Lenore brushed the hair from her eyes, but it almost immediately flew back in front of them. Deciding not to bother further, she nodded. "I'm on courier duty, actually. I have some letters for you." Remembering the Baldies' training almost too late, she saluted. "Uh, sir." She added, her eyes hidden by her whipping hair.
It was then that a considerable gust of wind blew, staggering Lenore and sending the letters in her hand flying. "Shoot!" The girl scrambled after the letters and, after a few minutes of running, succeeded in retrieving them all - thankfully, the surrounding area was a flat field. When she returned to Thistle, he was laughing softly as his ponytail flapped about in the wind.
Handing the letters over to the man, he gave her a nod and a smile. "Thank you." Lenore turned to leave as he looked through the letters, but stopped as he called out to her. "Hey, little girl! These aren't all for me." Lenore turned and walked back to him, accepting the letter he held out to her. "That one goes to Santos. Thanks for your help." Stashing the letters, he turned back to his archery.
Turning as well, Lenore sighed. Santos. She was just thinking that she hadn't had enough abuse today.
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Standing in front of Santos Baldy's office, Lenore took a deep breath. Salute. Sir. Salute. Sir. Salute. Sir. Nodding to herself, the girl knocked on the door. A voice like grinding metal called out. "Come in." Lenore was momentarily taken aback by the normality of the greeting. No 'Double-deckered pig fart' or 'waste of space in a titan's belly'? So taken aback was she that she forgot to enter, and Santos' voice came ringing again. "Maggot, I'll give you until the count of ten to get your a** in here, or by the walls I'll hunt you down. One, Two, Te-" Lenore opened the door hastily and gave an equally hasty salute. "I'm, uh, very sorry, sir! I was distracted by something, it won't happen again, sir!"
Santos fixed her with a stare that seemed to bore straight through her. "Oh! WELL, THEN. In THAT case, I suppose that you're free to go! AFTER you tell me WHY THE HELL you were knocking on my door, you sorry excuse for a PISSANT!" All the while, he smiled as serenely as possible. A truly frightening combination.
Lenore fidgeted nervously. "I've got a letter for you, uh, sir." Santos' smile never faded. "Oh. Well, why didn't you say so? Are you going to give it to me, or just STAND THERE LOOKING LIKE A STATUE, HUH?" The girl rushed forward, thrusting the letter out towards him. Santos took the letter and set it down. "So. While you're here and wasting my time, anyway, care to answer some questions?" Without waiting for a response, he continued speaking. "Why is is that a scrawny little runt like you wants to join the military, huh? I'm DYING to know."
"I didn't have a choice." Without thinking, Lenore bit out her response, and the Baldy stared daggers at her, his smile still plastered on his face. "'Didn't have a choice', she says. And what do they call you, other than a pathetic excuse for a soldier?" Lenore decided that since she had already dug her grave, she might as well lay in it, as well. "Elenore Abendritter."
"You're the one my sons conscripted? I would have thought they had better taste. You think you're special, you runt?" Before Lenore could even respond, he slammed a hand on his desk. "You're not! You're probably going to end up in a titan's belly as a light snack at best, you book-munching midget! I'm sure your sorry excuse for parents would be proud to know that they raised such a scrumptious morsel, you sniveling daughter of a worm!"
She wasn't sure why, but the mention of her parents pissed her off more than anything else. Balling her tiny fists, Lenore glared at Santos. "Shut up." The Baldy's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. "Bad attitude. You're gonna go far in this camp if you keep it up. 30 laps far. Start now." Lenore whirled around and left without a word.
She collapsed at about 19 laps.
