Kolme Nilas'es bed was larger than most aboard the space-warship Am-Fluchtig, and that had today turned out to be a very good thing indeed. Clothes strewn across the place, some literally floating in the parts of the room not covered by the dampener field - It would of been almost an embarrassing sight, were Scarlet of an age to be embarrassed by such things.
It crossed her mind to wonder who exactly was put-out by messy rooms and hastily thrown about clothing, surely not teenagers and certainly, in her experience, not people her age - Definitely not today.
She lay under the covers next to Kolme having thoroughly 'skipped to the good part' - The older man was the first to break the calm silence;
"Was 'Pathetic idiot' really meant to be a compliment?"
She grinned back broadly and dug an elbow into his exposed ribs, "Shad-up ya idiot."
They stared up at the faint glow of the damper-field above, enshrouding them in a soft glow - "Hey Scarlet, is it true you don't remember your name and age and stuff, or just something you tell the kiddos?"
She laughed, "What do you think?"
"Well it's just, I've never slept with anyone who's name I didn't know before."
Kolme blushed a little as he said that, which only made her grin all the more;
"We're adults old man, no one's gonna give ya detention for using the big S-E-X word."
That made him blush even more.
"What about you then? You must have a middle name right?"
Kolme frowned as he thought about that a moment;
"Well ya, I was born a bit before the homogenisation got rid of all that, though now that you mention it I suppose Sabban and Una probably don't." He sighed, "Kolme Luke, Havler Nilas."
Scarlet smirked, "Heh that's pretty long - Luke huh? Should I call ya' Lucky Luke from now on?"
"I'd rather you didn't, people called me that for years already." Kolme grumbled back unhappily.
"Oh ya, why's that?"
"Eh? Well... People used to say I was 'Lucky' for having the eye of A-- of my last partner, but really they just thought I was lucky for being my father's son. Plus his name was 'Kolme' too so they couldn't call me that."
"No kidding? I think I'm starting to get an impression of the sort of family you come from. The type everyone knows, local celebrity, a priest or maybe a soldier--" Scarlet stopped a moment when Kolme visibly cringed at her last guess;
"A soldier then eh? Never would of guessed you were so similar to Hoki and Sabban, military family huh - Sounds rough. But hey what about that other word, 'Havler'? I've met alot of people in my time but never heard that one."
Kolme frowned, "Ya me neither, apparently it was the name of some hero deep in my family tree - Not sure what he was a hero of, but enough of one to have his name passed down with the eldest Nilas-son of each generation.
But come on, play fair, I told you both a' mine - How 'bout you tell me your middle name too?"
Scarlet laughed, reached her hand across the sheets and ruffled the man's messy hair, causing yet another ill-suited blush:
"Sheesh, atleast take me out to dinner before ya start asking such things!" She cooed.
"You have a weird sense of priority you know that? Still feels wrong to call you by a title after today..."
"Just call me 'Scar' then, that should be enough 'ight?"
"Scar huh? Whatever will the neighbours say about me having a pet-name for you I wonder." Kolme said back with a grin of his own.
"Since when have I ever cared about neighbours." She returned the smile.
There was a buzzing sound from the foot of the bed, probably Kolme's communicator, the man groaned unhappily;
"Pah, guess I should be getting back to it, sorry, Scar."
"Like heck! You've barely stopped in like 48 hours, you're owed a little recreation ain't ya?"
"You say that but..." Kolme mumbled back.
Not allowing him the room to go any further, Scarlet shifted off the comfort of the bed and stood up - Grabbing her familiar bomber jacket and laying it over her exposed shoulders, she turned back to Kolme who himself was now sitting upright, "Now you listen here old man--"
She wasn't entirely sure if this was the right move, many faces of time's past would tell her that work relationships, especially in their line of work, were a bad idea - And it wasn't like she couldn't just leave, never mention this again, let Kolme pout and go back to shouting at each other all the time - But that wasn't what felt right.
It had just been a little kindness that she spoke to him - Just a little chemistry that she'd desired to sleep with him - But now, now it felt like more, it was fun, nice - And she wanted to know, to know what life with someone like Kolme Nilas as a partner rather than an enemy, might be like - To stand by this bizarre man and together help their young friends through this war;
"-- I'm going to borrow your ensuite here to have a shower, while you're gonn'a shuffle your merry way across the corridor and pick me out a change of underwear, you'll find my door stays unlocked too. After that we're both gonn'a go see Una - This worrying of yours is no good, if you want to take accountability for those who died an' got hurt, then face it like a man, or better yet see that hope ain't all lost and more of us came back than didn't ya hear?
Either way I won't stand for any.., For any man of mine to avoid seeing my Una! You got all that?"
Kolme's face was a picture, of hesitation, of amusement and perhaps a hint of happiness to boot - "And on who's authority does that order come lass?"
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Scarlet grinned, "Ha! On the highest of all, a woman talking to a man!!"
****
Kolme at her side, Thee Scarlet Scourge made her way, somewhat bemused, down the corridors leading from their quarters, over to the ship's sickbay - Each person they passed seem to give them a shocked wide-eyed look as though utterly confused.
"Yo Kolme, is it really that strange to them for us two to just walk down a corridor together?"
Kolme laughed, "You do have a bit of reputation Scar."
She shrugged, "Seems that way. Oh Kolme, before we go in there you should know - They reckon she won't be ready to fight again for atleast a few weeks - So, Una won't be in the next battle."
Kolme looked to her;
"Heh, ya I heard. Scar, would you hate me if I said I'm kind of glad? Not that she's hurt or anything, but that, well..."
"That she'll be safe for the next battle? That she's gonn'a have more time to train and improve before going anywhere near her next Casnel encounter? Nah man, I feel the same way." Scarlet finished, laying a hand on Kolme's shoulder.
He nodded looking rather relieved, before a new thought seemed to cross his mind;
"Oh by the way, I meant to tell you before - There's been a report that Remembrance are on the move--"
"Wh-wha-wh-What!! Wha, eh, what is going on!!?" Shrieked a new voice interrupting Kolme.
The corridor had a T-shape junction and coming up it, Hoki 'Hokuai' Bachika, Acting Squad Vice-Commander, test pilot and Scarlet's wingwoman, had been able to hear the last couple lines of conversation as she approached the two.
"Hey Hoki-lass..." Kolme said wincing a little at her outburst.
"I, i-I thought you two hated each other?!" Hoki burst out, all her normal composed formality lost.
"Hate is such a strong word." Scarlet said back, starting to become a little concerned about the general perception of herself aboard the ship.
"He called you 'Scar'!!" Hoki borderline yelped back.
"You call me that too right?"
"Not the way he did, not with a hint of sheepishness and a touch of gloating!"
Scarlet stared forward, Hoki really did have a way with words to be admired, especially when flustered.
"We err, we're just going to see the Rookie, you wann'a tag along lass?" Kolme added.
Hoki relented and the two became three, walking now in an awkward silence, one on either side of Scarlet, both blushing while the tall crimson haired ace simply looked between them entirely bemused.
"Did you... Ahem, did you get that report lieutenant Sir?" Hoki asked, trying to regain her normal cool.
"Aye I did, thanks to my expert courier here." Kolme said back, smiling at Scarlet.
"No, nope, can't do it - Weird, Weird, Weird!!" Hoki blurted, the composure gone again.
Regardless of her wingwoman's opinion, the trio soon stepped into the ship's infirmary - It was a somewhat dull room, the expected white walls, overly bright lights and trolleys filled with equipment - A glorified hallway divided up by curtain partitions and hospital-style beds.
They made their way along the row, Kolme's face growing paler as he past the many injured from the previous battle, pilots of course - But also people who'd simply been caught up in explosions when the Fluchtig had taken hits of its own - Or even those who had just been unlucky in the high tension of battle and tripped on a staircase, fallen in a corridor or bumped their heads - There were alot of ways to get injured in battle that didn't involve gaint robots.
And yet (To Scarlet's secret delight), there was no grudge to be had, no heckling in Kolme's direction, no one avoiding eye contact - In fact quite the opposite, many of the patients tried to get up to come talk with Kolme, nurses having to stop them - Some cheered thanks, and most just said hi as though he were just another old friend.
Slowly the colour returned to Kolme's face.
And then they made it to Una O' Conchabhair's bedside. She wore a simple white hospital-gown, most of her body covered by the duvet - She smiled upon seeing the three approach.
"Everyone, well kinda." She said.
"Hey Una, how you keeping." Kolme said, a little stiffly.
The small woman made eye contact with Kolme, doing her best to look determined - "The Doctor says I can get up and stuff later today, not much at first but I should be able to move around a little soon to do healing exercises."
The older man smiled at the news, it would be some weeks until her ribs would heal and the girl must surely be in alot of pain, yet here she was as always, smiling for her seniors.
"That's great to hear Rookie."
Scarlet stepped forward and ruffled Una's short crop of hair - "Ha, you seem pleased today girly, thought you were depressed still?"
Una blushed a little, "Well, I mean, I couldn't really stay down when all of you are working so hard right?"
Scarlet grinned.
As Hoki took a seat next to Una's bedside, Scarlet leant into Kolme to whisper;
"See that old man? We ain't beat just yet now are we?! Outmatched, maybe - Hurt, definitely - But we ain't out for the count just yet!"
Kolme nodded, and that ember of hope she'd expended so much effort trying to kindle, finally started to glow a little brighter.
They both took seats next to Hoki, all four chatting - Discussing Sabban's absence and the goings on of the ship.
"Weird..." Una mumbled after a little while.
"What was that?"
"Huh, oh ah, nothing, ahahaha... Just, ummm, you two being so friendly... It's kinda weird." Una mused quietly.
"I know right!" Hoki added, clasping Una's hand in her own with a firm nod of agreement.
They laughed and continued like this for a time until the buzzing alert sounds from both Hoki and Kolme's handhelds began to get annoying.
As they moved to get up and say their good-byes for the day, Una sheepishly piped up once more - "Ummm, sorry to ask - I was going to wait until Cally came by to visit but she's probably as busy as all of you guys are too - It's just, with being able to get out of bed soon, ummm."
Scarlet patted her softly on the shoulder, "No worries, I unlike these two I have all the time in the world--" She gloated to 'those' two's dismay, "I'll head over to your place now and pick up some clothes."
"Thanks Miss.Scarlet and thanks to everyone for coming over, it means alot. Tell Sabban I said hi too if ya see him."
"Not likely these day, but will do." Kolme nodded.
And with that the group left. Hoki still weirded out, Kolme with a little more life in his eyes - And Scarlet with a new errand to alleviate her boredom, after the last one she was honestly fascinated to see where this one might lead,
****