Flirting? He hadnâ€™t thought so, and almost laughed. Almost had time to laugh. Then in an instant, he learned what it meant when people said they had a tiger by the tail. He had no time to do anything but try to shuffle backward, try to get out of the way. Not fast enough to avoid having a knee in his groin and hands at his throat.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Slow, Quen. You were slow</span>; he berated himself over and over.<span style="font-weight: bold">You were slow and now itâ€™s going to kill you. You were slow and stupid, and sheâ€™s going to kill you for it.</span>Heâ€™d never been terrified for his life before, but training and sheer stubbornness kept his mouth shut and expression neutral. Throw her off? He might be able to; he was bigger than her and had his hands free. Then the question was, could she kill him before he could get her off? That he didnâ€™t know. Even in this situation, he noticed that her breath in his ear tickled something awful. What an odd counterpoint to the pain in three other placesâ€¦ If he wasnâ€™t in a near panic over his breathing, it might have actually been funny.<br/><br/>The chimp would shut down any communication and take over decision making if he died. So as long as she didnâ€™t rip it out, the ship would still dock just fine and sheâ€™d still be turned over to the Imperial officers at Kryoli. But if he didnâ€™t provoke her, maybe sheâ€™d let him live.<br/><br/>With his luck, she did let him go. He had to fight the immediate instinct to rub a hand over his throat and tried not to gulp down air. As stale and metallic as recycled air was, heâ€™d never take it for granted again.<br/><br/>â€œSeal and lock containment please, chimp.â€ He didnâ€™t even get up, wouldnâ€™t look at her. It wasnâ€™t Zilah he was angry with either, but himself. All she had done was take advantage of his stupid choice. That made it entirely his fault, not hers. How many times had he told himself she was smarter than she let on? And then he let his guard down. He couldnâ€™t blame her because he hadnâ€™t expected any better. And he would have done the same thing, if their positions were reversed. Although, if they were, he wouldnâ€™t have let her live.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Ser Giann, I must inform you, that if such a situation occurs again, I will have no choice but to seal both of you inside. Zilah DronstrÃ¶m will not be allowed to escape.</span><br/><br/>â€œYes chimp, I know.â€ Of course he knew that compared to making sure she made it to a holding center, his life was nearly worthless.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Ser Giann, I recommend that you allow me to examine you in the med-bay. There may be lasting damage.</span><br/><br/>â€œNo, Iâ€™m fine chimp. I have work to do.â€<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Ser Giann, I recommend that you not perform any action against regulation again. </span><br/><br/>â€œYou have a lot of recommendations chimp.â€<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Yes Ser Giann. Are you certain that you will not allow me to examine you?</span><br/><br/>â€œIf I let you, will you stop bothering me?â€<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Yes Ser Giann, if my examination discovers no lasting damage.</span><br/><br/>â€œAlright.â€ Quen reset the board again before getting up. Thereâ€™d be no more of that; heâ€™d settle for losing against the chimp from now on. â€œDonâ€™t sterilize the med-bay. I need you to run a scan of Sera DronstrÃ¶mâ€™s clothing,â€ he told the chimp while he gathered it from where heâ€™d left it. â€œCheck for anything that isnâ€™t from her. Blood, hairâ€¦ you know the drill.â€<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Yes Ser Giann.</span>