Scout x Miss Pauling (Not A Good Day)

Chapter 2: A sight of her

Scout made his way to the hallway. Couple steps later his smile faded however. He held up the sketchbook, staring at the drawing nervously.

He exhaled a little more heavily. A small voice in his Scout's head was there sometimes to tell him that she just wasn't his type. Despite being alone again and letting his thoughts go free all over the place, he still tried to stay optimistic. The waiting game he always so much was talking about could work. She just needed time.

Scout wasn't really sure who he was trying convince more on that: himself or the others. He tried to believe so dearly that he was right, Miss Pauling was just a gal he needed to be patient with.

His steps slowed down as he ripped off the drawing, as carefully as he could.

Scout decided to keep the drawing hiding behind the sketchbook as a ripped page, in case he would just chicken out since it was easier to hide it this way.  He only needed to at least see her first and make sure she was okay. 

The man gathered himself up mentally before pushing the door to the garage open and entering. The smell of the dry wind coming from outside was leading his glance to the garage door that led out of the base. From the open door he could already tell who to expect.

The world again seemed to just stop or at least slow down as soon as the woman he had been thinking about lately was there again.

With a small grunt Miss Pauling pushed the large crate inside the garage. She exhaled heavily as she got the box to it's place. Her hand rested on the box, supporting her standing while she was planning to leave the crate there and inform the mercenaries real quick before heading out on the road again.

She looked up, not realizing that Scout had been there for the moment she pushed the crate inside. Her hair was messy once again and her glasses slightly crooked, the usual look she had while being busy.

She tried to get a word out first but ended up with nothing at first. It was weird to see the runner himself again after such a long time. Half a year cheesily felt like forever to Scout at least, and for Miss Pauling it had been long enough to forget how to communicate with him without getting awkward.

There was a small moment of just them staring at each other before Miss Pauling straightened her glasses, deciding to speak. She cleared her throat.

"So um... Scout, long time no see. So, what are you doing here?" she asked before standing up straight, her hand leaving the box.

Scout blinked before shaking his slightly head to get out of the daze. "Right, sorry. I uh... Heard ya had to deliver that crate. Spy told us you were coming this morning. And oh, we heard ya arriving, something hard got thrown on that wall back there," he explained.

Miss Pauling hesitated. She literally out of anger threw the lock of the crate against the wall, her state just tired and exhausted because of all the extra work and stress she had gotten lately.

"Oh, just unlocked the crate for you, that's all." She quickly cleared her throat. "But anyway, I was wondering if I could use your van. I'm really in a hurry and my car kind of... broke down," she explained.

Scout cocked an eyebrow at her. "Since when have ya owned a car?" he asked curiously.

Miss Pauling sighed, she didn't have much time before she needed to go again. "I stole one. Nothing new, I just needed to bring the delivery to you. The moped wasn't the best for that. Now can I use the van to get to the town, Scout?"

Scout scratched his cheek. "Yeah, yeah sure. But we kinda... need it back too. So that means ya gotta have to drive back today," he said, hiding the fact that he liked the idea of that.

Miss Pauling thought that over. "I don't have time for that, Scout. I'm driving to town and getting my moped back. Can't you just... I don't know, go get it with Sniper later today?"

Scout hesitated, the thought of him recommending that he could drive her to the town sounded fantastic, again he just thoughtlessly started to lie.

"Well, we could but Sniper lost the damn keys to his van actually. I mean... Heh, you should have seen his face when he ended up sleeping in my room yesterday. But hey, if ya want to help with finding the keys then sure, we can go get the van for ya but..."

"... you know, I can drive you there too and bring the van back as well, no problem," he said with a shrug, his tone slightly more bashful.

Miss Pauling hesitated and actually believed his lie, Scout's skills coming from his father without him even realizing it.

"You sure you can drive back? I mean I can drive to town for sure but getting back is completely your job," Miss Pauling said glancing at him, slightly doubting his skills without wanting to.

"Pfft, sure I can. Me and my brothers stole cars way back in Boston. They put me in charge of that anyway because I was good at running," Scout explained, treating it as self-evident.

"And driving? Trust me, I'm great at drivin' too," he added, almost forgetting to mention about every skill 'necessary.'

Miss Pauling hesitated. Was she seriously doing this with Scout? 

Her expression slightly changed, not sure was she happy or slightly annoyed by the whole case.

"Okay," she sighed before heading back outside to get the rest of the stuf she needed from the car. She stopped at the door, her head turning back at Scout.

"Get the keys, your stuff and let's go. Oh, and can you go tell the others about the crate. And possibly about you leaving too..." Miss Pauling said glancing back at him.

Scout gave her a real smile. The kind of smile that was happy about her trusting him.

"Yes, ma'am," Scout said giving her a playful salute before his smile turned to a grin.

"I'll be back in a flash," he said brightly as he quickly headed out of the garage, almost running straight up to the mess hall.

Miss Pauling shook her head before she walked outside into the bright daylight to get her stuff from the car.