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 Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 8:00 pm
Waking up was painful. Stirring set off waves of pain as her body protested, but it was more ache than anything. A familiar, deep ache that suggested bone bruising, something Ariel was far too familiar with. And her head... A groan was the first noise issued into the quiet bedroom as the dark haired woman rolled over onto her side, thinking for a moment that it was the height of stupidity to have a bender after one of her runs, even if it was a lot of ******** fun to go dance and drink off the adrenaline and endorphins. At least there was no one in bed with her, as she could tell as she stretched her limbs slowly outwards. That meant she could be hungover in peace, without the puking putting off whatever chick had spent the night.
Full wakefulness came as something large and heavy landed on her side, making Ariel swear as she cracked a dry eye open to glare at Zeus, his large paws kneading a particularly bad ******** hell cat, get off..." She growled as she shoved the orange tabby off of her despite the disappointed look he gave her. Damn it... she must have forgotten to feed him when... when she got home? Sitting up despite the protest of her battered body, Ariel scowled at her innocent seeming room. No, it hadn't been a bender last night. Memories were surfacing that were far different than her assumptions... involving youma and a d**k of a general she'd been trying to punch out before something had taken her out from behind. Which begged the question; how the ******** had she gotten home? She didn't remember a thing afterwards.
A quick assessment told her she was surprisingly well cared for; naked, clean and bandaged. The naked was only a little concerning, because it meant someone she didn't know had touched her without her permission and that meant that someone was going to get her boot up their a** in a quick fashion... especially if it was some ******** male flunky. The sheet and blanket flared as she tossed them off and forced herself to her feet by sheer will, taking a long, annoying moment to let the room stop spinning as her heart beat like a hammer in her head. God, she hated head injuries... they made her feel so weak.
Hera greeted her caretaker with a chirp and a loving rub of the ankles as she made her way towards the door of the room, one long arm brushing fingers down the peeling wallpaper just to be sure she was still vertical. The trip down the hallway was short, opening up to the large living space that was a combination of kitchen, livingroom and training space with its mostly empty floor, battered couch before a tv stand and tiny kitchen table with its metal folding chairs. A flick of red eyes swept over the cat stands in front of the windows where the other two cats blinked large eyes at her and on to the large wooden desk covered with papers and sensitive information on a variety of bounties... before a sixth sense made the short hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she turned to find a stranger in her apartment, looking both comfortable and out of place.
Ariel cleared her throat thickly to find some semblance of her normal tones, wishing she'd stopped in the bathroom for a glass of water to ease her cotton mouth. "Ah... excuse my morning manners, sweetheart, but who the <******** are you?" Despite that, her voice came out more husky and dry than she would have liked, her dark brows pulling together.
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 12:02 am
Small gifts from the coffee gods that there was at least a convenience store in the shithole neighborhood near enough to the shithole dwelling to get something worth passing the time with. Stroud hadn't been expecting to find that Lieutenant HotBuns was a crazy-cat-lady-in-training, but maybe the leather and latex body suit should have been a tip off. Getting the other back together took hours of cleaning, stitching and bandaging. The plain clothes Captain needed the overpriced bottle of Starbucks preprepared-milkwater-coffee like Cinnabar probably needed a blood transfusion. After procuring that, and some other choice supplies, it had been a matter of waiting for sleeping beauty to come around while petting all the other pussies to pass the time. And a pipe or two. Cinnabar stumbling out of her bedroom, talking to the cats like people, and buck naked was icing on the last 24 hours. "Your knight in shining armor, Hot Lips. " Stroud knocked her most recent burnt out pipe tobacco on her hand before crossing to and transferring it to the empty and re-purposed convenience store plastic baggy on desk. "Your name could've been claimed by some new lieutenant. Recycling is a shame." "When you are knocked unconscious, eventually you do and will power down. Which means your wallet is in your pocket again instead of subspace. Ariel Mishnah. " "There's three waters in your fridge and a Tropicana OJ from the corner store drink coolers. Start with the OJ, everyone lost a lot of blood. " With her own injuries just tight wrapped, so had Stroud. Self-stitching was too many worms to bother.
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 6:26 pm
Hot Lips? Ariel mouthed the nick name with a tired disbelief, finally shaking her head as she just gave up. Whatever. It was a woman, she had brought her home and patched her up, and her apartment was more or less in normal order... she could deal with the hotty after she took care of a few things. When the blonde finished with the command, Ariel gave her a long blink before she turned and shuffled her way back to the bedroom.
Moments later when she emerged again from the hallway, she had a plain white bottle in one hand, an orange prescription in the other, and her bruised body was clad in a gray sort of tank top that came down just below her hips. She hadn't bothered with anything more, figuring it was a waste of time when the stranger was probably already intimately familiar with her body and every little scar she had.
Bottled set down sharply on the counter, the tall woman bent with a grunt of effort to fish out... cat food, from the lower cupboard. An excited rushing greeted the dry kibble as it was introduced to the bowls waiting for it, all four cats practically mauling the woman as she straightened up. Priority One, check. Next, an upper cupboard produced an open carton of cigarettes and in moments a new pack was out, opened, and one slender stick was glowing merrily between Ariel's lips. She didn't really like opening a new pack, but as she had no idea where her clothes had gotten to, she couldn't fish the old pack out of them... and she was not inclined to search for it. Priority Two, check.
The first drag on the cigarette leeched all of the tension out of Ariel's body and her expression became markedly more pleasant as she went through a morning routine that was almost second nature. She honestly had no idea why the blonde had gone out for coffee... she naturally assumed the other had done some poking around, who wouldn't?, but out came the battered little coffee machine from the cupboard with an off-name brand of coffee. Reservoir filled, filter and grounds added and in moments, the smell of good, black coffee was starting to waft about the apartment.
It was only when all these things were done that Ariel finally pulled the provided OJ out of the fridge and twisted the cap off, setting the bottle down on the counter as she reached for the medicine she had brought out with her. Two pills from the white bottle taken with a swig of juice and the bounty hunter tossed the bottle under handed towards her guest before she leaned back against the counter.
"Vitamins to encourage blood production." She said with a half smile and a lift of her chin, before reaching to pick up the orange bottle and rattle it playfully. "And prescription strength pain killers, if you're so inclined. The vitamins are a cocktail of iron, vitamin C, B1, 6 and 12, and folate. Can you tell I've done this before?" Wrapping an arm around her chest, she tucked it under the other as she took another drag on her cig, sighing out a stream of smoke.
"I'm aware, by the way, that I power down when I'm unconscious. Its happened before, during training..." She winced at that, red eyes sliding off to the side. "But lucky us, since you found my wallet. And... thank you. I assume you brought me home and patched me up. You could have dumped me in an alley or something, but I appreciate the trouble you went to." Picking at the bandage on her arm, she assessed the stitches with a practiced eye before shrugging loosely and tucking it back into place.
"You have a neat hand, at least. Cindy's stitches are smaller, but that's 'cause she likes me... or maybe because its what she does all day, every day. Something tells me its not something you do terribly much... though probably more than me. I don't like stitching myself up when they practically have a bed with my name plate on it at the hospital." She smiled as she brought her gaze back to the blonde, red eyes glittering under her lashes. "You know my name, care to return the favor? I need something, at least, to call my savior."
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 7:32 pm
Nothing like being married to the same s**t every day. As the display continued, Stroud tamped new shreds into her pipe with a finger while she leaned against one of the walls. Catching the bottle required shifting pipe unlit to mouth to use her mostly functional arm. Stroud put it aside on the desk, on the papers she couldn't care much less about. As much as painkillers, vitamins and other things would be pleasant at the moment, she planned on stopping by an ER in a nicer section of town. Too much prior treatment would raise too many questions, and taking pills was something that had to go on medical charts. The assertions of points already know, yet somehow forgotten in the haze of waking up elicited no more than a lighting of the pipe. Ariel had already demonstrated that smoking indoors was fine as the scent of the place, heavy with cat and cigarette, already had indicated. Did something I say give you the impression that this was some sort of experiential pissing contest? I don't care what you have or haven't done before as some sort of ' I don't need your help but thanks anyway ' idiocy. What are you trying to prove? So desperate to be the top b***h. Godspeed. "I brought you out of the Rift, why waste you in an alley." It was simple logic. "Nothing is preventing you from visiting your connections, continuing your routines, getting other care- Cindy or otherwise. Ambulatory and feisty will do." There had been no need to take her to the ER as well, in the end. Leaning away from the wall, crossing to the door, the captain offered over shoulder, "Stroud. Don't go after a General alone in the middle of a battle again. Anger in control clouds many limits, and gets you jumped by Mr. Dead."
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 8:16 pm
The blonde's return was terse and sharp, putting Ariel's spine up as she straightened from her lazy lean against the counter.
"I'm sorry... did I piss in your coffee this morning?" She said with a frown, her eyes narrowing. "I don't believe I asked for your help, though it was nice to not die for a bat-s**t douche of a general. I'm wondering why you bothered, now. Do you often pick up stray hurt lieutenants to take home and doctor up, Stroud?"
Stroud... unusual name.
Lacking an ashtray at the moment, the cigarette was tossed into the sink as the dark haired woman crossed her arms under her bust. Okay, so maybe she was a bit of a b***h when she first woke up, but you have to admit... considering what condition she had gone under in, some annoyance was to be expected on waking, yes? She'd even made a point of thanking this complete stranger for her help, not wanting to seem ungrateful for the effort that had been put into her.
So, why the cold shoulder? She'd never met this woman before and could think of no grudge she might have caused. Granted, it could have been something she'd done unknowingly, but ********... was she to be responsible for something she didn't know she'd done?
"Or was it simply duty that had you spending, no doubt, hours stitching me up? Why not dump me at a hospital and let them deal with me? With how much I was bleeding, I'm sure carrying me all the way here made as much a mess of you as it did of me. I'm sorry if I did something to piss you off... I'll admit to not being at my best right at the moment. I'm not sure what the hell you're expecting from me... someone who fawns all over your boots in gratitude for saving her life?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:54 am
Stroud arched one brow, still lookin back over shoulder. Classic response, 'didn't ask you' for the boon granted. Classic and stupid."You're no mermaid." "You forget Lieutenant, asking has nothing to do with it. That isn't how a military works. Nor am I required to justify actions to you as a superior officer- " Which was also partly a useless and classic response. It was one that leaned wholly on rank, a point that had merit for making things run smoothly. But it wasn't a full explanation, and it was used too often by other officers. Never explain,never learn. I am not going to be like other high ranks and lean wholly on threat. "I liked your moxie. A lot of energy and effort has been invested in you, and you are worthy of it for your combat skill, your pride, your daring... you can unbalance yourself enough to become unworthy. There's a difference between bravery and hubris. I want to see your potential fulfilled- impossible in death. " The last had clear tone- Ariel wasn't fulfilling it. "Fawning has nothing to do with it either. Don't be petulent and arrogant."
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 1:45 pm
Mermaid? Oh, that was clever... ******** Disney. She wanted to punch who ever chose that name right in the junk.... this was not the first time someone had inferred a connection.
The dark haired woman shifted on her bare feet as Stroud both chastised and complimented her, making it hard to decide whether or not to be angry about it. Okay so, maybe she was pissed off, but the fact that the other woman had taken notice of her good points took the edge off of it some. She knew she wasn't the easiest person to deal with, which was partly by design, and she was quite aware of her faults. She had certainly had enough people point them out, both in and out of relationships.
"I'm not... used to working with people." Ariel admitted finally as she dropped her eyes, sliding them to the side with her arms still firmly wrapped under her chest. "I chose my profession because it made me my own boss and that meant no one to question my methods. I've never been in the military and the structure doesn't come naturally to me. Having people I have to answer to is hard."
Realizing she was starting to sound as petulant as Stroud accused her of being, she straightened up and dropped her arms, settling her hands on her hips instead. She wasn't a child, and while she might have to play subordinate to these people, that didn't mean she needed to be a gimp. Confidence... that is what she needed to show, without going over board. She could learn to do that... maybe.
"I'm a quick learner. Let me show you that... train with me sometime? Maybe after the stitches come out? I promise, I make a much better second impression." The tall woman offered a smile, hoping Stroud would read it as something of the peace offering it was meant to be. "Maybe someday you'll let pay you back for the patch up job. I owe you for that, military duty aside."
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 9:50 pm
Half of Stroud's mouth pulled into a too-wide smile. Better. And the posture looks honest. Bravado like that only rarely accompanies acting good enough to appear opened and honest when not. Probable that this be real. Quick learner, indeed. "I believe you." Though the captain didn't confirm which of any of Ariel's statements she was referring to. "I think our styles will complement each other well in training- you're all offense and I'm all deflection. It would be a good practice. " Stroud turned to the door again, opening it and stepping out as she called back, "And the view was more than compensation- military duty aside. When the stitches come out."
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