On the Road Again

Brenn smiled faintly, turning his hand to intertwine his fingers with Kallista's.

"I appreciate that. I love my family, I do, but that's not really a world I want to partake of."

Brenn shook his head, gave Kallista's hand a squeeze and continued.

"My uncle sits on the Parliament of Dragons, with aspirations to the Nerathi Council. My older sister plans to follow him. I have the luxury of being superfluous so long as I maintain a token level of personal success. So, I manage to always have work which will keep me away from the city. It helps that it also affords me the chance to keep up with old friends. And new ones."

Kallista squeezed Brenn's hand lightly in return and found that her other hand had strayed unconsciously to her stomach, resting over her mark of Kossuth.

"Family shapes us. Leaves it's mark on us." she said, leaning forward and placing her hand on Brenn's chest, over his heart, on the spot where she knew his shirt hid his dragonmark.

"But what we do with that... the choices we make... that's what really defines us. I like to think I've made the best of things. It sounds like you have too."

A mischievous grin crossed Brenn's face as he placed his hand on Kallista's.

"Speaking of the best of things," he said, using her arm to pull her into a kiss. He held it for a moment, strong and sincere. Somewhat reluctantly, he drew back, still smiling.

"Ahem. Suddenly I seem to have misplaced the conversation. We were saying..."

Kallista leaned into Brenn's arms, allowing him to pull her to him, her lips moving over his. When he finally drew back she grinned and ran her fingers over his cheek.

"Something about the choices we make." she said with a smirk.

"Of course, how could I forget."

Brenn leaned back, maintaining contact as long as possible. He reached out for his drink, taking another swig.

"Hmm, this seems stronger than I remember."

He turned, favoring Kallista with a lopsided grin.

"So, choices, hmm? I have to ask. Of all classes, what made you decide to be a rogue?"

Kallista scooted forward slightly in her chair, brushing her knees against Brenn's.

"Well, originally I figured I'd go assasin, actually, but it just seemed too... severe. That was the sort of thing I was trying to get away from. So I did some research on what the giuld was offering and Rogue seemed to be the best fit for my abilities while still offering me leeway on how I wanted to use those abilities. So I signed on as a rogue with a multiclass in assassin."

She smiled and squeezed his hand again.

"Did you ever want to be an adventurer? I know Vedran seems to have made it his escape route from noble life."

"Well, Vedran's always had better sense than me." Brenn smiled broadly.

"We all find our ways. Vedran, Agyness and Cael chose the adventuring guilds to various levels of success. Beryl and Thruik chose the priesthood, though neither has entirely escaped their families. Alia, well, she's an adventurer, but that's just another diversion for her."

The captain's expression grew wistful.

"For me, though, its always been the sky. My family took a ship from Highmark to Mythragal, likely along a route similar to our current one. I stood on the bow every chance I got. My mother almost had a heart attack thinking I was going to fall off. After that first glimpse of Ioun's city through the clouds, I knew what I was going to do with the rest of my life."

He took a drink of ale and smirked at Kallista.

"It meant I had to put up with a lot of shit from a lot of officers to learn the ropes, but here I am now, captain of my own ship and I go wherever Lady Luck takes me."

"Avandra's been good to you", Kallista said playfully, "Me too. She may be fickle, but she always leads us where we need to go in the end, if we're only smart enough to realize it."

She finished off the last of her ale and stood up, settling herself on Brenn's lap with her arms around him.

"And right at the moment, I think I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."