A Time To Reflect

Willow looked around the pub, it was mostly full of drunk men and it smelt just a little bit like sweat and stale alcohol, however it was something that she had become used to, after all Willow used to work at a pub in another part of the country so it wasn't anything new to her, other women however might blanch at it.

Waving politely at one of the men behind the bar, she vaguely knew him from some place and didn't want him to think that she was ignoring him.

With a glance around to see if there were any other sears she took a perch by the bar looking around the pub as spastic outbreaks of violence sprouted up now and again, flinching as she heard glass breaking Willow resisted the urge to help out as much as age could, not wanting to choose sides.

"Butterbeer please..."

Aspen flipped a chip into the air and laughed as he lay his cards down. "Read em and weep boys read em and weep." He smirked wrapping his arms around the huge pile of chips in the middle and bringing them to him. "Same time next week?" He laughed as the other players growled and got angry, one even managing to smash a glass.

"You need to work on that temper mate, i don't cheat it takes a lot of effort to be this good looking and talented." He said scooping all the chips into a bag. Once they were all in the bag he saluted all the men and gave a wink to the ladies before heading for the bar. "Firewhiskey." He said before turning to lean on elbow on the bar.

"Ello sweet 'art you look like your looking for someone. Could that someone be me?" He asked flicking a chip into the air for the bartender to catch. "Keep the change and get the lady a drink too." He said downing his drink before slamming it back down to the table and ordering another one. "Does the lady have a name?"

Willow heard the breaking of glass from a huddle of men playing poker, surrounded by several girls who seem to be wanting a peice of the money that one of them would be winning. Biting her lip and trying to ignore the feeling to go and see if everyone was okay Willow looked into her butterbeer.

Unable to stop a soft blush creeping across her cheeks as the man appeared and so flamboyantly paid for his drink, and one for herself, Willow ducked her head slightly and looked up at him through her eyelashes so that he could only see a little bit of her brown iris.

"H-hello."

Willow bit her lip and blushed harder as the man called her sweetheart, she wondered why he was doing so, maybe he was just an extrovert person when it came to ladies. Tapping her butterbeer bottle she smiled softly up at him.

"Thank you for the drink, I'm Willow, Willow Hartman. Who are you?"

He smiled. "Well aren't you a shy um?" He smirked drinking his next drink more slowly this time, he was in no rush and he needed to keep a clear head with all this money.

"Whats up sweet 'art? You don't need to be shy around me, i won't hurt you." He smirked giving her a cheeky wink. It wasn't everyday you met someone shy around these parts. Most women at this pub threw themselves at you.

"Well its lovely to meet you Willow, Im Aspen Salvator." He said holding his hand out for her to take.

Willow blushed again and nodded her head, her hands clasped in her lap as the man said that she was shy, normally she was quite outgoing and talkative but for some reason she retreated into herself around him.

"I-I guess I am yes."

Seeing the man sip another drink Willow took a small swig of her own and she placed the bottle back down on the counter with nothing but a small clink. It was then she thought about all of the chips in the mans bag, how dangerous that must be to have all that money.

"S-sorry I don't know why im so shy, I'm not n-normally..."

Willow smiles softly again and extended her hand to Aspen with a friendly smile on her face, wondering just how interesting this conversation would be.

"It's lovely to meet you too Aspen."

He smiled and placed a finger under her chin to make her look up at him. "Well sweat 'art we'll just have to sort that out now wont we?" He smiled bringing his hand back towards him. Never in all his time had he met a girl so shy and he'd traveled the world.

He took her hand and kissed the back of it before slowly letting go, making sure his fingers trailed along her hand as he did. "The pleasure is all mine, la mia bellezza." He smiled taking another sip of his drink only this time making sure he kept eye contact with her.

Willow could feel her cheeks going bright pink as Apsen placed his hand under her chin so she looked up at him, her heart thudded softly in her chest and she felt a little guilty for thinking that this man was so much nicer, so much more attractive than Gervais.

"W-we d-do?"

Still blushing as Aspen kissed her hand Willow bit her lip and turned her face away from him only to be lured back with the eye contact that he maintained with her.

"You...you know Italian? What does that mean?"

She asked I'm a soft voice, wondering if it was another attempt Ti flirt with her, it was working though.

He smiled. "Of course, no one should be this shy. You're missing out on all the fun." He said opening his bag of gold. "Here take this." He said emptying some of its contents into a smaller bag. "Go treat yourself to a little something, or maybe try and increase if with a little wager." He smirked giving her a wink. He was known for his gamboling because he was the best of the best.

"Pfft know Italian." He said out loud to himself "Im Italian born and bred baby, aint nothing like a pure Italian." He said taking a playful bite in her direction. "It means my little beauty." He smirked letting his Italian accent slip. He liked to hide it around her because the Italian Aspen was wanted by many men for many different reasons.

Willow gasped softly as Aspen put all of that gold into her lap and she didn't think she had ever seen so much money in one place! Biting her lip she shook her head and pushed it towards him so that Aspen might take it back.

"Y-you can't just give away all of that money! It could help so many people...who need it...more than I do."

Biting her lip Willow blushed softly as Aspen told her that there was nothing like an Italian, she had never met one before, but they were certainly different...

"Well I haven't met many Italian people but you certainly are different, oh, oh my."

She blushed even more as the accent slipped and he tried to bite her, the nickname only making her heart flutter in her chest wildly. Willow didn't think shed ever been this worked up over a man.