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[h3][color=4682b4][i][b]Ash Holloway[/b][/i][/color][/h3][i][b][color=4682b4]Location:[/color][/b][/i] Mess Hall (C)
[i][b][color=4682b4]Skills:[/color][/b][/i] N/A
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[right][img]https://i.ibb.co/6ZrqbnS/Ash-FC-3.jpg[/img][/right]
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	Looking blankly to Thalia and then to Thana, Ash's expression changed somewhat. He wasn't sure what to make of this new wrinkle in his expectations for the evening, or how much of it might be a joke. So much as he trusted Thana, and he might stress vehemently that he did, Ash had made peace with the idea that if, during the year and a half that they were apart and didn't even know if the other was alive, she sought comfort with another. The concept started with Gavin Comfort. He and Thana were in a relationship, once upon a time. He wanted to rekindle things, and the both of them were on the other side of that ravine when the earth split open, scattering them all. He knew that Gavin would do any and everything to keep Thana safe, and took solace in that. Even if he wasn't especially cozy with the situation. His budding jealousy was secondary to her safety, at best. When Ash saw Thana with Mizrahi, and noted the protectiveness with which he looked after her; when he learned of the overland, long range missions they had together, he suspected something had happened between them. Curiously, he was better with it. The chances of his and his people's survival decreased dramatically the longer they were out there, and they were all out there for a long time. He assumed that they had, and almost instantly made peace with that, too. It meant that she was safe. That was all that mattered. They could have a shot at being together, if she was still willing. And if she was not, then Ash had fulfilled his promise to her and got to see her alive again. Even this, he anticipated and processed emotionally. It was okay.

	Still, Ash did feel a little relief and even a touch of guilt when he found out that his paper suspicions and peace-with-self anticipations were meaningless. After a long and open talk about things when they finally had some privacy, Ash fully believed that Thana had remained as true to him as he to her. 

	Never in a million years, then, might he have anticipated that Thana might have had something going on with the Gonzalez chick. But again, he didn't know what Thalia looked like when she was joking. Or if she even ever did, owing to the quietly jagged nature of her family. Still, something told him that this was a heap of bullshit. He just didn't know how big the heap was. It was an amazing tell that Thana's eyes widened and she looked to her friend with an expression that might be described as "incredulous", though the sarcastic comment in his direction did raise questions of its own. No, no... Heap of bullshit. Ash was being messed with. [color=4682b4]"Uh huh,"[/color] he started, brow furrowed and mouth slightly agape. Well, he wasn't going to let this get him down. Ash leaned in and gave Thana a soft kiss, lightly cupping the side of her face for just a moment. [color=4682b4]"I'm ah, I'm going to go get a tray. Save me a seat, Thawna?"[/color] [i]Damn.[/i] Unbidden, his accent plucked a heavier note in his regular speech. He shook his head, flashed a quick smile, and strode confidently over to take his place in line. 

	He'd probably be having the fish. 


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[h3][color=dc143c][i][b]Thalia Carmichael[/b][/i][/color][/h3][i][b][color=dc143c]Location:[/color][/b][/i] Mess Hall (C)
[i][b][color=dc143c]Skills:[/color][/b][/i] N/A
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	Now it was Thalia's turn to be surprised. Not at Ash, but Thana. Ash's flush of insecurity was so minuscule as to be undetected by anyone who wasn't immediately, intently looking for it. But Thana's response got her questioning some fundamental things about their relationship. [i]Yes[/i], she knew that her friend was joking, and [i]no[/i], she hadn't considered pursuing anything with her. Thana seemed to be spoken for, even if the guy was probably dead (not that she was sad to see that he wasn't, after all). And their relationship was more sisterly than anything else. Oh sure, she'd noticed things about Navy girl. Thalia's recent years of womanly self-discovery and preference for both genders made her acutely aware of things like that now, whether she wished to act on it or not. Theirs was a relationship built on mutual loss, mutual violence, and mutual revenge. The friendship was seeded in blood - theirs and their enemies alike, germinated with the hot crimson spillage of knives and ammunition. They bonded over hate, finding kinship in each other as warriors, be they of very different backgrounds. To actually consider her a potential love interest seemed wrong, somehow. But to have someone who didn't mind playing along if it meant raising a speculative eyebrow, well... that was a new thing for her. 

	But if Ash hadn't survived, could they have? No, Thalia shook off the thought. This was the happiest that she'd seen Thana, ever. There's no way in hell she'd even entertain the scenario. 

	It did not escape Thalia's notice that, even though she still had an arm around Thana, Ash went in for his kiss anyway. For just a second, they were in an odd huddle that probably looked highly questionable from more than a few paces away, and they were on a raised stage area in plain view of the whole room in the middle of dinner. This was fairly unlike Thalia. She was not the type to draw attention to herself. Once Ash had walked away to join the line, she leaned in to Thana a little more, half-whispering, [color=dc143c]"Ah jaysus, I'm sorry, Navy."[/color] She risked a surreptitious glance around to see if anyone was paying too much attention to them, and continued, [color=dc143c]"This is how rumors staht. I'll move ahn when your man gets back, ahright? Give you some you time."[/color] Not that she gave a tinker's damn about rumors, herself, but Thana probably didn't need that. And it would do Thalia some good to find a form of stress relief sooner or later, herself. With a low growl, suitable for a mildly irate canine, Thalia tore another bite from her orange and started munching noisily. Peeling was for suckers, anyway.