Drinks at the Dragon - Keros and Rosemary 24/6/23

Soon after the events of It's Morphin' Time


Keros gets the first round having been reliably informed that wizards can’t afford to pay for their own drinks.

“Assuming I didn’t take a blow to the head there and the last few hours actually happened… you seemed pretty comfortable with those people. I take it you’ve met them before?”

Rosemary takes a grateful sip of their drink, the very last of that tiny bit of tension finally leaving their shoulders. "It very much happened, we've even got bracelets to match if you still don't believe it." She shakes her wrist slightly to emphasise her point, "But eh no actually, I've not met any of them before. Just heard a lot of things from my best friends who've met them. Ninnoc and Penny."

She pauses before a sudden realisation hits here, "I wasn't being too comfortable was I? Oh dear."

He laughs "No, I wouldn't worry about it. More comfortable than me with new people is not a high bar!"

"And as for your friend Penny? Please do tell them that they put things in motion that have actually... turned out pretty great to be honest. Might not have felt like it at the time, but it needed to happen."

Rosemary frowns slightly at Keros’ previous statements. " I would give yourself a bit more credit Keros! But... I will tell them. They'd honestly be relieved to hear."

There's a slight wince as they pause "From what Penny told me, it really didn't sound like it went well there. I feel like they'd still want to apologise properly. Penny is great at taking the initiative but perhaps not the best at reparations when it doesn't work well."

Realising that perhaps it’s best to move on they add, "And what about you Keros? How do you feel about Enlace after it all, would you go back?"

“Penny and I have that in common I think, but Rae wants to be friends with Ziha so at some point I feel like I'm going to have to go back and apologise..." he finishes the sentence with a grumble "If she'd just hurt me that'd be one thing, you know? I can get over that. When people hurt my friends, and Rae's more than a friend, I can't let that go."

He takes a drink “No. I can. I just don’t want to. In any case, Penny has nothing to apologise for. When you see them, pass on my thanks.”

"I will, I will. Still warning you about potential apology cakes though."

Rosemary pauses, assesses Keros. "Don't want to? How are you gonna apologise if you're holding a grudge? No judgement here, just curious. Cause I get it. If someone were to hurt my close friends, well they're my family really, I wouldn’t let it go easily either."

"Because then I'd be putting how I feel above how someone else feels when I'm supposed to be the one protecting them. If I'm still angry about what happened then that's my problem." Keros speaks as if this is a simple matter of fact. "If someone hurt Penny, and they wanted you to just move on, then surely you'd do your best to move on even if you didn't like doing it. Right?"

Rosemary tilts her head slightly, concerned contemplation at Keros' words evident. "You can't just squash your feelings... they're still..."

"If someone hurt Penny? No. I don't think I could move on, I could be quiet about it maybe for a time if they wanted to process. But not move on."

Keros seems a bit frustrated by this answer “Look, I spend most of my time with someone who makes friends everywhere they go. They step into a room and brighten it. I made 1,000 enemies last week. I need to be… better.” He forces a smile and exhales “I can get over it.”

He shakes his head and takes a long drink

“So… do you and Penny live together? You’re obviously very close.”

There's a look, but Rosemary is willing to let it go for now. "Yeah we do. With Ninnoc and Velek we all share a flat together here in Daring. We're all busy with various jobs, so it’s hard to have everyone in at the same time sadly. But we make an effort when we can, cause it's important to, we're basically family. So yeah, we're certainly close."

"Apart from the ray of sunshine that brightens every room." And they pause as they acknowledge their own pun, "Is there anyone else you're close with here? Or did you come here on your own?"

Keros blushes a bit, but otherwise opts to ignore the pun "I was in a bit of a bad place when I got discharged from the Legion. Only really had two friends before I left to be honest. Buried one. Jailed the other a few months back."

"Since I got here? Jaezred and I talk a lot and we get along... sometimes. Kassandra from the Errant Guard and I have a bit of a rapport now, but different continents and all. Oh and Raine! She probably saw me disappear earlier. That'll take some explaining."

"Are all of your 'basically family' wizards?" Keros leans in and lowers his voice "What's that like to live with... long term?"

Rosemary cannot help but chuckle wholeheartedly at the question, "Yes they certainly are, and long term? Well it's chaos, components and scrolls everywhere. Fights over who's book is whose, or threats to break each other's wands on bad weeks. But Ra... but each wizard is different, I suspect there might be the occasional confusing magic ramble to watch out for."

"But if you have the mental fortitude to bury your friend, something I would wish on no one, then I think you can handle the ramblings of a wizard."

Now it's their turn to lower their voice, "Sorry, if I brought up unpleasant memories with that. I just... yeah."

“Oh it’s okay if I didn’t want to talk about it I wouldn’t talk about it. I got a chance to put flowers on his grave last week.”

“Wizard ramblings are… cute.” Keros’s eyes widen “Not to be patronising or anything I don’t mean it like that.”

“It’s just soothing to me. I understand none of it, but love to see someone really care about something you know? If you need to go on a rant about magic, or crystals, or components, or whatever any time don’t hold back!” He laughs

Rosemary nods and smiles, glad she hasn't caused offence, but there's a very fleeting hint of possible jealousy at the mention of a memorial. A grave. But just as quickly the smile widens, and the look is gone. "I won't I promise! It's quite nice to hear actually. Though I will leave most of the cute rambling to Rae I think. But hey, maybe count another friend to that list instead?"

She lifts her drink in slight cheers towards Keros.

Keros matches the gesture, smiling as he takes a drink.

"Well if you're sure you want to be friends with someone who doesn't carry balls of bat shit around in a bag with them then that works for me."

He shuffles down in his seat to try and not loom quite so much as he speaks calmly and gently "Come on. You said you wouldn't wish burying a friend on anyone and it sounded like experience."

"I'm not going to pressure you and they've got stronger stuff behind the bar if you need it, but do you want to talk about it?"

Rosemary's hand tightens on the glass for a moment, but her shoulders then slowly release the held tension. "Ha, no nothing strong is needed thanks. I don’t... My friends and I have done plenty of jobs before coming here. Travelling and working. And sometimes you make new friends doing so, and sometimes harm can come to them too."

"So yeah, I've had to bury a friend... It hurt in ways I didn't even think possible. But I'm sure you understand that."

"It's not a club anyone wants to be a part of, but in our culture we keep them alive by remembering their names and telling their stories."

"Nim was the best soldier I ever fought alongside. Just... so fast. Moved like a ballet with those swords. I thought nothing could touch him. Quick witted too, kept me in my place. Always felt like no matter what we were doing I was struggling to keep pace." Keros pauses and smiles, but then begins to look conflicted. "Feels weird talking about him to Rae though you know? I feel like I should tell his story more."

Rosemary nods in understanding. "What you and Rae have is something new, maybe that's why it feels odd to bring in something old, something from the past." They think for a moment before shrugging, "I don't really know Rae, so I'm gonna hazard a guess here based on what you and Penny have said, but I think they're the sort of person who wouldn't take it the wrong way. Perhaps they'll enjoy hearing of your past more, including Nim. People who you've become close to can shape you as a person more than you realise. So hearing about Nim would then help them understand you more. Allow you both to become closer."

"Talk about Nim, don't let those important memories die. As you say, keep him alive."

The last bit is said in quite a resolute way, like a statement rather than a suggestion.

Keros listens patiently and then digests the advice for a bit.

“You’re right. And if you would really rather give relationship advice about someone you’ve never met than tell me your friend’s story back I can respect that. I know it’s not easy, but I would love to hear about them one day.”

“And if you feel the way I think you do about it, then I know I can’t change your mind, but every single night I see that axe coming first and take the hit like I was supposed to. So… I get it.”

Rosemary falters immediately. Looks caught out, almost sheepish, her voice small "I didn't... okay, okay. Perhaps one day."

She manages a small smile though. "Thanks Keros.”

He returns the smile and if she lets him he gently squeezes her forearm in reassurance “Sure, one day. I look forward to it.” He cocks his head “I don’t know what I’m being thanked for though.”

She lets the friendly gesture happen, "For being supportive I guess? That's wild that you don’t even realise. It just... felt right to say."

“Oh right I thought I was just being pushy.” He finishes his drink.

“This conversation has gotten really intense all of a sudden. I’m going to get us another round and I’ll stop bumming you out, how about that?”

“But for the record I really do appreciate your advice.”

There's a chuckle from Rosemary as she looks up to Keros "Yeah it did didn't it? There's always more advice if you want it. And I will certainly not turn down another drink, like do you know just extortionate arcane ink is??"

And then the rambling starts and continues.

Keros just happily listens to wizard white-noise.