<div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span class="bbc_u">On the Rocks</span></strong></span></div><br/><div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/siPDgO7.jpg)</div><strong>NAME:</strong>Albion<br/><strong>DAY:</strong>April 15th, 2021, 7:30 AM~<br/><strong>LOCATION:</strong>Albion's Flat<br/><strong>TAGGING:</strong>Nerissa<br/><strong>EXTRA:</strong>Discussion time.<br/><strong>WEARING:</strong>As pictured, partially loose, minus tie<br/><br/><hr/><br/>"That's it? No more Nerissa mysteries then? Feels a little anticlimactic." Albion teased, but he knew full well it was never that easy. There was always something new to the vixen that he'd yet to discover, and there were still parts of her history he hadn't been made privy to yet. In due time, he trusted her to tell him, or they would become relevant when the time came. Maybe all of his mysteries had been exhausted, or yet more still existed for her to discover. In time, even he would learn some unsolved mysteries of the past might not have been good things to pursue, but closure was something he direly needed in his life.<br/><br/>"Hey, cut me some slack, I didn't really have the desire to go to one when normal baths sufficed. There's... Honestly a lot of Japanese culture I have yet to really experience..." Albion sighed, scrutinizing her with a glare as she decided to prey on his stupidity. "You're not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed either, missy. Definitely the cutest one though, so you get a pass... When the time is right then, I'll visit one. I won't choose company this early though... I'll wait and see what the future holds first." He added. He wanted to make sure he found a good one before he opted to select company.<br/><br/>It was a little bit of a relief to find out she hadn't held it as personally as he did, but at the same time she either understated how important it was to him, or simply masked her true feelings on the matter if she had any. No matter what, Albion nodded softly. "You should know by now that things of the past always weigh heaviest on my mind. I admit I definitely wasn't ready for that, but... Yeah, I'm not proud of my response back then." She had a point thiugh, in that he couldn't look after her every second... But he could still afford to watch her as much as he could. The talk of her inevitable death... Didn't really sit well with him, but there was also the distinction that he was more likely to expire before she did, either by combat or natural causes.<br/><br/>The lives of demons could go on for so long, while human lives were like flickering flame in the wind. "Heh... You can't just tell me stuff like that and expect me to accept it, Neri. I don't know how I would really react if something like that happened... Maybe I shouldn't think about it either." He shook his head, preferring to focus on the present rather than the future. This closeness was... Such a good, warm feeling. Such feelings were absent for so long in his life, that he almost felt as if he was glutting on them now.<br/><br/>"Maybe it's enough... Maybe it could be more. I would like to go back to those times as well, when I could be happy without worrying about shadows of the past creeping up on me... For what it's worth though, Nerissa? You've gone a very long way to help me rediscover that sense of happiness in my life since the day we met. You've done things you should have never even needed to do... But somewhere along the line you helped me remember to laugh and smile. To<em>genuinely</em>laugh and smile." He admitted, but what she said next threw him for a curveball.<br/><br/>She said... They weren't meant to be together, that he had someone else for him...? His brows furrowed as he looked at Nerissa, before he blinked and looked away. "T-that doesnt sound like me at all, that<em>definitely</em>had to be some drunken rambling... But, if I ever do find someone like that... I hope she's as attentive to me as you've been." He nodded softly, trying not to think about precisely why he said that. There were definitely a few reasons for several people, but... Nothing that showed up so prominently he would blurt something like that out... At least he hoped.<br/><br/>Nerissa, too, was always moving forward, and he owed it to her to move forward with her instead of being held down by the past. "Mm... I know you will, Neri. You've never given up before... No matter what, my shoulder is always around to help prop you up when things get tough for you. Hopefully one day, we'll both have our reasons to be happy." He spoke softly, watching as the tears rolled down her cheek. Closing his eyes, he leaned in and nuzzled her gently to wipe the tears, his hand moving to caress the back of her head. "Just... Never give up, like you never did in getting me to smile again."