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[h3][color=4682b4][i][b]Ash Holloway[/b][/i][/color][/h3][i][b][color=4682b4]Location:[/color][/b][/i] Quarantine (W)
[i][b][color=4682b4]Skills:[/color][/b][/i] N/A
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	A vaguely amused look passed briefly over Ash's face, which was about as much as he could muster in usual in circumstances. The reaction that Guy had to his suggestion that he was crushing on S.B. was diverting, to say the least. Not that he knew the woman very well himself; she just seemed like the person least compatible with Guy working in Medical. But thinking about it, why the hell not? There were differences between the two of them, yes, but Ash also had to consider his relationship with Alicia - He was still the dutiful soldier, straight laced and clean cut, dutifully functioning within the chain of command, whereas Alicia had a problem with authority, was something of a wild card, and prone to acts of violence. They did not match in the classical sense. Maybe a Goliath/Scary Bitch union wasn't too far fetched. The apocalypse makes for strange bedfellows. He'd seen it before. 

	What was starting to bother Ash was the fact that his oldest living friend was holding back because he was afraid of what might happen if he loved and lost. It struck him a little personally. But first, he had to address the awful attempt at subject change before talking to Guy with mostly serious, emotional honesty. [color=4682b4]"Officers' Housing is great. We have espresso machines and they figured out cable television."[/color] He looked at his friend with an expression that very plainly let him know that switching topics wasn't going to happen right that second. [color=4682b4]"Guy, there are a few times when holding back is good."[/color] He didn't ask for advice and Ash wasn't exactly an emotionally open person, but he was giving it anyway. [color=4682b4]"When you've got lives you're responsible for. Waiting for intel. When inaction develops an advantage. Hell, when you want to make someone nervous. It's even fun sometimes."[/color] Ash looked Guy dead in his eyes, letting the rest of the room filter away for a while. [color=4682b4]"There is no advantage to denying yourself a chance at being happy because you're afraid of what [i]might[/i] happen. Lives aren't at stake. This is not an issue of security, nor of resources. You're talking about fear. I get it, fear keeps you alive. But goddamnit Guy, even if this was the world that used to be, there's no guarantees on anything. [i]Every single thing that I went through, I would go through again.[/i]"[/color] Then again, armed with a greater sense of introspective self awareness, that hypothetical second time would be a lot more stable than the first. He hoped. 

	Ash gathered back the freshly cut cards, looked at them for a moment, and slid them back into their box. He was talking more than usual again. If he kept it up, it might become a trend. If that trend continued, it might wind up being a full personality change, and Ash didn't know if he was ready for that sort of commitment. Going on a year-plus epic quest to find his girlfriend that he fell in love with after a very short span of time was a level of change he was willing to go through. Being more talkative? Not so much. Hopefully though, his newfound positivity might rub off on Guy. [color=4682b4]"I'm going to grab some lunch, Guy. I'd like it if you'd join me. It there's time after, maybe get you a date for the court martial. Or a walk on the beach. Whatever."[/color]



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[h3][color=dc143c][i][b]Thalia Carmichael[/b][/i][/color][/h3][i][b][color=dc143c]Location:[/color][/b][/i] Gymnasium (K7) -> [b]C[/b], Mess Hall
[i][b][color=dc143c]Skills:[/color][/b][/i] N/A
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	Thalia wasn't completely happy that bets were being placed concerning the outcome of the sparring match between she and Nigel. For that matter, she wasn't all that thrilled that it took place out in the open with people looking on, but these were the concessions one had to make when living around people, which she obviously did now. In truth, the whole thing felt a little uncomfortable. Things like this never used to bother her before. When she first learned boxing, it was in front of people. Matches when she was a kid, same deal. But time and circumstances had changed her in ways she hadn't noticed until it was done. Thalia glanced down at the metal analogue of her former hand and huffed out a sigh. That was a change she saw coming the minute the power saw got revved up and her friends held her down. The circumstances around this sparring session were ones to which she would have to grow accustomed. It was like the air conditioning. Things she didn't know she didn't want anymore, or that made her uncomfortable.     

	Still, her own sense of being a sideshow attraction aside, Thalia had to give credit where it was due. [color=dc143c]"Yah. Thanks, Hadrian. Good round."[/color] She hand out her steel hand to him for a fist bump, trying hard to avoid eye contact with anyone else in the room. When they got into weapons practice, unless it was a short blade, Thalia was pretty sure she'd be on the receiving end of a beatdown. Nigel might not have known that she was a damn good boxer prior to ...everything. Even damaged as she was now, her skills hadn't fully left her. Or maybe he did know, and stepped into the ring (metaphorically) anyway. Either way, he took his lumps (and gave a couple), remaining straightforward about it. Everyone else in the room could kiss her ass; Nigel earned a slice of respect from the lady. And the other guys a mote of annoyance for helping him off of the floor. To Thalia's mind, that was [i]her[/i] responsibility. She put him there, she picked him back up. Like in a barfight - unless it was personal, if you knocked someone unconscious then you stuck around to make sure they were okay. 

	Thalia tilted her head to the side a little, pondering over that last thought. It was possible that she was raised under a warped sense of family ethic that somehow melded into the Boston drinking scene, which became as irretrievably scarred as herself by the circumstances of the last five or so years. Yeah, she was a mess. Moving on. 

	Without a word to anyone else, Thalia stalked back into the changing room and got back into her street clothes as quickly as she was able. She kept with the look she was sporting earlier, where she rolled up the sleeves of her button down shirt and tied it in the front like some post-apocalyptic sports bra. And thinking about it, Volts did have a good idea about grabbing lunch. So it was without giving notice to anyone else that Thalia slipped out of the gymnasium and made her way through the rain up a block and over another, across the street and into a building that had that fucking air conditioning making every drop of water that hit her a tiny dagger of ice across her skin. 

	Thalia didn't waste time getting all hot and bothered over the selection of food, merely content to grab a tray and find a corner to sit in while she stuffed whatever it was into her face with a minimum of ceremony. Or manners. Something was irritating her beyond that which was apparent, but for the life of her, Thalia could not figure out what it was.