOT WORKING ON ME!
So yeah, Oscar took it upon himself to have one of their pilots use the Chinook to bring all these kids to our hospital, including Matthew, Lois, and Olivia.
Of course, Quinn took my place as the referee as she ran the game with Tatiana but it seemed like she was getting requests to fight as well from the crowd we gathered. However, as I got back to join them, it seemed like Kuzma was about to have a fight with Bartow, and someone else—Royo, obviously—put up a table to cast bets and almost everyone was betting on Bartow to take the gold.
The odds were definitely against my chicken but I showed support for my guy by nudging the Admiral:
"Yo, wanna have a personal bet with me?"
He chuckled, "Shoot."
"If Bartow wins, I promise that unless she comes to me, I won\'t go out of my way to seduce her. But if Kuzma wins, you give me one of those drones you have."
"The fuck you talking about? Who\'re you gonna seduce— OH, YOU FUCKING—" The Admiral\'s neck suddenly snapped towards Ella, "HE\'S THE ONE YOU\'RE TALKING ABOUT?!"
Ella had never been so all over the place, "W-WHAT?! I\'M NOT— HE— IT\'S BECAUSE HE KISSED ME!"
"THAT\'S ALL IT TOOK?! A KISS?!"
"IT WAS MY FIRST, DAD! MY FIRST! AND HE TOOK IT! A-AND HE DOESN\'T EVEN LIKE ME—"
Admiral Burke snapped at me instead, "WHAT\'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT HER?!"
"His dad?"
"HIS— THE FUCK YOU MEAN?! I\'M AWESOME!"
"Then would you give me the drone and the Chinook for free?"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
"Just the drone then?"
"YOU— I\'M NOT FALLING FOR THIS SHIT! I\'VE ALREADY BEEN WARNED BY YOUR UNCLE!"
"Oh~ You just listen to what a colonel says, huh?"
"I\'M TELLING YOU, IT\'S NOT WORKING!"
"FINE! If my guy wins, I get the drones and the Chinook but if your guy wins, I only get a drone and I\'ll give your daughter the boyfriend treatment—"
"I SAID— DID YOU JUST SAY DRONES?! WHY ARE YOU GETTING TWO NOW?!"
"Tch."
"I\'m not a pushover, kid! Your magic won\'t work on me!"
"Alright, alright… you win, Admiral. But you know…"
"What is it now?"
"I\'d be able to keep a better eye on her if she had a personal drone following her every step of the way and a Chinook with a personal pilot—maybe even a whole squad—ready to move in at a moment\'s notice.
I\'m a very busy guy, especially with the workload you\'re giving me—and yes, I\'ll absolutely have people watching over her other than Jenniffer who seems to be her personal bodyguard but two or three is better than one, no?"
"..."
"Admiral?"
"How\'d you know that the Colonel\'s daughter is—"
"I just do. Besides, the apple doesn\'t fall far from the tree and if Jennifer isn\'t tied up somewhere much more important, she would\'ve joined us and manned a third SAW on the roof."
"...damn you."
"Is it working now? The magic?"
"...fine—"
Ella then cut in, "Hey! I don\'t appreciate getting tossed around in a bet! I\'m a lady!"
I rolled my eyes as I looked at her outfit, "I\'m sorry but why do you look like a bottle of Ranch—"
"I-It\'s fashion! Besides! W-Who doesn\'t like Ranch?!"
I turned to Jennifer who was being awfully quiet but trying her hardest not to laugh, "Yo. Ranch or Texas barbecue sauce?"
Ella cut in, "Hey! That\'s not fair—"
Jennifer shook her head, chuckling, "Depends. But you can eat almost anything with Ranch—"
Ella was overjoyed, "See?! Ranch is ten times more better!"
I rolled my eyes, "She just said it depends. She just added the last bit because she doesn\'t want to make you mad."
"I hate you! I hate you both!"
I flicked her forehead, "Dumbass— I didn\'t say I hate Ranch! I just made a comment on why your color scheme looks like one, nothing more."
"Hmph! Fine, I don\'t hate you as much… But Jennifer!"
"Yes?" Jennifer answered while still looking tense.
"Can you… Can you be more than just my bodyguard?"
"That\'s… I\'m committed—"
"WHA— Not like that! I mean as a friend! Like him! Can you?! Please?!"
Admiral Burke cut in, "Honey, you do know some professionalism is required for her to be able to do her job properly."
I scoffed, "That\'s bullshit. If anything, she\'d be able to more if she treats her like family. A step above friends but we can also argue that some friends are better than family."
"..." the Admiral.
"...!" Jennifer.
"Hah! You do say some good things, sometimes! Approve!" Ella gave me a nudge as she gave me a thumbs up.
The Admiral let out a long sigh, "Can\'t you just give me anything to win on?"
I glanced back at the ongoing fight, "Bartow won, so…"
"Wha— We missed it all from this talking… But why do I feel I lost all the same?"
"Hey, at least you wouldn\'t give me an F18—"
"WHOA! WHEN DID THE F18S COME INTO PLACE?!"
"Ah. Major Harper promised me a few things but realistically, I\'d have more uses for the drones and the Chinooks so—"
"CHINOOK! C-H-I-N-O-O-K! CHINOOK! SINGULAR!"
"You have a good ear, dontcha?"
"ASSHOLE! YOU\'RE BLEEDING ME DRY! THIS IS DAYLIGHT ROBBERY!"
"Hah! I\'m not robbing you, you\'re just giving it all to me for some reason."
Jennifer muttered, "Yeah, for some reason you\'re succeeding… Unbelievable…"
I chuckled, "I do make some great arguments. So yeah," I turned back to the Admiral, "So that Eisenhower, how long do you think it\'ll last? Can you give me it\'s last year—"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! STOP! STOP! I DON\'T EVEN OWN IT! CUT IT OUT!"