Warren nodded and smiled confidently as she proposed her toast. He was nearly overwhelmed at the depth of the woman he'd typically only seen as the smiling flirting hostess and felt briefly disappointed in himself for not looking further previously.
"To not looking back," he agreed quietly and lifted the glass. "And to being the man I am." He repeated her words with a serious tone of his own, the smile fading and leaving his mouth a determined line. He took a mouthful of the drink and swallowed after letting it sit in his mouth a moment, then pushed the glass back towards his conversation partner, the clean bit of the tumbler facing her.
"I feel like I should have something deep and insightful to reply to you with, but I think all of the wisdom is on that side of the bar tonight." He shook his head and waved off her interest in the Grindstone. "Berrod nearly punched my lungs out of my chest. It was over in seconds, like it usually is. "He won the whole damned thing, went through me and Howl to do it. Some nights, it's just someone's night."
"To not looking back," he agreed quietly and lifted the glass. "And to being the man I am." He repeated her words with a serious tone of his own, the smile fading and leaving his mouth a determined line. He took a mouthful of the drink and swallowed after letting it sit in his mouth a moment, then pushed the glass back towards his conversation partner, the clean bit of the tumbler facing her.
"I feel like I should have something deep and insightful to reply to you with, but I think all of the wisdom is on that side of the bar tonight." He shook his head and waved off her interest in the Grindstone. "Berrod nearly punched my lungs out of my chest. It was over in seconds, like it usually is. "He won the whole damned thing, went through me and Howl to do it. Some nights, it's just someone's night."
![[Image: yEROfKO.png]](http://i.imgur.com/yEROfKO.png)
