Alex leaned back in his chair taking a moment while he waited on Gilly to reflect on the recent changes to his life. He was in a place that was by all accounts alien to him. Spoke to divinity and somehow was picked by her to undertake some great task. He was surrounded by people that were clearly either uncomfortable with him, or thought of him as Gilly's amusement. Alex sighed to himself leaning forward and propping his elbows on the table in front of him. After a short time passed Gilly came walking up to the table nodding, or waving at people as she went by. She was clearly highly respected here. Gilly sat down next to Alex and put on a mocking frown, as if emulating Alex next to her. "You look so surly when you're thinking little bird. What's on your mind?"

Alex looked at her smiling lightly at her attempts to mock him. "Honestly, everything that's going on. It's a lot to take in, and I'm still confused about one thing. What's the difference between us, I mean, if you're her avatar and I'm her champion, what’s the difference?"

Gilly laughed at him and leaned forward to him as if speaking in a conspiratorial tone. "Only that one thing? Well an Avatar, that is to say, me was granted part of her power." She reached out pulling his hand down and into hers. "You, as her champion, do not have that boon. You have an inner strength that she is depending on. So think of yourself as her will and me as her strength." She turned his hand so it was palm up on the table and traced indistinct patterns on it with her fingertip. "That’s not to say you don’t have considerable strength either. That’s more of a rough explanation to what it really means. The easiest way I could think to explain it more or less. We'd have to speak with a sage to get the real meaning behind it. But that is as it has been explained to me."

Alex watched her trace her patterns on his palm, his fingers inadvertently twitching at the attentions. "Do you know magick, Gilly? Like we saw in the chest, or what she did?" Gilly stopped tracing the figures and put her hand in his. She smiled at him warmly, reassuringly.

"I do, but nothing like she can do. Even if I was granted some of her power it is but a speck of what she could do. She's a goddess after all. I healed you when you were unconscious, why do you think you can use your fingers? After what that lout did to you in that awful cell, much less how we walked out through a crowd of them." Alex hadn't thought of that, he reflexively flexed his fingers.

"I suppose I should thank you yet more for that. I'm sorry it never occurred to me before now." Gilly laughed at that gripping his hand.

"Don't worry; you'll thank me plenty when the time comes. For now, we need to discuss exac--” Her comments were cut short as a large figure pushed the door of the tavern open with a loud slam. Much of the Tavern went silent at the sudden burst of noise. A figure walked in tall and imposing.

"Gilliandre Adams!" His voice was booming and deep, This man was a person wearing a gleaming set of steel armor, a green and red tabard covered chest with a rank insignia over the mans heart. He was taller than Alex and walked with a self assured stride of someone who had authority. The man walked into the crowd of people who all looked up at him partly in disdain, partly in fear. When he spotted Gilly his face turned to a deep frown and he stomped over to where the two of them were sitting only passing a brief glance over Alex before turning his attention to Gilly. "You were told to report to me immediately upon your return, woman." Alex felt Gilly's grip tighten down on his hand as if she were fighting to urge to end this mans existence right then and there. "I hear from those street curs that you have hanging off your teats that you've been back in the city for a week now. You're lucky I haven't had them strung up by their toes in the town square for every day you haven't shown up." Alex reached his other hand over and the movement was enough to get the man’s attention of his presence. "And who the hell is this, another miscreant? Or have you finally settled on your lot and started sleeping with commoners to be with your own?" Gilly clenched Alex's hand tightly again.

"Alex, this.... man is Knight Captain Montaine, Knight Captain, this is Alex Byrne. He is in my care, and is a dear friend." Gilly's tone was venomous and measured. It would have given anyone pause to hear her speak to them like that, but the Knight Captain seemed ignorant of the tone.

"Why didn't you come to my office like I demanded? I'd bet it was because you were busy consorting with this tripe." He waved a gauntleted hand at Alex. Alex clenched his jaw, this man was absolutely grating his nerves. That he was talking to Gilly in the tone he was, was enough to make Alex want to respond but he felt he should stay quiet and let it play out as Gilly knew the man far better than he did. The last thing he wanted was to pull down the ire of the city's policing force.

"Captain, you seem to be under the impression that I follow your orders, or that I ever have followed your orders. You're a boor of a man and you're lucky I haven’t had you drug into the cathedral to confess to a priestess. Now if you will be on your way, I and Alex here need to continue our discussion, we will visit your office when I deign it necessary." This seemed to anger the knight more than cause him to back down.

"Now see here! I will not be spoken to like that by you off all people Gilliandre, and not in front of commoners!" The burly knight reached out to jab a finger at Alex. Who, much to the surprise of Gilly was already up seizing the man by the wrist and dragging him roughly over the table by offsetting the weight of his armor. Alex was up behind the large man in a fluid motion bending the armored arm back up behind his back and driving the knights hand up between his shoulder blades as far as possible. The knight yelled out in pain reaching with his free hand to the blade at his hip. Alex was too quick and had pulled the knight’s blade free of it’s sheathe and spun the tip around to the back of the knights neck near his spine.

"You've made a mistake captain." Alex's voice was calm, and extremely level. it had an unnerving effect on the captain which was clear by the fact that he stopped struggling against Alex. "You're speaking out of your place. This 'commoner' as you call me can see that you've never swung this weapon at anything but a training dummy by the way you carry yourself and you'd be better suited to cleaning the stables of the other knights rather than leading them." He jabbed the point of the knight’s sword lightly into his neck causing a thin line of blood to start to run around the exposed skin. "Your armor is too clean and polished; looks like you sit in your office a little too much. Never once sullied that fancy metal in the mud before have you?" Alex spun the blade in his hand passing the handle to Gilly who looked both astonished and amused at the situation between the two men in front of her. She took the sword from Alex as he shifted his weight heaving the armored man back and upright. His arm still locked behind his back. "Apologize or I break your arm." He wrenched his weight hard against the arm in his grasp causing the large man to lurch up on his tip toes.

"I... I'm sorry!" He groaned in distinct pain. Alex turned him and directly marched the man to the front desk

"Now apologize to these fine people for interrupting their business." He once again applied a sharp twist of his wrist.

"I'm Sorry for....” a sharp cry of pain as another twist was applied. "Interrupting your business!"

Alex marched the knight to the door screwing his wrist up his back every time he felt the knight starting to struggle. "Now to the people before you leave... captain."

"I'm sorry!" Alex pushed him to the door as a patron was walking in only to be greeted by the captain's grimace, he stepped aside seeing what was going on. Alex caught the door with his foot shoving the knight out and into the street.

"You're lucky, captain, that you didn't try to touch anyone other than me. If that were the case you'd be getting carted out of here in pieces. Gilly told you, we will see you when we wish to see you." Alex turned his back on the man and walked back inside the Tavern to see the patrons looking at him silently. He smiled lightly raising his hands as if in surrender. "Bit of an ass that one." A few laughs broke out in the crowd and the people turned back to their conversations with an excited buzz in the air. They now had quite a lot of rumors to pass around the town. Alex smiled to the staff behind the bar who nodded appreciatively at him as he walked back to the table to Gilly, who sat with her legs crossed and a demure smile on her lips.

"I so enjoy watching when you get those talons out. You know I had that under control though didn't you?" She placed the captain’s sword on the table and Alex studied it for a moment.

"I know you could have taken care of any situation he might have presented Gilly. I know you could absolutely put me to shame in that regard. He needed to be humbled though, I’ve seen his type before. All that rank given because someone liked his family well enough or that he kissed enough boots to get it he was never really deserving it. He needed to be shown his place. You could have killed him, but that wouldn't do anything but sow discord. You let me do what I did because if he's got humility forced down his throat things remain calm and he might learn something or leave by the proper channels."

"That’s very astute, but is that all?" Gilly cooed at Alex. "Are you certain it wasn't because he was besmirching my honor?"

Alex sat down and looked at her deadpanned. "Gilly, you could decimate me without breaking a sweat. I'll admit the way he was talking to you did set me to the point of where I wanted to gut him like a fish, but no, that was not the driving factor. Your honor is intact because someone that foul couldn’t dent it. Does he always treat people so poorly?"

Gilly laughed at Alex's response patting his hand as he looked at her. "He's an insufferable lout to be certain, but even a lout can be useful." She shrugged lightly at Alex,

Alex looked up to see some of the staff gather plates of food and drinks hurriedly bringing them to the table. The waitress looked at Alex nervously then to Gilly who smiled gently at her. "Don’t worry, he's safe, he couldn't stand to see people being treated poorly."

The waitress smiled a nervous smile and nodded seemingly becoming more at ease. Alex pulled the captains sword off the table offering it hilt first to the server. "Please, miss, I'd feel better knowing you all had this behind the counter." Gilly looked at Alex appreciatively and once more squeezed his free hand as if in thanks. Alex noticed the woman’s eyes move from the blade to their hands and waited for her to take the weapon, which she eventually did. The waitress turned clutching the sharp weapon close to her and hurrying off behind the counter.

"They seem awfully interested in you holding my hand and any affection you seem to show me." Alex stated looking to Gilly. "Speaking of, not that I’m complaining mind you, but you have seemed very... affectionate since we got here. There is much less of you kicking my ass, and more of you reassuring and hand holding. Far be it for me to look a gift horse in the mouth, but why?"

Gilly smirked "In time little bird, just know it’s in earnest. I've been watching you for a long time, I've grown quite fond." She seemed to want to leave it at that and Alex shrugged in response.

"I suppose that'll have to do." The two of them grew silent, eating their food and looking over the room of people. Alex took the time to better adjust himself to the denizens of this town as he saw them. People all distinctively different than what he was familiar with; horns, fur, some with cloven feet, others with animalistic faces. Some much larger than Alex others absolutely tiny, this would take quite a bit of getting used to. Alex looked to Gilly who was watching him and his actions. She seemed content in his response almost completely at ease with the surroundings. They finished eating and both stood up made their way to the bar stopping for a moment for Gilly to address the woman behind it. Alex looked at the door waiting Gilly to finish her conversation; he jumped with a slight start as he felt her arm curl around his as she called out behind her.

"Tell her to please come by my estate tonight when she closes up. Thank you!" Gilly tugged on Alex's arm pulling him towards the door and out into the street. She offered no further information and Alex felt it best not to pry, They set off towards the fountain heading past it and deeper into the city. They walked along the city streets among the milling crowds of the early day arms interlocked, people spreading out to allow Gilly and Alex through them. Alex felt strange seeing the muted reverence for Gilly as they walked along the now busy streets he looked at her as they continued letting her guide him through her home city.