[ For Astor Kane ]

Dresden wasn't sure if he felt better or worse after seeing Scout in the courtyard, but at least he'd had the chance to speak to her. It'd been a while since then, and far as he could tell, no rumors had come of it. What would they say, anyway? Plenty of people had been around to watch and listen in to the conversation. They'd done nothing inappropriate, they'd said nothing incriminating. Dresden really didn't feel satisfied by it though. Something still felt...lacking.

Becoming a member of the royal guard meant that he'd been seeing her more often, considering she worked with the queen. He wondered how she felt about that. She probably didn't feel anything about it. She was a married woman now, something that still seemed strange to him. Even stranger that she was married to Astor. The two had been friends, he'd only found that out after the fact, when Astor had come to him and blamed him for all of it.

With the morning off, his shift being later in the afternoon, he'd gone to the square to get something to eat and people watch. His mind was mostly on his sister, though both Scout and Ikisina occupied parts of it. He'd grabbed an apple from a familiar old woman's cart and moved through the crowds as a casual pace as he chomped from it and wondered if wearing his royal guards uniform actually changed the way anyone saw him. He didn't feel any different, and people still seemed to come and go past him like he were just another commoner. One, in fact, bumped into him as they passed. Dresden turned with the motion, watching the guy who turned to scowl. He could only laugh somewhat, and take another bite of his apple before turning back to his own path.

Instead, he bumped into a man nearly his same size, and met familiar dark eyes in that moment. "Oh, Astor," Dresden said, a little surprised by suddenly running into his old friend. "My bad."