The young man didn’t seem to be bothered by her response to his comments or questions, despite the fact that she was rarely direct, and he took her casual flirting in stride, which was at least preferable to a negative response, although perhaps not necessarily the ideal response. Then again, the day was still young, and they were neighbors, after all, so there would be other opportunities. Not that this should be a priority anyway.<br/><br/>When she answered his question about why she had moved here, he seemed to contemplate her words for a moment, but gave no response to them. Not that they really required a response. She picked up her glass and took a sip of the liquid as he responded to her question, explaining that he hadn’t had a choice, as he had grown up here. She had a feeling that was the case. As he lit up a cigarette, she contemplated his words and she did wonder why he had stayed with such an apparently negative view of the place.<br/><br/>It wasn’t really her business, to ask, though, so she kept the question to herself. Yet even so, she received an answer, as it seemed that he guessed she would wonder as much. She responded to his grin with a small smile of her own, chuckling a little at his answer. “You’re right, I did wonder. I certainly ditched my hell hole the first chance I got,” she replied, not offering any further details. “It does beg the question, though. If you aren’t fond of this place and it wears on you, what is so important that it kept you here?” she wondered more than she was really asking. “Or is it, perhaps, a who?” she asked this time, glancing sidelong at him before taking another sip of her drink and shrugging. “Then again, I suppose that isn’t any of my business.”<br/><br/>After a few moments he partially retracted the overhang above his own balcony, allowing some of the rain to fall on his white hair, giving it the appearance of glowing. As he brushed his bangs across his forehead, he looked at her and asked if she had ever visited before, then quickly took it back. She turned her gaze away from him—more for her own good, but he wouldn’t know that—and took another sip of her drink.<br/><br/>As he looked over the balcony, he finally introduced himself. Azariah. It was an interesting name, not one you commonly heard. It suited him, somehow. As he leaned forward on the balcony, she couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of the necklace that dangled from his neck before he quickly tucked it away again. There was no question in her mind that the necklace was the one she had given—sorry, loaned—to that boy so many years ago.<br/><br/>The jewel was a green jewel that perfectly matched the shade of her eyes, which she had personally collected from an uninhabited world where any normal human would have died in an instant. It was literally one of a kind, priceless. The question was, why did he have it? There was no way he was that boy, that he had held on to it all this time. That wouldn’t make any sense. No one would hold on to something worth so much when they had nothing, right? But if it wasn’t him, who was Azariah? And how he had gotten a hold of that necklace? She wouldn’t very well come out and ask him, but it certainly piqued her interest, and she would find an answer sooner or later.<br/><br/>For now, she opted to ignore the elephant in the room. “My name is Ambrosia, but you can call me Rose,” she replied, looking over at him and smiling lightly, “and by the way, I am quite capable of deciding whether to answer a question or not all on my own. No need to take them back. If I don’t want to answer, I won’t,” she added in a rather serious tone that was soon undermined by a playful wink and a grin.<br/><br/>She paused for a moment, leaning on the railing and gazing down at the city and downing the remainder of the liquid in her glass before speaking. “I have been here before. Once, a long time ago,” she answered his question honestly, her voice level and her face appearing nonchalant, not giving away how she may have felt about the visit. The brief moment of apparent sobriety quickly passed, and she shook her head. “Honestly. You really think I would buy a place like this without ever having been here before? Even I’m not<span style="font-style: italic">that</span>impulsive,” she smiled lightly, returning to a more lighthearted demeanor, throwing in a little self-deprecating humor because why not.<br/><br/>“I think I’m going to need another drink,” she commented, pushing herself up off the rails. “Do you want anything?” she asked, gesturing towards the kitchen, “you’re welcome to join me,” she added, recognizing that it was too early in the day for most people to be drinking.