Uriel sighed at Ryan's dejectedness.<span style="color: #BF80FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"You've never been very good at courting in general, have you? I didn't save you twice just to kill your chances. I saved the first time because it was kind. I saved you again because you </span>have<span style="font-style: italic"> a chance, and I think you should have the opportunity to try for it."</span></span>She hesitated.<span style="color: #BF80FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"And for the record, I don't have someone I'm interested in. First I was too young, and then the war kicked off, and ever since then I've been focused on my research... There hasn't been time for me to get into a relationship. Besides, that kiss you gave me was proof that you can do things to me that one of my own kind could never do. I'm willing to seriously consider you because of this. You should have a little more confidence."</span></span><br/><br/>-------------<br/><br/>In the next room, Anak was reclined on a sofa-like dent built into the wall, staring at his injured antenna. Already, it was starting to scar. The cut from the bullet had not been clean. His cells were confused, joining jagged bits of flesh together to form and ugly, jagged, protrusion. It marred his perfect frame and chilled the blood pulsing through his veins. Indigo's were known for their beauty. It was a major component in finding a partner. Having a scar on his antenna like that was the human equivalent of having deformed lips, or bad teeth. Maybe you didn't notice it at first or from far away, but once you saw it, you couldn't stop seeing it, and it came across, unarguably, as an ugliness. That the injury didn't seem to have done him any lasting damage besides to his complexion, was but a small blessing.