"Strength in unity."King turned to leave with Freya, behaving just as he did when they went through the tunnel the first time, the only variation being his quickened pace, knowing not to linger. His gaze drifting backward every so often with his cautious glances to make sure the two weren't being followed. Despite his hot temperament and quick action in space it seems he was a more cautious individual in person, or maybe it was just this station in particular that put him on edge.
After an about five minute walk which felt like an eternity for Freya, the two of them made it back to the hangar safely, unfollowed and once again uninterrupted. She couldn't help but notice King's rather quick pace of walking which she would match, something that was justified considering the circumstance.
It didn't take Freya a lot of thought to realize that King was quite a different individual in person than in space. He seemed a lot less hot-tempered, one to carefully decide their next decisions and plan ahead. In a way, she was surprised and impressed to see this change in him.
"Seems like this is the end of line." She said with a chuckle as the two of them arrived at the docking pad his ship was landed on. "Thank you for your," she paused for a few moments, looking for the right word, "invaluable services, Herr King." The tone of her voice was definitely not a serious one, but it wasn't a sarcastic one either. It was something between her genuinely thanking him for everything and her cracking a small joke. The smile on her face during the delivery of the quote would hint that it was more of a joke than anything else.
"Really, King, it was a pleasure. I hope to see you again sometime." She finally continued in a much more refined and formal tone, lowering her head just slightly for a moment as if she was nodding at the Xeno,
King came to a stop next to his ship once they got back to it, pivoting again to face Freya. He listened to her words in silence as he did, listening and not interrupting even as she paused. His shoulders rolled a bit before he shrugged at the gratitude, deciding not to argue or comment. He seems a lot more at ease now that he's away from the outcast in the bar."It's a bit too under a house' thumb for most people's liking, but you could've hooked a left at West Point, there's a zoner station in Pennsylvania. Bethlehem, and a decently neutral planet across. After you get your bearings you could head back there, also puts you closer to us if you need something. Just don't sign on with the Bounty Hunters, not sure I could forgive that wrong turn."
"The Bounty Hunters?" She left out a fake, momentary chuckle, "disgusting. I could never see myself working in their ranks. And you can rest assured I won't be joining the Law Enforcement again in this lifetime, King. The options I had in mind were either remaining a Freelancer and hoping I'd get contracts here and there, or.." She paused for a few good seconds, averting her gaze to the floor, thinking.
"Or I thought about working for the IMG, maybe Crayter, see what they have to offer in terms of work and payment. Haven't quite decided yet, King. However," she once again paused for a few seconds, her eyes looking back up to his helmet, "getting in touch with the Zoners in Pennsylvania might be a good idea. I feel like I'll find places there that are much better to sleep in. Besides.. I'm not planning to leave my ship for tonight, seems like it's going to be another night spent in the cockpit. I don't trust this place enough to rent a cabin."
King's face was hidden behind the helmet he wore, but when she responded that way about the bounty hunters his lips cracked a bit of a grin behind the helmet. He took a couple steps backward and leaned up against the cockpit of his ship, crossing his arms again as he rested back against it, listening to Freya speak."Both are tragedies. The Traitor Republic, and the Guild without a Guildmaster. The former abuses the latter, and the latter says thank you."
Freya remained silent, listening to King. After he was done, she took a few seconds for herself, sighing and thinking about it. It was true that none of this was final and it was certainly true that she had no clue what the future held for her. King asking her earlier about what she's planning to do gave her the idea, false or not, that the man cared about her. Maybe a little, maybe not so little, but he did. The seconds quickly became a minute of silence, it was as if the rest of the noise in the hangar suddenly was muted for her.
"What would you suggest I do, King?" A rather unexpected question for her to ask, but one she really wanted to ask ever since King asked her what her plans were. She knew quite well that even moving to Pennsylvania and catching random jobs as a Freelancer wouldn't be an easy life for her, and she assumed King knew that as well. Pennsylvania was still, probably, a far better system to find a place to live at but it occurred to her that living there would not be easy. Yet again, "What even would be easy.." She thought.
King leaned against his ship in silence for the full awkward minute or so of Freya being incapacitated by deep thought. He glanced back and forth over the hanger every now and then to keep watch, but in between he stared silently at her downward cast face as if he could somehow pierce the veil to see what the hell she was thinking about. Despite the fact he knows such a thing to be quite impossible, there isn't much else to do in deafening silence. When she finally looked up again to ask him that question, it had caught him a bit off guard. A Rheinlander asking a Xeno what to do? There was such sickeningly sweet irony for one to be in such a position. Despite the outlandish position and question, the answer popped into his mind almost immediately. Ideals passed on from greater Xenos, that he was now passing to a Rheinlander."Always play it safe. Never take the easy way out. Live and die on your own terms."
A rather big smile covered Freya's face as she heard King's reply. She didn't quite know what to expect as an answer to her question, but the one she received was most certainly not it. "Not what I expected to hear, King, nor can I decode it right now to figure out what this means, but I will keep it in mind. I'm sure I'll understand at a later point down the line, and then I'll look back at this moment and thank you."
A yawn would interrupt Freya's train of thought, followed by a few tears covering her eyes. She sighed, knowing she should head back to her ship to get some rest, it was a long journey for her and she certainly needed some sleep.
"And.. King, before you go I want you to know that no matter where I end up in, you and the rest of the Xenos will always have my support if it's ever required." She paused for a moment, her head tilting downwards towards her chest. She raised one of her hands and pointed to a nametag that was on her flightsuit, "you know where to find me," she continued, hinting that King or any other Xeno could contact her at any time using the neural net.
The nametag on her flight suit would read; Freya-Katarina "Valknut" Winkler
King listened to Freya's response, giving her a firm nod as a response, before unfolding his arms and standing upright again. Pivoting to turn around and pop the cockpit open so he could climb up into it, laying his rifle back into its cockpit resting position before sitting down in the pilot's seat. He looked to Freya again before going to close the cockpit, putting to fingers to his head before flicking them outwards as a bit of a wave goodbye. The Aggressor's cockpit sealed shut moments later as the ship's engines powered up and shot fire backward out the exhaust as it began to hover off the hanger floor. Moving into position for the undocking sequence, an unlikely meeting between a Xeno and Rheinlander had come to end.
