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[color=CA6F1E]Time: Morning
Location: Myriamor-near Sturdy Stables
Interactions: Slick[@FunnyGuy]
Equipment: The clothes on his back and a pouch of amas.[/color]
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[color=E0B06F]Leaf watched as Slick trotted out atop the horse he’d come to purchase. Even he could admit the horse had a very fine coat and the beast certainly did look like it could run. Maybe another time he could challenge the horse to race, but his mind was far too heavy now for a race to be more than just a fleeting thought. He noticed the horse looked more or less content, and while he was no expert on the subject, he guessed the horse probably was content. Slick was fond of the horse, he’d keep it well fed, let it run, and keep it safe. Leaf doubted prey-like animals cared too much beyond that. Not like a cat, to a cat, freedom was everything. 

[color=CA6F1E]“I’m thinkin’, what sort of cat would I be if I looked at something I knew wasn’t right and did nothin’? Then I think, those stables don’t have much in the way of security, and I’ve got just the skills to do something about it. So, as much as I’d hate to lose a hand, or end up in a cage myself, it’d be worse to know that l left that creature there to be some fool’s pet.”[/color] Leaf spoke in a quieter voice as he looked on away from Slick and Champ and back towards the stables. And maybe it was unwise to speak his thoughts so freely in front of a relative stranger, and he wasn’t entirely sure why he did so. Maybe he wanted someone to agree with him, confirm that it was the right thing. Or maybe he wanted someone to talk him out of trouble. Leaf wasn’t entirely sure which he wanted to hear. 

[color=CA6F1E]“But maybe this isn’t a conversation to be had in the daylight. So what are you up to, with your shiny crossbow and brand new horse? Got a great adventure planned?”[/color] He asked, not so subtly changing the subject, a stranger was not the person to springboard dangerous ideas with and he knew he needed to stop searching for outside approval.[/color]

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[color=1BEFF2]Time: Morning
Location: River Port-headed to the Surfside Cafe
Interactions: Rue[@Potter]
Mentions: Arn [@Omni5876]
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 (a bit less than an ounce), rolling papers, and 191 amas. [/color]

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[color=B3E3E4]Bowyn felt Rue’s gentle hand rest upon his shoulder as she spoke, accepting his apology. Even though her words were warm and comforting, to hear her say he’d been right filled him with a sense of dread. Dread that he’d made Rue doubt herself, or think that she was wrong to want the world to be a better, kinder, place than what it was. He’d had that once, or something like it, a sense of faith in people, a way to see the world as it could be, hope for better things to come. It was hard to imagine ever being like that, ever thinking that way. How do you put into words how hollow that loss felt, how much worse it was than physical pain and missing wings? There was the tightening of fear in his chest as he worried that staying with Rue might mean he’d be the terrible thing that smothered her light. 

Then the conversation was back on the more tolerable subject of breakfast. [color=1BEFF2][i]The Surfside Cafe, perfect, right next to the vile flock of seagulls that shriek for scraps.[/i][/color] But Bowyn kept that thought to himself because Rue lit up with excitement as she talked about eating by the sea. He couldn’t ruin that, and even with the sun that shone too strongly here, and the seagulls and the ever crashing waves of the sea were all too loud, it was still breakfast and it was with Rue. So before he answered he thought about hot food and Rue until the idea became appealing enough that he answered back with sincerity.

[color=1BEFF2]“That sounds wonderful.”[/color] Bowyn paused then, slowly beginning to suspect why it was that he felt such a distance between them. Distance from Rue, his oldest friend, someone he’d once shared every dream and fear with, without any reservations. So he focused on relaxing some, let the zemak guide him towards something more peaceful, reminding himself that Rue already knew he was all sorts of messed up and she was still here anyway. So despite the fear that clawed at him, all he wanted was to close some of that distance, to be closer to the light that was Rue. 

[color=1BEFF2]"And for the record, I was never ‘right on the amas,’ not even a little. The way you look at the world, Rue, that’s a beautiful thing. Not your fault the rest of the world can’t meet your expectations. So you go right on and trust whoever your heart wants and I’ll be here watching your back. Once this war’s over, it’s gonna people like you who help make the world be what it outta be.”[/color] Bowyn said, confident in every word. And he meant it, even if it meant continuing to pal around with a dwarf he couldn’t trust, even if it meant more people he wouldn’t trust, because he could, at least, trust Rue. [/color]