Snippet #2508481

The door pounded loudly. Brigitte turned over in bed again, dragging her pillow over her head in the desperate hope that whatever it was wasn't important enough to actually get out of bed for... to no avail. The door pounded yet again.

She propped herself up and squeezed her eyes shut as she yawned, stretching her arms above her head. She stepped up and quickly pulled herself out of bed, and slowly paced barefoot from her bedroom through the outer room and to her door. She twisted the knob open and peeked her head out so that whatever guest it was wouldn't see her sleeping attire. On the other side stood Bonita. Brigitte stood up a little straighter. "Oh... good morning, I'm sorry about that," she said after coughing a little.

"Don't worry," Bonita said quickly, "it's about 7. Way early for you. But we need your help. That sandstorm last night sure was a doozy."

Brigitte nodded. "Sure was," she managed through a misty-eyed yawn. "It opened my window and everything."

"Well, it also knocked down one of our solar panels," Bonita continued. "People coming in today after the storm say they've never heard Peter have to shout to be heard over the background noise."

Brigitte balked. "Seriously? That sucks," she said quietly, looking down at the ground. She looked back up to the older woman and tilted her head. "What can I do to help?"

"Get dressed and we'll talk about it," Bonita instructed as she backed away from the door. "Peter's still on the air. Freya's already down there. She's in better shape to help than he is. We're just letting him continue talking." She walked off and left Brigitte to shut the door behind her as she went to pull on a pair of dark all-weather pants and a pair of leather boots, her blue lightweight long-sleeved shirt, and her utility belt. She pulled her hair behind her and crudely braided it into a long, thick plait, then looped her goggles around her eyes before finally stepping out the door and pulling it shut behind her, then coasted through the stone hallway and out into the early morning sunshine.

The courtyard was trashed. A few of the staff were out with heavy pushbrooms trying to clear the walkways of the high level of sand that had swirled into the pseudo-square in the middle of the facility's grounds. The tall radio tower didn't look worse for wear on the outside, but she knew that whatever damage it had done to their sensitive instruments was going to be the impact felt for miles and miles around. They'd have to send a group out to Austin, likely, in order to replace any broken parts. And Austin was a terribly partisan place. There was no way of knowing if they'd be receptive to Aegis folk trying to improve their lot in life in any fashion whatsoever.

"Brigitte!" Bonita called out. Her brown eyes snapped up in her direction--there they were, on the roof of the massive stone structure. "Climb up!"

Brigitte frowned as she looked at the indicated ladder splaying up the side of the tall wall, but grabbed the sides anyway and forced herself to step up, one rung at a time. She hated heights. It wasn't uncommon for her to visualize herself losing her footing from a higher unsecured surface... she never could get around to imagining the end of a fall, but the prospect of the fall itself was daunting and terrifying. Even so, she refused to let it dampen her concentration. She stepped on the top of the roof and spotted the downed panel, its frame twisted but mercifully not destroying the darker material encased inside. Bonita, Freya, and a few of the others gathered turned around to face Brigitte.

"You need to ask the Nightkin to come help us," Bonita stated plainly, looking the younger woman directly in the eyes.

Brigitte blinked. "Oh," she said, the awkward air twisting the end of her sentence into a higher-pitched, pseudo-question tone. "But why me?"

Freya shook her head. "Brig, everyone likes you," the tall blonde woman responded. "I'm sure if you ask the Nightkin that he'll be sure to help us."

"But he's already helping us," Brigitte pointed out, putting her gloved hands on her hips. She lifted her goggles up to rest on top of her forehead. Her brown eyes squinted and blinked against the early morning sun. "I don't think we should make it look like we wish to abuse his assistance."

"Brigitte, please," Bonita said softly, invoking a tone that made it hard for Brigitte to ignore those instructions.

The wiry brunette sighed, and reached her hands up to yank and stick the goggles back securely over her eyes. She turned around and felt her stomach twist a little as she descended back down the ladder. After reaching the ground, she shook off her shaky nerves as she made her way to the spot where by far the most formidable guest in Aegis had opted to stay.

She walked cautiously, deciding to keep the goggles over her eyes for the time being. She finally stopped and stood not far from the shelter, folding her arms in front of her. She looked down at her feet and then decided to let her arms fall by her side, as to appear less frustrated or conflicted. It was never easy to decide how to use body language in order to be taken seriously when one lacks the height to be automatically taken seriously.

"Good morning," Brigitte called out calmly. Not in a high-pitched voice, but not in a stern, detached voice, either. "I'd like to ask you for your help this morning, Mr. Brave. My name's Brigitte."