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After Kursha had finished, Luxara was quiet for a moment. Then, when she began to speak it was quiet and faltering. It was hard to tell whether Kursha was listening—he had not moved from his position on the table—but he was. Through his sniffling, he listened to the greenblood express her own frustrations and grief. He selfishly thought that whatever Luxara had gone through could not be nearly as bad as what had happened to him. However the second half of what she said made sense...

Wait a minute. She said she had hurt the Captain. The Captain, if Kursha remembered correctly, was Luxara's nickname for Ganyma. After Ganyma ran into Luxara he suddenly started acting strangely. His carefree demeanour had been exchanged for something grimmer. Then Ganyma had lost it. Kursha had not thought much about why it had happened, but now he was connecting the dots. Luxara was responsible for all this.

That realisation tore Kursha in two. On one hand, everything was her fault and Kursha longed to bring her to justice. But on the other, Luxara was the only person he had left. He had alienated himself from the rest of his team. True there was also Alifax and Vremea, but he hardly knew Vremea and he had not seen Alifax since their time together at the Root. Besides who knew what the redblood really thought of him? It was tempting. Tempting to let Luxara off and forego something that defined his very nature. If he did that though, he might lose a part of himself forever. It was too much of a sacrifice. He would have to...

Something touched his hair. Kursha flinched in remembrance. However there was no pain. Just a kind of gentle touch. It was strangely soothing and made listening to Luxara's words easier. Gradually, his shoulders stopped shaking. His breathing returned to normal.

It seemed ridiculous to think that Luxara could stop Ganyma. She had not seen him. Even so, Kursha wanted to believe she could. He needed to believe it. So Kursha made a decision. He would forgive her. Not because she was his friend, or because of some misguided sense of compassion. He would forgive her because he was selfish and he could not stand to be alone. All of his hate and vengeance, he would reserve for someone else.

Kursha sat up. He had stopped crying though his face was still smudged green. He turned to look at Luxara, gripping her shoulders. “I trust you,” he said seriously. “And I...” he paused. He felt like an a*****e saying that he forgave her. He switched tactis. “And I want you to trust me.”

It came as a surprise how willing Luxara was to trust him. Kursha could hardly believe it. It was so easy it almost felt like cheating. What had he ever done to give her any confidence in him? Nothing. Nothing except continually make an a** out of himself. He was stunned. Even more so when Luxara hugged him.

Awkwardly, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back, all the while trying not to crush her. That seemed like the appropriate response. He thought it did anyway. Though Kursha was an intimate person, when it came to hugs he was almost cautious. The hug he had given her earlier had been a fluke, born of sheer desperation. It was more like a greeting anyway. When it came to actual meaningful contact, he was a bit out of his depth. In layman's terms, Kursha was a shitty hugger.

“I don't really know what you're going on about,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You're mumbling.” Somehow, despite all that had happened, he found he still had some snark left in him. Perhaps it was because Luxara was showing her weakness and he felt embarrassed for her. Perhaps he felt he needed to preserve some of her dignity. Either way, it seemed easier to pretend he had not heard. Even so, he gave her a reassuring squeeze. It was almost like a real hug for a second.

After a moment, he spoke up again. “I'm going to... take a nap.” He pulled away, then scowled.“Don't you dare say a word. I'm tired. I haven't slept since yesterday.” For some reason, the act of napping seemed extraordinarily weak to him. Only pathetic wigglers needed naps. “Anyway, I'll find a recuperacoon myself. You guys have them around, right? In the meantime, you should call your team-mates and brag all about how you captured a rebel,” he teased.

OoC: Figured I'd try to wrap this up since the event is ending!