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[indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=dc143c][b]Location:[/b][/color] City Sewers -- The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color]
[hr]As Alja sat down beside him Graves began to squirm, as if a swarm of spiders had crawled inside his clothes. The two of them were stuck down here for the time being, utterly alone, and she was feeling talkative. He'd rather be fighting dire rats waist deep in sewage.

[color=dc143c]"Dunno 'bout all that,"[/color] he muttered, avoiding eye contact.

They were kind words meant in earnest. He knew that. He knew she wore her heart on her sleeve, never bothering to lie to anyone about anything- except maybe herself. That mouth of hers had caused her to butt heads with near every single one of their friends. Her ability to speak her mind so freely was one of the many things he envied about her. It was funny to think back to when they'd first met way back in the Laughing Worg- he'd thought she was just a loud, braggadocious bag of air. Obnoxious, maybe, but harmless. Strange how quickly things had changed. Stranger still how they stayed the same.

If Alja had said that to him back then he would've shrugged her off with a sharp word and a sneer. It was easy to make an ass of himself to strangers. Kept them from getting too familiar when they'd only be together for a short time. The Glitch had forced them to stay together. Forced him to give a shit about her and everybody else. Some days he wished it hadn't- if it had, he wouldn't feel obligated to have fun little chats like this one.

After a too long silence he finally turned to look at her. He smiled, though it was a small, bittersweet thing. [color=dc143c]"'Ppreciate it, Alja...Kelly, I really do. Couldn't ask for a better, uh, friend."[/color] He paused, wondering if it'd be better to just leave it there. Let her go on thinking that was all he had on his mind. But she deserved better than half-truths. [color=dc143c]"But you oughta look out for yourself first n' foremost, okay? Can't go throwing yourself off a cliff for me like that. Got too much to lose. You got a whole lotta life ahead of you: a degree to get, a girl you're head over heels for, and a family to go back to. A...a lotta people would give everything for that, so don't you throw it away, alright?"[/color]
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