"Less public? Certainly." He had no idea who these people were, and aside from the young girl he knew none of their names. While the one-armed man went to the counter to pay the fee for their three meals, he returned to his table. He took one glance at the slop on the plate and sighed. "I didn't even eat all of you." He poked the mess once more with his fork before giving up on it. The satchel that had been sitting by its lonesome on the chair was swooped up and put over his shoulder. He felt the comfort of the two orbs inside, swirling and mixing with his natural energies. Immediately he felt safer and a bit happier about the bland pile on his plate. Oh, and about those strangers too.
Before returning to the strangers he laid a silver piece on the counter as payment for his meal. It was too much, to be sure, especially for the quality, but he waved off any attempt at returning change. He followed the trio up the stairs, feeling a bit more confident now that he was in the presence of two loaded power supplies. As they entered the room his eyes flitted about, taking in all the belongings in the room and scanning for possible escape routes. He decided that the window wouldn't be an easy escape route, so he lingered near the door, going as far as to lean back against it.
Emboldened by the orbs in his pack, his senses became more astute. Once more he felt a tinge of an indescribable something from the young Abandi. His eyes snapped to hers as she eyed him. Even as the woman paced the room he locked his stare with hers.
What are you?
The connection was only broken by the woman's bold words. His eyes snapped to her face, studying it for a moment before responding. "Leoric? I...no, I've never heard of a man by that name." He inhaled, held the breath for a moment, then exhaled audibly. His right hand expanded over the back of his head, ruffling his hair and coming to settle near it's crown. He brought his elbow in front of his face, turned his back to them and stood there for a moment, clutching his own head against the door.
He stared down at the floor, digesting what she had just exposed. He could feel his heart sinking to his stomach as the reality of what she had exposed came to the forefront of his mind. The book had just felt so close and now he was nowhere closer than he had been several weeks ago. But if there was no book, then that opened up the possibility that the girl truly was like him. That was of some importance, but the key talking point in his mind was the book.
"Lately," he started, speaking out of the side of his mouth to the three behind him, "I've been tracking something. There have been rumors of rampant misuse of magics in these eastern realms. Most recently, tales of a monstrous eruption outside of Cyngi." He turned back towards the weapon-wielding woman and tilted his head downwards, looking at the woman from the top of his eyes. His voice lowered, barely registering above a whisper. "I saw the aftermath. Nothing natural could have created that. Something dangerous is happening around us and I believe it has to do with..." he paused, his eyes switching between the three of them and lingering on each for a couple seconds, "a book. One that was stolen from a, well, a friend of mine. I believe that I can," he continued, his voice starting to quaver, "well, take the book back and stop this rampant destruction." There was his tell again.
The truth was that the prospect of encountering one whom had such power, coupled with knowledge contained in the book, made him weak in the knees. Magic, to one who could wield it, was absolutely enticing. One half of him was crippled with fear over a powerful magician, the other half was exhilarated. The stuff was absolutely addicting, so much so that it had been the driving force in his life for these past few weeks. If there was someone who had actually found the book, they too would be completely enthralled by the power held within. As the saying goes, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This was probably the reason that they destroyed things en masse as well -- it gave an unimaginable rush.