[i][b]Abigail "Abby" Larson[/i][/b]

Abby felt the silent vibration of her tablet tucked into one of the cargo pockets of her ACU pants, and slowed to a semi-trot down the hallway as she finagled it out, and then stopping dead in her booted tracks as she squinted at the screen. She pulled it closer, then back, then closer again, blinking quickly and cursing under her breath for the thousandth time this day, the fact she'd forgotten her reading glasses in her room.

When she realized the message she'd gotten wasn't from the CO of the [i]Copernicus[/i], from one of her squad leaders or from the SRT with an emergency, demand or command of some kind or other, Abby let out a big sigh of relief. She leaned against the hallway wall where she stopped to catch her breath - and then chuckled to herself softly, a sheepish grin widening slowly as her fingers flew over the screen's digital keyboard.

Abby bit her lip softly, still smiling as she worked her lower lip carefully between her teeth. Gavin's apology was just as sincere and classic as he, and she did not think twice about sending back one of her own. She might have made some semi-true "medical emergency" excuse, but of course she did not, replying to Gavin with genuine reassurance she'd gotten yanked as off course this morning as he, but would be there in a few moments.

It never once occurred to Abby, she should take some womanly, wily advantage of the situation, and use the leverage in Gavin's apology to toy with him as a more canny woman might, pouting so prettily to elicit more fawning apologies and flattery, or feigning a put-upon pique to instantly manipulate a man's favor. "That woman" was exactly the type who caught her ex-husband Ned's eye, again and again and again; the contriving, sultry and enigmatic femme fatale who could twist a man ten different ways all at once - and then make him thank her for the privilege. 

"That woman" though, was certainly not Abby Larson, and never had been. 

Message sent, she simply slid the tablet back into her cargo pocket and broke into a quick walk. A thoughtful, slightly playful smile on her face as she made her way to the dining facility. Abby slowed just a little as she sauntered through the propped open double doors, into the great room with the magnificently blue sky simulation arching overhead. The dining room was mainly empty, which made finding Gavin all the easier.

Well, [i]easier[/i] yes, but... Abby sighed through her nose, the smile dimming only by miniscule degrees as she willed it to remain exactly where it was. Swiftly she maneuvered her way through the great room, around chairs and tables to this unexpected gathering of company, barely noting the most luscious scent of something very yummy and lovingly baked. The aroma was absolutely [i]wonderful[/i] of course, but suddenly Abby was not feeling near so ravenous as she had been. 

No matter - by the time she made it to the oddly mismatched threesome gathered about one table, no one would have ever guessed there was so much as a [i]twinge[/i] of disappointment, that the unexpected, flippantly-labeled 'date' with Gavin was, by all appearances, really not.

She approached the table from behind her friend, laying a hand on his shoulder before leaning around to catch Gavin's eye. "Hey there," she quipped with a wink, "we made it! Yeah us!" Abby let her hand remain just where it lay before turning her attentions to the other two gentleman seated at the small table.

"Dr. Park," Abby said with a polite nod to the elder man. She recognized the psychiatrist and pastor from his identification photograph, and from the moment of introduction at the morning Third Shift Briefing. She could only assume he might remember her as well, being that such a talent for faces and names should certainly be located somewhere in the man's vast skill set. "It's good to finally meet you face-to-face." 

"Aaaand... Mr...[i] Bach[/i], yes?" Abby said, her brow furrowed for a moment as she recalled the name of the NI-tech before her with a smile. Seeing the man up here in the dining facility was surprising, to be sure, and in such company as he found himself? Even more so. But there were only seventeen still functional members of his priceless "kind" left, as General Lahan had taken it upon himself to personally remind her, and only three awake for this shift as matters stood. Learning the face and name of Robert "Hob" Bach and his compatriots, had been among her very first duties on awakening . But she did not have to startle the obviously discomfited man any further by letting him believe official scrutiny was far more intense than even he might imagine.

"I'd shake your hand of course," she bantered, one eyebrow lifted playfully before she glanced down to his plate. "But I bet you wouldn't thank me much, for keeping you from that pulled pork even a second longer."