04-20-2014, 02:11 PM
Reed paused in the doorway. Just looking at the man and she could tell Trano was sulking. The scent of an open whiskey bottle permeated the air, as did sweat and shame. Sure enough, the light from the wallet screen reflected on the dark lowball in one hand, but Reed wasn't going to comment. If anyone had good reason to be a drunk, it was Trano.
He practically invited her in, which given how much she knew he was fond of her, it was a momentous step. She came as bidden and folded herself into a chair opposite him. Unlike Trano, she hadn't had the time to reflect on the events of the day. She did, however, have time to take a shower and clean up. She was free in crossing her legs, but the shadows of their dark room hid anything indecent. Of course, Reed was not known for her decency.
With the toe of one heel, she pivoted the screen her way long enough to glance at the face of Trano's victim. "No idea who he is. Probably another asshole thinking he's serving some higher power bullshit when in fact the only people who will care he's dead are the widow and orphaned kids back home,"
Reed said, spitting disdain.
Trano was not taking it well. In the history of humanity, world leaders were always bad guys. They had to set aside hippie ideals like love and peace. To guide the herd, they had to build strong walls, especially around themselves.
"Look,"
she said, voice softening ever so slightly. "I've killed a lot of people, Nicholas, and I'm not a soldier for that reason. It's good you're going through this. It will make you think twice when someday you're in a position to make a call about going to war. Those assholes in Washington have no concept of what war is like, and they push their buttons and sign their declarations, and they sleep great at night, while people like you do their dirty-work."
"It's better to kill a two-hundred specific bad guys than twenty-thousand lemmings like that one,"
she pointed at the screen, "who are only doing what they think is right."
She let that sink in. There was a victory here. Trano was showing her a new side of himself, and that was the side she wanted to make sure he remembered when the day came. "But I am glad to know that you'd damn your own soul to save my hide. You regret it yet?"
In the white-blue light from his screen, Reed smirked.
He practically invited her in, which given how much she knew he was fond of her, it was a momentous step. She came as bidden and folded herself into a chair opposite him. Unlike Trano, she hadn't had the time to reflect on the events of the day. She did, however, have time to take a shower and clean up. She was free in crossing her legs, but the shadows of their dark room hid anything indecent. Of course, Reed was not known for her decency.
With the toe of one heel, she pivoted the screen her way long enough to glance at the face of Trano's victim. "No idea who he is. Probably another asshole thinking he's serving some higher power bullshit when in fact the only people who will care he's dead are the widow and orphaned kids back home,"
Reed said, spitting disdain.
Trano was not taking it well. In the history of humanity, world leaders were always bad guys. They had to set aside hippie ideals like love and peace. To guide the herd, they had to build strong walls, especially around themselves.
"Look,"
she said, voice softening ever so slightly. "I've killed a lot of people, Nicholas, and I'm not a soldier for that reason. It's good you're going through this. It will make you think twice when someday you're in a position to make a call about going to war. Those assholes in Washington have no concept of what war is like, and they push their buttons and sign their declarations, and they sleep great at night, while people like you do their dirty-work."
"It's better to kill a two-hundred specific bad guys than twenty-thousand lemmings like that one,"
she pointed at the screen, "who are only doing what they think is right."
She let that sink in. There was a victory here. Trano was showing her a new side of himself, and that was the side she wanted to make sure he remembered when the day came. "But I am glad to know that you'd damn your own soul to save my hide. You regret it yet?"
In the white-blue light from his screen, Reed smirked.