Another Round or Four

    The bar was active with different adventurers, all trying to either work out deals, drink away their problems, or just be a general ruckus.

One such person was here, in the back booth, his feet kicked up on the table, his eyes watching everyone, and mug of something strong resting in his hands.

It was hard to say how many drinks Xander has had, but then again, maybe this was his first.

Nureha slips into the bar, the hood of her robe drawn over her face. She half raises her hand to her ear and then stops, murmuring. "Don't distract them." to herself, still making a long humming note as she bit into the side of her mouth.

She rubs her hands together and allows herself to calm, touching the ring on her left hand briefly before she pushes into the throng of adventurers. She avoids most of the general ruckus, a flier in her hands from outside tucked away in her robe.

She doesn't seem to notice Xander at first, her eyes a little wild and panicky as she sits down and proceeds to fidget, drawing invisible patterns on the bartop while her eyes dart from side to side as though reading invisible menus.

    Xander /does/ notice Nureha, though it was brief, he picked her up in the crowd. Com-channels still worked, so he decided to test to see if whispering was still an option.

He placed his scale clawed hand to his ear and said softly in it. "We really need to stop meeting like this, Nureha. People might talk." There was a playful grin on his face. He wasn't drunk, or at least, didn't sound drunk, but he might have had a few drinks after all.

"You look nervous... Something wrong?" he asks keeping his voice down, while he takes a sip of his drink. Eyes looking elsewhere instead of at her. After all, maybe she was hiding from someone.

Nureha's face goes blank. She startles, obviously not expecting to be spoken to or even acknowledged. Her head snaps around, eyes searching with the same intensity that she plunged that dagger into Darth Helmet.

A moment later, it passes, like fog rolling in from the coast. Her body language shifts, tapping her fingers in a strange rhythm against the countertop. In her chimlink, she clears her throat and says softly.

"Just a little worried. That's all. Nothing to be done about it right now." and immediately swerves to another topic. "And maybe I want them to talk." she wrinkles her nose. "Considering the dreary gossip around the city of ash, maybe it needs a little color, however sadly fictious."

Nureha's face goes blank. She startles, obviously not expecting to be spoken to or even acknowledged. Her head snaps around, eyes searching with the same intensity that she plunged that dagger into Darth Helmet.

A moment later, it passes, like fog rolling in from the coast. Her body language shifts, tapping her fingers in a strange rhythm against the countertop. In her chimlink, she clears her throat and says softly.

"Just a little worried. That's all. Nothing to be done about it right now." and immediately swerves to another topic. "And maybe I want them to talk." she wrinkles her nose. "Considering the dreary gossip around the city of ash, maybe it needs a little color, however sadly fictious."

The color drains out of her face even in the middle of her jibe, worry again bursting through the dam of her self control. She bites her lip, hard, and starts tracing patterns on the bar top again.

    Watching her squirm amused him slight and Xander couldn't help but chuckle a bit, before he starts to sing softly over the chimlink, "Lets give them something to talk about~" He doesn't finish the lyrics, instead takes another sip of his mug.

"People love fictious materials and rumors. Rumors and gossip. You can almost run the world on that and people just /love/ it. Why do you think Soap Operas keep going?" He says over his own chimlink to her.

Xander notices the color of her drain. Even with their joking. He lowers his feet, with his tone more serious. "Back booth, to your left. Come here."

@emit "I have to go get them."

This is all Nureha says over the link until a second wave of calm washes over her system. This time by digging her nails into her skin hard enough for sharp red damage lines to scrape across her skin. She gets up and walks to the back booth, saying with her head down and to one side.

"I'm very sorry. I don't have time for this delightful bit of byplay, as much as I'd like to. I'm responsible for them. So, present circumstances notwithstanding.. I need to go. I need to.." she shakes her head. "Nevermind. Enjoy your drink."

    When she walks over, Xander places down his mug. He saw her claws dig, he is watching how she is walking, her words. He knits his brow, he keeps his voice down, trying to find her eyes behind the hood. "What the hell is going on? Let me help you. You said I'm good at logistics, didn't you? I'm a soldier with no purpose, until my guild figures out what the hell is going on. So what is going on and let me /help/ you."

He reaches for her arm, using his healing magic to heal the damage she has done to herself. ".. Please."

Nureha lingers near the booth, eyes scanning the crowd before she sits down before she seems any more suspicious than she already is. Her manner completely resets as he watches, like someone watching a building collapse in reverse. She smiles, rubbing one temple with weariness. "Thank you. I confess, like everyone, to being a bit on edge since the opening." she takes in a breath and lets it out. "Do you have anyone you left behind?"

    Nureha asks a personal question and Xander, looks away, his hand slipping away, before he goes to just down what is left of his drink. "It doesn't matter." He says firmly. "What does that have to do with your problem?" He then motions to the arm he just healed, "To scratch yourself like that."

Xander goes to look for her eyes once more. "You seem panicked. You said you are responsible for them. So /who/ is them? Where do you need to go?" He then grins, but not in a friendly way, more in a nervous way. "I know I'm a little drunk, but that doesn't make me unaware of problems."

"Mm. Hmm.. m.." Nureha lets out a low chuckle. "Some of us were out in Ezzo when it fell. They are still alive but.. with the uncertainty of what we know." She turns a hand back and forth in a wobbling gesture. "I know guilds aren't really important to most players. Some just use it as an excuse to leech off of others or impose their will on those who can't protect themselves." She sighs, packing the bitterness away. "But Plant Hwyaden is mine. Whoever is doing this. Whatever is happening to this game.. they can't take what is MINE."

She sits back in the booth., "So. I need a ship, and I need a crew, and we are going to Ezzo."

    Xander listens to what she has to say, he jaw shift a little to the side, before he motions to the bar tender, "I need two! One of myself and my friend here!"

His eyes go back to Nureha as his voice goes soft again. "Sign me up." he says simply without asking any further questions. "If people's lives are at risk and need to get back here to safety, sign me up."

"We don't know the situation." Nureha says quietly when the drinks arrive. She looks at it, taking a sip of the beer colored and beer smelling water before putting it to one side. "Apparently the situation in Ezzo is much less stable than the one here. There are... risks. I don't expect anyone to help me. They don't understand.." she purses her lips. "None of you.."

she shakes her head, ears perking up from almost flat. "Nevermind. I know better than to scorn help when it's offered. Thank you. I'll... think of something, and I'll let you know."

    Xander taps the claw on the table and picks up his own drink, taking a sip from it. "Don't be negative or you /won't/ find help. We are all in this together in the end and I am not someone who can stand idly by when people need help."

He grins a little, with one eye closed, "Besides. I am a raider at heart! I need to get my level back up!" It was hard to tell if he was being serious... or joking.

"Whatever danger comes our way! I'll be there. You just focus on getting that boat. Maybe if we run a few more of those quests we can even get," He hrms as he takes another sip of his drink. "Actually... I bet the tower has a ton of loot and gold. One good run, even if we don't make it to the boss, could maybe net what you need..."

"Yes. You are correct." Nureha says with a tilt of her head. "..those thoughts are unhelpful ones." she rubs her head. "And I have much to do. Be careful with the tower. We do not know how deep the changes go, and some of them, I suspect, we are very much not going to like. Good night, Xander."

She nods to him, inclining her head before leaving the bar.

    Xander watches her leave, before going to finish his drink, then places some of that coin they earned earlier down on the table, before getting up as well. He waits till she is gone, before he makes his own way out.