It felt like a millennia before Holly was allowed to leave the press hall. Vinyáya complimented her on her composure as she was leaving, but it wasn't until she watched she got home and watched the interview herself that she fully understood just how good she had been.

She made her way back to Trouble Kelp's cubicle and found him typing up some reports that need finishing, and to her great disappointment that's what she spent the rest of the day doing.

They had planned to grab a bite to eat together after work, given that she had missed lunch due to the press conference. But as they made their way to the exit, just before they passed through the double doors leading out onto the street, a flyer pinned on the employee's notice board caught the female elf's attention.

Trouble caught her reading the notice entitled 'crunch ball trials' and nudged her gently in the ribcage.

"You gonna sign up?" he asked, half jokingly

"Do you think I should?" she replied, not noticing companions amusement "I used to play in college, but the LEP doesn't allow girls below captain to join, but now I'm a captain..." she was cut off by a badly disguised chuckle from Trouble. "What?" she asked defensively.

"I used to play in college," he mimicked in an unnaturally high voice. "Short, this is the police league, not some girls college social group." He wrapped his arm smoothly around her shoulders. Holly could not believe her pointy little ears. This Trouble was so different from the one who had stuck up for her in front of the commander, or in front of those male sprites in the locker room. This Trouble Kelp was so much like the others, this one was so... male.

"I'm sorry," she muttered darkly, "you seem to be under the impression that I can't do anything for myself." Her voice grew louder. "You think I was on the girls team? I was on the men's team, and more than that, I made the men's team. They hadn't won any matches for two years before I came along, and I've never lost a match!"

Trouble laughed at her softly, but he had lost his cocky edge that he had had moments previously.

"I'm sure they did," he said, " but there's a slight difference between a college team and the police league." In her head, Holly had to reluctantly agree. The police league teams were comprised of big hairy gnomes, pumped up sprites, the occasional sadistic dwarf, and perhaps the quickest and most talented elves. Naturally, Trouble Kelp was a first row dunker, a position that equated to the quarter back of an American football team, or the center midfield of a soccer team. "There's no room on the Recon team for a girl. We wouldn't want you to get hurt" he added affectionately squeezing her shoulders.

Holly was not impressed.

Pushing his arm off of her (though, later on when she was on her own, she would be forced to admit that it was pleasant having it there in the first place) she snatched the pen off of the wall and wrote her name on the next available line.

"There doesn't seem to be room for a girl on Recon full stop," she retorted bitterly "but here we are." and on that note, she stormed out of the building and onto the street.

Trouble stood watching after her blankly for a few moments, and then rushed out after her.

"SHORT!" He called after her retreating figure, "HEY! Short!" He lowered his voice as he got nearer to her. "All I was saying that for your own safety..." He was cut off by Holly's fist hitting him in the face and throwing him unceremoniously face first onto the floor.

"My own safety?" She asked indignantly as his blue sparks repaired his broken nose. "What am I? Some little girl who can't take care of herself?" He didn't answer, but the look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. "You actually think that I need protecting!" She said disbelievingly. "Who tagged commander Root first? Who thrashed your personal best flight records? Oh, yeah, Who saved whose life?" She kicked him in the shin. "Without magic?"

He tried to touch her to calm her down, but she merely slapped his outreached hand away.

"Do you want to know what I think Kelp" she asked quietly, which in itself was more menacing that when she had been storming about " I think that you feel so threatened by me, a small little girl who's beating you at everything that you try to do, that you don't want me to make the team, because you know that I would take your place"

Trouble Kelp was a smart elf, and he knew a lifeline when he was thrown one.

"What if..." He said quietly, playing the role of the sensitive elf to perfection. "What if I told you that I was scared?" He glanced at her and was relieved to see her face softening. "What if I told you that what I have here, this is my life. I work hard, I do well, and I beat everyone because I have to!" He reached out and took her hands in his, looking at her through tear y eyes. "What if I told you that when you come in here and beat me as if I was some kind of child, that I can't stand it..." He stopped talking when she squeezed his hands tightly. "I've worked too hard to let you just waltz in here and take everything away from me!"

It was Holly's turn to chuckle.

"I don't expect you to let me!" she cried exasperatedly "I'm just trying to be the best I can be and if that's better than you, then you had better up your game! I don't want to be Root's golden boy!" she threw her head back and laughed at the very idea of being one of Root's bests.

She pecked him lightly on the cheek, and then turned to leave once more.

As she was about to round the corner of the street, she turned back to face Trouble.

"And hey," she quipped "if it does turn out that Root chooses me over you, you could always win him over with that whole crying emotional fairy routine you've got. That was really convincing!" she waved cheerily at him and disappeared around the corner leaving a very bemused Trouble Kelp to wonder exactly what Recon had got itself in for by recruiting it's first aver female officer.

There was a reason that females wouldn't make good Recon officers, and it was nothing to do with physical capabilities.

Girls are crazy.