Min Ho lay a hand on the stunned marine's arm but Rene shook it off without malice. His insides churned with a confusing blend of emotions which aggregated out to a vague shock and the beginning of simmering anger and hurt. Had Solae really just attempted to toss him aside like an empty paper cup now she had had her fun with him. No, she had to be trying to protect him. With a sudden flash of insight he understood the anger he had sparked in her back at the manor when he had tried to protect her from her own decisions.

"You can't let..." Min Ho began but Rene cut him off with a curt gesture and started up the stairs, running his hand along the rough timber railing until he reached the top where he opened the door and stepped into the room they had shared. Solae's back was too him, as good as her word she was stowing the spare outfit that Oanh had provided into one of the travel packs. Though she must have heard him enter she didn't give any sign off it and he pushed the door shut. He wasn't under any illusions that a closed door would afford them any real privacy from the pair of retired spooks, but it was psychological comforting to close off the space. 

"Have you lost your mind?" he asked in a quiet voice which telegraphed more of the hurt he was feeling than he had intended. The adrenaline in his system caused him to bite the end of his words and he forced himself to relax, trying not to make a tense situation worse.

"How in the void cares if I'm safer one way or the other. It is my choice to come with you Solae," he crossed the room as he spoke, taking her by the shoulder and gently turning her to face him.

"Even if it wasn't my duty, which, by the way, it most certainly is, you cant honestly expect me to hide here while you go off and put yourself in danger. I refuse to hide in a hole while you go off and face the Throne only know what all alone!" he realized that he  had started to shout without intending too and deliberately lowered his voice to a more conversational level.

"Look, you said yourself that one soldier doesn't raise the threat level, but this is why they pay me the big Kay-Cee," he went on. The big Kay-Cee was a Marine corp joke. It refereed to a Kilo-Credit, which had once been the standard salary for a Marine. He gathered Solae into his arms, pulling the noblewoman close.

"I'd rather die than know that something bad happened to you and I could have prevented it," he concluded, raising her chin with his fingers to meet his eyes.