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RESPITE MARKETPLACE - MORNING
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Froge croaks a rather bouncy frogsong to himself as he travels along, his sled thumping offbeat to him on the cobble street of the marketplace, the thick glass tubes rattling loudly despite a heavy blanket covering his cargo. He's wearing a rather large wide-brimmed hat made of huge leaves, cut in strips and woven together that makes a strong contrast to his average looking leather jerkin, shading him well from the sun and hiding the waterlogged cloth on his head. The frog reaches a branch off the market proper, looking for his usual stall but noticing it seems to have been rented out already.
Jennica is setting up her and Emmeline's stall, just building the very basics of the tent knowing that her friend will want to detail up the... well, details, later. She's currently frowning at a piece of pipe that's stubbornly refusing to slot into its' friend, growling slightly. She's dressed in her usual loose-ish overalls and a shirt, covering most of her form. She's also wearing a headscarf to keep her mane from her vision.
Froge hums, looking with a bit of disappointment from his preferred corner-of-the-intersection stall, now taken, to the others nearby, hoping to nab one that's at least in traffic. He catches sight of the newcomer setting up her tent, tilting his head slightly as his own worries slip his mind for the moment. "Is that giving you a bit of trouble, miss?"
Jennica eep's at someone addressing her, and drops both pieces of metal with a loud clanging noise. She turns to look at Froge: "E-a-uh. No? Yes? Maybe? Hi!"
Froge flinches at the loud noise, chuckling nervous croaks as he quickly steps forward to pick the poles back up for Jennica. "Sorry! Hi! I didn't mean to scare you!"
Jennica blinks at the helpful amphibian, finally realizing to find a smile: "Sorry! I mean hi. Uh, hi. Sorry?" She shakes her head: "I-it's f-fine. I scare easy."
Froge is still a bit nervous, mostly from the loudness of the metal falling, continuing his shaky croaking between sentences. "It's alright, I'm just Froge, not supposed to be scary!" He holds the pipes up to eye level, poking them at eachother end to end. "These aren't fitting?"
Jennica stares for a second at the not-scary frog, then belatedly nods: "O-oh. Yeah. Stupid pieces. Wanted to s-surprise Em', but at this rate she'll be here before I've gotten anything done..." She trails off, looking at the tent that's currently more of a pile of pieces.
Froge hums, nodding. He mistakes 'Em' as an accent, tilting his head as he looks at the tent parts. "Sometimes they are a bit tricky, but not sure that you can surprise a tent pole..." There's a low croak in his throat as he thinks, tapping the ends together again.
Jennica blinks at the frog's words: "Surprise a tent pole? Huh? Did I say something funny?"
Froge blinks as well, looking at Jennica. "Hmm? You said you wanted to 'surprise them'... didn't you?"
Jennica tilts her head: "No I said-" She then realizes her mistake and starts to giggle a bit: "Oh. H-heh."
Froge giggles with Jennica, though he has no idea what she's laughing about. After a few seconds, he tilts his head the other way. "Uhm... What is funny?"
Jennica shakes her head, trying to stop her giggles: "'Em' is my friend, Emmeline. I was talking about her."
Froge blinks, then nods enthusiastically. "Oh! I understand, yes!" He chuckles his croaks again, with a happy frog note underscoring his words now that he's not so nervous. "Sorry for being confused, Em is your friends name. So what is yours, then, hmm?"
Jennica blinks, then smiles: "O-oh! My name's Jennica! N-nice to m-meet you."
Froge nods enthusiastically, the brim of his hat bobbing with the motion. "Nice to meet you too! I am Froge, also a trader. Or merchant. I guess both are the same?" He chuckles again, looking to the poles still in his webbed hands. "But not tent builder..." He pokes the parts together, giving them a bit of a twist, and they start to fit.
Jennica blinks as the parts click: "O-oh. I think you are, though!" She starts picking up the next pieces to go, starting to get a bit excited again.
Froge grins, chuckling and setting the parts on the nearest table as he looks about for more to fit together. "Frogs are always happy to expand knowledge! If I help, you can have a tent up before 'Em' comes, yes?" He takes up two pieces similar tot he one's he'd just had, twisting them together as well.
Jennica starts to grin a bit: "O-oh, you'd help? T-thank you!" She starts figuring out how to build their market tent, bit by bit, clearly enthused.
Froge hums happily as the two get the tent frame assembled, but is a bit perplexed by the cloth. "How does this go on? Or stay on?"
Jennica picks up a small box of short wrapping lines, and points to the holes in the cloth: "We use these to tie it up. It's not the strongest, and kinda bad in rain, but..." She looks up at the as-usual clear skies: "...d-don't think it's a huge problem here."
Froge looks up as well, holding his hat to shield his eyes from the sun. "Mhm, yes, it is a good idea to stay out of the sun though. I have learned this the hard way, used to humid swamp and big trees."
Jennica looks up for a moment more, then shrugs: "Dunno. I like the warm. Beats Vamas, anyway." She picks up a corner of the tent cloth and starts tying it up, smiling.
Froge watches what Jennica does with the ties and the cloth, then nods with a happy croak as he imitates it as best the frog can on the other side of the tent, doing a decent job that probably wouldn't hold up in any nasty weather.
Jennica starts humming to herself as she works, forgetting that she even has company for the moment. "Mmhmm~... Em's gonna be so surprised..."
Froge hears her humming, slowing his work to listen, before adding his own frogsong to accompany her beat. When it's alone, the croaking is fairly musical, but tends to have a melancholy air to it even when done in happiness. With just Jennica's humming however, the two together strike a bit of harmony, even if it's not a perfect match.
Jennica ties up the last corner after a while, grinning at it. She then takes a step back... nearly onto Froge as she's temporarily forgotten she's not alone: "Eep! S-sorry! B-but thank you!"
Froge chuckles, giving her a big grin and looking at the tent. "You're welcome, I like to help, and was a good thing to learn!" He nods, stepping back to get the full picture. "It is a very nice tent, something I should maybe get."
Jennica shrugs as she looks at the tent: "It's not the bestest, but it's ours."
Froge chuckles as he glances around, noticing that the other merchants have all begun to set out their wares on every stall along the main body of the market, letting out a light sigh. "What do you have to buy?"
Jennica blinks: "O-oh. Right." She digs up to one of the boxes she has in the now-finished tent. After a moment, she produces a small mechanical trinket: "T-these s-sort of things. Small devices that help." She touches a couple of near-invisible buttons on the trinket, it lets out a bit of a cough of smoke, then gives a soft hum: "It calms the room, sorta. Emits this little magic-not-really-smoke that calms the mind. I-it's a bit hard to explain..."
Froge blinks, nodding slowly. "I see! That is very interesting!" He looks to her after a few moments of examining the smoke-producing device in her hands. "I do not understand, but I am very curious!"
Jennica shrugs, but blushes at the interest: "I-it's not much, but what I do. Can't really make big things, but... trinkets?"
Froge grins, clearly enthused. "You have a talent, then! I know kobold in town, has much the same interest. Maybe you will meet him? I should visit Strix, actually, I have been away for a while..."
Jennica tilts her head as she shuts down the trinket with couple of quick hand motions: "Kobold? Strix?" She frowns: "Haven't met, but I just came... huh."
Froge bounces a bit, nodding as he turns and points down the way, toward an alley just beyond the market. "Yes, he has a workshop over that way. Maybe I'll go visit since all the stalls are taken today."
Jennica shrugs, smiling: "I-I'll stay here. Gotta wait for 'Em. B-but have fun?"
Froge nods, turning to smile at Jennica again. "Yes, I hope to visit again, it was nice to meet you Jennica!" The frog takes up the rope on his sled again, tugging it to turn around and head back the way he came, toward Strix's now empty alley. "Oh, I'll make sure to buy something next time, I might need you to explain more to me, though~"
Jennica grins: "H-happy to explain." She pauses for a second before waving: "U-um, have a nice day!"
Froge waves back before starting to pull his sled along. "You too!" Froge hums a happy frogsong to himself, still mimicking the song that Jennica was humming while putting up the tent. Minutes later, the song is interrupted when Froge enters Strix's alley, only to find everything but the scorch marks gone.
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THE WINTER KITCHEN - EVENING
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Gareth hums quietly as he leads the way to the restaurant he'd chosen for his meal with Lianne, The Winter Kitchen, probably the first 'high-class' restaurant that's been set up in town, at least according to the restaurant's owner. He's dressed in one of his better, less travel-worn outfits, and his usual hat has been left back at the Minnow, leaving him looking rather suave, if still somewhat pirate-y.
Lianne Sparr, as expected, has dressed rather fancily herself. Red lipstick, red nail polish, red open high-heels and A stunning red dress, held up by magitech clamps where her neck meets her wings much like her other clothes. Red everything, really, contrasting starkly to both her white and black flesh on either side of her form. Standing out, in punctuation, a pair of blue sapphire earrings dangle from the inside of her wings very close to her head. She's smiling as she meets up with Gareth first at the Thirsty Minnow, then as they continue down the street, possessively wrapping (Awkwardly, given her wing gets in the way) her lower arm around Gareth's.
Gareth does his best to wrap his arm around Lianne's, making sure he's not causing any real discomfort to her wing as the two make their way through the front door of the restaurant. A quick word with the person handling incoming diners, and the two are led to a cozy booth, where they settle in. The waiter gives them a couple of menus, then steps away to let them spend some time on deciding their orders.
Narrator: Once at their table, Lianne settles in across from Gareth to be prim and proper, in spite of the close comfort the booth could provide. The first thing Lianne gazes over before anything else is the drinks list, starting up conversation with Gareth in the meantime. "Well. Quite the cozy place you've selected tonight. I honestly didn't expect this. Looking to impress, are we?" Lianne teases.
Gareth laughs a bit as he takes a seat across from Lianne and gets comfortable. He flips through the menu, rather quickly settling on the entrees to start, though he also eyes up the drinks on the back of Lianne's menu. "Maybe just a bit, aye. Been meanin' to give this place a look fer a while, but never really had a reason to dine in before now."
Lianne Sparr: "Is that so?" Lianne questions, settling on a red wine before noting Gareth eyeing the drinks menu, offering it to him. "Don't suppose you drink anything other than rum?"
Gareth accepts the menu, having decided on what he's ordering for a meal just before Lianne made her drink selection. He grins a bit as he scans the list. "Nothin' wrong with a bit o' rum, but there are some other really good drinks to be had when off a ship. Bourbon, whiskey, a gin and tonic... all kinds o' drinks to appreciate out there. Speakin' o' that..." He pauses, then nods, "Bourbon sounds nice right now, so I think I'll be gettin' that."
Lianne Sparr spends a moment gandering through the meals menu herself. She's set on her own dinner selections in a few moments. "Hm." Lianne hums judgementally. "I won't judge." Yes she will. And she is. With a smirk. Silently daring for Gareth to break his comfort zone and go fancier.
Gareth catches the smirk, and smirks in turn. Once the waiter arrives, he orders himself a bourbon, then shoots Lianne a cheeky little smile as he adds a martini to the list. "Ye won't judge, hm? If ye say so, Lianne."
Lianne Sparr nods shallowly in approval, though passes it off playfully as an affirmative to Gareth's statement instead. Unconvincingly, of course. "That is what I said, yes." She then turns to the waiter and adds her own order to the list.
Gareth places the rest of his order, clearly not worrying about the price. "Feel free to order desserts and such if ye like, Lianne." He smirks again, "It's me treat, tonight."
Narrator: The news warms Lianne's expression and posture. A gentleman indeed. "Why thank you, Gareth. I'll wait until after the mains to see if I'm still feeling a bit peckish. The dessert menu will be there when we're done." Lianne affirms. "So. How long since you've been a bounty hunter?"
Gareth settles into his seat as the two begin their wait for their food and drinks. "Only fer a couple o' years, so far, but me huntin' partner's been doin' it fer quite a bit longer. Figured a change in profession was a smart idea, seein' how easily she handled me old crew once they targeted that Silver-Talon trade ship."
Lianne Sparr pauses for a moment, amusement creeping over her face. ". . .Oh." She voices, before breaking out into a laugh, little to no sympathy at all present. "Desperate, or over-confident?" She asks.
Gareth shakes his head, smirking in turn. Clearly, the results of the disregard his crew had for his advice is still something he gets some amount of satisfaction over. "Over-confident, definitely. The idiots thought a brazen enough attack would keep them from tryin' to punch back, especially since we'd had a string o' really good hauls leadin' up to that point."
Lianne Sparr: "A pity, that they have all that time to possibly learn from their hubris." Lianne casually hints back to their conversation when they first re-met, where she wished them death. "Has the bounty hunting kept you as busy as you'd like?" Lianne moves on.
Gareth snorts in amusement. "If they don't, then they'll just end up stayin' in jail, or end up with a blade in the gut." He shrugs, moving on as well, "It's been pretty profitable, so far, aye. Less time on the ocean and far less time carefree sailin', but it's good, challengin' work and it makes use o' most o' me skills from sailin'."
Lianne Sparr shares in the amusement for that brief moment. "Does it feel nice, being one of the good guys? Bringing individuals to justice?"
Gareth shrugs again. "Not really in it to be a good guy, honestly. Me partner, she's the one that tries to keep us on the 'better' side o' things, but I don't really care about the sort o' jobs we do, as long as they pay well enough fer the trouble."
Lianne Sparr: Fair enough, Gareth's simply in it for the money. Lianne doesn't have much to pursue further on the topic of bounty hunting, nor does she have an immediate lead to follow, falling silent with a nod.
Gareth gestures a bit across the table at his companion. "How about ye, Lianne? Last I remember, ye were somethin' o' a privateer as well, right? Still keepin' up with that, or did ye change professions like I did?"
Lianne Sparr: "I still keep myself active." Lianne indirectly answers the question, neither officially confirming or denying. "Except for this little vacation, of course."
Gareth nods, accepting the sidestep. "Fair enough. Stayin' active is good, keeps the body fit and healthy. O' course, there's nothin' wrong with a bit o' rest, intentional or not." He smiles at Lianne.
Lianne Sparr: "A break here and there is much appreciated, though I often find myself growing restless if left to my own devices for too long." Lianne sighs. "But, I suppose there isn't much to be done about that."
Gareth nods again. "Aye, I know the feelin', Lianne. A short rest is good, but too long without somethin' to do makes things wearin'. At least there's sparrin' with the guards and good food around town to keep occupied fer a bit, here in Respite, so that keeps the boredom at bay fer a bit."
Lianne Sparr nods herself, seeming rather disappointed by the predicament. She mostly worries about slipping out of her prime. "C'est la vie."
Gareth 's ears perk, vaguely recalling hearing something of the sort in the past, and he nods after a moment spent trying to remember what that phrase meant. "Aye, but we just work with what we've got." He pauses, his eyes taking in Lianne's appearance and form a bit, amusement in his eyes, "O' course, some o' us are luckier than others with what they've got."
Narrator: Noticing Gareth's. . .Appreciation of her physique, Lianne subtly shifts her posture to play into Gareth's gaze. "We've been throwing that word around a lot, Gareth. Do you believe in it?" Lianne questions.
Gareth can't help but smirk a bit as Lianne adjusts, his gaze lingering here and there on her form before he looks up to her face again. "Luck? Maybe to a degree, aye. Me survivin' this..." He gestures at his blinded eye, "...was mostly from me crew bein' on top o' things and me own body's resilience, but I've seen too many good fighters cut down in skirmishes against less-skilled opponents to figure everythin's happenin' fer a reason."
Lianne Sparr hardly waits for Gareth to finish talking before she replies. "I don't believe in luck." She leans forward on the table, hands clasped. "To believe in it would be to relinquish all control. To be nothing but a spectator, powerless to stop it. Why allow destiny to control us, when we can seize it for ourselves?" Lianne questions. "Fate is half a mistress, Gareth. The rest of her is a passenger."
Gareth pauses, listening only to nod slowly as Lianne finishes up. He leans a bit against the table, a thoughtful hand raised up to his chin. "Ye know... I never did think to look at it like that. Less luck alterin' fate and more us takin' control of what we want to do, aye?" He leans back in his seat again, mulling the idea over, "Same picture, different angle... and I suppose controllin' me own destiny's been the story o' me life since I'd become a pirate, and then a bounty hunter."
Lianne Sparr: "Precisely." Lianne responds to the notion of taking control, letting Gareth finish his thoughts before continuing. "When all is said and done, we should have no one to blame but ourselves."
Gareth chuckles a bit. "Well, thinkin' over where I've gone in life so far, I've no regrets." He grins, "Even losin' me eye back then was a learnin' lesson for meself. Most likely, when I die, it'll be because I did somethin' stupid, or from old age." He pauses, "...Maybe a bit o' both, even."
Lianne Sparr: "I find that quite attractive. The lack of regrets. The strength to continue where most others would simply give up and quit." Lianne smiles. "At the risk of waking up with a missing eye, I would like to accompany you back to your room when we're finished here tonight."
Gareth laughs quietly, nodding. "Yer company would be most welcome, Lianne. As fer the eye..." He pauses, then winks with his blind eye, just for humor's sake, "Ye'll just have to find out when ye wake up in the morning."
Narrator: The humour lands, Lianne smirking back with a slight chuckle. No fear, it seems.
Gareth simply holds Lianne's gaze with that same smirk, though he does glance away as the waiter comes by with their food and drinks. Their momentarily halted conversation fades into less consequential bantering and chit-chat as the two begin to dig into their meals.