WfR203: A Joke

The mowril was on the immediate offensive when Zhou arrived at the supply annex. "The clerks didn't talk to each other!" He bristled and hollered. "The barrel twist has to be torqued specifically. Ey just slapped em on. I'm clear!"

"Ok," Zhou said simply.

"Ok?" The fight went out of his shoulders and tail. "Um. Ok."

"I mean it's not," Zhou chuckled. "And there will be punishment. But for now, not a word."

"Oh." His tail drooped. "Fer screamin'."

"No, but it doesn't do much," Zhou said. "Out there, it'll be mixed, frustrating chaos. Ey'll sort it out. But I'll say what happened afterwards."

"We'll be..."

"At the expense of some jokes, yes. Camaraderie building, 'remember when' jokes that don't fade away and become a kind of legend." Zhou smirked. "In time you'll all laugh together."

She left a thoughtful mowril in the annex, in favor of a change of uniform before the exercise kicked off.