Fireside Reflections, (Middle of the Night, Open)

The conversations of taking body parts from enemies and the morality of what they had done earlier caused Vera to toss and turn in her bed. Not wanting to wake Tripela, Vera quietly puts on her winter cloak over her sleeping clothes and wanders downstairs. She orders a warm drink and grabs a chair by the fire, hoping to put her mind at ease.

Vera, if you keep wandering around with that riff-raff you are going to get yourself killed. You need to be here and attending these parties with me. It is what your father would have wanted...

She shudders as the warmth begins to make it's way through her body and sips her drink, finally allowing a frown to form on her lips.

It was the excitement of being out and about that kept him up again. Though to be fair he felt his expectations were a bit too high for those around him. He wanted conversation. Friendship. Hours and hours of time. Though patiently he had to remind himself you only move one step at a time.

This didn't stop his mind from working. Nor did it stop him from tossing on extra layers before heading downstairs. Orin deserved a bit of sleep after today. The halfling was growing on him like it or not. After grabbing something warm for his hands from the counter he'd make himself at home where Vera was sitting. There was no reason to distance himself in this place - no reason to toss a wall up between himself and those he was trusting his life with.

"I think it's this place." The voice cut through the silence easily. If she wasn't paying attention perhaps that would be enough to draw her back to reality. "It's...absent here. There's just an absence here. Yeah maybe of a clear sky or perhaps cheerful feelings. There's just an absence here. Can you feel that here? It's taking root somewhere."

The sounds of the wizard's voice was like a splash of cold water startling her out of the near trance she was in.

"Well put. It's like this place isn't fully intact. Like something was taken from it and everyone here is just going through the motions."

She knows that feeling too well. Instead of speaking further on it, she simply takes another sip of her drink.

"It's infectious I think. Don't you feel it creeping into your routine while you're here? I do. Apathy, isn't that the right word? I think it is." There'd be a brief pause as he had some of the liquid. His mind continued to reel through the possibilities. "Is it something we could fix?" If anything the wizard looked hopeful with the latest question.

"I'm not sure I'd say that...we haven't quite been here long enough for me to feel a routine. But I could see it happening"

She tilts her head slightly to consider his question, a brown mass of hair falling around her shoulders. The fire seems to play off her features in a flattering way.

"Stopping the bandits was something. It's too play the acting group doesn't stick around more. I here they are quite good."

"Well why doesn't the acting group stick around longer? Do you think there's a way to get them to do that?" There was a bit of hope in his voice. While he wasn't quite experienced in this sort of thing, he at least could brain storm some crazy ideas when necessary. "I mean...you don't get into that sort of business for the coin after all."

She seemed to know more than he understood. Which was the assessment he ran with regarding the majority of their ragtag group. It seemed a lot of the folk had been bonding. He wasn't quite sure if this was considered bonding. "So is that what's keeping you out and away from bed?"

"It would be hard to keep one's sprirts up here. If the group stuck around all the time it would make it harder for them to give everyone else a boost. Leaving gives them a chance to get new material and freshen up."

Holding her warm glass in her hand, she gives a shiver.

"I...just couldn't sleep very well. I figured it'd be better to come down here than keep Tripela up. My mind is completely scattered."she says with a slight shake of her head.

"What about you? Come all the way down here just to watch a shivering bard?

"Is she a light sleeper? I guess when you have a kid you have to be, right?" It made sense to him in that odd way. How else would a mother know if the baby was crying? "Smart plan either way. Else you'd be left alone with your thoughts instead of finding yourself in a thrilling conversation in the middle of the night with a magic flinger."

There it was! The technical term to what he did. Magic Flinger. He had a bit of a grin on his face as he spoke, even if it was late and he should be sleeping. "Actually I came down because I am a bit wound up and excited over the simple fact that we are here. First I am lucky enough to join an adventuring group. Then we actually get to do some work outside of Waterdeep? It's amazing!"

She smiles at seeing his enthusiasm. After the last disapproving run-in with her mother, she tried not to let herself get too excited. But why shouldn't she? Wasn't she doing the exact thing her father told her stories about?

"I'm glad to have the company, Preilyn. she says with a charming smile.

"Being here is pretty amazing, isn't it? Seeing new things, experiencing new stories, helping people...I wonder what we'll get to see next."

"I worry that there'll be disappointment though if we get our hopes too high up on what we'll see next. Vera. We saw a dragon! I agree though..it's just...new and different." He'd give a smirk. He wasn't all that great with words. Sometimes he just recycled what he said.

A light tilt of his head as his eyes caught the firelight again. "I worry about going too far though. Don't get me wrong. I love learning all of what we're doing and these places. But what if we learn something...just overwhelming? Like the Gods are really among us or the Sword Coast is overrun by those flying snot balls and what we faced against was just a scouting party? Okay...maybe neither of those things, but something that would just sort of change the scope. Or I should say change my scope."

She shakes her head. "I'm not worried...I'm looking forward to all of it. Just to finally have something new...something other than being pushed off on some random family."

There were moments back home since her father died that she thought she would literally die from boredom. "So what were you doing before all this?"

"Dinners with my mom. A bit at the gambling hall. Studies and lessons. You know, the typical commoner stuff." He would give a slightly teasing smile to that. "Nothing too extraordinary though. For as much as I kid about things, I did toss myself into my lessons and yes...I even get a bit out there with my ideas at times."

He shrugged a bit. A defense mechanism most likely. "Pa was an adventurer. He died while running with his group. The group comes by once in a while for a meal, share some stories. They sort of filled his place when he left. I remember one time they were giving my Ma coins. She tried to refuse them, saying that she got what was my Pa's. I remember her telling them that a Promise was a Promise. I haven't been able to figure out that promise yet...but I think it is an important one?" There was a bit of a hopeful look to him. Like something profound was merely inches away.

"But yeah...that's me. All normal like, a bit off center because of the magic...and yes, you do get weird looks if you use magic in public. It starts with the whole 'Is he really doing that here?' and then blends into the 'Who taught him how to read and write?'" He'd snag up a bit of his drink and let it warm his innards a bit more. "Look at me rambling up a storm in the middle of the night. Part of me wonders how many nights I am going to do this now."

Her eyes light up, "My dad was an adventurer too, at least before he started our family. Then he had to stay home and run a business. He used to tell me great stories about his time on the road."

She smiles at him, "Normally, I practice my bits of magic at the college. Using it outside has been...well, a little nerve-wracking. Silly, huh?"