Jess Knash sat in the booth of the small, out-of-the-way café and stared at the man opposite her. The hand wrapped around her coffee cup was warm, though it didn't completely drive the chill from her body. She swept her long bangs from her face and eyes with her other hand before settling it back in her lap.
"You're serious," she said quietly; it wasn't a question.
"Yes," the man said.
Jess took in his spiky blond-brown hair and eyeliner smudged brown eyes.
"Why?"
"Because I know what you are," the man said.
"So? That's not a real reason."
The man looked down and away before answering.
"I'm lonely. I don't have anybody to talk to; nobody that will understand. And you don't have anywhere to go. I just thought."
Jess watched him carefully. Without warning, she stood and wrapped her jacket around her body. She turned and walked towards the door. Stopping short, she turned back and said, "Well? Are you coming? It doesn't look good when a Master abandons his Apprentice so early, you know.
A few things flashed though his eyes before he smiled widely and followed the young woman out the door. Just outside the door, the man put a hand on her arm and looked Jess in the eye.
"If I get one thing right," he said seriously, "It's that I'll never abandon you."
Jess saw great sorrow and repressed anger in Drake Stone's eyes and wondered what her Master had gone through.