She distanced herself from him and his heart dropped, a lump formed in his throat. He listened with a blank stare, taking in every word yet there was a feeling of dread in the back of his mind. A sense that he had done something very wrong.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">â€œI am just not sure if we should continue forward, I mean I am your superior officer in my crew and having you work under me could lead to some issues with how I assign missions and teams. Iâ€¦â€ she sighed again â€œWhat I am trying to say is to letâ€™s take some time to get to know one another better and we can see where this goes, if anywhereâ€¦ok?â€ she asked him hoping that she had not hurt him in any kind of way. </span><br/><br/>It wasn't a no, but still seemed so far from a yes. Dren lowered his arms to his sides, his head lowering and his ears flattened against his head, pointing backwards. His brow lowered and he closed his eyes, trying to swallow a lump that wouldn't go down. He felt embarrassed beyond belief. He had finally opened up to someone after all those years since his sister had died, shared his true feelings, yet he was met with a 'maybe'. It wasn't really her fault or his that it came to this and he didn't have any idea of what kind of person she was or anything about her past. She was right in that aspect. She knew nothing of his past either. He lifted his head and tried his best to keep a straight face, forcing the tears of embarrassment to stay inside and not come forth. He was a proud Nekan warrior. He should not be crying over things like this. He should not be crying at all. Crying is for kittens.<br/><br/>"Exit." he said and the door to the holodeck appeared to his right, the door opening. He nodded forcing a smile as he turned to the door, "Yes, you're right. I suppose I am jumping the gun here. There are still so much we have to learn about each other. I was simply....." he paused, looking for the right excuse, "Feeling a little off because of the meat. I'm sorry I put that on you so fast, Angela. Thank you for, um, helping me with my condition. I should get back to work I suppose or whatever. I will talk to you later."<br/><br/>With that he smiled and waved quickly, then darted out the door, heading towards the Mech bay, his eyes locked to the floor. Once he arrived, he wasted no time hopping into his Paladin and closed the hatch. Once he was alone, he hesitated for a moment then began running arbitrary diagnostics without really focusing on anything. He wanted to be alone and think, but Yuri appeared on the holo pad to his right and looked just as shaken as him.<br/><br/>"<That was kind of rough. I haven't seen you like this before.>" she said.<br/><br/>"<That was my fault, I shouldn't have pressured her like that. She's probably just as embarrassed as me.>" he shot back, "<She's right though. I was reading too much into what happened.>"<br/><br/>"<So what are the plans now?>" Yuri asked, "<Or is running a navigation diagnostics over and over again what you consider fun?>" Dren stopped his absentminded jabbing at his mech's controls. This was ridiculous. Was he moping because he was rejected my a girl? He wasn't even rejected. He was just told to back off a bit and slow down. No big deal.<br/><br/>Still he needed something to take his mind off it. He needed a project. A few buttons and his forward camera was now showing the rear view of his mech. A door directly behind the Paladin on the wall seemed to go unused by anyone since they arrived here. He even double checked the Paladin's sensors which had been left on ever since he first came here. No one had ever entered that door. The ship's specifications just showed that room as being of average size.<br/><br/>The hatch lowered once more and Dren climbed out, catching the man who had given him a sandwich as he passed by, the head Engineer for the mechs or something.<br/><br/>"Hey, got a minute?" he asked.<br/><br/>"Sure. Whats up?"<br/><br/>"What's in there?" Dren asked, pointing to the door he had been looking at. The two stepped up to it and the Head Engineer swiped his hand over the door. It slid open but still protested for a moment, stopping halfway then slowly the rest of the way. A light in the middle of the small apartment sized room came on, showing the plain walls and floor. Other than that, a few crates and boxes in the corner were the only things in the room. Else it was empty.<br/><br/>"Oh I remember this. It was originally a storage room for spare Mech parts back when the Elyandra didn't have replicators for parts installed. No one has needed it since I suppose." he said.<br/><br/>"May I use it?" he asked, "I wish to work on a few things that is not appropriate for my quarters. It also would need close proximity to my Paladin."<br/><br/>"I don't see why not." He said, punching a few buttons on his pad, "Stick your hand, er paw, whatever on this." he gestured to the panel on the wall. Dren did so and it scanned his hand, "There, it's all yours. I'll send the Captain a message to let her know, but it shouldn't be a problem. Not going creating anything dangerous in your new Lab, are you?" he said jokingly.<br/><br/>"No. Nothing like that." he said. The Head Engineer patted him on the back then left.<br/><br/>"Have at it then."<br/><br/>Dren smiled and entered the room, walking up to the only terminal on the wall. It was a earlier version of the replicators that he had seen throughout the ship. He upgraded the software and started to work.