283. Hoth: King's Lair - Trychon

Trychon stepped out of the refresher and dried off. He liked to clean off right after a good workout, rather than sitting down and meditating. He preferred to do that before exercise... it prepared him well and then he reflected on the experience while cleaning up. It worked for him.

They'd had a pretty relaxing few days. They'd gone over some of the basic teachings that they had access to as a group, and they exercised as a group and individually. Trychon had noticed that he was becoming a bit more confident in his abilities and even his lightsaber moves. There was subtle improvement there, although it was hardly noticeable. Everything was happening for him milliseconds quicker. Force telekinesis and lightsaber attacks. They were coming with a bit less concentration as well, which allowed him to pay better attention to his situation and how he'd follow up the attacks.

More than anything, he was feeling better about his abilities, and he felt it was reflected in the final product. Raezyr seemed to think so too. He could sense a smile under the mask at times when they sparred. He could always tell what was going on behind the mask, but he hadn't said so. Raezyr definitely had an edge on him one on one still though.

Anya had been sparring more with Tyrrazapon. They seemed to be having a good time as well. Deep down, Trychon felt a bit of frustration from Anya when they were discussing Force exercises. She didn't really seem to be gaining anything from the time, even though she thoroughly understood what they discussed. She practically had it all memorized from her time at the Academy alone.

Aside from that though, she seemed withdrawn. She wouldn't make eye contact with Trychon outside their group discussions and she seemed to be avoiding him again. She'd spent a fair amount of time with Dianna, and she'd been laughing with her several times when Trychon walked by, only to get quiet very quickly.

Trychon didn't make much of it... but when it all added up, it didn't really shock him to find her sitting in his waiting room as he walked out of the refresher with a towel around his waist. Well, not too shocked, that is.

"Hey, Trych."

"Uh... Hey, Anya..."

"I need to talk to you." She finally made eye contact with him, clearly a little uncomfortable about it though.

"No shit."

"Don't do that. I need to be serious for a second. I know that I said what happened was no big deal... and it wasn't. I wasn't planning on even bringing it up again so soon... but I couldn't stop thinking about what to do now that we have a bit more time to ourselves."

"Sure..."

"Anyway... I've been spending some time with Dianna the past few days..."

"Not that there's anything wrong with that..."

She gave him a nasty look. "Seriously, stop for a minute, k?"

Trychon said nothing, so she went on. "Dianna's really great, Trych. I just love the fact that she's in charge here... and she's really in charge. You can see it in the eyes of all her crew... and the men especially. She is very respected and admired by everyone here, and myself too now."

"She knows what she's doing."

Anya nodded. "It's more than that though. I've been picking her brain a lot, and I think that part of the reason she's so in control is that she's always been a complete professional when it came to her group. That's what I need, I think. I need to be taken seriously."

"We take you seriously, Anya. Of course we do."

"I know that. It's what I need though. I need to take myself seriously. I need things to be on a more peer to peer level. I need to be able to stop thinking about what we did or what we might do... and just concentrate on being the Sith I can be."

"Ok...."

"Alright... I'm talking in circles. I'll come out with it. Don't take this the wrong way, please.... but could you just kinda forget that we were ever together?"

"Uh...."

"Thanks, Trych. I mean it."

Then she left.

Weird. He thought to himself.