basic networking

"It's like you always say, ma'am-"

Ah. But she didn't, now, did she?

And Cammuravi was not the type to snicker, but he found a private warmheartedness at Bolearis's undying loyalty.

Would he have made it a point to reveal their courtship to Ethel, as the City dwellers called it? Perhaps not. There was no object to any such thing as an alliance between colonies, and Ethel was no longer a colony commander.

They were simply...people.

And because they were free to simply be, it was the connection to others that could ground them. Cammuravi, to Ethel as well as Bolearis. Ethel, hopefully, reciprocal to Cammuravi, along with Bolearis and Travis.

There was no title that came with standing at Bolearis's side. Smoldering and Steelwill, yes, they were, but...

"Bolearis."

"What's up, Cam?"

Ah. No. He would not be 'Cam'.

"Do you find it important to...declare yourself?"

"Ummm...no? Other than Comm- uh, other than Ethel. And maybe Maxie. Ouroboros have got to know, of course. Probably tell Travis. Hey, Mwamba..."

"Quite the itinerary."

The hand lingering on chin as Bolearis counted off his compatriots swiftly fell to open fingers and began cracking knuckles. "Aha, sure. Not every day you get to, um, court the Smoldering Cammuravi, so you can't blame a guy for wantin' his friends to know."

Ethel, of course, had been watching this exchange with cool curiosity. This was how she approached most everything (though she'd grown a bit of rambunctious rapport, with Travis), and only the level of interpolation of her own knowledge and conclusions differed from situation to situation.

Here, she cut swiftly to the chase - as well she should have: "I don't understand the difficulty. It was obvious from the first that you were attached to Cammuravi."

If Bolearis had not been sweating prior to this interjection, he was now. "Just to Cammuravi? Not to each other?"

"Cammuravi conceals himself well. He can be just as obvious, but it took me longer to discern."

"So you were not surprised after all," Cammuravi concluded for his companion.

"Hardly."