(Untitled)

[song_tra_bong]

Someone who has been conspicuously absent for a few days in no way related to her mun being locked out of the network is now back in the bar. Not for long though, if the bag and rifle beside her are any indication

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[ardens_guard]

[OOC: Don't know if you're still arond mate, feel free to delete if you've crashed.]

Julian entered the bar late this evening, and has been across the room for a while, eating dinner and lingering over coffee. He's been watching her off-and-on, but eventually curiousity gets the better of him and he walks over gracefully.

'Leaving?'

Because this is what counts as a polite conversation opener, when it comes to her. Yes.

[song_tra_bong]

[ooc: still awake! *flails*]

"Mhm. For a little while."

And this is almost verbose. Charming couple, aren't they?

[ardens_guard]

They really are!

...well, pretty, at any rate.

He sits down and just looks at her blankly for a moment.

'Well?' is eventually offered, as if she owes him an explanation.

[song_tra_bong]

She doesn't particularly feel like she owes him anything.
No promises, remember?
Doesn't mean she's not willing to talk.

"'S been two--almost three months since I've been back. I miss it; no real plans for hunting just yet, mostly looking to just relax."

If anyone can find Vietnam in wartime relaxing, it's her.

[ardens_guard]

She doesn't. And he wouldn't want her to, because that would be a commitment, of sorts.

'Oh.' He glances round the bar and considers making a comment about not being able to relax in a bar, where no work is required.

Except, he knows exactly what she means. He'd go crazy if he had no place to roam. War is relaxing, at times.

'When are you coming back?'

[song_tra_bong]

And commitment is more than they both want, isn't it?
Isn't it?
"I'm not sure."

It's the truth. She would tell him that much, if she'd decided.

"Depends on what I run into back home, I guess. How long it feels like I need to stay. I really don't know."

[ardens_guard]

...not entirely sure commitment doesn't = suicide for one or both of these two.

'Right.'

He doesn't fidget or look uncomfortable through the silence that follows, but perhaps that's telling in itself.

'Well, I can understand that.'

[song_tra_bong]

True enough.

It is telling...though what exactly it tells is a little unclear to her.

"I'm coming back," she says softly, struck by the need to assure him of this.

[ardens_guard]

'I didn't ask,' he says, a little too quickly. Because the question had been on his mind but he obviously didn't want to voice it. And defences tend to spring up as soon as there might be a hint that he's been seen through.

A fingernail taps on the table top for a moment, then he gets out,

'Good.'

As in, 'I'm glad you're coming back and it's a good thing you are'. Only more succinct.

[song_tra_bong]

'You didn't have to,' she wants to say. And decides against it.

Her smile is a little wry at the corners, but it's genuine enough.

"Glad to hear it."

[ardens_guard]

'If you'd had said you were restless, I would have let you come to Arden.'

It's out without even thinking. Under the table, fingers grip his leg in silent horror. And that closed expression on his face? Yeah, that's hiding an internal flail of vocanic proportions.

[song_tra_bong]

Her jaw drops a little at that, but only a little. It looks less like extreme shock and more like marginal surprise while she searches for an appropriate response.

She doubts he meant to say that. And yet...

"If...if that offer still stands, when I come back...I'd like to take you up on it."

[ardens_guard]

He's glad she has the grace not to look utterly floored, because being reminded of how unexpected that was would have been supremely embarrassing for him.

'Well. It might.'

It will. But again with the 'not wanting her to know that'.

'We'll see.'

And because this is Julian.

'You might die out there, I suppose.'

He doesn't say it as though he wants her to. Just that it's a possibility and therefore, Arden may no longer be an option. She might not come back. And he's an Amberite and therefore, pragmatic about death.

[song_tra_bong]

"I might."

While she's no where as pragmatic as any member of his family, it is something she's learned to live with.

"I'm not looking to, but I might."

Because it's entirely possible that one day she'll go looking for her own death. She thinks she tried once before, but the only death she found belonged to other people. A lot of other people.

"We'll see."

[ardens_guard]

He examines her with his sparkling blue eyes, looking for...he doesn't know what. An opening? He'd never admit it. The trouble with Julian is that he's been in Amber too long. He trusts no one and is therefore expecting Mary Anne to have some ulterior motive behind all this. Especially given that she's friends with Random.

That, at least, is an easy conversation starter.

'Have you seen my brother around? He's scared to death of our grandfather and I wanted to talk to him about it.'

Make fun of him, more like.

[song_tra_bong]

"Not recently, no."

And depending on what time it is, this is not a lie.

Her lips twitch at the mention of Dworkin; she still doesn't know his name. "Interesting person, your grandfather. Very...perceptive."

He has your eyes. Or you have his. Perspective.