She followed the riverbank, and crossed the nearest bridge to the other side, making her way towards the tavern, praying both for Aldrec to be there, and at the same time, for him not to be.
***
The reek of ale painted the breath of both human and elf as Aldrec and Garen laughed with hearty abandon, swapping their best jokes and stories.
"Hey … hey, Aldrec," Garen said, still not having fully overcome his fit from the last joke's punch line, "have you ever heard the one about the dragon who got fired?"
Aldrec stared at him blankly.
"Come on, man, think about it!" Garen bleated as he knocked back another long draft from his mug.
"Sorry," Aldrec said at last, his voice slurred somewhat from his own mild overindulgence. He gave a slow shrug. "'Don't know that one."
"Sure you do!" Garen said encouragingly. But seeing that Aldrec was still clueless, gave up.
"Dragon? … Fire? Get it now?"
"Ahhh!" Aldrec said, his drawl of dawning realization breaking into a cacophony of roaring laughter between them.
"Another round, my dear," he said to the nearby serving wench, indicating his empty mug. He pressed a small pile of coins into her hand as she passed.
"But seriously," Garen said, leaning contentedly upon the bar, "you've got to be one of the most unusual elves I've ever seen. Even the ones I work with wouldn't go within one mile of a tavern. You'd swear that the place had vampires in it, or something, the way they act!" He grinned broadly as he took a first swallow of the new pint of ale that the serving wench had quickly fetched. "But you … You actually drink ale, and drink it down like it's water!"
"Well, most people say I'm different," Aldrec said with a vague, "your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine" shrug. "Truth is, I've been different all my life. But if you ask me, I think that a human who married an android seems pretty unusual as well."
"It's not as strange as you think," Garen said, his gaze drifting into old memories. "My dad was a guy who had a real open mind; never was afraid of anything new. And so when androids came 'round, especially Alerian models, he didn't mind folks marrying 'em. He was as aware of the sterility crisis as anyone, and knew that it was better than going the way of the dwarves."
"So it didn't bother him when you brought Noroa home?" Aldrec asked.