"Oh, hold on then, I need another drink before that kind of stupid." He laughed, pouring another shot and downing it the same as before. Afterwards, he turned his upper half towards her with his elbow on the table and his hand hanging off the edge towards them. "Alright, how many?"
"Oh, I've got no clue. I guess it depens' on the state of the wolf, right...?" She herself felt puzzled by the question. "Like, is it starving to death? It's a regular wolf 'r a Maelstrom wolf?"
Musing to herself, she perked up.
"I gotta better one: how many chickens would it take to kill you?"
The man let out an exasperated sigh, facing forward again and resting both elbows on the table. "Oh god, right now? Maybe seven." He answered wearily, subconsciously pouring himself another glass. Etoah never drank -he'd always found the concept too irresponsible, of course- but tonight was an exception, and damn did it feel fine. "Mai," He said, his grief slowly beginning to dissipate, "How are you always so happy..?"
She balked at that dramatically for a second, letting her jaw drop.
"Only seven? Cripes, Etoah, you're slippin'." She smiled a toothy grin and giggled, watching him pour another glass. "Slow a lil' bit. Take it frm' me. Don't think your liver's used to that kind of poison. But you'll sleep good." And the deputy did in fact need sleep after such a day. But she was so pleased to sit and talk with him alone in a relaxed environment for the first time in forever.
"Dunno. Born this way, I'd guess." She mirrored his positioning. "But it puts people at ease. 'M the last person who should judge anybody, so that makes people comfy too. I like people. I like you. Even if people just want a laugh..." She wasn't really aware of her words being so disorganized, but her thoughts just spilled out. "It gives me...like... meaning. And that makes me happy."
He nodded in agreement at her suggestion and set his glass down responsibly. Etoah watched the table with thoughtful eyes as he listened to her. As Mai explained her heart, the deputy's expression crinkled into an affectionate smile. 'What gives you meaning?'
He looked over at her in surprise at the question, his phantom eyes watching her closely before turning his gaze away again. Etoah's face hardened as he reflected on the query. "The idea...that I can protect those that need protecting." Tilting his head, he played with the little glass in front of him- gliding his finger atop the rim around and around.
"The hope that...my existence can somehow be used for the good of the world. To help bring this life a little closer to where it should be. To make it a safe place for those I love."
Eyeing her from the side of his gaze, Etoah continued. "You are a protector as well, Mai. What you do, who you are, it makes people feel like they're going to be alright. You keep their minds safe." He looked away once more. "But you're much more than that, you have a beautiful heart. You have an infectious, healing power." At that, the deputy gave her a smile. "You love hard." His eyes softened. "It's people like you that give me meaning, you give me a world worth protecting."
She watches his mouth as he gives his answer, and she moves her eyes back up to his when he finishes. Smiles and gives her characteristic giggle again, thinking that his answer couldn't be more befitting of him.
The red rosy blush returned from earlier, spurred by his kind words about her. She hoped that the low lighting would hide it. She sat up straighter and drank the remainder of the whisky in her glass, fidgeting to try and divert her own attention from the blood rushing to her face.
"It's a beautiful thing. It does make the world go 'round. Love is, and... does, I mean." She sighs after she says the final word, sets the glass down on the table. Frowns at it. Sort of rolls it around the rim of its base while holding it from the top. "All the best people are a lover an' a fighter at the same time, y'know?" She stares at the glass, hard like it's miles away and she's trying to figure out how far it is.
Etoah's gaze seemed to travel as well, both of them looking like they were each in another moment far from this one.
"Aye." He said quietly.
.
After a few minutes of gentle and tired silence, the deputy returned to their moment. "Sometimes...I worry that it's the end of the world...If it was, what would you do..?" He asked, glancing over to her. In that instant, he was not her superior. His question was spoken with fragile, vulnerable rawness. He was no deputy, but a friend seeking answers in the fearful stillness of what was to come in the days ahead.
Things had sure not ended up not so lighthearted as was the original plan. She had the idea to poke fun at it, to try and bring the mood back up, but abandoned this and listened to his query. He was asking her a question in earnest, and she owed it sincerity.
"Heavy." She said, and thought.
Instead of asking why he worried this (though she sure wondered it to herself), the woman sat and thought, wanting to give a good answer, but she knew that it would come out in rambles as usual.
"Find all the ones closest to my heart, and... I would say, to them, I love you, and I'm proud of you. That'd be what I want them to know. If I could fight th' end, I really would. Just to have another day, another ten minute conversation... about something with someone you love is worth any fight.
"It's happened way too many times, when things go unsaid, you'll hold that guilt with you for the rest of your life. You see it happen all the time."
Etoah listened to her, nodding just slightly. "That's true..." He muttered. "However."
Scooting his chair backwards and turning it to face her, he rested his elbows on his knees. "What I meant was...If the world was ending, and you knew you wouldn't see tomorrow. What would you do with that freedom? What would you finally allow yourself to do, or think, or see, because you knew it was all over soon anyways?" He was smiling again, his eyelids low.
