Nostalgia

Cass stood frozen for a moment, her gaze lingering on Rothwind like she had never seen a dwarf before.

But she knew Rothwind very well.

Well, she knew of him well…

She had actually never spoken to him before, and this was probably the first time he had ever even paid any attention to her.

"From what I hear, you're quite a brave young 'un, lass."

Rothwind decided to ease the tension she must have been feeling by speaking up first, besides, it wouldn't be the first time he had tended to a young kid like this in his hundreds of years of life.

'Ahh, best not to bring up bad memories.'

But the more Rothwind looked at Cass, the more he could resist that urge.

Cass's wide eyes slowly shifted to meet Rothwind's, and the dwarf found himself staring into a gaze that was both sharp and cautious — but also laced with an innocence that hadn't yet been completely stripped away by the harshness of life in the slums.