Gresham sat, looking out the window on the train car. His eyes moved along as the countryside passed rapidly by. He dragged his eyes off the swiftly moving countryside and turned to look at Valorie as she read her book. It truly did feel like an eternity since he had seen her, the last time he had seen Valorie was the formal funeral of her fsther shortly after the war, and he hadn't spoken to her then either. It had seemed like a bad time, after all she only knew Gresham through her father and shared missions during the war.

But now things were different, now they were a part of a unit again and he needed to clear the air. And he truly was interested in her life after the war, see if she handled it better than he. He put his empty glass down on the window seal he had been gazing out of and stood up, approaching Valorie and tapping her on the shoulder before he spoke, [color=00aeef]"Mind I'd I take a seat?"[/color]. Assuming she said yes, Gresham sat down and put a half hearted smile on his face, [color=00aeef]"So, assuming we are not interrupted again, tell me, how have you been since we last met? I believe it was your father's funeral?"[/color] Gresham truly was an awkward conversationalist, and as he sat listening to Valorie's answer his smile dropped, his face returning to a neutral, tired look. Although his hair was neat his scraggly unkempt shadow of a beard spoke of how truly tired the man was, along with the tired look in his eyes.

As Valorie finished Gresham would nod, then meet her eyes with a rather serious gaze, [color=00aeef]"Well, in truth I have something a bit more substantial to say than just "how are you"... back in Ishval... well I was there when your fathe-"[/color] suddenly the side of the train car exploded, cutting Gresham's sentence short. Anyone standing would have been knocked down, as well as everyone sitting at the table.

Before the smoke had even cleared, three men jumped into the now half destroyed car, speaking loudly and drswing swords. However, most likely, the alchemists were temporarily deafened and disoriented by the blast in such a confined space, who would get up first to confront them?