Completed Just Before Departure.

Oliviana was not sure how to respond. She had meant the question in jest and he had opened up about his biggest insecurities.

Fuck. This was way too deep for her drunk ass.

She took a drink from her water as she contemplated his words. She could easily see what he meant. She had felt useless before especially given her background. She had left that life and made something of herself.

Ooooh, that's what he is trying to do, she thought. She was unsure why it had taken her that long to make the connection between wanting adventure and feeling useless.

Once he was done, Oliviana reached a hand out to set it on his arm.

"I know how you are feeling, Raphael. I have been there before," it was all she could say before she took her hand back and slide the water over to him. "Drink."
 
He hadn't even noticed the hand she'd placed on him. He was too far gone at this point. Drunkest he'd been in a while and numbed by thoughts he'd let slip out. Right now, he didn't care that he'd said any of it. And in the morning, if he was lucky, he wouldn't remember saying a lick of it.

He leaned forward. The table rattled as he'd moved his torso too hard into the side of it. The water held, but almost toppled from the impact. Raphael eyed it for a long moment. The thought of drinking it made his stomach dance and he definitely contemplated not drinking it at all.

But, alas, he gave in. Something in his body knew it was best that he has it. So, he did. Sips, at first. Didn't want to overload his stomach.

"You everr..." Raphael mumbled. His words only being audible due to the fact that the room had quieted.

"You ever think you just wasted it? Your whole life. Just like you threw it away?"
 
She watched him and a soft smile crossed her lips when he started to drink the water. They both needed at least three more glasses. She had drank too much trying to best him. She had won but now he looked like he was about to cry.

"Not anymore. I did at one point but then I found a purpose. I suppose I have given up on that specific purpose though so I guess the last eight years have been a waste on top of the first twenty."

Great...now he had her talking about feelings.

Damn him!
 
He gripped the glass of water like his life depended on it. It may as well have. She could relate, it seemed. He wasn't all that surprised by the fact. Just due to them having a lot in common already. Different backgrounds, sure, but the way they saw things and what drove them seemed to line up curiously well.

He nodded at her sentiment, which he shouldn't have. He was spinning like crazy. Raphael drank the rest of the water in one go now that his stomach had had some.

"So, what did you do? You just... continue?"
 
Oliviana looked down at her water with a sigh. She hadn’t done anything because she was still in the issue. Was it time to quit the Hands? What would she do if she did leave? She couldn’t - wouldn’t - return home a failure. No, she would have to find something else to do.

“I quit,” she answered Raphael. “Or I am going to when I return to Ragash…”

She drank some more water and rubbed her forehead in frustration.

“I have no idea what I will do though,” she added sadly.
 
So, there it was.

Both of them in that same boat. Running from the thing everyone told them they had to do. They were both young, after all. And being in a position where you choose flight over a chosen destiny, most would choose flight.

He smiled. Because for the first time in his whole fucking life, he felt like someone saw him.

"Hey, me either." He chuckled. "I let you drag me into a bar that I don't belong in. Knowing what to do is fucking overrated."

Raphael tried to lighten the mood with his good ol' created personality. When the next waters came, he didn't hesitate to start drinking it. He also took out more money and tipped the bartender generously.

"Thanks." He'd offer her.
 
Oliviana let out a huff of laughter at Raphael’s opinion about knowing what to do being overrated. Yes, it was but it was also nice sometimes to. She didn’t know like the unknown.

Would she find a new home? A new job? New friends? Those were all questions that she struggled with daily. Raphael was not the cause but he was trigger for todays thoughts.

“So, what do you what to do specifically?”
 
He shrugged. His head lulled drunkenly into his open palm and he looked at her with half puzzlement and half admiration. The drink had certain made him like her a lot more. For better or for worse, that was the truth.

“I think,” he said ”I just wanna know something when I find it. Learn by doing and not be bound by appearances and social requirement. I want to go see nature at its prettiest and at its angriest.“

Secretly, he’d like to see Oliviana at both extremes as well, but thought better than to say that aloud.

“When you’ve been locked in a metaphorical tower, just about anything else will suffice.“
 
Oliviana nodded along as she listened.

In her drunken state, she should have kept her mouth shut but she did not know how to do that well.

"Too bad we can't go see if that vampire really does have some treasure..."

She grabbed her water and took a silent sip.
 
Oh, right. That vampire manor she’d mentioned. The one she was going to send him to his death with. Now, it was just kinda funny.

But, he’d had a thought. If he’d gone alone, then yeah, he’d probably expire. But,

”Why don’t we?”

His face grew less soft.

“We can sleep this off and go tomorrow. Alone, I’d be useless. But if we went together, we may actually be able to pull it off.“
 
"Why don’t we?"

Oliviana barked out a sharp laugh at his absolutely insane suggestion.

It grew clear quite quickly that Raphael was not joking and she sobered up quicker than she thought was possible.

"We can sleep this off and go tomorrow. Alone, I’d be useless. But if we went together, we may actually be able to pull it off."

"What? Are you insane?" She asked Raphael. He had to be. Insane and drunk and insane. "Absolutely not!"
 
He threw his hands up.

"I mean, it's feasible, right?" He pointed to his fingers to indicate steps.

"If we go in the morning, he'll be asleep, right? We keep light handy. Don't linger for too long. In and out."

He smiled, "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

He gave her a coy wink. More suggestive than he intended it to be.
 
“She,” Oliviana corrected. The vampire was a woman and a smart woman at that. Liv had heard the horror stories about the vampire and she was more than a little afraid to cross her. “I doubt she goes to sleep and leaves herself unprotected,” the Hand pointed out.

“So no, you are insane. Absolutely insane,” she reiterated.

Oliviana shook her head and drank some more of her water.
 
Raphael rolled his eyes. His bravado was returning now that his level of drunk was regulating.

“Comeeeee onnnnn, Oliviana.”

He said as whiny as ever.

“You just said that you wanted to do something else. This is an opportunity! We could walk away with untold riches. Magical artifacts! Forgotten lore! The possibilities are endless. We just have to do it.“
 
"I want to do something else...I do not want to die!" She responded to him in a clipped tone.

"She probably doesn't have any riches or anything. You can't even control your magic, Raphael. What if we get attacked? Are you going to electrocute yourself?!"

Oliviana realized that she had probably gone a little far but the words had already left her mouth.
 
Raphael smirked.

“How are you to know if you can survive out here without trying something you otherwise might not? Arethil isn’t kind to wanderers. There’s a lot worse things than a vampire out there. This is a perfect opportunity to test your strength.”

He leaned back in his chair with eyebrows raised. Raphael thought for sure that kind of bait was too sweet for someone like Oliviana to resist.
 
Oliviana glared at the little shit that sat across from her. It was impressive how quickly he had learned how to manipulate her into doing what he wanted. They really were extremely similar.

"Fine."

She said calmly but firm.

"Let's go get ourselves killed in the morning!"
 
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