Lysithea sat in silence on her chair at the round table in the Wandering Sisters. Beside her sat Tristan who drummed his fingers against the table and stared into his drink. They hadn't spoken a word but slowly he leaned back in his seat and pulled out some stray leaves and sticks from her blonde hair.

"Can't believe you ran into the forest all by yourself."

"I saw him-... I finally saw him again." Lysithea mumbled, digging her fingers into her knees. "It had been so long that-... that I almost felt as if I had dreamed him up. As if-... if he was only in my imagination."

"So… you ran into the wolf infested forest after him like a mad woman?"

"I lost-... lost myself in the moment."

Tristan sighed heavily and took a swig of his beer. "You're insane, Lys." He gave her a playful smile and she looked up at him sheepishly.

He ruffled her hair and got out of his seat. 

"I'll be right back. I need to take a leak. Don't go running off somewhere while I'm gone!" 

He then left her sitting alone at the table. She stared into the glass of water and the beads of honey that stuck to the bottom.

"He cares for you very much, you know." Kelly pulled out a chair and took a seat opposite her and Lysithea flinched as she appeared from what seemed like nowhere.

"Why can-... can everyone sneak up on me like this?!"

"Because you're not aware of your surroundings! You're all trapped in here." Kelly drummed with two fingers on the side of her head and gave the blonde girl a kind smile.

"You make him worry a lot, you know."

"I-... I do?"

Kelly nodded and grabbed Tristan's tankard as she peered inside at the empty content.

"Amanda!" She shouted over the noise of the other patrons. 

A young woman who stood behind the counter, with bright red hair and a kind youthful smile perked up and smiled wide towards the tavern owner. 

"One more drink for Tristan, beer! And one for me too."

"Alright, darling! I'll be right over."

Lysithea looked between the two as they had their exchange and then looked down towards her knees again, somberly.

"You're so obsessed with the undead freak that you can't think clearly. You better watch yourself or people might get the wrong idea."

"I know."

"And for the sake of Tristan you should let it go."

Lysithea glanced towards Kelly just as Amanda came over and placed two tankards on the table and grabbed the old one. She watched them exchange a kiss before the shorter of the two returned to the bar.

Kelly leaned back in her chair and lifted her drink into the air, taking a look at the bottom with one eye closed and then took a long drink, swallowing down half its contents and slammed it back onto the table, startling Lysithea.

"He comes in here often to drink his troubles away, and they're always about you." Kelly spoke with a harsh tone, glaring at the smaller woman as she stared back into her lap and began to fiddle with her white and gold overcoat. 

"About-... about me?"

"Yes, you." The woman placed her arm over the back of her chair. "He has many times muttered about how he cares about you and that you're going to get yourself killed."

Lysithea pulled her shoulders up and looked over the table at Kelly who still hadn't removed her sight from her.

"You really don't understand why?"

"I'm his-... his friend. It makes sense that he would--"

"No, you idiot." Kelly placed her hands on the table and frowned in annoyance at her. "He wants you to share a bed with him."

"Eh?!" Lysithea stared at the woman, she nearly fell out of her seat and felt how her face began to turn to a red colour as her blood rushed to her cheeks. Quickly she placed her hands over her face and hid behind her palms.

"That-... that isn't true!"

"Yes it is! He's so deeply into you that the man has to drink to forget it and you don't even notice?!"

"I don't-... people don't like me like that! Back home I didn't even have-... have friends."

"I've noticed how the men around you flirt with you all the time."

"They don't! They're--"

"Oh, so Evander doesn't flirt with you, hmh?"

"He doesn't! Not for-... for the reason you think. He wants me to blush is-... is all." Lysithea hunched over, trying to hide herself as well as she possibly could. "He likes that I get easily-... easily flustered because flirting and getting compliments makes me-... me uncomfortable!"

"Right."

"It's true!" Lysithea slammed her hands into the table and immediately regretted it as she startled herself and pulled her legs up to hide behind them instead. "I can't-... can't handle flattery. I get uncomfortable and-... I just want to run away and hide. I blush when people stare at me because I-... I get nervous, not because I-... I like them in-... in that way."

Kelly raised an eyebrow at her and opened her mouth to say something but Tristan placed himself back in his seat and looked between the two women in confusion.

"Why are you hiding Lys? Did you say something flirtatious, Kelly?" He grinned from ear to ear and leaned his arm onto the back of Lysithea's chair.

"Tristan!" Lysithea stared at him and nearly fell out of her chair but he caught her with a hand on her arm.

"I said nothing of the sort. Just wanted to tell her to be a bit more careful. I'll leave you two lovebirds to it." Kelly rose from her seat and swiped her tankard off the table as she walked towards the bar, past the crowd of guests.

"...lovebirds?" Tristan stared after her and then down at the ball which Lysithea had turned into. "Oh”.

The both of them sat in complete silence. Tristan stared into the distance with his hands around his already empty tankard as he had finished his drink in one go as a result of the realisation as to why Lysithea was so uncomfortable.

Lysithea was doing the same thing, although staring into the floor, face hidden by her messy hair and her fingers tightly curled around her glass which she held on her lap.

"So…" Tristan coughed, trying to rehydrate his dry throat. "What did she say exactly? Just so I know how to explain myself."

Lysithea glanced towards him and they locked eyes. She quickly looked away and bit her bottom lip, shuffling in her seat nervously.

"That you want me in your bed."

Tristan blinked as his eyes grew wide. "She said what?"

"That you want us-... us to share a bed." She repeated, her nails scratching against the glass by mistake.

"Uh… Lys, listen, let me explain!" He turned towards her. Placing one hand on the table and the other on the back of her chair.

"You're a very beautiful woman. I love the feathers that seem to crop out of your hair and how you decorate your clothes with them. You're very kind and understanding. I really do love the light you bring to this dark world." Tristan spoke softly and watched as Lysithea tried to bundle herself up even more, trying to look as tiny as possible. "I also know you're extremely uncomfortable right now and I-..."

He looked around the room in an attempt to find something that could help but found nothing. Instead he looked back down at her and pressed his lips together.

"Tristan…" She said, slowly.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for-... for telling me." She mumbled, her voice trembling. She could feel tears sting in her eyes as they gathered up and became crystal clear pearls in the corners.

"But I don't know how to-... to handle something like this." She bit her bottom lip and could feel the grip of her chair loosened. "I never thought-... thought I'd ever even have friends. I couldn't even imagine or think about-... about something more intimate and it's all very confusing and-..."

She flinched as he placed a hand on her shoulder and she immediately looked up at him, a tear escaping her eye as she blinked and she could feel how the warm bead of water rolled down her cheek and got caught in the corner of her mouth.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Lys." He gave her a genuine smile and placed both hands on her person as he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting hug.  "You're my dearest friend. I don't need you to have the same feeling for me as I do for you, alright?"

He could feel how she placed her forehead, carefully on his chest but her arms never wrapped around him but instead stayed in her lap.

"I'm sorry Tristan but-... but I don't even know what-... what love is. I've always been alone, lucky someone would even have a normal conversation with me. I-.."

"Schhh-- you have nothing to explain. It's okay." He moved away so he could look her in the eyes but she wouldn't look back, her eyes lingering down at her own fingers.

"At Least give the guy a chance." Kelly placed a new tankard of beer down between them. "Let him take you out for a picnic or something if not into bed."

"Kelly, do you mind?! Get back to work and leave us alone." Tristan glared at her in slight anger and she took one step back with her hands in the air.

"Alright alright. I was just trying to help. Geez." She stepped away and returned to the bar in a huff.

Tristan sighed heavily and shook his head.

"I would-... would love to have a picnic with you." Lysithea whispered and Tristan peered down at her slowly. "But I-... I can't right now. What I'm doing is-... is dangerous and before it is finished I-... I shouldn't attempt to figure out what it would be to love someone more than a-... a friend."

Tristan gave her a gentle smile and placed a hand on her head.

"Don't worry about it, Lys." He took a swig of his beer and watched the people fumble past. He tilted his head at a man who stood by the fireplace, scratching the back of his head against the stonework with his arms crossed as he spoke with two tall women who kept wildly gesturing with their arms. His eyes then fell upon Adrian and Evander who entered the tavern, followed by a tall woman who had to duck to avoid hitting her head on the lantern hanging from the ceiling. The tavern was filling up quickly. His eyes trailed around the room, landing on person to person before he looked back down at his companion. 

“Don’t worry about it.” He added with a worried face. “Let me get you another drink and we can forget about the whole thing, alright?”

“I can’t-... can’t do that, Tristan.” She mumbled back as she managed to sit back up straight, her hands fiddling with the rim of her jacket. She moved two fingers towards her neck, stroking them over the spot where her two scars sat beneath the red chokar. “What if-... if I die? You get worried about me, more than I thought. Kelly said-... said so.”

“Of course I worry, but it’s not a problem. Kelly is over reacting.” He leaned back in his seat, his eyes still lingering on Lysithea. “It doesn’t ruin my life. I know what you’re doing and why. It’s the reason I like you so much, you want to save a soul no matter how evil it seems to be.”

Lysithea opened her mouth, she was about to defend Alistair, telling Tristan that he wasn’t evil but he swallowed down her words.

“If you die I’ll get distraught, but I would have gotten just as sad if I only saw you as my friend. Losing someone you care about hurts.”

Lysithea nodded slowly and shakily placed her hand against his arm.

“I just don’t want anyone to-... to get hurt. Especially not you or Serena.”

Tristan shrugged and took her hand in his own.

“You can’t do anything about that, Lys.”

“I know…” She mumbled staring down into the table.