Triple Point

Chapter 110: T-2

Elsie

October 13, 34 AE

2 days before Operation Cliffhanger

Most of their day, along with their energy, had been consumed by a painfully long brief on the details of Operation Cliffhanger. Elsie's attention span quit sometime during the second hour, and she couldn't get herself to focus again no matter how hard she tried.

Thankfully, she was seated in the far corner of the cafeteria, and she and Jordan kept each other awake by scrawling notes to each other and playing games like tic-tac-toe and hangman. As much as Elsie had wished Camilla was with her during such torture, instead of with the higher-ups that were front and center, she also knew that Camilla was dedicated when it came to her work and Elsie would only end up distracting her. Elsie was more than willing to suffer in silence for a few hours so that Camilla could concentrate on what was actually important.

But the hours after the brief would be a different story, and Elsie spent the second half of the meeting brainstorming last-minute date ideas with Jordan. By the end of the meeting, they both had plans made for the rest of the night, assuming that Camilla and Mack didn't have any other responsibilities to attend to.

Thankfully, both Camilla and Mack had the rest of the day off, so Elsie and Jordan spent the next couple of hours gathering supplies from the hideout that they probably weren't supposed to take. Once they had everything they needed, they parted ways, both of them wishing the other luck that everything would go according to plan.

But by the time Elsie returned to her room, Camilla was already ready and waiting; things were not off to a good start.

"Shit, sorry," Elsie apologized as she rushed to the dresser to look for clothes. Oh perfect, she hadn't even thought about what she was going to wear. Not that she had a lot of clothes in a secret hideout anyway, but still.

"You don't have to rush," Camilla assured. "It's still early."

"But I kept you waiting," Elsie mumbled as she pulled out her nicest blouse that was the only thing in her drawer that was actually folded neatly. "I know I'm not usually timely, but I thought I could at least get it right this time."

"Really, it's fine," Camilla said. "Actually... I'm the one that's early."

Her words confused Elsie enough that she stopped searching for pants and looked up at her.

"I... may have been a little anxious and started getting ready right after you told me your plan," Camilla admitted hesitantly.

Once Camilla's words managed to sink in, Elsie finally took the chance to get a good look at her. She hadn't realized it during her frantic panic, but Camilla looked completely different than she had over the past few months.

For one, she was wearing a dress. It was a long, cream-colored knit turtleneck sweater with a wavy skirt that ended just above her knees. Over it she had on a long, baby blue pea coat that hugged her figure ever so slightly. Below that she wore black, thigh-high boots that fit perfectly against her toned calves. To top it all off, her short hair was tied up into two cute buns that sat high on either side of her head.

"Hitomi made everything," Camilla explained, trying her best to subtly tug down the skirt of her dress. "I told her it was a little much, especially given the situation. I only agreed to it when she insisted you'd like it."

"Right," Elsie replied, still too surprised to say anything else.

"I can change though," Camilla continued. "After all, I know you like our new uniforms. Should I wear that instead?"