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Post by Galadareth on Jan 12, 2022 1:14:03 GMT
Kestra was skeptical of the two. There was something off about them. But the promise of gold was intriguing—it always was. She glanced at Duinn, keeping the two in her sight, she leaned close to Duinn’s ear. “What do you think of them?” She asked. “Do you think we should take the job?” She was really close to him now, taking in his scent. She was suddenly self-conscious of her own and hoped she didn’t smell like the woods.
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 14, 2022 1:07:47 GMT
Duinn felt his mind getting distracted as Kestra leaned close. “I, uh- I don’t know.” He tried to focus on the interlopers, but Kestra drew much of his attention. He scolded himself. He needed to be more like she was. Focused and on task. He shrugged, seeing the two strangers waiting expectantly.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I mean... if what she says is true, it sounds like a legitimate job. As long as we don’t have a run in with the bandits. I need more practice with a sword before I go up against a trained team of thugs.”
The moment he said his last statement he scolded himself internally. He shouldn’t have given away the fact that he was untrained in front of their uninvited guests. He turned to Kestra, and he could feel her breath on his face. She smelled like the woods, but he liked it. It reminded him of his days back home when he would set out into the forest all day on his own.
Again, he snapped himself out of his day dream. “What do you think?” He asked Kestra. “You have more experience than I do.”
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 14, 2022 4:00:39 GMT
(They’re so cute, I love them so much!)
Kestra inhaled deeply, only to get one last whiff of his smell. She exhaled and smiled at him, wanting to reassure him of the situation. She was glad he was there with her. It made decisions easier somehow. She turned to the two. “We accept. For double your price. I have a feeling this will be more trouble than you expect so I want fair compensation. Especially since there are two of us.” She used her dagger to point to between them.
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 14, 2022 4:44:06 GMT
(Glad your enjoying the characters! I am as well! Sorry my replies have been so sparse as of late. Life keeps me busier than I’d like.) Duinn nodded in agreement, feeling rather impressed by Kestra’s bold demands. He frowned internally when Kestra moved a little further away and addressed the two strangers — at least he was pretty sure the frown was only internal. Again, he scolded himself for loosing focus. “Keep your head about you!” He thought to himself. The woman in the gunnysack dress balked at the demands, but before she could articulate her objection the tall man silenced her with a kick to her ankle. “We accept,” the man said, pulling his toothpick out of his mouth and twirling once through his fingers as he grinned, then sticking it back between his teeth. The woman gave a death glare, that Duinn was sure could bring most men to their knees. She clearly wasn’t happy, but she wasn’t arguing either. “Fine,” the woman croaked at last. “Twenty-five gold to deliver the deed.”
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 15, 2022 14:23:34 GMT
(No worries at all! It happens to everyone! ) Kestra smirked at the man, glad he was reasonable at the least. “We accept. Now, where are we going?” she asked. She surveyed the man and the woman once again. Something felt off about them but she couldn’t pin point what. Maybe because they were strangers. Maybe it was the interaction they had between each other. She glanced at Duinn to try and read his own impressions of the situation. As inexperienced as he may be with mercenary work, he still would have feelings about people. Then she began to wonder what he thought about her. She shook her head slightly and turned back to the two in front of her. Stay focused. She reminded herself.
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 15, 2022 22:13:27 GMT
(Too true)
Duinn tried not to let his surprise show. That was more gold than he’d ever had. Not that it was much to most, though. He caught a glance from Kestra and wondered if he should say something. His internal dialogue returned, debating itself.
Meanwhile the woman pulled out a map. “Here,” she pointed. “This small field here in the North Downs is my son’s inheritance. He’s living in a small fishing village here,” she pointed again. “In the Kingsfell.”
“The boy’s name is Rand,” the man spoke up. “Ask the locals. They’ll know where to send you.”
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 15, 2022 22:30:42 GMT
Kestra took the map from the woman and looked closely at the areas. North Downs wasn’t too far from them. She hadn’t been there too many times, but she knew the way to get there well. “Great. We can deliver the deed.” She held out her hand for the deed and the sack of coins for their payment. They would need the money to get there after all.
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 16, 2022 1:18:37 GMT
The woman handed Kestra the deed but withheld the gold. It was clear what Kestra was expecting, but the glare in the woman’s eyes insisted that it wasn’t going to happen. There was an awkward silence for a moment, when Duinn spoke up. “Look, traveling to the North Downs will take supplies. We don’t really have the money it would take to buy everything we need.”
The man gave a thoughtful, if not critical, look. He bit down hard on his toothpick. “How about a compromise?” He spoke through grit teeth. “We buy you everything you need for your journey, subtract it from your pay, and pay the rest in coin upon your successful return?”
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 16, 2022 1:55:07 GMT
Kestra looked at Duinn when he spoke up, glad they were on the same page. He was proving to be a valuable companion. She nodded along with his statement.
As for the man’s proposition, she pursed her lips and popped up an eyebrow. It was a fairly attractive gaze from her. “Fine. We’ll take that up front.” She planted her sword in the ground and knelt by her bag, pulling out a piece of charcoal and parchment. She scribbled down a list of supplies, being a little more generous with amounts than they probably needed but she wanted to make sure they didn’t get screwed. She tore off the paper slip and handed it to the man. “This is what we will need. As you have the money, you can bring us the supplies back to our camp here. We will leave mid-morning tomorrow so be here with the items or the deal is off.” She wanted to make sure she still had some control over this arrangement. “Where can we expect to meet you after the deed is delivered?” she asked finally.
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 16, 2022 3:17:57 GMT
Duinn stood close by Kestra as she negotiated, not putting his sword down even when she was writing their shopping list. He caught himself staring at her, though, instead of paying attention to the intruders — or their employers as it seemed they now were. He peeled his eyes away from her face and hoped she hadn’t noticed he was staring.
“Gosh darn you, Duinn.” He thought he had said that in his mind, but... did he just hear himself mumbling aloud? Surely he hadn’t said it out loud had he?
The man took the list from Kestra, glancing over at Duinn for a moment, then back to the list. He narrowed a single eye as he read through the supplies. “That friend of yours must eat like a horse.”
“Just get them the supplies, slim,” the woman grouched. “I’m tired of standing around out here in the middle of the night.” She turned towards Kestra, then, “Just meet back here when the job is done. That’ll make it simple enough, won’t it? We’ll give it a reasonable amount of time, then check back here once a day at sunrise until we find you.”
With that the two turned and walked off into the darkness as silently as they had arrived. Duinn looked at Kestra, the firelight flickering of her flaxen hair. “That was... weird.”
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 16, 2022 4:36:11 GMT
Kestra exhaled long and hard as they left. Only then did she realize all the tension she had been holding in during the negotiation. “It was weird,” she agreed. “Did you say something? While I was writing the list? I thought I heard you say something.” She looked at him and sat down on her bedroll. Her eyes were relaxed now that the two strangers were gone.
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 16, 2022 18:29:42 GMT
“I, uh-” he rubbed the back of his neck. “I was just, kind of scolding myself,” he admitted. “I was- I just get distracted too easily.”
He fiddled with his sword for a bit, then slid it back in his sheath. He sat down next to the fire, but he couldn’t help glancing back out into the darkness once in a while. Not that he could see anything anyways, now that his eyes were adjusted to the firelight.
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 16, 2022 19:04:35 GMT
Kestra smiled at him and nodded. “It’ll take some practice to focus in situations like that.” She shifted her bedroll slightly as to not lay on a rock. “Why don’t we get some sleep. We have a long journey ahead of us.” She laid her dagger next to her bedroll and laid down on it, gazing up at the stars through the smoke from the fire. It was chilly but the fire made it pleasant and comfortable. She would sleep well tonight.
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Post by Jax Nova on Jan 16, 2022 20:10:45 GMT
Duinn nodded, half wishing he could tell her why he’d been so distracted. They had hardly known each other a day, though, and he didn’t want to ruin what they had going. He wasn’t positive that it would ruin it... but he wasn’t positive that it wouldn’t either.
“Yeah,” he agreed, sitting down on his bed roll near the lingering flames. He lay down on his back, staring up at the night sky. Only a few stars slipped in and out of the cloud cover, twinkling in shades of white-blue light.
He could hear his brother’s voice in his head. “You know she likes you.” Duinn frowned. He thought she might, but he didn’t know for sure. “Patience. Time will tell.” He wished his brother was actually there. He always gave good advice.
He turned his head to the side, looking across the flames at Kestra. He let his gaze linger for a long moment as a gentle smile creased his cheeks.
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Post by Galadareth on Jan 16, 2022 21:07:04 GMT
Kestra rolled over and faced Duinn. She studied him for a moment, deep in thought. He is sweet. She thought. She wasn’t used to company on her travels after being alone for so long. But she was enjoying his presence greatly, even though it had only been a few hours. Helps that he’s pretty good looking as well. She smiled to herself and wrapped her hand around her dagger. She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep. (If you wanna skip to morning, that is okay with me! )
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