Going through troop arrangements and the details of strategy was a task of its own, Culgan thought. His task was not made any easier by having a certain ranting, impatient redhead in his office giving him opinions of what worked and what didn't - which in Seed's opinion was nothing so far. They were in Culgan's office, mostly because Seed rarely had the patience to actually go through said papers alone, and the older man had to admit that sometimes - or rather, more often than not, the whole deal was such a headache.

"No, this won't work," Seed went on about his opinion on the latest suggested deployments. "It'd be waste to have my men there, and how do they suggest we get anything done? What are the higher-ups thinking anyway, my unit's not for pointless guard duty like that. So I say we tell them to..."

It was actually quite irritating to listen to the redhead do this, but Culgan had his endlessly calm nature to thank for the fact that he just sat there and listened. Unfortunately, there were times when Seed's suggestions weren't simply going to work, and orders from upper levels were orders. "It can't be done," Culgan stated with a calm voice. "Our orders are in here, and it's a matter of unit positioning and organizing at the moment. The commander wants these done before tomorrow."

"What?" Seed frowned, then slumped down on the couch Culgan had in the office, looking frustrated. "That's freaking ridiculous. These kind of assignments take more time than that! And," he waved his hand at the general direction of the map on Culgan's desk. "Those positionings there ain't happening, and you know it."

That was the exact reply he had been expecting. The orders were, in the end, not at all to Seed's liking, and the redhead made sure his more patient partner was aware of that. "These are our orders, Seed," Culgan repeated. He gave the other man with a firm, patient look. "Therefore, we have to find a way to make it happen, so how about we start from the beginning? It's apparent you're not happy with the current plan. Let's see then," he leaned over the map and pointed at something. "If you were to agree to have your unit moved to the fort in-"

The younger man folded his arms and looked angry. "No!"

Culgan sighed and leaned away from the map. "Seed. 'No' is not an option. We have to work this out somehow, and I'll have to say, you're not acting much like a responsible unit commander at all right now. I understand your frustration over the current assignment, but you should not take it on me. It has to be done, and unless..."

"Yeah, yeah. Why are we even discussing the plans here?" Seed cut in. He glared at the older man like glaring at Culgan would somehow made the higher-ups change the orders. "This is pointless, and since it's orders this'll just end up with you picking out the troop positioning and whatever. Bah."

"And you'll complain no matter what," Culgan pointed out. "As you say, in the end this is military, and we have to get these things done." He paused and studied the younger man for a moment. A hint of a smile rose to his lips as he came up with some idea of how to deal with the current problem, which was Seed being completely unreasonable. "If, however, you insist on shooting down all my suggestions, I'll be forced to report you for not being co-operative and ignoring your duty." He gave Seed the most firm stare he could manage, mentally enjoying the change of expression on the younger man's face.

Seed's face went from angry to annoyed then surprised and then turned full-blown enraged. "What's this now!? Are you making threats or what, or is this some kind of blackmail? I'll have you know, I'm still the-" That was about as far as he got, as Culgan stepped forward and was suddenly there, pinning the redhead against the couch. "Culgan! The hell are you doing?"

"A simple distraction," the older man replied. He reached to grab Seed by the jaw and stared at him, smiling. "You're way too irritated to finish working on this right now. A break might be in order, and we really need to do something about your frustrations. Perhaps... This?" He leaned down and kissed the redhead deeply.

Culgan's plans were perfect as always, and as he had expected, Seed's irritated mood was gone as the younger man grabbed him and pulled him into an even deeper kiss. Of course, Culgan had to admit, this kind of distraction worked a little too well. At least at the point when Seed started to pull the older man's coat off, he had to admit that there would be no work done this afternoon.