In The Rough

[Omi]

Every word that came out of Morreti's mouth seemed to ratchet the growing tension a little higher, as if an invisible bowstring were being drawn back. Siobhan, throughout it all, again said nothing, seemingly content to observe with thin lips the soul-baring playing itself out before her.

It took a long while before she deigned to reply at all, punctuating the beginning of her response with a heavy sigh. All at once, the nascent aggression in her bearing deflated like a balloon, the ever-present aura of tiredness returning to her features as the need for adrenaline drained away.

"Hellfire," she swore, her prosthetic hand coming up to rub her temples. The sudden burst of contrition and obvious, outright nervousness had taken her off-guard, and the rush of satisfaction she'd expected from excavating some vital details into this mysterious man's past hadn't materialised at all. Instead, she just felt relieved.

"You had me worried, Damian, you son of a bitch." She seemed almost annoyed by what she seemed to see as an anti-climax; the tremendous tension on his part seemed to have been unwarranted. "Jes' because you were rich, or somethin'?" Her confusion at his secrecy was evident, her hair cascading around as she shook her head in disbelief.

"You got as good a reason as any ta be here, even if'n some people migh' find it-- well, extreme. Stracke himself's a university graduate -- you ain't the first to come over from some kinda privileged-like background or somethin'. Realisin' that the kinda measures an' ideals we believe in is th' kind of thing that goes past class or privilege or anythin' else -- you either get it or you don't."

His fears appeared to be more and more unfounded with each passing second -- if anything, the complete honesty on his part seemed to have chiselled through her initial distrust more effectively than anything else could have. While she appeared to have softened significantly, though, there was still a note of wariness to her that never quite seemed to go away.

"Lyin', though, that ain't gonna get you to the finish line. It kin get you good and far, yeah, but at some point you're gonna get tangled in your own web. I'm a firm believer in the power a' truth, myself. Don't like bein' sold things on false pretences; God knows I've had enough of that. We all have. Could call me the kind of person t' stab you in th' front if you want, but never the back."

Siobhan favoured him with a well-practised smile; the kind that didn't quite bring any warmth to her eyes. It wasn't his fault -- genuine joy was something in short supply for a Xeno.

"Figure from th' fact I ain't never heard of any Robert Hughes before that you ain't exactly made this information widely known or anythin' either, have you?"

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