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No. 1060
Engineer was sitting in her room again, pouring over more papers. The ratios were all off, she scrunched her scratch paper in anger, too off to just be a computer error. She tried to flatten out the crumpled page, sighing heavily. After several more minutes or hours of struggling with finding the problem, she decided to get up and stretch out her stiff back and get her shower before the hot water was used up for the night. She grabbed a towel and shuffled down to the showers; still a communal affair as it seemed the company wasn’t too worried over some member’s issues with privacy.
She slipped off her glasses and opened the door, preferring to deal with blurry vision rather than foggy lenses when the steam left from everyone else’s showers hit her. Finding a shower stall, she dropped her belongings onto the bench in front of it when she heard the door open and close again.
“Well if it ain’t our geek in a pink sweater.†Engie heard Scout shuffle uncomfortably at the door. “Uh… I can… I can come back later if you’re gonna shower.†All Engineer could make out of the Scout standing in the doorway was the color of the hat tilted on her head and the general shape and color of her, which seemed to have paled a bit after walking in on someone else and stuck out sharply against the team’s uniform.
“Its fine, I can wait. Probably all to the better if I do.†She smiled a little lopsidedly, “I have t’figure out why everyone’s knock out ratios are off anyway. I was just takin’ a break.â€
“If you were gonna shower, go ahead. I can go to the other bathroom or something. Doesn’t matter to me.†She stayed in place for a few silent minutes where Engineer just stared at her. Maybe the showers didn’t matter to her, but something else must have.
“Uh-huh. Well… You want to talk or somethin’ then hun? You’re just standin’ there.†She sat down after moving her glasses off the bench and patted a seat beside her. “You can come over, I won’t bite.â€
“No.†Again, Scout just stayed put. Her voice seemed to be a little off, but maybe it was just Engineer’s hearing that was going a little softer with exhaustion. Scout seemed to fidget or something similar before continuing. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go?â€
“Come here.†Engineer wiped the steam from her lenses before putting her glasses on. Scout wasn’t going to say anything, and it was getting frustrating not seeing her properly if they were going to have a conversation. The newly focused Scout shook her head and shuffled from foot to foot.
“I-its fine. I can go somewhere else.†It looked a lot like she might have been crying.
“Uh-huh. You can, but do you want to?†Scout paused, swallowing hard and shook her head. “C’mere then.†Scout did as she was told and plopped down onto the bench a little ways away from Engie, pulling her knees up to her chest and sitting with her eyes fixed on the floor. “Something wrong?â€
“I… I got a fuckin’ letter from HQ. They’re not happy.†She trembled a little, “I only ki… y’know. Got two people the whole time I’ve been here.†She swallowed hard again, seeming to be fighting back tears. “I can’t fuckin’ do it. I’m gonna get my ass kicked out.â€
Engineer moved over towards Scout. She started rubbing the younger woman’s back as her breath shook and hitched. Scout had, by then, sunk her head to her knees to hide her face.
“They wouldn’t boot ya out, you’re part of the team.†Engie softened her voice, “You haven’t even been here a year yet, they’d be downright silly to get rid of you before you’ve had a good chance.†Scout let herself get pulled into Engineer’s arms, still holding her arms firmly around her legs and sniffling. “You can prove to ‘em tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.â€
“I can’t tomorrow.†She lifted her head to rest it on Engineer’s shoulder. “Medic told me I wasn’t allowed to fight tomorrow ‘cause she found me after I worried myself sick over this fuckin’ thing.†She fished the message out of her pocket and flung it to the floor. Engineer went back to rubbing small circles on Scout’s back. “I kinda fuckin’ hate this. A lot.â€
Engineer and Scout just sat there for a while. Engie thought to herself while Scout seemed to just be trying to keep it together. This explained why some of the numbers were so skewed, she sighed softly.
“C’mon then. If you got that worked up you should probably get some sleep.†She pulled off Scout’s hat and messed up her hair, changing her tone to try and make it a little more light-hearted. “Think about how you’re goin’ to spend your day off. Do you knit or anything?â€
“Pfft. Knitting is for grandmas.†Scout gave a small smile, “I was just gonna watch from the window I guess.â€
“I knit.†Engineer smiled a little, patting Scout’s hair back into some form of order, “Go on, get. Go to sleep.†Scout let herself get ushered out of the showers and back into her room. Engineer had stayed to make sure she had actually made it into bed before leaving. On her way back to the showers she thought,, ‘Maybe I could get Medic to think I can’t do my job properly tomorrow. I have been going without sleep for a while…’
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