[center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjExNi4wNmZmZjYuUW05M2VXNCwuMA,,/snow-kei.regular.png[/img][/center] [color=1BEFF2]Time:The previous night Location: Gakhumi’s Tavern - Ironhold Interactions: Arn [@Omni5876], Rue[@Potter] Equipment: 1 hunting knife, a flask of alcohol, a backpack, small tent, blanket, waterskin, rope, fire starting kit, lightmaker, cooking pot, a bar of soap, some drugs; skaula (8 grams) and zemak (1 ounce), rolling papers, and 83 amas. [/color] [hr] [color=B3E3E4] [color=1BEFF2][i]No, it wasn’t imagined. The distance lingered, vast and uncrossable. Was it him? Was this yet another thing that would always be different? No more perfect days, no more freedom of the sky, and uncrossable distances between him and those he’d felt close to.[/i][/color] It felt true. Everything was different, he was different. Bowyn was glad that he had not had this realization in his own village. That he had not been surrounded by everything and everyone he knew when he realized that it would all feel so far away. He could feel the drugs waning, the world dulling in its vibrant colors, the euphoria ebbing into exhaustion. But from Rue and Arn he still felt the warmth of good company. He kept his focus on Rue studying her, fixated on the sensation of distance. He was cold, and numb, and cracked. And Rue had a warm smile and kind eyes. That’s where the distance was, and he didn’t mind it if it meant Rue remained whole and unbroken, and on the other side of that distance. So he nodded when she talked and smiled as she mentioned Moony. It was an empty smile but he tried. He also tried to think of an answer to Rue’s question, but he didn’t know exactly what Arn was talking about either. Bowyn hadn’t the faintest clue about how one went about meeting royalty. [color=1BEFF2]“What makes you think either of us knows how to meet royalty?”[/color] Bowyn asked. [color=1BEFF2]“Or that we even need Biren welcome or permission for anything? Last I checked none of us are light elves and I certainly bow to no royals.”[/color] Bowyn took long gulps of what remained of his mead until it was gone. It was a terrible thing to leave a drink unfinished and it sounded like Arn was getting ready to go. [color=1BEFF2]“I thought you were with the army here?”[/color] He asked looking at Arn who was certainly dressed like he was from the army and conducted himself with the sort of discipline that made that seem more true. He did not act like the dwarves from the mines, that much Bowyn had certainly noticed. So he had expected there would be marching and camping and traveling with other dwarves. Not a cramped Helius full of people hurling about in the sky with no way out. But even if traveling with Arn meant traveling in a most unnatural way, if Rue was going he was going too, and that he had already decided. [color=1BEFF2]“Better not keep Moony waiting, we can all walk and talk at the same time.”[/color] Bowyn stumbled out of his seat as Arn paid for food and drinks and Rue had finished eating. He held the table for stability and kept himself from tumbling to the floor. He shifted the weight of his backpack until it sat as a comfortable weight upon his shoulders. It was easier to have the pack there, focus on it, and feel its weight as a distraction from what was not there. [/color]