Scout x Pyro

Chapter Five: Hush

Aidan snapped back into reality and wrapped her hands around her chest and stood back up. "Mmmph! Mmph mmph mmmph..." Aidan cried out, tears forming in her eyes and clouding up her mask's eye holes. She let go of her chest and tightly grabbed Scout's shoulders, shaking him violently while audibly sobbing. "Mmmph! Mmph Mph tell mphnyone!" 

With every word she spoke and every breath she took, her mask got looser and looser. She collapsed to the floor and her mask fell off as she hit the floor, as if it had fallen with the barrier she made around herself to protect her identity. She covered her face with her hands, instinctively. Could this day get any worse? Not only was her sense of security taken away from her, but the biggest loudmouth in the RED base had discovered her secret.

"Wait, wait...you were that chick I saw downstairs last night! Crap, maybe I should be a bit quieter...Why are you cryin'? How come you didn't tell us you were a chick earlier? No wonder you act so weird...," Scout said, attempting to console Aidan but doing quite the opposite. She uncovered her dark countenance and looked straight up at Scout, at a loss for words.

There was an awkward silence between the two; Aidan thinking of something to say and Scout waiting for something to happen.

"I-I'm not crying...Why would I cry? I mean," Her tone of voice quickly shifted, anger being expulsed from her body with every word she spoke, "I know you aren't going to tell anyone, because if you do I'd be replaced by some old man who's probably a pyromaniac and is ten times worse at doing my job than I am. Even if you do tell, I doubt anyone would believe you, since you are a joke to the entire base."

Scout looked at Aidan, completely shocked. He didn't expect Aidan to say that. Aidan realised that she had probably went a bit overboard and sighed.

"I...I'm sorry. I've just been trying so hard to keep who I really was a secret, and you suddenly came along and practically ruined all my efforts. I probably went too far...You aren't a joke to the entire base. I didn't know what I was saying." Aiden tried apologising, but the mood remained tense.

Scout eyed Aidan, taking in her appearance and examining every visible part of her body very carefully. Aidan did look slightly attractive, but then again, any femme would look attractive to someone who's attracted to femme presentation and has been surrounded by masculinity for months.

Aidan's hair was raven, and not very well taken of. It was naturally wavy and she always made sure to cut it short to make sure it didn't bother her when she had her mask on. She was naturally curvy, she was Dominican, after all. Aidan's eyes were a beautiful, rich shade of dark brown which complimented her skin. She did have bags under her eyes, but they weren't very noticable.

Aidan furrowed her brow as she noticed Scout's extended period of silence. "Are you just going to stand there and space out, or are you going to do something?"

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. You look pretty, y'know. I don't think the rest o' the base would care whether you have tits or not, but if you don't want me to tell anyone 'bout this I'll try my best not to. I'm not that much of a dick." Scout said as he layed against the closest object, which was Aidan's wardrobe.

"Me? Pretty?" Aidan felt her face get flushed as she spoke. "God damn. How long has it been since you've seen someone attractive? I'm not pretty. My hair is oily and burned and short, my hips are too big, my eyes are shit-coloured, and I'm kind of short."

Aidan got up, dusting off her flame-resistant suit and walking towards Scout. "Thanks for, erm, promising not to spill the beans. I appreciate it, and I was definitely wrong about what type of person you are. I mean, you were really rude at times but you're probably just one of those people that are rude at first but nice once you get to know them. I mean I don't really know you that well but...well...I guess I do know you...You just really don't know me."

"Oh, god, I almost got lost there. I forgot how girls talk. Well, I guess I'm gonna have to get to know you now, huh?" Scout chuckled, a shit eating grin plastered on his face.  

"Uh...Not really. I mean, we are stuck in this base all the time but...I don't think you'd want to get to know me." Aidan tensed up as she spoke, opening up isn't something she's very good at. Especially after it happened.  "I'm not really exciting, and neither is my past."

"Not really into talkin' 'bout yourself, huh? Alright. It'd be a shame if your whole thing gets leaked or anythin'." 

"Are you trying to blackmail me?"

"I didn't say that." 

Aidan laughed, not threatened at all by Scouts sad excuse of a threat. "Fine then, Mister Sneaky. I'll answer any questions you have. Ask away." She crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently. 

"Wait...You ain't gonna put up more resistance? Shit...I didn't even think of a question yet." Scout thought for a moment, while Aidan grabbed the closest cigarette and lit it. She took a drag from her cigarette as Scout began to speak. 

"Well, uh, for starters, how did you end up here? I'm pretty sure a doll like you can get a job anywhere if you bat your eyelashes hard enough." Scout shot Aidan a flirty grin, and she raised a brow in confusion. "Me? A doll? How long have you been in this fort? Only job I'd be able to get would get outside would be a maid or a nanny, and I wouldn't earn shit. Just to get this job I had to make sure that not even a tiny bit of my body would be visible." Aidan took a drag of her cigarette in frustration before speaking, "I ended up here because of...family issues. My Dad left me when I was a kid and my Mom didn't have a job, so I moved in with my aunt. Those are the two ladies in the picture you looked at before. My aunt lost 'er job a couple of years ago and we needed money. Real bad. I saw an ad from RED asking for people to fight. It said they'd pay good money, and I was pretty good at fighting, so obviously I took the job as quickly as possible.  That's how I ended up here." 

There was an uncomfortable silence, before Scout began to talk. "Damn. That's it? I expected somethin' like 'I got into drug dealing and the Mafia was onto me so I had to rob a bank to get enough money, or some crap like that, to get a new Identity and after that I fled to a mercenary company 'cuz if I got a job anywhere else I would'a been screwed 'cuz some copper would remember me.'"  Aidan chuckled. "Maybe you should lay back on the Pay or Die, it's obviously affecting your thought process. That story is ridiculous. Stuff like that only happens in books or movies. Now, you got any other questions? Or can I properly get dressed now?" 

"Oh. Yeah. You gotta put on all that gear for breakfast, right? If you miss breakfast then Soldier'll kill you. I'll be downstairs if ya need me." Scout waved and walked out, slamming the door as he left. Aidan stood still in disbelief. Did that really just happen? She'd vowed that she would never let anyone know who she was the day she was recruited, yet she just told Scout her entire life story. Her entire body got tense as she realised how easily her secret could spread around the base now.

 Aidan would have to be extra cautious from now on.  A low groan rumbled throughout her as she got up and took off all her gear. Now she'd have to repeat her morning rituals all over again.  She tightened her chest binder once more, making sure to do it accurately, and put all her gear back on. The moment she had finished getting geared up, the morning alarm rang and she ran downstairs. 

This morning only Soldier and Sniper were downstairs. Sniper was eating some food, Aidan didn't care enough to look and see what it was. Soldier was standing by the door. She assumed that he already ate. 

"Mmph." Aidan spoke through her mask in a sort of laconic greeting. "Mornin'. We're doing actual field work today." Sniper said in an attempt to avoid Soldiers yelling. Aidan smiled from underneath her mask and gave Sniper a thumbs up. Sniper chuckled. "Yep. I'm glad too. All that trainin' was getting bloody annoying, if you ask me." 

"TRAINING IS NECESSARY FOR FIGHTING, SOLDIER." Soldier butt in, his voice resonating throughout the room. Sniper sighed, not even trying to argue, and Aidan walked over to the buffet. She grabbed some grub and went to the bathroom to eat. Today was going to  be interesting.