It was a few hours later, with four empty mugs stacked in front of Harris and two in front of Amal, before the Blitzer finally condescended to ask, “So, what were you and Chiron up to earlier?”<br/><br/>“I’m teaching him his spells,” Amal replied, narrowing her eyes over the rim of her glass as she watched the other woman while taking another sip of ale.  When Harris offered her a skeptical look, the mage placed her mug against the bar with a loud ‘thud’ and defended, “Ask him to show you, if you don’t believe me.”<br/><br/>“Why is there sand in your hair?” Harris smirked, reaching forward to Amal’s hairline to collect a bit beneath her fingernail.  She brushed the sand away with her thumb, sending it in the other woman’s direction.<br/><br/>“I wondered what it felt like to lay down in it.”<br/><br/>Harris rolled her eyes and tucked one of her feet underneath herself.<br/><br/>“I’m serious!” Amal protested.  “When he gets back, look at Chiron; he didn’t lay in the sand.”<br/><br/>“He wouldn’t have if he was the one on top.”<br/><br/>Amal nearly choked, feeling her cheeks light up like she’d caught fire.  Carefully setting her mug on the bar to frown at Harris, she chastised, “I wish you wouldn’t joke like this, Harris.  Really, it’s not like that between Chiron and me.  He’s my friend, but nothing more.”<br/><br/>“Could he be?”<br/><br/>“Huh?”<br/><br/>“Could he be something more?” Harris pressed.  “Chiron, could he be more to you than just a friend?  Not that I care, of course.”<br/><br/>Amal folded her hands in her lap and was nervously picking at her nails, unsure if anything she said might change the Blitzer’s opinion on the matter.  The mage was willing to defend herself and Chiron if need be, but she wasn’t going to throw her happiness at the Blitzer’s feet, either.  If Harris couldn’t be convinced, Amal would have to be content to live with the other woman’s suspicions.<br/><br/>“You seem concerned for someone who doesn’t have an opinion on the matter,” Amal caught the Blitzer’s eye with hers and studied her carefully, watching for a reaction.  When she noticed a slight hint of red rise to the other woman’s cheeks, the mage politely turned away and pretended not to notice.  There was her answer.<br/><br/>“I want to understand my boundaries is all,” Harris replied through gritted teeth; her knuckles had turned white from how tightly she gripped the handle of her mug.<br/><br/>“No,” Amal replied confidently.  “Not if it’s important to you he not be.”<br/><br/>“I believe you,” the other woman replied, looking down at Amal like she understood.  Then, her eyes gleamed devilishly and she confessed, “But I will never stop teasing you.  Like the priest, you could stand to have a little more fun.”<br/><br/>Smiling, Amal snapped back, “Then am I allowed to continue training with Chiron?”<br/><br/>Harris finished her drink and waved at the barkeep to bring her another.  She laughed, “For as long as you and the priest can stand my, at times, off-color commentary regarding the subject.”<br/><br/>Thinking of Ethan and how angry he’d been with her earlier, she wondered why she still felt like she wanted to defend him to Harris.  The other woman had seemed to imply he didn’t have much of a sense of humor, though, from Amal’s vantage, Ethan was a far cry more laid-back than the only other priest she knew.<br/><br/>“You should go a little easier on him,” Amal suggested, pressing back her bangs so they were no longer obscuring her vision.  “It can’t have been an easy decision, doing what he did in Besaid.”<br/><br/>Amal gasped when she felt Harris grab her chin and pull her gaze upwards.  The other woman brushed her bangs away from her eyes with her opposite hand and then ran her fingers over the thin scar above her left eye.  Quietly, she asked, “How’d you get that?”<br/><br/>Batting the Blitzer’s hands away and quickly fashioning her bangs back into place, Amal replied, “Sin.  I was thirteen.”<br/><br/>“Any family left?”<br/><br/>Amal felt a lump rise to her throat as she softly confessed, “A brother.  In Bevelle.”<br/><br/>“Another mage?”<br/><br/>“A priest,” she shook her head.  Meeting Harris’ gaze, Amal confidently challenged, “Your turn.”<br/><br/>Harris smiled, “The first time I ran away from home, my father caught me.  Left me this,” and she paused dramatically to point at the scar behind her eyepatch before continuing, “The second time I ran away, I made sure he didn’t catch me.”<br/><br/>“Where was home?” Amal asked.<br/><br/>“Here.  Killika.”<br/><br/>The mage nodded, unsure what else to say.  She was thankful, of course, Chiron had helped her see past her differences with Harris.  They were two very different people, but the afternoon they’d spent together had done wonders for supporting the pair of them in finding some common ground.  Amal had come to the realization she appreciated Harris’ drive and admired her fearless sense of purpose; these were some exceptional qualities hidden behind her otherwise rough exterior.  To have this woman as a friend and ally would be a gift, she knew.<br/><br/>“My old man’s long gone, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Harris replied, calmly taking a gulp from the mug of ale the barkeep had placed before her.  If she had meant to say anything else, she was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder, pulling her attention backward and away from Amal.  Her voice was a low growl, “What’s the idea?”<br/><br/>Amal, on the other hand, recognized immediately who had joined them.  Her Moogle stood to jump up and down on the bar in between the two women.  Happily from her perch on the edge of her barstool, she cried, “Chiron!”<br/><br/>Shrugging her shoulder out of his grip, Harris motioned for the barkeep to bring a drink for the newcomer.  Seeming to be disinterested, she replied, “I was working very hard at keeping the mage company.  Can you begin to imagine how little we have in common?”<br/><br/>The mage laughed dryly, rolling her eyes as she looked up at Chiron as though to ask, ‘Can you believe she still thinks that way?’<br/><br/>“Besides, I can’t imagine either you or the priest being thrilled if I should have let something bad happen to her,” she paused to motion towards the mage still seated beside her.  After another sip of ale, she continued, “She’s stubborn, your mage.  I tried telling her we should go to the temple after you lot, but she insisted on a drink.”<br/><br/>Shaking her head, Amal agreed, “I can be very convincing.”