Odd Reunions (Csi)

[Peyton]

Peyton was quietly sitting in a plush chair, a sleeping infant close to her chest as she sat in her baby sling. They were in the library, the quietest place Peyton could find. After having fired her babysitter, she didn't really have anyone to watch Anja now. Anja wasn't much trouble though, so she didn't mind bringing her to work. She'd have to find a new sitter soon though, due to the fact that some might disprove of having a child in the lab. Wynter, her boss, allowed it for now.

The reason Peyton was sitting in the most underused part of the Central HQ, was because Anja needed a nap. Usually Peyton could sit and work quietly while Anja napped, but today was not the case. There were some noisy tests going on today. So Peyton had figured it would be best to step into a room that they wouldn't be bothered in. The mother gazed down at her daughter's sweet and innocent face and smiled a little. She reached down and wiped a bit of drool away from the corner of Anja's mouth.

Ah, Peyton could remember the day Anja was born so clearly. Even after 3 months, it only seemed like yesterday. Although, the circumstances of Anja's delivery weren't that great. Peyton had given birth to her on the dirty ground of the festival. Legs spread wide open as strangers assisted her. At least they were nice about it. And she got to stare at that hot guy the entire time. Muscles shirts were a wonderful invention indeed...

"Hm, maybe I can catch up on my reading while I'm here," Peyton mumbled softly, reaching into her bag for a moment and pulling out a novel.

[Csilla Angelis]

Being of Head of Defense wasn't so bad all the time. Except when you were the longest-standing Head of Defense across the Amestrian military. Then the job could kind of suck. South's head was relatively new and the head of Defense at Briggs... well, she wasn't AT Briggs. RIOTE was at Briggs. It had been ages since the world had flipped upside down up North. RIOTE was sitting pretty tight on Fort Briggs and had not made a move. Amestris hadn't either, but that was strictly because they didn't have the manpower. Nor did Chancellor Hans want to risk more lives or risk destroying Briggs. Amestris would get it back, one day.

In the meantime, however, there was work to be done. West HQ and East HQ had been shut down due to a lack of forces and only a skeletal crew were kept at both. Central and South were required to step up in support of the two cities in case of attack. Thankfully that hadn't happened, but you always needed a battle plan. Which is where Csilla came in. Not that she created battle plans. She created defense plans. She was going to form up defense plans for the two Hqs and their respective cities... something to tide them over until the back-up arrived. Csilla dearly hoped that the plans she was making over the next few weeks never had to be implemented, but better safe than sorry.

Csilla began her plan-making in the library, per usual. She needed to find the huge maps of the cities, as well as some books. She always went to some old favorites, which had history of defense plans in the past. But she also looked for books about the architecture and little details about the city that she could use to her advantage. It was a lot of research, sure, but she didn't get good at her job just by being pretty. She went into the library, laptop tucked in her arms, as well as a couple of notebooks. The back pocket of her jeans was full of pens and pencils. She was set. She headed to a massive table in the center of the library and set her stuff down. She didn't need to worry about her stuff disappearing; the sun stickers on everything clearly pointed them out as her items.

She began by gathering the two maps and returning them to her table. It was now time to begin book-hunting. It didn't take Csilla long before her arms were nearly full. She was wandering through one aisle and came upon a body in a chair. “Oh, hey!” She said brightly in greeting, not really paying attention. She was slightly focused on not dropping her books everywhere.

[Peyton]

"Eh?" Peyton looked back and saw a young blonde woman carrying a big pile of books. Peyton almost chuckled in reminiscence. Not so long ago, that was Peyton. Lugging around books, and stacking them on shelves for a living. Even so, Peyton was glad to be rid of that life. She had things now that were worth doing now, things she enjoyed. And not just doing things to get by.

The woman's greeting had been a bit loud, so Anja was stirred from her sleep. If there was one thing Anja didn't like, it was being woken up in the middle of nappy time. Little lips formed a fat pout, and big blue eyes watered. A soft cry filled the room as Anja began to fuss. "Oh no no, shh," Peyton muttered, bouncing Anja lightly and rocking her in an attempt to lull her back to sleep. "Waaaaaah!" Anja continued to cry, and Peyton rocked Anja back and forth. Gradually, her crying withered to soft whimpers. The infant buried her face into her mother's shirt, and clung to it with her chubby and small hands.

With a relieved sigh, Peyton gently ran a hand over the peach fuzz that was Anja's hair as she began falling asleep again. Peyton remembered that the stranger was still there, and quickly looked over at her again. "Ahah, I-I'm sorry about that. She hates being woken up, and..." her sentence trailed off as she stared at the woman. Her face, it was incredibly familiar. Yes, Peyton remembered now. The festival. That same festival she had given birth at. This was the woman that had assisted her! Oh, her name what was her name! It was right on the tip of Peyton's tongue...

"C-Csilla Angelis?"

[Csilla Angelis]

Csilla cringed as the sound of a baby wailing appeared from behind her stack of books. Oh! Oh no! She hadn't realized that the person she had greeted had a baby! Which was an odd situation within itself at Central HQ's library, but at the moment Csilla just felt terrible that she had woken up a baby. She opened her mouth to apologize profusely when she heard her own voice being said. She shifted the books in her arms and turned to get a better look at the woman who had said her name.

The face tickled something in Csilla's memory. It took a moment but looking down at the baby and then back up to the woman's face made everything kind of click. "Oh! Peyton? Is that really you?" She purposefully kept her voice low this time, not wanting to wake up the child again. She would feel terrible. "What are you doing here?" How incredibly strange it was that the small woman from the festival was HERE. With the baby Csilla had helped deliver. What a small world it was turning out to be.

[Guest]

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