Oh gods. These were the initial thoughts that ran through his head as the stranger approached. He specifically picked a corner chair to avoid exactly this kind of situation. Tonight he was at the Shroudrose Teahouse in Gridania, a place where he could drink without dulling his thoughts. But apparently not to drink in peace.
He looked up at the woman before him. She had a chipper demeanor as she addressed him. Somehow, that made it even worse; the bubbly ones were usually insufferable. She babbled on about feeling alone at her table because her friends were too busy being lovey-dovey with each other or some other such nonsense. Why me? was the next thought that crossed his mind.
For some reason, he indulged her - not that had much choice as she grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the table. Yen’to sighed as he was led over, the night was about to get much longer. It took an agonizing few minutes for the lady to finally pause and catch a breath before her friends were able to interject and introduce themselves: Mjrn, Magnus, and Zavanis.
The small talk was not as bad as he initially feared, and soon they discussed where they were from and what they did. One was from Lominsa like him, and another was a mercenary like him. They are not quite so different... except for the incessant giggling. The tea and scones slowly dwindled as their talk lingered on longer than expected. Conversing was not something he was particularly fond of doing for extended stretches, but the shared interests helped.
However, once the distraction of drink and food went away so did his patience. He made an excuse of having to leave and bade them all farewell. His thoughts returned to something that was troubling him that he had been putting off. He needed to find Lark.
It was at the Grindstone Tournament a few suns past where he overheard it. One of V’Hizu’s associates, a viper of an au ra, was talking with someone he had not seen before. The details were hard to make out over the din of combat and other conversations, but what he heard concerned him.
V’Hizu... female... stalking... too many ears. Yen’to had dared not get closer for fear of tipping them off since he was mostly out of sight. No name was mentioned, but he was convinced they were referring to Lark. Who else could it be? He wished she had been there that night, but if she had then they may not have spoken as freely as they did. She also would have already hurled a few insults their way and gotten them both in trouble... again. Before I met her, my life had far fewer complications....
She was obviously not in Gridania, and Yen’to supposed he should head back to Ul’dah. If anywhere, she was probably at Tariev’s apartment.
