She sat across from him, cradling the hot cup in her hands. When hr started to speak, Tullia tilted her head and waited — though after a few seconds of silence, she took the initiative. “Have you been in contact with the others?”
𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮-𝟬𝟴𝟯
He shrugged, stepping over to the table before sitting down, taking a sip of his impromptu Cubano coffee.
"So..." It was all he could say really.
Tullia stood quietly a moment, frowning and unsure what to say. It was his attitude more than his words which had her concerned. Then, stepping past him and gently nudging his shoulder, she looked across the mess at an empty table. “Come on, let’s go sit.”
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥
𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮-𝟬𝟴𝟯
"It's fine. It was alongside other teams on a planet that was supposed to be a fortress so in the grand scheme of things it wasn't that big an issue."
He sounds even more jaded then he used to be. Even back during boot he was a bit jaded but not broken.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥
And with her more tame drink in her hand, she turned to face Richter with a frown. “I’m sorry.”
𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮-𝟬𝟴𝟯
And he got...Jetfuel coffee, with espresso shots.
"And here I am, a solo act after my team got wiped out."
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥
“The impermanence of it has long been tiring.” Stepping to the machine beside the first, Tullia opted simply for a black coffee.
𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮-𝟬𝟴𝟯
"Doesn't sound like much fun"
He stepped up to a coffee machine and started to type in what he wanted.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥
“Still on the pattern of being moved around to whichever team needs a fill-in. So, yeah.”
𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮-𝟬𝟴𝟯
"Here and there, the usual. You?"
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥
Turning on her heels, Tullia followed just behind. “Any recent deployments?”
𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮-𝟬𝟴𝟯
"Coffee sounds fine." He gestured for her to follow as he walked passed and down the hall.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥
“I see.” Maybe standing in the middle of the hall was a little too awkward for getting a conversation rolling. She gestured over her shoulder with her thumb. “Want to get some coffee in the mess?”
𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮-𝟬𝟴𝟯
"Existing."
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥
“Hi.” Short pause. “How have you been?”
𝗧𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮-𝟬𝟴𝟯
"Ah. Well...hello."
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥
“Doesn’t particularly matter. We just haven’t had a chance to catch up.”
