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[color=Silver]	The blonde girl had started out as a weight on what little honour the nomad had. Scraping by his energy just as he'd scrape by money was belittled, shot down like a disk of clay. And yet he'd carried himself through it, an eagerness to keep himself in the gist of things. The following day would see them trial themselves with basic training. More exercise, at least there was a high likelihood of it. Mateo hadn't told him anything about how training worked. In the field, there never was a mentor who could tell a soldier what was going to exactly happen. If that was the case, why would Mateo tell Grant? Even if he did, he wouldn't have been able to predict the blonde girl pushing him aside with her foot. It was a bit unclear if it was full torment or a simple act of jest, but Grant remained as calm as he could, sighing as he fell back onto the dusty floor. She definitely was prideful, he'd give her that. A girl with her head on her shoulders, full of enough self-confidence to carry her upright even if she'd had her limbs torn from their sockets. In their back and forth banter, Grant surprisingly found himself enjoying the topic of bigging one another up, though he couldn't say the same about being pushed back down.

	And so, she belittled him again. [i]Prove her wrong[/i]; the new task was set afoot. He'd ran for three straight hours on an empty stomach. No food, only the flask of water he'd brought with him. It felt all too familiar, and yet here he was on the ground, catching dust on his Cadet Jacket. With a shaky hand, he wrapped it around the fence pole and took a breath, sitting back up and drawing his knees towards his chest. It was impossible to hide the pain but it also wasn't unbearable. Not like he'd imagined, or like how he'd expect someone like Roger to suffer with. He rose up the pole, finally bringing himself back to an unstable rise. Two legs carried him, though only enough to keep him in the moment for perhaps another few minutes.[/color]

[color=08A2C4][b]"And to whom do I owe the pleasure of proving it to, hmm?"[/b][/color] [color=Silver]Turning away, Grant let out a minor cough. A minute dust cloud had forged from his toppling, creating an unhealthy atmosphere that only piled on to his woes. Now that he was stood up, wearily, he let his smirk return to match her own. It'd have been simple to just go for the shove back, but here Grant enjoyed maintaining the banter with her.[/color]

[color=991B19][b]“The girl who is going to be the top recruit in this whole sorry excuse of a camp. You're going to have to know who's shadow you're in, so I guess a name is appropriate. You can call me Adè.”[/b][/color] [color=Silver][i]Wow.[/i] Slick reply, one that immediately sold herself on the spot. Grant couldn't help but chuckle at her confidence. Here, he thought Gabriel's was a little too ambitious, but this was a different level. Not that he hated it, he found it amusing at worst. A character, definitely. Grant was confused by who she was. At least the confusion had a name now: Adè.

	Grant finally released his grip of the pole and stood on his own weight. Even if he wanted to collapse again, he refused, knowing that if he did he'd probably remain there for a good while. Now, he was above her height physically, looking down upon her with an intrigued grin plastered all across his face. He didn't say anything at first, but once he'd adjusted and dusted down his jacket, he couldn't help but just smile to himself. It was a nice refresher from being put down by an elder with more brawn than a thousand Titans. Perhaps it was the moments like those that were rewarding, the ones that began to bright the end of the tunnel.[/color]

[color=08A2C4][b]"Funny you should say that, I've just seen a large fella who said the exact same thing."[/b][/color] [color=Silver]In the heat of his moment, he patted her shoulder once and stumbled to the side, correcting his balance when needed. And so, he plastered a final grin once more. Giddy from her incessant teasing, he spoke softly, condescending her with the same comedic tone as she had done to him only seconds before.[/color] [color=08A2C4][b]"Can you prove [i]me[/i] wrong?"[/b][/color]

[color=991B19][b]"Is that a challenge?"[/b][/color] [color=Silver]She closed the gap between both of them, tilted her head to the right in the morbid curiosity that plagued the two. He withheld the temptation to give her a playful shove backwards, knowing that if he did he'd only be open to a much more aggressive retaliation. Instead, he took a second to share the presence of her quips, before staggering backwards slightly and beginning to move away from the rather hotheaded Adè, who's fiery personality kept him hooked for only a slight second longer. As he moved away, he gave her a little wave with his hand, dusting himself down a second time.[/color]

[color=08A2C4][b]"I joined up to experience new things, Adè. Try not to dash those expectations."[/b][/color] [color=Silver]Grant moved away, limping a small three metres before he halted, turning his head over his shoulder to call to the blonde girl. Closing one eye, he subtly mocked her almost elitist confidence with cheek and giddiness to go with it.[/color] [color=08A2C4][b]"It's Grant, just to keep us even. I'll be seeing you around."[/b][/color]

[color=Silver]	Lumbering onward proved challenging, but he wasn't distraught anymore. The interaction had brought an unseen life to his conversation. Eventually, he made it into the dormitory and staggered all the way to his bed, to which he fell into with the upmost carelessness. A few nearby cadets bunking in adjacent beds looked at the tired, dried up nomad clamber into an almost instantaneous nap, left to only be woken up by anyone willing to give him the lunch call in the coming hour. He was knackered. He was empty for the time being. But he'd done it, he had completed someone else's punishment and was still alive. Endurance was a feat. Maybe there was more of a chance in the early weeks than he'd imagined. Providing he didn't let his guard down, he'd do fine. And right then, he essentially drifted into an unconscious slumber, unsure if he'd be able to wake himself up in time for the all-important meal of the day: Dinner.[/color]

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