[SIZE=11pt]Pharazon winced internally and to an extent externally as he picked up on her change in [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]demeanour[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], the coldness in her voice, the subtle inward fortification. Pharazon was not sure had happened to her and why she had reacted so, but he could tell and [/SIZE]feel that she had been disturbed in one way. He inwardly chastised himself Can you treat no one without suspicion or contempt, can you not even treat her, the person who could have exploited you but has not with any respect?
[SIZE=11pt]He listened to her, every fibre of his being railed against her attempts to absolve him of responsibility, they were his [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]men, those that had died had been [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]his [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]responsibility, it was all he could do to stop himself from shaking his head. But, he sighed as she spoke, releasing his building emotion, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]she is right, you know[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. There was one part of her words however, that caused his chest to go cold, for fear to rise in him and to begin to contort his face. He had [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]felt [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]just prior to the airstrike that something was going to happen, he had [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]felt [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]he had [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]seen [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]the anti-tank round that had destroyed his leg. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]For a reason he could not describe, he looked up to her after she had finished speaking.[/SIZE] “Doctor, I know I am but a man but…”[SIZE=11pt] he began, cautious to use her title, not wanting to further offend her and disgrace herself. [/SIZE]“Prior to the X-Wings hitting the column, I swear that I was able to… did you...”[SIZE=11pt] he cut off, shaking his head, refusing to let himself continue. “No matter, I was one of the commanding officers and my [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]incapacitation[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] threatened the mission and the safety of her excellency and yourself” he dismissed those thoughts and concerns, hoping he was not now providing evidence for an overlooked mental injury.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The Doctor’s words on confidentially cut into his very being, pain, embarrassment, and shame over his words coursed through him, and he looked away as she spoke, unwilling and unable to meet her gaze. Eyes downcast, face darkening in shame, he could feel her emotion, could perceive from her tone and shift in body language in his peripheral vision, she knew, she understood [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]more than he could possibly know. He could discern her drawing in on herself, though he could not possibly know why, and it hurt him, his eyes fell to his leg and his body slumped as the realisation that he had wounded if not ruined whatever connection they may have had when she had first sat with him.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]“I have shamed you Doctor” he looked back up at her, the true extent of his exhaustion emotional and physical plain to see. “Think of me as you will, my apologies are irrelevant. You remain Doctor Ven and I Captain Draken, I do not expect you to suffer my flaws, nor should you tolerate my ignorance of your circumstances...” he continued, emotion and exhaustion in every word. He breathed out, sighing before he continued.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]“Men like me do not survive long on Hapes, I would face death were anyone to have seen what you saw. Though I cannot express my feelings for what you have done for me, I say this with every fibre of my being, I am indebted to you for life for the concern you have shown me this day... but I fear you cannot understand how terrified that makes me of you” Pharazon finished, voice breaking near the end, eyes betraying his fear, his unresolved emotions.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]As she patted his shoulder, he could imperceptibly feel her empathy for him, though strained, tempered with her own internal struggle he could not comprehend. “You hold my life, as bloodied, broken, and honourless it is, in your hands”.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]He listened only disinterestedly in her comments over his new cybernetic leg, he had assumed that he would be seen soon enough due to his rank and the severity of his injury.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]However, he smiled when she said why she had come back, he could see in her eyes that her own feelings for the situation were different, he would have been long dead had he, even drug addled, not been able to see through a false smile. But he smiled genuinely anyway, she had made good on her promise and action was superior to motive for Pharazon just this once.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]“You did say you would come back, thank you, I would not expect such an act from many of those I have met within this galaxy” he said smiling, before he let it fade and assumed his own professional facade, one of the many in his repertoire. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]“I have few questions concerning my eventual new… leg”[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] he said, disdain for cybernetics still obvious. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]“Though would I be incorrect in assuming that it will be combat effective and capable of being armoured like an actual leg? My fingers” he looked at his left hand, to find his cybernetic ring and little fingers conspicuously absent. “Speaking of which I will be needing those returned to me from wherever they have been taken, regardless I would hope the leg cybernetic is of a similar quality” he finished, perturbed that he had only just noticed the absence of his fingers.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]“I of course do not mean to be demanding or ungrateful, but my duties demand excellence from me and I will give the Order nothing less than perfection” he finished, tone once again firm, proud, and imperious despite his haggard, upset, and altogether exhaustive appearance.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt][member="Irajah Ven"][/SIZE]