Stranger in a Strange Land

[Warren Castille]

Warren's smile shifted from genuine glee to mischievous curiosity and his eyebrows furrowed slightly as he questioned her.

 

"Reputation? Are you talking about those silly letters? I promise, once I find out who's doing it I'll make sure they stop defacing Momodi's property." Whether he was playing aloof or actually unaware was difficult to discern.

 

He spared a glance over his shoulder at the support structure. He was on the wrong angle to see it from where he sat but he knew where that one specific set was, facing out where he normally chose to stand when on his own.

[Aya]

Aya turns to wipe an area of the bar, a little down from Warren, keeping her profile toward him as she rhythmically draws the damp cloth first one way along the finished wooden surface, and then the other.

 

"Oh yes~" she extends her pronunciation of the affirmation, grinning, and almost laughing, "A pillar claimed by two such stalwart knights, known to protect what's theirs.  I've heard them say it themselves," she playfully mimics a knight's voice, "Oh, I would... but... I hear there are already knights who..." She lets her voice trail off, turning her eyes toward him again.

She stops wiping the counter, turning her body to face him, leaning onto the bar, her hip pressed to it, her elbow resting upon it as she looks at him.  That playful, almost pouty, smirk once more on her lips as she cants her head, her eyes looking past him and down toward the floor behind him.  "So what's a girl to do, Ser Warren?" her eyes flick up to him as she says his name, "With all these ruffians and louts about?"

[Warren Castille]

Warren grinned as Aya put on her best knight impression. For a moment her tried to see the woman in armor but shook it off once he realized she'd never accessorize the tabard the way she'd like. It was with a friendly grin that he settled back in his chair, folding his arms casually across his chest.

 

"Cast 'em out, of course! There's always going to be a run of folks trying to get their hands where they don't belong, or shoot their mouths off when they should be quiet, but I think at this point most of the people who come through this way know better than to hassle the staff here. I hope so, for their benefit." Warren shrugged and still looked amused.

 

"Though, I suppose we should go easy on them. Everyone's a ruffian or a lout sometimes." There was a knowing sparkle of fun in his expression, the sort always present when two friends are sharing a joke.

[Aya]

Each of her ears was pierced seven times, three in a line along the top, and four along the bottom drawing back from the lobes, which were usually decorated with dangling earrings, while the others were decorated with studs that changed to match her outfit.  This evening they were red and black, with larger silver earrings of small cylinders that liked to jingle together whenever she moved her head.  As she shook her head with a laugh, they accompanied her voice with a light music.

 

"Really, now, Ser Castille!?"  She leans a little closer to him, those peering blue eyes still cast toward him, "I suppose we shouldn't be too rough on you~them... then"

 

She pulls back gently, still grinning,"Still~ it might be easier if there were someone around to watch the place, rather than chasing each other across the world.  But I suppose that chase has proved more than worth it, hmmm?" she winks knowingly.

[Warren Castille]

Warren smiled guiltily when she "misspoke" and nodded, the gesture proving she'd caught him.

 

"I promise, Miss Aya, it wasn't ever really my intention to stray from duty. It just sort of... happened." He splayed his hands and shrugged his shoulders helplessly, the look of a child making an excuse that held no water. "I'd been thinking for moons and moons that Menphina had it out for me, that I'd offended her somehow. I'm... not sure I understand how it all turned out this way. Honestly! My head clouds over when I try to retrace my steps."

 

He realized he was rambling and cleared his throat. "Things are alright now, though. I got the collar off, that business is done. I know it won't ever be quiet around here, but... I'll do my best to stay focused. For your benefit, and for Ul'dah's. Cot's strong, she doesn't need me hawking out for her."

[Aya]

Aya's grin softens to a smile as she watches and listen to the bulky paladin flexing his fingers, and words, trying to squirrel his way out from underneath the dereliction of duty she had playfully put at his feet.

 

At last she cannot help herself, leaning toward him she teasingly jabs his shoulder, "I think its because she likes the shy, stoic type, who's all like honey inside."  That teasing grin of hers returns for just a moment.

 

"So don't worry about those other things, okay?  Stop doubting, and wondering.  This world has a way of not making any of us want to look back, doesn't it?  The future is what matters.  For you.  For her.  For all of us."

 

She leans back, smiling warmly to him as she draws in a deep breath, "I love having you two around, but I know what you two have is more important than that, now.  You're a delight to watch, you know: its like happiness dancing upon tense little fingertips, wanting so badly to embrace, but afraid to.  For silly little fears.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of losing what you've always known, fear of what others will think.  Things you should not worry about, but cannot help, mmmm?  But, I know you'll find the strength, eventually." She giggles softly, her lips embracing a warm, happy smile.

 

She glances down for just a moment as she watches his reaction, "So do what you think is best.  We'll appreciate your company, and hers, and what the two of you are together, even more.  Still, more quiet nights like this would be nice, don't you think?"

[Warren Castille]

Warren couldn't do much else but sit dumbfounded as the bubbly woman before him basically delved through his thoughts and hopes and arranged them as politely as she could on the countertop between them. He didn't have the wherewithal to interrupt here and took a moment to reply once she finished. Warren had to consciously wipe the look of surprise off of his face.

 

"Uh... Yeah. Wow. You, uh, got all of it." He sounded confused, possibly struck with amazement. He reached up to scratch the back of his head, closing one eye and looking at her out of the other with his head tucked down a little. "I'm not really, shy I think, just... Sturdy? She's strong like I said, she didn't -" He paused to shake his head. "...need me. But I guess it's no secret I wanted her to, I suppose."

 

He smiled, still touched by her breakdown of his worries and fears. "I feel like I've been looking back for so long. It's easier than facing what comes next, you know?" Warren was confiding in her now, the prefaces of gallantry and armor and duty stripped away to reveal just a man. "But I think I can do that now. I think I have to. She... makes me want to."

 

It's as much of an admission to himself as it is to Aya, and he half laughed and sighed at himself. "I guess I was just the last to know it."

[Aya]

Aya looks back at him with a broad grin.  She lifts herself back up from where she'd been leaning against the bar, and draws out one of the tumblers she had just  dried and placed away.  She sets it before him gently, and then spins back around, theatrically retrieving a bottle of amber liquor, and pouring the tumbler half full, before returning the bottle to the shelf.

 

She looks down at the drink, its complex aged aroma drifting to Warren as a heady mixture of strong alcohol and barrel-aging.  She leans over the bar, directly in front of him, her elbows resting on the serving-side edge.  Her finger gently taps the rim of the glass, as she gives her head a little shake, jingling her earrings as she grins.  "To not looking back."  She leans a little closer, her expression looking a little more serious for just a moment,   "And being the man you know are."

 

She raises herself back up to standing, fingers still clutching the edge of the bar as she grins down toward him, "And then you can tell me all about the excitement of the Grindstone!"

[Warren Castille]

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."

[Aya]

In response to Warren's praise, Aya just smiles sweetly, adding a little shrug of her shoulders.  What the paladin thought was wisdom, seemed anything but to the girl, but who was she to argue?

"Berrod huh?  Why does that name sound so familiar!  He really just hit you that hard, huh?  Knocked the wind right out?"

[Warren Castille]

Warren spoke quickly to defend his honor.

 

"It's not like he just hit me once!" He stopped to think for a second, scratching his chin. "He hit me twice. In the same exact spot! He did..." Warren makes a motion with his hands. "...thing and it broke... something."

 

Warren folded his arms and looked away. "It's not like he just barely touched me and I crumpled."

[Aya]

"Oh?" she raises her shoulders and the blonde eyebrows that seem such an essential component of her expressiveness, while listening to his evolving tale of woe, struggle, and defeat.

 

Her giggle at his pouting gesture is not exactly consoling, but there is a comforting warmth in her smile as she nods knowingly, "Of course! I knew that even someone as tough as Berrod couldn't take you down so easily!  Twice in just the same spot, hmm? He's just that quick?  And who's this other fellow you mentioned?"

 

She purses her lips a bit, turning her upper body back and forth, "Why do you guys enjoy fighting so much, anyway, doesn't it hurt?"

[Warren Castille]

"We were sort of rolling around in the dust at the time. I was trying to headbutt him, he was trying to headbutt me. I pulled back, he seized the opportunity. It was a clean win. And Howl's my best friend. He's a good fighter. Strong. You've probably seen him around, he comes through for liquor often enough. Got me into the scene in the first place."

 

He shrugged and gave a moment of thought to her question. "It's a little hard to explain. They have healers standing by, so there's not any real danger. It's the best place to practice for that reason. Sparring with somebody using a dulled edge makes you underestimate the weapon. When someone comes at you with a spear and they intend to truly run you through, you learn to dodge out of the way, or else you learn what it feels like to not dodge. And that makes you want to make sure you dodge next time."

 

Warren reconsidered the less-than-half-full glass on the counter. Aya didn't seem interested in it so he took it back in his hand and continued. "I'm so used to being in my armor, having a sword in my hand and a shield on me arm. My first week there I tried to block a kick with my shield. I'll let you know, now, that I fight at the Grindstone barehanded and bare- unarmored." He caught himself. "Berrod caught me here, right between the ribs. If I were in my armor, I would have ignored it like I tried to do. Instead of that being the case, I nearly passed out and couldn't breathe any longer."

 

"I've got things to fight for now. True, good reasons to make sure that, if I end up in a real life or death situation, that I don't make mistakes like that. I trust myself with a sword and armor. I might not always have them, so I've got to bring up my fundamentals. A lot of folks there fight for similar reasons, I suppose."

[Aya]

Aya listens, and he can see the little smirk on her lips as he discusses his "friend" that she absolutely must have seen before...

 

As he discusses the fight, she turns her head a bit, "So its not really fun, but practice?  That's what it sounds like at least~  I'd like to meet these friends of yours, Berrod and Howl.  Maybe I could go with you sometime?"

[Warren Castille]

"I'm not sure it would really be your scene, Aya, but I don't see why not. It's the same time every week, and while I wouldn't exactly called Berrod a friend, I have to respect him. He plays at being a rough and tumble thug, but he was concerned when I went down. His heart's not nearly as hard as his fist." He smiled at her then, and Warren realized he was genuinely enjoying himself and her company.

 

"It's practice for me. Sport for others. Proving grounds for some. And it's in the dust and the grime, and there's always blood. I've gotten pretty mangled the last few times I've gone. You think you could stomach seeing that?"

[Aya]

The girl laughs softly, a bashful smile crossing her features.  "Mmmmmmm, maybe not... we could ask them to come here sometime!"

 

Berrod was a familiar name, she felt like she could almost place his features... if Warren was right about him, she had known the type before.  The sort of man you always wanted to avoid meeting, but then always seemed thankful for after you had.

 

She holds her finger to her lips, "I wonder why I've never met this 'Howl' friend of yours... what's he like?"

[Warren Castille]

Warren smiled, but it faded just a bit as unheard thoughts passed behind his eyes.

 

"Howl's not his real name, obviously. It's some meeko tongue, and I'm not really good at imitating it. It's close enough and makes for a fighter's name." His smile turned proud. "He's my best friend. We share a place together. He's had some bad things happen to him, though, and I blame myself for a lot of it."

 

The smile lost its luster, but he kept the frame of it on his face. "Didn't deserve any of what's gone his way, but he's like a brother to me. More. He was the reason I was gone for so long; He was in trouble and I needed to help him. He got by without me just fine, though. Of course he would; He's strong after all."

[Aya]

Aya smiles softly, unable to miss the misgivings in Warren's expression.  Saying, and doing, were always two very different things. Still, she had not intended to tread upon the recent past he would prefer to forget.

 

She glances down and then back up, a little coyness in her expression, "You should bring him by sometime when I'm here.  It sounds like you two are a lot of fun together."

[Warren Castille]

Warren gave her a renewed smile. "I'll do that. He stops in sometimes when I'm on patrol, but he always leaves. Doesn't want to stick around when I can't share a drink with him, I suppose."

[Aya]

"A little shy then, hmmmm? And I suppose he doesn't have a pillar to guard." she grins, tossing him a playful wink.

[Warren Castille]

"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]

Aya gives her head a little shake, earrings jingling, as she just grins, almost dumbly, "Well, of course!  You don't talk a whole lot, but you're friendly, aren't you?  I think people notice that!  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?"  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]

"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]

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

[Warren Castille]

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."