‘ i can’t sleep. ’ / scout verse! he comin to big sis petra for a comfort talk :3
the night before a certain death prompt. / / @plege
SHE ATTRACTED THE LOST AND THE TIRED like the oil lamp that hung off the doorframe attracted an eclipse of moths. it wouldn't be the first time, and wouldn't be the last, that someone sought her comfort, one that usually left the person feeling lighter than when they first entered. she'd prepare hot water in leather bottles for female scouts dealing with abdominal cramps, sew torn uniforms if necessary, give an additional pillow to troubled sleepers; she'd offer an ear or a hand depending on what afflicted young blossoming hearts.
❛ marco... bot, yes? ❜ various regiments gathered under the same roof that night and for the following next few, she reigned over the main room with poise, detaching her gaze from the sinuous cracks in the old table to face him. ❛ from the looks of it, this isn't from the lack of comfort or noisy roommates. please, sit down, and i will be right back. ❜ the cloud of steam that swelled up from her half - empty cup of tea was suddenly swayed sideways by her leaving her seat to excuse herself to the kitchen.
she made his wait minimal as she returned with a mug of warm milk held into a warm piece of cloth to avoid scalding her hands. ❛ sorry, even we don't get that many rations of sugar, if at all. ❜ the powdery sweet substance could sell for as high as drug, or ironically higher than drugs during certain times. any and all scouts were treated as the lesser regiment and thus received lesser goods, though petra found this shared misery to be solidifying. one less source of conflict.
❛ are you perhaps having doubts about having joined the scouts? it's an incredibly courageous choice, especially when you're among the top ten. ❜ long comfortable skirt was flattened beneath her bum to sit after placing down his cup. she'd recalled a particularly hopeful smiling face in the list of participants to the mission, his profile indeed mentioning that marco had ranked seventh of his batch in his cadet years.
❛ when i was your age ——— not that i'm that old, ❜ a smile crossed her face. ❛ i could barely stand on my two feet during my first real mission, but i realized i wasn't the only one. we all collectively went into this with uncertainty, even the most confident of us. you don't have to prove anything at first, to yourself or others. growth will come with experience, and so will independence. mistakes are less visible when others have your back. so as cliché as it will sound, you have to stick to your fellow scouts and focus on making it out alive. and if i can't promise i will be here if you're in trouble, ❜
if she could save them all, she would.
❛ there will be somebody. and if you can become that somebody to someone else, then i think that you've made the right choice to choose the scouts. ❜
