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Jessie's head snapped around from the washbasin to the bathroom door, which was open and led out into the main living room. His home had only three rooms - the two already mentioned and the bedroom, which was off to the other side of the living room - which, believe me, was more than ample for him. He could hear a small, timid tapping noise coming from the front door. It was a foreign sound, to say the least. In all of the weeks at the island base, he'd never once received a visitor. And now, they chose the most opportune moment - when he was halfway through washing his hair. It was Sod's Law at its finest.

Cursing lightly under his breath, he quickly finished rinsing his snowy hair and hurriedly wrung it out. The tapping came again. "I'm coming!" he barked, in the general direction of the door, but more like the bath. Thinking, as such, that they wouldn't have heard, he took a few quick steps to the door and repeated his cry. Having grabbed a towel, he hurriedly ruffled it around his hair, trying to get the worst of the water off so that he didn't look like a melting iceberg. Slinging the towel about his neck, he strode out into the living room, picking up his discarded under and overrobe and pulling them on, almost in the wrong order. It was surprising the effect the layers of clothing had on his appearance. While his robes were light and meant for mobility in combat, he wore them like armour, and they made him appear like something of an ominous dark cloud. The effect of seeing him shirtless, as he had been, was rather startling. The layers of clothing added a substantial amount of bulk to his, in actual fact, very lithe form. Being lean, however, is not the same as being weak, and nobody could say his body was not lethally powerful. Only human males need to be gargantuan to be strong.

The windows in the room were not visible; covered completely by thick, dark curtains that blocked out every inch of sunlight. Jessie, of course, could see perfectly, but the same had not applied for the Overseer. Jessie had come back to find many of his things scattered and knocked over, as the Overseer had obviously tripped his way around the room, without the sense to actually draw one of the curtains open. The rooms were a respite for the Captain, who still sometimes developed headaches from staying in the sun too long. The darkness was soothing and natural to him.

The tapping came at his door again. "I'm coming!" he growled, tugging the robes into better array. In despair, he glanced around, noting bits of the room which he hadn't put back together after yesterday's invasion - some stacks of books knocked over, a couple of spindly endtables fallen to the ground. Really, there couldn't have been more damage if an elephant had traipsed through the room. Sighing, he tousled his hair once more and headed to the door, stopping to pick up one of the many weapons that lined the room - a small, ornate dagger, in this case - and shoving it down his bootleg. He reached for the handle of the door, and then stopped in shock. His eye patch! He couldn't be seen without it! Even though his eye was often covered by hair anyway, the thought of leaving the healed wound uncovered was mortifying; as revealing as stepping outside naked.

He performed a small spin, trying to remember exactly where he'd carelessly set it down. The tapping came again. He could hear it closely now - erratic, as if the person outside was nervous. Maybe he'd frightened them with his shouting.

Groaning with frustration, he reached up and quickly arranged his wet hair as best he could so that it reassuringly covered the left side of his face. Then, he spun around and flung open the door.

"What do you want?!" he demanded at the person outside.

Then he saw who it was, and straightened up as if he'd been stung, expression shifting from annoyance to shock in a second. "Coline!"

Mouth agape, Jessie found himself staring at Coline's retreating form, a robe shoved into his arms. After several seconds where reality seemed to flip onto its head and back again, his body gave a sudden jerk, as if all of his muscles wanted him to move but his brain hadn't gotten there yet.

"Coline!" he choked, the robe sliding from his arms "Coline, wait!"

Once he started moving, he was away in a flash - within moments, he'd caught her up, and in another he was in front of her, both hands on her shoulders to halt her progress.

"I'm sorry, little one," he said, pleadingly "I didn't realise it was you. Please, don't run away."

Jessie stared at her, horror and sadness creasing his face as she pushed him away. Though her tirade didn't make sense to him, he could tell afterwards that it was some instinctive reaction to something she feared tremendously. That something, at the moment at least, was him. The thought felt as if someone had turned his heart to paper and then torn it in two.

He stepped forward, reaching out to cup her face in his hands, as he had done earlier to comfort her. "Coline," he said, gently lifting her face up towards his "Look at me."

The Captain watched her speak in a kind of awe. She was beautiful. The perplexity in her wide eyes, and the soft curve of her cheek... How could he have found her innocence, her frailty - two things which served only to heighten her appeal - repulsive only two hours or so ago?

"Don't fret, my lotha'uss, it's back there," he soothed. Then, however, the oddness of the situation suddenly prickled. His smooth, intent expression was marred by a slight frown. "But... just how did you come about one of my robes?"

As soon as he said it, he remembered - hadn't Lorika fished out one of his underrobes for the Overseer to wear? He'd seen him wearing it earlier, and not thought anything of it. As the thought came to him, he smiled "Oh. The Overseer sent you with it, did he?"