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Warren Castille · **07-30-2014, 02:02 PM**

"Oh, he does. He does a good job, too." Warren smiled back for the hundredth time and raised the glass to his mouth again. "I'm lucky. In a lot of ways. It's strange; For as much as I presented myself as a loner, as high as I put the walls? It didn't seem to stop some people from slipping through. The idea used to terrify me, and after Sei left I thought I'd just seal myself up and not bother, but..."

He shrugged, unsure of what was the source of his verbal leak. "I'm lucky."

Aya · **07-30-2014, 02:10 PM**

Aya gives her head a little shake, earrings jingling, as she just grins, almost dumbly, "Well, of course!Â You don't talk a whole lot, but you're friendly, aren't you?Â I think people notice that!Â Walls or not, you don't try to scare people off."

She leans a little toward him, smiling still, "And I don't think you want to, do you?"Â She shrugs a little, injecting a little doubt into her expression, "Oh, maybe you prefer the kind of friend who can break things with his hands, but everything's still more fun with friends, right?"

Warren Castille · **07-30-2014, 02:14 PM**

"Friends." He repeated the word as if testing it, tasting it. "It's going to sound pretty silly given that we're sitting here and talking away like this, but the concept's kind of new to me. People don't realize how lonely they are until someone else clues them in, you know? You can't tell how dark it is without some light."

He realized at once he was making the mood melancholic, even if Aya was doing her best to diffuse the gloom. "I'm not making very fun conversation. Sorry."

Aya · **07-30-2014, 02:51 PM**

Aya's gaze softens, smiling still as she listens to him.Â For a moment she bites her lip, showing a little hesitation.Â She leans down again, resting her elbows on the bar so that she can glance upward toward him with her eyes.Â When she speaks, her little voice is gentle, "I think you have more friends around than you realize."

Warren Castille · **07-30-2014, 02:56 PM**

Warren nodded, looking Aya in the eyes before raising the glass and polishing the contents off.

"I think I always have. I think I was just too focused in on myself, and backwards on the past, to realize it. See? Lucky. I don't know what I did to earn anyone's respect, but..." He shrugged but it was a contented one, more of a what-can-you-do shrug than anything else.

"I think the wise ones just know sometimes." He gave her a playful grin, intending the phrase as a compliment. "I bet you know everything about everyone."

Aya · **07-30-2014, 03:08 PM**

Aya's looking up at him still, from where she's almost seated at the bar.Â Her eyes are gentle, and her expression a serious, rather than light-hearted, smile.Â She listens to him, nodding just a little, wondering why he over-thinks things so much.

At his final comment she just snerks, the short high sound of amusement escaping in an instant as that bright grin overwhelms her again, "I just love it when people tell me I'm smart!"Â She stands up, beaming with that amused, lustrous grin.Â "I may not know everything." she answers with a wink, her tone sunny and pleasant., "But I know you have good friends.Â And they watch out for you, just as you watch out for them."Â She lifts her chin a little, looking down at him, grinning yet, "I also know you're a lot more fun than you let on."Â As she pronounces the word he sees her suddenly pouring from the amber bottle again, which she somehow managed to fetch without his noticing.Â Grinning, she stops pouring as it gets about half as full as it had been before.

Warren Castille · **07-30-2014, 03:18 PM**

"I used to be a lot of fun!" He raised the glass in the salute she'd likely seen thousands of times by now. "It just got harder as time passed. The world got dreary, and it took me with it. I'm trying, though. Trying real hard."

He took another swallow while he half-considered he was just being reeled in. Old paranoia doesn't just evaporate overnight. "And don't tell yourself things like that. You could just work here, tell people what they want to hear and stash away the tips. Buy an island somewhere or something. You seem to legitimately care about the people you meet, though. That's good! It's rare these days. Worth protecting. It's no small wonder everyone who comes through here loves you."

Aya · **07-30-2014, 03:30 PM**

Aya's grin refuses to fade as she listens to the idea of how to spend her tips~

"An island!" she laughs bemusedly, "You know I might just settle for a beach house!" she shakes her head, giggling still at the idea of the apparent fortunes of barmaids.Â "I don't know why you act like you used to be fun, you're fun right now, Ser Warren!" She giggles some more, "An island!Â I'll make sure to invite you once I've bought it!Â Maybe we can take my yacht?Â We can swim along the shore, go diving for pearls, while my servants cook a fantastic, tropical feast for dinner!"

Warren Castille · **07-30-2014, 03:35 PM**

The knight just grinned, pleased to see her running off in her imagination a bit, even if she was just making fun of his ridiculous idea.

"That'd be nice, huh? You'd get to call the shots. Be the boss lady. Waking up to the warm ocean breeze and the sun, throwing parties all night. Me, I'd just run an inn or something, but I could see you off the shores of Costa, drawing all of their tourists. Who wouldn't want to go?"

Aya · **07-31-2014, 11:49 AM**

Aya grins, laughing softly at the thought.Â Shared daydreaming was a delight; doesn't everyone deserve a chance to imagine a better tomorrow?Â Even a barmaid?

She shakes her head a little back and forth, letting the gentle laugh finish as her grin becomes just a little smile, her eyes glancing down at the bar between them.

"I think I'd take the chance to just lay in the sun and listen to the sound of the sea.Â What about you?"

Warren Castille · **07-31-2014, 11:57 AM**

Warren followed the ratcheting down of the conversation from fabulous party life to a quieter moment by the sea, though he couldn't be sure if he was imagining the mood shift or not. He let the silence between them linger for a moment while he ran a finger around the rim of the glass. The quiet noises of the Quicksand seemed muted, even for the hour.

"I prefer the quiet myself. Give me a gentle rainstorm or the ocean over music and crowds any day."

Aya · **07-31-2014, 12:28 PM**

Aya lifts her heads, tilting her head a little, as she casts a warm, appreciative smile Warren's way.Â "That doesn't really surprise me, Ser Warren.Â You seem like the contemplative type.Â Personally, I like some of both.Â There's nothing quite like the energy and fun of a good party, but sometimes you just need to lay back and enjoy the world moving around you."

Warren Castille · **07-31-2014, 12:37 PM**

The knight smiled and laughed, shaking his head. "I suppose I'm not exactly full of surprises, am I?" He really was genuinely enjoying himself, and could only remember one other time in recent memory where he'd been as relaxed as he felt then. He smile turned from one of amusement to one of gratitude and there was a slight shine in his eye.

"I needed this sort of thing, Aya. If I can ever return the favor, I'd like to."

Aya · **07-31-2014, 01:04 PM**

Aya laughs, a little sparkle in her giggling eyes.Â "What? You don't think you have already!"

She draws her finger to her lips, pursing them and looking thoughtful for a moment.Â Even with her voice light and playful, her accent seems to dance along the vowels, touching each with that little hint of mystique that is the Ishgardian national virtue,Â "Okay, Ser Castille," she says in faux seriousness, "maybe all of the free liquor was on me.Â You can return that favor sometime if you'd like!?" She winks and grins again.

"Besides," she adds, "you know you're always welcome here!Â You're a friend of the Quick Sand's, if we've ever had one.Â And someone I would like to call a friend, if I were so lucky!"

Warren Castille · **07-31-2014, 01:20 PM**

Warren once again seemed disarmed at her commentary, but he gave her an affectionately goofy grin. "You know I can't so freely buy pretty girls drinks anymore, but I'll check and see if there can be an exception." There was amusement in his face when he said it and beyond that, there was pride.

"I'd like to call you a friend, too. And while I consider the Quicksand my home inside of my home, I also know that this sort of one-on-one time isn't part of the typical service. Unless you make everyone feel this trusted and special and I just didn't notice." He shot her an accusing, albeit playful, glance before he took another drink and resumed smiling.

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Stranger in a Strange Land

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes