My Name is Joseph

Set Ups

Pearl pushed a stray hair behind her ear hoping she looked nice as she approached the entrance to the dining hall. She had done her best to make sure she looked as nice as possible in the army-situation. She could not wear a dress or anything, but she could put on a small amount of her hidden make-up. Just a tiny amount. Not enough that anyone except perhaps Alexander would notice. Otherwise, she would most likely get into trouble.

As she approached the door, a disappointed feeling settled into her stomach. The only people she could see inside were four young men sitting near the door, none of which was Private Ale--no, Lieutenant Alexander. Although he was not exactly acting in the position of a lieutenant, that was the honorary title he had been given for his strategist position. There was also another young man standing idly by the door, his arms crossed and his eyes glancing around. A guard? But he was acting too casual to be a guard. She took a deep breath. It was still a few minutes early; Lieutenant Alexander would show up.

As she approached and glanced at the loitering young man again, he caught her eye and started walking towards her. Strange.

He was handsome too, but not like Lieutenant Alexander. He tossed his blondish-brown hair back and and his strong arms rested at his sides as he reached her.

She stopped right when he did, her eyebrows going up.

"Nurse Thomson?" his deep voice asked. His face and body portrayed complete focus, but his eyes twinkled slightly in some kind of amusement.

"Yes?"

"I am Private Emerson. Owyn Emerson."

Pearl nodded in response.

"I am here on behalf of Lieutenant Reagan." He looked away as it seemed he fought to keep a smirk off of his face, "He sadly was not able to make it today." Quickly the half-hidden smirk disappeared to be replaced with a deep-set concern, "Something very critical came up, and he is dealing with it. Most likely wont be able to get away for several days."

Pearl's eyebrows went up, "What kind of thing?"

Private Emerson rubbed a hand across his forehead, "I do not have the liberty to share it." he smiled, looking a bit pained, "Alex was really disappointed that he could not meet you, however, and he wanted me to set another time when you could meet."

Pearl's eyebrows went up even farther, "Alex?"

The private's cheeks turned a little pink, "Lieutenant Reagan, I'm sorry." He muttered something unintelligible to himself. Pearl only caught the words, "not used to" and "lieutenant".

"You know him well then?" Pearl leaned forward, curious to hear about the handsome young man she had met the day before.

Private Emerson nodded slowly, "Since the beginning. We were in the same training camp and arrived at this base together."

Pearl smiled, an idea striking her mind, "What would he think of me just dropping by to bring him a hot chocolate or something? I would not interrupt him or anything, just say hi and maybe help alleviate some stress."

Private Emerson's eyes brightened slightly, "That's actually a good idea. He seemed really stressed and I seemed to notice him developing a headache earlier. It might help him clear his mind." The smirk returned to his face, "And he was really disappointed that he could not see you today."

Pearl smiled. Good, this was working well. Especially that Private Emerson seemed to be a close friend of Lieutenant Alexander's. She turned towards the dining area. They were each allowed one sweet thing a week, so this hot chocolate would cost her her week's dessert, but it would be worth it.