<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/9W71z0u.jpg)</div><strong>"Your old man's already..."</strong>Slab seemed lost in thought, rolling his jaw as he mulled over the words, making a certain piercing eye contact with Mizuki.<strong>"Done enough, for me."</strong><br/><br/>His eyes shimmered.  It was like coy swam around his pupils, trying to will themselves free from the water to become dragons.  Whatever fire lay in his eyes, it was muted and far.  Distant.  Still struggling.  Maybe not to tell her anything.<br/><br/>Maybe just to stay alive.<br/><br/><strong>"You come by whenever you're in town though.  Always got the latest, and I keep my ear to the ground.  Sort of things a Warrior might want to know."</strong><br/><br/>He took a swig from a glass of Amaretto he'd poured earlier.  The dusty orange liquor seemed to inflate him, excite the swirling in his eyes for a moment.<br/><br/><strong>"They say the new government up there's been having problems.  Raiders, mostly.  Out of the East across the Cascades.  It's always a risky business, running that goop.  But it's just about the biggest business left to Earth."</strong>He seemed to plow forward now.<strong>"You know, we always dreamed about leaving.  Your old man and me.  We'd joke about it at first.  But at times I thought we were serious--see Mars, see the stars."</strong>Then a sigh and shake of the head.<strong>"Friends and family discount, Cotton.  You're welcome any time."</strong><br/><br/>Whatever Slab had to say, it wouldn't come easy.  The man was probably as close to soft now as he'd ever been, and the man was still granite thick.<br/><br/>The stores rows of bottles stood stately behind Mizuki, and her companions awaited her in the rain beyond, hoping to get back with their drink before the leave was up.