Try to apologize and wind up having my own personal self-hate-fest. Funny how things go. Recheov thought to himself, but said nothing to indicate his vague cynicism.

"Soun's good t'me," replied Recheov.

Though, he couldn't help himself but wonder what the new girl in Keep's place was like. Maybe it was a point of habit. He heard about a woman and wanted to get a look at her. Recheov was a prime example of how difficult it was for old habits to die, and a lapse into morality was the ultimate show of it. He even went so far as to not inquire about the new girl at all. It wasn't like he was going to do anything about it, anyways. Not like he used to. Back then, if a woman came around and she was attractive, he'd sleep with her. It was just that simple. But now? He hadn't even tried to sleep with Kali yet.

Recheov bent to pick his sandwich up off the floor. He wasn't done eating just yet, and he happened to be starving. He stopped right before he took a bite, though.

"Actu'lly," he paused; an afterthought came to him, and now he'd something to suggest, himself, "That guy I worked for, he wasn't gonna let me go with just a few sandwiches. Gave me some coinage. We can hit some place up for dinner later if y'loike."

Ain't like I got any other reason for this money shit.

She was already back in the kitchen grabbing her sandwich and her water to return to his side to finish eating. It hadn’t been long since her last bite of it, but already she forgot how good it tasted. “Man, this is soooo good. I need to have this more often. Thanks again.” She stuffed a bite into her mouth and “Mmmed” as she chewed.

She thought about the fact that he hadn’t said anything regarding her statement about him being here for a reason, but she decided to let it go. She sounded more like a nagging girl friend, then a friend, which as of now, was exactly what she was to him. If he realized that or not, she didn’t know.

At the sound of his voice she looked up at him, still chewing the last bite she took that was obviously, too big for her mouth. “Hmm?” She took a drink of water and swallowed the mouthful, a bit surprised at his request. “You.....you wanna take me out for dinner?”

As odd as it sounded, she had never went out and did dinner with anyone before. Going out to dinner for her was going down to the Tav and eating with Keep, hardly a girls idea of a good time out, but none the less something she always enjoyed doing.

“There’s actually a nice place just down the road a stones throw away. We’ll have to dress a bit nice, but now that isn’t a problem for either of us.” She smiled wide before taking another long drink of her glass of water. “Sure, that’s sounds like fun.”

"Glad y'loike it," Recheov replied before taking another bite, himself. It was pretty good. He didn't have much of a basis to go off of, though. Food was just kind of . . . well, it was food. He ate to live and stave off the hunger pains and it was that simple. He'd no other reason to put food in his body. Still, it was pretty good.

Sadly, his thoughts were all detracted when Kali said something about a place to go. A classy place? Really? He wasn't thinking that, really. He didn't have any good clothes. Even these new ones Kali picked up for him weren't really on par for a classy place. Not that he cared about his appearance or whatnot. It was all kinds of arbitrary to him. Even if he had nice clothes, he wouldn't care to wear them anywhere, regardless of reason. Recheov found that nicer clothes were also more restricting, and he was rather fond of moving and all that junk.

"Actually, oI was koinda thinkin' eatin' at that, uh, one guy's," Recheov thought aloud with difficulty, "That guy oI worked for. But we can go to the other place if y'wan'."

He personally didn't care; any place was fine. Kali would probably just be a bit disappointed in Recheov's idea of "nice attire" is all.

She listened as she munched, finishing up the last few bites on her plate. Kali wasn’t a big girl at all, but eating was never a problem when it was something she liked. Rubbing her full belly, she sat back, plate resting on her lap. “Ya know, we can go wherever you would like to, sounds fine to me.”

She thought about sitting there and just relaxing, but she knew if she didn’t move, she’d likely fall asleep. Sliding off the couch, she grabbed her glass and empty plate and headed into the kitchen. “Whatcha wanna do until then?”

When she entered back into the living room, she had two cigarettes hanging out from between her lips, both already lit, pluming smoke up around her face. Plucking one out of her mouth, she held it out to Recheov. “Man, that was really a good meal.”

Recheov thought on it as he finished his sandwich. He had a million and one ideas of thing to do with Kali, 98% of which were purely sexual in nature--but as he questioned his own drive to bed this woman, he temporarily put all of those out of mind.

"Talk," he replied with a second thought.

It actually felt unprecedented, even to Recheov. He wasn't really one to voluntarily try to start and maintain conversation--it just kind of happened every so often. He hadn't the slightest clue what he wanted to talk about, either . . . just that he had that urge. He wanted to hear someone else's voice.

"Le's jus' talk 'til then."

Kali had been known to talk the ear off people before. Talking was usually something she had no trouble at all doing. “Sounds good.” She took another long drag off her cigarette, lounged back on the couch and looked at Recheov.

“Whatcha wanna talk about?” It wasn’t that they hadn’t had conversations since he had been there, it was just that, their conversations were always a bit lacking. Not lacking in the sense that it was not a full conversation, just that maybe they always tended to leave out little bits of information that left them both (she assumed he did, too) starving for more.

Recheov took the second cigarette from Kali as an afterthought. He nodded to her in appreciation, before setting it between his lips and lounging back. It'd been awhile since he had a smoke, since the first time he met Kali, asking her for a light. He'd really been starting to miss it after awhile. He took a long drag, held it in, shut his eyes, and savored the sweet nicotine for but a moment, before letting it out in a long and satisfied sigh.

"Anythin'," he replied.

But that probably wasn't enough. She probably wanted some sort of direction for conversation. Some sort of question to answer. Relaxed with his newfound cigarette, Recheov took another drag as he tried to think of something. He failed, of course, but he had a good direction to go with, at least.

"Loike . . ." Recheov trailed off. Really, he wasn't the greatest intentional conversationalist at all, and he wound up going with the first thing he thought of, "Loike . . . why are you 'ere? Wot brought you 'ere, wot keeps y''ere in this place? Y'seem a bit too good f'this sand-pit, an' all . . ."

She pulled her feet up, resting her arms out on her knees, watching him as he thought, as he relaxed. Just...watching him. All in all he was an easy man to please when it came to being his entertainment, his companion.

She was almost surprised he asked her anything about herself. Not that she didn’t think he cared, but for some reason it struck her as odd. “Well....” She took a drag from her cigarette and thought about her words, her life wasn’t really as bad as she knew it would sound, but....

“I left home at an early age. My father was abusive, my mother didn’t care, and my brother was the golden child. There was nothing there for me, so I packed up and left. Keep found me, living on the streets, a rather......shady lifestyle.” A bit of nervous laughter escaped her lips as she began fidgeting with her hair.

“Keep made me go to school, get some education. Kept me working, gave me the guidance a real father would.” Her legs slid back down and she turned to face him. “This became my home, and Keeper my family. I have no real reason to leave now.”

She smiled, satisfied with her answer. “What about you? What’s your story?”

He was tempted to reiterate his statement by the time Kali was done, that she didn't seem like the type that deserved to be in a sand-pit like this. As far as Recheov was concerned, it was a hell-hole. That was the whole reason he felt the need to be here, really. This place, Xexoria, it was like some sort of punishment. The heat was so intense that he felt ill all the damn time. It was so dry sometimes he needed an extra shot just to keep going. Kali, however, was a pretty good gal. Recheov couldn't imagine staying in this place just because it seemed the right place to live.

Well, maybe . . .

Nonetheless, Recheov remembered enough of their conversations to know that he'd told her enough to give her reasonable evidence to suggest why he was here. He'd gotten into trouble, he felt guilty, and he wasn't comfortable where he was before--so here he was, in Xexoria.

"Well, we already went down that road, ain't we?" Recheov paused to take in a long drag from his cigarette. "You're just missin' a few details, is all."

“Well that was a short conversation.” She couldn’t stop the giggles. She didn’t have an extravagant story about her life, and he didn’t wanna go into detail, so.....

“Next question?” She gave him a cheesy grin, more then willing to answer any question the man threw at her. She really didn’t have anything to hide, though there were things about her life she wasn’t really proud of, she knew these things made her who she was before him, and that person was all right with her.

She leaned over the arm of the sofa and come back with an ashtray in her hand. Snuffing out her own smoke, she offered it to him.“You know, on second thought.” She gave him a devilish grin. She was ornery that was for sure. “I talk and talk and talk, truth is, I like hearing you talk. How about you tell me about these details I’m missin out on, eh?”

Recheov took in a long drag from his cigarette. The taste was something he was going to miss. Same with the taste of liquor. He recalled there being some left in his glass; he just needed to reach down and get it. Maybe in a minute. His spine was sore and leaning felt nice.

"Heh. A pretty lady loike you shouldn't be 'earin' 'bout all d'blood an' stuff," Recheov remarked with a grin--perhaps one of few shows of chivalry.

But it was all a parody of itself. Recheov wasn't the type of man to really, genuinely believe in that. He used to be a womanizer. He was still a drunk. He was a chain smoker when in possession of cigarettes. He took advantage of people simply to do it, really. It'd been awhile since he'd done that, and though he had several opportunities to with Kali, he never took advantage of her or her kindness. So maybe it was genuine. A genuine parody of a chivalric knight. A knight in rusted armor. Heh. Cute.

Thing was, though, he didn't seem at all against talking about it, only that Kali was a young woman, and he had at least some ideals--if only parodies of them--that ladies weren't supposed to be hearing that sort of mess.

“I have plenty of smokes. I roll my own, so help yourself.” She tossed a small box his way, one of her own beside the sofa on the floor. She didn’t chain smoke, but she probably smoked more then need be. She enjoyed it though, it was as simple as that.

“Pretty lady?” She laughed a little, tossing her head back slightly. “I’m plain, nothing special Recheov. I work, and hang out at home alone. I don’t party, I don’t drink, I don’t go out with friends or otherwise. Ima prude.” She shrugged her shoulders, but it was the truth, she didn’t do anything. "I'm sure one day I'll wake up alone, and wonder where my life went." Clearing her throat, she changed the subject...

“So entertain me. I don’t have a weak stomach, and even if I did, I don’t think that stories with blood in them will make me sick.” She leaned over toward him, dangerously close in fact. “Remember, I work in a tavern.” She winked and nudged his shoulder.

She didn't have to tell him twice! The second Kali tossed a box Recheov's way, Recheov flashed a smirk and pulled it closer to his side. He patted the box once it was comfortably set next to his hip. He was going to snatch another one later, when this one ran out, and it was going to be glorious.

"Well . . ." Recheov trailed off.

Recheov took a long drag from his cigarette. He felt the smoke enter his lungs. He felt a small rebellion commence in his chest. It felt good. He exhaled, leaned back, and relaxed again.

"It's koinda sad," he replied, "An' you really ain' gonna loike me so much after. But . . . eh, 'ell, wot do oI gotta lose, 'uh?"

Recheov shrugged his shoulders and released a sigh. He wasn't quite adverse to talking about this, it just mostly required someone to bring it up first. Still, that didn't mean the subject matter didn't depress him all the same. By the end of this, Kali would likely understand why.

"Y'ever 'eard of this li'l place in Algeroth? S'called Hillcrest, jus' a li'l ways north o'this trade town called Galaens," Recheov took a drag and released the smoke from his lungs in a slow and steady fashion. "Y'probably ain'. S'jus' a small town. Nothin' special. Nothin' worth the world."

Before he began she held her hand up to him, as to hush him for a moment. “I’ve told you before, but I will tell you again... I am not here to judge you, nor will I. It’s who you are here and now with me that makes the difference in my mind, ok?”

She placed her hands in her lap and listened intently to his words. “No, I don’t think I know that place. Then again, I don’t get outta here often. I’d like to travel at some point, just dunno when.”

Again she held her tongue, leaving the floor open for him. She would listen to everything he had to say, but she was sure that nothing could change her mind on him. Her home would still be open to him, her food, her companionship, whatever he needed, she would oblige.

Kali's assurance was sweet, it really was. Recheov wasn't drunk enough to take it at more than face value, though. He half-smiled at her, but didn't say much more on that particular matter.

"It ain' the koinda place y'wanna go, either," Recheov added as an afterthought. Kali said she wanted to travel. Even if Recheov didn't know her, he'd have suggested staying clear of Hillcrest. He'd have suggested staying clear of Algeroth in general, actually. It wasn't a friendly place.

And so, he began to tell his story-- yet it seemed riddled with long pauses, perhaps to let certain things sink in, perhaps to even invite questions as they came to Kali's mind. He didn't care too much if he was interrupted at all. The whole story was told in the most casual way possible, anyways.

"Well, it started in Galaens, that place a li'l ways south o'Hillcrest," Recheov began, "My buddy Attis was leadin' a research team there. See, where we came from, most people 'ad this disease. S'pretty bad. It's loike a death sentence at birth. It's loike your gonna die an' there just ain' nothin' y'can say or do 'bout it. But Attis? Attis's rare. He's one'a the few that don't got that disease."

Recheov paused a moment. He lifted his glass and took a sip of his whiskey. It burned his throat and made those memories all the less painful.

"We were tryin' t'foind a cure." He set the glass down. "An'-- see, this was back 'fore this crisis o'morals oI got goin' on. oI used you people loike objects. oI stole, oI fucked, oI fought. Ruined marriages, 'cause oI'd get a guy's wife drunk and slip 'er the ol' in-out. Fuck-- oI never went there to save anyone. Not even m'self. oI went there to 'ave a good time. An' oI did. At the expense of that 'ole fuckin' city. People weren't . . . people, they were objects. They were Goddamn entertainment."

The way he said this . . . it was the first time Recheov ever seemed upset by anything in particular. There was disgust laden in his voice. Disgust with all he did, disgust with him, and disgust for everything that happened next.