Interrupted

[Raphael Bishop]

Raphael had been illiterate before his promotion to captain, learning to read had been difficult, learning to write to a standard that others could read- well that had been close to impossible. Even now, after several years of practice, Raph found himself struggling sometimes to keep the letters straight and to keep wayward droplets of ink from accenting the papers. Luckily, his commander was a patient man. He took the time to read the chicken scratches that passed for handwriting, knew all of Raph’s shorthand, and even triple checked the names to ensure no man had been missed or overpaid. The soldier had never been the meticulous sort at the best of times, boots on ground and weapon in hand served him better than a poorly cut pen and an accounts book. But, it was part of the job, so it had to be done.

    He had started almost two hours ago, two hours for perhaps fifty men in his company. This task would have taken any of the other captains perhaps twenty minutes, maybe thirty, but Raphael still tripped over his words as he wrote- pausing every few letters to check against the muster roll. He had spent countless hours in the mud and cold fighting with these men, more so on the training grounds, and yet Raphael struggled to so much as spell their names. It did not trouble him so much, most of his men would struggle to write his- when letters arrived, the men would gather around and listen to the one other ranger who could read voice each letter in turn. It brought the whole unit closer, no secrets between them. But right now, all his struggling brought him was frustration. Brought an exasperated groan to his lips and long fingers to clutch at his greasy hair.

    As always, Raphael worked with an open door- it was only ever closed to offer privacy to his men should they need it. His other colleagues, though Raphael would never use that term himself, knew better than to drop by his office. At least he hoped they would. Still, his door was open- and so the captain was far from surprised when someone entered. The man didn’t even look up.

    ”I’m a little busy, and it’s late.” Raph said, still not lifting his gaze from the papers before him. ”What could possibly be so important?”

[Naeva Northam]

The Infantry and Rangers typically worked together in Aralore's military. So if the Ranger commander needed covering, it was typically Naeva who would step in to help from time to time. And because Naeva didn't have a captain in the Infantry, Raphael had been assigned to help her as needed. At least until the position was filled.

She quietly stepped into his office, not wishing to interrupt him by speaking, as he looked like he was heavily involved in whatever he was working on. However, when he spoke, she raised a brow. Clearly, he did not know who just had walked into his office.

Naeva wasn't one to hold herself higher and above anyone else, nor did she go around boasting or bragging of her title and position as the Infantry commander. But there was the whole respect thing, and she had worked extremely hard to get where she was. She opened her mouth to speak, knowing very well that he was most likely expecting a male voice, but her strong feminine voice spread through his office with an authoritative tone. "Is that how you speak to your commanders, Captain?"

She folded her arms over her chest and tilted her head as she regarded him closely. He looked tired and frustrated, perhaps, and she wondered if maybe now had been the wrong time to interrupt him. But she had business to attend and a lot of times, there weren't ideal moments when it came to needing things done. Most of the soldiers knew that by now. War could strike at any moment, and they needed to be ready to jump into action regardless if they were ready or not-- regardless of whatever they had going on for that point in time.

[Raphael Bishop]

Working across two units, the Rangers and the Infantry had been draining, rewarding to a point, but still draining. When he tumbled into bed each night, exhausted from the day’s maneuvers and the admin that inevitably followed: it was almost easy to forget that they were not at war. The Captain almost dreaded to think how his body would handle being on the march once again and how he would cope with sleeping in the mud and dirt rather than a soft bed. He missed it, the simplicity of it. But he also missed the comforts of home and the barracks. Swings and roundabouts, positives and negatives, there was always something.

    He did not look up to see her raised brow, Raphael did not even glance at the Commander until she spoke. Though Naeva’s tone was authoritative, it was far from enough to strike fear into the captain. Wearily, his eyes finally lifted from the page- long fingers running through his hair as a heavy sigh fell from his lips. The man knew he had to choose his next words carefully, that flirtation or a joke would be more than inappropriate considering the company- but the man could not persuade his brain to engage. Words were hard.

    It wasn’t that Raphael Bishop did not respect @naeva, far from it in fact. It was just that it had been a long week, that he was tired, and that he was frustrated with the task at hand. Planting his palms upon the desk, the captain slowly rose to his feet to address her. ”My apologies Commander.” He said, unable to keep the fatigue from colouring his voice. ”I would say I thought you were somebody else but I did not know who it was- especially at this hour.”

    Raphael gestured to one of the two chairs that sat across the desk before sinking back into his seat, her words had completely derailed his train of thought- so he carefully moved the papers to one side for now. ”What do you need?” The Commander had never struck him as the kind for idle conversation- which meant there had been a reason behind her disturbing him at this hour.

[Naeva Northam]

She took notice in the slow and weary motions of the Captain as he looked at her, ran a hand through his hair, and sighed. Her brows furrowed slightly as she watched him get to his feet and apologize to her. Concern rose upon her features as she noticed the fatigue on his features and in his voice. In response to his apology, she shook her head. “It’s quite alright… I apologize for my unexpected visit and interruption.”

Naeva slowly sat in the chair after he motioned to it, her hands folded in her lap, her bright blue eyes never wavering from him as he moved aside the papers before giving her his attention, questioning her for the reason behind her visit. It was true that she was hardly the type for idle conversation.

She let out a quiet sigh before moving to the edge of the seat, leaning towards him and clearing her throat before she spoke. “A few of my men have complained that their wages have been off.” Her tone was light and strangely gentle. She looked over him with concern in her eyes. “I understand that you have been sort of working between my unit and the Rangers and I appreciate that.” The commander forced a small smile. “I figured I would come by and offer up some help while I have a little free time.”

Part of her expected the man to decline and insist that she was above the level of work, perhaps, but Naeva never truly saw it that way. He was working to help her out when her unit had taken such a hard hit with the war. It was the least she could do, really. “I’m sorry- perhaps this should have waited until morning...But your commander told me you typically worked on this in the evening before retiring for the night...And also, this is really the only time I have open, with training and rounds, as you know.” She offered him a slight smile and nodded. “So, you tell me what you need.”

[Raphael Bishop]

”Nah, it’s your right an’ all.” Raph said, shoulders rising and falling in a slight shrug. He couldn’t exactly criticise the commander for dropping in, it was above his station after all, that and he was almost too tired to care about much. How did she do it? No doubt the woman had much more on her plate than he did, and there she was- eyes bright and clearly much more awake than he was, even at this hour. Eh The ranger pushed the thoughts away and dragged himself back into the present, back into the conversation. ”Nothin’ to apologise for Commander.”

Settled in the chair opposite her, Raph did not stand on ceremony- allowing himself to sit comfortably, leaning into the creaky seat as though it was the comfiest thing he had ever sat on. The captain had fallen asleep in it more than once, his forehead resting upon the desk. ”Ah.” He breathed as Naeva Northam told him the real reason behind her visit. ”I’m sorry Commander, I must have made a mistake somewhere.” Exasperated, Raphael looked at the maelstrom of papers scattered around his desk: made only more complicated by his clearing of the desk to make room for their conversation, no matter how carefully he had moved them. ”Who’s wages are off?”

He had not expected the infantry commander to be so patient, so gentle, so quiet. It only made him feel more guilty for the mistakes. Only made him feel more ashamed for struggling to cope with the workload. Only made the embarrassment deepen. Raphael Bishop was not the kind of man to ask for help, luckily, Naeva wasn’t making him ask: she was offering, and kindly too.

”No need t’apologise, Rangers have training first thing, now is good.” Who needed sleep anyway? ”Can you show me, how you did this? Maybe there’s somethin’ wrong with my system?” At first glance, it probably didn’t look as thought the captain had a system. Papers in some kind of piles perhaps, some for rangers and some for infantry- each annotated here and there with his child-like scrawl.

[Naeva Northam]

Despite Raph’s dismissal of her apology, Naeva still felt guilty--not only for her late visit and interruption but also because she hoped the Captain didn’t feel like she was trying to tell him how to do his job or make him feel less than her or anyone for that matter. Regardless of whether or not he meant his excusing of her apology, she gave him a slight nod, the edges of her lips twitching in a faint smile.

There was a huge difference in ordering her men about and criticizing them during training because it only made them stronger fighters, but when it came to matters outside of training, she often hated needing to correct others or point out mistakes. It was why she was so patient and gentle now. Despite what men may have said about her, Naeva could have an easy-going, gentle and caring side to her. She watched Raph in his exasperated expression in response to her telling him what she was here. It caused her to frown slightly, and then shake her head at his apology. “It’s quite alright. We all make mistakes, and you are doing the job of two men--I’m sure it would be easy for us all to make the same mistake if we were in your shoes.” She gave him a reassuring smile, her eyes averting from him for a moment to look at his desk and the mess of papers scattered about.

She thought for a moment, returning her gaze to him as he questioned her. “Johnson, Edgars, Smith, and Andrews,” she gently answered, resisting the urge to grimace - not because she was upset he had made the mistakes of four of her men, but more so because she didn’t like that she was springing this news on him.

Again, he was dismissing her apology, and she nodded in understanding. The infantry had training first thing in the morning as well. It would seem both of them would lack in getting sleep. Blue eyes scanned his desk again at his request and she smirked before glancing back at him. “Do you have a system Captain?” She leaned forward, moving closer to the edge of his desk, and reached for the book she assumed had his record keeping in it. “May I?” She questioned him, waiting for him to indicate that she could have a look. If he gave her the permission, she picked the book up and leaned back in her seat, thumbing through the pages quietly as she looked it over. “Hmm…” It was somewhat difficult to decipher his chicken scratch, but she managed. “Well--” She paused for a moment, turning over a few more pages as if she were looking for something. “It doesn’t look like you have a master list or roster… Are you just going by and adding new records each time you receive someone’s notes?” She lifted her gaze at him again, giving him a curious glance.

“I used to make a roster, listing all the men in my unit in alphabetical order... And then each person had their own page, also in alphabetical order, so they were easy to find. And when I received their note, I would add it onto their page, along with the date. Most of the time, the numbers matched up, because they almost always get the same wage each month, give or take.” She looked him over for a moment, wondering if he would think this was a good idea for him, or not--everyone seemed to have their own way of doing things, but he had asked her how she did it, so she answered him, not as if she were telling him what to do, but rather exactly what she used to do. “Then I would file the notes in a box, keeping them in the alphabetical order by date, so they could easily be found if there was an error somewhere. I would keep that box for a year before starting over.”

She handed the book back over to him. “Tell me how you do it, and I can try to help you organize your own method?” A gentle smile was offered to him before she glanced back at his desk. “Is all this clutter working out for you?” She smirked again, raising a challenging brow as she looked back at him, questioningly.

[Raphael Bishop]

He was out of his depth, the captain knew that. He didn’t have family or a good name behind him like a lot of the other commanding officers. The man had fought tooth and nail to climb the ladder this high, and yet, he still often believed he didn’t deserve it. That his promotion to Captain had just been a fluke, nothing more than a lucky break. Not that he would ever voice those thoughts aloud. There was a lot the Ranger didn’t voice aloud these days, doubts were weakness. And weakness didn’t help anybody. Weakness wouldn’t keep food on his mother’s table and a roof over her head- now her sight was beginning to fail and her fingers were beginning to stiffen with arthritis, she couldn’t quite take on enough seamstress work to keep herself afloat. He needed this. This job, this promotion and the extra income it brought in.

So, he tried to put on a smile (even if it did seem a little flat and forced) Naeva was his superior, and he was already shattered, which meant he didn’t have either the will or the energy to maintain his usual demeanor. The gruffness was gone, the steely look in his eyes replaced instead with a tired heaviness he couldn’t quite shake. Those tired eyes followed her gaze, taking in the mass of papers and journals that he should have probably sorted into some kind of order days ago- when it first started getting out of hand. But no, it had just piled up and piled up until the man didn’t know where to begin.

Her dismissal of his apology passed without comment from Raphael. He knew all too well how vital that paycheck could be, how much some of the men relied on it. It wasn’t good enough, he had let them down. It wasn’t just one man either, or two, but four- and it was all the captain could do to stifle a groan as she listed off the names. Even if her tone was gentle, devoid of any accusation, it didn’t do much to alleviate how he felt. ”There’s some kind of system.” He said, injecting some humour into his tone (even if it sounded more than a little forced. Running a hand through his hair- greasy from several days of going unwashed- Raph levelled his gaze on the woman, noticing the smirk she wore so well. It was a damn sight better than a look of pity or patience, and the captain found himself hoping she would keep it. ”Go ahead, Rangers are in black ink, Infantry in the reddish brown kind of colour.” That was it, that was the extent of his organisation. There were similar names across the two divisions, a fair few Smiths, lots of Jacks for some reason- which was why he had felt the need to differentiate between them somehow. But that was it. Like the Commander had pointed out, there was no master-list, no roster. ”Pretty much.” The man confessed, sounding a little sheepish, ”Didn’t realise there was another way to do it.”

Boxes and files, seemed a lot more logical than the rolls and loose leaves of paper he had been using so far. The previous captain hadn’t left him a lot to work with, so Raphael had simply built upon what he already had to work with. The alphabetical order wasn’t exactly something he could easily manage, not that he’d voice that aloud even if Naeva outright asked him. He could just about manage it, it just took more time than he often had- Raphael wasn’t willing to lose any more time out of his day (and night) to bureaucracy. Well, clearly it ain’t- four men have suffered for it.” Sighing, Raphael glanced over the chaos once more. ”I look for last month’s, then copy it… adding more o’ less depending on how the days work out.”

[Naeva Northam]

Naeva had been in his place at one point during her career in the Infantry. She remembered what it was like and how overwhelming and stressful the work could be. It was why she was here now, and why she often tried to help whenever and wherever she could. Though she was a commander, she never felt that any work was below her, nor did she treat people that way.

A slight frown tugged at the corners of his lips as Raph reacted to her answer regarding the four men who had been affected by his mistakes. She wished that she didn’t have to address this, because it was obvious he was becoming frustrated with himself, but Naeva didn’t say anything-- would anything she could have said lessen that frustration?

Her smirk did remain as Raph assured her that amongst the disordered mess on his desk, there was some kind of system there. A short breath of a laugh escaped her and she nodded, understandably. “I see that…” She said sarcastically, though not in a mean sort of way.

She shrugged her shoulders in response to him not knowing there were other ways of organizing some sort of system in keeping his books in order. “Everyone has their own way of doing--Just have to find what works for you. That was what worked for me when I used to do this.” Naeva offered him a smile and then continued to look through the book, trying to find any indication of what else could have been the cause of his mistakes. From what she could see, there wasn’t much order in his records and she wondered how he even found the men when entering the data.

Naeva returned her gaze to him and studied him for a brief moment. “Perhaps getting two different books could help you out. One for the Rangers and one for the Infantry.” She glanced through the mess on his desk and then pursed her lips together in thought before standing up. “One moment, I will be right back.” Without another word, she stepped out of the room and was gone for a matter of maybe four minutes.

“I’m not sure why this wasn’t given to you,” She sighed as she returned to his desk and sank back down into the chair with a book in her hand. Quietly, she flipped through the pages, her lips moved to mumble to herself as she glanced across them. “Do you have a pen and ink I could borrow?” She looked back at him questioningly and when he passed over the items, she quickly went to work, scratching words into the book, continuing to flip through the pages every so often as she did so. Once she finished, she set the pen back down and handed the book over to him. “All the Infantrymen should be in here for you, in alphabetical order. It was the previous Captain’s book. I’m sorry-- I thought it would have been given to you.”

The first page of the book was a master list of everyone. Several of the names she had to add in, as they were new to the division. The pages after were mostly blank, except for the name of a person at the top, followed by a few lines of past records of their pay. It would give him an example of how the books were kept in the Infantry, at least. “Do you have another blank book we can start for the Rangers, if you like how I’ve set the Infantry up for you, that is?”

She seemed eager to help him, despite the tiredness she felt. But then she realized the man was probably just as tired, so she inhaled deeply to calm herself. “Sorry--I know it’s late…We don’t have to spend too much time on this tonight. I can take some time to come back and help, tomorrow if you would like? And are willing to tolerate me?” She smirked again and shook her head.