{-Llewel-}
He immediately nodded, then gestured to another one of the spots on the table. But he couldn’t quite stop himself from skipping to the next part as soon as she sat down. “Are you alright? Bezyu mentioned that you were doing something on your own, why? Did you find whatever you were looking for? You’re not… here because of bad news, are you?”
Casrane paused for a moment, then managed a weak smile. “I wasn’t exactly expecting you to be this concerned…”
“Of course he’s concerned!” Myr defended. It was said with a smile, her voice enthusiastic but still quiet enough not to draw too much attention to them. “We haven’t seen you in a while, and it’s never safe for someone to be on their own. You should be more worried if your friends are okay with you going alone!”
“I’d really like an answer,” Llewel decided to point out. He couldn’t quite muster happiness just yet, not with a vague sense of dread hanging over him. “If you just avoid it, I’m just going to get more worried…”
“We can talk about it a little more later,” Casrane said. “For right now, though… I want you to forget about what’s been going on. Let’s just pretend like this is a chance meeting, alright? It was just fate that brought us here.”
It was pretty clear what he thought of that answer, but he figured he should let it go. So, as casually as he could with concern still the first thing on his mind, he asked, “You’re doing okay, right?”
“I’ve been fine. I’d… probably be lying to say I wasn’t getting into trouble, but nothing’s really come out of it.”
He couldn’t stop himself from adding, “Yet. Nothing’s come out of it yet.”
She let out a nervous chuckle. “You know you really don’t have to be that worried… it’s not the first time I’ve done these sorts of things. I’m capable of handling myself.”
“And by now, I’m conditioned to believe everyone who says stuff like that is lying. I don’t want to see you get hurt…”
“Well, why do you think I’m out there? I don’t want anything to happen to the two of you, either. You’re my friends—and they’re far more willing to do something to you than they are to me.”
Myr looked between the two of them, seemed to consider her options, then asked, “Have you been doing anything else lately..? Other than possibly dangerous stuff..?”
Stolen story; please report.
“I’ve heard a bit about what you’ve been doing,” Casrane answered after a moment’s consideration. “It sounds like you’re having fun—and getting along with the players.”
Myr nodded enthusiastically. “Mhm! We’ve more or less been doing every quest in all of the areas up until this point. I guess it’s… a lot less than all now, since we’re trying to avoid getting involved in the Rune Reactivation Project, but… it’s still a lot! And it’s still fun to be with all of them.”
Casrane, slowly, seemed to become much more relaxed. “That’s good to hear. What were their names, again..? Erin’s with you now, isn’t she? I think I’ve seen her with you. And those other two… Zetai and Reynneak, right?”
“Yeah,” Llewel mumbled.
“Do you… have any stories about your time together?”
“Why do I have the feeling that you already know all of them?”
She sighed. “So I’m guessing you don’t want to keep pretending?”
“I’d feel much better when it didn’t seem like half of this was forced small talk. I’m glad we’re able to be together, and talk like this, but… it’s kind of ruined to know there’s another reason for all of it.”
Casrane glanced at the remaining players in the inn, and for a moment he wondered if she’d use them as an excuse. But, a bit to his surprise, she instead mumbled, “I don’t think anyone’s paying attention to us, so… now’s as good a time as any.” That didn’t seem to make her too much more willing, though. “The… exact details are something I’m still a bit unclear on, and what I do know is probably best left said with the players here, too, but… I can tell you some of it now.”
She glanced somewhere else—where Tiolfe had been standing, probably, because she passed by their table to occupy some of the possibly-eavesdropping players. Then Casrane continued. “I know that, whatever they’re planning to do, they need all three of us to do it. Already they seem more resolved in whatever it was than they were before—I… can’t even be certain at what point they’d claim they’ve gone too far. And the reason I’m here right now telling you, instead of relaying the message to someone else, is… I think it might be better if we stick together.”
“You just got done saying that they wanted all three of us,” Llewel pointed out. “Doesn’t having us all together just make things that much easier for them?”
“No easier than taking one of us and using them as bait for the other two,” she replied simply. She’d put a lot of thought into this. “In the end, once they have one of us, it’s only a matter of time before they get the other two. At least if we’re together, we might be able to avoid some of their traps, and we won’t have to worry about each other.”
“I guess that makes sense, but… there’s something else, right?” Myr asked quietly. “There’s more to whatever made you come to that decision aside from ‘we might be safer and we won’t have to worry.’”
Casrane, whether she realized it or not, practically proved it. “If it’s alright with you, I don’t want to have to repeat myself—the more we spread the information, the higher the chance it gets back to them. We need to be careful about what we say and when we say it. I’d rather talk about the rest with the players here, too, if you think you can wait that long.”
Llewel decided there was no point in fighting it, and instead said, “It might take a little while for all of them to come tomorrow. I don’t think Tinath mentioned needing to do something, but Reynneak mentioned that he and Zetai had a class in the morning. Is that still alright with you?”
Casrane nodded. “If that’s what it takes to get you all together, then I think it’s worth a short wait.”