As Sephiroth dashed off after Nalia, Galen stood awkwardly for a moment before going over to sit next to Axle - or John Winters, whatever his real name was. He'd been reluctant to have the mage around earlier but ever since he went up to sing with Lydia it seemed the soldier might have softened up to him a little bit. Even his comment to him when he came back in with Sephiroth wasn't aggressive so much as playful, so he went for it.<br/><br/>Axle, meanwhile, seemed a little preoccupied as he stared after Sephiroth disappearing into the back room at great speed. The way the silver-haired man carried himself and seemed to have a knack for agility, gave him the idea that  the man'd probably had some training. That and the giant sword. He just hoped he wasn't out to make trouble. If he heard Nalia call for help at any point, he'd be ready to bust in there with his secret weapon. But instead, from the muffled noises, it just sounded like Nalia was talking to the guy.<br/><br/>The mage and soldier's attention was then drawn immediately by Freddie's complaints about the dullness of the room. When he suggested getting drunk, Axle grinned but Galen waved his hand a little dismissively. "Uh, not me, thank you. You both enjoy yourselves though," the mage said, trying to be both firm and friendly.<br/>"Teetotaler, are you?" John growled to him, before nodding to Freddie and readying the bottle of liquor Nalia had left for them, pouring a shot for himself and the other. "Scoot over then, kid. Let Mr. Mercury here grab a shot."<br/>Rolling his eyes, Galen got up and switched to another seat so that Freddie could sit by the glasses, while Axle handed the singer his drink and took his own. "Cheers."<br/><br/>Sephiroth emerged next, causing Axle to look up and shake the bottle after downing his shot, admiring the taste while nonverbally asking the other if he also wanted some. His face tensed into a frown when he saw Nalia come up to the bar, however, seemingly upset or distracted. "You okay?"<br/>Upon her request, he quickly obliged and put a filled shot glass into her hand while Galen also looked at her with concern. Then as her head popped out and she called out John's nickname, the healer looked from one to the other, confused.<br/><br/>"Yeah?" Axle asked briefly, scratching his scraggly stubbled chin with a very lost look, before what she asked made him stare off a little as he went over what had happened in his mind.<br/>"Wasn't talking to you that... gave me flashbacks or whatever you want to call it. It was just laying eyes on you," his voice growled slowly as he put it together. "If anything, the more I've talked to you, the more those visions have gone away. But to be honest... it's only ever been the most fond memories I already had of my wife and daughter. And it's not so much about what I'm seeing... it's more a feeling. A feeling of intense... longing. To be back with them. Nothing specific you did, just being confronted with you really gave me a jolt of stuff I've already been carrying around in my head for a while. My desire to go back to them. It's a little... painful to be confronted with, to be honest."<br/>As he finished speaking, he turned slowly to look at Galen, who was empathetically touching John's arm as he was listening, without being aware of it. “Remove your hand... or<i>I</i>’ll remove your hand," the soldier told him then, matter-of-factly.