6 - Storeroom Confessions
"And before you assume, no it's not that Hare. It is a very common nickname... unfortunately."
Her positive demeanor turns to a weary sigh.
"Can I therefore assume that you weren't the popular kid in school?"
"Oh, I was popular. As a doormat. All the way through till my desk job. Always a reminder of that stupid last name. When I got promoted to field work however, the laughing hyenas died down."
"They got jealous instead?"
"Silently yes. It wasn't like they had any other choice; the boss wouldn't allow those under him to squabble or rumor between each other. You know, nothing much happens in Coronet City. Not sure why they even call it a city. We have a store, two roundabouts and a connection to a major highway leading to Corneria City. I think that is about it really."
"Is that how you got with Silva?"
Ashley is lacking an actual response. Instead, she reaches for her black eye again. And this time Trevor does notice. He leans in to take a closer look but Ashley recoils away from him.
"Your eye. That is not from one of...?" he gestures to that thing on the other side of the door.
Ashley shakes her head slowly and lets her head sink down to her chest. Trevor can only imagine what must be going through her head right now as she is rubbing the sore spot like a beaten dog. Punished for no reason itself can think of. She does her best not to show emotion but two sniffles can be unmistakably heard. Instinctively, Trevor reaches a hand to her to put on her shoulder but Ashley already has her head back up.
"The injury you spoke of. My eye... that was..."
She takes a deep breath, wavering from emotion still.
"That was Silva. The big boss. The great Sheriff himself. There's a reason I said field work was both a blessing and a curse. The hyenas stopped but the tyrant followed. I was the scapegoat he needed. The one before me I think quit. Or was made to quit, I don't know."
"What about Felix then? Didn't he do anything?"
"That mute dumbass?" she sneers.
"Nothing but a literal lap dog. When Silva orders, he follows. The kingpin and his pawn."
Her head hangs in dejection.
"He had Felix do it too. I made too many mistakes apparently. Maybe he didn't want to stain his own hand."
Hearing this revelation makes Trevor's blood boil. He was already not seeing eye to eye with the self-proclaimed leader with the funny hat and his bloodhound. Guilt-tripped to stay, pulled around like a toy duck on a string to meet his subjects and then unceremoniously dumped into the basement to clean up a mess he was too weak for to do it himself. Now this.
And thinking back on the hours past before, he did notice a few clues. When Ashley was antagonizing him back when he entered the station, Silva only had to sternly call out to her and she froze in a finger snap. The consequences for not doing so were known. Seemingly beaten into her consciousness. She has not forgotten since.
"Complete coward." he mutters under his own breath but Ashley has caught it regardless.
In that case, he might as well do something about it.
"Tell you what. I'll help you with that."
He beckons her to come closer. With the other hand, he takes off the large radio set he was carrying on his back still. Not only does it feature send and receive capabilities, but also storage for all he needs underway. Seperated in neat compartments. Like room for the trusty Metro Society bottle but also the provisions he took with him. It is a radio and backpack in one.
This also includes medical supplies. A commercially sold camping first aid kit along with a military supplied one that contains more potent stuff. As well as other appliances sourced from the local black market dealings. Weapons are not the only things that have to be sourced from less-than-legal places. That as well as a set of Oxford pince-nez spectacles.
Seeing him fetch these supplies, Ashley is more willing to put her face closer and is moreover amused by the absurd antique glasses. Having now collected the things he needs for the treatment, he proceeds.
"I will have to hold and move your face in some instances. And I might need your assistance with some actions. Is that okay with you?"
His tone of voice has shifted to a more serious and professional one, somewhat in between the accent he used when Silva was around and his normal tone of voice.
Ashley nods. Whereupon Trevor opens up a foil to reveal a circular blue pack. Like a glowstick he snaps it in half then holds Ashley's chin with his left hand and puts the pack just beneath her eye where the swelling is most severe. It feels cool to the touch.
"Keep that pressed against it. Not too hard of course." he instructs her before he lets go of her chin to reach inside of the military aid kit.
He takes a tiny flashlight from it and shines it in the afflicted eye. He can now actually see their color; a mute hazelnut brown.
"Hmm. Pupil reaction is normal. No red in the sclera so the cornea is fine. Any trouble moving the eye? Double vision? Or any headaches?"
Ashley shakes her head to all three.
"Good. Purely eye socket damage then. Pretty recent too judging by the swelling. When uhm... did that bastard hit you?"
"Two days ago. I-I think."
She struggles to get it out.
The flashlight is turned off and put away. The pince-nez is put on as the scissors and the gauze appear from the commercial kit. He measures how much is needed to make sure the cooling pad stays in place by wrapping the gauze around her head like an eyepatch for underneath the actual eye. At least for the next hours or so.
"I take it the swelling still hurts?"
Ashley nods.
"I got pain medication here. That will take the edge off. Though, I wouldn't want you drugged up that much so I'll keep the dosage light." he winks at her jestering.
She can appreciate the playfulness.
"Right." he then states while holding the approximate cut and measured gauze in both hands.
"Time to turn you into a bootleg pirate. Put the gauze on the pad and hold it with your finger in place. I will do the wrapping."
She does as instructed as Trevor gets on his knees to wrap the bandage around her head. He tests if it is tight enough and when it is, he tells her to hold the two ends together just like he has while gets a stapler. After a few tests to check if it is loaded, he clips it together around her head, slightly tighter than previously measured. The leftover gauze is cut off and kept separately.
"There we are. That is mostly covered. Now for the remainder."
He turns to the bruising above her eye.
It is not as severe but it still can receive care. From the military kit, he fetches a small ampoule with some sketchy markings on it pretending to be a language. Bought from an even sketchier individual. It has a sticker on it with "Swelling" hand-written on it.
"Please hold still. The cream will feel warm at first then cool but it will reduce the immediate swelling and drain the blood away that causes that nasty color. It is not exactly legal stuff but I have used it without issue before so it will do for you too." Trevor reasons as he holds her chin again while applying a thin layer above her eye.
"This should do. Do not touch it with your bare fingers, it is very sticky until it dries up."
The cap is put back on and the ampoule is put away. Once it is close to drying out, he puts the leftover gauze on it, having now successfully turned her into a pirate as he said he would. Then the pince-nez is taken off before Trevor observes his handiwork. Satisfied, he puts everything back except one pill.
"Open up and stick out your tongue." he says and Ashley does so.
The flat circular pill is put on it.
"Bite down on it and then swallow the pieces. It should work within moments."
With a faintly audible crack, the pill is bitten in pieces. A pleasant flavor of strawberry fills her mouth and tickles her taste buds. Usually pain medication tastes somewhere between pure sea salt and unfiltered bitterness of chicory but it is a pleasant surprise. And much like Trevor said, the pain is subsiding.
In the meantime Trevor has packed up his stuff and put it all back where it belonged. Including the humorous glasses.
"Thank you." Ashley says halfway between showing gratitude and shyness.
"That partner of yours must be lucky to have you."
"Which one?" he asks, only a little bit oblivious.
"Probably the one I was mocking before?"
"Oooh. Well you know, forgiven and forgotten. I didn't have the highest regard for you at first either. I thought you were a self-absorbed, stuck up bi-atch. I guess in a way you didn't like me very much either."
"Hmhm. I figured you as a soldier would try to be all manly and try to take over. With all those tattoos, gruff radiance, the texts on your weapon and to be very honest your mustache too. You seemed like a troublesome clodhopper."
Trevor cannot keep a straight face when she uses that word, being both impressed and tickled.
"I must ask..." she continues.
"What is it with your appearance? Are you trying to look "different" on purpose?"
"You mean the tattoos?"
Ashley nods.
"Well, the barbed wire on the muzzle was put there to cover up a scar I sustained from one of those things. Training accident."
Ashley sympathizes by inhaling through clenched teeth.
"Yeah, that was not pleasant. As for the arm..."
He sighs weary.
"I was young and stupid once. Huge fan of action movies. Big bandoliers, ammo belts stretching for miles."
"Going for that dakka?"
He nods.
"The more the better. I thought about removing it but I've grown to tolerate it. And seemingly it is an eye catcher."
Ashley cannot deny that. But the more striking part of him would have to be that mustache. Ginger red, short but well-kept. She has to address that too.
"What can I say? The ladies dig it." he says with the most forced suave of tone.
"You got a barf bag in that magic backpack of yours?"
They both laugh and continue on about various oddities regarding themselves. From the out-of-touch scrawl on his otherwise immaculate rifle to the out-of-place patch on the pants of her otherwise normal police uniform. Which as he now has a much closer look at it, has a piece of body armor that actually accompanies breasts. That is something that the military rarely issues as standard, leading to various uncomfortable situations. And again, the set of boots with wedge heels that cannot be standard issue. Not too bad as far as eye-candy is concerned though…
After more positive small talk and playful poking at each other's imperfections, she decided to yank the iron of the fire.
"Trevor, regardless of what I thought of you and your looks, I should not have brought up someone you love. So, I'm sorry about that."
"Apology accepted. But I think you got it slightly wrong. My partner, the one you were referring to, is not my romantic partner. That would be someone else."
Ashley tilts her head to the side in curiosity.
"Oh? But you were speaking so highly of her?"
"And I will not take back a single word I said about her either. But it is circumstance really. During my stay in this hell hole, my partner was at my side the whole time in the down and dirty. Whereas my love is in the back of my head, safe and sound. It is usually when I go to bed when I think about her most. When it is quiet."
He stares ahead of himself with a half smile thinking of her.
"I miss her most during those moments. Not during the fighting, no. If I thought about her for only a second or so, I wouldn't be able to pull the trigger to save my life. She is not the type for war. She despises violence unless it is absolutely necessary. And she has rubbed off on me in that regard a little bit. So, in case I was thinking about her, I wouldn't want anyone else but someone I can trust to have my back in the field. Get me back into the game. And that is why I refer to her as my partner. A best friend during a war is worth so much. Returning to your love after it… is priceless. Keeping your best friend as well after said war? Cherry on the cake."
Him speaking so open and positively about two important women in his life, makes him visibly glow. Ashley finds it endearing; she would not have guessed that he could be this honest about that. To whom might be to him, for the most part, a stranger he was put up with for one mission. But he was right about one thing before, they are on a similar wavelength.
"Unfortunately I lost her. Well, I lost contact with her. Cut off after a botched mission."
"I'm sure you'll see her again. If you two have survived this long. Is she alone?"
"She was with an engineering team last I saw her. I do hope she is safe. I uhm... kinda promised her I would find her ASAP. I think at least. My memory is rather vague on that part."
"But wait. Why did you decide to stay then...?"
Just before she finishes her sentence the sequence after their first introduction repeats in her head. She is standing in the doorway with Felix next to her. Behind her are the civilians and they are waiting for a signal. And it comes from Silva. Like herding cattle they guide the civilians onto the platform to perform the guilt-trip.
"Oh..." she utters softly when the full realization sets in.
"Yeah. A nasty trick from that old geezer. Not sure about your involvement in it but you were only following orders. I don't plan on staying here very long though. Nothing personal to you of course." Trevor assures her.
"Well... take me with you then?" Ashley suggests after a moment of quiet with some doubt hidden in her voice.
It makes Trevor turn his head towards her.
"I mean, I'm not very comfortable in this place either. As you might have seen already. I want out too."
She can see Trevor consider it more and more. Two pairs of hands make things so much easier. And the recruitment has happened already. Even if it was mostly ceremonial, she already feels better in the presence of this corporal than she has ever felt around desk clerks or deputies like her. Sure, it will be so much more intense and her warning shots will have to be direct next time but she feels ready for the next step.
"Alright. But no funny business. If I get Silva breathing down my neck more after this mission, I know who blabbed to him." he tells her with a wagging finger.
Ashley answers by gesturing that her lips will be sealed.
"Perfect."
He pats his knees and gets back up from the floor. A little strained given the drop to the floor from before but still standing in the end. He reaches out a hand to Ashley.
"Get your ass up, Private Hare." he orders gently as he assists her getting up.
After some dusting off, she can see him thinking.
"Hare... Hare... I think that sounds too much like those Star Fox schmucks. You need a nickname of sorts." he ponders out loud.
"I've been called "Grump" before. Does that count?"
"Noooooo." he dismissed long-winded.
"Something more positive or witty."
He then glances at her face and a bright light turns on inside his gray mass.
"Eyes! It fits perfectly. I thought "pirate" at first but Private Pirate sounds so skewed."
Ashley has to let it sink in but she likes it decently, although she might have a better one. But Trevor seems to have a high opinion of it so she is not going to ruin his fun. Maybe a little…
"For a second I figured you were gonna call me "Ears" because I'm a rabbit. Or "Carrots" for that matter."
"Do I look like a playground bully?" he jests.
"Well… now that you mention it." she giggles at him.
Before abruptly stopping herself and comedically overcompensating a salute while standing at attention.
"I mean… I am sorry Corporal Sir. I should not have insulted you like that."
Trevor shakes his head with an adorning grin.
"At ease Private Eyes. Let's pick up where we left off. We have a mission to complete."
With a returning salute from him and a hearty "Yes Sir!" from her, the pair grab their equipment from the floor and approach the locked door. The shutter bar is relieved of its duty and the door opens.