mr_gaeta | (no subject)

(no subject)

Just over a year ago, Gaeta made an implicit promise to Laura Roslin: keep an eye on Milliways.

There's been idle talk among some of the Ones -- always bitter, always the least likely to behave as if this is cohabitation and not occupation -- about shutting down the school; he can hope that it stays idle, but Gaeta knows that he ought to prepare for the possibility that it may not be. That could mean collecting data in an attempt to convince them otherwise.

That could mean visiting the school.

He keeps his head down for the entire walk to the tent, and it has less to do with the cold than one might assume.

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Gaeta stills -- freezes, really -- for the briefest of instants. Then the flicker of surprise smooths over, and he inclines his head toward Roslin.

"Yes, ma'am," he says, voice poised carefully neutral.

She nods back to him in turn.

"Children, say hello to Mr. Gaeta," Roslin tells them. "Mr. Gaeta is our government's Chief of Staff. He works with President Baltar."

"Hello, Mr. Gaeta!" the classroom choruses.

He smiles to the kids, no less practiced and professional. "Hello," he says. "It's very nice to meet all of you."

Gaeta's gaze shifts back to Roslin then, as he adds -- very slightly pointed -- "Miss Roslin, if you'd prefer for me to wait outside until your lesson's done...?"

"Oh, not at all," she assures him, and then turns toward the other side of the room. "Maya, could you...?"

Maya nods, and leaves the group of older children that she's been quietly tutoring in order to join Roslin at the front of the classroom. "I'll take over." She smiles. "Isis is sleeping right now anyway, so I can handle both classes at once."

There's a cradle next to the chair that Maya had been sitting in; she gives it a fond look as she says this.

Roslin also glances at the cradle, then nods. "All right. I shouldn't be long."

She steps back as Maya calls the younger students to attention once more, then walks along the side of the tent to Gaeta.

"And to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Roslin asks, smiling.

Gaeta lowers his voice. "There were a couple of things I wanted to discuss with you, first and foremost being the school."

He resists the urge to glance toward Maya.

"Would you be able to assist in providing data about enrollment, curriculum, and attendance?"

"Mmm," she says. "Oh, I'm sure I could, but I think the rather more important question is why you'd want them."

"It's...a precautionary measure." He unclasps his hands, brings them around in front of himself. "While I don't know yet if it'll amount to anything, there have been casual discussions about closing down the school, and -- if it does become less than casual, and if I can provide statistics that would justify keeping it open -- "

"Closing down the school." Her lips compress into a thin, tight line. "I see."

Roslin signals quickly to Maya, then indicates the tent flap.

"If you would be so good as to accompany me?"

"Of course." Quiet.

Sparing a last glance to the classroom, he follows Roslin outside.

This isn't likely to be a conversation that either of them will want witnessed.

She leads the way alongside the school tent until they reach an adjacent entrance. Roslin opens this flap and walks inside, into what looks to be a small room used as a makeshift storage space of some sort.

"We keep supplies here," she remarks, moving past a stack of three boxes and toward a metal utility table. There are a few chairs made in the same style set nearby, one of which is currently supporting three stacked boxes. "It gets a little crowded sometimes, but we're fortunate to have the space."

Gaeta nods, unbuttoning his jacket enough to fish out a small notebook and pen from the inner pocket.

"The, ah, supplies are still lasting?"

"We've tried to be economical," she agrees. "Just as well, I suppose."

Roslin gives a look to his note-taking apparatus and raises her eyebrows at him.

He sighs.

"Laura, I'm sure anything you can tell me would be helpful. I know the setup's as viable as anyone can make it; I don't want this to happen any more than you do."

"Who does?"

Which is, after all, the point.

"Who doesn't want the school to continue, Felix?"

A second's worth of hesitation.

"Some of the Ones," he admits at last. "Like I said -- I don't know if it'll amount to anything, this isn't the first time they've talked about taking more...extreme measures than some of the other Cylons. But I'd like to be prepared for the possibility."

She sighs, then removes her glasses for a moment and rubs at the bridge of her nose. Roslin looks weary.

"Of course."

He nods, casting his eyes to the dirt beneath their feet. Gaeta lays the pen flat against the notebook and presses his thumb over it to hold it in place.

Through the thin walls of the tent, he can hear the muffled babble of the students' voices.

"Well."

She puts her glasses back on, then directs a look at him over the top of their frame.

"Do you know why? In particular, I mean?"

"No, ma'am."

He lets both notebook and pen fall into his palm, lowering his hand to his side. He looks up.

"I'm sorry. But if I do manage to find out more information..."

"Thank you, Felix. I appreciate it."

She holds his gaze for a moment before glancing away, looking around the room as though to fix it in memory.

"It must be difficult for you."

Simon Tam said much the same thing not too long ago.

He answers in much the same way, quieter than before: "I'm just trying to do what I can."

"Still."

She trails her fingertips over the back of one of the chairs before looking back at him.

"How is President Baltar holding up?"

Silence.

Gaeta's expression shifts, subtle but noticeable: away from the quiet and weary sympathy, back to the calm mask of professionalism from before.

Calm, and a touch harder.

"As well as he can, I suppose."

She smiles at that.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

Baltar is a topic he shouldn't discuss...and, frankly, Gaeta doesn't want to discuss it at the moment. He gives a terse nod in response before glancing away.

And while it never left his mind, thinking of Simon -- and now Colonial One -- pushes him to bring up the other reason he came to see Roslin. He glances back, lowers his voice further.

"There's...something else you should be aware of, too."