Marco Domici: Store room chat

"Ewww...." Tale said as she grimaced. "That's gross!"

Their room was, as evidenced by the multiple boxes of paper napkins, sacks of flour, and gallon jugs of cooking oil, the store room. Racks upon racks of supplies for the tavern. A tile over wood floor with multiple cracked sections nailed or taped down to keep things operational in hard times. Still, the air was fresh and the room's coolness was much less than outside.

Tala and Marco faced each other on the floor cross-legged. Same short hair cut, same green drab boxers, same green drab t-shirt. Between them lay a blanket with disassembled lacars and a pile of cleaning rags. Beside each of them their uniforms were neatly folded, and their gear laid out in don order.

There was a knock on the thin wooden door. "Come in." Marco said automatically.

"Sir, I uh...." Rasmus looked at Marco and Tala, as they looked up at him.. "Sorry sir, didn't mean to intrude." He started to back out.

"Come in, Rasmus." Marco said. "Have a seat." He pointed at an unfilled edge of the blanket.

"Yeah, sit 'er down." Tala added. "Marco was telling me gross details about how one stays in combat armor for weeks at a time."

"I did wonder about that." Rasmus replied as he sat down.

"Trust me, don't." Tala made a gagging face. "It's gross."

Marco shrugged. "What can I do for you, Rasums?"

"I wanted to talk about duty assignments, sir." He said quietly. "I..." he leaned back and pushed the door closed. "I don't want to ask for favors, but I'm feeling sort of left out."

"How so?" Marco asked. His hand kept wiping down the lacar.

"Is that..was that...his?" Rasmus pointed at the lacar Tala had. It seemed worn, and slightly damaged.

"Yes." Marco replied. "We removed the beads and have made sure it's ready to go. Those Guide lacars are pretty solid, Max should be happy about that, at least."

"And the warrior carries to battle the very weapon that threatened her." Rasmus whispered. "Kind of scary, you know?"

Tala pursed her lips, and sighed. "Yeah, I know." She nodded. "Really, I'm scared, Marco. It's not just about this." She pointed at the lacar that she would carry into battle, then the infantry gear laid out beside her. "Or this stuff. Arne's guys gave me a bunch of stuff, and even offered me a weapon from their stock. Seems like the Max story has already passed around."

"Lieutenant Arne, Tala. As much as we want to be informal, it will help morale and organization if you refer to your superiors by their rank."

"Sorry, Mar...sir." Tala looked down. "I'm not getting this stuff. I want to, I really do. But I'm scared M...sir. Really scared that I'll not hold up when you need me. Everybody else is so confident. So trained. So ready. I'm not."

Marco nodded. "And you, Rasmus?"

"Yeah, I don't now what I'll do under fire, sir. Really." He looked down. "I think they know that, too. Lieutenant Johanna put me in the command vehicle with her. Probably because she doesn't know if I'll wig out or not."

Marco nodded as the lacar went back together smoothly. "She put you there because I told her to, Rasmus. Not because we doubt you." All test lights went green as Marco charged the weapon. "This is the weapon that shot you, Rasmus. I don't see you quaking in your boots. I see a man so determined to do the right thing and to find the truth that he'll face someone who could have killed him, just for the chance to know. That's what I like about you, Rasmus. That's why we need you. The truth has to get out. It has to be known. If we can install a new government, one that is honest and takes care of the people, is that not worth the cost?"

Rasmus looked at Marco. He nodded. "Thank you, sir. I won't fail you."

"I know, Rasmus. I'm counting on it." Marco replied as Rasmus stood up. "Also, please let Lieutenant Johanna know to assign Tala to my fire team."

"Yes sir." Rasmus smiled as he closed the door behind him.