July
Part 7
by kebzero
July 7th, 207
Jolly Roger's Journal
Wufei finally saw fit to grace us with his divine presence this morning. We hit it off immediately, like always. I make a friendly quip, he scowls and dismisses it, attempts a counter, and there we go.
Was it a good thing the others were there to keep it from getting physical? I don't know. Wufei looked like he could use a good brawl to loosen up. Easy enough to see he wasn't happy to be here. Bet Sally got him here at gunpoint, or something. If he wants to be pissy, let him.
Yeah, I'm not exactly a bag of cheers either, not since talking to Hilde on the phone yesterday. I think she's forgiven my contract mishap, and the hints she dropped leads me to think I'll have plenty to do when I get back to L2. Her mood has certainly improved - and since she still has leverage on me thanks to last week's screw-ups, she 'reminded' me about another thing we've discussed before.
Well, she's been talking about it, while I've usually listened impatiently, and occasionally muttered something she hopefully didn't catch. Basically, she wants me to beg Quatre for money.
We're getting by on L2... for now, at least - but it's on L3 that the biggest construction boom is these days, and in space, a building boom also means they have to get rid of derelict colonies and orbital debris first. It's not like on Earth, where you just blow up the old buildings, and scoop up the rubble neatly gathered by gravity afterwards. If you blow things up in space, it's like creating a gravity-powered tornado; plenty of high-velocity pieces of scrap perfectly capable of tearing you and whatever tincan of air you're inside - colony, ship, suit, whatever - to even more little high-speed bits of shrapnel.
So, there's a lot of junk on L3 that needs to be processed. Some of it ends up at L2, of course, but it'd be much easier to get salvage contracts if we were on site. Hilde thinks we should expand, and set up shop at L3. Of course, we can't afford anything like that. Even if we sold everything we had at L2, that wouldn't cover the initial expenses at L3. I mean, there's a reason we stuck to L2 in the first place; living costs there are more in line with our income.
Thing is - she's right, we should go for it - but I hate the idea of asking a friend for handouts like that. Quatre would probably give us the money in a heartbeat; he handles sums way bigger than we'll ever see every day. If we're lucky, he wouldn't even insist on interfering in the day-to-day operations of things, something he'd be fully entitled to if he funded the whole shebang.
Gift, loan, handout - no matter what form it took, I'd still owe Quatre big-time. Even if we were able to pay him back later, I'd still be in his debt, and that's the sort of feeling I seriously hate to have. I don't want to depend on my friends for bailout money. To save my life, sure. How I conduct my life? No way in hell.
Try getting that point over to Hilde. She's a damn bright girl, but male pride is as beyond her as nearly everything about women are to me. Maybe our women trouble is one of the few things that Wufei and I can see eye to eye on.
I don't think I've heard the last from Hilde on this subject, though.
Wufei and I weren't the only ones getting physical - well, almost - today. Heero and Trowa had a series of armwrestling matches before lunch. It was sort of strange to watch. Trowa's put on a lot of bulk since the wars. They must have worked him like one of the caged animals at that circus, 'cause he looks more like the 'strong man' than an acrobat now.
At least, when compared to Heero. If anyone proves there's more to them than meets the eye, Heero would be a good example. He doesn't look as intimidating as Trowa, but he'd crush most people in armwrestling simply because they'd underestimate him. Trowa doesn't, and gave him a fair match. Two wins, two losses - and then Quatre promptly interrupted them before the final match could be held.
Conclusion? Quatre wins, always.
No wonder I'm scared as hell of asking for a handout.
- 'none can grin like the dead.' - Little D.
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