Evening Relaxation (closed/social/Nemuru and Ciren Garlfang)

Nemuru sat on a stool of an open air vendor. Holding a lychee shaved ice, she spun around to watch the foot traffic. The ice melted on Nemuru's tongue slowly as she savored it. Her eyes lit up in delight at the first bite. "D-delicious," she murmered to herself. Worth the money, besides it was only a few jewels... Her recent string of successful jobs left her with more jewel on hand than she was used to. After such hard work the poison mage felt she deserved a break. Maybe I'll even visit the hot springs.

He stood out, just from height alone. Add in that shock of red hair and the tangled mane of a beard, and he was one of a kind. He was newly arrived in town, and was getting the lay of the land, as it were. And looking for a job....being a smith mage made for poor business lately. His eyes roamed, but came to rest on the shaved ice stand and the girl seated there. Cutting through the crowd like a ship through waves, he approached to a polite distance before speaking in a low, rumble of a voice while gesturing to the next stool "This seat taken miss?"

"A-ah, no, s-sir!" The poison mage looked up at the man and shrunk inwardly. "P-please sit." She hesistated as she looked at the wild red mane of hair and beard.

She waved to the server, setting a few jewels down. "Make this guy whatever he flavor wants." The poison mage cocked her head at the tall man. Peace Village isn't a place worth causing trouble. Even the Dark mages like to relax here. Though, a lot of the customers are mages. She went to extend a hand to him to shake, then hesitated, pulling it back swiftly before a deep bow.

"M-my name is Nemuru, sir. A-ah... what brings y-you to Peace Village? A-are you looking for a bit of rest and relaxation, too?" The redhead made for an imposing figure but the poison mage trusted in her abilities if push came to shove. Looks aren't everything, he could be really nice...

He sat gingerly on the stool, testing it, then sitting down fully, causing it to creak. "Ah...thank you...know i shall have to find some way to repay your kindness." He shook her hand, strength restrained, but obvious. "Im Ciren Garlfang...Was travelling and ended up here. Been living on the road as a guildless mage and smith for some time now...every onve and a while its good to relax"

As the her shook her hand, her eyes opened wide with terror. "Nooo..." A glowing green magic circle extended from Nemuru's hand as tears burst from her eyes. The mage rested herself away from his grip with the other hand. She had felt the power in his grip, but seemed more worried about the pain she had inflicted. The server backed away slowly, murmuring to the other guy manning the counter.

Hands gripping her dress, twisting the material she apologized repeatedly. "I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry. I can't help it." Tears ran down Nemuru's face into her lap. Despite her age, she looked a bit like a small child as she pulled her knees up. "Now you see why live guildless as well," she forced out with some mirth.

(Poison Grip activated: 1/2 D for 3 posts. Luckily it's a social thread. :P)

There was a grimace of pain and he hissed, shoving the palms of his hands into her shaved ice, face still grimacing. "If you cant control it, dont beat yourself up" he burped lightly and made a face at the taste, flexing his hands in the lychee ice..."i imagine most guilds have given you the polite diplomatic answer....the bums...not how a guild is supposed to work"

He looked down at her and smiled through the grimace. "S'oksy...im tough Nemuru. Would take more than a tinything like you to take me down.... "

She looked with disappointment at the ice, before shrugging. Small price to pay... "Yeah... kinda." A grief-stricken look crossed face as the poison mage hugged herself. As soon as the face appeared it was gone.

Her face brightened significantly. "Y-you mean it! Honest? You can put up with me?" As her tone began to rise in volume, the servers continued to stare and talk. Catching sight of that, Nemuru gestured with her head. "Come on Ciran, let's get some real food. On me! We can talk business and such..."

"Something soothing would be nice..." He pulled his hands from the ice, looking at them and flexing them lightly "No worse then the burns i got working the forge when young...and your easy to put up with. Its not like you meant to do it." He stood, wobbling a bit as he foufht to recover his balance

"Business? What did you have in mind? Ive been looking for work, but a solo guildless mage has few opportunities..."

She leaned forward to inspect the damage and his condition. She wasn't a healer by any means, yet he looked like he was in decent shape considering. A frown crossed Nemuru's face.

Nemuru watched the wobbling mage carefully, walking close beside Ciren in case he needed some support. Looking around she spotted a restaurant across the street offering a wide variety of cuisines. All you can eat, decent price, plenty to choose from. That sounds pretty good.

"You mentioned you were a smith. Do you fight with weapons yourself or just craft goods? Perhaps you craft more than weapons?" Her eyes lit up animatedly. "Do you have any preferred materials? Are you utilitarian or ornate in your projects?" The poison mage seemed to be bouncing with excitement.

"I know the feeling. I've had some success of late taking requests for deliveries and errands. I found this listing earlier."She pulled out a rolled up job request on stiff parchment. "Though, all the way to Hargeon on foot is a day's trek. I mean, I am not unaccustomed to travel or hardship, the exact opposite. However, I figured a companion to the Port city would be a nice change of pace."

"Id be a poor smith if i didn't know how to fight with what I was using. Both utilitarian and ornate i do. Though mostly utilitarian at my current skill level. And I like all the materials...the rarer the better. My dream is to create items for the highest ranked wizards in the land. To be the one that wizards come to with special requests, to find challenges in crafting and overcome them." He looked starry eyed a moment, then gave a laugh and shook his head. "Look at me, woolgathering"

He carefully accepted the rolled up parchment, wincing as he unrolled it. Hands were going to sting for a little while. "Hnnn...Never been to the port city. New to this area....Jewelry I don't know much about....Do you?" He tilted his head, curious as he looked at the little poison mage.

A sad looked crossed Nemuru's face as Ciren mentioned he currently did practical pieces. "It's nice to be able to have such a dream. I am sure with time and practice you strengths will grow. I'd love be there to see the day you succeed." Her eyebrows knitted in concern as he flinched.

"The port isn't too far away." She pulled out a yellowed map of Fiore that had certainly seen better days. "I believe it's only a few hours by mundane carriage. If we start out in the morn, we'll reach it by nightfall." The often nervous poison mage was getting much calmer around Ciren as they continued to speak.

"I seem to have an eye for jewelry. Though... I can never afford it." She laughed heartily, "sometimes I go out to browse armors, weapons, jewelry... all kinds of metal goods. I am not too bad at seeing the quality in them, the care and time put in... Yet, I don't have the skill to use them. Just to... add to them... almost like a common assassin." She bit her lower lip. It's nice to find someone to talk like this to.

The waitress showed them inside to a table. Nemuru paid in advance, knowing how some places like this tended not to trust mages with their often voracious appetites. The petite girl smiled and left to bring them some tea.

"Well, shall we?" Nemuru gestured to the varied buffet, sniffing appreciatively.

He nodded a little, and gave a little half bow. "Thank you for the meal. I know little about jewelry, though its something i've wanted to study...but there is more call for weapons and armor then decorative pieces, especially when your just starting out." He picked up a plate, and started to load it down with a little of everything....Voracious appetites were right. Then again there was so much of him.

"I do like doing decorative work though. Especially etching and fine wire work with gold and silver. I'm no where as good as my master was, but I can manage, well enough."

"It's the least I can do after earlier. I-is your stomach feeling alright yet? I know it can make people queasy." Nemuru began to load up a plate too, though hers was more of a sampler. Only a little of each dish made it to her plate, yet she focused on lighter fares such as seafood and fruits.

"Hrm, I expect the cost of materials plays a part in not getting a chance to do so. W-well, that settles it..." In a bold statement for the poison mage, "i-if this job is a success, we should keep working together. T-team up."

She blushed slightly as he mentioned the decorative work. "Ciren, that sounds beautiful. I-it may be amateur work compared to his but I bet you put your heart in it. I-I'd love to see it sometime, if you'd let me."

"We shall see how this job goes then...but i think we will get along well...After all, someone has to keep you out of trouble" He set to eating with a gusto, humming happily as he munched along, taking a bite of this, a bite of that, switching back and forth, as if he was trying to experience everything at the same time, and remember every bite for down the road.

Nemuru watched his unusual eating style with a bemused expression. I wonder how long it's been since he's had a halfway decent meal. The poison mage remembered the shoddy, sparse meals she ate while travelling, understanding his expression. She too seemed to be enjoying the relative luxury, even if the food was just a simple buffet.

"Y-you think I will get myself in trouble, do you?" Nemuru looked a bit concerned at that statement. With a sigh, "well I guess we might as eat up, get some rest and get to work."
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