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His face became pinched, a brief expression of disappointment and disgust curving his features as she spoke of posh magic schools. If such a thing existed, then Lincoln had been left of the enrollment list. The way she stressed the word, "us", was a divider as she needed to prove that she was other; separate and perhaps better than others. He wasn't really a fan of the whole them vs us concept, he'd seen what happened when you turned your nose up at help from someone just because they were different.

Lincoln was going to answer, tell her what she wanted to hear but the woman didn't give him a chance before making a casual threat. A dagger, slipped quickly from her boot and pressed against his rib cage, his own jacket concealing it... Just.

"You Paladin's clearly have no sense of self-preservation. I didn't attend any fancy schools, and if you attended some paladin school then all they taught you was how to give yourself away, Eska. Stop. It's not the place for this ********." He hissed quietly, reaching up to take hold of her wrist, making an effort to keep his features pleasant. The look was intended to appear as a man appearing he was flirting with a woman, responding to her charms as she leaned in to touch his side. A lie, but a necessary one. "Maybe it's time I walk you home, girl, the drink has gone to your pretty little head."

"I'm not drunk, Linc."
Eska snatched back her arm, sliding the dagger back into its hilt.
"You know I'm teasing," she added gently, "you and I both know it's not like that." Her glass was empty and so was Linc's. How many more till I'm actually drunk?
The bar was a soothing place, Eska found the sounds around her almost reassuring. Everything changes but stays the same...
That was something her mother used to say a lot before. Linc had changed so much and in a way, so had she. That wasn't necessarily a good thing but it wasn't bad either.
Eska smiled, her hand patting her friend's thigh almost jovially.
"Maybe we should get out of here soon, take a little walk."

There was a brief change in his gaze, a flicker of barely contained fury that had his fingers tightening about her wrist before releasing it as she tugged it away. Lincoln took a breath, one designed to fight back his unnaturally swift to boil over temper. His full lips had set into a pursed expression, as if he were contemplating something, or sucking on a particularly sour piece of fruit. Neither was true and with some effort he managed to relax it, parting with a measured sweep of his tongue.

"Just don't make a scene..."

His tone was casual, almost flippant as he handed over his warning. The idea of a walk made him nod, agreeable to the idea, in fact hadn't he just suggested a moment ago that they make their leave? Now here she was, touching his thigh and acting as if it were her idea. "If the lady wishes... We can head off."

"Where to exactly? Eska asked. She stifled a small yawn. Taking care of Trinity had given her unusually early nights in. The perks of babysitting, she thought. She didn't have anywhere specific in mind but then again, there were a hundred and one places she wanted to go to tonight. She hadn't had this sort of thing in years, in Alaska, she worked hard as a waitress, doing shifts and alternating those with study sessions. Plus handling a one year old.
"I want to know where you've been along the way, yeah? We are catching up you know."
Eska smiled, a brief, almost phantom thing. "I'm really glad to see you again, Linc," she squeezed his hand.
As if he needed telling.

Linc sucked in a breath, holding it for a count of three before exhaling slowly, fingertip reaching to tap her on the nose. "Naughty... You look sleepy, Eska. Why don't I just walk you home huh? If you've got a place in mind, we can go there but i'm not exactly full of suggestions for you." There was a touch of impatience to his voice, a razor sharp edge beneath the soft layers, ready to cut through at a moments notice. He'd always had it, a buried darkness that came it in flashes of incendiary heat and rage. Often he'd been accused of merely being a spoiled brat but it ran deeper, and he knew it.

Eska, for all her past knowledge of him, seemed not to. "Where I..." He was startled out of his decision making and temper tampering by her remark, the affection of the touch of her hand. Fondly, then, she remembered him fondly. That was something, he supposed, shoulders lifting in a light shrug as he moved her hand onto his arm, urging the woman to her feet. "Come on, fresh air and we'll figure out where we are heading. As for what i've been up to? Mostly avoiding the pathetic peons, and gormless gluttons that are ostensibly sucking this once productive city dry of all life... Other then that? Being cute, as ever." He tilted his head down towards her, winking openly.

Eska rolled her eyes.
"You haven't lost the cockiness, Linc. It's a wonder you didn't get your face bashed in by all guys back then." What she was really doing was stalling for time. Sure, they were friends but what would she tell him if they went back to her apartment and he saw Trinity?
Eska had always felt so strongly about her niece. The girl had no one else in the world but her and she felt wholly responsible for everything that happened to her. She accepted Linc's arm and steadied herself. It was nearly midnight and she really had nowhere else to go. Trinity was already in bed but she usually had night terrors and it was good for Eska to be there. Then again, the little girl was barely more than a toddler and she slept deeply so there was no risk of waking her.
"Well, it would be good to go home now but I usually scout out the city from the rooftops. I even have a favorite spot of you're up for it." She shrugged, not wanting it to sound as if she actually needed him to come along. With Linc, she didn't want anything to sound like it had a double meaning. Instead, Eska gave a last glance around and smiled.
"We should go, Mr. King. It may be past his Highness's waking hours. How's that hand by the way?"

Lincoln smirked, glancing down at her. "They were afraid of me, Eska, the few who gave it a shot got to see my better side." There was a fierceness to his expression, remembering the times in High School people had tried, Lincoln had a scar one of his cheek from one of the more impressive attempts. His shoulders hitched in a lazy shrug, leading Eska towards the door. "You want to... Ugh, are we going to be like awkward silent sentinels of the night, patrolling the city streets for wrong doers? I'm not sure that's my favourite activity, but i'll do it, if only to keep your *** out of trouble.""Not sure, Eska, if no one kisses my boo boo better it might need amputation."[/color]