wcrspite:
Who isn’t still in New Alexandria? she thought sardonically, but didn’t dare speak the words aloud. That wasn’t something she was keen on voicing.
Not after the hell of the last two weeks.
Even had Artemis been out of hearing range, she would have heard Taggart’s last question. That was thanks to the fact that her hearing was enhanced, as part of her augmentations. But— She hadn’t walked all that far away, and in fact had only just left the room as the query reached her ears. And it was something else that threw her off her rhythm.
What did that mean?
“I’m not sure I’m following. They didn’t teach me what, exactly?” Further testament to just how different Spartans were to baseline soldiers. Not just physically, not just mentally, but socially.
It was no wonder a lot of people ostracized them. They just didn’t fit in. They couldn’t fit in. Even if they tried.
Without waiting around for a response — as she’d hear it anyway — she ambled into the main room of the base, and settled down to finish doing up her hair. It wasn’t always necessary to style it even semi-elaborately. But she found that plaits, buns, and braids kept it beneath her helmet better than simple ponytails did. Testament to how long and thick her hair was— not that she would ever dream of cutting it, as it was somewhat sacred to her, to wear it well beyond regulation length.
When her hair was tied back, she stowed the brush back in her bunk room, deeper inside the base, before sprawling across Jun’s back, while the sniper was doing pushups. He didn’t even grunt at the added weight, merely chuckled quietly and continued his workout. Hell, Spartans didn’t need to keep in shape, not really, but it helped give them something to focus on.
It helped drown out their thoughts. The miasma of death and destruction that surrounded them, tempered and all but dissipated.
It was relaxation, to a degree.
The Spartan’s confusion definitely humoured the ODST. The little smirk continued as Taggart set about trying to locate a hair dryer, almost chuckling to herself at Artemis’s cluelessness. For all of the reverence these Spartans had surrounding them, they certainly were socially inept. Nice to see we still beat them in at least one aspect. In a less stressful time, Taggart would have taken it upon herself to try and teach Artemis a thing or two about the intricacies of what was considered ‘normal’ human social interaction- because clearly ONI had skipped that part of the child-raising process, and now they had clueless super soldiers, who could plan, carry out, and execute a military coup single-handedly, but couldn’t understand why nudity among strangers was taboo. This will never fail to make me laugh. Shifting a few items aside, Bec was able to easily locate the one hairdryer NOBLE seemed to own. It was near unused- though that made sense, most of them had helmet hair or close shaves. Oh well, now it would finally have one more user. Promptly making her way to the vanity, Taggart plugged the appliance in, and set about ensuring her hair was dry so that she could brush it, and feel... somewhat human again. The quick glance in the mirror showed her more of a soggy rat than a person. Hopefully some serious drying would fix that. With practiced ease, the ODST ran the hairdryer through her thick, chocolate locks, bringing back the slight wave that gave it so much volume. A little bit of self-care went a long way for her, especially after spending so much time in the field with no real opportunity for such niceties. Honestly, even the task of blow-drying and brushing hair felt like a privilege to the Sergeant. As moisture within her mop became scarce, Bec’s hair began to return to its natural, somewhat fluffy state, framing her face nicely, and helping her seem a bit more... Well. Normal. Satisfied that she now looked somewhat human, she returned to the pile of armour she had peeled off earlier, set it out to dry very quickly, and picked up the two halves of her BDU. The dust had dissipated somewhat in the shower, but it would definitely need a machine wash. Thankfully, the amenities had such devices available, of which Taggart made quick use of. Both washing, and drying. Unfortunately, she would have to wait for her boots to dry normally, which meant she was padding around in her socks for the meantime. Something she was certain would draw a laugh from NOBLE. Finally dressed in her freshly cleaned BDU, Taggart made her way quietly back to the main area to join the rest of the team. It was strange seeing Spartans out of armor. They really were that big- and now without her own armor, Bec felt tiny amongst these giants. It was daunting to say the least. Enough to have her take up a single chair in the corner, silently adopting a similar pose to that of which she had held for the majority of the Pelican ride, except this time it was more of pure exhaustion than discomfort. She was tired. Very tired. And it showed. “So... How is everyone holding up?”
















