Alongside those who are sinful.

Chapter 18

"The level of care and affection you showed for Kasma but nobody else led me to believe that you, well, felt strongly for other boys. I appeared to have misinterpreted what you felt, and I apologize for that." Said Katya. Dietrich did not drop his face, merely maintaining his look.

"I would never lay in bed with one of them, Katya. They are not human. And their breath is..." Dietrich twisted his face into a look of disgust, and Katya had to agree. Thrask apparently did not brush their teeth or do much for personal hygiene beyond what a house cat on Earth would do. It was fairly disgusting, if she was to be honest.

She was about to speak up again when Sehth'ker walked out from an adjacent tunnel hallway and made her way to the group. Katya watched as Dietrich frowned with her appearance.

"Hello, Sehth'ker. Thank you for joining us." Dietrich's tone had an inflection of sarcasm that Katya was able to easily pick up. However, it did not appear that the Thrask bandit understood the man's snub.

"I appreciate the welcoming! It is a very nasty day outside!" Proclaimed the bandit. Katya watched Dietrich look off into empty space before turning his head back. He cast her a glance that was filled with disappointment then turned his features into a blank page.

"It is nothing I would complain about. I would much rather be out there hunting Krisch'a than staying in this cellar cooped like a chicken." Spoke Dietrich. Sehth'ker looked at him with a twisted face.

"Very...well. The rains should not last much longer. When they let up, you will have no hindrance!" Encouraged Sehth'ker. Dietrich nodded and fell silent, no longer adding anything to the conversation.

Katya had always found such an aspect strange. She noticed that if Dietrich no longer had anything to say, he would just shut down completely and almost refuse to speak.

No small talk. No comments on aspects of the new conversation. He was there, but not present.

Katya wondered if, since he joined the war at the cusp of his adult life, Dietrich perhaps felt that there was little he could add to conversations not related to war, violence, or hunting?

"Could he feel so strongly about himself while still harboring insecurity?" Pondered Katya. It certainly was a possibility that would explain his silence, if not many other questions about the man.

He did not appear to suffer from any mental issues from the war. At least, he never appeared to display trauma or duress.

"Putting his psychotic obsession with killing aside, at least." Reminded Katya. But even then, the extent of who would be killed always had a limitation. Dietrich did not kill without discrimination. There had to be a reason for him to target someone or something.

"Psychotics do not limit themselves. Or, at least, I do not think they do." Katya had to remind herself just how little she knew about Dietrich.

Besides the few concrete things she concretely knew about him, everything else was able to be debated regarding his thoughts and feelings. Some aligned with his party. Some didn't. 

"Sehth'ker, I wanted to give you my thanks for volunteering to go outside with me last night. You had every right to stay inside, yet you came." Said Dietrich. He looked over to the Thrask and extended his hand for a shake.

And once more, Katya was reminded just how much of an enigma Dietrich proved to be. A sworn enemy, whom he had threatened with extremely painful methods of torture many times since meeting one day ago, was suddenly a perceived ally.

And to add to that, he shoehorned a new topic of conversation. Nobody had made any inkling of relation to what he was saying. Hesitantly, Sehth'ker extended her own hand and Katya watched as they shook.