[quote=@Kensai]
Aurélie's expression turned grave, taking on the air of a venerable matron. "Ça suffit!" she hissed at Scott. "When you praise my work, you praise yourself for picking me. That is no praise at all, but boasting. Je suis déçu."
[/quote]

Scott gave an irritated and exasperated sigh and shook his head at Aurélie's rebuke to his compliment, balling his fist; but didn't answer immediately as Smith entered the room, instead nodding to him with a smile and a nod to Chévy's comment. 
"Captain Bouchard is right; get yourself squared away and be sure you and your WSO get some rest while you have the opportunity. We're going to be getting into the thick of it in a few hours, and I'm going to need you and Circuit ready and able"
He gestured to Yuna and Ximena, and pointed them toward the new arrival. 
"Calico, Jefe; why don't you both give Griffin the tour and show him around. Captain..." he hesitated a moment, looking to Aurélie, and then sighed, shaking his head. "...Never mind. Dismissed".

As soon as the others had stepped out of the room and moved away, he likewise left. He had paperwork and reports to file and complete, requests to submit and other such mundanities to be taken care of as part of the mission planning. He could have completed them there, in the control room, but at that moment he didn't really want to be there. The rebuke to his well-meaning, well-intentioned and genuine comment at the success of the planning session and the comfortable ease he'd felt in working with Bouchard had disappointed and upset him more than he'd thought. There hadn't been a chance as yet to connect with any of the squadron's members, and so far, it had been a taxing, stressful, painful (physically and mentally) and gruelling first couple of days of command.
Scott felt wiped out, mentally and emotionally as a result, and as he paused at the entrance to the HQ, he leaned heavily on the door frame, wiping a hand over his face, and holding it there for a moment, before it dropped and he stared out, trying to marshal his thoughts and sort through the tumbling mess of them, before he forced himself back into motion, heading to find somewhere quiet to sit and do what he had to. There wasn't much else of a choice; he needed to keep going. 

[@Kensai], [@Hyperion338], [@Smike], [@Finetales]