Where Does The Good Times Go[Ehefera, Natasha]

"Guess ya ain't wrong there, Heff. Not wrong at all."

Natasha chuckled heartily, leaning backward against her chair. She supposed she had always sung her praises before, but something felt just a little bit' nicer about this one. Once her laughter died down a little, Ehefera posed her with a similar question concerning her activity. Part of her wanted to make it sound a little more entertaining outside of simply saying "I trained a lot and went on a lot of missions", but she supposed that was probably all that was gonna come out of her mouth. She interacted with a few folk, so maybe that was a little extra' to spice things up, yeah? Worth a shot.

"I reckon mine might be a lil' on the uneventful than yers, all things considered, but a lot of my activity since we kind of fell out of contact, more or less featured a lot of trainin' and combat routine. Worked on a lot of my skills as a quincy in my free time... Got thrown into a bunch of mission work overlookin' my peers from a leadership position... and then there wasn't makin' sense of that Ichigo Kurosaki crisis... Oh, and I checked in' every now and then on Africa, and let me tell ya'... it's been pretty wild what's goin on' down there. Nothin' for the faint of heart, I'll say. Oh, and I recently' fought some of my peers... I fought Edelo, and I recently got the Grandmaster to come out of his office and face me in the Seaside Arena."

"Edelo's a pretty cool youngin'. A real sweetheart. I kinda' get a kick out of teasin' him every now and then. Good fella'. Always tries his best. He's not much for conversation, but that's fine. Nothin' wrong I can say about him. Far as the grandmaster goes..."

Leaning against the chair with a fond smile lining her lips, Natasha reminisced on the day she spent with Cyrus. Ehefera certainly wasn't wrong to make her assumptions, they weren't entirely far from her point of view at first, but by the end of it all, Natasha found that her impression of the man rose rather ascendingly in the span of a single day. As far his strength goes, he was no symbol of power quite yet, and maybe one would call it wishful thinking, or a biased optimism, but she believed the potential was there. Then again, she felt that way with everyone, herself included.

"There wasn't much of a patronizing bone in his body from my point of view. Ain't much one can derive out of one day, and maybe it's the first impression talkin', or maybe it was my southern charm that won him over... but he was rather amicable when we spoke with one another. Charming, even. He maintained the standard professional and studious personality we're normally accustomed too, but there was somethin' more casual, more playful, more relaxed'... It was fun. I liked it."

Natasha brought a piece of chicken to her mouth once she finished off a slice of pizza, chewing on it absentmindedly as her legs swayed back and forth. Come to think of it, she hadn't made good on that day out yet... she'd have to fix that. Anyway, back to the conversation.

"Far as the battle capability goes, he flashed some interestin' tools. Our battle wasn't long, but he showed me enough to believe in his potential movin' forward at least. Course, knowin' you, ya probably'll think I'm just showerin' the man in compliments. Well... Guilty as charged." She humored softly, chicken in her mouth, hands held up comically as though she were being arrested.

"Hahaha! Ya think so, huh? I do admit I did lay on' a bit of the playful charm to ease the atmosphere. Wonderin' if it worked a little too well," she noted with a playfully hearty chuckle. Honestly, she walked away from that day fondly. She regarded him with little propriety or professionalism, operating as she always did with that playful charisma that carried her through years. Encouraged by his receptiveness, she simply grew a little bolder and earned his free time for the rest of the day. Did she expect it? Of course not. Did she like it? Yeah, it felt nice.

Then, she shifted onto a different subject. One concerning her mood. She supposed she wasn't wrong. There was more sprite to her step, more joy in her spirit, and although she hadn't entirely done away with the guilt wholly, Natasha had slowly began learning to forgive herself. Leaning against the chair, Natasha responded as that fond smile maintained itself against her bright features.

Embrace the future. Move on from the present. Sure, the past was plenty haunting, but with all these peers surrounding her, why linger on it? Liam would have wanted her to be happy. Otherwise, his sacrifice would be in vain. Living out her days being miserable just sounded terrible in the grand scheme of things. There were people to protect now, a sector of a division to lead, and so much more.

"Ain't that the truth, honey. Guess life just hit me with a realization or two, ya know? I can let the regrets and the guilt of the past tear away at my soul, or I can just live my life for my own sake and appreciate the company I find myself in now. Runnin' scared won't do me no good. Cryin' about it ain't goin' to fix things, either. I reckon the best approach movin' forward is to enjoy myself, keep growing stronger, and make the best of the rest of ma' days. Nothin' more, nothin' less. Glad ya' picked up on it, hun."