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[Xanmyral]

Sheila waved a hand. "Oh no, don't be silly, I'm sure you'll be spectacular as always tomorrow. I'm just trying to, you know, be more... Uh, you know. More like family. Since we are now. Just trying to make sure you'll be yourself."

"I'll be fine, really. The end of it all, isn't it? By now I'm... More just ready for this adventure to be over, I guess, you know?"

"The fighting for our lives and running into danger part, I mean. And the... The... Yeah." The historian stumbled over his words before moving on.

He decided to take a hard right with the conversation.

"So, uh... I have a question. Since we're family. And... I'm not good at these kind of questions." The scholar took a moment to compose and spoke privately with Sheila. "Do... You have any advice... Regarding... Grifen?" The man scratched the back of his head. "I... Well... I want to do something to make her happy. You... Probably don't need to look hard to tell I'm rather terrible at that. I spent my life digging in ancient dirt and wiping off mildew from old vellum."

[CrimsonEon]

Alec's jaw dropped slightly, but he quickly caught himself and stopped leaning over to peek in the door.
: "..."
After contemplating for a moment, he walked inside and closed the door completely, sitting on the foot of the bed..
: "Ciera... it's useless hide any more." Alec looked at her eyes unbreakingly, "I love you, too. I'm ready to put my life on the line for you... If I want to give you my all, you need to know."
: "Do you remember when I said I knew a lady, one who couldn't make any decisions for herself? I met her one day on a trading run to Riem when I was young. I was always dying to know more about the world then, and she happened to be part of a well-off family who had plenty of books and political knowledge about her."
: "We were good friends, but after I left my family, we got together. Over time, though, she was more and more concerned about the relations of Riemond and Mireos. I, being the compete idiot I was, tried to convince her that she should convince her father to let both of us go to Mireos as an envoy to help strengthen relations. She succeeded, but that wasn't what I was in it for at all. By the time we were there, I was already integrating myself with the upper class in Mireos, and looking to trick 'donations' out of them at every turn... Looking back, she was probably frightened and stressed by my distance from her, getting more and more easily frightened and believing I would leave her at a moment's notice. By then, she was probably right. When one of the nobles I cased caught me, well, Duke Mireos happened. I was imprisoned and eventually brought around into their rebellion. I haven't seen her since. I've heard ill rumors and... well, I don't think I want to face her ever again."
: "When I met Sheila, Leo and the others, I didn't really care for them. But their struggle and honesty even in the situation Matilda placed them in surprised me. By the time Eul came around to hunt us, I changed my mind for them, and when you arrived to help us, well, you were so bright about it all, it helped me think that some people deserve to be that way. Every time I saw you, I couldn't help but remember those times, and seeing you with Sheila, Grifen, the others... happy."
: "But, at the same time, my mind wandered back to that girl from Riem. And I saw what my actions then probably did to her, how she was when I first and last met her... I don't want to do that you, not to anyone, but... What if I'm lying to myself, too?"

[Swordstar]

Ciera hesitantly reached out and took Alec's hand.

"I... I'm not going to pretend to know about all of this. I've never really... felt like this before. All the men I knew were older and viewed me as a little sister or a daughter. But... it sounds like you screwed up, yes but... it also sounds like you learned. And you changed. You... It doesn't matter to me what happened before. You want to try and make this work now, right? I don't think you're that same person you were back then. So... maybe we just need to work through this together. We can help each other. Ok?"

[Furtuka]

Seeing that everyone was wandering about, Julius decided to go take care of his earlier quest. It was late, but he really wanted to get this done before tomorrow's battle.

He traveled back to the tailor shop, which was predictably, closed. Sighing in frustration, Julius was left to ponder what his next move would be.

Eventually his eyes wandered to his old thief tools in his pack. What if... no no no he was far past that now. But maybe if he left a reimbursement for- at this point he suddenly became aware of the fact that he had but three coins left in his possession. An IOU then. Well if he lived through this, he could pay the man back afterwards. And was this so different from the tools that had been "donated" to their cause over the course of-

No, that way of thinking lies sliding down the slope again. However... this was a matter of somewhat more importance than it appeared anyways. With a sigh, he slipped on his gloves and scribbled down a note of apology into a page of his notebook. This would be the last time. Just another thing to take care of, after the battle was over.

...


Some time later, Julius slipped away into the night, leaving behind the note along with whatever money he had, and carrying a bundle of clothing that had matched what he had envisioned in his daydreams of what was to come. Perhaps this was a foolish choice, but if so then it was just one more reason to make sure that he didn't fail to take the throne.

[CrimsonEon]

Alec reached his other hand around and clasped Ciera's hand between them.
: "I... Yes. I'll do everything I can to make it work. All I ask is for a promise. Promise me you won't put yourself at risk tomorrow. I'll happily promise the same."

[Swordstar]

Ciera hesitated and then shook her head slightly.

"I... I can't quite make that promise. And neither can you. Tomorrow... it's going to be chaos. And we're going to need to do whatever we can to make sure we all survive. I can't promise I won't do anything risky. But I can promise that I'll do my best to stay safe. And that I won't do anything that's not necessary to help save the group as a whole. I won't be stupid but... I won't let someone get hurt if I could have maybe saved them. Ok?"

[CrimsonEon]

Alec exhaled sharply.
: "Yeah... you're right. But I promise to do just that as well."
Alec looked down at his hands holding Ciera's and shrugged, apparently amused at himself, before taking one hand off and looking up.
: "...If I can ask a little selfishness, would you be okay with staying here for a little while longer?"

[Blade Master Model 42]

"You wanna make Grifen happy? Psssh, that's easy." Sheila waved her hand as a dismissive gesture. "You're pretty much doing everything right at this point."

"Just keep in mind that she's gonna want what me and Leo have sooner or later, so be ready for that."

[Haspen]

And lo, Julius donated lavishly.

Party loses 100 gold!

[Swordstar]

Ciera leaned against the bard and smiled.

"I don't really want to leave right now, so yeah, I don't mind staying."

[CrimsonEon]

Alec, smiling, reached around and pulled Ciera into a hug, his height allowing his head to easily rest on top of hers.
: "Thanks, Fly-girl."

[Swordstar]

"Heh. No problem Music Man."

[Sirus]

Grifen thought for a moment, then smiled and pushed her empty cup away.

: "Thanks...Leo. I feel a lot better now." The nomad stood up (only slightly wobbling, two drinks weren't that much) and started to head upstairs.

[SeriousConcentrate]

Leo finished his own drink, then went upstairs himself and to the room he was sharing with Sheila.

[Haspen]

And lo, it was early morning now.

Everyone was up - but the man who was to take them haven't arrived yet. They had time to eat, chat, or bite their nails from anxiety and paranoia!