Snippet #2706917

Alexei was distracted for a moment by the appearance of the tall woman. Aurel, was her name? He had seen her help to bring in the wounded earlier. She seemed like a decent woman, though he had wondered before whether or not she was actually a woman. As he was taking in her appearance, he noticed the wounds on her legs and frowned. It only made sense, he supposed. There was a lot of leg to hurt.
Valoel's voice reached him, removing him from the rabbit hole of his thoughts. He turned back to her. "Ah, yes, my apologies, Ma'am," Alexei said, saluting to make up for it. He would smile, but he felt like that would bother Valoel more. He didn't see much of her, but she didn't seem to have much of a sense of humor. Oh well, there were others who did. Aurel, however, seemed to have no regard for the increasingly disgruntled superior. He gave her a look. She was just asking for trouble at this point. He was about to say something, maybe an apology on Aurel's behalf, maybe a warning for her to hold her tongue, but before he could, his watch beeped, reminding him that he did have somewhere to be later. He checked the time. Even if he hurried, he'd be making it to work just in time. "If you do excuse me," he said, backing away from the scene, "I should take my leave. Prior engagement with the wounded to keep." He quickly departed for the infirmary, not eager to continue the conversation. If these long hours were good for anything, they at least helped him avoid other people.