[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]

	Social situations. Not Ash's thing unless he was in a position of authority. At least not anymore, though there was a time, long ago. He was a good soldier. He was an exceptional Executive Officer. And recent years had made him a fit commander. The things that made him good at these duties were also things that tended to make every other social encounter (that didn't involve drinking) a little difficult. The stoicism in both philosophy and demeanor allowed him to make decisions with critical thinking, not emotion, when the chips were down. He was disciplined and unwavering in pursuit of his goals. Even as a kid, he was a good student and labored unceasingly for his family, which transferred well when he signed his life to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Sapper. [i]Then the Apocalypse.[/i] Ash was going to have to learn how to be a more well rounded person again. 

	At first, he was being distant. Now that it was pointed out, he was trying too hard. He was never the type to try too hard to be sociable before. Ash wanted this to work, both with Camp Mexico Beach and with Thana, specifically. He'd been on an epic knightly quest for over a year and a half for her, for crap's sake. And now he was forcing nonchalance. Ash's eyes glazed over and he stared into the distance for a moment as this realization washed over him. Luckily, Thana nudged his shoulder and jostled him out of it. He would have to thank her later. She continued about the possible psychic powers of her father, which he was prone to believe after the past week and the few conversations, both had with the man and observed, such as they could be called conversations. 

	Then she said something that made him stop mid-bite. The promiscuous one? [color=4682b4]"Yeah, that [i]is[/i] damn unsettling."[/color] Ash had apparently forgotten that aspect of the immortal Boomhauer, in all of his animated glory. It did give him a chuckle, though he tried to restrain it. [color=4682b4]"I meant talking constant and barely understandable, Thana. Nah, that other - scares me a little."[/color] He gave a small smile and hugged her around her waist as they sat. 

	Being as he wasn't one hundred percent sure what she meant by her next statement, he wasn't certain how to react. Did she mean her time coming back here, or when she entered Newnan just prior to its collapse? If she meant here, then definitely. According to the story he'd gotten, she came in mostly dead and had to be put back together by the medical staff here, after which apparently she had to go through whatever rigors one must go through to become an officer in this place, all while still being held together by surgical steel and good intentions. If she meant Newnan, well, that was unfortunate all around, though with some highly specific points that sucked for her. To throw her into the mix like that was less than ideal for her, to say the least. 

	[color=4682b4]"Yeah, it was easier for me, getting processed here."[/color] Except for the part where he thought Thana was dead. The initial reason for his coming here, prior to learning that Zebulon was destroyed. And the fact that management nor their guards did nothing to correct this belief, knowing the truth. Watching him deal with not only the death of someone he loved, but the collapse of already fragile hope from the past year and a half. Though Ash had braced himself for the very real possibility, it still struck him hard. He had learned that it was for a purpose, and he respected this decision. Purpose and reason over emotion. It was something he might have done, for the good of the people involved and for the community. [color=4682b4]"Your strength continues to amaze me, Thana."[/color] He spoke it plainly and genuinely, his tone stating a fact about how he felt rather than an attempt to butter her up or curry favor. It did amaze him. Ash heavily doubted that he would have been able to survive what she did. 

	[color=4682b4]"So, what's on the agenda between this and the beach party?"[/color] Ash looked to her with admiration, hoping there might be some time to be together, if only to contemplate each other's quiet presence. 



[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]

	It had always amazed Thalia how, despite her training with weapons in each hand, and the fact that her style of boxing had her switching from righty to southpaw seamlessly, she had such problems doing anything else with her left hand. Ask her to stab, shoot, or hit someone, she was your girl. You want her to sign her name? Bring a snack. It's going to be a while. She wanted to insert food into her mouth and anyone with a camera might be able to win some money from the "America's Funniest" people. It was a little infuriating sometimes, but just as long as she didn't give a shit about what people thought about her, she was going to get that pasta into her facehole one way or another. Still getting used to the tiring concept of eating around people she didn't know, like someone might use the opportunity to launch an attack while her mind was occupied with levering spaghetti in her mouth. 

        The fresh fruit was a nice touch, though. Except for prying off the peel with one working hand. In the end, force replaced dexterity for the win. While Alexander was trying for manners in an otherwise mannerless world, Thalia was going for the silently impassioned but effective kill. It was amazing how many things required two functioning hands to accomplish. Improvisation was necessary, she reasoned, pinning the precious sphere of citrus down with her metal hand and perforating its thick rind with her thumbnail, over and over, working her way down and around to gouge a series of meridians that she could exploit to get at the juicy, pulpy flesh within. 

        Thalia held the fruit steady and raised her new steel fist above the condemned source of vitamin C, then sharply brought it down with a [i]thwack[/i]. Her face twisted into a gruesome sneer as her artificial appendage made connection, snuffing the very life from the fruit as it contorted ans ripped open. A spurt of tangy juice splattered in a line across Thalia's face like the blood of her enemies, which she didn't bother to wipe away. No, she earned this victory and would wear it like a badge of honor. The fallen citrus didn't split exactly as she wanted it to, but it was well enough to use her left hand to pick through its remains and tear out the good flesh with her teeth. 

        Messy, but goddamnit, the atrocities she might commit for a grapefruit. 

        She barely registered the arrival of Manny, for that manner barely noted his absence until he spoke just now. Thalia glared up at him from behind a shard of citrus rind and gave a monosyllabic grunt of, [color=dc143c]"Nnn..."[/color] while motioning her head toward a seat nearby. There was a level of comfort in having the familiar cluster around her, though she had to open up a little, eventually, with some of these people. She'd start with her brother first, then maybe his friends. They were family, after all, and if she didn't know him quite as well after this time, that just meant that they could catch up.