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[Reaver]

Valdis pursed her lips, mulling it over. That would give her enough time to tackle other current problems. Like keeping the Gulbrands from killing each other, and finishing that book Magnus got her. She was still getting stumped on a few parts, but she was certain she was close to bridging the language gap.

Not that any of that was really more vital than having work, and the sort of work that would protect people and perhaps even keep Valdis out of her usual mischief. It just happened to be convenient, was all.

"We could still be t\'drinking after y\'finish your shift lieutenant." Valdis smiled innocently. "As to the... time frame, it would t\'being convenient for me. And I\'ve my own home." She restrained from winking, or doing anything else lewd to go along with that. The man was going to be her superior, and she had to leash her mischievous behavior.

She was eager to learn the laws and other expectations. Already, she had gotten a taste for the traditions and culture of Oberon and felt refreshed at the change. She would miss the bloody battlefields and knife-point politics of the North, but perhaps Magnus would take her if he ever traveled home for any amount of time.

On that thought, she found yet another question for the lieutenant. "As t\'being a guard, would I..." Valdis\' tongue was having fits as she tried forming the words properly. As much as she liked her thick accent the way it was, she had to be clear with some things so no mistakes were made. This was an important question to her. "Would I t\'be allowed sojourns t\'my homeland?"

[Existentially Odd]

"Sure, we could have a drink after my shift ends," he agreed mildly, then was distracted by the fact that she agreed to join the recruit program in nine days.  He beamed, pleased that she hadn\'t found the wait an offense or too arduous a burden to bear (though he would have been thoroughly disconcerted if she had, for he\'d pegged her as far more reliable and patient based solely on her fighting techniques.  Such things tended to advertise the ways of a person).

He frowned when she asked about going back to her homeland so quickly though, confused because she hadn\'t given a time frame and he could only guess at what she meant.  "Uh... you mean regular sojourns or... sojourns ever or... just a one-off sort of thing?" he queried, seeking clarification.  It sounded to him like she was asking if she was ever going to be allowed to go home again, like being an Oberon citizen was a dungeon sentence from which there was no escape.  He was mildly offended by that notion.

[Reaver]

Valdis frowned. She hadn\'t realized how poorly she had worded her question. "I\'m t\'meanin\' occasional sojourns. As I know t\'being on my friend\'s mind, and he\'d be t\'needing company to watch o\'er his distracted mind. I don\'t t\'be meaning to offend." Valdis\' frown deepened. "I\'ll t\'being a dedicated guard, dedicated in whate\'er I do, just need t\'be knowing that personal matters wouldn\'t be t\'offending the..." Valdis\' frown couldn\'t deepen anymore, so she smiled warily. "...the choice to let darlin\' Valdis t\'be a guard."

She wanted the lieutenant to know upfront that she would want to take such sojourns. Both for Magnus\' sake as trouble continued to spawn in their homeland, and for her own sake as she sought to uncover more details of her past. It wasn\'t something that would interfere with her duties as a guard, not the way she saw it. If there was great need for her she would stay and fight to the bitter end, dieing in an unfamiliar city rather than running home. She just wasn\'t sure if there was some sort of time frame required of her service, or whether her desire to see her homeland at times would be seen as a weakness.

Then she saw another concern. "It t\'being likely that it would off and not t\'be soon." She wasn\'t going to join the guards and then dash off to her homeland right away. That would be rude, even for Valdis.

[Existentially Odd]

"It\'s likely that it would off?" he queried in a confused manner, pulling a face that exclaimed his misunderstanding of her words.  Was she saying that it would be often that she would head to her homeland, but just not soon?  He couldn\'t see the point in hiring her if that was going to be the case.

Originally, he\'d found her spoken mannerisms charming; now he was just baffled.  "Do you mean \'often\'?" he pressed, wondering if adding his interpretation would help or hinder his understanding.  "Because it wouldn\'t matter if you journeyed home every second year or so - every guard is entitled to holidays and you could just... save yours up and take them all at once - but I don\'t know about much more often than that?" he said, his tone apologetic but firm, his expression still bewildered.

[Reaver]

Valdis sighed, crossing her arms infront of her. "I was t\'getting excited, sorry. What I\'m t\'meaning is t\'would be rare and not for some time. Likely t\'not be lastin\' long either." Unless the trouble in the North took a turn for the worse, but then she wouldn\'t be staying there by choice. Valdis had little skill in attending to the sick, and the disease ravaging the land would be more likely to kill her than anything else. Hopefully it ran its course before Magnus chose to visit his sister.

Not entirely sure what else to say, Valdis merely pouted. She was looking forward to having a drink with the lieutenant, but she was getting flustered by her inability to communicate cleary. The moment she got excited or anxious, her accent got thick and her words jumbled. Maybe it was just because of how tired she was. She was surprised she was still on her feet after that fight.

[Existentially Odd]

A relieved smile spread quickly across the lieutenant\'s face, declaring that everything had been cleared up with that comment.  "Well, that\'s fine then," he told her enthusiastically, "we can certainly arrange the roster around such visits."  With a cheeky wink, he began working the buckler off his arm and walking towards the racks where he\'d originally got his practise equipment.

"Now, where and when would you like me to meet you tonight?" he enquired, raising his voice as he moved away, not caring that this would mean the other trainees in the room would hear him setting up a date with Valdis; she might be a good looking woman, but it was just a friendly celebratory drink, so he didn\'t quite see how his words could be misconstrued and gossiped about.

[Reaver]

Valdis grinned. "I\'m t\'usually drinking in the Falcon\'s Mask, but I\'m t\'sharing a drink from time t\'time in the Broken Wheel. Whate\'er y\'be more comfortable with." Valdis prefered the Falcon\'s Mask Tavern, but she wasn\'t sure what the lieutenant prefered. She had made friends in either tavern, the only one she hadn\'t ventured into was the Scowling Boar.

Placing her shield and sword back onto the rack, Valdis decided to make the decision. If the lieutenant didn\'t like it, he could drag her somewhere else. It was the drink that mattered, not the building that offered it. Celebration didn\'t discriminate. "Or we can be t\'saying around eight in the Falcon\'s Mask. I\'ll be t\'havin\' your choice of drink ready."

Finally loosening the straps of her armor, Valdis heaved a deep sigh. Eight would give her time to rest and stretch her bruised body.

[Existentially Odd]

"An ale at the Falcon\'s Mask at eight it is, then," Freddy agreed with a perfunctory nod, smiling because it would give him enough time to go home, bathe, eat and change into some clothes that wouldn\'t make him stand out too grandly as an authority at the inn (though everyone there would likely know his face for all the wrong reasons anyway).

With another bow, the lieutenant then invited his newest recruit to find her own way out and have a look around at the place as she did.  With other business now allowed to dominate his concentration, he then moved back to his former post, well pleased with the results of this brief hiatus but work-oriented enough to realise that play time had to come to an end.