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Chapter 7: Nate and Allegra's tales
Psymon drifted off to sleep almost immediately, he was still very tired from his search for Kaori and his endless duty of Zoe's protector. Brodi leaned back in the couch while Allegra made herself comfortable next to him, inviting herself under his stretched arm.
"So, what were you guys talking about?" Nate said drowsily. Brody brought him up to speed about his talk with Psymon, and then proposed they share a little as well. Allegra looked down at Griff, who slept soundly using Nate's legs as a pillow.
"So how did you two ever hook up? You really are an odd pairing." Brodi asked Nate about his friendship with the child. Nate chuckled and looked down at Griff.
"It just kinda happened, really. We work well together."
"But how did you two even come to BE friends?" Allegra interrupted. Nate sat up slightly to face the shadowed people he spoke to.
"Well, I guess I may as well start to before I joined SSX. I'm the youngest of seven, all brothers." Brodi and Allegra both made sounds of pity for Nate's mother. "Farm family, you know how it goes. Anyways, I was always the runt, being the youngest. I was the weakest, the slowest, the shortest, I was just always last in everything. By the time I was ten I wanted a little brother of my own to pick on, just so I could know how it felt. As the years passed, we did start to grow up, and my oldest brother, Tom, took over the farm when it was time for dad to retire. I was still only about thirteen but he was in his early twenties, and as he grew more into a responsible man, he began to treat me like a brother instead of a pest. He started treating me real good, and I began to really admire him. Eventually as my other brothers got older we all started getting along better, and we're all cool now, but it was Tom who first made me feel like I belonged with my brothers. He would play catch with me, he taught me how to throw a football real good, he taught me how to properly rope a calf, heh he even taught me how to throw a good punch. By the time I was in my late teens, I wanted so much to be like Tom, I wanted to be to someone what he was to me. Obviously by that time my parents were too old to think about having more kids, so I was out of luck there. After working on the farm for a few years, I joined SSX, I wanted to see the world beyond the farm. I remember I was paired up with Griff in our lodge. At first I totally resented being in with a kid, but we were both the new guys, and it was either the kid or Viggo. So he moved in, his parents came with him and lived with us for the first little while. They had to get back to their careers though and left him more or less in my hands. So when that happened I felt like a babysitter who moonlighted as a snowboarder, but the kid started to grow on me. He became like that missing little brother that I needed to have in my life. I taught him how to throw a baseball, that was a huge moment for me. Funny ain't it? Something that most of us take for granted, meaning so much to someone else. I found soon it was fun to be like a big brother. We would play videogames together, I would tell him about my old comic books when I was a kid and how the superheroes were SO much cooler back then. I'd teach him what I could, when I could, and he learned a lot from me. But it was good for me to, 'cuz ever since I've been looking out for the kid I feel like my life has meaning, ya know? I feel like I'm doing what I was meant to do, and that's give a child someone they can look up to." Nate smirked down at Griff. "I just dread when he becomes a smart-assed teenager and doesn't want to hang out with me anymore." Allegra and Brodi both had a chuckle at the comment. Allegra seemed very drawn back though throughout Nate's story.
"So what's your story?" Brodi asked, turning to the young woman. Allegra shook her head.
"I'd rather just let you guys talk, if that's cool." Brodi nodded thoughtfully, then after several seconds of silence he spoke again.
"You feel guilty about earlier, don't you?" Allegra was caught off guard, but sighed and nodded.
"What's done is done, girl, don't let it get you down." Nate offered the solution to her, but she shrugged it off.
"No, it's not that, it's what Kaori said." The men were silent. "I know what I did was wrong, I see that now, I should have said 'no' to Mac... but you guys don't think I'm a slut do you?" Again they said nothing. The silence irritated Allegra. "Great, the one time I just have sex freely, I get busted and everyone thinks I'm a whore." Brodi cut her off.
"It doesn't matter what we think, Allegra. But if it puts your mind at rest, that isn't what we're thinking." Allegra sighed and shook her head. "So you made a mistake, it happens. You know now what you did was wrong, and you've accepted that. You know you're not a slut, but you've also learned that even if it doesn't happen often, an action can lead to consequences. You learned something from this evening, so not all of it was bad."
"Plus if we all die tonight, at least you'll have died satisfied." Nate joked. Brodi kicked him playfully. Allegra choked a laugh from the unexpected comment.
"Actually." she started, "He wasn't that good." They shared a stifled laugh until Allegra's face dropped again. "But still, I screwed up Mac and Kaori's relationship. Plus Mac said if he loses Kaori from this he'll never forgive me, and I know Kaori will hate me forever, I don't want to lose those friends." Nate shook his head with a thoughtful hum. Brodi leaned forward.
"Okay, first off, Mac is just as responsible as you are. If he loses Kaori, it's his own damn fault just as much as yours, if not moreso since he was the one cheating. Secondly, he thought Kaori was dead, he had already accepted the thought of losing her. So if he gets mad at you, then hell with him, he's just trying to convince himself it's not his fault. Mac's always been kind of shifty, don't let it bug you. Just ask yourself if he's upset that he cheated on Kaori, or if he's upset that he got caught." Allegra sighed.
"It won't make people un-think that I'm a slut." She sank into the couch and glared at Elise's sleeping figure. "Meanwhile the girls who actually are get no trouble at all." Brodi looked at her with a slight scold.
"Now why do you say that kind of stuff about her?" Allegra went on a silent defensive.
"Look at her! My shirt has more fabric than her entire outfit, and she seems to have no problem at all just letting guys stare at her ass as it hangs out of that skirt, Hell we're looking at it right now." Brodi let Allegra say her bit. They all knew that Elise had been drinking quite a bit that evening and normally would be more self-aware otherwise, they knew that wasn't a justification, but they still knew it was the truth.
"Look, Elise is Elise, just like you're you and I'm me. If she wants to let her ass be seen for all to enjoy, then that is her decision and something she will have to deal with herself if there are consequences. But her choice in wardrobe is not any business of yours, as yours is not any business of hers." Allegra rolled her eyes. "You're not a lot different, her and yourself." Now she glared at Brodi. "What? It's true. You're both very strong-willed, very self confident and very passionate about being the very best. Maybe sometimes you're both that way to a fault, but you two do possess many similarities. I think if you two were able to put aside the shallow wardrobe battles you always have and actually get to know one another, I think you two would get along very well and would make an amazing team in SSX. Don't let difference in tastes keep you from making an ally, and maybe even a friend." Allegra shrugged and looked down at Nate.
"I don't know, I'll think about it."

So, under all of Nate's tough-guy act, there's actually a sweet, big brother type, isn't that nice? As for Allegra, will she come to grips that what's done is done with Mac? Will Mac accept that he was in the wrong and is simply a prick in general? Will Allegra be able to get over her pride and try being friends with Elise? And where the heck is the killer? Keep reading.