Snippet #1340240

Seamus continued strolling towards the two people that had appeared to be waiting for him and the others to arrive, heavy brown walking shoes causing a steady, echo throughout the terminal. They'd all turned up at pretty much the same time and were walking towards the same point near the departure gate in various states. He for one had never felt so awake and was utterly bewildered that anyone could be slouched and tired at a time like this. For the love of God, they were going into space! And not only that, they were going to help carry out research on a moon that the public were not even aware had been reached! He shook his head a little at the thought before realising that he had been identified and rapidly changed to an enthusiastic nod at the man with the clipboard, matching his grin with one of his own. Since setting off it was the first smile he'd seen and he welcomed it with open arms.

Before he could open his mouth to rattle off a string of Leprechaun-like responses and offer his hand to shake, the man had started talking, presumably a speech he had prepared, so Seamus simply stood and listened, moving closer when asked. He listened to the brief introduction and noted the names mentioned. Jerry and Abigail, easy enough to remember. Although names were not his strong point and there were three others to go yet. Oh well, just remember the names of the people who decided to bring you here and you can learn the others later he thought to himself. The speech, he soon gathered, was not one that was well-prepared and instead was merely a few words to bring the group together. So while the man turned and started rifling through his paperwork the young Irishman turned around to have a look at the other lucky few that he would be joining on the expedition.

Trying not to judge by first impressions was always difficult. Even if you didn't know it, there was always a part of you that took a like or dislike to someone for some unknown reason. Nonetheless, he tried to keep a clear head as he flashed a grin to the other students.
"So," he started, reverting to more casual Northern Irish tones, "anyone ever been on one of these before?" He jabbed his fist over his shoulder, pointing his thumb towards the gate to indicate the shuttle waiting behind it, as he asked the question. It was as good a starting question as any he guessed; he found asking for a name straight away tended to kill a conversation before it even began.

He then proceeded to lift the strap of his bag and drop it to the floor, swivelling his shoulder to ease the stiffness in the joint after carrying the bag here. It was quite full and as such was a little on the heavy side so it had been digging into the base of his neck while he walked, scuffing the black collar of a shirt that stuck out above a brown and white striped sweater.