Alyssa nearly coughed up the water she'd been drinking as Vivian's...what do you call that?  Advance?  Flirtation?  Cleverly couched offer? In the end Alyssa decided that A: it didn't really matter all that much what you call it.  and B: It was probably somewhere between an offer and a flirtation.

[color=ed1c24]"You'll have to show me your fireball soon.  I'm sure that would be even more impressive."[/color]  She had thought her flirtations with Vivian would be met with amusement at best derision at worst, instead it seemed her bedroll might be quite warm tonight in spite of the desert night.

Partnering up with Vivian sounded fantastic.  As outgoing as she was Alyssa tended toward maintaining a good amount of distance from others, born a slave she was slow to really trust, Vivian and the rest of their little rag-tag group had just done one of the very few things that generally relaxed her.  It wasn't hard to judge the character of a person when they fight,  Catarina was quick to protect the physically weaker amongst them,  Jarvis was straightforward and decisive,  Malkai was accustomed to fighting alone,  The new orc was bloodthirsty,  Xavio was a greedy idiot, and Vivian was quick to dispatch the immediate threat and look for who needs help.  They were hardly a coordinated unit,  but that came with time.

Not to mention the faint stirring of...admiration was the safer word, infatuation might be dangerous, she had for Vivian.  Quick to joke when it was time for that,  serious when the situation demanded, a general interest in adventuring for adventure's sake.  She could sign on to that.

[color=ed1c24]"That sounds perfect, I could do with someone watching my back who actually seems to care if it gets filled with metal.  I don't have many friends either, I tend to move around alot.  Not sure why you wouldn't have any friends, you seem friendly and capable."[/color]

Riding on ahead Alyssa scanned the horizon with more scrutiny than she had been previously.  The trick was to make sure you allowed your eyes rest between peeks and to actually keep them closed as much as you can.  Specks could be recognized with a brief glance,  it was more important that the lookout prevent their eyes from getting fatigued by the glare coming off the sand.