Just Another Patrol (Open)

Orchid sighed as she made her rounds around Stohess District, rifle slung over her shoulder. Sometimes she honestly hated being an MP. Like right now, looking for "law breakers and trouble makers" as the commander put it. Whatever. If someone got robbed or killed because they were being stupid, let it happen. She had better things to do walk around and solve people's problems.
"I hate everyone in this city." She muttered.
Right now, she just wished something interesting would happen.

Reia walked down the streets of Stohess, carrying a few bags of groceries. Normally she would do her shopping inside Wall Rose, closer to the Scouting Regiment's HQ, but today she needed something that could only be found in the interior. Since she was here, she decided to just get everything in Stohess. However, she hadn't yet picked up that very special item.

As she made her way to the bakery, Reia came across a small circle of people gathered in the middle of the street. Curious, she stopped to see what they were all looking at. In the center of the crowd, a pair of street performers was juggling several interesting and slightly-dangerous items.

Orchid vaguely noticed a group of people in the middle of the street. Out of curiosity, she walked over to see what it was.
Street performers. 'Been awhile since I've seen anything like this.' She thought, crossing her arms.
She could shut it down like she was supposed to, or she could sit and kill some time before she had to actually do her job.
So, she stared at the performers, generally unimpressed, giving them five minutes before she brought out her gun.

Reia watched as the performers tossed knives back and forth. Then they lit torches and added those to the mix. Reia was impressed with their skill, but if they enjoyed living life on the edge, they could have joined the Scouts and actually done something useful.

Reia noticed the MP from Trost join the crowd. Seriously, she saw this girl everywhere. The MP appeared to be on duty. She stood there, watching the performers with a hand on her gun, probably getting ready to break things up. Reia never understood the rule that prevented impromptu street performances. It's not like they were hurting anybody, although there was a distinct possibility that they would hurt themselves.

After a few minutes, Orchid sighed and unslung her rifle and stepped from the crowd.
"Alright, alright, break it up!" She shouted.
"I don't think you want to get shot, and I don't want the headache, so move it!"
As the crowd dispersed, Orchid sighed and slung her rifle back over her shoulder. Personally, she didn't give a shit if they performed, but it wasn't up to her.
She rubbed her temples for a moment, then scanned her environment, looking for any kind of trouble.

The Scouting Legion soldiers rarely were grants breaks from service, so when they were, everyone took the opportunity to take a breath an relax if only for a day. Luna and a few of the other young scouts found themselves in the inner walls, surveying the shops where they couldn't even afford the smallest of items. For Luna, this was a trip back to where se grew up an though she found that she did not miss it, the redhead would make a point to visit her mother in their family home. As the young girl floated airily through the crowded streets, on her tiptoes to see where she was going, she caught sight of a fellow Scouting Legion soldier.

Just as she was about to call out for Reia, Luna saw some commotion play out in front of her with the juggling group and a MP. Running up to the crowd, she shoved her way to the front and caught sight of the brunette with the rifle as she bosses everyone around.

"Hey ---- what's going on here?" Luna questioned, wishing that she was wearing her military uniform to give her some kind of authority over the situation.

When the MP drew her rifle, the crowd began to disperse. Most of them just looked annoyed, but some appeared frightened. "Seriously? It's not like she's actually going to shoot you," Reia mentally scoffed. She stood still and watched the crowd go.

Then a young girl ran up to the MP, apparently unhappy that she was putting an end to the show. Upon closer examination, Reia recognized the girl as Luna, a cadet in the Scout Regiment.

Orchid glanced over to where she heard the voice, and found a young girl.
"Beat it, kid." She scoffed. "MP business, nothing to see." To emphasize her point, Orchid put a hand on the butt of her rifle.
What in hell did this civvie think she was going to accomplish? Surely she had better things to do than question the Military Police?

"Military Police business?" Luna scoffed, rolling her dark brown eyes in obvious annoyance. "Figures ----- you lot never get anything useful done."

She puffed out her chest as she spoke, attempting to make her eater small frame appear more intimidating though it most likely had little to no affect. "You're just pushing these people around for the hell of it."

Orchid narrowed her eyes at the girl.
"Do you REALLY want to get smart with me, kid?"
She warned, both hands on her rifle. She was really getting sick of people mouthing off to her, and her head was starting to hurt.
And she wasn't afraid to give this kid a good thrashing.

The MP brat looked really ticked off. Reia figured she had better go break up this fight before it started. "Hey," she said, getting their attention. "did you put an end to one show just to start another? If you're going to fight, don't do it in public. It makes us all look bad."

Luna huffed angrily, already seething with anger at the other girl. "Was anyone else going to defend those people?" She asked, turning to Reia with her small hands curled into tight fists at her sides.

"Were you?" She took a small step towards the brunette - figuring that since they were off duty, she was no longer her superior. "I didn't think so."

"Now you --- " Turning on her heel back to the MP, she said. "Call me kid one more time and you'll wish that you failed out of the academy."

Orchid raised an eyebrow as Reia entered the conversation.
She was about to retort when the kid talked.
So, the kid was a Scout, huh? Figures. But, Reia had a point.
"Look, KID; Scout's got a point. I think we got off on the wrong foot." She let go of her rifle.
"Name's Orchid. How about you?"

Reia considered giving the cadet laps for disrespecting her superior. It's not like there was anything she could have done, anyway. According to the law, the MP brat was in the right.

To Reia's surprise, the MP agreed with her and proposed they stop fighting. Then, to Reia's extreme surprise, she tried to make nice with Luna. "Well, this should be interesting," Reia thought.

"Luna. . . " The young girl replied carefully, eyeing the other soldier with cautious eyes and paying close attention to the weapon in her hands.

"You gonna let those people go back to what they were doing or what?" She gestured with her hand back over to the partially dispersed crowd behind them.

Orchid shrugged.
"Personally, I don't give a shit if these people perform or not. But," She sighed.
"According to the law, they CAN'T perform."
She shrugged.
"Nothing I can do, ki-" She coughed.
"Luna."

"Luna, unlicensed street performing is technically illegal," Reia clarified. She noticed that Luna was suspiciously eyeing the gun in the MP's hands. Reia didn't understand why. It was standard for MPs to carry guns.

Luna was typically nervous around the Military Police and though she had grown up around them as a child, their presence was no doubt intimidating and the fact that there was obvious evidence that they were corrupt only proved to make her fear even worse. "Yeah? So is bribing and shit like that but you don't see the MPs doing anything about that."

"Sorry ---- that was out of line." She added after a beat of silence. "I just don't see why its a problem - everyone seemed to be enjoying it."

During her time living her, this type of thing was quite common, but ever since Nile had become the commander, the laws had become more strict and unfair.

Orchid raised an eyebrow, then shrugged.
"Once more, I don't think it's a problem. But, I'm already on the commander's shit list, so I'm not going to risk it."
She glared at the remaining crowd, who quickly dispersed.

"If you hate being in the Military Police so much then why are you still here?" Luna questioned, her hands positioned on her petite hips as she spoke. "Can't you leave or something?"

The scout glanced over to her right, watching as the performers went about packing up theirs things. She wished that she could have seen more of their show.

Orchid scoffed.
"Because I'd sure as hell rather deal with a commander I hate than die as a Scout!"

Her choices had narrowed down to the Scouts or the MP, and she stayed as far away from the Scouts as possible; they'd already taken her mother from her, and they weren't going to take her!

"That didn't last long," Reia thought. Seeing that things were taking a turn for the worse, she said, "Luna, why don't you come with me? Let's leave the MP to her business."

Reia regarded the MP with a mixture of scorn and curiosity. While this girl struck Reia as perpetually bitter, she seemed especially so when she talked about the Scouts. Why did she hate them so much? Reia suppressed the urge to ask, knowing it wouldn't get her anywhere.

Luna blew her blunt bangs out of her eyes and fixed the other soldier with a heated glare. "Fine ---- not that they have anything to do anyways." She snarked as an afterthought, raising a single eyebrow as if to challenge Orchid to say something back.

"We should probably get going anyways --- Erwin will be angry if we get back late for manuver training."

"Oh, you have training today? You should hurry then," Reia told her. Each squad trained separately, and hers wasn't training today. Well, Levi was making Eren train, but that was more or less a distraction while Reia slipped out and picked up what she needed. "I have a bit more shopping to do before I go back."

Orchid raised an eyebrow.
"Shopping, hm? Well, I suppose even Scouts need things other than death."
She winced as soon as she said that, realizing she was quoting her father, and timidly rubbed the side of her face in memory. Damn, she needed to watch herself.