The voice surprised her. She looked at Levan's direction but she had a smile at her face. ''Guten morgen Levan. Did you rest well? And no, you did not snore and if you did, I did not hear it.'' She invited him to seat if he wanted.
She grabbed her glass of orange juice, it was half-empty and took some sips.
Herself leaned back, making at the same level as Levan. She looked at him. ''Well, I hunt Corsairs when I cross their path but else than that, I do what I want, mostly. But with my luck, it's rare.'' She sighed a moment, taking a breath. ''I rest when I need to or if I want to. Like, having you here, it allows me to stay a moment and not wander between the systems and planets. In fact, you are almost a savior on that!'' She chuckled a bit.
She redressed herself to sit correctly, still looking at the young man. ''Else than that, if you want, we can start to know each other. I know, to you, I am still an unknown person.''
Well, you, uhm, know what the article said. I am some kind of hero!
He chuckled nervously, hoping the awkward little joke was not inappropriate.
I mean, I know a few things about you! You are from here, you, uhm, are kind of rich, and, uhm, you know how to pilot a snub enough for space combat, and... actually, if anything, you are a lot more of a hero than me. You faced death probably countless times already, while I am running away from just one insane woman.
The boy lowered his gaze, looking at his nimble hands resting in his lap.
Your father would probably be quite proud of you. You have quite the self-esteem for a person of your age. And you are quite pretty, too. You do not give me that exhausted drunkard vibe that most people in space give off, especially around the freeports. So, for a woman with her own house, a badass fighter, a ton of money and no obligations, you seem to have yourself quite under control.
''You know, my father would be probably proud of me, yeah. But knowing him, he would express it by his usual manner. He never was the type to laugh out loud or express any emotion. He will probably put his hand on my should and grin for a moment saying, I'm proud of you. And as short as it will be, he will retrieve a neutral face.'' Her mood changed. A mix of happiness but neutral. ''Perhaps, to you I look more like a hero but I am highly selfish and I mostly take the favorable opportunity before me. And, adding the fact that I had dissapointing relations, it just made things worse.''
She paused there and looked in front of her, looking at the void and then at Levan. ''But I try to change for the better.''
If you were selfish, you would not have given me all that money back then at the freeport. You helped me out quite a bit there, Lea, and, uhm, did not ask for anything in return. And now you even offer me shelter. I do not know why you see yourself as selfish. To me, it looks like you quite caring. Maybe a bit intimidating, but, uhm, I guess that is something all people from Rheinland have in common.
Levan smirked at her for a moment.
I am just glad you do not talk like Mister Klugmann. I feel incredibly small whenever he is around and uses words like "impetus" and "an... analchy". I really struggle with people like him who, uhm, essentially speak a completely different language.
His PDA was vibrating three times in the pocket of his leather pants, but he kept ignoring it. Probably just another bot sending a friendship request on NNStaGram, he figured.
Uhm, how many relationships did you have in the past? I bet men are after you like, uhm, corsairs!
''Well... eh... You know, the reason why I helped the Core was not because I wanted, but because I wanted them to upgrade my Odin MK I. It's this way I am saying.''
When Levan said to Lea she was a bit intimidating, she laughed. ''Me? Intimidating? Nah. But, why am I intimidating to you though? I am curious to hear your reason. But to answer you question, how many relations I had, I basically had two if my memory serves well. Both of them are Libertonians. I once had a...'' She interrupted her sentence. She was about to say something she would regret to reveal. But then, she remembered that Levan told her his story so she sighed but resumed it short. ''I once had a one night... But I thought it would be a serious thing.. *sigh*'' She looked away a bit annoyed that she revealed that.
She looked back at Levan. ''I stopped looking for that to be honest. And if it ever happens, well it happens. Perhaps tomorrow someone will say that he likes me blababla. Anyway, what about you?''
Levan tried to hide an awkward smile when she asked him about his relationships. He could, however, not hide his blushing.
Uhm, I am not exactly relationship material myself.
He averted his eyes, unable to look at her as he kept talking, clearly embarrassed.
Long story short, when you are working as slave in the mines on Pittsburgh, you do not get to see any women. They usually get deported to other places. So, uhm, since I left Pittsburgh, I... got myself a slightly annoying reputation as... uhm, well. You know. I am just, uhm, exploring all the new opportunities now, uhm, so-
The poor boy was clearly nervous, but he kept talking.
Uhm, I did find someone who is very interested in me. Uhm, actually multiple people, which is, uhm- I am sorry, that probably sounds weird- uhm, it is just that, uhm, it is how it is. And, uhm, so, eh, unless I find a person that is, uhm, okay with, uhm, something more open, uhm, I will stay out of relationships and, uhm, you know, uh, try to enjoy, uhm, the attention, eh, as long as it lasts-
His PDA was vibrating three times again. She could hear it.
Uhm, you know. Things like, uhm, the OSC, uhm, thing.
The boy sighed, frowning and shaking his head.
Of course, uhm, that is nothing I can really, uhm, think of, right now, uhm, because of... you know, getting hunted, so, eh, I will not get into a relationship anytime anyway, if at all. And, uhm, it will be difficult to get to meet other people here on the planet, uhm, with me not even speaking the slightest word of your language.
Levan faced her for a moment, giving her an apologetic smile.
Lea was patient. She did not forced the man to talk. When he said what he wanted to say, she nodded as a 'I see, I understand.' ''Well, you do what you want to do, Levan. If you meet people who are open to what you just explained to me, I suppose it's just a win-win situation for you.''
She understood that the man was mostly like that man she met some months ago, it was Edwin, the Elise's brother. That type of person was not what she liked. But the woman knows that Levan was free of his choices. On that, she can't really forbid him to act as he wants. However, the vibration noise broke her reflexion. ''I think you should answer.''
The boy produced the PDA from his pants and unfolded it, placing it on the table. As he figured, NNStaGram messages. A message from Caliban, too. He read it, frowning. Lea would be able to notice that he moved his lips while reading.
