A Matter of Trust

[Foxglove]

18th of May 823 A.S.
Omicron Kappa System
Corinth Station, CV-Hoffnungsschimmer

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Nancy left the following day after having rested more in her cabin where she searched the neutrals net for answers about her life. She had also tried to make up some messages but never had the courage to finish them as she back backspacing them or deleting the recordings themselves.

In her time away she would fly around the Omicrons rather aimlessly, simply taking in the feeling of being at the wheel of a fighter while she tried to stay out of trouble. Her guard being up even more than before, especially when there was there was Order around. As she hung around the freeport in Delta she debated about going back to the Corvo but she didn't want to be a burden to Maren and Ezrael as she felt she might annoy them if she stuck around too much. Her train of thought had gotten her to decide to head back to Freeport 8 where her freighter was docked.

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Some time later...

Nancy visited the Corvo again as Ezreal and Maren had made it clear that she was free to visit it whenever she felt like it. Even when Nancy didn't want to be a pain for them by being around she did long for some attention and mostly friends, as she wished to not feel abandoned by everyone.

Her days were still short as she slept more than two third of her days as he mind required the rest after the damage that had been done to it. These injuries did however more than just making her sleep for long periods in time...

A big yawn halled down the main hallway as Ezrael returned. He watched the Apahanta's engineering team installing the new DT-12 interior defense turrets on the Mako. 20 done, 17 to go, but that could wait until tomorrow. It was not too complicated, but time consuming and also they needed to test it. The most important thing was the remote control of those turrets from the bridge. There was no room for any mistake.

While walking down the hallway to his and Maren's room, he already was pulling down the top of his black Core overall, tieing the sleeves around his hips so they don't pull the rest of it down. One of the Kishiro Service Robots welcomed him right at the airlock with a cup of hot chocolate and followed him through the hallway. Taking a sip, he passed by Nancy's room, not knowing she was there. The door was shut. The only thing he noticed was one of the KSRs trying to walk into the wall next to the door to the cantina. Smirking, he went over to robot and gave it a slap in his back. "I don't think I programmed you to do funny things like that."

He turned around to the other KSR that followed him, just waiting for a new order or at least to take the cup back. "You, bring me the programming pad, please." If that robot was able to have emotions, he would have been lucky to carry out his orders. Instead, he just carried out the order without being happy or anything else. The programming pad was in the bridge, so the KSR would need a minute or two to get it and bring it here. So Ezrael leaned against the cold wall, took another sip of the hot chocolate and watched the robot next to him further trying to walk into the wall.

Nancy had been asleep for a while already but had become restless as nightmares started to fill her mind, making her rock a little from side to side in her bed before she groaned in an annoyed manner as she got more and more disturbed. Moments later she sat up and wiped her hand lazily through her face. She didn't really seem to be taking her surroundings when she slowly moved out of the bed and made her way to the door in a wobbly fashion.

She hadn't bothered to change into any other clothes as she wasn't exactly there with her mind as it was actually still asleep in a way. In her nighty she wandered through the hallway aimlessly and wobbly, needing to let one hand slide along the wall to keep her balance.

In the distance, Ezrael heard something moving. It wasn't the mechanical sound of a KSR, but the sound of a half-naked girl weakly walking around. He didn't think of Nancy being here again that soon. On the one hand, he allowed her to enter the Hoffnungsschimmer whenever she wanted, but on the other hand, she left hours ago to get to her own ship, isolating herself again. So he was surprised, but positively. "Nancy? Are you alright?" He put the cup down to the ground, slowly moving over to Nancy and inspecting her in a caring way.

Nancy stopped walking and kept her hand on the wall to keep her balance. She had heard someone mentioning her name and looked at the figure with a empty stare, tilting her head a little but she didn't respond otherwise. Her night still covered her decently but would allow for him to see her scar on her left shoulder, which she had on the front and back of it.

"Nancy?" he repeated, still coming closer. He was afraid she would just drop to the ground and get some bruises. "Are you a sleepy sheepy?"

She blinked for a moment and seemed to be getting more confused when she saw him approach her and had her make a small step back. "Wa~... wa' you doing~" she mumbled in barely audible voice which sounded sleepy.

Noticing her taking distance, he stopped. "Nancy, it's me! Ezrael! You remember? You know, the guy that owns that ship here? Dumb jokes? Mako Captain? Ladykiller?"

She raised an eyebrow and looked over her shoulder into the hallway. "Eh...?" She sounded quiet and confused while turning around wanting to walk away from him.

"Come on, Nancy, remember me!" he said, unclear about what's going on with her. Once again, he got a little closer to her. "Nancy! You're safe here. Everything is okay."

"No~..." she mumbled with a weak voice, looking over her shoulder to him briefly and seeing him approach, which had her walk faster as she didn't want for him to follow her.

Watching Nancy acting that weirdly, Ezrael wasn't sure what to do. Doing nothing? Shout at her? Give her a slap to get a clear mind? No, this wasn't a bad movie where people do such things. The girl was afraid and confused, and Maren wasn't around. He couldn't just do nothing. So he decided to keep up, very close to her.

"Nancy! Listen! It's me! Ezrael Vertiga! A friend!" he said with strong voice but not too loud. "You don't need to be afraid from me! I'm the worst skilled Core captain. And it's funny!" He grabbed her hand gently.

Her breath skipped when she felt his touch and she tried to pull her hand away from him. "L-leave me alone~" she stuttered, her voice clearly reflecting she was scared and frightened.

"Nancy! What's wrong with you?!" he asked, not letting her go but pulling her towards him. "Wake up! Hear me! Remember me! You know my voice!"

"I jus' wan' go home!" she said in her shaky voice and panicked voice sounded more in distress when he pulled her towards him and raised his voice. She tried to pull back herself and place her other hand on his wrists wanting to get him to let go of her although her force wasn't very noticeable.

"God, I wish my medical team was here..." he said to himself in a mumbling way. He tried to get a clear sight at her eyes, but she was too shaky. It was totally weird, and he felt very uncomfortably hearing her panicking because of him. "You are home, Nancy! More or less. You're safe here! You're on board of the Hoffnungsschimmer. My Corvo! I invited you to stay here and you did. You have nothing to be afraid of. Noone will hurt you. Do you understand?" His grip was a bit loose. He didn't want to hurt her, but he wanted her to know everything is okay. "Look at me, Nancy! You know me!"

"I stayed here?" she asked in disbelief, her voice still quiet and confused but seeming a bit more if this world. Her own efforts in trying to break free seeming to reduce as well.

"Yes, you funny girl. Remember? Maren and I invited you for a dinner, and you stayed here for the night, sleeping 16 hours. Maren woke you up and you talked to her for a while and then we ate breakfast. And later I invited you to stay as long and as often as you want. You have the access code to my ship, Nancy. That's how you even came in here," he explained, removing a streak out of her face and laying his hand on her forehead, making sure she wasn't desillusional by a fever.

"Maren?" she mumbled, looking a little paranoid at his hand that touched her forehead but she didn't back off as she felt confused, not seeming to understand his explanation of how she got here and apparently having spent the night here before. Her forehead didn't feel overly warm although she could perhaps have a slight raised.

"Yes. Maren. Maren von Westefeld. Or sugartits or sweetheart. She flies a Switchblade callen "Wiegenlied". Come on, Nancy, you need to remember her. A funny girl, same age as you are. Cardamine-addicted. Red nose like the crazy reindeer. Also, I love her to death, but don't tell her."

"Uh... you're weird," Nancy said quietly with a careful smile, trying to step back away from him again as she thought he was the one that wasn't exactly on track.

For a second, he was astonished how rude she could be in her state. Then again, he had to smirk about it. "Me? Weird!? You're weird!" he answered with a big, peaceful smile. "You walk around my ship, half naked, and can't even remember me. And you think I'm the weird guy here?" Then again, he noticed he was half-naked himself, touching a girl that doesn't know where she was. Like one of those good old days on Curacao, just more confusing.

"Uh..." She sounded quietly, looking back at her clothes which was just her red nighty that did cover her although it was fairly short. "I guess I drank too much?" she said with a croaked smile and shy chuckle. Confused about it all she looked down the hall again and stepped away from him, wanting to get away from him still.

He releases his grip, convinced she was about to become clearer now. "You have some sort of amnesia, Nancy, and Maren and I want to help you. I guess you will still need some minutes to remember everything, hopefully. But please, keep in mind I'm not your enemy. I'm your friend. I care for you." In the background, the KSR is still trying to walk into the wall.

"Heh... of course you do." She chuckled, turning around as she wanted to walk away. She scratched her head as she wondered about where she even was and how she could back to where her things were.

"How do you feel, Nancy? Do you want something to drink or to eat?" he asked, noticing her still behaving unusual.

"Uh... no... I'm fine~ Just...uh... I'll go pack my things and go home," She said quietly, walking down the hall slowly and looking at the doors a little clueless while her hand was gently sliding over the wall in a dreamy wave fashion.

"Your stuff is in this room over there, Nancy." He pointed to the room she slept in. "I guess it's better you dress up before you leave. There are some guys at Corinth who would kill for a view like this." He turned around, just to be surprised by the KSR that brought the programming pad. "Boy, don't you..." he was shocked for a second. Then he took the programming pad and walked over to the other KSR next to his cup of chocolate.

"If you need something, I'm here" he said loud, without turning around to her again.

"Corinith? eh okay..." She mumbled confused, shaking her head a little before she entered the room. She carefully walked to the bed while looking around the room and noticed the window with the stars of Omicron Kappa glistering in the far distance.

Her eyes went open wide and she skipped to the window, placing both her hands on the glass and her forehead against it as the view was jaw dropping for her. She stood glued to the glass for a while before she jogged back to the hallway. "HEY?!" She called out loud with an excited voice. "We're in space?!" she added as she looked for Ezrael again.

He just wanted to plug the programming pad into the adapter of the questionable acting robot, as he heard her. For a moment, he didn't know how to handle it. Did she totally lost her memory? Did she just change to a different personality? As long as the hot chocolate was still hot, he picked up the cup and took a sip, just to give both the cup and the programming pad back to the functional KSR. "Here. And don't play solitaire in the meantime," he joked. Insecure he walked to Nancy's room.

"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked, his voice was implying a sudden seriousity.

When she saw him walking to her she went back into the room, heading to the window, smiling broadly as she looked out of it to admire the stars. "Uh... I don't know we probably got drunk." She said with disinterest for his question as she didn't really seem to care about how she got here anymore.

With a sigh, he walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge, showing himself overwhelmed by her amnesia. "Look," he said, his head resting on his hands, "we are in space. You're on board of the CV-Hoffnungsschimmer and I am it's owner, Ezrael Vertiga. I'm a Core captain, and you and I are friends. You need to remember this."

"I heard that before friends. Sure we're friends." She chuckled, turning around to him with her broad smile still emitting from her. She dropped down next to him before wanting to give him a hug. Wanting to embrace him with both her arms and kiss him on his cheek, being a mere peck as she wanted to express her thanks.

Surprised and obviously in conflict, he grabbed her to push her back in a gentle way, not wanting to offend her in whatever state she was now, but also not wanting to be anymore tempted by her. "Wow, girl, wait a second..." He looked into her eyes, seeing sparks of amazement. She seemed to not even remember what she did earlier.
"Hey, say, where did I pick you up?"

"Uh... Leeds? Bradford spaceport probably?" She chuckled, sitting back as he pushed her away, which confused her a little but didn't really seem to ruin her mood.

"And what are you doing to get your money?" he asked, remembering she lived is from Leeds as she told in earlier encounters.

"Uh... I'm not like -that-. Did I ask for money?" she asked surprised with a raised eyebrow, keeping a faint smile.

"Oh god, no, you didn't! It's more like, I'm just curious about you. I think you could be a good freelancer or mercenary," he said, thoughtful placing some keywords.

"Uhm... I might be... if I had a ship." She smirked before looking around the room, trying to take in her surroundings to remember them but nothing familiar came to mind

"You don't have a ship? So what's your job, little angel?"

She smiled and blushed due to his comment, shaking her head a little and looking away. "Didn't you meet me in the bar?" she asked while she tried to overcome the blush.

"Uh, well..." he stopped, trying not to lie to her. "Listen, Nancy. How about you put on some clothes, hm? I'm sure you're hungry and thirsty, and maybe you have a little headache from all that alcohol. Here, over there in the bathroom. You'll find some aspirin there."

"Eh... I guess, you really want me to get dressed?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Wondering if she did something wrong as he seemed to have changed the subject.

"Well, to be honest, I don't mind it if you're dressed, in a nighty or fully nude, but I guess it would be a bit cold in the cantina?" he asked, reminding himself that he will definitely take a very cold shower after this is done.

"Then why go there?" She asked with a slight smirk.

A firework was booming in his head, and if the circumstances were different, he totally would have fallen for that. He bit his lower lip, not even trying anymore to hide a grin, looking down to the ground and slightly shaking his head. "You know, lady, I have much to show you." He stands up, attempting to walk out of her room.

"Where are you going then?" She asked with a smile, standing up to follow him, wondering in what sense he meant it.

"You know..." he started, as he had walked out of her room and stopped, turning around to face her, taking a last look on what a beautiful girl he could have enjoyed if he weren't taken. "... you'll see when you're dressed up, little angel..."

Before she could give a response, Ezrael pushed the button on the door interface outside, forcing a quick door closing. He looked down, silently laughing like an idiot, trying to figure out if that was just a big conspiration against him. "I know, you're mad at me now, but we're not that cheap," he said to a very blood-fueled part of his body, turning around and heading for the cantina, putting the top of his overall on again.

"Eh hey?!" She sounded when he made a break for it and shut the door in front of her. She stood there baffled, not understanding what just happened. Confused she tried to open the door again, feeling it wasn't locked which made her let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Looking back around the room she curled up her lips, wondering what this guy, who she couldn't even recall the name of anymore, had in mind. Although he did mention it? Did he? She wondered a bit before starting to look around the room to find her clothes. She checked the bag, finding some clothes but she didn't recognize them. Her flight suit that hung over the chair was something she didn't remember either. It all confused her more and she decided to check the bathroom, guessing she should also take something against her headache.

She didn't find any of her clothes in the bathroom either which made her reach for the robe instead. She wrapped it closely around herself to cover herself up properly, if that was what he really wanted. Dressed she tip-toed her way back to the door and opened it to check the hallway, looking both ways a little clueless as she didn't know which way would be the cantina.

In the cantina, Vertiga ordered two of KSRs to prepare breakfast for them. Although, it was evening. His body has calmed down a bit, and he was thankful about it. However, he was wondering if she would find her way over here. Didn't seem so, so he went back to her room, seeing her walking in the opposite direction. "Wrong neighbourhood, angel."

"Uh... sorry.. The booze really got to me." She chuckled quietly, giving him a soft smile as she turned around when she heard him. "Why did you run off like that?" she asked when heading his way.

"Because I want you to have breakfast with me, of course," he answered, taking some steps backwards, not loosing the focus on her. "Nice robe. Suits you."

"Well... since you hid my clothes." She chuckled quietly. "I want them back later though," she added, moving to walk by his side.

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