I based this on a line from an earlier story of mine and also I seem to remember while playing Among Thieves something in Nate's journal gave me the impression he has a sensitive stomach for someone who makes his sort of living. As usual I own nothing and nobody, just playing with them!
Victor squashed out his cigar and flicked away the stub, watching as the embers vanished into the early morning mist. He had taken care to smoke outside for the consideration of his imminent passengers even though the smell would just stick to his clothes and betray him anyway. They would have to deal with that; he'd agreed to cut back, not quit.
Chloe was the first out of the fog. Backlit by runway lights, every step producing a puff of dust from the packed red dirt of the landing strip, she swayed her hips like a puma back from a successful hunt. She had her bag slung over one shoulder and a self-satisfied grin on her lips, and looked to be in a pretty good mood despite the huge purple bruise uglying up her left eye. "Good morning, stranger," she purred. "Been waiting long?"
"Ah, half hour or so. Kept myself busy."
She rapped a reproachful knuckle against the black smudge on the side of the plane. "I can tell."
"Hey, come on. Gimme a break."
The way she rolled her eyes told him she was just as tired of having this talk as he was of hearing it. Good, maybe she'll lay off once in awhile. Chloe was by far the most vocal of the three when it came to giving him grief about his cigar habit. This time it was limited to the suggestion he sample some of the local fare to get the tobacco taste out of his mouth, which defeated the entire purpose. "There's an old woman selling stewed boar meat not too far from here, it's really very good. You can probably get there and back before the lovebirds join us."
It had been years since his last taste of wild boar. They had stuffed it with fresh pineapples and roasted it to utter perfection, and while the memory tempted him Victor was more eager to get off the ground. "Next time." He had to acknowledge the elephant in the room. "That's one hell of a shiner, I'm guessing the other guy looks worse?"
Chloe seemed to find that especially amusing. Her laughter echoed inside the airplane but she did not bother to elaborate.
When it was her turn to emerge from the mist Elena said hello with a hug and a kiss on one cheek, her nose wrinkled in distaste as she pulled away. "You stink of smoke," she complained, but he hardly heard. She sported a black eye of her own, the right side of her face swollen to match, waving away his alarm before he could even speak. "I promise it looks way worse than it is."
Victor had to smile at the casual pride in her voice. Oughta know better by now, Sullivan. Someday he would learn to stop underestimating ability based on appearance. She was fair where Frazer was dark and her complexion compared to the dusky brunette meant a similar injury stood out more, that was all.
As usual Elena was less concerned with her own health than that of those she held dear. It hadn't been much longer than a week but she fussed over his weight as if years had gone by, accusing him of not getting enough to eat and did she have to start sending him meal reminders to keep him from wasting away? "I've actually gained a little bit, believe it or not. Consequence of cutting back," he admitted, enjoying her pleasantly skeptical smirk. Once they had access to a scale she would probably make him prove it.
"Well, if you haven't had breakfast yet I recommend the soup stand just around the corner. Good stuff if you're a big fan of wild game, boar mostly." Elena let him take her duffel and hopped up into the plane. "Oh- and try not to give Nate a hard time? He feels bad enough already."
The hell is that supposed to mean? Then he saw.
Nate shoved his way through the fog like he was angry at it. At first Victor thought he had come through some other part of the airfield where the dirt was an ashy gray color rather than copper, until he realized he was just that pale.
Up close was even worse. Where the girls bore simple bruises around opposing eyes, capillaries in both of his had ruptured and left the whites a nightmarish red from lid to lid, framed by wild hair and a face that had not seen a razor in days. Aside from all that he must have lost close to ten pounds. "Jesus, Nate…" Poor kid looked awful.
The pack flung into his face smelled of musty parchment. "Tell your buddy Felix he can track down his own maps next time— and don't 'Jesus, Nate' me, they did that to each other, all I did was heave my guts out the whole time we were here, that's how this happened by the way-" He indicated his eyes and Victor winced, almost expecting a sudden squirt of blood the way some lizards did under duress. "I had no clue it was even possible to puke so hard it blows a blood vessel but apparently that's a thing!"
"Wait a minute… what?" He was lost. "Chloe and Elena?"
"Did that to each other," Nate repeated testily. "Next thing I know they're drinking up the minibar together like nothing even happened... you know how much that hotel charged me for a couple bullshit bottles of…"
Victor let him complain. He knew all about hospitality markup but that wasn't the point. At any rate they had people to meet and maps to sell, and plenty of time between to hear the tale told three different ways.
With everyone on board and clearance granted to begin his taxi it felt good to finally be on their way. Nate flopped into the copilot's seat like a sack of potatoes and kicked back to recline as far as it allowed, one arm across the bridge of his nose to block out the sight of the rising sun. His other hand he placed protectively over his stomach. "Try and take it easy, will ya, Sul? I say that for the benefit of all of us, just trust me."
"I gotcha- nonstop barrel rolls comin' right up." The extended finger he got in return made him smile. Kid never could take a joke when he wasn't feeling well. By contrast, he could hear the girls having their own conversation behind them, Chloe's heavy tones to Elena's bold ones, and although he could not make out details over the louder sounds of engine and radio static it was clear they did not share Nate's displeasure.
The starboard prop was rattling more than it ought to be; those goddamn bearings again. Port side never acted up but its partner went through more grease than a fried chicken joint. One more fix for the list. Victor opened the throttle and went through the motions with tower control, wisps of fog and rusty red dirt zipping by faster and faster until he gently pulled their nose skyward. Flying into the sunrise made him crave a cup of coffee and he was beginning to wish he'd had that bite to eat before takeoff after all. Must have been something if both girls liked it well enough to mention… "So, I hear the locals make a mean boar stew."
Nate moaned. "Don't remind me. How do you think I got food poisoning in the first place?"