Somehow, the intensity of attention - no. The trust in those wide green eyes made a difference.
On the one hand, it was difficult, right there and then, with that look - not the thin nightgown, not the fact that they were entirely alone, the look itself - that he was attracted. And now that this was identified, it was filed away in his mind as something to consider. At a later time.
On the other hand, it brought him to focus.
His face relaxed slightly. Not to a smile, no, but eased some. And he moved, closing the window (without actually looking away from her, the advantages of a mechanical arm) and settling into a chair.
"There are different kinds of jobs out there. Some are done on your own, some in teams. For some missions, you get precise information and you need to execute a single thing with razor-like precision. For others, you get an objective, and you - or you and your team - need to gather the intel... the intelligence, make a plan, and execute it. Sometimes out of touch with command, to avoid discovery.
"The tasks where you are acting on your own and with precise orders tend to be simplest to perform. Unless they go wrong, and then they are the most complicated to extract from, but I think you have a good basis there and practice will build on that.
"But when you have a team, or when you have to act independently - and the best of this program will be," and he knows judging by himself, already, "you need to know people. You need to know your superiors, because sometimes you need to make snap decisions between objectives and reading between the lines as to what is most crucial for the cause makes a difference between a success and a failure. You need to know the minds of the enemy to be able to plan and move efficiently against them. You need to know the minds of your unit, because moving as a part of that unit in the most efficient way can save lives - yours, and that of your comrades. And knowing the minds of those you command - because you will end up commanding people, Natalia, if you survive long enough - all of this, you must know.
"And it can't be taught while dodging bullets." No. It would be quiet talks in the gunpowder stench of the trenches, in the bitter cold of field tents, of--
... he lost that thought. Had he been in the War? He couldn't remember, but he must have been.
no subject
On the one hand, it was difficult, right there and then, with that look - not the thin nightgown, not the fact that they were entirely alone, the look itself - that he was attracted. And now that this was identified, it was filed away in his mind as something to consider. At a later time.
On the other hand, it brought him to focus.
His face relaxed slightly. Not to a smile, no, but eased some. And he moved, closing the window (without actually looking away from her, the advantages of a mechanical arm) and settling into a chair.
"There are different kinds of jobs out there. Some are done on your own, some in teams. For some missions, you get precise information and you need to execute a single thing with razor-like precision. For others, you get an objective, and you - or you and your team - need to gather the intel... the intelligence, make a plan, and execute it. Sometimes out of touch with command, to avoid discovery.
"The tasks where you are acting on your own and with precise orders tend to be simplest to perform. Unless they go wrong, and then they are the most complicated to extract from, but I think you have a good basis there and practice will build on that.
"But when you have a team, or when you have to act independently - and the best of this program will be," and he knows judging by himself, already, "you need to know people. You need to know your superiors, because sometimes you need to make snap decisions between objectives and reading between the lines as to what is most crucial for the cause makes a difference between a success and a failure. You need to know the minds of the enemy to be able to plan and move efficiently against them. You need to know the minds of your unit, because moving as a part of that unit in the most efficient way can save lives - yours, and that of your comrades. And knowing the minds of those you command - because you will end up commanding people, Natalia, if you survive long enough - all of this, you must know.
"And it can't be taught while dodging bullets." No. It would be quiet talks in the gunpowder stench of the trenches, in the bitter cold of field tents, of--
... he lost that thought. Had he been in the War? He couldn't remember, but he must have been.