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[indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=#87c735][b]Location:[/b][/color] The Laughing Worg -- The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color]
[hr]Alex didn't understand why he was being offered a handkerchief at first, until he saw the state of his letter.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/doQcsBT.jpg[/img][/center]

Eh, it was still legible.

He wiped the area around his chin in a hurry, the pang of embarrassment shaking him out of his current state. It was relieving that Kazuki had spoken that directly about wanting to form a team. Alex was thinking of a similar idea, but had gotten so distracted that he was beginning to settle for a partnership with a lower amount of people. Regardless of whatever route he thought was wisest, a healer like Kazuki was indispensable to a frailer player such as himself. 

[color=#87c735]"Banding together, huh. I like the sound of that,"[/color] he said, tracing his jawline with the cloth. [color=#87c735]"Does that mean you're trying to band the entire raid party together? I drank a little,"[/color] he paused and quirked his brows, [color=#87c735]"okay, more than a little, but even then I know that's gonna be tough to pull off."[/color] 

The way he saw it, the strong players that tended to be individualists were going to swallow their pride and seek out the strong guilds, who in turn were seeking [i]them[/i] out too. A situation like that would probably end up with Alex falling back on his brother's guild, going back to selling light armor to make ends meet. The whole thing felt like crawling back to live in your parents' house after being unable to find a job. And Pariah was supposed to be an escape from the real world.

[color=dc143c]"How're my two favorite fuck-ups doin' this fine mornin'?"[/color]

Both the conversation and his thoughts were crashed by Graves, with all of the bravado he would expect from a person who had no idea their life was at stake. Did he really not care? Alex hadn't known the man well enough to think beyond a surface level, having mentally categorized Graves as [i]"that tank guy who split dog people in half like they were avocados".[/i]

[color=#87c735]"Kazuki's been planning something,"[/color] he said, folding the note in one of his many pockets of his everyday wear. Now that there were real world consequences to creating clothing, his more utilitarian style of crafting was better suited in comparison to the flashier stuff it seemed like the rest of the playerbase was enamored with. It was a little moment of vindication he'd keep to himself. Kazuki was handling the conversation way better, anyways... but a detail did catch his attention.

[color=#87c735]"The NPC talked like a player?"[/color] he asked. [color=#87c735]"I was in the drox hall earlier, and this girl there was acting kind of weird. Instead of just giving tips for newbies she started going on about the places factions were located. I mean, still totally useless info, but [i]weird[/i], man."[/color] Near him, what looked like an argument between the people he had raided with was brewing. 

[color=#87c735]"Crap,"[/color] he groaned, reaching for another sip, [color=#87c735]"this just made our job a whole lot harder."[/color]


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