Shawn smiled at Arielle. It was a nice dance and everyone seemed to be enjoying it. Of course something had to ruin the sereness of the moment by crashing through things. He decided to ignore it since it didn't seem to pose a threat to himself or his friends. He didn't consider Arielle anything more than a friend who was being nice and danceing with him but it was still fun and enjoyable. "Ok I'll try to forget about it for now." He said as he continued to dance. He was happy that he hadn't stepped on her feet so far.

The pair of young teens squeezed past the adults with whom they shared the balcony, but had to first endure the embarrassment of Abyss' teasing.

>>>“Treat her right kid she deserves nothing less, keep an eye out for her too there are some less then savory folks her tonight.”

Katrina blushed automatically at the idea that Abyss thought they were dating or something. Ryooichi was nice, certainly, but they weren't dating or anything like that. He was older than her for one thing, and they'd just started getting to know each other, too. The chameleon boy coped with the teasing much better than she did, by stealing the big red man's color in order to scare off any unsavory characters.

>>>“Of courssse you are right, I will treat her well, I think thisss ssshould do, to chassse off mossst of the ne’er do wellsss, Sir. Thanksss.”

All Katrina was left with for come backs to the impish monkey tailed man was, “Yeah, well, you should tell your brother not to smoke. He's going to ruin his lungs.” Then they were past and on their way down the stairs.

>>>“Isssn’t he one of the bad guysss that attacked the mansssion, before I ssshowed up?

Katrina gave him a puzzled look in response, “I didn't see him there. Abyss is nice though, you don't have to worry about him. He's really a nice guy once you get to know him.” If he had been at the mansion fight, Katrina had been too busy trying to keep Sam and Geo from killing each other that she hadn't had time to pay attention to all the other chaos that was happening all over the entire mansion lawn. He was capable of violence, she knew from the way he had spoken at one of the resistance meetings so long ago and from the story Pluto had told her of how the seven had broken free of their captivity in their youth. That was all so long ago, though, that Katrina had a hard time thinking that any of the Abyss brothers would still have any cause to harm anyone.

At the bottom of the staircase Katrina had a hard time seeing a clear pathway to the stage area. Everyone was taller than her, and constantly moving. They'd have to weave in and out amidst the dancing and mingling couples and groups in order to get anywhere. It would be difficult to navigate through without losing track of each other.

“They didn't all look so tall from up above,” Katrina admitted. “Here, don't get lost.” She grabbed Ryooichi's hand in her own and started bravely threading her way through the throngs until they found the door that led from the backstage. She could tell it was the correct door, because it was guarded by two impressively strong looking men with very strict looking postures and name badges clipped to the lapels of their suits.

“Umm, is Fausto back there? Can we talk to him please?”

Venus calmly reassured Jaxon. “You can do it, stay calm concentrate, no one will no its yours, you are in a room full of your kind, you got this.” He held onto her as if he was comforting her of the shock of the little creature running around.

He had to stifle a laugh as his little friend from a different void made a leap for the sanctuary of an old woman back. A valentine that she would never forget he was sure.

“Awesome!, lesson one is a success I’d say.”

Venus gave her a light hug, and then straitened. “So, do we head back to the dance floor or to other lessons?”

-----------------


~~“Of courssse you are right, I will treat her well, I think thisss ssshould do, to chassse off mossst of the ne’er do wellsss, Sir. Thanksss.”

Abyss smirked at the young man in spite of himself. “ Good, That it would.”


~~“Yeah, well, you should tell your brother not to smoke. He's going to ruin his lungs.”

“I will tell him you said so.” He said to katrina’s parting back.

He gets my lungs at the end of the day sooo, so long as I keep mine in good shape, we should be ok. He thought to himself.

He tuned to were again to quip. “You know, if I could get that kid to play along we could give Venus a pretty good scare. Yeah he would have had to been out and about when he was like fourteen but it will give him a scare at the start anyhow. He has to be waiting for the day someone tells him he she has their kid.”
________________________________________

Jupiter listened and watched in silent patience until she took a pretty good whack at a passing waiter, the waiter was lucky or good enough to take the blow professionally.

~~"Sorry, sorry ,sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry."

“You Don’t need to apologize Gweneviere, he will survive and no one was hurt. You Weren’t hurt were you?” the waiter ought to prey that she wasn’t.” Perhaps we could read the story together?”

“Really? Weird, I mean I believe you but a couple in the guysss in my calculus class openly admitted to having nightmaresss about him. After talking to him though I mean, I can see where you are coming from.”


~~“They didn't all look so tall from up above,”

“they never do.” Was Koga’s ready response. He was pleasantly surprised by Kat’s bold grab for his hand, it was almost like dancing, if dancing was an extreme sport where you simply hung on to you partner for dear life and were trying to get somewhere while other dancers tried to run you over.

~~ “Here, don't get lost.”

“ You either.” He laughed as he followed her threw the shifting crowd.”

Really after seeing abyss these two guys were at best athletic, they did wear that tough guy come on and mess with me begging for a fight look.


~~“Umm, is Fausto back there? Can we talk to him please?”

**“No Pass, No entry.” The gruff reply from gatekeeper one.

Koga argued. “Look, Ssshe knowsss the guy, infact ssshe isss the Katrina from the dedication. Come on man be cool and don’t hassstle ussss. I am sssure he wantsss to sssee her.” What a weird situation, Impress Katrina by getting past the guards, an he won what? getting her to this rock guy…if he didn’t then she didn’t get to rock guy, but he also proved his uselessness in negotiating….In the mean time he would simply not notice that his arm was on fire in the fact that they were still holding hands. Don’t sweat, don’t sweat, don’t sweat.

Gatekeeper two peeked through the curtain to little did he know it the group that was waiting on the other side. **“You guys got a couple of fans; one of them claims to be Katrina.”

"You guys got a couple of fans, one of them claims to be Katrina."

Fausto^s heart stopped a second but it recovered the time beating with all its willpower . his heart seemed almost to explode and that was only to hear that she was there.she was behind the curtain, only a curtain separated them. but also just a curtain separated him from his disastrous end in which he would confess to Kat that he was going to go out the country for who knows how long.
Takumi and Cielle didn't need to hear anything else, with a smile they passed through the door that had been previously closed and guarded by gatekeepers. when Fausto reached the courage needed to out the guards were gone. Cielle surely had persuaded them to leave .

There she was, radiant as the most beautiful of the princesses. and beside her was a guy he did not know but perhaps he was guy from the mansion that had become fascinated by his music. he did not pay much attention to him . their eyes were on Kat and only on her . He only looked at the boy to ask courteously, apologizing for the rudeness, to left them alone for a moment. Fausto was embarrassed be way he had dismissed him even without a good greeting , he didn't seemed like a bad guy. he was very kind and understood the situation quickly without complain .

¨I never thought you could look more beautiful than you look every day. No, sorry. I do not mean that you are ugly and that is impossible to see you beautiful ... I mean that you are so beautiful that it is almost impossible to see you even more beautiful ... ¨

The words danced in his head, a group of words were dancing rock and roll, another group a slow and soft theme and some other a weird modern dance . in conclusion every word he though ended bumped into the others words blending the ideas that never were clear enough to make the romantic speech Katrina deserve .
Fausto sighed, he took a second to think what he should say next and he started to talk again a bit more calm but nervousness in his voice.

¨Kat I hope that this will not ruin your night ... I have two very important things to say.¨ At least these things were important for him and he hope that it was important for her. he thought a lot of times how could he give her the news , he come up on mental simulations to imagine what would happen. in some of the simulations Kat hugged him without saying anything, in other simulations she say some comprehensible words and hugged him , in some other simulations Kat turned around and went out without saying anything, sometimes she gave him a slap before leaving and sometimes she said ¨ you arrive late, I'm going out with Sam ¨ Fortunately the child did not have any concrete information to make these mental models accurate , so he choose to stop thinking about it .

¨ I have two news , one good and other bad ... The bad news is ... do you remember that talk we had the first day we met? that talk about your dreams? our dream ,in reality is almost the same. we both want a better world for all ... Kat I finally have the opportunity to do something so that this dream could be a little closer to succeed but I must leave the country and i don't really know for how long, it could be a month or two ... ¨

Since Slate had informed him that they have to fix a ¨issue¨ he started to question some things .why he has to get this opportunity right now when he get along very well with Kat? while a new feeling hit his chest from the inside wanting to go out, a feeling that he thought was ¨love¨ but he never found a way to tell her about it but the time was now , now or never . Fausto do not expect to hear any kind of answer to the previous ¨news¨ and continue speaking .

¨ well , the good news is that ... I just ... I ... I love you Kat. ¨ he was stuttering as he speak, he had to start again a few times before finishing the sentence but he had said it . without thinking he added the first thing that came to his mind. ¨ in a second tough isnt a good news,it only make more complicate the situation ... but if i die tomorrow i would be happy for had been said that today ¨

The steady voice that had helped her focus was, of course, Venus. Jax had no idea how he did that, seemed to know what she needed to hear, but he was probably used to it, being that he worked with mutants frequently. It was helpful that he was playing along, but it was also pleasant, having someone to lean on, in both the figurative and literal sense, so Jaxon decided she didn’t care where or how he learned it.

When he laughed at the little creatures attempt at escape, Jaxon swatted his arm. “Stop it! It isn’t funny….” But of course it was, and she couldn’t keep the grin from sneaking onto her face, followed by a laugh of her own, attracting the glare of the woman.

Snapping her mouth shut, but unable to sweep the humorous smile off her mouth, she turned in Venus’s arms, pushing against him. In a tone of voice that was similar to a teen trying to escape from the scene of a mischievous stunt, she whispered. “Go, go, go….” A laugh edging in on her words.

Once out of the glaring range of the woman, Jax started laughing again. Somehow, Venus made it easy to forget what had just happened, and go back to having fun. “Well, since I am going to blame you for everything that happens tonight, I think you should decide.”

With a puckish tilt to her mouth, she winked. “So, what do you want to be blamed for?” Her voice dropped a notch, both in volume and pitch, and she had leaned closer to him as she spoke. Now, close enough to feel his body heat on her face, she tilted her head in a way that was both playful and challenging, a lighthearted flirtation in her movements.

The song ended like any other. Smiling, Shin led Kasumi by the hand to the refreshment table for a little break. The table was spread out like a feast, with hors d'oeuvres piled high like Alps and finger sandwiches arranged in patterns that would make a synchronized swimmer giddy. Shin took a slice from a mountain of almond cake, slipped it on a plate, and offered it to Kasumi with a tilt of his head and a fork.

“Bite to eat?” The music shifted again and he looked to the band. Iron Mouth was playing again. Shin shook his head with a laugh. “The kid has talent. So, how’s your night been so far?” He turned to snag a drink off a passing waiter’s tray, then returned his focus to her.

The Valentine's Ball. It had received quite a bit of notoriety in the paper and online, whichever the reader preferrred. Mutants and humans working together sounded like a farce. A farce or a charity worth a writeoff. Either way, it was Garrett's duty to represent his species and the Order properly, making his position clear to all who needed to know. It occurred to him that he should have some anxiety over Maya and the rest of the Mansion bunch. Strangely enough, this feeling was nonexistent. He had made his choice and had fully committed to it.

The Order was generous enough to provide him a tuxedo to wear to the event. His personal income would be increasing soon, but for now, it was merely robbery change. He chose to walk to the event, hoping to allow some of the bigger fish entry and let some alcohol get coursing through the veins of the many opportunities there. Upon arrival, there seemed to still be a large number of paparazzi present as others had decided to come in late as well. Flash photography snapped away, the lights bringing the ills of his own nervous system to light.

After a bit of sweating and the avoidance of direct flash-to-eye meetings, Garrett stepped into the small foyer. A large man approached him, asking if he was human or mutant. "Homo superior here, friend. I suppose you want a sample to prove it?" The man squinted at him and began to nod slowly. Garrett nodded in time to the slow nodding man, who reminded him of one of the little bird bobbers. He extended his hand and took the man's offering. A moment later, sweat was now coursing over this man's brow, tics and grunts of pain leaking from his obvious monkey shell.

Garrett released his grip from the greeter's. " I suppose that was sufficient?Need any more proof?" The man backed away from Garrett, his head now making a horizontal movement, which when combined with his eyes, said 'Hell no!'. Garrett stepped through the rope and into the scene. He saw many familiar faces and many who he did not recognize. Human celebrities, politicians, and the social elite were also present. So many hands to shake, so many systems to imprint.

Despite he was finally meeting the famous ‘Red Giant’ of the Sanctuary Bacchus was a little preoccupied with the people of the ball. Up here he could see everyone, including many he disliked, which greatly outnumbered the people he didn’t mind. Other than Isabel and Sara the number of people he liked being around wasn’t that much greater.

As depressing, as it was Bacchus shrugged it off as he took a sip from one of his flasks and spotted the white haired woman he met at the mansion on the night Isabel was injured and that silver blokes leg was crushed under his fist. She seemed nice but according to Isabel she was ‘lame’ for she lived at the mansion. Either way might as well not be rude and not say.

Grabbing Isabel by the hand and giving her a small squeeze Bacchus grinned then started to guide her down to the main floor where a slow paced song started to play, looking around Bacchus found a spot near the center and lead her there. As usual the crowd broke apart as Bacchus used his size to split people up. Once in the center Bacchus pulled Isabel into him and started to dance in a cross between a foreign ballroom dance of some kind and a high school slow dance. “Can’t dance to this music.” Bacchus frowned as he looked down to the bow on Isabel’s head.

Looking around Bacchus spotted the bossy blonde dolphin Sheila, that tried to order him around like she was the boss, spotting the bloke she was wrapped around Bacchus sighed slightly and said, “Poor bloke, must be a pain.” Looking back to Isabel he smiled and said “Kind happy you dragged me along here…” Bacchus said as he gave tried hard not to move his hands in a place Isabel would not be fond of. Small of her back and hand on hers, even if she was a few inches shorter than him.

Nodding to Leila and letting out a small grin Sam said, “Yeah Katrina is a little man killer.” He was defiantly going to give Fausto a pat on the back for dedicating a song for her. “We don’t have to be a fight to be a couple,” Sam said, “I don’t like fighting,” he leaned in kissed her and said, “no scratches for now at least…” Sam said with a sly grin on his face. He knew Leila and all girls had the special ability to bring things up that had nothing to do with an argument just to win it. This was something he knew and this was something he had accepted.

As the song ended Sam let go of Leila and looked around to see if he could spot any of the girls he owed a dance to. Katrina was busy making her way to see Fausto, Ari was busy with Shawn, Ghost was still missing in action in the crowd and… Sam moved a little to make sure he wasn’t mistaking the person. Kissing Leila on the check Sam said “I’ll meet up with you in a bit, I think I see an old friend!” Sam said excitedly as he left Leila and maneuvered through the crowd to the entrance.

As he approached the bald man in a nice suit Sam’s smile widened, “GARRETT!” Sam grabbed the man in a hug and then let go and stuck out his hand, “Where have you been man? I have been worried sick, knew you left but no call or nothing?” grinning slightly as Sam continued to talk, “What have you been up to since you left?”

Sam was never aware of the reasons Garrett left all he knew was it happened sometime around Raina’s birthday and Ghost was pretty broken up about it. Which was why Sam would when he had the chance give Ghost a heads up that Garrett was here. Just in case she wanted to hide, bail, or confront him.

Isabel simply nodded at Abyss' advice to keep things cool. It had been made quite clear in any and all methods of advertising the ball that any possible violent outbursts would not be tolerated and those involved would be dealt with quickly. It wasn't a rule she particularly cared for, but with both factions and humans mingling together, such a rule seemed to be a necessity, especially when dealing with individuals as volatile as Isabel. For the Order's sake she would behave herself. She'd do nearly anything for her beloved faction, and asking her to be on good behavior for the night was hardly a burden she couldn't handle. And it never hurt to prove Bane wrong in their little bet. She could most certainly make it through the night without stabbing anyone, and was determined to prove it.

Feeling her hand snatched up in one of Bane's own and the gentle pressure that was briefly applied, she quickly shifted her attention away from her older companions and set her focus on what could be termed as her date for the evening. She made no complaints or attempts at resisting as she was lead back down the stairs and onto the dance floor, her gaze casually hopping from one stranger to the next as Bacchus' size forced them to move aside as they passed and to keep at a respectable distance once the pair had settled into the approximate center of the dance floor. That was one good thing about being toted around by a Giant; no one ever seemed to get in your way.

As she was gathered up in preparation for the dance, she waited only a brief moment before she had to move once again, doing her best to keep in step with Bane's lead. Being the shorter of the two also meant her legs weren't quite as long as his, leaving her with the need to take larger, slightly quicker strides than he had to. In spite of the fact that she rarely if ever went anywhere that involved dancing, she though she did fairly well keeping up with her companion and matching his steps. "Your dancing is just fine," she commented offhandedly to his complaint about the music. The rhythm he set for their movement seemed to match the tempo of the song well enough for her.

With the last comment spoken by her companion, Isabel turned her gaze up toward his face, rather than letting it drift over the portion of the crowd she could see. Even with the heels giving her a small addition to her height, she was still a decent number of inches shorter than Bane was, the close proximity requiring her to crane her neck back a little further than was usually necessary to put his face in view. "Don't tell me you're actually enjoying yourself even when you have to keep your clothes on," she replied, her tone teasing, though she gave him a genuinely pleased smile. "I think this little bet induced predicament of ours isn't as bad is it seemed. I might even have to start enjoying myself while we're here."

Ah the alcohol. It was quite a spread and would take some time to slog through it all. She offered a somewhat more muddled smile to Mars as she plopped herself down at the table and watched the exchange between brothers. She had the bright idea to slam a shot for every insult they threw at each other, but they came too fast-- practically back to back. Lori grit her teeth against the tang of the booze and held up a finger for Mars' comment.

"In what universe does spandex look good on a crime fighter?" She set that shot glass down firmly against the table cloth. And also... "In what universe should I not be kicking your villain butt? I, sir, am a crime fighter. Let me whip you into shape." She winked and savored the warm and burning sensation that was fast growing in her chest. With any luck she wouldn't even remember today... or tomorrow.

“If I’m a monkey you are a monkey as well, moron.”[/i] Pluto's mumble cut into Lori's warm and fuzzy time so she leaned over and flicked Pluto on the ear as hard as her finger was able. "The moon called. They're revoking your power until you grow up." WIth that Sailor Venus plopped back into her chair and puled another one of those Jello shots over. It wiggled and burned on the way down. That was fun.

She wasn't sure when her supposed debt to Pluto would be done, but she hoped it'd be soon. Lori had hoped to avoid Mars... to avoid seeing anyone she knew actually and since that had flopped miserably she would enjoy pickling her brain cells until someone had the sense to take her home.

Garrett began immediately greeting the various guests. He had his cards palmed and ready to distribute. He had them made up prior to the event. They read:

The Sanctuary
Garrett Wills
Public Relations Director

The address for the Sanctuary and the phone number graced the bottom of the crisp cards. Just as he began pumping hands and replicating neural maps, Sam approached him. He actually rushed him and hugged him as well, which came as quite a surprise to Garrett." Where have you been man? I have been worried sick, knew you left but no call or nothing? What have you been up to since you left?” The million dollar question. Garrett returned the warm smile of his former teammate.

He handed Sam one of his cards, the expression on his face one of joy. He didn't feel apologies or explanations were in order. In his mind, no one had paid him much mind when he was at the Mansion, so why would it be a big deal?"I'm at the Sanctuary now, Sam. You should come by sometime. We are doing some amazing things." He knew there would be some sort of attempt at awkward questions. Before any could be voiced, he made an additional statement." I've always felt this way. I feel at home representing our species in the human world. I wish you and the others well."

It had been far too long since the unicorn had danced. Along with studying language, dancing was one of his lifetime hobbies. He could dance anything from the Imeneos to the Charleston. With new dances being invented all the time, Sebastian was certain that he would never run out of material to learn. For example, there was a new dance called the “hip hop” that he would have to eventually try. From what he had read, it incorporated some very original new moves. It might even take a decade or two to master it.

For now, though, the music seemed best suited for a waltz. This far from the stage, there were fewer couples dancing. They wouldn't have quite enough room to do anything too fancy, but they would at least have a little freedom to move about. Avoiding other dancers was also an interesting part of the challenge, and not one that Sebastian particularly dreaded; moving obstacles on a dance floor could actually make things more entertaining.

The amused smile encouraged him, and the acceptance to his invitation even more so. He was glad that his friskiness was not scaring away the seemingly shy sylph, and even more glad that she was willing to let him swing her around the dance floor. It would have been awkward to try and ask a stranger to dance, and there would have been no point in coming at all if he didn't dance at least once.

“Then by all means, let us dance” with a graceful bow, Sebastian held out his hand to lead the slight woman to the dance floor. He would start out with the simplest steps to see how she did. Depending on her skill level, he would gradually step up the difficulty until he found out how much she was comfortable with.

>>>“Look, Ssshe knowsss the guy, infact ssshe isss the Katrina from the dedication. Come on man be cool and don’t hassstle ussss. I am sssure he wantsss to sssee her.”

Katrina would have grinned at the lizard boy, but it would have looked too suspicious. Instead, she added her cutest puppy dog look with raised eyebrows, a slight pout, big eyes, an innocent blink and everything else that added up to perfectly irrisistable.

The combined efforts of the two teens did at least get one of the burly (though still humanly so) men to poke his head back through the curtain. It turned out the band was right on the other side and was coming out anyway. Katrina waved to Takumi and Cielle as they slid past to join the other party goers. Fausto was the last to appear, dressed to the nines in a very fancy tuxedo. Katrina grinned at him as he came through the door, practically bouncing with excitement. She dropped Koga's hand (without any inkling of what that might imply to the poor lizard boy) and rushed to give her rock star friend a big hug. After the quick embrace, she bounced back into position halfway between the two boys.

“Fausto, great songs! They sounded awesome once you got them all put together! This is Koga by the way. He's a new student at the mansion.”

The singer seemed to stumble over his next words, which was understandable considering how complimentary they were. The bumbling sentence left Katrina blushing, which seemed to be happening with a much higher frequency recently than she had previously been accustomed to. Perhaps it was simply the romantic nature of the season.

“Thanks, y-you look nice, too.”she managed to blurt out while he was composing himself for rounds two and three. He seemed nervous, which made Katrina nervous, too. Things had never been awkward between them before, when had that started? It use to be so easy for them to talk about anything and everything.

Round two came, with the announcement that her friend was planning on leaving for quite a lengthy period of time, and was unsure of when he would come back. Katrina felt something pull tight inside of her, and her face fell. Grins and shy blushes were wiped away in a look of regret and concern. She didn't want him to leave. When people did that, sometimes they didn't come back again. Not because they died or anything, but because they just drifted away. As far as she could tell, mutants tended to be drifters. They came and went, and sometimes didn't come back again.

From the sounds of it, the place where Fausto was going was a bit on the dangerous side, which meant he might not be able to come back, even if he wanted to. Even if he didn't forget about her and move on to a different life, someone could put a bullet through him just as easily as a knife cut through butter. At least, the way Fausto had described his dream of recreating the world as a better place through domination and fighting off all the evils, it sounded as though he was putting himself in quite a bit of danger. Butter knives and bullets were both very efficient at their jobs.

“You have to go?” It was a rhetorical question, uttered so softly that Fausto probably couldn't hear it anyway. Koga might have been able to, if he was still standing next to her and hadn't wandered off disgusted by the sappy sentiments flying back and forth. She would have to apologize to him later, for not introducing him as properly as she had meant to do.

She wasn't ready for round three.

>>>¨ well , the good news is that ... I just ... I ... I love you Kat. ¨

Katrina's mouth fell open in surprise. She shut it, then opened it again to respond, but no words came out. Again she shut it. All the while the blush that had been rising reached full bloom as dramatically as blushes can only on pale skinned individuals. She had no idea what to say to that. She had no idea even what to think about that. Her mind and heart both raced, but to no avail. She was still as speechless as a goldfish. Luckily Fausto continued the thought, thus giving Katrina just a little more time to try and form her jumble of thoughts into some semblance of words.

>>>¨ in a second tough isnt a good news,it only make more complicate the situation ... but if i die tomorrow i would be happy for had been said that today ¨

How was she supposed to respond? How was she even supposed to feel? She hadn't really even considered this type of thing before. At least, she had thought of Fausto more like an older brother. Mostly because he was older, and brothers were the types to throw eggs at people, weren't they? She wasn't sure anymore. The emotions that stirred within her were so confusingly jumbled together. Sadness and loneliness from learning he was leaving, and regret for the same reason. Surprise. Confusion. Certainly some variety of love, but the young girl couldn't discern what kind it was. There had to be some kind, though, because there would be no reason for all the sadness for his leaving. Through the swirl of foggy feelings and jumbled thoughts, Katrina realized that she couldn't stand there all evening slack jawed. She still owed him a response.

She looked at her feet, then up at Fausto, then back at her feet again. How to word it? She met his eyes again and this time didn't shy away from the visual contact.

“Thank you for telling me,” her voice was quiet and a little shaky, but the words came out in the proper order. “I guess... I don't know how I feel yet. I am still happy that you said it though. Do try to stay safe while you are gone.”

And, err, was Koga still here too? Katrina's blush deepened again. What an awkward conversation this turned out to be.