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[indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=#A84B5E][b]Location:[/b][/color] The Laughing Worg Tavern, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color]
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Rael had placed herself a few seats down from Kalie and the direct end of the bar. She was trying to avoid larger groups and more talking about the dungeon; the goal was to order food and drink, have her anxieties even out, and move forward when Graves dragged her over to Kazuki.

She had not expected Alja to lumber toward Kalie. There she was again. Being loud. Kalie was nearly crying as she rambled about her not-so-secret anxieties. ‘Typical Americans’ she thought as she scowled as a pitcher of grape juice was retrieved for her. It was an intentional choice for the red-haired girl. She remembered the saki-like effect of the wine and ale from the Wayfarer’s Hall and it was way too early to be consuming alcohol. Rael wanted a clear head and some peace and quiet. That’s partially why she had picked the tree outside. The humidity and temperature inside the tavern didn’t help. She eyed a group at a common table where a wayfarer was creating ice cubes with their fingers. 

Nothing was making Kalie’s whining bearable, but as far as she could tell there were no seats in a corner open. She poured the juice into her tankard as she heard it. It echoed.

She blinked and then she wasn’t sitting down—she had moved closer to Kalie and Alja.

[color=#A84B5E]“Stop crying like a baby.”[/color] She said, before she realized it. [color=#A84B5E]“We didn’t lose any friends yesterday. [i]They[/i] did.”[/color]

Ironically, Hanako couldn’t stand people who made things about themselves. Yeah, everybody was scared but you didn’t need to cry and make a show of it. It was disrespectful to everyone around you. She didn’t expect Kalie, or rather, [i]Dawn[/i] to understand this. Gaijin always had a habit of doing this. At least when Hanako wanted the spotlight to be on her it wasn’t highlighting all your problems like it was the end of the world. She thought back to Aaginim and Enos. They had created memories and friendships. Herself and Dawn had done nothing but acted out of self-interest. Dawn was being melodramatic and disrespectful.

[color=#A84B5E]“Show a little fucking respect to the dead.”[/color]

The red-haired girl thought about how harsh her words were to someone she had basically reassured in the dungeon that she was okay and she’d make sure she wouldn’t die. She looked at Kalie’s and Alja’s expressions and for a second she felt a tinge of guilt. But not enough to show it. If they didn’t want to be scolded they wouldn’t do things that warranted it.

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[color=gray][sub][right][color=tan][b]Location:[/b][/color] The Laughing Worg Tavern, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color]
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Sif felt herself become flustered and red as Benkei called her [i]brilliant[/i].

Like, obviously she was smart; she knew that. Her GPA was ridiculous. People were constantly calling her a “whiz kid”, but nobody had directly called her brilliant to her [i]face[/i]. It was a nice feeling. She let the feeling pass, however, as she took to Benkei's comments. About unifying a group of wayfarers with advanced real-world knowledge and about his particular theory about the living system.

[color=tan]“Do you really think anyone is going to be the right state of mind to be consolidating knowledge like that?”[/color] She put her finger to her lips for a moment as Benkei considered her response. [color=tan]“I think your theory is correct, though. Its like the game’s framework was protecting us from conventional limitations that the rest of the world has to work by. With that gone, we’re basically on the same playing field as the NPC’s.”[/color]

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