Fire Emblem: Wretched Whispers, Act 2: Warpath

[Nanami Touko]

"Zat ees not a probleme, Magali," Mel said, as the woman finished her story. At some point, Mel had brought her vision away from the words in her book, and stared intently at Magali, taking in the entire thing. "You, ehm... You sounded very 'appy while you were speaking. Eet was very nice to listen to." There had been a moment during that where Magali had seemed upset, but it faded so quickly, that Mel didn't want to bring it up. Probably just an unhappy moment in the midst of the nostalgia. It happened, Mel understood that much.

"Ehm... For me," she started, unsure if it was her turn, or something like that, "I never really got to spend ze time wis anyone ozzer zan my parents. I knew ze entire village, oui. My mozzer, she was ze 'ealer for us. She would 'elp ze sick and ze wounded. And my fazzer, 'e would 'elp on ze local 'unts and 'elping out wis ze town. A lot of people visited our 'ouse, and I get to know everyone by name, even eef I did not speak wis zem very often. Eet was not a very big village, anyway." Mel managed a chuckle at that, going down her own nostalgia trip. "I did not 'ave time to play wis ze ozzer children, as I 'ad to learn all zat I could about magique from my parents. Zey were very caring, very comforting, ben, very strict about zat. I am not angry at zem, zough." She shook her head, sighed, but still smiled. "Eef I 'ad not learned what I 'ave learned, I fear I would not be as 'elpful as I am maintenant. So zere ees zat to sank."

"I am glad zat ze 'ead priest wanted to teach you ze light magique, Magali. Maybe I will 'ave someone to ask questions when Celestia and Sheikah are busy~ Eet may be tough, mais, I really want to get zis magique learned... I want to learn all of zem." She whispered that last line, glancing back down at her book with a rather mixed expression of wonder and obsession. Whatever the look was, it didn't last more than a moment. "To zat end, I will do what I can~ I 'ope you do not mind me bozzering you about zis, Magali."

Edited April 7, 2015 by I have opinions

[Bluedoom]

"Well, if you say so, Peter. It'd make me feel a lot happier knowing that I'm stronger than someone with a lot of mercenary work experience like you." Wolfgang replied mockingly, wanting to take a small jab at him. "How has your stay in this town been, so far? We haven't really spoken since the last battle, actually. Funny, how we seem to be in our own worlds even though we're comrades in arms."

[Xinnidy]

Melanie felt it was her turn to speak, and so Magali listened. She'd started it, and it was heartwarming to share their memories. "I'm glad to hear your parents were close to you. Well, circumstances might be as they are now, but better to hold good memories than to think of 'what ifs'." No sooner Magali found herself in a moral minefield --was it right to tell Melanie which emotions to have and suppress? Wouldn't that, ultimately, make Melanie a puppet to Magali's ideals?

A long sigh broke Magali's silence. What is up with me today? I just want her to smile. Magali walked over to Melanie, ruffling her hair. "Oh, Melanie, you would never be a bother." She smiled, "You learn so fast. I can sooner see us as peers, trying to figure the nuances of light magic together, when you get there. Mmhmm~." A giggle escaped her, "Well, that wouldn't be bad, would it?"

[charlie_]

Worrying

"It's not so much about the being mages themselves, it was just more... the stuff that happened with them I guess." Norman shrugged, still uncomfortable with talking about it. Once you said something, you couldn't really take it back after all. "...I dunno if I wanna talk about it yet though." he said eventually. "But either way, why didn't you say something about your ankle earlier?" He frowned due to concern. "Couldn't you have gotten the healers at the tournament to look at it or something? It seems like a bad idea not to tend to an injury like that if we're not gonna be sticking around for long."

Appearances

"I'm aware that mages don't need to have a particularly sturdy build." he agreed. "However, that doesn't mean that you're gonna be able to take hits well, and it looks like you would snap like a twig." he laughed heartily. "But if you're tougher then you look, good on you. I suppose you need to be in the mercenary business though."

Wise(?) Counsel

Borvan had listened patiently to Declan's troubles, biting his lip when he heard about how the man had lost Arietta but otherwise nodding along quietly, waiting for him to finish. Even then, he waited a few seconds, as if he was considering whether or not to say anything at all, before speaking up.

"Well, look kid." he began. "I know how losing people hurts. It's been fourteen years since Arine died, and I still can't stop thinking about her. Thinking about how I should've gone with her, even she insisted she'd be alright." He broke eye contact Declan for a moment, and as he looked away he noticed how his hands had balled into fists without him noticing. He shook himself quickly to snap his body out of it, and then looked back. "It's a horrible feeling, and even now I sometimes dream about her and what we would've done and then watch it shatter, and when I wake up I can't tell if I'm living the nightmare or dreaming it." He stopped for a moment, surprised by how much he'd said. He hadn't really expected he was going to be the one opening up to the mercenary, but it turned out that they had more in common then he'd thought.

"I bet it's similar with you and your girl - and your family too. When I found out who the people were that did it, I ignored everyone that was trying to help me and wait straight after them. It took me weeks, but eventually I found them and made them pay for what they did. And afterwards, I ended up wishing I made them suffer more for what they did." he laughed, but it was a bitter laugh, void of any joy. "That was a low point - and one that I've still barely crawled out of. It wasn't until after I got back, having done what I'd set out to do and having pushed away everyone, that I noticed how alone I was." he sighed.

"Your past doesn't matter. People used to call me a hero, and now I spend the majority of my time drinking and trying to forget everything that happened. So if you had a bad past and now you're trying to make up for it, there's nothing stopping you. And if you find someone else you like, don't feel guilty about it." He shook his head, wondering if he would've been able to move on if he'd done the same. "But do everything you can to look after them and keep them safe. And look after yourself too, unless you want to end up being a useless drunk like me." he chuckled softly, but his advice was serious. Hopefully he would take it.

Learning

"Those are some... quite different topics, but I'll see what I can find. This-" he removed a purplish book from the shelf next to him, which seemed slightly less aged then Melanie's, and handed it to Magali. "For the dancing book however I'll erm... have to check another section. It's not a common thing to inquire about, so I might take a short while..." he walked off, muttering to himself, leaving Magali to wait. Luckily, it seemed his search had been successful early as he returned with two more books which he placed on a nearby desk. "I'm not exactly an expert on dancing, but I think that those books should suffice?" He hoped so, or else he'd probably just lead the girl over to the shelf next time to save the hassle of ferrying what she needed back and forth.

Edited April 7, 2015 by SB.

[scorri]

"Fair enough. Just... Let me know if you do." At his question about her ankle, she winced slightly and made somewhat dismissive gesture. "I didn't notice it at first, due to, well, the lance wounds I had. And once I did, the healers had already left and, well, it didn't seem like a big deal. We have quite a few healers, I'm sure one of them will look at it at some point."

[Nanami Touko]

"Oui~ I do not like sinking about ze bad memories. I mean... Sometimes I sink of ze what eefs, ben, zere ees nossing I can do but try to be stronger, now." It was melancholic, thinking about her parents like she did, but it was also nice to remember all the good times they'd shared. That day her mother put garlic salt into the stew instead of regular, her father coughing it up when he tried it... When he couldn't find a book for her learning, and spent all day trying to find it, when it was on the dresser the entire time, and he'd overlooked it. They'd both gotten a laugh out of it when Mel had picked it up and brought it to him, after his frantic searching. The silly, simple things like that. It brought a rather calm smile to her face.

She was shook out of her remembering when Magali rustled her hair, squeaking and giggling. "I sink zat would not be a bad idée. Actually, could I borrow zat book when you are done wis eet? I feel zat eef I spend some time reading when I get back to ze inn, I may be able to finish zis one." She pointed to the purplish book that the librarian had just given her. "I will look over zis one a lot more, of course, ben, zat would be ze next step, I sink. Eef you are okay wis zat."

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan listened intently to the man's advice, faltering in his steeled appearance only once - when he'd mentioned Arine, who he remembered was one of the famed Heroes. So, this is... Borvan? THE Borvan? And he's... giving me life advice? Declan could barely believe what he was hearing. Still, he couldn't quite come to terms with what Borvan had told him. The fact that they seemed to be so similar... Maybe this was some sort of fated meeting, the kind that would change both of them. Or at least, one of them, he'd hoped.

"Y'know... I never even got to propose to Arietta. I mean, we were in love and everything, but... I guess our situations were different. I was just going on my young love, and my dumbass hormones. But it still hurts, like you said, and I can already tell it doesn't get easier. Still..." Declan began, but trailed off when he realized that he'd had an epiphany. Something he could do to help ease the pain and wipe away some of the haunting memories... He had something in his head now. "Wait... maybe if I address my main issue right now with burying those memories - namely, a certain mage girl in our group that keeps bringing up those memories just with her presence..." The wheels in Declan's head began to turn. He figured he was onto something with this, and needed to act on it now.

"Thank you, Sir Borvan! If this works out, I'll buy the next round of drinks - not to forget, but to celebrate a brighter future well earned. And I'll have you to thank, for helping me realize what I had to do!" Declan called out as he dashed off to the library, remembering that he saw Melanie go off in that general direction earlier - and he knew that there wouldn't be anything else down this way that would interest a girl like that.

Entering the library, Declan's eyes surveyed the building and he began pacing through the aisles of books until he found Melanie, cautiously approaching the girl while taking deep breaths to try and calm himself. This is for me, and for you, Arietta. Trust me... I'm not going to let you down like this. Not now, not ever. You were... too good for that. For me in general, really.

"Melanie, I need to talk to you in private. There are... some things I need to clear up with you." Declan finally calmly requested as he reached the girl, not even realizing that Magali was there. It was better that she didn't know what he'd been through anyway... Some people just didn't need to have that sort of thing weighing them down. Melanie probably wasn't one of them either, but Declan knew that for his sake - our sake, he reminded himself, thinking of how he wasn't just doing this for himself - he'd just have to let her in anyways.

[Nanami Touko]

Mel would have been plenty content to sit there and read for the rest of the night. Too bad life had other things in store for her. She slowly pushed herself to her feet and backed away a bit, as Declan asked to talk in private. She hadn't expected to see him, or be asked to speak with him, not after how they'd interacted before. What had happened, so suddenly, that he wanted to talk? Was he going to yell at her again? The distress was clear on her face-- not that anyone could see it as she was staring straight at the floor. "Ehm... E-Er... I... I suppose... I could." Things 'e needs to clear up? Like... Well, that dawned on her pretty quick. Maybe he was going to tell her why he was so angry at dark magic, finally.

[Xinnidy]

"Thank you, mister. I am sure that will be enough, if I need anything else, I will head there and look. " Magali bowed, accepting the books and taking a seat. "Borrow it? Of course, Melanie." Magali's expression softened, "We should tell the innkeeper to return it tomorrow morning, though, since we will be leaving then."

Magali, soon as she opened the books, already had in mind what she wanted to achieve --in dance theory, she was after efficiency, much like in her play earlier. If she could manage to adjust her magic during dance, all the while focusing on another task, then she could be more helpful to the team. In light magic, she was confident the memories would come back after reading the proper sections. The rest would come with practice, next morning.

"Well, Melanie-" Magali would make a passing comment about light magic when she realized Melanie was already being addressed by a newcomer --to the library, anyways. That's... Declan. I don't remember them being on good terms before. Melanie even seemed agitated, but neither seemed hostile. It looked as if he was looking for her. "Take care, alright?" Magali did not mean to think ill of Declan --having some faith in the Hollows' members was the least she could do--, she was concerned for Melanie. I shouldn't be prying... I hope it's nothing serious.

[Percivalé]

"I think you've got a lot more than just what you say," Vale insisted, "At least, from what I've seen. I mean, look at you here now!" He smiled at that as Sheikah pulled him in for an embrace. Despite his height, he made the most of the moment; Sheikeh's head was rested against his chest. "You're concerned for everyone's well-being... whether you know them well or not. I think that speaks a lot already. I mean, you think so, right?"

His eyes were half-closed; he felt so comfortable. This had been his first real conversation with his new boss--on a personal level, at least. "Sometimes I think I want vengeance... but I don't know. At least in my situation there doesn't seem... to be a point." He swore the tear that slipped from his face to the wooden floor made a louder prip than it did. "The bastard has everything he wants now. But I don't know if he'll be off doing what he did all over again... that thought, out of anything else, scares me the most."

[Refa]

"So you want to be the best there ever was, huh? That's really cool! Being a virtuoso at something, anything, would be amazing, but well...I've never had the dedication for that kind of thing myself. I really should be taking these matters more seriously," Artemis sighed. "You honestly think I'd do great? Maybe I shouldn't have skipped out on that tournament after all. Yeah, I'd love to visit the palace! I didn't really have any plans for the rest of the day anyways." She smiled when she saw Sierra's reaction to her simple question. "Oh, really? Happy birthday, Mina! Sounds like you have it all planned out, huh," Artemis finished, ready to say her goodbyes before she went elsewhere, perhaps to the palace even. But then..."Oh, uh...we don't really have any mages who use swords...well, yet anyways. See, I've been trying to take up swords myself, but I'm not really any good at it. I was hoping to get some practice in, but w-well uh...anyways! If you don't need it, I could take it off your hands."

Edited April 8, 2015 by Refa

[riariadne]

Comfort

"... Thank you, Vale. For having faith in me," Sheikah responded. "And, don't lose hope in what you want to do. You don't have to live in fear of this guy. You're strong, and maybe when the war's over we can look to teaching people like him a lesson or two, yeah?" She let go of him after a few more moments. "Well, let's focus on the positives, then. Your friend, why don't you tell me about him? What was he like?"

Delight

"Yeah!" Sierra shouted back enthusiastically. "If I'm not the best, I won't be able to save everyone if there are any bad guys around! So, I have to keep improving, you see? Of course you'd do great, I think! Everyone else did pretty good and you seemed super neat at the magic show. If they ask you why you're at the palace, be sure to tell them I sent you just in case they don't let you in right away, okay?"

"Thank you, Artemis," Mina interjected quietly. "You may want to quiet down, Sierra... there are still people leaving."

"Oh! Sorry," Sierra started to whisper, sheathing the sword, then handing it to Artemis. "Here, it's all yours then. They call it a Gust Edge. Well, we have to go now- cake's not gonna eat itself! Bye!" And the two set off just as quickly as they had travelled before, Mina giving a small wave as they did.

[eclipse]

If Wolfgang was trying to be subtle, it went right over Peter's headache. "Oh, I've had a chance to shop, and sample some good beer. I haerd there was a library in town - sounds like your kind of place!" he replied to Wolfgang.

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan sighed a bit; he was already regretting every bit of this. Still, he had to get it off his chest somehow. Besides, it's not like this is the end of the world or anything... Just telling someone how shitty my life's been up until now is something that I've already done today... Still, better start off slow.

"Look, Melanie... I know I've been a bit of an asshole towards you, but... well, I've been thinking, and I figure it's time you learned exactly why." Declan continued, wondering if perhaps Melanie would ask him something else before he began. Knowing her, it was likely, but he needed to make sure.

[Nanami Touko]

"Ehm... Oui." Melanie nodded at Magali. Declan didn't seem that hostile, right now. She decided that, maybe, following him wouldn't be the worst idea. It was a library, anyway; if he started yelling they'd kick him out. So she walked with him a bit, to their own little corner of the building, and listened to him for a moment. "I would 'ope so... You 'ave been... Very scary, eheh." She laughed, very nervously, not really sure what she could say without him getting upset. But as long as she was here, and the option was available, she would cut to the chase. "Why are you so angry and afraid of ze dark magique?" She almost blurted it out, shrinking near immediately after saying it. But it was what worried her the most, and she wanted an answer.

[Bluedoom]

"Oh, I did go to the library, in fact. I learned a neat trick to help me focus my spells better... too bad I got knocked out before I got to try it out. Beer sounds...lovely, actually, and maybe we should go get some drinks right now! I don't know if there's any other place in this city that I'd want to go to, right now." he replied casually. He still needed to kill time and Peter would be a welcome companion to kill time with.

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan let out a heavy sigh. He wasn't sure if Melanie could see right through him, or if she just had a lucky guess, but he nodded slowly - and seemingly for no reason - before he began. After all, he figured that this may take a while.

"It was two years ago... Not far from here, actually. I was in a nice, healthy relationship with a woman named Arietta. Great girl, very cheerful... Actually, a fair bit like you, without the accent. Anyways... at the time, we were also in a band of... uh, bandits, and we came to a nearby town to loot the place and make sure we had the money and goods to keep ourselves alive." Declan began, hoping that maybe Melanie at least picked up on the connotations of that first part. Hopefully he wouldn't need to explain himself; it wasn't like he was interested in her or anything. Right? Right. Besides, he had Vale now, more or less.

"Anyways, around that time, Arietta started trying to learn how to use dark magic, because she wanted to be more useful and keep me from having to put my neck on the line every time we fought with city guards and the like. She seemed like she had everything under control, until..." Declan bit his lower lip and swallowed hard. He was this far in, and... well, he may as well go all the way with it. "Until... well, she didn't."

Declan's breath hitched as the memories began popping back into the forefront of his mind; better that he get it out now. "It was fucking awful... she had all this magical potential in her, apparently, and it was all just flooding out of her. Flux spells getting flung around left and right with no semblance of reasoning behind the targets; I saw a lot of people die from those spells, whether it was some of my fellow bandits, members of the city guard, or just a bystander trying to make a break for it. And Arietta... she was dying right in front of me. I didn't know what to do..." Declan took a moment to catch his breath. He felt his chest getting tighter with every word he spoke, and it hurt like hell.

"Then my old boss, he yelled at everyone else to grab what they could and get the hell out... but not me. He made me kill her... Me, of all people, because he fucking knew what she want to me. That bastard didn't think of anyone but himself... Especially not me." Declan felt his chest continue to grow tighter, and he had to lean against a shelf in the library to compose himself again, if only a little bit. "Of course, me still being an immature dumbshit, I panicked and ran her through without a second thought, and it wasn't until after that I realized that she was just hurting... Killing her may have taken away her pain, but it just dumped it onto other people... like me." Declan felt something burning up inside; was the mere thought of that day enough to give him some sort of panic attack? Or was it anger towards Eduardo? Or himself, even?

"For two years after that, I drifted along, trying to go straight and make Arietta proud, but... I avoided dark mages like the fucking plague. I knew what that shit could do first hand, and what it was like for someone to lose control... I've hated the very thought of dark magic ever since. After all, it took what was most dear to me..." Declan laughed a hollow laugh, devoid of any joy. Really, the sheer melodrama he was spewing would have been fairly laughable if he didn't know it was all true. "Add in the fact that said bastard boss has apparently been hunting me down and just killed my dad - the last member of my family who gave a rat's ass about me - and ruined my old home so badly that I don't think I can ever go back... And you can see why I hate dark magic so much. It took my love, it took my livelihood, it took my goddamn family. I have nothing left because of it, so..." Declan tried to hold back tears, but he knew it was a fairly lost cause. He could still try though, if nothing else. His dignity was about all he kept from two years ago, and now he was in danger of losing even that.

"So, now you know. I dunno if I'll ever be able to fully trust you, Melanie, but you know more about what I've been through than anyone. So... take pride in that at least."

[Nanami Touko]

Mel was taken a bit aback by his comment about this dead love being just like her. She was almost worried he was going to start hitting on her, but he seemed far too serious for that to be a thing. So she listened... And listened... She listened, and watched, as the snarky, generally prideful man that had fought with them these past few days melted into an unsure, shaking mess. It was a lot to watch. Mel hadn't... She'd broken down on her own, sometimes, when she was still dealing with her problems, but she'd never watched someone else do it. It was hard to stand there without saying anything, but she'd posed the question, and it would've been rude to bring up all that pain and then run away from it.

So she gave him her time and listened to his whole story. Through all the sighs, heavy breaths, pauses and cringes. She started feeling his sadness, and she had to swallow and clear her throat before she could respond, or she would've croaked trying to talk. "Eet... Sounds like she did not, ehm... Take ze time to learn eet, properly." She didn't have any other way to put it, and that might've sounded offensive, but it was the only way this was going to have happened. "Dark magique, eet, ehm. E-Eet can corrupt ze mind, eef you do not take your time wis eet. You may 'ave seen, when I tried to cast zat light magique spell, I ended up damaging my eye. Ben, eet was probably ze same for zis Arietta, except wis 'er mind, so... I am not surprise zat somesing like zat may 'ave 'appened. Eet ees very... Very unfortunate, zough..."

Mel couldn't bring herself to look at him after saying that. She felt that, if she really did look like this dead lover, maybe he didn't want to see her right now, either.

"I do not sink you should 'old all your anger at ze magique." At length, she finally spoke up. "Zis, zis man, zis former 'boss' of yours... 'E sounds like ze one zat you should be placing all of your blame. Ehm... I was not zere, donc, I do not know ze circumstances, ben, sometimes, magique damage can be stopped, even wis dark magique. So... I do not know, ben, maybe eef 'e 'ad not told you to kill 'er, somesing could 'ave been done. And eef 'e ees going around... K... K-Killing your family," she struggled to say. That part hit a bit too close to home, and her hands balled into fists. "Eef 'e ees doing somesing so... Méprisable," she snarled, with utter disdain, "zen somesing should be done..."

Non, Mel, stop... She couldn't just throw that back in his face and expect him to change; flip a switch in his head, and get over things like that. It was traumatic. She knew trauma. You can't just turn it off like that. "... I am sorry, Declan," she said with a sigh. "Eef you can not come to trust me, I understand. I do, vraiment. I will not ask you to, change 'ow you feel. I 'ave feelings zat I would not be able to change, eizzer." She managed a chuckle at that, as if she was laughing at herself for being so serious. "I will promise zat... I will not lose myself to ze magique, and 'ave you go srough zat again. I can promise zat much, eef I can not change minds or 'elp you find zis man. Ees zat okie?" She'd missed it, but after she stopped talking, it hit her. "Wait, quoi? Not even Vale? Eh?" She blinked. "You would really tell me all of zis before anyone else...?"

Edited April 9, 2015 by I have opinions

[Percivalé]

When Sheikah let Vale go, both his mind and his eyes took some time to wander. Was he afraid of Jackson? What Noah told him made him anxious--that much was true. But he wasn't certain if it was truly just fear, or something else. Nor did he know if revenge was what he was looking for, but rather... relief.

"Well," Vale finally spoke, breaking the silence. "His name was Roland. His specialty was archery. He was the best hunter on our team..." Vale closed his eyes to concentrate, his head slightly bowed down towards the floor now."It was incredible, honestly. I can't shoot for shit. But we... just kind of learned how to trust him without ever really saying so. He was so memorable, too--his skin was so pale and his hair was so... red." He narrowly avoided describing it as red as flames; he couldn't disrespect his friend's memory like that. "And he had this way of speaking that was educated, but... different. He was really good with words. I knew he wrote poetry, but he never showed it to anyone. I never saw any of it, anyway."

He opened his eyes again and looked back at Sheikah. "When I think about it, I didn't get to learn that much about him, actually. We all only fought together for... about six months." He absentmindedly used his fingers to count without even looking at them. "There was so much to him I'll never get to know. But he did leave me with..." He fumbled around in his satchel and pulled out the pebble. He unwrapped it and placed it carefully in the palm of his hand, holding it up so that Sheikah could see. "This." He wondered if, perhaps, she knew what flower it was. He still couldn't remember.

[eclipse]

Why, yes, Wolfgang, asking someone who CLEARLY has a headache to go drinking is a wonderful idea. It might even cure my goose egg. . .permanently. At least I won't have to worry about repaying Taima, though I'd feel bad if she had to take the money off of my corpse. "Heh, I'll gladly take ya there. You can thank Declan for the suggestion. Yo Ivan, if you're interested, you're free to come along - it's that bar that Declan showed us when we first got here!" He turned and walked out into the street. "Now it should be right about. . .here!" Peter grinned triumphantly as he stood in front of the bar that he'd first gone to.

[charlie_]

"I'll let you know." Norman nodded. "I'm gonna head back to the inn. I dunno if you wanna come or not, but be careful with your ankle if you're not, okay?"

[riariadne]

Reminisce

Sheikah sat quietly, listening to Vale's story about this Roland intently. "I'm sorry to hear that... he sounds like he was a good man. Sometimes we lose people and it's awful and miserable, but you seem glad to have at least met Roland, you know? Sure, you didn't have the time to learn all you'd wish to, but you can cherish the little you did."

She looked curiously at the flower he showed her. "It's intriguing... I don't think I've seen one like this, or at least not that I'd know. But then again, I usually kept my eyes on the skies even in nature... birds were more my type."

[Tryhard]

Be thanking the man as Ivan took shiny lance, hold up for seconds to looking at its crafting. The man who giving looking like was overwhelming to being see Ivan, no sure why. Late, Ivan find company two defeated opponents, Peter and Wolfgang.

"You be liking the drinking, yah? Ivan having none else to doing, yah?"

Ivan some nervous, but.

"Err... be sorry about fighting. Hopeful you being the feel better?"

[Nanami Touko]

Melanie waited. Moments passed. Moments continued to pass. After many moments of awkward silence, Melanie decided to speak again. "Ehm, Declan... Eet ees okay, eef you do not want to say anymore." From the sounds of things, he'd really told her a whole lot, and she'd feel bad if he kept bearing his heart out to her. She nodded, and curtsied a bit, holding onto the edges of her robes to do so. "I am très thankful for what you 'ave told me. Eet really explained a lot, to me! I just 'ope zat you can figure eet all out for yourself... Er, zis might be a bit weird, mais," she paused a moment, unsure of how to say it. "Eef you want to talk to me about anysing, juste know zat I will 'ear you out, oui? Do not be a stranger. You... You may 'ave lost a lot, but you 'ave not lost us!" Mel made sure to put some pep into her words on that last line, hoping it would strike a chord in him.

But she didn't have anything else left, after that. With a bit of another bow, she excused herself from their little talking corner and found her way over to Magali. "Ehm, Magali? I 'ope I am not interrupting your reading, zere." She gave herself a moment to think over her words, again. "I sink I will take ze book wis me and go read back at ze inn. Ees zat okay, wis you? Sorry, I am, just... Zat was a lot to 'ear." She smiled a tiny smile, and did her best to seem cheery. She didn't really have a reason to be down, not directly, but it was still depressing to listen to such a tale. She needed some down time; some time to calm herself and try to enjoy what she loved.

[eclipse]

"Nothin' that I can't sleep off," Peter replied to Ivan. "I'd be out of a job if I let a little bump like that stop me!" The bar's interior was just as Peter remembered it. "But it means I can't drink until they kick me out. It would be dumb if I accidentally killed myself in my sleep." Especially if it's through alcohol. "What're you two havin'?" he asked Ivan and Wolfgang.