A Little Time Off [complete]

[Ma Shikang]

Shikang's gaze suddenly lowered to stare at the ground. In a way Xue had made him feel more guilted by offering up the dress. The way he described the incident caused him to go silent, and Xiao's needless jabs at it didn't make it any better. Because of this, he remained silent.

[Zhong Xue]

"She doesn't have a boyfriend!" Xue blurted out before he could stop himself.

[Shizukiri Naia]

"...Oh?" Naia blinked in surprise at Xue's sudden exclamation, glancing between all three soldiers. A thought came to him that he mentally tossed and examined, putting together everything he'd observed so far. Shikang's vaguely awkward silence, Xiao's fairly obvious taunting, Xue's sensitivity to the whole issue... and if he remembered correctly from when his tentmate was describing the girl, she had brown hair, didn't she?

Naia gave Xue a genuinely awkward glance, not quite sure how to pose his suspicion. "Xue, was... ah... do you have a sister?"

[Rie Chou]

"Oh, so you know her?" Rie hadn't been stalking them, but they'd been too deep in conversation to notice him walking up. "Well, have her know this camp isn't a playground." He looked down at the new recruits - except Shikang's height almost rivaled his own. "Things are messed up enough the way they are," he added.

He looked between the four of them, not recognizing Naia from his own camp. All the new recruits looked the same anyway.

[Wu Xiaoszi]

As expected, Xiao jumped a good foot into the air, nearly tripping into Jun. It was, of course, accompanied by a painfully high-pitched yell that he quelled as soon as he realized he was the one making it. Whirling around, Xiao blinked widened eyes, but didn't dare point disrespectfully at the large general. "G-g-general! Wh....what are you doing here?"

[Ma Shikang]

Shikang's eyes widened in surprised, and his gaze focused on the General. No wonder he didn't notice the General, he was too busy looking at the ground. "General Rie," he greeted before stepping forward to elbow Xiao in the back. It was rude to ask why or what a General was doing. "Are you looking for General Sze?" now that was a respectful question.

[Zhong Xue]

Xue leaned against Xiao, his breathing completely stopping for one long moment. He managed a soft, "Good afternoon, sir," and a weak smile.

[Rie Chou]

Rie smiled inwardly at Shikang's reaction. He knew that kind of recruit - trying, often a bit too hard, to be respectful. They usually turned out useful, though. And Xue was the kind who was a bit too jittery, but obedient at best.

"Good afternoon," he said, trying to smile amiably, "I'm looking for General Sze. His tent's in that direction, right?" Rie pointed over their shoulders.

[Shizukiri Naia]

Nearly losing his balance when Xiao missed him by a hairsbreadth, Naia managed to keep his footing and ducked into a respectful bow. On one hand, having his general around meant he could be vouched for, but he was getting nervous nonetheless, which was not good at all.

"General Rie," he greeted in the vague direction of his kneecaps.

[Wu Xiaoszi]

"We...I haven't seen General Sze since this morning, sir!" Xiao answered. He looked at all the faces near him, and found with some amusement that even Jun was a little startled by Rie Chou's sudden appearance. Then again, he was rather shaken up too. For a fellow that large and wearing so much armor, they should've at least heard him from a mile away. "His tent's over there, but he might talking with Lieutenant General Shen, sir."

[Zhong Xue]

"And Lieutenant General Shen's tent is right over there, sir!" Xue added, his voice cracking slightly, as he pointed it out. "Terribly sorry, sir! We'll get right back to work, sir!"

[Rie Chou]

Rie looked at Naia, remotely bewildered. The narrow, pale face looked familiar. But then again, he had never been good at remembering faces, especially with the swarms of recruits that came about every so often.

He turned to look at the tent Xiao had been pointing at. "Okay, thanks." His way of speaking had always been informal, despite his education.

"Don't worry," he said to Xue. "There is no work for you to do right now, unless Sz - General Sze gave you other instructions."

[Wu Xiaoszi]

"He didn't really," mused Xiao, a little more at ease with the general now that he wasn't spontaneously popping up from random places. Most people didn't unsettle him for long. "Other than the daily duties. I was on guard duty though, so I'll get along with that." He turned as if to make promise to his words, but stopped suddenly, perking. "Oh yeah, I forgot," he added, reaching back and tugging his two teammates with him. "Let's go!"

[Ma Shikang]

While Xiao reached for him, he gave General Rie a respectful nod before being tugged off with his team mates. Once they were a good distance between Jun and Rie his stare glanced up. He would wait until they were no longer ear shot to comment about the events.

[Zhong Xue]

"... I hadn't really spoken with General Rie before," Xue muttered, laughing nervously. "He's a bit... ahh... well... he seems nice enough."