'Hm? I guess my bullshittery had an unwanted effect and sent this lass on a different tangent altogether. I need to reboot our conversation.'
The butcher clicked his tongue as he had the thought. He handed Kat the booze in his hand. He then coughed a bit before speaking up.
"Kat, what you're saying is not an apology. A proper apology has layers to it, you know.
The "I'm sorry part" has already been covered by you. But you are still yet to handle "How can I make it up to you?" part."
Katalina was interrupted from her talk when she heard Tuan's response. She looked at him intently and nodded her head before speaking up.
"Forgive me, Tuan. I have a habit of oversharing. Yes, you are right. Tell me, how can I make it up to you?"
Kat said with seriousness on her face and in her voice. This was the first time in a long time she wanted to share her experience to somebody apart from her ill friend. She felt glad and sad at the same time.
Glad after realizing that she could form another bond without faking it. And sad for the fact that her current condition wanted her to focus more on winning the tournament than making friends inside it.
Tuan smiled when he heard Kat's reply. He replied to her with a mirthless smile on his face.
"Hehehe. Now that sounds like an apology to me, Kat.
Hmm. I'm not sure I should tell you this. But I indeed have a request in my head."
Tuan said with a tinge of sadness in his eyes. Katalina too was affected by his mood along with the booze's subtle high. She nodded her head a bit frantically in response to Tuan's question.
Tuan continued soon after.
"You already know about what happened to my wife, Kat. I had really loved her. It's sad that she couldn't love me the way I did. What's even sadder is the fact that she couldn't be honest with me."
'Eren, are you the best man to talk about honesty?'
Alephee asked in the butcher's head. But he ignored it and continued.
"There were a couple of things we used to do as husband and wife, Kat. The memories of doing those things are forever burnt in my memory. I can't drown them. Nor can I delete them completely.
All I can do is replace those memories with better ones. By doing the same things with someone different.
One of those things was a couple's slow dance that I and Tista had done during one such night as picturesque as tonight's."
Tuan said with a little vibrations in his sound that indicated that he was being emotional. His eyes also looked in the void and tried to see something that wasn't there. He spoke up after taking his time.
"Would you mind if we danced together for a brief period maybe? It would certainly help me put your face in my head for those memories."
Kat was a bit taken aback by Tuan's odd request. But after witnessing his breakdown at the event, she could believe it. The guy's performance was also impeccable.
Plus, it would also help her repay the gratitude she owed to Tuan. She decided to proceed further and nodded her head.
Tuan smiled when he heard Kat's reply. While he was having those aimless thoughts, the butcher had also come up with a strategy to win the tournament. He needed Kat's help to win the tournament.
He could only count on his Sins series ability in his plan. His time was short. So he decided to put things into motion from day one.
******************
A soft, joyous, and orchestral symphony started playing in the ruined infirmary. It was very pleasant and soothing to listen to. But with the setting of a ruined city, it would sound haunting to any mortal passing outside the building.
The source of this pleasant symphony was an array disk that was producing live-like audio effects. It was as if the entire band was playing inside the ruined construction with all its instruments put to good use.
A couple was seen slow-dancing on the tunes of the lyric-less track. The array disk also provided the necessary mellow illuminance to suit the mood. Katalina found it oddly amusing that she was dancing with someone she barely knew in a place where they were supposed to fight.
"Tuan… I'm also sorry for… calling you… son of a … you know…"
Katalina said hesitantly as he followed Tuan's lead and swung in his arms lightly. The butcher was proving himself to be a capable classic dancer. Despite his desires to act otherwise, he behaved gentlemanly with the lady in his arms.
But it was only a matter of time.
"Hm? Oh… that. Yeah… that's no biggie."
Tuan discarded Katalina's apology for calling him a "son of a bitch." He had long decided that he wouldn't get offended when someone called him anything remotely like that.
Katalina sighed and decided to give up understanding Tuan for tonight. The guy acted like he was a man on a mission when he battled his way through the finals. And now, he was showing so many ranges of emotions that she could hardly believe it was the same person.
Thanks to the butcher's earlier showmanship, his image as the real Tuan Aag was maintained. Otherwise his minor and major flaws as acting like Tuan would have been highlighted a long time ago by experts and fans alike.
As the tune started getting slower and intimate, it brought the pair dancing to its tune closer than ever. Tuan put his hands just above her posterior as he kept on leading her with finesse and completely in sync with the tune.
"You… you are full of surprises Tuan Aag. I could have never pegged you for a good dancer."
Katalina said as she spun around herself when given a cue by her partner. The latter smiled before commenting.
"It's the small tricks I picked up from say my last life before I started living for myself."
Tuan said and pulled Katalina closer to him all of a sudden– embracing her in the warmth of his hug. Before the wind-element user could react in time, her lips were locked with the butcher's.
"This was one of the memories of Tista that I wanted to replace."
Tuan said in Katalina's ears as if they were the whispers of the charming devil.
