Drake & Saeed
“Pretty sure,” Drake replied, grinning. “I mean, I don’t see Duhl or Aspel chasing me down with paperwork, so I think I’m safe.” In fact, he didn’t even see Aspel around; maybe she hadn’t come? The thought was a little sad - what was she doing? He should have asked her to come with him. He already knew he’d run into Ari. It could have been a nice way to be with the both of them.
“Ari and I have been seeing each other off and on for years,” he said with a shrug. He didn’t go into how things had been complicated lately, and how, aside from Aspel, Drake had pretty much settled down on his own without realizing it. There had been Zacheus, but… That wasn’t something he really wanted to think about; it still hurt, and even though he’d been trying to sort through his feelings on the matter, it was still slow going.
And that didn’t even really touch the Aspel thing. One of these days, he was going to have to sit down and figure all of this out.
“Gotta say I’m surprised you haven’t heard the rumors, though. You’d think that me, Aspel and Ari were going to get married next week. Or was it me and Aspel? I can’t keep up with it, but apparently working together means you’re sleeping together.” Drake rolled his eyes, even though in this case, it was true. “Gossips always need something to talk about. What about you? Seeing anyone? Been up to anything interesting?”
"Gossip is a diversion and only part of it contains some truth to it," Saeed said, "besides, I would rather take the word of my friends over the word of a stranger." He laughed a bit, and shook his head. Yes, it would seem that the lips of those who liked to speak of others were busy. He added, "You must admit. There is some entertainment in what they say."
As for himself, he sighed, feigning disappointment, "I only wish I could be doing something interesting enough to draw the attention of loose lips and the gossip. No, I am sorry to report that it is just work, and the occasional meeting of friends. Perhaps, if you are not making wedding announcements, we may chat further before you have to ask permission from your wives to go out."
“Makes sense,” Drake laughed. “And some of the rumors have gotten really out of hand lately, anyway.” He thought about some of the more recent ones about him - clearly people were bored if they were trying to speculate which eligible bachelor he was targeting next. Never mind that he didn’t really know how to flirt with me, and he had his hands full with Aspel and Ari.
“I’ll take you up on the chat,” he said. “I don’t actually plan on getting married, so that shouldn’t be a problem. I wouldn’t be able to handle the clutter of all of their things.” He shuddered; how people could have so much stuff around was beyond him. “Maybe we can spar sometime soon? When you’re not busy working and I can get away from the paperwork.”
Saeed laughed again, "My father would often complain about how many things my mother kept around the inn. She might overtake the place now if my brother does not act swiftly enough." The memory of his father's soft tirades at the hoarding habits of his beloved brought a smile to Saeed's face, though there was a sadness to it as well. His mother had his brother, but he knew it would be quite some time before his mother moved past her husband's passing, if she ever moved on at all.
"We will see what we can do. I'm sure there is some period of time where we are not consumed by duty to one thing or another," Saeed said with a nod of his head, "until then. For I believe I wish to enjoy a walk before the day is gone." He rose to his feet and gave another nod, this time less in agreement and more of acknowledgement.