ABS FIESTA REDUX

[carolcat]

: Hit her again.

Her smile becomes more apparent and she squeezes Elu's hand again. "You're the best kid I could ever ask for," she tells him as they enter the hangar. Her spirits seem to have been lifted somewhat thanks to her robot companion. "Thank you."

[Ad Bot]

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko leaves the CIC.

"Well how about that?" he remarks to Kommadant.

[Gojira]

"I dropped flares on the runway during training. Hit the wrong switch."
He turns over to Coma.
"How'd you earn Coma? Gotta have a good story for that one."

[Qwepir]

Her smile becomes more apparent and she squeezes Elu's hand again. "You're the best kid I could ever ask for," she tells him as they enter the hangar. Her spirits seem to have been lifted somewhat thanks to her robot companion. "Thank you."

: You are welcome.

Jaakko leaves the CIC.

"Well how about that?" he remarks to Kommadant.

Kommandant just stares bemusedly at Jaakko, who seems to be treating the events that transpired earlier with the same gravity as a burger catching fire during a barbecue.

"I dropped flares on the runway during training. Hit the wrong switch."
He turns over to Coma.
"How'd you earn Coma? Gotta have a good story for that one."

: 'Cause I didn't talk much.
: It wasn't just that. She was off in her own little world for the first half of training, never looked like she was paying attention to anyone. Instructor asked her if she was in a coma or just stupid, and the name stuck.

[Mr. Hurricane]

"That was sarcasm, sorry. I realize this is going to be a mess," Jaakko says, "Believe me, I'm pretty pissed that Eremit ran off with our loving Annoying Orange cards."

[Badger]

Walter smirks and shakes his head as he walks past towards the hanger in search of Cualli, he enters the main bay and swivels his head around in an attempt to find her.

[carolcat]

She's currently standing with Elu by one of the planes, having him help her evaluate the damage and create a to-do list. Her improved mood from earlier has faded and she now seems distant, as if working on autopilot.

[Badger]

Walter approaches her with a soft, yet already noticable Shakey voice with an unsure look on his face.

"Hey... " He waits a moment for her attention and to organize his thought. "I take it you already found out what happened? I know you were good friends with him and I started to neglect talking to him because of that."

[carolcat]

Cualli looks over at Walt, trying to read his face. Inwardly, she's relieved to see someone approaching her about it without hostile intent. "Yeah, I heard," she says quietly.

"Good friends." Right.

[Badger]

he pauses for a moment a little anxiously, unsure what to say, empathy or heavy subjects not being his forte.

"He, uh, told me he wish he could have told you what he was going to do before he left."

[carolcat]

Cualli nods. "So Kirves told me," she replies, bitterness creeping into her voice. "Wouldn't have made a difference if he did or not. They're still thinking that I helped him." She stares up at the aircraft in front of her, the beautiful, hulking sculpture of metal and guns hundreds of thousands of dollars of research and development. Well-used, well-cared-for, well-loved by its maintenance crew.

She wishes it were a Foxbat, even one is such terrible shape that it was a miracle from the gods that it landed in one piece. Just as long as it meant that craft and its pilot came back.

"Maybe it is my fault, somehow, someway. I don't know."

[Badger]

Walter takes a deep breath and then seats himself down on a nearby crate

"I think you did the best you could, better than the rest of the people here including me. It's not your fault."

Walter stops a moment again to think back to previous times

"Before you arrived I talked to him when I could, I wanted to help him somehow and felt bad for him. Even gave him a wad of cash anonymously, but I got side tracked with another friend and eventually stopped giving him attention. You came in at just the right time and gave him so much in the form of a friend. I knew he always had some struggles, but not what they were."

[carolcat]

Cualli is silent, thinking over what Walter says. She seems comfortable, at least, to be talking to someone who isn't outright pissed about her partner's desertion, even if her own feelings on the matter are still mixed. "I tried supporting him the best I could after his parents died. I took him out to Mercana after he recovered from that stabbing to try to give him a change of scenery, lift his spirits, take his mind off things... I guess I was hoping to try to make the good outweigh the bad. And he seemed... happy. Upset when he remembered everything, but... happy nonetheless."

She gives a shaky sigh of her own. "I was... with... him a couple nights ago and everything seemed fine. Hell, when he came back to resupply, he seemed normal: shaken up by losses, but not depressed or anything concerning. I didn't think anything of him asking for the Foxbat and thunderbolts."

"Maybe I didn't pay enough attention to him. Maybe I just didn't know him as well as I thought. Over four straight months spent with just him, Elu, and myself, and I didn't see that move coming."

[Badger]

Walter listens then slowly nods his head and blinks.

"I think he was pretty conflicted and torn over you once I finished speaking with him. You could always listen to the communications logs if you wanted to hear how he said it himself. What you said really puts things into perspective for me now, he's just had to deal with everything else for so long that he probably didn't want to burden you with any of his misery."

[carolcat]

"...I don't know if I'd be able to bear that," she admits softly. "Though... it would be nice to hear, maybe. I guess they wouldn't let me keep a copy though, would they?" Just as a reminder, that's all.

Cualli stops staring up at the aircraft and finally looks at Walter. "No, I don't think it's that. Maybe, despite my best efforts to support him, he just... broke. Snapped." Gave up on us and forgeted us all over.

No, don't get yourself started. Don't get yourself angry again.