Run: 2026-02-19-01KHTRJCR7KT922M3G9YBYM30Y

Rory slapped the bar top, punctuating her laughter. "You should've seen the look on Evan's face, Si. I thought his head might actually explode!" Silas chuckled, polishing a glass with a worn rag. "Serves him right, that pompous arse. Always did think he was God's gift." "Aye, well, hopefully this'll teach him not to underestimate a Carter." Rory sipped her pint, still grinning. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with mischief in the dim light of the Raven's Nest. Silas glanced at the time, the hands on the old clock behind the bar inching towards 2 AM. The other patrons had long since stumbled home, leaving just Rory and Silas in the world-weary Soho pub. "You best be heading up, lass. Got some early deliveries to make tomorrow." "In a minute, old man. I'm not done bending your ear yet." Rory's brogue thickened with the Guinness. "Besides, I've got a question for you." Silas raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I'm not sure if I've got answers or if you'll like what I've got to say." "Then again, when has that ever stopped you before?" She winked, teasing. In the near decade since she'd fled to London, Silas had become a mentor of sorts. A sounding board for all of Rory's schemes. He sighed, setting down the rag and glass. "Go on then, spit it out." "Why do you still keep this place going? After everything you've seen, done everywhere but here, what keeps you tethered to this old bar?" Silas's hazel eyes clouded. "That's a heavy one. Truthfully..." He paused, considering. "Habit, I reckon. I opened this place to keep my hand in, never expected it'd become my entire life." "But?" "But," he continued. "Having a place like this, full of ordinary people living ordinary lives... it keeps me grounded. Helps me forget how upside down the rest of the world can be." Rory nodded. A wistful air crept into her tone. "Maybe that's why I've stuck around too. Feels like everyone I care about is determined to see how far and fast they can run away from ordinary." "Can't say that path has brought me much but heartache." Silas rubbed his bad knee absently. "You think you're searching for something extraordinary, when all along what you need is something steady. Something real." "So why not reach out to Elian? Or Letty?" Rory paused, her expression now soft. "If ordinary is what you want, what's keeping you from chasing it with them?" A sharp breath. "You don't mince words, do you? And people say I'm direct." "Oi, you raised me better than that. I'm just callin' it like I see it." She finished her pint. "My point is, maybe extraordinary isn't something you find. Maybe it's something you make by manning up and fighting for the real things." Silas' mouth quirked, Rory's last words carrying more weight than her teasing delivery let on. He watched as she hopped off the barstool, her petite form swimming in a man's overcoat as she grabbed her helmet. "Eh, maybe you're right. I'll think it over." His eyes crinkled. "You've got work in a few hours, no point in you taking the long way home tonight." "Fine, I'll bus it." She paused, one hand on the door to the cool London night. "But I fully expect a decades-worth of advice next time we're both up for it." "You've got it, kid." Silas smiled at the nickname he hadn't used in years. "Sleep well." He knew he wouldn't, mind racing with Rory's words and the memory of a love he'd let slip through his fingers.