Rhofel and Velneir pretend they can't hear Ryan or see him pacing about out of the corners of their eyes. Velneir isn't sure if he's delirious from the apparent beating he took or if he was just plain insane. Either way, things had become rather awkward at the front of the ship.<br/><br/>-----------------------<br/><br/>Uriel slid the door shut softly behind her, then leaned against it and sighed. That boy was really toying with her emotions now. First he's dying, then he's madly in love with her, then he's half-Vortian, and then he's dying again--it was a roller coaster, not so much in ups and downs as in speed and intensity. She'd thought the only consistent quirk she was going to have to get used to was his negative attitude. But suddenly he's interested in<span style="font-style: italic">men</span>?<br/><br/>The air of distress she brought with her into the room was enough to draw Anak away from his own misery.<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: #8080FF">"So what's up with you?"</span></span>he asked.<br/><br/><span style="color: #BF80FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"Ryan's making it really hard to love him,"</span></span>she sighed.<span style="color: #BF80FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"How about you?"</span></span><br/><br/>He lifted up his antenna to show her the scar.<span style="color: #8080FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"My cousin's going to keep me under lock and key when she sees this,"</span></span>he said.<span style="color: #8080FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"It'll be decades before she lets me back in the field again."</span></span>Uriel nodded and Anak made room for her on the couch. They sat next to each other in silence, each taking some reassurance from the other's misery.