[hr][hr][center][h1][i][b][color=4682b4]Ash Holloway[/color][/b][/i][/h1][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/5625b0e2-eb6d-4da8-b64e-f8426bbd176f.jpg[/img][/center][hr][center][color=steelblue][b]Location:[/b][/color] Quarantine (Conference Room)
[color=4682b4][b]Skills:[/b][/color] Basic Russian [/center][hr][hr]

	So, just a pinch of salt would suffice. Mental note on that. It was the little things that made life worthwhile, especially in this period of human history. You just couldn't count on the big things anymore. So, when you found simple joys or preferences, you settle back and enjoy them. For Thana, apparently, it was a dash of salt in her coffee. For Ash, it was being next to Thana. Then again, that wasn't a fair comparison. You break into the nearest abandoned diner or shell of a fast food place and you could get a packet of salt. Being with Thana was at the end of a year and a half long knightly quest for love, and to keep a promise. Ash gave that due consideration, especially after what he had consulted on a little bit earlier. He had fulfilled his promise. Now it was time to act upon the best interests of those he cared about and looked after for as long as he did. Part of that might hurt. 

	It could be said that one of the motivating factors that moved Ash along was a deep desire to avoid losing people he cared about. Loved ones were precious. It was always that way. Loss, as a whole, had a few more shades of nuance in some ways these days, and a few less in others. Still, when inaction resulted in the definite loss of one, action had to occur. Even if that meant he might lose another. 

	Tatiana could tell that he had something on his mind. She was good at reading people. Especially him, it seemed. Not to say that she was perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. There were many a time that she got him dead wrong but continued to move forward on her assumptions; however she was assuredly reliable enough to tell when something was weighing on him, like she could circumvent the face of stoicism he wore almost constantly. She was good. 

	Ash looked to Thana as she sat and drank her coffee, doing her paperwork. She really was lovely. A goddamn vision. So far as he was concerned, the scars couldn't mar that. Ash was lost in her for just a moment when he heard a line spoken to him in Russian. His grasp on the language was tenuous at best, but she used simple words and simple phrasing, then backed it up with the use of hend gestures. He looked to Thana again and nodded with an understanding look, as if to indicate that something predetermined was about to happen. He knew what he could and could not discuss. Besides, what he could discuss was going to be matter enough for the day, without having to look into the rest of the events lined up. 

	Cautiously, Ash stood and followed the petite ballerina to a quieter part of the Conference Room. They had done so many times over the course of their stay in CMB's quarantine, running off to hide like siblings sharing a secret. It wasn't so far from the truth, either. She was very much like a sister to him. That was why the next few moments were going to be stressful. Away from the rest of the group, And lowered his voice and began to talk to Tatiana. He was very careful to make sure he was not overheard, and braced for what was to follow. 


[hr][hr][center][h1][b][i][color=dc143c]Thalia Carmichael[/color][/i][/b][/h1][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/4e737113-ebf8-43ca-a9b1-82a1bea4a781.jpg[/img][hr][b][color=crimson]Location:[/color][/b] Quarantine (Conference Room)
[b][color=dc143c]Skills:[/color][/b] Spanish [hr][hr][/center]

	Thalia took a moment's break chuckling with Beatrice to notice that Alexander was coming up to them. They hadn't spoken a lot since getting into Quarantine. Everyone seemed to have paired off, otherwise insulating themselves from one another, with her being no exception. If Thalia wasn't alone, which was a lot of that time, she was training. Admittedly, that took up the majority of her time, period. But she had paired off with Beatrice at the end, there. Something about a fistfight that got the blood moving. But back to the point, she hadn't associated with Alexander for a while, which was kind of silly in hindsight. [color=dc143c]"Yah, sure Mugsy. Grab you a piece of table."[/color] She kept it lighthearted. Though they had a rocky beginning, Thalia genuinely liked the old soldier. It was also possible that this was the last day they'd see each other. [i]And[/i] they were amputee buddies. 

	Following that, she reacted to Beatrice's touch of smartassery, if indeed it actually was that. [color=dc143c]"Aw, quizás la próxima vez, Abeja[/color][sub]1[/sub][color=dc143c]."[/color] Truth was, she might have gone along with it just to make her happy, but for her to actually [i]want[/i] to be involved physically with another woman, there had to be something there. Romantic, relationship building courtship, [i]no[/i]. Wasn't her. But there had to be some quality present. It was hard for her to explain. Maybe the fact that either of them wanted that, but still remained friends, and both were emotionally isolated with tendencies toward violence. Whatever. Thalia doubted that their roommate fit any of those qualifications, even if he fully knew what they were, herself. [color=dc143c]"Es su perdida[/color][sub]2[/sub][color=dc143c]. Maybe one of us should ask, huh?"[/color] She didn't actually expect a follow-up, last day of Quarantine and all that meant, coming up soon.  

	The sudden change in topic struck Thalia as being a little off. Like it was a setup for something. [color=dc143c]"Huh?"[/color] Not the most eloquent of responses. Well, nothing to be lost for answering. [color=dc143c]"Arrested? Um, [i]yeah[/i], when I was a kid. Fighting. Nothing ever came of it."[/color] Being a mixed-race American kid in Mexico back in the day had its share of social repercussions, and so did getting involved in not-quite-legal boxing matches because of your own emotional hangups, including a pretty big chip on her shoulder. Released without so much as a court date, which was probably out of respect to her family. She spent a small amount of time in holding before being released. Not the "hardened criminal" story that most people wanted to hear about when that question was asked; sadly in the adventure that was Thalia's life, disputes with the local authority and subsequent incarceration was not part of it in any substantial way.

	Thalia was almost relieved when the question was put to Erica. It gave her a chance to attack her breakfast. Left-handed, of course. 


[hider=Translations]
1	=	Aw, maybe next time, Bee(Bea).
2	=	It's her loss.
[/hider]



[hr][hr][center][h1][b][i][color=deb887]Hank Wright[/color][/i][/b][/h1][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/12999738-8626-45f0-a9bb-32db85f056ed.jpg[/img][hr][b][color=burlywood]Location:[/color][/b] Quarantine (Conference Room)
[b][color=deb887]Skills:[/color][/b] People Reading, Advanced Psychology [hr][hr][/center]

	Hank gave a little chuckle at his hetero lifemate, going through his best GQ poses that were obviously tinged with a lack of fuckgiving about what his address was going to be tomorrow. [color=deb887]"Yeah, yeah. You're a great looking guy there, Maldonado. Real handsome man. Tell you though - I'm not worried either. Here's why:"[/color] Hank sat up a little in his seat and leaned over to Wayne, dropping his voice a little as he spoke. [color=deb887]"I've been watching these people. Picked up on some patterns. Check this out...[/color]

	Nodding his head over in the direction of various people in turn, around the Conference Room, he began to make character observations. [color=deb887]"Okay, [i]those two[/i] have had their heads stuck so far up peach other's asses that they have virtually [i]zero idea[/i] what's really going on. Long as they're up there, they should really scan for polyps on the quick. Now... Captain America there looks like he's in the middle of some [i]serious[/i] drama, but he's handling himself and a few of the muckety-mucks are taking note of that. Navy Girl, too. All professional but the affection she's showing isn't the affection she wants to show. Now, happy couple over [i]there[/i] are going to need counseling soon, but it's nothing that's going to cause an uproar. They'll probably be fine, by the way."[/color] 

	Observations getting back to the point, Hank continued, [color=deb887]"As unpleasant as we can be, most of the locals with guns are ignoring us entirely, like they don't consider us a threat any more than most of the people in this room. See what they're doing, though? Eyes regularly go to the big man over there like they're waiting on a signal, but look at where [i]his[/i] eyes go when he's in thought."[/color] Hank gave him a moment to see before nodding, and whispering, [color=deb887]"[i]That's[/i] where the problem is going to come from. You and me? Only people give a crap about us are the guys we all came in with, and their votes don't count."[/color] Hank glossed over the details of a few more of them, just observations like, [color=deb887]"Those two got laid last night. Oh! So did they. Lucky bastards. Everyone's seeing action but me. Hmm...[/color] He kind of liked this game. Maybe he should play it more often. He was probably good for now, having assessed the people he felt he needed to with the growing tension in the room.

	Hank leaned back in his seat. [color=deb887]"Wait, one more. The kid over there? Right now, he couldn't recognize a good thing if it was sitting on his face. Seriously. Oh, I've got a million of 'em."[/color]