Shadowed Stars

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She surprised him by giving in so easily and Keene found himself inwardly off-balance by her actions. The hybrid finally looked at the female again, but the expression in his eyes was hard to read; some kind of mix of exasperation, confusion, curiosity and resignation. Honestly, he was just too tired to care right now, to pursue the topic of why she'd chosen to back off even as much as she had. When he'd said she was one of those people he couldn't really see, a blind spot, he hadn't been kidding - though, with everything he'd told her, Keene had to wonder if she'd even caught that bit of information.

Didn't really matter right now either way.

Keene sighed, dropping the cutters back on the counter where he'd found them and his tail stopped swinging so violently, now coiling like a serpent, stretching before it came to his side again, the tip curling and twisting in a much more controlled way. The hybrid ran his hand back through his hair, the black fringes coming forward to brush his eyes even as the rest stayed in place for a few seconds longer before they too fell forward.

He looked mildly thoughtful at her words before he shook his head, eyes closing for a moment and a long, breath escaping him as the tension seemed to just drain away, exhaustion replacing it. "That's fine. I...that's fine." Keene finally replied and he moved past Tessa then and toward the door, much slower and more unsteadily - even as it was clear he wasn't going to fall over with his tail now under his command again - than how he'd come in to this room. At the door, he looked back, his pale jade eyes weary, but something still slightly defiant in them, a flame that wouldn't die.

"You all may be coming with me, but that doesn't mean I'm telling you everything when you'll be gone the first chance you get. It doesn't mean I trust you. I made that mistake once in my life. I won't do it again."

He was gone then and it was VERY clear he didn't want to be followed. No, Keene wanted to find a bed and that's exactly what he did as he found the crew's quarters and randomly selected a room. His body hit the bed with a grateful groan, but much as he would have loved it, sleep didn't come immediately.

The guilt did.
 
Tessa had expected Keene to fight for his secret, or at least express reluctance at it being told, but when the male seemed too exhausted to care, Tessa accepted his answer without protest. Keene's parting words made Tessa frowned slightly though, and she watched the dark-haired male as he walked away.

Well, if she had any doubts about where she stood in the man's mind, she didn't any longer. Just as Keene was keeping her at arm's length, Tessa vowed to do the same. She clearly felt some sort of fondness towards the man - otherwise she wouldn't have bothered to help him at all - but Keene's words implied that he didn't feel the same and Tessa found herself trying to crush those pesky feelings of protectiveness and attachment she held towards him, no matter how slight or confusing they were.

She walked back to Dorene and Raxiel and just as she had planned, she caught her two teammates up to speed. Tessa revealed everything she had learned about Keene, ranging from the hybrid's powers to his more than strained relationship with Rasheel. She did choose to omit one thing though - Lyalah. Somehow, that just felt too personal for Tessa to reveal and the information didn't seem particularly necessary to know anyway.

Afterwards, Dorene could barely contain herself and it took Tessa a long while to convince the redhead to let Keene sleep and save her long list of questions until later. After all, she didn't think Keene would receive the researcher very well considering his earlier snappiness. Finally, Dorene unhappily relented and Tessa relaxed a little. By now the exhaustion was catching up to her as well though and now that everything had been explained, Tessa rose and made for the quarters to find a room of her own to sleep in.
 
Keene had gone to sleep restless which wasn't unusual after the last few days he'd had. His foresight actually seemed to give him something of a break tonight, having been used like a forgotten muscle and now somewhat tired itself even as it was much better able to move about, freer, looser. Keene would find it a pain in the arse once he woke and had to try and keep a tight reign on it, but for now he was completely oblivious to the morning's coming challenges.

He was also completely unaware of his subconscious stirring from more than just the unpleasant dreams playing over in his mind. No, it was driven, given power by both aspects of his gifts; the foresight that gave his subconsciousness the power to draw the conscious mind of others to attention, to make them remember things and his telepathic gift that allowed his mind to seek out another.

Said combination flew through the halls, invisible, silent until it found the mind of the person it wanted. The white-haired female, the heir of Nimue. Keene was drawn to her as she was drawn to him, even if she didn't understand why and he wasn't willing to acknowledge it at all. It didn't change anything.

Now Keene's subconsciousness slipped into Tessa's mind again, much more gently than it had on the Explorer and in her dreams, a young boy, probably around eight or nine would have appeared very suddenly. His black hair would be tousled about his head, jade eyes wiser than his years, but friendly. He'd have loose clothes on, a white shirt that almost fell off one shoulder and bare feet, his black tail waving in a relaxed way.

He'd smile at Tessa and she'd feel the strongest urge to follow him.
 
Tessa wasn't the type to dwell and even after the particularly stressful events from that day, she managed to shut her mind up and fall asleep fairly quickly. That said, she had less control over her mind when she slept and that frequently led to bothersome dreams. Tonight though, her dreams took a different turn and Tessa found herself standing in front of the young boy.

In the distorted haze of the dream, Tessa didn't immediately realize who the boy was or that she was even dreaming at all. She was, however, enamored by the black-haired boy. He was interesting to look at, to say the least, and as he smiled and gently waved his black tail around, Tessa couldn't help but find him disarmingly cute.

Tessa began to walk after the boy, simply wanting to see more of him and wherever it was he would lead her. Her curiosity was successfully piqued and as she followed him, Tessa smiled faintly.

"Where are we going?"
 
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The child only smiled back over his shoulder at Tessa, laughter in his eyes before he ran down a canyon, daring her to follow. He knew she would. She was full of curiosity, full of wonder and light and she would sense he meant her no ill-will. At the end of the canyon, though, the boy stopped, looking into a cave and when Tessa caught up to him, he looked up at with a solemn expression before slipping his hand into her own.

She'd get the sense that it was both to draw comfort from her as well as to reassure her. He knew where he was going. She just had to trust him. His hand gripped her own in a surprisingly strong grip as he pulled her determinedly after him into the dark cavern. The blackness engulfed them and for a long, scary amount of time there was nothing to see and then a light started to appear. It was clear what it was as the deafening roar of flames were suddenly heard. As suddenly as they'd appeared, they spread, engulfing both Tessa and the child....but they didn't burn. There was some distant heat, but the black-haired boy frowned at the fire and it seemed to almost shrink a little as if reprimanded.

Slowly, said flames started to turn color, becoming a brilliant blue, the temperature changing, growing colder, friendly as they inspected the white-haired female. The child looked up at the Tessa then and he never let go of her hand. If he had, she would have surely been burned by the fire when it first attacked.

He smiled, telling her she didn't need to be afraid, but afterward he looked away, toward the rest of the cave. They still had a ways to go.
 
Tessa followed the boy through the canyon and when he stopped in front of the cave and took her hand, she smiled faintly. Despite knowing nothing about the young boy, she was instinctively drawn to him and even though she was more wary of entering the cave, the boy's touch endeared her to him further and she followed him inside.

The light in the distance made Tessa tilt her head a little in confusion but as soon as she realized what it was - that the light was actually a fire rushing towards them - she gasped and took a step back, automatically tightening her grip on the boy's hand. Tessa HATED fire; it was one of the few things that could visibly rise fear in her and the white-haired girl bit back a whimper as the flames engulfed them.

When the two remained unharmed though, Tessa glanced around at the fire in confusion and as the flames turned blue and colder, she gradually began to relax. She looked back at the boy then, confusion filling her violet eyes.

"I don't understand. What is this...?"

The boy didn't speak to answer her and at his silence, Tessa looked back up at the rest of the cave. She was more wary about proceeding this time, especially after the incident with the fire, but the boy seemed at ease and that meant he must know that whatever lied ahead was safe. Tessa drew in a deep breath through her nose to calm her nerves before they began walking again.
 
The boy was glad she'd not bolted and squeezed Tessa's hand gently before walking again. The child led Tessa further down the cave tunnels until they came to a steel door. He calmly unlocked it and they continued on. Different paths and tunnels threatened to get them hopelessly lost, but the child knew his way. He avoided traps and obstacles as if they didn't exist or were nuisances. Cliffs were simply jumped off of, landing safely on the bottom. Rivers were walked on. Storms were banished, lightning ignored. And he held on to Tessa's hand through everything, refusing to let her go. Not now. They were so close!

They came, finally to a plain and in the background, like a heartbeat, was the ever-hovering feeling of something like pain. It was an electric charge that passed over the skin, raising the hairs, giving you the sense that something powerful was just out of reach. It was dangerous and crackling like lightening in the clouds before a downpour.

The child seemed wary of it, looking up at the rumbling sky, but not scared and he pulled Tessa into walking again after a moment until they came to the sea. It was violent, raging and the boy's expression became sadder, his tail drooping as a dog's ears might and he looked up at Tessa again before pointing out to the waves. Dark water had started to rise, forming a disk shape, drawing closer, turning so that it resembled a mirror.

And then it started to show images and the more one looked at them, the more the scene drew you in until it felt like you were part of it. Tessa would be able to hear everything, see everything and to some degree, even feel it if she let herself. The boy stared right at it with a stubborn expression, showing clearly that it was important and that he wanted Tessa to see what the water would show.

Keene appeared uneasy, looking around at the inhabitants of this dock like he'd rather be any place else. It didn't look like a nice space port. It was dirty and the aliens here were of breeds one didn't want to get involved with. Thieves, cutthroats, slavers, gamblers, pimps... At eighty-four and with the mental capacity of a human seventeen or eighteen year old - including the looks of said age - the hybrid was ill-equipped to deal with such things and he looked at his companion with uncertainty.

"Rasheel, what are we doing here?"

The gorgeous brunette laughed lightly, linking her arm with his. "Relax, Noro. I told you, I have business with a gentleman here."

"I don't see anything 'gentlemanly' about this place..." the hybrid muttered under his breath and Rasheel chuckled, but didn't correct him and Keene sighed, rolling his eyes and following her, hoping they'd be done soon. It wasn't until they were approaching the alien Rasheel wanted to meet that Keene felt a prickle of true warning and he faltered slightly, letting Rasheel slip away from his side, his jade eyes narrowing.

"Rasheel, I don't think-"

"Take him." Rasheel's voice had snapped cold, into a tone Keene had never heard from her before in the months that they'd known each other and he stared at the female, uncomprehending of her words or the cold steel in her eyes until he heard movement behind him. His power, silent with Rasheel - something he'd been amazed and grateful for; it was nice to have someone he wasn't constantly getting visions about - now flared to life and the hybrid dodged the first alien that tried to grab him. Panic and fear ignited in his body, in his eyes as he tried to escape the half-dozen or so aliens that came at him, but Keene wasn't trained for this, wasn't skilled with his foresight and he felt himself grabbed by one hand and then many.

He struggled, landing a blow, a kick, a bite, but it availed to nothing as he was restrained. His lip bled profusely, leaving a trail down his chin, into his shirt as his head was forced up by a hand wrapping in his black hair and he came face to face with Rasheel. She was smiling and Keene felt as if he'd been stabbed in the gut and the person was twisting the knife over and over as the female spoke.

"Now, now, Noro. Be good and there will be less pain."

"Wh..why are you doing this? I thought we were f-friends!"

Rasheel chuckled and trailed her fingers down his cheek, her voice deceptively sweet. "Oh, Noro, we were never friends and we never could be. We are enemies and I'm feeling benevolent enough not to kill you. Instead...I'm just going to let the Kiskar break you in whatever way they deem fit. It'll keep you out of my way for a while, I am sure. And just to make sure you stay put like a good boy..."

Keene felt cold metal slide around his neck and there was the sound of an ominous snap. Rasheel stepped back then, her smile smug as she watched Keene's eyes register the collar about his neck, the absence of his power. He could feel it, just out of reach and oh, some foresight would get through, but not enough to aid him. He was still learning after all. Still just a child at heart. The woman looked at the Kiskar she'd come to meet. "He's all yours." She walked away then, never looking back and Keene was hauled, struggling like mad to the towering alien in charge.

The strike the alien delivered to the hybrid's stomach made him double over with a hoarse cry of pain and he was released, left to fall to his side, curling around his middle. When his wet green eyes happened to glance up, they were met with yellow ones holding no mercy and the Kiskar crouched slowly, reaching out to hold Keene's chin in a bruising grip. His voice was gruff.

"You will behave. You are nothing now. No one. You are Chula."

Chula. The universal term for a slave.

The disk of water collapsed, spraying back into the turbulent sea and the child watched it go, tears streaming down his face and his hand tight upon Tessa's.
 
Initially, Tessa had hesitated at every obstacle but as they passed each one easily and in ways that defied logic, she began to relax a little. By the time they were closing in on their destination, Tessa proceeded with more certainty, trusting in the young boy's abilities to lead her safely.

Arriving at the ocean, Tessa frowned slightly, sensing the underlying pain that pervaded the area. She glanced at the boy, watching his reaction to the shift in atmosphere. When he pointed at the ocean then, Tessa looked up at the water as it rose, forming a mirror-like shape. As the scene began to play, Tessa watched with interest, though that quickly gave way to irritation as Rasheel linked her arm with Keene's. Without even thinking about it, Tessa bristled and narrowed her eyes a little; she didn't know why the sight bothered her, and when she recalled the memory later, she would convince herself that it was surely because she knew Rasheel was the enemy and for no other reason.

Tessa's loathing of Rasheel only worsened though, as the beautiful brunette betrayed the man who had so clearly trusted her. At every struggle and subsequent hit that Keene received, Tessa involuntarily flinched. Vaguely, she could feel the pain that Keene felt, though the physical pain paled in comparison to the agony of broken trust, and Tessa forced herself to tear her gaze away from the water in an attempt to separate herself from the pain right as the memory was ending. As the water fell back into the ocean, Tessa swallowed hard and looked down at the young boy again. His tears did not surprise Tessa, though it hurt to see them all the same. She wanted to do something, to say something, to help him but before she could, the dream was slipping from her and Tessa woke with a start.

Tessa sat up from her bed, staring at nothing in particular as her mind raced through the dream. Keene. The boy and the man in the scene had been Keene, of course, but how...? Tessa ran a hand through her hair, trying to ground herself in some way. A glance at the clock in the room told her she had been sleeping for over eight hours, effectively making it morning, though the lack of sunlight meant it hardly made a difference what time of day it was anyway. Tessa pushed the blankets off of her and stood then, presumably to find Keene. She didn't want to outwardly ask about her dream - like she would ever admit to dreaming about the man - but maybe she could get some information all the same...
 
Keene had woken curled in on himself and he laid there in the unfamiliar bed for several minutes, sweating, shaking as he tried to understand why he felt so raw, why the twisting emotion of betrayal curled so heavily through his gut. He rubbed his eyes after a time, but there were no tears to scrub away and he felt marginally better about that as he forced himself out of the bed. He was still shaky, still feeling 'off' but Keene was determined to push the feelings away.

It didn't take him long to decide on a shower and he let the hot water run over him like a balm, attempting to convince himself that he could let everything unpleasant drain away like the caked blood on his skin did. It wasn't working well and seeking a distraction, the hybrid looked down at his side and slowly peeled off the pad there revealing perfectly smooth skin. The laser burn was gone and any evidence that it had been there. He didn't scar. Ever. No matter what happened to his body, there was never any evidence. Nothing scarred but his mind and Keene took great pains to hide that, too.

He finally turned the water off - not attempting to remove the pad over his shoulder yet - and thew away the pad that had been on his side. The black-haired male then proceeded to go to a panel in the wall and punch in a code. Every ship came equipped with the ability to make clothes. It was a simple matter of giving the technology your size and preference and it would be made. Keene only had to wait about five minutes for his clothes to be done and they arrived in a delivery system in the bathroom wall. He took the jeans, specially made for tails and slipped them on and then drew the white old fashioned - some might say pirate shirt - over his head. He didn't bother with the laces at his chest and he towel dried his hair, letting it do what it wanted as he stepped out of the bathroom. Keene put his shoes on before leaving the room entirely.

The hybrid made his way to the cockpit and he settled himself into the pilot chair, lifting a foot to rest the sole of his shoe on the console, spinning his chair back and forth absentmindedly as he stared out at the stars. His reflection in the glass was calm but troubled, saddened just under the surface. It was a sadness that was ready to retreat into obscurity at the slightest hint that it was noticed by another.

The turbulent visions and then memories - he hadn't dreamed about his past in years; what was that about?! - that had plagued him hadn't made for a great sleep, but just because he was tired and unsettled didn't mean he was going to be easy prey for anyone.

Keene had learned better than to allow that.
 
Tessa stood from the bed and with a light sigh, she glanced at the bathroom. She needed to shower, but she decided she would do that later. Her dream haunted her still and right now Tessa just wanted to find Keene. She wasn't even sure what she would say to him but she hoped that seeing the man might alleviate some of the visions from the night before.

Tessa left her room and made her way down the hall. One room she passed was taken - presumably by Dorene - and Tessa idly wondered where Raxiel was. Androids did not have the need for sleep and while Tessa never quite learned what Raxiel does during those night hours, she had never bothered to really find out.

It took Tessa a little while to find Keene and when she finally did, she crossed her arms loosely and leaned against the wall of the cockpit, merely taking the image of him in. It felt almost strange to look at the man now after she had seen him so vulnerable in her dream, so different from what she was used to. It occurred to Tessa then that she had been staring and her mind grasped for something to say to break the silence.

"Hey."

It was a lame start and Tessa knew it but she didn't know what else to say. She wanted to ask about her dream, to see if any part of it was real, but she doubted Keene would receive the questions well. No, better to start off slow and ease into the topic.
 
Keene had known someone was behind him, but he'd oddly assumed it was Raxiel as androids didn't sleep and the male would probably be keeping tabs on the other three members of the ship. Seeing as androids didn't really understand emotions all that well, the hybrid hadn't felt the need to immediately clam up and he'd continued to push his chair back and forth slowly, a myriad of emotions flickering across his face, subtle but there.

He still felt that dull sense of betrayal in his chest, the faint traces of fear and he brought his hand up, rubbing at his chest with a slight grimace. Damn, that was why he'd stopped dreaming, letting the visions take over that night pastime instead. He didn't want to remember more than he already did while awake. Keene sighed, dropping his hand again, looking back at the blackness of space and the faint pinpricks of light further way, stars.

It was that moment when the person behind him spoke and Keene, to his eternal embarrassment, jumped slightly. He then leaped to his feet, chair spinning behind him and his tail ready to strike before his darkening green eyes registered Tessa and recognition came just as swiftly. The hybrid sighed, a light groan in the sound as he sat back, not even looking to make sure the chair was in the right position. It was.

He ran his hand back through his damp black hair and raised a brow, his body relaxing from the adrenaline rush, but his face and eyes guarded now. "Can I help you?"
 
Tessa had noted the changes in Keene, watched as his expressions changed ever so slightly, and that in combination with her dream made her more inclined to be more patient and friendly towards the male. When Keene jumped in surprise, Tessa smiled a little, though that faded as the man sat back down and tightly locked his emotions away.

"I just wanted to talk. Dorene is sleeping and Raxiel is...uh...doing something, I'm sure. He never talks anyway."

Tessa walked closer to Keene then and took a seat next to him.

"So...since we are forced to travel together, tell me a little about yourself. Unless, of course, you would melt or something if you became any less cryptic and mysterious."

Tessa smiled faintly then, teasing, and she hoped Keene would lighten up enough to answer her. Though, he didn't exactly have a good track record of doing that and Tessa made sure to keep her expectations low.
 
"Not melt; combust."

He shot the response back rapidly, but there was less bite in it than normal and the hybrid's eyes narrowed as he watched Tessa. Something had changed and he didn't know what it was. Just last night she'd been angry, ready to rip him apart with her words, distrusting, sure he was up to no good and now...she was being....gentle. That was on the only way he could describe it, even to himself. She was being gentle and Keene felt instant distrust of the change.

People were only nice - deceptively so - when they wanted something from him. And if they couldn't get it by cajoling it out of him, they turned to hurting him. While Keene knew damn well that Tessa couldn't even dream of really hurting him physically - he was much more deadly than she was, her ice power and all - she could very well resort to emotional hurt and despite what everyone thought, he WAS susceptible to that.

No, better to error on the side of caution.

"You want to talk? To know about me?" The skepticism was clear and Keene crossed his arms, his foot back on the console like before, spinning his chair slowly back and forth. He seemed to do better with movement and his tail was never still, the end now twitching back and forth in an agitated manner. He regarded the white-haired halfbreed in front of him with calculating, but thoughtful jade eyes before Keene finally spoke again.

"Fine. A question for a question and you only get as much as you give. Fair?"
 
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Tessa blinked, surprised at how quickly Keene retorted, before she smiled in approval. Perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as she had initially thought. At Keene's offer, Tessa hummed softly in thought for a moment before she nodded.

"Sounds fair."

Tessa already knew what question she WANTED to ask, but she forced herself to wait. Asking about Rasheel and Keene's slavery...that probably wouldn't end well and Tessa knew an appropriate build-up was necessary. At the very least, she could use this opportunity to find out more about Keene, even if he refused to answer her later questions.

"Okay, how about this: What was your childhood like? Did you grow up with other Roenen or were you not dragon enough for them?"
 
Oh stars, this had been a bad idea.

Keene looked at Tessa for a long moment, his expression unreadable, before his eyes slid away from her and back to the window. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I could leave. I could just leave and tell her to screw it. Let her dislike me more than she already does. That would certainly make her leave sooner; safer for her, for all of them. Damn. I'm going to answer. Why am I going to answer?!

The hybrid had stopped moving his chair, had stopped moving entirely. Only his tail showed motion, quivering, the scales rippling in strange spurts. Keene finally sighed and he kept looking out the window as he spoke, better able to remain emotionless that way. "My childhood was...fine. I was passed around from family to family in the elven village. I grew up in the forests and jungles and I was ha-...fine."

Keene moved his foot off the console, putting it instead on the edge of his chair and he drew the other one up beside it, resting his forearm on one knee and running his other hand back through his tousled black hair. He wouldn't EVER admit he'd taken this position as both a defense mechanism AND as a means of self-comfort. If his voice had been blank before, it grew colder now. "I was the product of a Roenen seducing and raping a human woman, though, they spun it the other way for the Roenen's honor, with the woman as the seducer. Human-Roenen hybrids aren't permitted to live on good grounds. Apparently out of spite for this law, my mother made sure I was well-hidden before she left me. I never knew her and I don't want to know my father."

Now Keene looked at Tessa and his jade eyes were sharp, piercing. "You're a hybrid. I know you're Illian, but what else are you? What's your childhood story?"
 
Tessa listened to Keene closely, frowning a little when she heard him correct himself. Was he about to say happy? Why would he hide that? Tessa might have called him out on it but she didn't want to risk interrupting him and losing the chance to hear his answer. She watched as Keene seemed to curl in on himself and even as the position made him appear more vulnerable, the coldness of his voice reminded Tessa that the hybrid wasn't one to be coddled.

Tessa remained silent as Keene continued, thoughtful even as he recounted the less than pleasant things that happened in the past. If the man hadn't known either of his parents and if he had been switched between families throughout his life, then it was no wonder he grew up to feel disconnected with others. Well, that, and the fact that he had foresight. That would certainly help with the alienation.

At Keene's question though, it was Tessa's turn to shift her gaze to the window. "...I don't know. My mom is Illian but I don't know who my father is. I don't even know his species. My mom refused to talk about him. Whoever he was though, he gave me these stupid purple eyes."

Tessa glanced at Keene then, smiling faintly. "You'd think purple eyes aren't a big deal but on Illia, everyone looks the same. White hair, blue eyes. No exceptions. You asked how my childhood was - it was boring. The Illian people are so stuffy; they pride themselves on being knowledgeable and diplomatic, which basically means everyone learns far too much than is ever useful and everyone talks so damn...carefully. 'Tactful' they call it. I hated it. I wanted to go on adventures and fight battles and do something exciting for once. Nobody agreed with me, which is fine because I didn't really like anyone there and they didn't like me either. SO, I joined the army. The end."

"Now for you..." Tessa grinned, glad she could finally stop thinking about the past and put the focus on Keene again. "What did you do in between the time you left your planet and joined the army?"
 
Keene had been trying to think of any aliens he knew with purple eyes even as Tessa said the words, but as rapidly as his mind thought and as much information as it held...the brutal fact was that there were many aliens with purple eyes. Without more information, he wouldn't ever know which one might be connected to Tessa and while that irked him somewhat - he hated mysteries; ironic, he knew - he let it pass. There really wasn't a point, was there? She'd be gone soon and it wasn't like she'd asked him for help.

At Tessa's half-story, half-rant, he found himself fighting just the slightest hint of a smile. Stuffy and boring. Yes, that did describe the Illian race and....to think of this wild, white-haired creature in their midst? Oh, yes, THAT was cause for some amusement no matter what he might think of Tessa herself or this situation. No, it was good she'd gotten away. She'd made her own future and sure, it had gotten her here, with him, but that was only for a time and in the end, Keene was more than sure that she'd find her adventure.

It made him strangely...satisfied.

Shaking the confusing thought away, he focused back on the conversation at hand as Tessa spoke once more. She was grinning, clearly waiting for a good story. Keene had frozen, though, his heart pounding loudly in his ears and his jade eyes paled just a little, growing a little more blank before he got some control and looked away, taking a careful breath. He wanted to snap at Tessa, to tell her he was done, but that was an impulsive reaction and something stronger, deeper cautioned him to a bit more patience.

The hybrid's voice was carefully controlled. "That's a lot of years to cover, Snowy. Almost sixty. You might be a bit more specific."
 
Tessa frowned slightly, quiet for a few seconds as she assessed the situation. This was her chance to really dive in, to ask specifically about what she wanted to know, but the way the dark-haired man had suddenly tensed was not lost on her. The male was already wary of any potential question she might ask and Tessa knew she couldn't ask her questions outright. No, if she was going to do this, she needed to work indirectly.

"Alright. ...Well, since she has become a relevant part of our lives lately, can you tell me a little about Rasheel? How did you two meet?"

Tessa watched Keene carefully then, her violet eyes locked on him for any sign that she had pushed the man too far. She wasn't sure if Keene would answer her question at all, but she at least wanted to try. If he DID decide to answer this question, then Tessa could look into possibly inquiring about her dream. Until then though, she would wait.
 
Why did she assume he'd met Rasheel after he'd left home and before he'd gotten into the army? Keene's suspicions rose another notch, but other emotions forced him to give up the idea of asking Tessa about her assumption and the hybrid had to forcefully clamp down on the anger that rose like an inferno inside him. His green eyes darkened a shade or two and his jaw worked for a moment, as if trying to remember how to form civilized words. The rage, the hate he felt for the woman could almost be felt radiating off him and Keene drew his knees closer to his chest, his arms wrapping around them for the simple fact that if he didn't hold on to something, he was probably going to start cursing and trying to throw things as he spoke.

The fact that he was going to speak at all when he didn't have to was a bit lost on Keene at the moment. He almost felt it was too late to back out now and seeing as how Rasheel HAD visited Tessa, better the white-haired female know just who the manipulative slut was.

"She's a liar. She manipulates, says anything to get her way, will hurt without hesitation and she cares for nothing and no one but herself. She's a Destroyer." Keene's tail lashed rather violently, hitting the very chair he sat on. It was only half-healed of the cuts left by the manacles and so the contact had to have hurt, but the hybrid barely gave any hint that he felt the pain. "Anything good she tries to screw up. I have spent so many years cleaning up her messes..."

Realizing he was straying into a topic he'd rather not discuss, Keene got back on point, glaring at his knees, anger at least one emotion he let himself show freely. "I was barely out of childhood. I'd left home, driven by visions I didn't understand, and I was...clueless about the outside world. She found me. I now know my power drew her to me, but at the time, she..." The hybrid faltered, swallowing hard before he took a deep breath and steadied himself again, eyes blanking out.

"She befriended me, taught me, listened to me. She understood." Keene wasn't sure what drew his dark eyes to Tessa's violet, what made him look at her when he spoke again. He certainly didn't understood the bitterness and the faintest traces of hurt that slipped out with his voice.

"I trusted her and she betrayed me."

Keene looked away then and he didn't think to ask another question of Tessa.
 
As Keene's rising anger became more and more apparent, Tessa's gaze became wary even as she listened to the male closely. When the hybrid's tail struck the chair he was sitting on though, Tessa couldn't help but tense a little and the frosty tendril under her arm began to glow brighter. It was a natural reaction to the lethal man's anger, though Tessa forced herself not to show any more of a reaction than that.

Once Keene was done, Tessa remained quiet for a while, processing everything he had told her. Her dream had been correct; well, it was at least fitting so far with the vague things Keene was telling her. Should she come right out and say everything then? Tell him about the dream and ask about what she had seen? That notion was quickly discarded though; that dream had taught her more about Keene than anything else had up until that point and while Tessa had no idea why she had gotten the dream at all, she didn't want to do anything to ruin it. Better not to bring it to attention and see if she could get another dream later.

Even if she wasn't going to reveal what she had seen though, Tessa still wanted to make sure the dream was in fact, accurate. Well, she had come this far; there was no use in sissying out now.

"How did Rasheel betray you?"
 
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