OOC

Hey guys, I just wanted to let all of you know about this awesome new blog a corpie of mine, Faraday Wentworth, has started!

http://evenoobster.blogspot.com/

She's new to eve, and learning all the things! She's also amazing, and picking it up really quickly! So head over and check it out!

Broken Things

Kat sighed and nursed a glass of scotch at the bar of the Terrace. After last night's....events, she hadn't gotten much sleep. After patrols last night, she'd come home to see Ryven and Rynnik, a corp mate, at the bar talking, so she'd joined them, hoping to relax and enjoy a quiet evening. The evening had turned sour when Rynnik started joking about the slave trade and putting down the Minmatar as a race, and Ryven had taken it personally, as his ex-wife was Minmatar. When Ryven had finally had enough he calmly asked Kat to fetch the guards, and she went off to go find some, and a medic. However, she arrived back on the Terrace in time to see Ryven break a bottle and drive it into Rynnik's chest to the neck.

He'd then calmly looked at Kat and said, "Sorry to ruin the evening." as security people restrained him and a medic knelt over Rynnik, who promptly took a knife that he'd somehow smuggled past security and buried it in the face of the medic then died. Shortly after Shalee walked out, grumpy from being woken and demanding to know why two people were dead.

Kat took another sip of her glass, then set it down with a sigh as Ryven walks up from behind her and meekly says, "Hey."
Kat turned her stool around, and quietly responded, "Hey."
Ryven shifted his weight around a few times then looked back up at Kat. "So, I've got something I want to say to you, and I understand if you're mad at me and may not want to hear it, but I'm asking you to hear me out."
Kat just nodded her assent, despite every emotion warring in her chest.
Ryven takes a slight breath and his eyes looked vaguely distant, "I know I fucked up. I'm not a good person.  I'm a killer.  I have been as long as I can remember.  I had my first kill before my first kiss. What I did last night was wrong. In my own internal code, it felt right, but rationally, I know it wasn't.  I know that.  I know it and I'm sorry for it.  I'll have to atone for it at some point, I know.  I'm a man of extremes.  I love fiercely and I hate just as fiercely. I'm not offering this as an excuse.  I'm just explaining to you because I only want honesty between us.  I don't ever want to lie to you.  You deserve better.  And truthfully, you deserve better than me."
Ryven's eyes were watery, but he continued, "But, you also make me want to be that guy.  The fact of the matter is, I'm in love with you in a way I'm not equipped to deal with. I have to change in what ways I can, because you're worth it.  So, I guess I'm asking you to stay." After finishing his speech, he stood there looking at Kat, waiting her response.
Kat took a deep breath, and was silent for several seconds, then quietly, "I thought I knew you, but that was so out of the blue that I just..." She sighed and paused to take a sip of her glass, "I don't know."
Ryven nods, a sinking sensation falling into his stomach, "You can't be sure how you feel because I'm not who you thought I was."
Kat just nods, tearing up as well, "But I do love you, that only makes me more conflicted."
Ryven's cheeks become wet as the tears finally fall, "You mean you love the man you thought I was?"
Kat closed her eyes, then whispered, "And how much of that man is standing in front of me?"
Ryven sighed, "That man is a part of the whole, I am that man, but that's not all that I am."
Kat opened her eyes again, "I think I knew, deep down. A man as gentle as you couldn't be an assassin."
Ryven shook his head, "Why not? We both kill thousands of people every day.  It's just less personal when you do it in space with kilometers of separation from the act.  The people I've assassinated were legitimate threats."
Kat shut her eyes again as more tears spilled down her cheeks, and whispers, hurt by that comment, "I know that all we do is kill."
Ryven shook his head firmly, "What we do has a purpose. It's in service of something greater than ourselves.  The fact it affects you so just means you've held onto your humanity better than I have.  But, I've been at it for a long time, and I never had any innocence to mourn losing. I never forget for a second, though, that what I do for God and my Empress means the deaths of untold numbers of people, many of which are just normal people doing what they feel is right, just like we are. It's senseless.  In a perfect universe, there wouldn't be a place for people like me. Either that or I'd have learned some other useful skill somewhere along the way."
Kat looked back up, meeting Ryven's eyes as the tears stained her cheeks, "Every day I kill, and with every body I walk over is proof to me that what innocence I had died long ago. A while ago we killed a freighter in high sec, 25 catalysts, an obelisk, and their crews. And you know what we did? What I did? We cheered, we celebrated, not a single thought about the innocent crew of that freighter."
Ryven stepped closer, wanting to hug Kat, but not daring to. "It's a miracle we haven't all gone insane, isn't it?  Or perhaps we all have."
Kat doesn't react, just says, "I want you to promise me something." To which Ryven looks expectantly. "If this is going to work, I want to know you. Not part of you, not a face."
Ryven thought a moment, "I wasn't trying to hide what I was from you.  But, insofar as OPSEC allows me to, I won't keep secrets from you."
Kat nodded, "I'm not interested in operational secrets, so long as they don't get between us like before."
Ryven nodded, "I don't see myself being in that position again.  I believe my dealings with the State are now officially closed, permanently."
Kat sighed internally, "It wasn't the state that was the problem."
Ryven shrugged at that, "If you're saying the problem was me, I would like to humbly suggest you adopt a more open mind.  If I had been off in Minmatar territory taking out their installations, would we be having this discussion?"
Kat sighed, then spoke far more angrily than before, "That's not what I'm saying, and you're stupid if you believe for a second that is what I was saying! Yes, even if you were out in Minmatar territory we'd be having this conversation, because you would go off God knows where, for God knows how long, and come back banged up all to hell!"
Ryven nodded again, much to Kat's frustration, "I'm a soldier, Kat.  I won't go off without letting you know, but I can't promise I won't occasionally have to go on a mission out there.  I may even come back with some scraped knees.  But, I can promise I'll be as careful as I can."
Kat merely nodded, "I never said don't fight. What I had a problem with was I would never know where you were, what you were doing, and most importantly, how long you'd be gone. It sucks just waiting for you to come home, not knowing if it'll be today tomorrow, or next week."
Ryven sighed again, "That was a function of my ties to the State, though."
"Well as long as it doesn't happen again, I'm willing to try."
Ryven stiffened up at that ultimatum.
"Do you not think it's fair of me to ask you to not disappear again?"
Ryven shrugged, "Nah.  Your terms are fair.  I just bristle a little bit when I get handed ultimatums."
Kat nodded a bit, "I'll try not to hand out too many then."
Ryven looked unhappy,  "And I'll try not to put you in a position where you have to." then closed his eyes for a second while Kat finished her glass.
Ryven looked back at Kat, "I think this is the part where we either kiss and make up, or else go to bed and do the kissing part in the morning, hoping the sleep has improved our moods."
Kat, to her surprise, started laughing briefly, "I guess we have kind of said all that can be said."
Ryven managed a small smile, "Pretty much."  He offered his hand.  "To our room?"
Kat took it.

((Sorry guys (all 3 of you who read this) I got distracted by RL stuff and whatnot, I promise I'll try to update more in the future. Oh and yes the title was GoT inspired, ♥Tyrion!))

Stagnation

Patrol, sleep, patrol again, sleep again. Such had been life in recent times, as the Minmatar slowly gained ground, and the Amarr seemed powerless to stop them. And on top of it, Ryven had disappeared, leaving only a cryptic note saying that he'd be back. That had been weeks ago, and every day had been the same.

Kat awoke, like any day, to an empty suite, which was still decorated in the tasteful manner Ryven preferred, although she had added a few small personal items like a picture of her parents, and she had also just about taken over his closet, but that was to be expected. She dressed in a simple Militia uniform, and walked outside heading for the landing pad. She expected the Terrace to be empty, as it normally was. Instead she saw Shalee's distinctive golden-blue hair, along with a few men. She steered towards the group to quickly say hi, until she realized that one of the men was Ryven. She smiled brightly and hugged him from behind, then stood close beside him through the ensuing conversation, even when Xolve mysteriously teleported to the bar from his carrier deep in lawless space and the consternation that had followed. After a while Ryven looked at her, his eyes asked for her to stay for a while. She smiled back at him, and he turned and excused the two of them, and led her back to their suite for them to catch up on the time that they had missed.

Hours later, Kat stepped out onto the empty Terrace, in the same uniform. She headed to the shuttle bay and out to start her patrols. The feeling she'd had for weeks, the repetition of endless patrols, had been brushed aside far more easily than she'd ever dreamt it could, and she faced this upcoming patrol determined to not just halt, but push back the Minmatar.

Aftermath

    Kat woke slowly in her new suite at the Cerra Manor, this one far larger and nicer than the one she'd had before, as befitting it's location on the director's level. She looked over to see if her boyfriend Ryven was there, and upon seeing that she was alone, she got up and took a quick shower, then pulled on her clothes, the awkward feeling of a new clone had mostly faded over the last few days, but still lingered in the background, refusing to stop reminding her of her death in Old Man Star. However, the feeling had diminished far faster than normal, which she credited Ryven for. She finished dressing, then strolled out to the shuttle pad, on the way to her basic patrols. On the way she reflected again on Ryven, amazed that they'd been able to connect after only three dates, and yet were already comfortable enough with each other for her to move in with him.

*                                 *                                   *                                    *                                    *

   Several hours later, She returned to the terrace, summoned by Shalee. She saw Shalee, who had just entered the terrace and headed over. "You wanted to see me?" She asked as she drew near.
"Yeah." Shalee said, and motioned to the bar, "Let's have a seat?" and immediately walked over to the bar and sat in a barstool. Kat followed, not sure what she wanted, but a little apprehensive, as she knew that Ryven and Shalee had been together before. She was a little worried that Shalee would have taken offense at them getting together, but surely she wouldn't begrudge Kat her happiness?
Kat slid into the adjacent barstool, "Have you seen Ellara lately?"
Shalee responded by shaking her head, "No, I've been away for five days now." She paused to order a drink, indicating for Kat to do the same. "So. You're seeing Ryven?"
Kat felt a lead weight drop in her stomach, "Yes I am, is this a problem?"
Shalee simply nodded, "Yes. It's unbecoming of someone in his position to be fraternizing with someone in yours."
Kat looked completely blindsided -that response was something she'd expect from the Empire, not Shalee- "You think either of us would abuse that?"
Shalee picked up her glass and took a sip, "No, I do not. But as I have learned, the hard way I might add, that appearances are everything, it doesn't matter what the truth is, it matters more what people think. Especially the Amarr."
Kat sighed, looking completely crushed, "So you want us to stop."
Shalee quirked her brow, "You would stop if I gave the command?"
Kat had to chuckle at that, albiet wryly, "You know me Shalee, I don't think I can. But what else can you do? It wouldn't be fair to demote him."
Shalee, still gave no hints as to what she was thinking, "No, It wouldn't be fair to demote him. That is why I am going to promote you to an official Recruitment Officer."
Kat looked even more dumbstruck as before, if that was even possible. "You're promoting me?"
Shalee calmly responded. "I am. Unless you don't want it?" Her eyes had a slightly humorous gleam at that.
Kat shook her head quickly, as if going any slower would confirm that she didn't want the promotion, and hugged Shalee tightly while Tiger stepped onto the Terrace . "I should have known you'd not try to break us up, Thank you!"
Shalee hugged Kat back, a smile slowly spreading. "Of course not, I want you to be happy."
Tiger walked up to the bar where Shalee and Kat were sitting. He looked slightly confused, and frowned while speaking, "Good evening."
When he spoke, Shalee's face paled slightly, and she stared at him for a moment before finally getting out a simple greeting. Kat looked over at Tiger oddly, after she saw the look on Shalee's face, then looked over towards the manor house to greet Kimsemus, a capsuleer that had left Imperial service to participate in a war, fighting on the side of the Northern Coalition, as he approached the bar and ordered a drink, and began chatting idly with Kat as she left Shalee and Tiger to talk.

Purification

The station was quiet, and no one bothered her as she moved quickly through the corridors, her tattoos removed, her hair and clothing concealing her implants. Unlike her last attempts to infiltrate a hostile station, she acted as if she had every right to be where she was. She had followed the directions Shalee had given her to board the station to the letter, and now walked the corridors, her face not betraying the turmoil in her mind, with her Innocence at war with the necessity of what she was about to do.

With Houla being in Minmatar hands for so long, the Tribal Liberation Force openly had offices and workers about, even in the 24th Imperial Crusade station. Kat was confident that her target would be near those offices, as he was on their business. As she was approaching the office she brushed past a hooded man, whose demeanor marked him as a capsuleer. She ignored him as any baseliner would, and kept a slight distance from him as she approached the TLF office. He looked back and watched her continue on silently, then a slight grin crossed his face under his hood as he walked briskly away.

Kat entered the TLF Military Intelligence office, looking like just another office worker. She walked into the station chief's office and held out her hand as in greeting. The station chief took it, a slightly perplexed look on his face, clearly wondering who this was. As their hands met, Kat jerked him up and quickly but quietly snapped his neck, but not before her Innocence recoiled at the needless murder that her logical mind knew was unavoidable. She crossed over behind the desk and called up the personnel jacket of the man she was looking for and noted his current location. She turned off the screen of the terminal and quietly left the office. As she returned to the corridor she did not see the hooded man slip into the station chief's office and sit at the desk, ignoring the dead chief and turning on the terminal to see what she was in such a rush to find out. He notes the location in the file is on the same station and decides to head over there, curious as to why an Amarr capsuleer would do this herself.

She approached the door to the apartment her target was in and took a deep breath, and quelled the slight shake in her hands. She opened the door and walked in boldly, taking a scrambler pistol from behind her. Her target was sitting on a couch, watching the screen as some program flickered on it. His back was to her, but she didn't immediately shoot him. Instead she quietly went into his kitchen and grabbed a bag of chips, remembering a time when she would do this not to her brother the enemy, but to her brother she loved and idolized. She walked behind him and dropped them on his lap, then walked back and sat on his bed while he scrambled up and turned around. "What are you doing here, Kat?" He asked with a sigh once he'd determined who it was.
"You should know, you're the one that's been striking at me for years, and now attacking my friends. Do you remember why, Michael?" She sighs, but keeps the pistol in her hand, as her Innocence insisted she not do this.
He looked at her with a look of raw hatred. "How could I forget what you did to our sister? To our family?"
"What I did to our family?! You're the one who literally damned his soul by working with blooders, the Minmatar, and God knows who else just to get revenge on me for a mistake!" Her voice started to waver as her volume increased, then softened. "A mistake which cost me not just my little sister I adored, but my older brother I looked up to, and devastated our parents."
Even though her tone softened, His tone gained in anger. "Oh accident was it? An accident that you happened to live when your ship died? An accident that it happened that you had never lost a ship before that?"
She sighed and wiped tears from her eyes, and visibly got a grip on herself. "If I'd had even the tiniest of ideas that it would happen, do you honestly think I would have taken her? Are you really that blinded that even now, years after, you cannot accept the possibility that it was an accident?"
His eyes tightened and his voice was cold and hard, "I don't care if it was an accident, you're still at fault, you and that fancy capsuleer training. It made you into an abomination that doesn't care about anything or anyone but yourself."
She stood up slowly "You're wrong. I'm not the one who has spent the last two and a half years fighting with heretics to kill a member of your family, and dishonoring the family name. I'm not the one who forsake the faith in some misguided revenge quest against the immortal. And I do care, I'm doing this now because you threatened my friends and colleagues." The pistol flicked up and her Innocence was shrieking and pounding at her, trying to stop her. She fired once and he dropped without a fuss, and her Innocence said nothing.

She calmly holstered the pistol and left, not bothering to hide anything, and simply closed the door. She paused outside, and turned to face the hooded man from before. As she reached for her pistol, he lunged forward. He grabbed her left arm as she got the pistol out of it's holster, and began to twist it into a submission hold. She allowed her knees to buckle and turned to prevent him from pinning her or breaking her arm, and grabbed his collar and pulled him down. As he fell she pushed herself away and rotated so her legs were interposed between the two of them. He grabbed the fabric at her knees and jerked them out of the way. He lunged at her and landed on top of her while wrapping one arm around her neck and squeezed. She struggled to remove her arm as the corridor faded to black.

She woke in a bed, unbound, but with her weapons removed. She sat up, and her green eyes scanned the room, locking on to the shadowed hood of the man who had captured her. "Who are you? And since this isn't a TLF prison, what are you going to do with me?"
He doesn't move, and in the darkened room, it is impossible to make out his features. "To answer your questions in order, I go by Silence, and as for what I plan to do with you, well..." He shrugs as if to indicate that he hasn't made up his mind.
She sighs, "I can't beat you, and you've taken my suicide measures. But I won't give up, I promise you that."
He laughed, not unkindly. "You've got heart, I like that."
She stands and begins to walk to the door, which he's sitting near. She aims a sharp kick at him, which he catches, and follows by twisting her foot savagely, which threw Kat to the ground.
"Would you like to keep this up?" He stood over her threateningly.
"I said I wouldn't give up, and I meant it." Her expression said she was about to start fighting him again, but there was a spark of despair in her eyes. He backed off with a small chuckle and helped her up. "Come on, lets get you out of here."
"What?" She looked at him incredulously.
"You heard me, I'll helping you get back to Egghelende."
"What? Why? I'm your enemy, and I just killed a TLF operative, and yet you help me?" She looks confused as he leads her into the corridors.
"It doesn't take a genius to figure out that said TLF operative was your brother, and it also doesn't take a genius to figure out that he was no more loyal to the TLF than he was to the Blood Raiders. " They entered a hangar containing a Crane-class Transport. Silence turned to face her, and grasped both her arms lightly.
"Your technique was sloppy though, if I'd wanted to it would have been a trifling matter to stop you."
She nodded, remembering the ease with which he had taken her captive.
He smiled, "So come back and see me, my dear. I'll show you how to do that without anyone the wiser. And with less bruises!" He grinned at his last comment.
"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." Her face was a study of warring emotions, wondering both what the offer meant in terms of her relationship with the 24th Imperial Crusade, and if she really wanted to become....that. Her Innocence was silent on the matter, as it had been since earlier.

Kat boarded the Crane, which promptly undocked and started heading back towards Egghelende. It docked in the University of Caille station in Egghelende a while later, and undocked a few minutes after, warping to the Sisiede gate, after which it's destination was anyone's guess. Kat sat in her quarters in the station, a glass in hand, contemplating the offer that was extended to her by the Minmatar capsuleer.

Stains

Stain, 41JS-R, TG-Z23 III Moon 8, True Power Logistic Support.

The station was of Caldari origins, and was nothing like the typical empire-dweller's image of a system deep in the lawlessness of zero security space. It was clean, well lit, and well populated. The people in there were as diverse, bright, and nearly indistinguishable from the people who lived in similar station in empire space, with the exception of the Sansha Slaves, people taken in the ever increasing raids that Sansha's Nation makes into the more 'secure' sectors of space, cloned, and brainwashed to serve Sansha. Like her long lost husband.

A worn, beaten Thrasher-class destroyer settled into a docking bay, and Kat slipped out of her quarters in search of a Nation contact she had met when her previous alliance, TEST alliance, had deployed to the area months ago, for reasons she'd never cared to learn. She strolled down the corridors openly, not attempting to disguise herself. After all, who would expect a member of the Amarr Militia to be out in Stain of all places? In addition, her thrasher, decrepit though it was, still bore the markings of TEST alliance, and anyone who would recognize her here, would recognize her as a TEST pilot.

Her green eyes calmly located the door she was looking for, and she barged in without knocking, to an office area with a small reception desk whose occupant, a young girl, was staring at Kat with an awed and scared expression. Kat motioned briefly for her to leave, and the girl jerked up shakily and dashed from the room. Even before the girl had gotten up, Kat had already moved on, and burst into the office of the man she'd come so far to see.

An old man, still well built despite hair which had gone white years ago, calmly looked up as if Kat's entrance was an anticipated appointment. "Kat. What can I do for a young lady such as yourself?"

Kat sighed, then sat and laid a laser pistol on his desk, "Let's skip the part where I threaten you and you cavalierly brush it off, Marchant, and get to the chase."
"Alright, I suppose . You're wanting Nation information on the Tribal Liberation Force. And I'm supposed to just....give this to you. And why would I do that?" He leaned back, with an air of negotiating a business deal, not an air of being threatened.
"Because I need it. Badly"
"And I'm so inclined to pity."
Kat stood and leaned over the desk, "I don't need pity, what I need is the information on where one person will be, and when." Her Innocence recoiled at the implications of that thought, but she ignored it.
Marchant sighed and turned to his terminal. He started typing on it for a few minutes while Kat eased herself back into the chair. After a few minutes he looked back at her, "He'll be in the 24th Imperial Crusade Station in Huola, in 2 days. He should be there for at least a day, if not longer."
Kat stood and laid a hand on the laser pistol casually, as if to return it to her bag, all the while her Innocence was screaming at her. "Well assuming that's all, I have other bus-" Marchant recoiled as Kat quickly brought the weapon up and fired once. The voice in her head that was her Innocence became just a little big quieter as he slumped down in his chair, eyes as glass.
Kat calmly returned the pistol to her bag, then stepped out into the hallway and walked to the hangar bays. On the way to her hangar bay she noticed that Marchant's hangar had a marvelous looking Malediction-class interceptor that she could use to speed her return to the warzone. She boarded it with a grin, satisfied that it was capsuleer compatible, and requested permission to undock.

((For those that are interested, the OOC story behind this is rather amusing, I was tired one night and decided that I missed having an interceptor to play around with, since it turns out that an active MWD, 2 Overdrives, 2 Nanos, and agility rigs do not a tank make, especially around station guns. So I had 2 options, I could either A) buy a new interceptor or the completely ridiculous, B) jump clone into delve (K-6 to be precise, which you may know is currently owned by TEST alliance, and since I wasn't blue, that meant once I undocked I couldn't redock, and I couldn't do anything in station besides sell stuff and undock.) and take a tunnelsnake (a free T1 fit thrasher given out to people who need ships in TEST) over to Stain where I had left a Malediction after a TEST deployment. So naturally I chose the 2nd option before anyone could try to talk me out of it. In my defense I was exhausted and wasn't thinking straight, and the trip was rather fun. But while I was in Period Basis with everyone on comms telling me I was a total idiot, Shalee gives me this look (well I imagine her giving it to me) and says something along the lines of "You better have a good RP reason for doing this!" And much to everyone's surpise (Tigerfish bodly proclaimed as I was undocking from Delve that I would be dead in less than 10 minutes) I managed to not only arrive safely in Stain, but to get to our home station with the interceptor (and myself) fully intact.))

Resolutions

Kat was sitting in a chair near the bar, at the Terrace of the Cerra Manor on Huola VII. Her appearance was immaculate, her uniform looking as if it had just been pressed, and not a hair out of place on her head, despite having just come off patrols.

She glanced up towards the bartender and asked, "A glass of Rose, please."
He nodded back, "Sure, coming right up." and turned around to find a bottle on the rack behind him, then poured out a glass and brought it to her.
Kat nodded her thanks with a smile as he returned to the bar, then pulled out her neocom as it chimed softly. Her green eyes calmly looked over the message displayed on the screen, then again, to make sure she wasn't somehow misreading it. She sighed, as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, then, to her surprise, she started laughing. She was safe! No evidence remained of her ghastly betrayal of the Empire, it was like it had never happened. She did owe Vlad, who she had contracted to get it taken care of, a lot, but that was something she could easily live with, now that her fear of Imperial Intelligence, and far more importantly, in her mind, Shalee, finding out what she had done was gone. Yet, a small voice, the voice of her Innocence, wondered aloud in her mind as to whether ordering the deaths of a group of people to cover her ass was worth it.

I still have one more thing to do tonight, though. She thought, the thought banishing her smile. She picked up her neocom and typed out a message, then sat back and savored her glass of wine.

It took him about a half hour to arrive, but Kat was grateful that it gave her some time to brood over what she was going to say. A shuttle touched down quietly, looking almost hesitant, as if to reflect the mood of it's pilot. He emerged, and walked over to sit next to Kat, who set her glass down and said, "Hey Josh."
Josh Vercetti responded calmly, "Hello there, How are you?"
Kat sighed internally, desperate for some indication of his inner feelings, after their last conversation in which she'd indicated that she needed some time to decide if it was better that they part ways, then said, "I'm alright, and you?"
He, in the same calm voice, said, "Can't complain. What's on your mind?"
She sighed, this time out loud, in decision as she decided to just say it. "I'm sorry. I don't think we have a future together. At least, not as a couple. I don't know how else to say it."
He only nods, "I was afraid of that, but very well." to which she frowns slightly.
"I don't want to hurt you, but I do think it's for the best."
"Sadly, I agree. We just don't seem to have as much in common as we first thought. However I'd like to remain friends."
Kat smiled and hugged Josh, not revealing her warring inner emotions, the release of nervousness, and especially her annoyance at herself for feeling that he should have fought it, and said, "Thank you for understanding, and not making it difficult."
"I try."
Kat just smiled faintly, then took a rather large sip of her wine. At which Josh stated, "Seems like something else is on your mind."
Kat shook her head slightly, "I was just really worried you'd take it badly."
Josh sighed slightly, "Of course it hurts, but I'm not the type of overreact about something I feel as well."
Kat sighed and shook her head, then said grumpily, "You'd be the first."
Josh smiled slightly, "I'm Caldari, I was trained not to show emotion."
Kat chucked at that, then said, "Were it always so." Knowing that she didn't mean it.
Josh smiled again, "That's why I defected to Amarr. They are just no fun." He then stood and smoothed the front of his tunic, "Well, I have to tend to some errands, Perhaps I'll catch you tomorrow." Without waiting for her to reply, he turned and walked back to his shuttle.

As the shuttle turned and roared back up into space, Kat finished her glass, knowing she had done the right thing, but not feeling much better for it.