<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/K4JgaZu.jpg)</div><br/><strong><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 11pt;">Name:</span></strong>Veyle Holden<br/><strong><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 11pt;">Location:</span></strong>Shuttle Bay<br/><strong><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 11pt;">Tags:</span></strong>Stephen<br/><hr/><br/>When she heard the incoming footsteps, Veyle instinctively pulled her knees closer to her chest and scooted away slightly to distance herself from whoever was in the shuttle bay with her. The explosion of one of the cameras hanging overhead both surprised and confused her. Despite her position, her body was tensed and she was ready to defend herself if she needed to.<br/><br/>Once Stephen spoke up, however, Veyle was reassured as far as his intentions not being hostile and allowed herself to relax just a bit. An irritated "Go away" was her knee-jerk reaction, but then she hesitated briefly while Stephen's words echoed through her head. She glanced up at him and stared for several seconds while trying to decide whether he'd intentionally been trying to help her or not. With all of her self-erected barriers having been momentarily dropped, Sthephen might have gotten a glimpse of a vulnerable girl filled with doubts and insecurities before Veyle turned her face away and retreated behind her icy and dispassionate mask.<br/><br/>"You don't know anything about me," she finally added, though this time Veyle sounded more melancholy than irritated, and the comment was even spoken rather half-heartedly, like she didn't really want to be alone despite her words and demeanor.<br/><br/>As contradictory as it may have been, she wanted J'alara. She was the only one that understood her at all (at times Vayle even wondered if the Asari didn't understand her even better than she let on), the closest thing that Veyle had to a friend, as pathetic as that was. She hated what J'alara had done, betraying her father when he needed her the most, and for that she would have to suffer the consequences when the time came, but Veyle couldn't bring herself to hate<em>her</em>. And she'd tried to. She'd tried with all of her heart, but as irrational as it was, the feeling refused to manifest.<br/><br/>But there wasn't going to be any J'alara, so she was stuck with this Stephen character. If nothing else, at least he'd given her the inspiration to come up with a good excuse for the Turians when they inevitably came to confront her about her outburst.<br/><br/>Veyle still refused the man's hand, but she did glance at the empty space on the ground next to her and nod her chin towards it slightly, silently indicating that she would tolerate it if he wished to sit down (not to be confused with an invitation).