[@Sanguine Rose]

Did Nolan notice? No, no he did not. His remark came as a response from his time working as a freelance mercenary around the neighboring kingdoms for the last few years. No matter the job there was always someone that claimed that there was an 'easy' job only to be the first to have their existence be put in the past the tense, but Nolan trusted his abilities enough to get him through the direst of situations. Every battle, every foe, every job, every balance of life and death was experience that he gained and committed to memory and body. He was fortunate though in that regard; not many could be taught by those who perfected combat like his fellow God Slayers. No, what filled him with apprehension was that he would be working side by side with another guild mage. Any jobs that Nolan had taken ever since he joined Rising Stars, he took on his own. It was purely out of precaution. It took one person, just the wrong person to recognize his magic for what it was and then it was over for him and the guild for harboring a God Slayer. 

For now, he was safe given how ignorant the denizens of the kingdom were in regard to magic as a whole and he doubted that Ria would know what God Slayer Magic looked like either. She just smiled and laughed without a care in the world. [color=00746b]"They're either desperate, or they're holding something back to make the guild look like fools when it goes tits up. Either way, it does not change the fact that we will succeed,"[/color] he said to Ria while they made their way through the guild hall. It was quite easy with many in the hall giving them plenty of way as he walked to the door like they were trying to avoid being bitten by a rabid dog. 

He clicked his tongue at the sorry sight. [i][color=00746b]Cowards, the lot of them.[/color][/i]

Nolan pushed the door open and let Ria go through first before following suit. Unlike Ria, he did not carry the burden of meeting expectations. For him, it was just another job. He looked around, not really appreciating or absorbing his surroundings with any hint of joy like she did. It was just another place for him. A place that he would soon forget. It didn't matter. The only thing that got his attention was the girl's heterochromatic eyes boring into him.

Again, Nolan still did not understand why Kiba left him alone with Ria and even if he did ask there was no way he'd get an answer out of that self-imposed mute. However, the implication of what could have been mistaken from her invitation did not go completely over his head. His cheeks to the tip of his ears blushed red at the invitation despite his resting bitch face not budging an inch.

No, this was not a date. The idea that anyone would even want to ask him out was so outlandish to him because who in their right mind would want to date someone like him? How arrogant would one have to be to assume that someone was trying to ask him on a date anyway? Yeah, she was not asking him on a date. Why would anyone? And this was Ria, Ms. Ball of Sunshine, the friendliest person in the guild that walks around doing her best to brighten everyone's day. She was just trying to make friends with him like she does with everyone else in the guild. She would have asked anyone else. He wasn't special.

[color=00746b]"I, um, it's not that I wouldn't be interested. It's just..."[/color] He ran his fingers through the back of his hair, digging his nails into it in annoyance as he exhaled through his teeth. [color=00746b]"You'd be better off not being associated with me outside of the guild. I would just ruin your reputation."[/color]