Her right eyebrow quirking upwards at the corner was the only indication that his words had surprised her, the rest of her expression remaining steely.
Death was incredibly common to her. The harsh climate of her home world claimed lives regularly, and everyone in her clan knew how to grieve for a day and then move along. But, she knew from her reading that even in other cultures on her own planet, death was something that caused people many ages of emotional turmoil. Perhaps there were a few deaths that even she still mourned, though she didn’t care to admit it. The news elicited the slightest bit of sympathy in her. ”I see.” She said, tilting her chin up slightly as she reappraised the man. Her manner was still cold and prideful, an ounce of sympathy could hardly move her to demureness.
After a moment’s pause in which she kept her gaze frigid while she decided how to proceed, she finally let her eyes drift off toward the bar so that she wasn’t staring quite so harshly. ”Apologies for your loss.” The words sounded a bit dull and unpracticed, she’d never mastered the art of compassion for those she didn’t know. Anyways, she had her own matters to worry about. ”Well, if you’re just sitting here staring, drinking, and being moody, then do you have a moment to tell me where I am?” It was clear enough that she was new, and if the portals were well known in her home then they must not be a secret in the place they lead, either. Subtlety and diplomacy were not in her wheelhouse. Why should they be? She’d spent her whole life surrounded only by family, and the way of their culture was to be direct in all - or, almost all, things.
Tala
there's a world that was meant for us to see
