"Oh, you're up for a challenge are you? Beat me at smash and we'll talk."

"See you around, Audrey."

"See you around, Luar."

Gianno steps around Hannah and walks out onto the table-strewn dance floor. He pulls out a chair and beckons to Audrey.

... Well that's nice of him. She walks over and plops herself down in the proffered chair.

He takes a seat across from her. 

"So, where are you from?"

"Trade world. Arcbright. I was with the local government doing... bureaucratic stuff."

"I'm an architect for OTC. I design buildings and so on. Move around a lot to wherever an expansion is being built."

"Do you two want anything more from the bar?"

"I could use another spiked root beer."

"A glass of - coke, actually."

"Done and done. I'll be back in a jiffy!"

As Hannah steps away, Gianno looks back at Audrey. 

"Your first time at the Bowers?", he asks.

She nods.

"How's it been so far?"

"Scary. Exciting. Fun. Very busy. I keep having to pace myself, it's such a ride."

"And here you are doing another scary exciting thing. Your friend put you up to it?"

"Yeah, she has a thing about firsts. Though I have to say, the company's already a lot better than I expected."

"I'm glad I can be of service. What were you expecting?"

"Drunks. People pushing me to drink. General boorish behaviour."

"I mean, you'll meet people like Luar who are mostly interested in making a pass at you, but most of them are reasonably polite and will take no for an answer. The ones who don't, well, that's what the wards are for."

"Are they really that fine tuned?"

"If you're worried you can always get a consent button as a charm or necklace."

"I got a standard one from the catalog a while back but it turns out I never really needed to use it."

"Yeah, along with the Goddess' Grace it's more of a peace of mind thing than a real security measure. The wards are already good enough."