Why am I doing this…?

The Crying Eagle Inn; of all of the Inns on this side of the city, this was the crown jewel of them all. The windows had just enough grime on them to see outside into the streets, but not one’s own reflection. One where there are less chances of someone looking at someone else wrong and finding a fist in their face moments later. I sat at the back of the room in the shadow of the fireplace, my back facing the wall as my gaze constantly scanned the room.

Why the hell would I continue to waste my time with this random guy who seems to have taken a liking to me? It made no sense! I resisted the urge to growl in irritation, not wanting to draw attention to myself.

As I wrangled with my thoughts and frustration, some movement from the front caught my attention. The young man had entered, a dagger hanging from his hip. Hunh… I didn’t notice that before… Has he always had that? He glanced around the entrance before fully entering and approaching the Innkeeper. They shared a few words before the stranger nodded and began making his way towards the back. He smiled as he drew closer, taking a seat to my left.

“I figured you’d want to keep an eye on the door; just in case.” He spoke, waving over one of the tavern wenches. After ordering two drinks, he returned his attention to me. “I’m partially surprised that you’re here.”

…

Admittedly, it took me a few moments to re-calibrate after he said that. My body felt rigid as I stared at him in mild shock, even as the tavern wench came and went. This mild revelation hit me harder than I thought it would. Strange how I knew it would happen eventually, but not so soon… He was definitely more mature than when I’d first met him, not to mention the other few times we’d bumped into one another. With equal shock, I realized that this was the exact reason why I’d decided to meet up with him; to see just how much he had changed. Verkun was a harsh and sometimes unforgiving world, and it was incredibly easy to be taken advantage of. With my mind being so rattled by these revelations, I hadn’t noticed he had been watching me curiously with a small smile on his lips.

“You haven’t taken your eyes off me since I arrived.” His amused voice snapped me out of my reverie. “Have you taken a shine to me since the last time we saw one another?”