Sunlight streaming through the window wakens Aeryn. She stretches and sits up, pushing her hair out of her face. Her gaze falls on the chair, in which Bialar is sleeping. She experiences the slightest jolt at seeing his altered features but nothing of the horror that she felt on first seeing him. She loops her arms around her legs and watches the light play over the metallic skin. It catches the lines engrained into the surface and makes them more obvious. It is no longer disturbing, but then Talyn was always beautiful in her opinion.

Dark eyelashes sweep upwards, revealing the blackness of the eyes behind. At that, she does jump a little, mostly because it is very disconcerting. It is utterly impossible to read any emotion in those eyes and it is the only thing she really wishes was different.

She also has no idea which consciousness is in control of that unblinking stare.

"Morning," she says and slips off the bed to stretch kinks out further.

"Heya."

Talyn. Aeryn smiles. "How are you today?"

"Good." He unwinds the long legs of the body and links his fingers behind his head. "Better than he would be. He did wake up but decided that his head was hurting too much – he hasn't figured out that his system can filter out alcohol yet." A smirk crosses his lips. "Not entirely sure I'm going to tell him, either."

Aeryn laughs. "Talyn, that's evil!"

"Did he ask me before drinking so much? No. Therefore it's perfectly fair."

"Well… perhaps," she allows. "But just this once. What else are you keeping from him?"

Talyn stands, wavers slightly and grabs the back of the chair. "Why does he have to be so frelling tall?" he complains and then looks up. "Nothing. Well, nothing that I know of. New body, new things to discover. It's quite interesting really." He frowns then. "Though some of them aren't so much."

With that he beats a hasty retreat to the bathroom and Aeryn tries not to laugh. She doesn't actually manage it very well.

He re-emerges after a few microts and frowns at her chuckling.

"Better?" she asks solicitously.

"Yeah." He saunters past her and flings himself onto the bed. The motion is childish and marks how different Talyn's character is. She knows that Bialar would be mortified at such behaviour, which is enough to make her smile broadly. "So what are we going to do then?" he asks.

Aeryn sits on the bed. "I'm not really sure," she admits. "When I left Moya, I had no real plan, though I had heard of a group of ex-Peacekeepers…"

Talyn lets out a groan. "Not if you ever loved me," he says and she jolts at that, stares at him only to find a guarded pain on his face. "I could not go back to that. Not even the semblance of that."

She is shocked by his vehemence and grabs his hand. "Alright," she says softly. "Alright, Talyn."

"Please do not mention that to him."

"I won't, I promise." She cannot say anything else in response to that awful reaction, doesn't need to ask why. He nods, the black eyes shining with tears, and that makes her tighten her grip. "It's alright, Talyn," she says and cups his cheek gently. "I won't let anything hurt you again. I promise you that. Both of you."

He blinks several times and then clears his throat. She strokes his face as he gets his turbulent emotions under control. She wants to tell him that it doesn't matter that he's upset, that he has every right to be so, but she is also aware of the other consciousness that shares that this head and so does not.

"So what do we do?" he asks finally, obviously wanting to move the conversation on.

Aeryn respects him – and Bialar – too much to dwell if he does not wish it. "I don't know," she says. "Perhaps we can find something. You and I, together."

Talyn shudders and looks away. "Yes," he says, and a strange tension in his tone.

"It'll be okay Talyn," she tells him. "It will be."

"Yes." It is faint and he closes his eyes.

"Talyn?" There is no response and Aeryn strokes his face again. "Talyn?"

"He is afraid." The voice is deeper, rougher.

"Of what?"

"You said… what you said… was what I told him before we Starburst."

Aeryn opens her mouth, and then closes it again. There is nothing she can say to that, and she doesn't really want to think about that moment. His fingers tighten around hers and she braces herself for what she knows is coming.

"I don't remember anything," Bialar says. "Beyond a moment of… great pain. My last conscious thought was of… you and what I hoped to achieve – the destruction of the wormhole weapon, your safety." A small smile crawls over his lips. "Revenge on Scorpius, if I am honest. Talyn… Talyn might remember more."

"He… I promised not to say… but I told him what I planned and he… he was terrified."

"What was it that you planned?"

"I can't," she says. "I promised him that I wouldn't tell you."

"Am I that bad?"

"No, but what you went through was." Aeryn runs a thumb over his knuckles. "But the question remains as to what we do."

Bialar takes a deep breath and shoves himself into a sitting position. "Not whatever it is that you won't tell me," he quips wryly. He rubs his face. Did you have another idea by any chance?"

"Not really, no."

He looks thoughtful. "We could do with a ship," he says then. "We need a little more space than your Prowler allows."

"Well I haven't the credits for that. What do you suggest we do, steal one?"

"Hardly."

"Then what?"

"I didn't say I knew," he replied tartly. "Just made the point."

"That's really helpful, Bialar."

"I did have another idea."

Aeryn looks at him, feeling a hope that he might have an answer after all. "Oh?"

"We discuss this over breakfast," he announces with a sudden grin. "I don't know about you, but I am hungry."

She stares at him for all of thirty microts and then sighs loudly.