Talking too Much

The mid-Aestry sun seems to stay longer in the sky with every passing day, and while that might be all to the good for _most_ of the city's workers, who have more daylight to support the things they do beneath Daeus' shining eye, it is a perennial annoyance for those whose work is best done in the darkness and the shadows. Between that, and the heat, tempers have risen sharply, and Rona has recently suffered the consequences of that, and of having professional colleagues whose idea of conflict resolution involves blades and foul-smelling substances. -

Thus, she finds herself bandaging up her arm as she sits at an outdoor cafe table, having exhausted her spells for the day and relying on mundane healing. -

Banshee... she doesn't seem as effected by the weather. Maybe it's just the fact that she's used to the heat, or the cold, or just temperatures or maybe a Giantborn? Who the heck knows! It's just Banshee, some might say, as she moved through the district with her eyes open and head swiveling about. Perhaps she's on the hunt? A turn toward the same cafe that Yelrona is at and her pace quickens. -

GAME: Yelrona rolls perception-10: (9)+20+-10: 19 -

Yelrona is distracted by her first aid job, but even so, it's hard to sneak up on her. Not that Banshee is sneaking. ANYWAY, the point is that a certain amount of healthy paranoia keeps her aware of things like people quickly approaching her. She looks up and, at the sight of Banshee, gives a wary nod of greeting. "Good evening," she offers. "Arrest anyone interesting today?" -

Approaching she might be, but... it looks like her eyes are fixed elsewhere. She reaches out, grabbing a chair and Rona's table and pushing it to the side when... Wait what? The Giantborn pauses and looks down, a furrows across her brows as she stares. -

"Huh?" Banshee's mouth sort of twists in confusion, a look that deepens those scars into something that mars her face. A squint that does nothing to help that look follows. "Interesting?" -

Yelrona blinks at the confused. "You should probably sit down," she says. "Maybe in that chair you're holding. I think you've been out in the sun too long." -

She finishes bandaging up her arm, ties it off with her teeth. "A woman came up to me this morning," she says to nobody in particular, picking up an empty pitcher on the table, makes an imploring gesture to the heavens with it. "She asked for a small donation towards a swimming pool in the Trades District. So I gave her a glass of water." The pitcher promptly fills, and Rona hands it to Banshee. "Here. You should drink something." -

GAME: Yelrona casts Create Water. Caster Level: 7 DC: 13 -

Banshee pauses, looks back up, then down at the table Yelrona is seated at. A look up, then back down. She pauses one last time and - reluctantly - seats herself at Yelrona's table with a heavy and drawn out sigh. "I was getting coffee." She growled it out in her way, looking up and toward the cafe once more but the water was placed and it was best not to waste water. -

"Your joke is terrible." Banshee says with a bit of a flat tone and a pick up of the filled glass. She looks at it, turning one way and then the other, as if inspecting it for a trick. A sniff. Then a careful sip of it. Can't be too careful when magic is involved. -

Yelrona nods. "They usually are. Do you have a better one?" -

"Two druids walk into a bar, the ranger walks under it. Don't be a druid." Banshee says it all with a straight face, as if this is a moral to a story. -

Yelrona grins. "I know that one as two giantborn and a gnome," she replies. "A Paladin, a Cleric, and a Wizard walk into a bar. Bartender looks up and says 'What is this, a joke?' Anyway. You saw, I assume, that Daniel the Shark's trial date is coming up? You planning on testifying?" -

A squint from Banshee, "Why would I testify? I just bring them back when they skip out on their bail, or if they skip out on their court date." She shakes her head, "I'm not a member of the courts anymore than you, I just know who the lawbreakers are." She shrugs and takes another sniff of the water before a sip. -

Yelrona nods. "Point. Say, what do you make for bringing in someone like Daniel, anyway?" She is amused by Banshee's skepticism, and adds calmly "You know there exist clear odorless poisons, right?" -

"Which one was he?" Banshee says as she squints, her face pulling off to the side as she tries to remember which one Daniel was exactly. "And maybe, but you don't seem the type to use one that is. They cost too much." -

Yelrona laughs genuinely. "Point. I'm a notorious cheapskate," she admits. "Daniel was the Syndicate drugrunner you arrested on the pier about a month ago. Smuggling Sage Brew. -

Another pause and Banshee scratches at her chin then, a pull of her mouth up and to the side, "Which one was that? Was it the one that I hit with the spear, the one I punched out, the one I tackled... Too many people try to get away on the pier. It's one of my favorite haunts when tracking down these types." -

Banshee shrugs then and looks off to the side, "Usually a few silver though." -

Yelrona tries to remember. "Punched him out, I think." She considers his response, nods. "That's not bad money for a job you clearly enjoy." -

Veyla looks back at Yelrona and she squints for a moment, then shrugs as she gives a sigh, "Oh yeah, that guy. I think he was six silver or so. Reasonably good catch. Though I don't know why you think I enjoy it. It pays the bills, and it's an important service. That's all." Banshee shakes her head, sniffs the water again. -

Yelrona tilts her head to one side, curiously. "Do you not? You seemed to be finding it satisfying." She drinks from her own glass. "Admittedly, it's good money either way. How did you get into that line of work?" -

A squint from Veyla and she reaches sup to scratch at her chin, the fingers moving up to her cheek before pushing some hair back behind an ear. "Well-" A pause and she settles back like one does when starting a long story. "It's a long story. Ask a bard." She nods her head. -

Yelrona chuckles, leans back into her seat, gestures for a waiter's attention. "Oh, I never ask a bard a question," she says, "it just inhibits their creativity, and they're just going to make something up anyway. Might as well let them pick the topic." She orders a cup of yellowbirch tea, with butter. "Can I get you something?" she asks the bounty hunter. "Poison-free, I promise." -

The Giantborn squints at Yelrona, as if not fully believing that it will be Poison-free for a moment before saying to the server, "I'll take a coffee. Veyshanti blend, strong, black, no cream or sugar." She nods and looks back to Yelrona, a pull of her mouth off to one side. -

"It..." A long pause, "Do you know what they call me?" Banshee gives a furrow of her brow. -

Yelrona says, "I... have to admit, I've heard you called a _lot_ of things. But it's Veyla, right?"

"That's my given name." Banshee says with a sigh and a slow, rather laborious, cast of her eyes off the side. "That's not the one I meant."

Yelrona shakes her head. "I know of no other name I'd care to repeat. What do you have in mind?"

Another sniff at the water that she has in her hand, the glass half empty. She looks into it with a bit of a squint and she frowns more heavily, then a short sip before lowering the glass. "It's no matter then. Anyway, I just sort of ell into it I suppose."

Yelrona tilts her head to one side. Then, a hair more gently, "It clearly matters to you, else you would not have brought it up."

"I brought it up because you were asking about how I got into bounty hunting." Banshee says with a scratch of her chin. She glances off to the side, down the street one way and then the other. "But it really isn't important. I just sort of fell into it. Never really stopped."

Yelrona is quiet for a while, wondering if the woman across from her will feel compelled to fill the silence. Many do. But before it stretches too far, they are interrupted by the arrival of coffees, for which Rona pays. "Well. I mean no offense by saying so, but it really does seem to suit you. How long have you been plying your trade in Alexandria?"

"It's just a job." Banshee says with a grimace pulling across her lips, a looks back to Rona as she picks up her coffee and sniffs. Another moment and she sniffs again before taking a long sip of it. "In the city or the area? Based out of, this visit or roughly total time?"

Yelrona laughs gently and leans back with her coffee, looking as casual as she can manage. "Hon, I'm just making casual conversation here. They taught us that in Putting People at Ease class, it was the second lesson right after Don't Shoot at Them. But let's go with in the city, based out of."

Kravia walks by the cafe where the two are seated, and slows, recognition showing on her face. She turns and steps up to where Yelrona is seated, her eyes glancing at Banshee for a few moments, before looking to the Elf again. "Is this the woman you mistook me for?", she says with a grin. "I don't know how you could mix us up."

Banshee stares at Yelrona and blinks, waiting and then her mouth pulls off to the side again. She didn't return the laugh. "Mmm." Seems she took a class on how to make friends and influence people! Her eyes slide up and to the side, looking at Kravia as she joins the table. She reaches out to grab the cup of coffee, another sniff before taking asip of it. She shrugs, "Dunno." A look back to Yelrona, "We don't look alike."

Garak has arrived.

Yelrona looks up to Kravia, briefly puzzled. "Mm? Oh! No, no. Kravia, Veyla. I mistook Kravia for someone else this afternoon," she explains, "but not you."

Garak goes West <W>

Garak has left.

Kravia chuckles and nods to Banshee. "Nice to meet you. And certainly, we hardly look similar at all. I was more poking fun at Yelrona than attempting to poke fun at you." She gestures to one of the seats, "May I join you two?"

Banshee scratches at her chin, turning her head to look at the Half-Orc, then shrugs and points toward a chair. "That one." A nod of her head and then she looks off to one side, then the other, as if trying to spot a person.

Yelrona looks off in the same direction, then back. "If you tell us what they look like," she observes, "we can help you look."

The Half-orc settles down in the chair indicated by Banshee, and looks to Yelrona then. "Hmm, are you looking for someone who does not want to be seen by either of you? Perhaps I should do the looking then, so that they do not see an as-yet familiar face looking for them?"

Veyla looks back toward Yelrona and gives a shrug, "There isn't one. It's not really a one person job. Working for a company, that would be different, but I don't. So-" Banshee gives a shrug. She looks back to the Half-Orc, blinking and a squint. The Half-oruch actually sat down in the chair she specified. She squints a bit more narrow.

Yelrona looks puzzled by the answer. "Well... you're clearly looking for _someone_."

Kravia nods in agreement with Yelrona. "Indeed. Perhaps not a person, though? Maybe seeing if a certain shop or warehouse is operating? Maybe a ship has sailed in?" The Half-orc resists looking around, herself. The Giantborn's squint causes her to shrug. "You did say to sit here." She glances then to the Llyrinasi. "So that Gnome sure is easy to convince to do what you'd like him to do. Poor guy."

"I'm looking /in general/." Banshee says with a slow turn of her eyes back to Yelrona. Her lips pulling into a grimace with a closed-mouth sigh escaping her with a heavy breath. Veyla looks over to Kravia and a blink as she gives a shrug soon after, "Didn't think you actually would." He eyes trail back to the cafe, looking to the server, as she raises the cup and takes a sip.

"Ah, I see," Rona repies. Then, changing the subject: "So why did you tell her to?"

Kravia again shrugs. "There was no reason not to, other than to be contrary. Which is probably not the best way to act when meeting someone new for the first time. You are also large and well built, and I do not know you enough to know your disposition. I did not wish to get into a fight just now." She chuckles, and looks to Yelrona then. "To see if I would."

Banshee nod at Kravia, and then gestures with a There you go sort of hand gesture. "Yep. Learn a lot by simple things." She nods her head again and looks down at the table, poking at it, scratching at the table with a grimace further deepening the scars running across her face.

Constantin has arrived.

Yelrona smiles. "So. What have you learned about us so far, then?"

Kravia nods at what Yelrona says, and turns to look at Banshee. "Hmm. That expression doesn't bode well, truely, is everything alright?"

"That you talk a lot." Banshee says, looking up to Yelrona, "And you work well with people." A look toward Kravia. She picks up her coffee cup, her mind floating to other things with a look down the street again. She gives a sniff to the cup again and then another sip. Her eyes moves back to Kravia and she nods.

Constantin is wandering ananymously, having shed his his usual fine clothes for some non-descript brown tunic and leggings. He waves towards the table, and Yelrona, studying the faces he doesn't know so well. "Afternoon."

Aya has arrived.

Yelrona raises her coffee to Constantin in greeting. "Guilty," she laughs.

Kravia offers a shrug and grins. "I have been accused of that by lesser people.", she says to Banshee. She notes the raising of coffee by Yelrona, and she simply nods to Constantin. "Hello.", the Half-orc says, cheerfully.

Banshee looks up toward the new person, watching him. A glide over him and then a glance to the other two at the table with her. Her lips pull a bit thin and then a look down the street in the opposite direction. "Not really anything special about that." She frowns, "A lot of people talk too much." A slow nod.

Constantin's mouth makes an 'o'. "Coffee." He nods back to Kravia and Banshee, smiling affably. "Hey there." A pause, "I'll be right back." Then, he goes to get a coffee, before making good on his promise to return.

"You're _not_ much of a talker, yourself," Rona observes. "Do you prefer that?"

Kravia settles back in the chair then, watching Constantin leave and return. She looks to Yelrona when she asks her question, and the Half-orc glances to the Giantborn, awaiting her answer.

A blinks from the giantborn as she stares across the table at Yelrona, she wasn't exactly talkative before, and now she seems to be talking even less. A reach up and she starts scratching at her chin with a look up the street one way and then the other. Banshee turns her gaze to Kravia next, a slow raise of an eyebrow that pulls the scars a bit tighter over her features.

Constantin leans against the back of a chair nearby, eyebrows arched on his forehead as he sips his coffee. "Oh, that's good."

Yelrona looks to the new arrival. "They got a new shipment of fire-roasted Cerenzan Longbean last night... if you haven't tried it, you should."

Aya emerges from the Adventurer's Guild, tucking a piece of parchment into her clothing. She turns along the street to continue on, though the smell of drinks, and sounds of conversation that include at least a few familiar voices draw her attention.

Kravia hmms and slowly stands, stretching profusely, which causes many little noises from her armor, and several loud pops as her joints give. "Hmm, it has been pleasant to stop and chat, but I should be heading off. Nice to have met you both.", she says to Constantin and Banshee. To Yelrona, she grins. "And thanks again for the introduction to the landlord." With that, she turns, and begins to walk away.

Morgan has arrived.

Banshee fidgets a bit in the chair, looking at Kravia as she stands and her brow furrows. She glances off to the side again, her mouth pulling in the same direction, then back toward Constantin and Yelrona. She picks up coffee cup and gives it a sniff, then another sip, "I should probably go too." A glance to the side again, "I've been here too long."

Constantin salutes his cup to Kravia, and Banshee, then nods towards Aya and Yelrona. "This really is a lovely brew." He looks around, then goes to capture one of the abandoned chairs. "Much better."

Yelrona gives a toasting gesture to Aya with her coffee as well. "Anything interesting?" she asks

Aya glances to Yelrona, brow arching at the salute, followed by a roll of one shoulder. "From the Guild, no, nothing terribly exciting." Her path diverts so that her steps take her in Yelrona's direction and vicinity. "I haven't noticed anything interesting on other fronts, yet, either."

Yelrona nods. "Me, neither" she admits. "Though it's only been a few days. People keep telling me patience is important."

Morgan comes in from the east with a basket in one hand and two books in the other she aproaches Rona and group "I have a few lamb meat pies any one want one. they were made like a hour ago."

Banshee gives another scratch to her chin as she drinks the last of her coffee. "Good bye." She says with a bit of a flatness, a look up and down the street once more. A quick nod given to Aya and then Veyla is off on up the road and toward the Gardens in Alexandria.

Constantin turns. "Oh, hello. I'd love a pie." He stretches his legs. "Patience is damned important. And the way forward, too."

Banshee has left.

Aya acknowledges Morgan and her meat pies with a dip of chin before assuring Yelrona, "It is very important, especially in matters like this. The victor is the one able to make the final move."

Yelrona laughs. "Well, yes. Rather by definition, I would think. And no, thank you," she replies to Morgan's offer.

Morgan lets who ever wants some help them self "And patience is the most important when casting spells."

Constantin takes one from Morgan with a "thank you," then settles in. "In many things, I think. Patience to wait, and audacity to take the openings presented."

"Indeed. Very wise advice," Aya nods to Constantin. She declines any pies, instead offering Morgan, "It's a shame that more of your colleagues don't heed your wisdom, as well."

Constantin sips his coffee, then tests the pie. "This is good, you know. And thank you, it's earned, and sometimes I've wished I'd kept more closely to my own words."