"This rifle needs servicing. Don't embarrass yourself by bringing this poorly maintained gun on to the range again."

Kale had regretted it the second it came out of his mouth, but the commander was standing right there... what was he supposed to do? He could see the hurt and the anger in your glare as you looked to him, hands gripping your weapon harder with restraint. He knew you wanted to tear into him--but you wouldn't with their superiors stood right there.

Things had been shit since he got that damned promotion. Commander was up his ass something fierce over making sure he kept a professional demeanor and didn't show any favoritism to anyone in the squad. It was obvious that they were talking about you with that underhanded little jab. Sure, you were his friend when you were the same rank. You'd gotten into plenty of trouble together--he adored you, really. Well- y'know. Like you'd adore a friend with a rockin' hot bod that could keep pace with the rest of ya. Better even. Girl kicked serious ass and damn if Kale wasn't jealous somedays.

But Kale followed order well, and they'd promoted him none the less. He had new priorities now--new responsibilities. To the entirety of the team, not just you. But he wouldn't lie and say it hadn't been affecting him. He missed late night movies and sneaking snacks on to base.

But now it was trying to avoid you in the locker room; keeping his eyes forwards in briefings; not kicking your foot playfully under the table in the mess hall when you'd steal his bread. Now it was rubbing elbows with higher ups-- stiff handshakes and back pats that felt as patronizing as they were threatening. At any moment he could be replaced if he weren't careful.

He didn't need you wrapped up in all this overly political bullshit because of him. Though, he hadn't exactly done a bang-up job of communicating that-- what with the cutting all communication on the phone except for the occasional 'sorry. just saw this. super busy.' Kale wouldn't say he was avoiding you per say... but he wasn't really making the effort to go out of his way to try and smooth things over either. He could tell you were angry, and he was never the best at handling that even when you stood shoulder to shoulder and flew side by side.

But none of that mattered today... Today was performance review-- and command was up his ass about there being no slacking in the numbers now that he'd been promoted. There were expectations shoveled on to him higher than he could see past on the worst of days, his posture rigid in the training yard as he watched the squad take shots across the air at target papers set up above barrels further down the field. Shot placement was pretty on par for most of the guys, but it was you who was all over the place. It wasn't like he could blame you. This wasn't easy for him either, and dammit--he had no way to navigate any of this. He was just supposed to be the grunt boy who pointed his gun where people told him and flew to the little blip on the map.

Still--duty carried his feet towards you as you finished off the magazine in your weapon, his brow knit tightly, and his jaw clenched rigid with the tension of what his position entailed. "You." He started curtly, his chest expanding with a deep breath as he tightened his folded arms across it before jerking his chin down range towards the target paper that looked like Swiss cheese.

"Your aim's all fuckin' over the place." He continued, never the most tactful with his words--rough around the edges to a fault. He really didn't mean to come off like such a dick; he was just trying to fill the large boots that his feet had been shoved into. Come on, he mused internally as you glanced his way, giving him that face. Don't look at me like that...

He cleared his throat, shoving the mixed feelings and apprehension down with a rub of his neck. "Mistakes like that can get you and everybody killed. Shape it the fuck up. I don't care if you have to skip meals and come down to the range. There's a reasonable expectation of skill-and right now you're not meeting it."

God, I can be a real fuckin' dick...