River actually let out a genuine laugh, something that she hadn't really heard from him yet. He would blame it on the alcohol, even if he only had but two swallows now, and he could hold his liquor. "Yeah, I have to say I did. I may or may not have encouraged her. Scarlett and I don't see eye to eye very often, but she has her moments. I have to blame that on her Tale. Or fable, in her case."
Alyssa should be very proud of herself, because she was getting him to talk a lot. The reasoning was that, when he did talk to her, he felt like she was listening, something that encouraged him to keep talking. "Well, I guess that explains why you are such a hopeful, optimistic person, and I'm kinda... gloom and doom?" He accent stuck out really badly on that last sentence.