----------------------------------------------
RESPITE TRAINING GROUNDS - AFTERNOON
----------------------------------------------
Brunilda is leaning back onto a rock at the edge of the training grounds, having finished a hefty set of spars with couple of the other 'big guys' of the Guard. While thoughts of maybe leaving the Guard thing behind her is somewhat haunting the back of her mind, she's not going to give up keeping her physical prowess as good as she is able to. The elephant wipes sweat from her brow and takes a deep gulp from her water bottle, just staring forward into nothingness for a moment or three.
Gareth happens to be striding through the training grounds in much the same gear that he's seen in just about everywhere. At the moment, he looks slightly distracted, only just barely avoiding bumping into a guard or two as he makes his way through the grounds. He cracks a joke here and there whenever the guards lob one his way, though, so he's not completely out of it.
Brunilda registers Gareth walking vaguely towards her after a moment... and after another moment, remembers she had something to talk about, too. She gets up and cracks her back before waving to the wolf with a smile.
Gareth doesn't quite see Brunilda waving initially, which is quite a feat considering she towers over him by a little over a foot. He does, however, notice her waving after a short moment, and he waves in turn as he shifts his path to walk towards her in actuality. "Afternoon, lass. Gettin' some practice in with yer peers?"
Brunilda wipes some more sweat from her brow with her towel, before smiling: "Something like that. Gotta keep in shape even if I'm mostly pushing papers and upkeeping a generator, these days."
Gareth chuckles a little. "A little less active fer work, hm? Aye, I can see why ye'd want to put in a bit more focus on keepin' in shape outside o' duties."
Brunilda gives a soft sigh, looking aside: "Not that I exactly miss the uh... activity of the Saur conflict, either. But no, I mostly fill in paperwork and make things keep normal."
Gareth shrugs with a nod. "Aye, none o' us want another thing like the troubles with the Saurs happenin' again. But chasin' the occasional thief, or a little scuffle in a bar... even off-duty, sometimes ye just need to be in good shape."
Brunilda shakes her head: "Might not be my thing in the end, anyway. I can do it, of course, but..." She hesitates, then decides to just go for the heart of the issue in her head: "...Fiora told me you're planning some kind of business endeavor. You wouldn't happen to need someone of my abilities?"
Gareth blinks, then tilts his head. "Ah, Fiora told ye about what I was plannin', hm? Well... aside from ye bein' a guard and an apprentice magitech engineer, can ye tell me more about yer abilities in detail?"
Brunilda pauses, looking over at the training grounds: "Well, you know well that I'm not new to combat. Been trained for it all my life, honestly. I was supposed to become a bodyguard for a noble or another, or a Guard Captain somewhere remote. I know my way around most of the routine, both outside and in." She takes a breath, not really seeming all that proud of that part. Glancing at Gareth, she continues: "Though my passion is tech. Magitech or electricity, I'm fascinated by what makes them tick. Been reading about that whenever I could from my training, and more thoroughly here in Respite now that I don't have family breathing down my neck. Helped build the current generator of Respite, and other smaller crafts around town."
Gareth hums quietly as he listens, then nods again as Brunilda wraps up her short explanation. "I could see a way to let ye get to exercise both o' those backgrounds o' yers, I think. Maybe not the magitech part straight away, but... I could explain if ye might be interested."
Brunilda smiles: "Fiora's excitement is very infectious. So, yes, I am interested. What do you have in mind?"
Gareth smiles in turn. "Not sure what all Fiora told ye already, so I'll start from the beginnin'." He clears his throat a bit, "I was thinkin', once I take care o' some things happenin' on me own side, I'd start diggin' into buildin' up a trade company o' some sort, and partner with Fiora since she's like a sister to me at this point. I gave it some thought, and I was thinkin'... I'd probably incorporate some magitech ships into the fleet over time, in addition to standard trade ships. I can't very well take away the town's generator engineer, but ye've the skills to be the company's lead technician fer those ships."
Brunilda blinks, then nods slowly: "Well, I certainly hope I do. At least I'm good at learning as I go, a-and... well, to be fair it's new territory for almost anyone. There is really no 'tradition' for magitech yet, if you will. Most of the tech is younger than me."
Gareth thinks on that for a moment, then grins. "Then, in that case, ye can probably figure out ways to make the ships in the fleet more efficient with some time spent tinkerin', aye? At least, once we start fittin' ships out with that sort o' tech. Before that, though... ye can probably help Fiora whip any hired ship guards up into shape."
Brunilda nods slowly again, wheels in her head turning: "It's... possible. Probable. I admittedly don't know much about ships, but I do know about basic power into motion principles enough that I could figure something out..."
Gareth nods at that. "Aye, methods o' makin' the ships move even when the wind isn't agreein' with their path... and maybe less ship-related uses, like cold storage, power and other things."
Brunilda hums: "Sounds like something I can at least in theory figure out how to make them work. Probably limited in space on a ship, too, so got to keep that in mind."
Gareth nods. "Those ships would be more specialized, I'm thinkin', so we can figure it out bit by bit. I'm not in any particular hurry at the moment, until I get those things on me end sorted."
Brunilda smiles: "Not really the kind of thing you even can hurry, even if you were so inclined. Fiora thought I should offer myself for you, so I figured, why not."
Gareth chuckles, grinning a bit. "Aye, ye beat me to the punch in that case. I was intendin' to ask ye meself once things settled down again. I should have figured Fiora would want to tell ye sooner rather than later."
Brunilda winks: "Well, we both know how she is. When she gets going..."
Gareth smirks. "She's hard to get to stop, aye, and she looked fit to burst with excitement when I first told her o' the idea."
Brunilda chuckles: "Sounds about right, considering how she was... has been since, really. She puts even more fierceness into our spars, you know, now that she has a goal of sorts?"
Gareth hums. "Aye, she always has more o' a drive when there's somethin' to go fer. Ye should have seen how she acted between jobs when we were still doin' bounty huntin' on the regular with the guild." He laughs and shakes his head, "If it wasn't her talkin' about how bored she was, it was her challengin' me to arm wrestlin' and such."
Brunilda lightly shakes her wrist, grinning just a bit: "I might have an idea how she was then, yeah. Sometimes I if I've tried to get too much, loving that giraffe... but she's definitely something else. Something pretty crazy amazing."
Gareth gets a bit of a wry smile on his face as he thinks about some of the shenanigans the two have gotten up to during their bounty hunting careers. "She's crazy, fer sure. Amazin', too, but definitely crazy."
Brunilda giggles: "One could argue, so am I, but..." She shrugs: "Eh."
Gareth smiles at Brunilda. "Crazy's relative, aye?"
Brunilda smirks: "Better than crazy relatives, at least."
Gareth nods. "Much better than crazy relatives." He tilts his head curiously, "So... ye have anythin' else planned fer trainin' today? Could offer a round in the sparrin' ring if ye like."
Brunilda cracks her neck: "I'm game. I think I have one more round on me."