Nich hung out with his friends in the guild for a while, chatting and drinking and generally having a good time. Eventually, once it was well after dark, he took his leave and said goodbye to his fellow guild members so that he could get some rest. He headed to his place, sat on his bed, and removed his prosthetics before he lay down. Once he was settled, he fell asleep easily, although his sleep was plagued with memories of his childhood. This was pretty typical for him, and expected considering the traumatic injuries he'd sustained as a child. He awoke in the morning and headed back to get some coffee.
Rowan slept fitfully through the night waking up multiple times with a hoarse throat and the taste of blood in her mouth. Which led her to arrive at the guild as soon as it opened. She spent most of the time looking at the jobs available to see what she could handle by herself. There was one with a nice amount of money, but there was no way she was doing it on her own. So she grabbed one with lesser pay, but she definitely could do it on her own. She spotted Nich coming in as she made her way to the lady to lay claim on the job.
Nich yawned as he walked in, scratching behind his ears. It would only take him a few minutes to be chipper again, but for now he was still a bit groggy from just waking up. He noticed Rowan as he came in and waved while he approached. "Hey! Good morning. Picking up a job already?" He hummed a bit, looking at all of the jobs available on the board. "What are you looking into? Any specific types of jobs you like to do?" He asked.
Rowan jumped and straightened up just ever so slightly not expecting Nich to come over to where she was. She hesitated still holding the job flyer in her hand and she quickly switched hands so she could write in the air, Um, yeah. Hoping to get an early start. She bit her lip as she debated his other questions remembering the other job on the board, but she didn't exactly want or need his help. She showed him the flyer, I planned on doing this one, cause I can probably do it on my own and it's worth a fair bit of gold.
Nich nodded a bit, looking through the board as well. "Yeah, makes sense. I'm not usually too picky with what jobs I do, to be honest. Wherever they need me, I'll show up." He shrugged and considered Rowan's last comment. "Do you want to do something alone, or is it just that you'd rather not bother any of the guild members?" He asked. "Everyone here is really nice. Anyone would be happy to do a job with you if it's not a one person thing. Ah, sorry! That's probably an overstep… my apologies."
You're fine, Rowan quickly wrote out instinctively. Her hand hesitated in the air as she thought about what to write. Should she answer Nich's question honestly, or give him an answer he probably wanted to hear. She bit her lip a little harder before pinning the job she had back on the board. She then looked at the job she had eyed earlier and began to write. I had wanted to do that job, she gestured to the job on the board, but I can't do it on my own. If you know someone who would be willing to come with me, then I would be grateful. I just didn't want to bother anyone else.
Nich watched her curiously, and then his ears perked upon his sudden realization of what she meant. "Oh! Right, um…" He briefly skimmed the description of the job, humming softly. "I could do it with you, if you'd like. I'm not occupied with anything at the moment, so if you're fine with it, I don't mind." He smiled reassuringly over at Rowan. "It'll be good to dip your toes in the water, eh? Is this your first job, or have you done stuff like this before?"
I would be glad to have you. Rowan wrote back. She hadn't expected him to agree but was a little happy he did. It meant she could earn a little more money and get herself better grounded in town. She gave him a bright smile back as she went to grab the job flyer, This is my second job with the guild, but I've been helping out on my travels so they were kind of jobs.
"Sounds good!" Nich smiled in return and followed Rowan up to the lady so the two of them could claim the job. "Yeah, I used to do some things before I was part of the guild. I was a stupid teenager, though, so it didn't always go to plan." He chuckled awkwardly. "These jobs are actually a pretty good way to get to know people around town, and if you get enough people to like you, they'll give you free stuff sometimes. I'm really good friends with the baker, so he'll give me free bread and muffins and stuff like that sometimes."
That must be nice to get the free bread, Rowan wrote in reply to Nich. She placed the job on the counter and began to write to the lady standing there with her right hand. It wasn't as pretty as the writing with her left hand, but it got the job done, Nich and I would like to take this job. The lady nodded and took the flyer handing back the information needed in order to complete the job. Rowan took it with her right hand before looking at Nich, Are you ready to go right now? I kind of threw this on you.
"Yeah, I store it up so I don't have to make breakfast all the time." Nich laughed softly. "Although sometimes I just don't eat breakfast anyway. I prefer to kind of just eat when I'm hungry rather than constraining myself to normal mealtimes." He shrugged and thanked the lady, dipping his head politely before looking back to Rowan. "Mm? Yeah, sure! I'm always down to go on an adventure. Where exactly are we going?" He asked, taking another look at the flyer.
That's pretty smart of you, Rowan was scanning the file as she wrote out to Nich, We're heading to Aurelius. Bit of a larger city a day's trip away. They're having issues with something at the border, doesn't say what and I don't think it's monsters by the sounds of it. Some type of gang or robbers maybe? She offered the flyer to Nich so he could read it better having already committed most of the information to memory. She was actually looking forward to going on the job now that she had a buddy to help out.
"Hm…" Nich read through the flyer again and shrugged after a bit. "No idea, but I guess we'll find out and deal with it either way." He neatly folded the flyer and tucked it into a pocket of his bag before following Rowan. "So, what's your specialty?" He asked. "Obviously you've got some sort of magic. I have some, but I'm really more of a physical combat kind of guy I think…"
Rowan made her way out of the guildhall and through the city her script keeping up with her writing pace. She patted the bag at her hip lightly not to break any of the potion bottles inside, I do a lot of potion-making, but my real talent is in spell crafting and casting. She showed off her hand which featured her middle and pointer finger gloved up while the rest remained free, This is how i write script too.
Nich nodded, smiling softly at Rowan as he walked beside her. "That's cool! I don't think I've ever seen someone communicate that way. It's very interesting." He scratched behind his ears with one hand as he walked, looking pretty relaxed and comfortable for now. "I try to keep as fit as I can do I can do stuff. Although I don't usually get tired super quickly since my legs aren't real, so." He shrugged and laughed again. "I like this place. It's nice and homey. I'm sure you'll fit right in."
I don't really know about that, Rowan replied adjusting her hat a little bit as he complimented her, kind of. She had a shy smile on her face as she walked along trying to keep her hat covering her face so Nich couldn't exactly see the blush on her cheeks. It just wasn't often that someone actually expressed interest in her way of speaking and said she would fit in. She kept writing though without much struggle, Not a lot of people like the whole, not talking thing.
"Well, it doesn't matter what other people think. If that's how you communicate, they can deal with it." Nich shrugged. "You know, I used to be pretty miserable when I was younger because I cared so much about what people thought of me. I couldn't take care of myself; I was different; I was weird. Eventually, I just thought to myself, 'you know what? Who cares? Whatever they think isn't gonna change who I am'. And then I tried my best to keep thinking like that, and it doesn't matter whether people like me or not. I don't want to hang out with people who don't like me for who I am anyway." He laughed good naturedly and rested his hands on the back of his neck, his elbows facing the sky. "Sorry for kinda going on a rant there."
Rowan listened to him wholeheartedly even if she wasn't exactly showing it at that moment. At his last comment, she let out a whispery soft laugh before immediately breaking into a fit of coughs so bad she actually had to stop walking. She bent over and covered her mouth with her right hand so Nich couldn't see as she coughed up the slightest trace of blood as she wrote to Nich, So sorry! Rowan frowned slightly, the time in between her needing to take potions was getting shorter. It wasn't too noticeable yet, but she definitely would have to increase the potency. She wiped both her mouth and hand clean before looking back up at him. She continued writing, You make a good point and I might have to take your advice. Might.
"Ah! Are you alright?" Nich asked worriedly, moving to where he could see Rowan more clearly. He blinked and glanced around, unsure entirely what to do. He didn't have any extensive medical supplies on his person at the moment, so he could only hope that Rowan didn't need any real medical attention. He supposed that the coughing and her inability or unwillingness to speak must be connected, but didn't question it. "Don't apologize, you're fine. I mean, I don't know if you're fine, but… you know what I mean."
I'm fine! I'm fine! Rowan quickly wrote to soothe his fears. She didn't realize he would actually take notice of the coughs, or at the very least worry about them. She had had them for almost a year now and no one had yet to show any major concern. Then again, they also didn't make her want to vocalize as much as Nich did. She gave him a closed-lip smile in fear that the blood might have stained her teeth, This is pretty normal for me. So if I cough don't worry about it, okay?
"If you say so…" Nich replied, and although he didn't seem entirely convinced, he dropped the subject and kept walking. "Um… I guess we should get to know each other better? I suppose we'll probably be seeing more of each other because of the guild and the job and all." He laughed softly. "Do you have any questions or anything? I never know what to ask for get to know you stuff, to be honest…"
I guess, Rowan shrugged as she thought of things to either ask or tell. She wasn't exactly great at the whole get to know you a thing either, but she wasn't about to write that aloud. She thought for a moment tapping her fingers against her leg to keep her from humming, What's your favorite color? Sorry, it's a basic question, but I'm not great at this either.
"Favorite color? Mm… probably blue. Like, light blue." Nich replied, stretching a bit as he walked and considered. "Let's see… hm… do you… have any siblings?" He asked, looking over to Rowan again so he could see her response. "You don't have to answer if it's a touchy subject or anything. I don't have any personally… and my parents still live in what remains of my hometown."
Rowan had a little smile as Nich answered her question. Light blue was a good color, the color of the sky and water sometimes. Though that smile quickly fell as he asked his question. She glanced down at her feet as she kept walking writing out in a little shakier writing, I used to have an older brother, at least, I don't see him as my brother anymore. Rowan took a deep breath in and out, What was your favorite thing about your hometown? Since you brought the place up.
Nich nodded along as Rowan replied, feeling a bit guilty for asking, but he had given her the option not to reply if she didn't want to. He winced a little when he had to try and think extensively on his hometown. "Ah… I liked that my parents and my friends were there, I suppose. The town itself… wasn't very good. I grew up in a war zone, actually, so… a large portion of my town ended up actually being a minefield." He smiled weakly and kept walking, more aware of the metallic sound to his footsteps than usual.
Oh, I'm sorry, Rowan wrote out spotting his wince. She figured it was he was fine talking about it, clearly she was wrong. She hesitated before reaching out and patting him on the back with her right end. At least she could put two and two together figuring he lost his legs because of something that happened back at home. She gave him a comforting smile, At least everyone's okay, right? Sorry that's probably not something for me to assume.
"It's fine, don't worry about it." Nich insisted, holding his hands up in front of himself with a weak laugh. "As far as I know, my parents are alright. They refuse to move away… they're very attached to our hometown." He sighed softly. "I know some of my old friends didn't fare so well. It was a very dangerous place to grow up. I'm lucky to still be here to talk about it." He looked up as he walked and hummed softly. "I wish my parents weren't so stubborn so we could have moved away when I was little."
Well, Rowan began writing before she hesitated. She didn't exactly know how parents normally act, considering both of hers "disappeared" when she was a kid. Instead, Ash was the one who take care of her, and not very well. Eventually she finished out her thought, They probably thought it was safer in a place they knew rather than some place they didn't know. You said it was a war zone right? You would have had to walk through that war zone to leave, and that can be even more dangerous than living in a town in the war zone.
Nich shrugged a bit and stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked. "Yeah, I guess so. I just know that they really didn't want to leave, even after people started getting hurt all the time. It was scary as a kid, hearing bombs and stuff going off. Most of the parents were the type to be kinda careless and let their kids play outside even when it was dangerous. You'd hear a landmine detonate and wonder if it was your friend who stepped on it, you know?" He hummed softly, not much emotion in his voice compared to his usual chipper tone.
He seemed calm, and as though he'd detached himself from his childhood entirely so it wouldn't be so bothersome. "I ran off when I was about thirteen. I love my parents, but I hated living there." He was quiet for a moment before something in his eyes seemed to snap back to reality. "Ah, I'm sorry! I really shouldn't be dumping my childhood on you or whatever. It isn't really important."
No, no it's absolutely fine. I was the one who asked, after all, Rowan wrote in return. She gave him a calm smile as she thought for a moment stopping in her steps. She began walking again as she made her decision. Rowan felt bad because she clearly asked very personal questions to Nich, and she had hardly shared anything personal herself. And living in an active warzone was no little thing as Nich's attitude seemed to show, If, if you want to ask me a personal question I'll answer it. I feel a little bad about asking about your life.
