It was well after midnight by the time the strategy meeting was finally called to an end. Technically, Count should have left hours ago, when Wiseman dismissed everyone that got hit in the fight to the infirmary, but Trigger stayed the entire time and he wasn't about to be stood up. Unfortunately, they mostly talked in circles, because for all of Osea's battle doctrines, there wasn't one for the captain of a super submarine going nuts and starting a cult. Go figure.
He should have just gone to bed and tried to sleep on his oncoming headache, but he knew for a fact that would just stare at the ceiling until the sun came up. Either way, he was going to be dead on his feet the next day anyway, so he wandered topside. The open air brought immediate relief, and he could feel the tension ease up. The barracks assigned to the LRSSG were practically a five-star hotel in comparison to the cramped cells back at the 444th, but just being able to see the sky trumped either of them.
He sat down on a supply crate and just took a second to breathe. It had been a long day, even before the mission started. Then what was supposed to be a straightforward mission ended with them getting mercenaries sicced on them by a so-called ally. At least Clemens got arrested before he could arrest them. Trigger said something about small miracles, but none of this would have happened in the first place if high command actually paid attention to what was going on around them. Count wasn't an introvert by any means, but after dealing with everyone's bullshit all day, it was nice to finally close his eyes and listen to the waves for a minute.
Far longer than a minute passed when he heard the footsteps. Light and quiet, definitely not something he expected from one of the soldiers on night watch, so he cracked one of his eyes open to make sure it wasn't someone there to off him. Huxian stood across from him, watching him. She had a cotton bandage on her cheek, and was clearly as exhausted as anyone up at this hour would be, but didn't look any worse for wear besides that. Their eyes met, and she sent him a cocky grin. "Why are you still up?"
Count only rolled his eyes. "Couldn't sleep. So what did the doctor say?"
"I'm fine, but the doc wants me to come back in the morning for another check up. Speaking of, you need to go in too, before one of us drags you in."
"Why? It's not like I broke anything. I might be a little bruised, but it's not like there's anything that can really be done about that." A horrible idea popped into his head and he grinned. He waggled his eyebrows and tugged at his collar. "Unless you want to kiss it better?"
The taunt had the desired effect. Huxian's eyes shot wide open and her cheeks went a little red before she chuckled and delivered a solid punch to his shoulder. Well, if he wasn't bruised before, he certainly was now, but the look on her face was absolutely worth it. Eventually, the laughter died down, leaving the two in comfortable silence. Count gestured to the empty space on the box next to him, and she took a seat.
"Speaking of bruises, how's your hand?"
She huffed and crossed her arms. Her hands had some cloth wrapped around it, but he didn't know enough about medicine to say if there were any injuries underneath it or not. "Took me about an hour to wash all the slime off of it. Man, I hate guys like that. What kind of moron tries to kill off the bigshots winning the war over ego? Especially in a situation like this?"
"Ugh, preach. McKinsey was the same way. The only good thing about that guy was that he was so incompentent. Who knows what kind of damage he could have done if his IQ was in the double digits."
"Oh yeah, that guy. The walking sexual harrassmant lawsuit."
Count blinked at that. He didn't regret much, but hearing that made him wish that he let the escort plane go down. Or better yet, shoot it down himself. The world would have been a better place for it. Maybe after they won this war and came back as heroes they could get him fired. It would serve him right if McKinsey wound up in a prison cell, and left to deal with all the shit he had inflicted on everyone else.
The two fell into companionable silence again. Huxian casually dropped her head on to his shoulder. Normally he'd shove her off, and they'd start bickering, but if anyone asked he was just too tired to deal with it. It was relaxing, in an odd way. Of the members of the LRSSG, Huxian was easily the easiest to get along with. She wasn't stuffy like the older members of the group.
It looked like she had absolutely no plans of moving. "You know, I think you've changed."
"What do you mean?"
"When we first met, I thought you were an asshole, and a coward who was only in it for yourself."
"Gee, thanks." Not that she was wrong. He had fully planned on doing the same thing he did at the 444th, only helping out when needed, and leaving when things started to get too rough. Count was so sure that they were going to get sick of his shit and get rid of him, but that still hadn't happened, and he was starting to believe that it wouldn't.
"You're welcome." Huxian grinned at him again. "I saw what you did today, and I don't think for a second that you from back then would have jumped in to play bait for your squad mates. If you hadn't done that, who knows where we'd be. So, y'know, thanks."
Anything he might've said caught in his throat. Genuine praise, with no backhanded comments or unspoken orders, just wasn't something he was used to. He combed over the words in his head. Huxian wouldn't pull something like that. She might have been one of the most sarcastic people he had ever met, but she wasn't someone who lied through her teeth like he was.
"Thanks." It was all he could think to say. She didn't reply, and when he looked down at her, she was pretty clearly passed out. He just held still and got as comfortable as he could. If he woke her up she would just be grumpy, and it had been a long day for the both of them, anyway. Count laid his head on top of hers and closed his eyes. If she woke up before he did, that was going to be her problem.