"She hit you?" Tores asked, leaning forward as if he couldn't quite believe what he'd just heard.
"She hit me," Malvin confirmed flatly, his hand unconsciously moving to rub his stomach as though he could still feel the phantom pain from a punch delivered four years ago.
Across the room, Clare let out a small, poorly stifled squeak, her lips pressed tightly together in a failing attempt to hold back laughter.
Malvin's sharp gaze shifted to her immediately. "You got something to say, Sergeant?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous, though the faint redness creeping up his neck betrayed his embarrassment.
"No, Captain," Clare replied quickly, her voice tight with suppressed amusement. But she wasn't alone—Tores, now fully convinced he'd heard correctly, was also biting back a grin, while Jos had to look away to stop himself from losing it entirely. Even Aeron, whose usual stoicism made him near impossible to read, was visibly struggling to keep his expression neutral.
"What is this?!" Malvin barked, his voice raising an octave in frustration. "I tell you about how my little sister practically abused me after I woke up, and you're all trying not to laugh!?"
That was the tipping point. Aeron's usually unsettling monotone laughter erupted first, like a crack in the dam. The sound startled the others for only a second before the room exploded into fits of laughter, Jos pounding the floor with his fist as the others doubled over, tears forming in their eyes.
"You little brats!" Malvin roared, his face now fully red—though whether it was from anger or sheer embarrassment was anyone's guess. He shot up from his chair, glaring at his subordinates. "How dare you laugh at me while I'm standing right here!?"
Loreen was the first to manage a semblance of composure, wiping at her eyes as she grinned. "Sorry, Captain," she said, though her tone carried little genuine remorse. "It's just… it's so unexpected! We couldn't help ourselves."
"I wish I could've seen that!" Jos wheezed, still clutching his sides.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up!" Malvin snapped, his arms crossed as he glared at them. "Let's see how funny you find it when I hand out extra paperwork tomorrow."
The room fell silent in an instant. Every head in the room snapped down, and the previously rowdy group sat straight as boards, their eyes wide with dread. "Sorry, Captain!" they shouted in unison. "We won't ever do it again!"
Malvin watched them with narrowed eyes before letting out a heavy sigh, dropping back into his chair. He pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering to himself. "I swear, this place feels more like a nursery than an Ironguard station sometimes."
Clearing his throat, Tores hesitantly asked, "So, after you woke up, she just… punched you? No warning at all? Are you sure you're not, like, mixing things up to make her sound worse?"
Malvin turned his sharp glare toward Tores, but his voice held a trace of curiosity as he asked, "Why are you taking her side?"
"Well, she just doesn't seem like the type of person to do that," Tores replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as if recalling something distant.
"Doesn't seem like her?" Malvin muttered under his breath, leaning forward in his chair. "Wait, have you met Noemi before?"
Snapping out of his reverie, Tores blinked and nodded. "Huh? Oh yeah, briefly. Once, when I was on patrol, she came up to talk to me. She seemed… nice."
"What?!" Malvin exclaimed, his voice an incredulous bark.
Before he could say more, the rest of the squad—save for Aeron—immediately turned their attention to Tores, closing in like a pack of wolves circling prey.
"What was she like?" Clare asked eagerly.
"What did she look like?" Loreen followed, her eyes wide with interest.
"Like a way cuter version of the Captain, I bet!" Jos teased with a sly grin.
Malvin scowled, confusion etched on his face. "Why are you asking him? I'm her older brother!" he protested, his hand thumping against his chest for emphasis.
Clare turned back to him, a patient but nervous smile playing on her lips. "Well, Captain, it's just…" she began diplomatically. "You seem a little biased against her." Loreen chimed in, finishing Clare's thought.
Jos, as usual, was all too happy to pile on, enthusiastically bobbing his head in agreement.
Malvin's eye twitched, his expression caught somewhere between disbelief and irritation. Before he could respond, Aeron's metallic fingers snapped, the soft click breaking through the chatter. "Oh, right. I've met her too," he said in his usual deadpan manner.
The room froze as every head turned toward him. "You did?" they all asked in unison.
Aeron nodded once. "Yeah. She dropped off some lunch she made for the Captain once. I was out of uniform at the time, so I think she mistook me for the cleaner or something."
Hearing this, all eyes darted back to Malvin.
"See, Captain?" Jos said, crossing his arms smugly. "You're making her sound way worse than she really is!"
Malvin pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out an exasperated sigh. "First of all, you haven't even met her, so don't act like you know what she's like. Second of all…" He trailed off as an unpleasant memory surfaced, his voice dripping with bitterness as he continued. "I'm pretty sure that lunchbox was an elaborate way to poison me."
"What?" Tores asked, confused.
"The food. One bite," Malvin said, pointing to himself, "and I felt like I was going to die. I still don't know what the hell she put in that."
Ignoring his protests, Loreen shifted topics, her eyes lighting up. "Isn't your little sister training at the Academy right now?"
Malvin rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Yeah. She's graduating next week."
Clare turned to the others, her face alight with excitement. "Wow, I can't wait to meet her!"
"Same," Loreen agreed enthusiastically. "She's going to be so much better to work with than the Captain."
Malvin raised a brow, his tone turning dry. "She's not coming to replace me, you know that, right?"
His comment fell on deaf ears. The squad was fully engrossed in their newfound fascination with Noemi, speculating and whispering among themselves as if Malvin weren't even in the room.
Shaking his head, Malvin leaned back in his chair, propping one leg over the other as he exhaled deeply. "Honestly," he muttered, his voice tinged with resignation. "Who needs kids when you've got people like these working under you?"
A faint exhale left him, and for the briefest moment, his lips twitched into a faint, rare smile as his gaze shifted toward the ceiling. *Stuff like this is more your scene than mine, isn't it, partner?*