Three Strikes [✓]

A Quiet Celebration

Chapter Fifty-Seven: A Quiet Celebration

|...|...|...|

Tyler Island, Spring Sea.
October 26th, 2019.
1150hrs.

|...|...|...|

Avril, against her better judgment, had let herself become friends with the pilots she worked with. And although she was well aware she could lose them any day with the way things were, she stopped worrying about it. Well, she didn't actually stop worrying about it. No, she just kept it out of her mind as long as she could and spent what precious little time she could with them. Which meant that she did very unexpected things for them sometimes. That's what led to her blurting out that idea to Trigger, and naturally that dumbass jumped right on board with it. Just what friends were for, she guessed.

So they came up with a plan together. It would serve more than one purpose, so it wouldn't be the most unreasonably selfish request in the world. Everyone would get a chance to unwind and take their minds off the war, and Avril could both pull Beckett aside and volunteer for the operation as well as find some way to break the news to Tabloid. Really, part of why she even mentioned any of this to Trigger was because she wanted to make it up to him. He didn't ever ask for anything from others so she'd do it for him. He deserved that much.

She didn't know why she cared so much about his feelings or why she even cared what he thought about her going off on the operation. There were very few people whose opinions mattered to her. Tabloid wasn't exactly the last person she thought would make that list, but he wasn't someone she might've seen coming. He kind of snuck up on her, and she had that realization after talking to him after the dust had settled. Even if his opinion on what she wanted was that she was an idiot, and even if she decided to completely disregard that opinion, she figured she at least felt like she owed him something.

Trigger had roped in just about everyone but Tabloid once she got the 'OK' from Colonel Beckett. Anyone that wasn't helping set things up with their extremely limited resources had to get the refugees and everyone else on base to show up on time, while Avril and Count kept Tabloid occupied until lunchtime. Between their actual, urgent, adult jobs considering the little ongoing war and the fact that it was a last minute plan it was a miracle they managed to pull it off. And it made Avril realize how stupid it was to even ask. But when she mentioned that, Trigger reminded her that not only was it for Tabloid but it was something everyone else could use. She'd been very tired and it was clearly a challenge to sound like her usual upbeat, idiotic self, but Avril couldn't argue with her.

Count had dipped once Avril showed up, relieving him from his watch more or less. She may as well have had to limp across the whole base to find the two of them, but she caught up. Once Count saw her he made an excuse and raced off, which left Avril to walk Tabloid back. So the two of them set off, Avril's leg bothering her more from that than it had in a long while. She sucked it up and braced herself for the walk back, putting on her best poker face, but Tabloid saw right through it.

"You sure you're good to walk back?" Tabloid asked her as he fell in step beside her as best as he could, taking small steps in spite of the long strides he normally took. Honestly, he could have just stood still and taken a step every now and then and he'd have kept up with her just fine.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it," Avril said, making sure she didn't sound pained. I'm gonna strangle Count with my bare hands, to hell with morale, she thought, biting her tongue and holding back an irritated huff. She turned her attention back to Tabloid, glancing up and over at him with a small smirk. "Besides, what're you gonna do? Carry me?" Tabloid cleared his throat and looked away, giving her a sheepish look. Her smirk fell. "You can't be serious."