[@Sanguine Rose]

And there it was again, that overwhelmingly dazzling smile of hers. Nolan had not been part of the guild for very long and even he knew from the moment he saw her that she was a beam of sunlight personified. Joyful, loving, and kind; all the things that he was not. That brightness of hers that gave off the feeling that she so put together, so functional, so normal and then there was him. He was not ignorant to what people thought of him: crude, ill-tempered, violent, cold, terrifying. Walking along the streets of Rembrandt he always received piercing glares from the townspeople and the guard just letting him how unwelcomed he was in their home, not that he could blame them. Hell, he wasn't even sure why Jenna even offered to let him join in the guild, but as long as she kept her end of the bargain it didn't matter. 

Ria was so much more hopeful than he was on how they could improve his standing in the town. It would have been so easy to give a dry, sarcastic response to what he viewed as naive hope, but he couldn't bring himself to be cruel to her. She was genuinely trying to help him without making it a transaction, and yet she stood to lose more than to gain just being associated with him. 

[color=00746b]"Well, I guess it's better to be optimistic,"[/color] Nolan said and for a split second if she was paying attention his tone sounded warmer, and his icy expression softened just a tad though that may just have just been the alcohol. He watched her disappear into the crowd though he could see the occasional head of purple peek through. She could've just asked him to go to the board with him. Chances were that people would have given him some way, but that did not really matter. Ria ran back and slammed the sheet of paper on the counter with great gusto.

Nolan listened to her excitedly tell him how this was such a great job for them, how it would help Nolan form a better relationship with the town guard after their first meeting, and so on and so on. He arched his brow though when she claimed how much of a cinch the job was going to be. 

[color=00746b]"Never assume a job to be easy. It's always those that say that that freeze up when things go wrong,"[/color] he said as picked up the piece of paper and read it over. [color=00746b]"I knew the situation is bad, but they can't even send aid to their own border patrol? What hell is going on in the capital?"[/color] On its own, it wasn't an unusual job. It was just a simple escort of cargo, but the fact that there had been a consistent lack of military support for this area when reports indicated that there was a spike in beasts running rampant was strange. 

Nolan pocketed the job request and stood up. [color=00746b]"Well, let's not keep them waiting. I'm sure the guards will just be happy to see me."[/color] The sarcasm practically dripped from his voice though he was willing so that was a start.