Anonymous Musings

[Existentially Odd]

"Though, from what I hear, most of your walking entails the exact routes of our patrols," he observed, his tone vaguely admonishing but his expression indulgent, letting her know that he was teasing.  Certainly, her following guards around was a pain in the ass, but she was generally harmless and rarely harmful.  A thoughtful frown crossed his face as he watched her, seemingly subdued (for once); was it because of his conversation?

"What is it that fascinates you so?  Are you courting one of the guards?" he asked, knowing he\'d heard no-one speak of her fondly but feeling that that would be an acceptable reason as to why she haunted the patrols - she was sweet on one of them.  Now, he knew that she was of an appropriate age to do so, too.  The patrols she followed were always different pairs, though, which almost ruled out his question as soon as he asked it, so he brought up his next question instead.

"If it\'s just an interest in the process because your da does the work, how come you\'ve never applied?"

[Kysis]

A grin did form at his joking about her following the patrols.  Of course, that was not all the walking she did.  Before she started working for Lord Liari, most of her time was spent wandering around and playing with the various weapons her father brought home for her.  As fun as that was, she needed to make money, so she got the job and moved out.  The inability to sleep often drove her to go out on the night patrols and find whoever was working.  It was fun, in the crisp air of night, to talk about all that work and do good.

Someone she was courting?  Oh dear.  Ryanna\'s cheeks turned a deep crimson, and she started chewing on her lip some more, staring at the table now closest to her.  If she had more hair, it might fall over her face to cover the blush, but her hair was short cropped.  That short of hair was easy to take care of, and never got in her way, but was frustrating at times.  Most men liked women with longer hair, which her father kept reminding her of.

Luckily, Freddy went on to ask another part of the question, allowing Ryanna to jump at that and ignore the first.  Hopefully he forgot about it?  Hopefully he thought her blush was just because she was young and young ladies did that from time to time?  Maybe?  Please?  Either way, she was already thinking of a way to dodge the question, playing on her age for once in that planned response if he brought it back up.  Would he leave it be if Ryanna told him she didn\'t want to say because Freddy would tell the man?

"Well, I\'ve always liked to play with weapons and love the whole idea of guards.  Just... my dad says I\'m too short to be a guard.  I\'m not too short!  Really!"  Ryanna crossed her arms with a huff.  She was still talking quietly, but adamantly.  It offended her that someone would say she couldn\'t do something because of her height.  The Captain might be a giant, but that didn\'t make her any better of a guard!  It was her dedication!  Ryanna would be just as dedicated, dammit!

[Existentially Odd]

Freddy raised his eyebrows at her reasoning, automatically watching the movement of her folding her arms, before he looked back up to her eyes.  "Well, you are short," the lieutenant reasoned, a sly grin lifting the corner of his mouth briefly before he grew more serious, "but I don\'t know that that would stop you being a guard.  It would be a hindrance, certainly, but there are drawbcks to being tall as well - especially when you\'re following some little thief that\'s nicked something at the markets and then crawls through some tiny bloody hole in a wall or up a pipe or through some gap in a fence.  Then you need someone little," he mused, his wry tale causing him to shrug.

"We do patrols in pairs for a reason - so the guards\' skills will complement one another.  Your height wouldn\'t be a problem as long as you could prove yourself skilled otherwise," he pointed out, expecting she\'d explain that she had some talents.

[Kysis]

"I may be short, but I cased down a thief once, goin\' over the rooftops."  That had been fun, the experience putting a smile back on her face, making the blush go away.  Ryanna was finally able to look back at Freddy, at his face (not in the eyes quite yet, though.  She wasn\'t that brave).  Ryanna could remember how nibble she had been walking carefully over clothes lines and leaping from roof-top to roof-top before getting a rock and chucking it at the thief.  Luckily she hit him in the shoulder rather than the head.  She hadn\'t wanted to kill the bastard.  Scaring the crap out of him and knocking him down was enough, which was exactly what happened.  He had to get his shoulder stitched up, though...

"I\'m a fast runner too.  My legs prove it."

Of course, that second part ended up not meaning anything, \'cause Ryanna couldn\'t just stick her legs out while wearing a dress.  If she was wearing pants, it would be a different matter.  Damn this dress.  Ryanna looked down towards her legs, sighing.  If only she could back up her statement.

"And I am really flexible.  Can climb in and up all sorts of places."  Ryanna grinned at this, again wishing she was wearing pants rather than a dress.  Then she could demonstrate that, too, not that she felt it was needed.  Ryanna was acrobatic by nature, in both physicality and personality.  If she ever tried out for the guards, they would learn that very quickly.

However, Lord Liari paid her a damn good salary, one Ryanna was not willing on giving up.  It had gotten her living alone and with a house not long after she was working there.  It was a small house, but had everything she needed, so... it was too good to give up right now.

[Existentially Odd]

A couple of surprised blinks led to a revival of that sly smile uplifting Freddy\'s lips as Ryanna boasted about having good legs and being able to climb about anywhere and a truly wicked image involving both flashed through his mind - certainly not something to share but it was certainly entertaining for him.

"Well, it sounds like you\'d have plenty to offer the cause," he said, as seriously as he could with sneaky images crowding his brain.  He cleared his throat in an attempt to dispel them and then took a long drink of his ale, finishing it even though he\'d been talking more than consuming it.  He supposed Ryanna was a fairly good distraction... but he was still rather thirsty and thought he\'d get up and get another soon.

"Do you think you\'ll apply at the next intake?" he enquired, his lower lip sliding over his upper to remove all signs of wetness once more as his mug was replaced on the table.  The next recruitment drive wouldn\'t happen until Summer, at the conclusion of the Tournament of the Corn.  They always got more interest after such a grand event, though those starry-eyed recruits fresh from losing in the first round of the events they entered and looking for a quick way to better their skills were generally the same ones that quit two weeks into intensive training.  The right ones generally saw the two months through, though.

[Kysis]

Ryanna was beaming when Freddy said she had something to offer the cause, a special kind of light twinkling in her eyes. "Really?  You think so?"  There was an excited edge to her voice, Ryanna unable to help it.  Was Freddy really saying that she might work in the guard?!  If she wasn\'t sitting, she might have jumped with joy.  Her hands were on the table, fiddling with one another as she thought.

"Well, I might.  It depends.  Right now I am needed around the shop, and I get paid very handsomely.  I mean... I would love to.... I should."

She did not know, in all reality.  Part of her wanted to be in the guards, and wanted her to go for it, headlong, see if her dream would work.  The other part told her that she had a stable job, one she could no longer work at if she joined the guards.  Could she support herself off their salary, whatever that was?  Oh, she should have asked her father what their pay was!  It was her fault for not remembering, though.

"I don\'t know what good being able to kick me own chin will do, but it might have a use somewhere?"  Ryanna gave a slanted smile, crooked on her lips.  She was thinking, trying to weigh and consider serious matters while mentally hazy, and a little tired.  It had been a long day.... No!  She did not need sleep yet, dammit!  She was an adult and could hold one drink just fine!

[Existentially Odd]

"Kick your own... ?" Freddy repeated somewhat dazedly, his mouth falling open a little as he envisioned that.  She\'d said she was flexible, he needn\'t have pushed the imagery to the places he was taking it.  Really.  He cleared his throat again and managed to attract the attention of a passing waitress in the process, though he didn\'t immediately realise it.

"Er, well, if you\'re paid handsomely, I wouldn\'t be thinking about the guard as an improvement in your career, because--"

"What c\'n I get ya?" a pleasant-looking blonde woman asked him, nudging his right arm as people decided to sit nearby and she was bumped slightly.

It was only then that Freddy noticed how the tavern had filled up, his private corner not being so empty any more.  The serving woman was smiling at him but there was a hardness behind her eyes that told him if he dallied in his answer she\'d unleash abuse at him, for her night was growing steadily busier and she didn\'t have the time to linger.

"Another ale, thanks," he told her swiftly, offering her his empty mug for refilling before looking at Ryanna.  "Did you want another one?" he enquired, believing she was a little tipsy at best, but he found that rather amusing.  He hadn\'t noticed too great a difference between her sober and under the influence, so far, she said just as many silly things in either state.

[Kysis]

"Oh no."  Ryanna shook her head at the offer of another drink.  She was already having enough issues thinking as it was, did not need to add more haze to the mixture.  That, and Ryanna was not sure how she acted more intoxicated, so she decided not to test it.  She might get really flirty like some people do and then saying some things that would usually make her blush, or give away the secret of her crush.  Oh no, no more drink for her.  That would be disastrous!

However, the first moment she could get back to her conversation with Freddy, she took it. "It\'s not that I want to advance that career and the like.  It\'s just that I want to be independent, live on my own without having to call on my dad all the time.  I mean, I\'ve always wanted to join the guard.  That much is obvious..."  Ryanna grumbled the last sentence, tapping her fingers on the table and looking down at them.  Her staying at the sword shop for money sounded terrible!  But it was entirely true.

She didn\'t know if her father would approve of her trying out for the guard.  In fact, he had been very enthusiastic when she was approached by Marcos Dinaris with that job offer at the shop.  George had been so excited for her, and actually got mad when she turned down the offer initially.  A week before the first exhibition, Marcos had come back and asked her again, telling her the figures she would be making, how useful her weapons knowledge would be, how she could live on her own... After a little convincing from both Marcos and George both, Ryanna took it.

And now, it was like the reason she didn\'t want the job was right there, calling her in, asking for her to come back, forgiven for making those mistakes of before.  And oh was it tempting...  and why did it have to be Freddy talking about it to her!?!?!  Of course she would listen to him above the voice of (reason) George!

"Oh, I don\'t know!"  Ryanna let out a frustrated sigh, leaning forward so her left elbow could be planted, chin and side of her jaw cradled in the palm of her hand.  By the Gods she hated the dress she was in!  It almost made their conversation laughable! "Does anyone even make armor small enough for me?"

[Existentially Odd]

With a completely serious face, Freddy responded in a deadpan voice.  "We\'d have to look into it.  If not, we could always modify a rubbish bin," he told her but, unable to hold in his amusement any longer, he immediately burst out laughing, fully expecting her to launch herself at him for making such a joke at her expense.

It was a good thing the waitress had hustled off as soon as Ryanna had refused another drink, otherwise she might have got caught in the crossfire he expected would come his way.  Hopefully it wouldn\'t still be going when she returned with his drink.

[Kysis]

"Hey!" Anger flared immediately at his terrible statement.  A rubbish bin!!!!  How dare he!  It was like... like... saying she was rubbish!  Ryanna could not believe it.  In a split moment she was on her feet, hands planted firmly on her waist as she glared at him, trying to set her mouth into a frown though it kept trying to tug up into a grin on its own.  "I.... I... I\'ll do something terrible if you don\'t take that back!"

Now, what that something terrible was, Ryanna had no earthly clue.  She was trying to think something up, and with how un-malicious of a person she was, it was nothing on the lines of soiling his reputation.  It was more like: I\'ll pinch your arm until it goes numb, or I\'ll kick your shins (can\'t reach the chin if he stands).  Now, those all sounded ridiculous and silly in her mind, which they were in actuality.  At least her mind worked that far.

Too bad it did not work further, otherwise she would have come up with a better threat.  The best thing she could possibly threaten him with was kissing him, and that might just scare him right out of the tavern.  Ryanna certainly did not want that.

[Existentially Odd]

Still chuckling, Freddy held up broad hands, palm towards her as he leaned back in his chair.  The attempt to ward her off was weak at best, since he was laughing so hard she\'d likely be able to hurt him in all sorts of ways, but the effort was there regardless.

"Okay, okay!" he giggled.  "I\'m sorry, I take it back!" he told her, now trying his best to sound sincere through the laughter that insisted on still bubbling out of him.  His chair gave an ominous creak as he leaned away so he froze, hoping like hell that whatever she did, it didn\'t involve leaping on him.  It sobered him up enough to give her an almost stern order.  "Now, just sit down and be calm, I was only joking... "

[Kysis]

The laughing really killed his apology, but it was just a joke.  No one would really want Ryanna to wear a rubbish bin, right?  Well, other than Bitch Maracatte, but she thought that about everyone.  Ryanna was glad she wasn\'t working for her anymore....  but the guards sounded so great.

Oh, it was a long, cyclic, frustrating argument for which she should go to.  Ryanna was still standing, thinking about that and about a threat.  Hmmm....  She could threaten to poke him until he cries, but that\'d been mean, and take a lot of work from the muscle he was packing.  Eep.  Her fingers might go bloody first.  Pinching would be the same way.  Too much muscle to be effective.  Now, that other threat....

Ryanna sat down with a huff, crossing her arms and still giving him the death glare. "How did anyone make armor big enough for you?  Hmmm?  Two rubbish bins?"  Ryanna couldn\'t help but smile though, its lighting her eyes though she wanted to seem stern and serious.  Oh well.  It really was quite funny.  Ryanna laughed, that same rolling sort of laugh she did before, not an obnoxious giggle like she used to.  That had been trained out of her for the most part.  This was too funny not to laugh at, and too fun to be pissed about.  It wasn\'t hard for her to let loose, so all was good.

[Existentially Odd]

He laughed good-naturedly, leaning his elbows onto the table to watch her now that she was sitting once more.  He was grinning naturally at her, feeling very relaxed now that his joke had gone over okay and he was in no danger of smashing a chair inadvertently.

"Believe it or not, as a recruit they had to strap tin sheets to me, through my whole training process, just to see if it was going to be worth making the proper set up - if I wasn\'t going to make the grade, they didn\'t want to go to the expense of form-fitting my armour.  Same thing happened to Lam - it\'s how we became such good friends," he explained, not really noticing his familiar use of the captain\'s name.

"Both of us are too big for our own good, though she has far less trouble finding men that fit than I do women who... uh," Freddy broke off abruptly, suddenly realising what he was saying - and about Ryanna\'s boss\' fiancé, no less - and having the grace to blush.  Thankfully, his third ale arrived then and he thanked the waitress with enthusiasm backed by a generous tip for her time.  When she was gone, he more or less shoved his face into it, hoping Ryanna would bring up something else to talk about.

[Kysis]

“A tin sheet!”  Ryanna had been fascinated with the whole tale, glad everything was lightening up now, getting easier to talk.  For a moment Ryanna had feared they might never talk again, but know she knew they could at least be friends, if they tried.  That was nice.  It was an interesting mental image, some guards trying to stap the ox of a man into tin sheets to act as armor, which it really didn’t.  The tin, if hit right, would just puncture inward and do a great deal of damage.  Punctured tin made nasty wounds.

Lam…. Who was…. She had heard Kysis using that to refer to the Captain.  Oh, so she was right.  The Captain rarely gave her familiar name to people, from what Ryanna heard, it was a select few when she did.  Oh, and what was the next part?  Ryanna arched a red brow at that, grin crooked, higher at the right than the left by a bit.  It was a sly smile.

The Captain did not have trouble finding men.  Alright, that was understandable.  Well, obviously she did not have trouble finding men.  Ever look at Kysis?  However, “Trouble?  There must be lots of women who want you.  Your selection is probably wide open.”  Ryanna offered it in a very ‘rumor says’ sort of manor, giving no hint that she was interested at all.  General statements sometimes worked to drop hints without signaling the self out…. Sometimes.  It depended upon the person the comment was being made to.  Say more on the subject though?  No.  That would definitely give her away.

[Existentially Odd]

He just about sprayed ale out of the mug he was drinking from, so powerful was the snort that was emmitted from him when he was told he should have a vast array of women lined up and wanting his attention.  Hardly!  He managed to swallow what was in his mouth and lower the mug, shaking his head in disbelief as he wiped off some of the foam that had been flung onto his face because of his reaction.

"Me?  Not likely," he scoffed, barking a laugh afterward that should have left Ryanna under no delusions whatsoever that he got any sort of excessive female attention.  "I work too much for a start," he explained, shrugging his shoulders in a \'See what I mean?\' type of gesture, his fingers also flicking outward as he withdrew them from his drink for a while.  He\'d consumed most of it while waiting for he to drag the conversation away from how difficult it was for him to find women who fit his size and he was finding his head was buzzing plenty now.  His tongue felt thick in his head and it was getting altogether too easy to say everything that passed across the surface of his mind.

"And when I\'m not working, I\'m sleeping.  That hardly gets the ladies lining up to spend time with me," he guffawed, grinning wryly from beneath cheeks that had developed a lovely blush from the topic of conversation (and possibly the alcohol too).  "If I want more, I\'ve found it\'s just easier to pay for a lady\'s time, there\'s just too much... bullshit, otherwise," he announced, waving a hand flippantly in the air, making a rolling motion when words briefly escaped him.  He\'d obviously become so comfortable talking to Ryanna that he was treating her like he would any other fellow guard, unashamedly telling her he spent his time with guards, alone, or with whores and not having the sense or sobriety to be ashamed of this revelation.