Thea smirked as he asked if she could teach him, and then let it break out into something a bit like an actual smile as he added the whole “It’s fine if you can’t”. She gave a small laugh, shaking her head and looking up at the sky.<br/><br/>“Yeah, sure. I’ll teach you. But there’s a few basic rules you’ll have to stick to, and they’re one of the few sets of rules that I follow.” She looked back at him, standing up and walking up to him, keeping about a foot between them. He was at least five inches taller than her, but it wasn’t like she wasn’t used to her short height. Besides, her stone-cold eyes glinted with a sort of interest that tended to make people feel as if she were towering over them.<br/><br/>“Rule number one? Act confident. Speak with confidence. Even if you feel like hiding and breaking down, act like you’re the strongest guy in the world. Knives, hell, any weapon in general requires control, and confidence is the best source for it. And, for God’s sake, loosen up a bit. Stop shying away from things. If you want to take control,<span style="font-style: italic">do it</span>. If you feel like you should say or do something,<span style="font-style: italic">do it</span>. When was the last time you just told someone off? I mean, yeah, that’s kind of more my thing, but still. You’ve got a spark somewhere in you, and until you find it, you won’t be much help to anyone. Just trust me on that, because I learned the hard way.” Dan reminded her a lot of herself, actually. Herself before her entire life went to hell, and on rare occasions, now. She’d never been fully able to get rid of that sense that everyone was judging her, never been capable of handling over five pairs of eyes on her at a time.<br/><br/>She gripped the blade of her knife, holding it lightly as she held out the grip towards him, offering it to him. The knife had no sentimental value, it wasn’t even her best work, but she remembered someone going over this exact speech and motion when she first learned, still meek and quiet, and she felt as if she should carry on the tradition. Damn, that was really meaningful of her. She was starting to get soft. She’d have to go out and, like, stab some kittens or whatever at some point.<br/><br/>~*~<br/><br/>An hour later, with thirty minutes to go before the whole briefing crap, Thea stood just outside the entrance to the dining area, flicking her pocket knife in and out if it’s casing and biting her lip anxiously as she watched people begin to move chairs and table around. She’d gone in there before, but the stares from the assorted people had made her jittery and uncomfortable. So she’d decided to just stand in the shadow of the blankets, leaning against the doorframe, and watch as she ate a bowl of  warm soup with some mysterious chunky meat that she was not very fond of. She held a bit of it up to her face, observing it and trying to figure out what the hell it was.<br/><br/>“Oyster,” A voice behind her seemed to answer, and Thea jumped slightly as it sploshed back into the broth. “Another good trade from a few days ago. Still pretty fresh, but I don’t know how they kept it that way.”<br/><br/>“It’s disgusting,” She commented, wincing a bit  before handing the warm bowl to Crayton. “I will eat anything, man, but seafood is an automatic no.”<br/><br/>“Glad to see the holsters did their job,” He nodded towards the leather straps, and Thea blushed considerably. That was, in no way, fair.<br/><br/>“Yeah. Now I can have a knife handy in a nanosecond if any<span style="font-style: italic">perverts</span>try to come on to me.” She replied, an intense glare in her eyes.<br/><br/>He ignored her coldness and looked out the open doorway at everyone setting up for the presentation. “You nervous?”<br/><br/>“That’s a stupid question.”<br/><br/>“Mouse.”<br/><br/>“Of course I’m fucking nervous, I have the weight of hundreds of lives on my shoulders, I’ll probably be dead in twelve hours, and to make it better, I can’t go anywhere without people staring at me.” She wasn’t just nervous, she was frustrated with herself for making it so obvious, and for caring so much, and for telling someone that she cared so much. She could hear the cold, sharp edge to her voice through her words, and she realized the she was flipping the knife at an extremely fast rate. It was gliding dangerously close to her fingers, but she didn’t even try to stop. Let it cut her, dammit, maybe then she’d get some guts.<br/><br/>“Thea.” She felt a hand on her own, holding on tightly as the knife stopped moving in a closed position. She shook the grip off quickly, ducking her head so her hair would cover her face as she placed the blade in her holster. “They aren’t looking at you. They’re looking for the chip. They’re looking to see if you react any differently, if they can tell something's wrong. They couldn’t care less about you. And as for the mission, you're not going to fail. I've seen you with a knife, and as long as you've got one handy, you can survive out there, and you can make sure everyone else survives, too. You can do this. Just run and fight and remember that when this is all over, and when we've finally won, we'll build a place better than ever before, and people's lives will be saved because of you. You can't lose hope, because your little group out there is the only chance we've got," He paused, looking her in the eyes, his arms gripping her shoulders as if trying to keep her from falling. His irides were a light brown, she realized, and they reminded her of the pine bark that had been everywhere back home. Warm and gorgeous and one of the most peaceful parts of hunting. She had fleeting thought of how perfectly set they were, before brushing it away as she shook his grasp off. She didn't mind being touched, but it was suffocating her, making her feel small and delicate and completely fragile.<br/><br/>Thea took a step back and nodded, a bit too dazed to speak. Dammit, usually she was the one giving pep talks. When had the tables so suddenly turned?<br/><br/>"Okay," Crayton said, taking a small breath and giving her a quick once over. "Okay. I've got to go set up some stuff, so this'll probably be the last time we talk. Just...Stay strong, Mouse. And don't forget who the real enemy is." They seemed like odd parting words, of course, but Thea couldn't ask what he meant by them as he immediately left through the doorway, leaving her alone, once again, in the shadow.<br/><br/>~*~<br/><br/>Thea sat in the now-completely-rearranged dining room, going over the words distractedly as people ran around in a fury. How could she forget who the enemy was? She had a pretty strong hatred for the Foundation, and she was pretty sure no one would be able to change that.  No matter what they told her or offered her, or whatever came up, she’d no doubt want every member of the government dead. So what the hell could he have meant?<br/><br/>She was interrupted from the thought as Gerhard’s leaned closer to her, speaking in a way that she figured was meant to be soft, but didn’t sound much quieter than any regular person’s voice. Perks of being a bionic freak.<br/><br/>She gave a small laugh at his comment as she realized the lights had dimmed, and Lucas, the little prick, now stood happily in front of his colleagues. Probably been looking forward to this the entire time, getting to act as if he were greater than everyone. In fact, he likely lived for moments like these.<br/><br/>“As if there ever was any going back to begin with,” She responded, leaning over to him as he had done. The projector lit up, and everyone prepared for Lucas to begin his speech.