Watching the fight on another cold day

[DeathsAngel]

Alithia hadn\'t expected to be working with the animals right away, actually she suspected something fairly dirty, hard and far away from the horses. But the thought of that didn\'t bother her, after all, a shelter and food was worth it! "I don\'t mind! I wasn\'t expecting that anyways. Plus, I don\'t want to risk any of the animals, or myself I must admit, getting hurt!" She said, leaning back from her empty plate contently. "Thank you again, the meal with very much appreciated!" SHe smiled broadly.
 
She reached forward and took another sip of her drink, and rested her elbow on the table, straightening her arm to set her glass upon the table and about her new job. She would\'ve liked to get a little cleaned up for her first day, but if he was taking her there tonight and she started work tomorrow she wouldn\'t have the time. But I guess a bunch of farmer\'s children didn\'t mind much about how dirty she looked. But still, she would\'ve liked to take a trip to the bathhouse.
 
"How long have you worked there, Gallagher?" SHe asked suddenly, actually interested now that it seemed as if she knew as much as she needed to know about her new job for now. She lifted one of her legs up and wrapped her arms around it to keep it in place as she rested her chin on her knee. She knew this wasn\'t a lady-like position, but nobody expected a scrawny "street rat" to have manners, so she didn\'t bother with any.

[Existentially Odd]

"Since I was fourteen," he reminded her, figuring it was her way of asking his age.  He smiled as he swallowed another mouthful and answered her properly.  "Eleven years, I\'m twenty-five.  Going on twenty-six, in fact," he grinned.  "I\'ve only been Stable Manager for the past four years.  I was a simple stablehand until that point, then the opportunity for advancement came and I leapt at it!" he laughed.

"I shouldn\'t actually live at the stables but I do, because the Stable Master isn\'t interested in his quarters, he has his own house with his family, in the keep.  It\'s a great setup; you should like it there," he enthused, taking the time to begin finishing off his meal - it felt awkward with her just sitting there, staring at him.

[DeathsAngel]

Alithia cocked an eyebrow, "eleven years? I must admit that the thought of staying with one job for that long is kind of strange to me, I don\'t know if I will, but we never can tell!" She looked around the room for a moment, watching the crowd thicken once again. It seemed peaceful enough, but the mood could change with a moments notice.
 
"I believe I will." She smile again as she turned back to Gallagher, she didn\'t say anything for a moment, her mind filled with thoughts of all sorts. She started to twirl her cup absently as he finished his meal. Coming back to reality she once again looked back up at her new boss. "Do you mind if, before I start work tomorrow, I get some personal belongings and bring them to the stables? They\'re just a couple little things that don\'t take up any space." She leaned back in her chair once again.

[Existentially Odd]

Gallagher wiped the corners of his mouth with his thumb to be sure he didn\'t have any gravy lingering where it didn\'t belong, putting down his cutlery while he nodded.

"That\'s fine - do you need help with it?  If you\'re ready, we could head there now and I could accompany you to... wherever you\'re going.  Another pair of hands might be helpful in carrying your gear to the stable?" he queried, lifting said haids briefly (like she\'d need a mime to help her properly interpret his offer... hrmm, perhaps he\'d overstepped the appropriate amount of alcohol consumption after all?).

[DeathsAngel]

Ali laughed a little at his offer. "Not much to carry. Just a couple small personal items. But I keep them near by, I don\'t want to go out of the way to get them, though, which is why I offered for tomorrow, probably before the others get up." She shrugged lightly and smiled. It was a letter from her brother and a drawing she made when she was little of her family, her meager coins and a single, small, thing that everyone in her family had owned kept hidden behind a removable stone behind the tavern.
 
"But, even so, we might want to consider heading back soon, it\'ll start getting dark soon and it\'d be easier, and safer, to get there before sundown." She wasn\'t afraid of staying out after dark, but night is when men god drunk, criminals came out and such, but they left her alone, because she was one of them. Though she mostly did her pocket picking during the day when the crowds were out. Used to do my pocket picking during the day. She corrected herself.

[Existentially Odd]

Gallagher beamed and stood up, finding himself a little dizzy on his feet but not so wobbly he couldn\'t continue in a straight line (more or less).  "That sounds like an excellent idea, let\'s go," he enthused, stepping behind her in order to help her out of her chair in a truly gentleman-like way.  She obviously didn\'t want him accompanying her when she went to get her things, so he dropped the matter entirely, leaving the decision about that to her.

He was excited, now that he had a new staff member to show around, and couldn\'t wait to get them back to the stables to show what he did best.

(Continued in \'Turn Of A Friendly Hand\')