After the Revelation (Veronique and Richard)

Veronique to be honest was not having a great day, it was last night that Richard Sharpe had come into the tent where she was changing and spotted what was her worst secret. The secret that could have her seriously dead within a few minutes if anyone else found out around the encampment. To be honest, she didn't really want to end up branding her family with a tarred brush and shaming them.

So she had a rather restless night where she had thought about running away, running away and then she would just...think of where to go from there. Although deep behind the lines of the enemy she didn't think that was such a great idea, it was more likely to end her up getting killed than just trusting Mr. Sharpe.

Sighing softly as she fell out from the morning inspection, she massaged her chest a little bit, she had never been so nervous before, she was certain that she would be called out and when she had been called out god knows what would happen when she had to meet with the commanding officers.

Now though she decided she was going to head back to her tent and just read, they weren't going to set off marching today, they were staying where they were, which was good, her legs still hadn't recovered from the last time they had such a long march.

Looking around for Sharpe, Veronique let out a sigh of relief before entering her tent, and picking up her book she had been picking through last night.

Sharpe was a man who believed that he had seen it all and done it all too. That was why finding out that Rifleman was actually a woman was more than a little bit of a shock to him. Not only was she a woman but she was a very attractive women! And that was kind of dangerous to be entirely honest. He had a habit, a fault, of trying to bed attractive women regardless of all logical reasons why not to bed them, in this case that it would mess up the company's structure, be awkward in giving commands and she probably had no thoughts about it either.

But here he was making his way towards the young woman's tent.

Not for anything sordid of course, he was just doing a quick inspection of the Company to see how everyone was holding up. Quite a lot of the veterans were getting restless being camped here for too long and the recruits might just be getting a little bit lazy from it. Holloway was closer to being a recruit than an veteran but she had marched long distances before with them, only to almost collapse. Had he been a crueller officer he would have had her flogged log ago but he was above that.

Reaching her tent, he called out,

"Rifleman Holloway." he called out to her as he stood by her tent, "Come out of your tent rifleman, I would like to have a quick word with you."

Veronique jumped when she heard Sharpe's voice coming from outside of her tent, she wasn't sure how long he had been there but it couldn't have been for a very long amount of time she thanked the gods. Biting her lip softly she didn't hear any other soldiers standing outside with him, and she was a little bit relieved, she should have known that Richard wouldn't have told anyone what he had seen last night.

Not without giving her the heads up about it first.

This might be the heads up that she was thinking about just then however.

"Uhm just a moment Major." she gasped, wondering whether to throw her book to one side, or keep it with her, or place her hat on again to cover her hair definitely, but seeing that it was happily covered anyway, Veronique tried to compose herself.

Deciding that she couldn't wait any longer to find out, she stood and walked slowly towards the front of the tent, her book clasped in her hands as she popped her head out and gave Sharpe her usual wide smile. Although it felt a little different this time, like she wasn't acting so much, he knew her secret and...it was nice to have someone know.

"Major Sharpe." she greeted with a small bow "What is it that you wished to speak to me about?" Veronique asked with a small smile on her lips, her heart racing ten to the dozen as she waited to hear his reason for visiting.

Sharpe could tell that she was nervous about talking with him so soon after he had found out about her secret but he wanted to talk to her. Her being a woman did not change the fact that she was still his soldier and he would check up on each and every one of his soldiers to see if they were alright, to see if there was anything he could do to help his men.

When she gasped out a response he raised an eyebrow. Either his visit came as a surprise to her or she was having some difficulty with something. He wasn't sure which option he preferred if he was entirely honest with himself,

"Alright but hurry it up Rifleman Holloway." he teased her a little while hoping to put her mind at rest, "Nightly inspection doesn't seem too daunting now does it?"

When she was finally out of the tent he noticed the book she was carrying but didn't say anything about it. Sharpe was only barely literate so books were mostly a thing of mystery to him. He smirked back at her,

"Rifleman Holloway... anyone would think you were putting make-up on you were taking that long." he teased her with a wink before humming a little bit, "Just nightly inspection Holloway... just checking up to see how the company is doing and you're last on my list... so how you doing Holloway?"

Veronique thought that it was strange the way that Richard was still teasing her, although she thought that it was for the best in the end. If he stopped treating her like one of the men people would have questions about it, it was better that they had the same relationship as before, what with their light banter and playful teasing.

She wasn't in the main 'group' so it wasn't as bad as it could have been but, Veronique was a little sad that she wasn't one of the hard core riflers.

"Despite the fact it means I have to see your face in the night time hours, it is quite a pleasurable experience Major Sharpe." she teased with a wide grin on her lips, it seemed much different to her now that someone knew she was a woman, Veronique liked it.

Hugging her book to her chest she resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at Richard for that little remark, even as a lady she never wore make up! When he asked her how she was doing, she was happy to think that everything was alright, it could have gone so wrong had it been anyone else who had walked in on her but...

"I am doing alright thank you Major Sharpe." she murmured softly, peeking up at him from underneath her flat cap and light whisps of fringe escaping from it "I was just doing a little bit of light reading since the company isn't moving today. How are you doing?" Veronique asked with a playful smile on her lips.

Sharpe had to admit that he was going to miss the playful banter they had going but to be honest it was already beginning to look like their relationship was changing. He hoped that it was for the better and it seemed to be heading that way, for which Richard was very very thankful. Holloway, Sebby or Veronique, was his favourite rifleman who wasn't a chosen man so he enjoyed their little chats and their banter and teasing sessions. Well... more teasing now it seemed.

He laughed a little bit and sat down on a little stool he had been lugging around with him from tent to tent. Sitting himself down in it, he smirked a little bit,

"Oh I'm sure that now you've gotten in touch with your feminine side it's a lot less terrible than before." he teased her with a smirk before winking at her, "Ah just kidding with you son, I know you're too blind to see my face in the dark. How else do you explain your shooting?"

He smirked to show that he was joking a little bit. Of course he doubted that she ever used make-up, much less in the past few months since she was trying to pretend to be her brother after all. Of course if she was an officer she could probably put it on and most people wouldn't bat an eye,

"Of course you are..." he agreed with a raised eyebrow before smirking faintly, "You can still tell me if you're not alright Holloway... Veronique."

Her name was said in a whisper but it was getting the point across. He accepted her decision and her still,

"Me? Ah I'm doing alright." he told her with a small smirk before teasing, "Just checking up on this rather small recruit... slow marcher... named Sebastian... heard of him?"

Veronique couldn't help but laugh softly when she heard that he was teasing her about the fact that she wasn't one of the sharpest shooters around, with which she could not disagree. She was pretty damn good compared to other people in the general ranks but, compared to the Chosen Men she couldn't shoot worth a damn! They could down people from like...tens of feet away!

"I think I must have had a really bad teacher...you know the one, walks around like he owns the place, bit of a rebel..." she smirked "So if you see him you can give him a kick up the ass for me, get him to give his company some more carrots to help their vision, instead of ale to dull it."

When he said that if she wasn't okay then she could tell him, Veronique was a little bit tempted to tell him about her worries, there wasn't anyone near them, the rest of the men either in their tents or out by the fires having drinking competitions and games are cards late into the night. It wasn't really her thing but, occasionally she joined in.

Hearing him say her name, Veronique blushed softly, her gaze which had been trained on his eyes flickered away for a few moments;

"Alright, I promise to tell you if I'm not feeling alright." she stated with a gentle smile "But you know me, I might be small but good things come in small packages, I'm going to make someone very lucky when they marry someone as strapping as me." she laughed.

Unable to stop a small pout Veronique gestured to her tent;

"Oh you mean the Company's most attractive member, of course I know about him, I mean, doesn't everyone?" she chuckled "Do you want to come inside? It might be a bit warmer."

Sharpe knew that it wasn't fair to compare her, or anything else, to the chosen men when it came to shooting. That's why they were the chosen men and also why it was just a joke and nothing was meant by it other than to amuse. He chuckled a little bit when she blamed it on her teacher, her teacher being him apparently,

"Oh yeah? Well if I see that stuck up berk I'll kick his ass around the camp ground! Walking around like that and rebelling is my thing! That'll teach him for stealing my personality." he teased with a wink before grinning a little bit, "Do you want more carrots little rabbit? Well if you insist I'm sure I can try and find you some."

He could tell that she was trying to tell him what was bothering her but at the same time was holding herself back. Honestly, if he had to guess, he would wager his money on the fact that he was the problem. Or at least part of it. When she agreed to tell him if she wasn't feeling alright he smiled a little bit before chuckling a little bit,

"Careful there Holloway, people might think that you're mentioning marriage around me specifically for some underhanded reason." he teased her with a wink before smirking a little bit, "Of course you'll make someone a lovely blushing bride..."

Chuckling a little bit to himself, he ducked into the tent with Veronique,

"Oh now now... let's not have an argument about who's the most attractive." he joked a little bit before looking around the small tent, "This is the tidiest tent I have ever been in... how on earth have you remained undiscovered this long?"

Veronique giggled happily, before clamping her hand over her mouth when she realised that was quite a feminine sound, and she most likely should not have made it. But seeing as there was nobody around she thought that she might as well just brush it off and try not to make such a big deal about it. However when he called her 'little rabbit' her heart flipped in her chest and her cheeks flushed brighter;

"Uhm well...not really." she murmured "Although if you do see that guy I think I might give you some help in kicking his arse." Veronique laughed happily.

Raising her eyebrow she shook her head and she thought that it was going to be rather odd to be talking with Richard now that he knew that she was definitely a woman. It was working rather well though so far, he was just teasing her about womanly things now, which might lead to a few people thinking she was gay but...screw them.

"HA!" she scoffed "If I had a sister I wouldn't let her marry you, you'd be running off with the next pretty lady that came your way Major Sharpe, you, are a ladies man. You just can't help it. A strong dependable chap like me is what women like."

Unable to stop her cheeks from flushing softly she took down her cap and her hair fell down with it, now they were in the tent with the flaps shut, it was pretty safe to take down her cap. Looking around her tend she pouted;

"What really? But I even threw that blanket haphazardly on the floor..." she sighed, picking it up "I guess people just think I'm either completely useless down there or gay if they wander on in here. Fine by me." Veronique smirked.

Sharpe smirked when she let out the feminine sound but otherwise didn't react, it would only have upset her most likely. He did notice that she blushed rather brightly when he called her little rabbit. So maybe she did like having a little pet name from him... if she did then it was definitely her feminine side showing how cute she could be again,

"Of course you might want to help kick his ass..." he teased her with a wink, "Because you want to do nothing else with him... nothing at all."

Sharpe was beginning to realise that their relationship didn't have to change all that much at all, if they were happy with how it had been going before. It was light hearted and it was casual and it gave them both a level of connection with someone outside of the rest of the group. It was nice to be honest, very nice,

"I take great offence to that! If I am to marry again I would make sure that I followed my marriage vows like law!" he told her with a grin, being very serious about it before snorting a little bit, "Well if I am a ladies man as you say... then what women like is a rebel who walks around like he owns the place."

He noticed that her cheeks were once again flushed and he was beginning to think that he either had an effect on her or she had the fever. When she let her hair down he smiled a little bit. He really did love her hair,

"I was actually commenting on the fact that your possessions are all scattered around as well." he teased her with a wink, "They're in your pack like they should be... and like no one ever does. Don't worry, you've got me to teach you these things."

Veronique pouted a little bit, she thought that he was one of the people that she could see herself falling for, he was handsome he was rough and ready. Although she was questioning if he was really someone she could settle down with, after all, Sharpe didn't seem the type to want to settle down again, he was too much of an army man, and that was fine by her.

Never again though would she be serving in the army. Never ever. Her brother can take over next time.

"You are quite right, I wouldn't want to do anything else with him at all." she stated quite dead pan before smirking and shaking her head "He's too busy going off getting carrots for little rabbits for me to do much else, either that or alcohol for his men." Veronique stated knowingly.

Shaking her head Veronique laughed softly;

"Oh I know you would, I was only teasing you." Veronique teased with a little grin "Hmmm I don't know, hardly a long term approach is it, although I have to say, nobody around here seems like a long term prospect. I suppose I should have been married by now if I stayed home." she hummed, sitting down on the small bed and sighing.

She had cut her hair shorter, to just above shoulder length so it wasn't so suspicious. Although the talk of her tidiness wasn't thrilling or anything, she really did want to ask Richard some questions about himself, yet, she knew he should be getting off to the others sometimes soon. She didn't want to monopolise his time.

"Anyway, thanks for the visit Major Sharpe. Its nice to be able to speak to you." she commented with a small smile "I think the Chosen Men might be missing you though."

Sharpe chuckled a little bit, she was teasing him back as often as he was teasing her and it was good to know that some people were rather good at giving as well as taking. He smirked a little bit when she went on about him having to find carrots for little rabbits and alcohol for the chosen men. Smirking wider, he nodded in agreement,

"Yes I have to 'water' my men to keep them from complaining too loudly about the army." he joked before winking at her, "And yes, I do like to give a certain little rabbit all the treats that I can."

He stuck his tongue out at her in a display of childishness that he hadn't shown since he was a child years ago. She was bringing out parts of him that even he had almost forgotten,

"Mmm long term is rarely something that we in the army can plan in." he admitted with a little sigh before laughing a little bit, "You would be married huh? You from a higher up family I take it then Holloway?"

He realised that she was trying to be rid of him but to be honest they probably would be missing him and he didn't want any rumours to tarnish her reputation,

"Of course, nice to talk. You ever need to talk you come find me yeah?" he told her before smiling softly, "Goodnight... Veronique."

With that he slipped out of the tent to let her rest.