Trr'alv's nostrils flared as she thrust her hands in to her pockets, clenching the lining tightly as she decided to leave as soon as possible, wishing not to continue with this conversation any further, leaving her would-be Stavoyan suitor with visible confusion and audible frustration at having his advances rebuffed by the 'tall alien goddess.' She marched past several other of the ship's guests, making a beeline for the nearest turbo-lift car to take her back to the level her cabin was on. She wanted desperately to be left alone, as she could already feel questions bubbling to the surface of the owners of the eyes that kept searing the back of her head as she denied acknowledgement of their existence. For once, in the 40 years she had been alive, she felt as low as the roots, and didn't care what other people thought of her. As images of that fated day flashed through her head, she couldn't help but feel a darkness creeping steadily over... Zhemh'zhan-xhin's seductive influence was beginning to seep in to her very core, a lump forming in her throat that she could not dislodge as she fought desperately against the flood of tears, but she was losing ground fast. On the one hand, thoughts of suicide had begun to manifest from her failure to protect the innocent from harm, but on the other hand, she was lucky to even be alive, let alone awake to tell the tale of her survival from what otherwise would have been a fatal terrorist attack on her hometown.

As the turbo-lift car reached its destination and the doors opened, she shoved past the people getting in, warranting some frustrated grunts and curses slung at her, as well as an empty soda can that barely made her wince from the impact to the back of her head as she just kept marching through. It was then, as she was making her way through a corridor with a massive view-screen of the cosmos outside, she heard a rather deep baritone male voice stifling a gasp, belonging to the light-furred male X'hyrok-hh to her immediate left straight ahead of her. She kept her head up, eyes glued forward, daring not to engage with him as her heart skipped a beat. "No," She argued with her thoughts, "He doesn't deserve to know. He will not get involved. You can and WILL fight this fight alone."

*******

It hadn't been long since Suu'lea had been dragged back to Onladas in custody, only a week had passed since that day; he felt a tremendous weight had, at long last, been lifted off his overtaxed shoulders...and yet...he still felt a longing...a wont for X'hyrok-hh companionship. "Seriously? After THAT incident!?" "Trust me, honey; I've dealt with worse. I think I'll be fine." "That you can even say that with a straight face says a lot about you, honey. I'm proud of you. But...if you ever need me or the family's help..." "You'll be a phone call away, I know. I love you, Snowrose." Mar'nakth sighed and shook his head, laughing a bit to himself at the absurdity of it all before grabbing his P.A.D.D. and heading out for a day of work. Despite using the 2-month cruise as a means of clearing his head, he still wanted to feel like he belonged and wasn't just 'dead weight', so he took on a temporary position as a ship doctor.

As he strolled through the corridor, finger swiping across the screen, pulling up the occasional bookmarked web site and jotting down some quick notes, he looked up in puzzlement as he thought about what all he needed to do later today when, suddenly, his heart leapt in to his throat, his legs becoming stiff as stone and his hooves were stuck hard in place, his tail shooting straight out behind him, his whiskers curling and flexing out from his cheeks, his ears having shot straight up, and his eyes having widened. He had to force himself to bite his bottom lip, letting slip a surprised gasp at the sight of a gorgeous X'hyrok-hh woman coming towards him. He felt something was wrong, however, as he took note of the expression on her face; she wasn't making eye contact with him at all. Rather...she was deliberately avoiding acknowledging him at all! In the briefest of moments he could see her face before he turned to watch her leave, he could see the pain plain as day, as her ears & whiskers drooped, tail slumping low to the ground, her eyes shining with tears she was clearly fighting against, her nostrils flaring, and her quivering lips; in combination with the hurried pace in her step and her hands thrust in to her pockets suggested to him that she was not in the mood to talk...so...why did he want to know more about her? "No..." He mumbled to himself as he tore his gaze from her, shaking his head and sighing dismally, "If there even IS a chance, I shan't ruin it by being more desperate than a Bull-Roach in rut. I pray Irbak will sow the seeds of luck, that we may encounter one-another again in the two months we have on this cruise. Besides...it's not like she'll be the ONLY X'hyrok-hh onboard..."