[@Alisdragon911]

Hardwick hadn't even noticed Ayeka return to the bar until she spoke, her soft voice startling him with a jump back to the present. [color=0072bc]'Uh, yeah, sorry. Just mistook him for someone else.'[/color] He stopped himself from adding [i]'Or something else.'[/i] The barmaid seemed innocent and well-meaning. She didn't need to know of the horrors that lay beyond mortal comprehension.

He produced a handkerchief and wiped the cold sweat from his brow. His hand was visibly shaking with adrenaline-soaked anxiety. [color=0072bc]'I'll... I'll have a straight whiskey - actually, make that a double.'[/color] He looked back at the drunk in the meantime, watching as he laughed at the fairy-man's latest outburst. Maybe his table should be the next port of call.