Ephemeral Reverie #1 - The Silence Between

Chapter Three - People Change

Luna Saloon.

It was an interesting name for a seaside town bar, made all the better by the fact there was nothing notably good or notably bad about it. Charlie had been to dozens of bars ranging from upscale lounges to trashy college dives, but Luna was perfectly unique in that it was so blatantly normal. On the inside, at least. The front of the building was certainly something with the entire face used as a canvas for a fantastical work of art only a great mind could come up with and a skilled hand could make manifest.

In the end, Charlie's drink was cold, and the bartender was friendly, and that's really all she could have asked for in a bar.

The place was still mostly empty when Troy and Charlie arrived, no Griff or Tal in sight. A middle-aged Pelean woman who had clearly seen better days was slumped over the far end of the bar, but Charlie saw no reason to approach her. Nothing good would come of talking to someone that inebriated.

The owner, Cal, treated her to an appetizer which she gratefully accepted. She hadn't realized just how hungry she was until the man offered, but as soon as Cal set the food down, she descended upon it like a starving vulture. Even as she stuffed her face, she came to the realization that it was the best cheese-n-chicken quesadilla she'd ever eaten. She vaguely realized that Troy was watching her with a small smirk on his face, but there wasn't a single iota of her being that cared. She was starving, and that house ranch sauce was downright amazing.

Cal gleamed with the pride of a mother hen when Charlie told him as much, leaving the man promising to make his famous chicky fries the next time she stopped by.

The Luna slowly filled up as the sun crept below the mountains, and Charlie was the evening's main attraction. Despite everything she had previously thought, she didn't mind near as much having everyone's eyes on her.

The people she met seemed to remember her and seemed genuinely interested in her. Most of their comments fell along the lines of condolences for the loss of her grandmother and expecting such a young woman with her whole life still ahead of her to remain in the city. And honestly, Charlie felt mixed. Everyone she met were not only kind, but also piqued her curiosity as well. She didn't realize just how much could change in nine years.

She also forgot just how far removed from Drasil this place was, where people only approached you if they wanted something. Pretty faces, pretty lies, using people and being used in return. For the first time in a long while, Charlie realized she was having an honestly good time. The buzz from the pale ale probably helped, and Cal hinted that he'd keep them coming should she need them.

Charlie leaned back in her chair, sipping at her third beer of the evening.

"C'mon, Sophie, be honest. Did you really paint the front of this place?" she asked the woman who had quickly trashed the doting teacher persona and become her drinking partner for the night. "All on your own?"

Sophie laughed. "Damn straight, I did! This place needed something to bring it out of the stone age, and Cal gave me a month's worth of free food as payment. He loves that awful piece of work."

"Oh, I don't think it's awful!" Charlie insisted. "It's creative."

"No, Sophie's right. It's awful."

Charlie turned to find Lori standing behind her, grinning. Tal was by her shoulder, trying in vain to hide his own grin.

"Oh, Lori, that hurts," Sophie said playfully. "So much so that I'm going to grab another drink to drown my sorrows. Need anything?"

All three of them shook their heads, and Sophie walked off.

Lori turned to Charlie and smiled. "So! How are things?"