[hr][hr][center][h1][i][b][color=4682b4]Ash Holloway[/color][/b][/i][/h1][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/92d5f43a-8b98-4f28-9d91-88707ca27ccf.gif[/img][/center][hr][center][color=steelblue][b]Location:[/b][/color] L5 (Mess Hall)
[color=4682b4][b]Skills:[/b][/color] N/A [/center][hr][hr]

	In one way, it was nice to see the former Newnanites getting to know the people of their new community. He could say that now, [i]"their new community"[/i], as the selection process was over and they had made the cut. The loss of his once trusted confidant, Victor, was a bit of a blow. But to look at things, he had lost Froggy some time ago. Perhaps time would change things for him. Ash could only hope. It was no longer a thing to dwell upon; he had a new life that required his attention. On mustn't forget the old entirely, hence the visit to the gravesites outside of the walls. But visiting the fallen to pay respects wasn't hanging on to the past. Ash did hope that they didn't completely lose the stamp of identity that marked them as being survivors well acquainted with one another prior to coming to this place. Depending upon each other as a ragtag, extended family should not be a thing so easily brushed away. Dwelling in the past was not healthy. Forgetting it completely was as well. 

	Ash did enjoy the comforting weight of Thana's shoulder against his. Part of the human condition that he had almost given up on was physical contact with someone he cared about, or in this case, loved. It was so easy to write off, once it wasn't a big part of his life by necessity. Now that it was back, Ash didn't want to take it for granted. 

	He tried to make mental notes about the people that Thana was pointing out to him. Edna, Rosie, Ada. Rosie and Mizrahi were grease monkeys. Moreover, they could read engineering specs and build using them as a guideline. That was an important distinction. Ash smiled gently and nodded when Thana pointed out the younger lady, Ada. That was the official distilling lady. They might have things to discuss later, one professional to another. [color=4682b4]"If it's convenient, maybe introduce me later."[/color] Maybe at the party, or another time down the road a bit, it was all the same to Ash. Nice and all but he was more interested in the present, and present company. 



[hr][hr][center][h1][b][i][color=dc143c]Thalia Carmichael[/color][/i][/b][/h1][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/8b4600e1-6763-448c-9e7e-43fde2400cdd.gif[/img][hr][b][color=crimson]Location:[/color][/b] L5 (Mess Hall) 
[b][color=dc143c]Skills:[/color][/b] N/A [hr][hr][/center]

	Thalia gave a quiet grunt and waited for the short conversation around her to flare up and die out of its own volition without offering anything of her own into it. The offer to join was nice and all, but she didn't know any of these people and didn't feel like being the popular kid and sitting down with the earnest intention of making new friends. She said what she came over here to say and that was that. People in groups who were eager to have a conversation with her made her a little wary, regardless of their actual intent. [color=dc143c]"Yah, maybe next time,"[/color] she said, already turning to see what they were talking about when they said that she had someone waving her over. Oh yeah, Alexander. Great. He gave a preset excuse to make herself scarce. Otherwise, she might be in for an awkward meal in which one or another party would be struggling to ask questions or get her to talk about herself, and she really didn't feel the need to have that type of conversation. 

	Instead, there was a different sort of conversation waiting on her elsewhere in the established Mess Hall. Or if not actual conversation persay, the beginning of one that distinctly ambushed her with sentimentality. It took her a moment, as if she was translating Alexander's sentence from a language in which Thalia could only claim competence, not fluency. First off, [i]Judith[/i]? Okay, he explained that one. Hell, he was pretty sure he mentioned in conversations prior to now, anyway, at least she thought he did. Wife. She wondered what that was like, having a spouse. Well, probably not for her, ever. Anyway, pretty name, Judith. Moving on. Thalia had no idea why his wife would have liked her. She was a woman socially crippled by her circumstances and now sported a big, metal hand. Maybe Judith liked broken people, back in the day. It even took Thalia a moment to realize that Alexander meant it as a compliment. While she was figuring this out, she eyeballed the older man quizzically. Finally, it was like she had to remind herself that yes, manners were a thing, and she needed to extend at least a sliver of them back to Alexander, or she really [i]was[/i] a socially crippled young woman. [color=dc143c]"Thanks, Mugsy. Wish I could have met her. She sounds like a patient lady."[/color] Wait, was that an appropriate response? Should she have said more? No, if she just fucked something up, she shouldn't keep talking and make it worse. She and Alexander had been "survival buddies" for well over a year now. He'd know she didn't mean anything. She thought, anyway. 

	Thalia offered a kind of lopsided smile and started to eat. It wasn't the most refined sight ever, watching her consume pasta with her left hand while she leaned on her right elbow, the artificial arm below it hovering near her tray. It looked almost prison-ish when one noticed that she kept an eye on the people filling the room as she ate, keeping tabs and instinctively looking for anything that might be considered a threat. Perhaps that was a compliment on her part to Alex, that when she ate now or was in a potentially compromising position, she didn't put her attention on him, like he was accepted as a comrade, excluded from her steely gaze as a potential threat. Her nonchalance to his presence demonstrated trust. It was a hard fought for commodity these days.