“A friend,” he answered.  There was no reason to keep that part of it a secret.  Knowing that he had a friend didn’t mean they were with him.  “Bad people usually owe<i>me</i>.  People like me don’t buy on credit.”<br/><br/>He tensed a little as those large hands took a gentle hold on him and started pulling him closer.  Before their bodies could truly meet, Ilion put his hands up and pressed back against the man’s chest.  Whatever was said in that foreign language was lost to him, but the few words spoken before that were strange to him.  It sounded like some line a guy in a bar had given him before, but he couldn’t quite imagine Urudal in that scenario.  Perhaps what he was saying was meant to be the truth.  Still, Ilion was hesitant to trust anyone.<br/><br/>“And how would you know that?” he asked, his eyebrows raising.  “You barely know me.  How could you possibly know if I have any redeeming qualities at all?”