Hey, That's Mine [Romen]

[Gabrielle Seawind]

'That's right, fat chance he'd be able to teach me a thing or two about Reimancy.' It's not as if she ever wanted to learn it, anyway. It had just been a whim of the moment, and a convenient skill to learn (if she could). She wouldn't go out of her way to learn it though, and look for a master just for it. The Svefra had other things to get better at first, like sailing and archery.

Maybe it was just that he really did remind her of her brother, though her brother was much more phlegmatic then cocky. Her brother had taught her archery, and she missed that connection of having someone to teach her and to look after her. Why should she look for that in a stranger, though?

She could see that Romen was looking at her with an expression she couldn't read. The girl scrunched up her nose and looked back at him with a cross face. "What?"

[Romen]

Romen shook his head. ”Nothing” he said with a grin. He leaned backwards, resting his hands on the crate behind him for support. Gabrielle didn’t seem to trust him any more than he trusted Gabrielle. Either way, she seemed to have dropped the topic of reimancy pretty quickly so Romen had either scared her out of it or she just wasn’t bothered.

He vaguely wondered what had made her so chatty earlier anyway. Now she seemed annoyed at him, which wasn’t a first though he wasn’t entirely sure why.

”So, why’re you in Syliras?” he asked her, wanting to move the conversation forward. He had always been told that svefra preferred the waters and liked to stay out there rather than go sight-seeing. She had told him earlier that she was heading out to sea, but that was a lie in an effort to get Romen off of her ship so she could keep his money.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

Gabrielle wondered what the questions was for. Was he interested in her or so? He had no reason to. Was he looking for the right moment to exact revenge?

"I'm here because I was left in charge of this casinor, and it's pretty hard to stay weeks in the sea if you're just one person," replied Gabrielle, and she wasn't lying. "And also, I'm doing some jobs for people, transporting them or delivering stuff. That kind of thing." -- she was also taking their pouches when she could, but she didn't dare to add that.

The rest of her pod was somewhere in the middle of the Northern Suvan Sea. She was used to navigating the sea and she could follow them easily if she willed to, but she would still be one person in charge of her casinor. All her sisters had their own vessels as well, but they also had husbands or children to help them with it. Gabrielle had none, and despite her Lia's pestering, she wasn't ready to start a family. While you only needed one crew member for a vessel like the casinor, one would still have a difficult time sleeping peacefully without knowing if a storm was brewing in the skies.

"But it gets pretty lonely, because even Kairo went with them," added Gabrielle. Kairo was her dolphin tavan. "I could use a companion like Vida. She's a girl, right? Well, if she ever bears any pups, I'll take one.

Gabrielle shot Vida a grin, and she was serious with what she had said. She had been contemplating on purchasing a dog for a while now, but she just hadn't the mizas to do so.

She looked back at Romen and said, "And you, I assume you're from Syliras."

[Romen]

Romen nodded while he listened. He wondered why she took his pouch if she could earn an honest living that way. He tilted his head a bit when Gabrielle mentioned Kairo. He wondered who he was, but got the idea when she compared him to Vida. Probably her tavan, he figured. Romen laughed.”I’m really hoping she doesn’t have pups” he said. ”I’m not sure if you’d noticed but I’m not the parental type” he added. He had been pretty careful with Vida, as possibly four to nine puppies running all over the place for six weeks seemed impossible to deal with.

When Vida was younger Romen had a hard enough time keeping just her out of trouble. He had gotten her when he was nine because his parents wanted to teach him about responsibility. All it did really was cost Syliras a couple messy streets and some irritated civilians. Vida had never really learned how to tell friend from foe, but she was easily trained once she got past her first couple months.

Romen turned back from looking at Vida to Gabrielle when she asked him about himself. ”I was born in Syliras and been here ever since, give or take a couple trips to elsewhere” he said. He’d had to lay low after the, eh, accident concerning his parents killer. After laying low in other cities for a while he returned and barely anyone even knew who he was. It was then that he bought a cottage just outside Syliras and made nice with the gate guards and he managed to do pretty well. He considered himself pretty lucky, all things considered. He vaguely wondered where karma had been all this time.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow. "You don't need to be the parental type, becasue Vida seems to be one. Besides, she's a dog, she can look after the pups herself. Might teach you a thing or two," she wondered if she could somehow persuade him into changing his mind, as she really wanted a companion aboard her ship.

She found herself looking at Vida. The dog certainly looked like a kind one, and a very patient creature at that. Something in Gabrielle made her thing that this dog knew more about Romen than anyone else. Vida probably didn't have a vague image of Romen, unlike Gabrielle.

"I see," replied Gabrielle bluntly as she smiled at Vida. Her mind started wandering, and she couldn't tell what to say next. It was nice to just sit and talk to someone, but she wasn't really the best at conversations, especially to people she didn't know much.

[Romen]

Romen grinned at the thought. ”And what exactly could having four to nine puppies running around for six weeks teach me?” he asked jokingly, with a teasing smile. She could talk all she wanted but she would only have to deal with one rather than a whole litter of noisy collie pups. Romen looked from Gabrielle to Vida, noticing they seemed to be sharing some sort of moment.

Romen nudged Gabrielle playfully with his elbow. ”Gabrielle” he said in a serious tone ”I’m beginning to think you only like me for my dog.” he finished on a light-hearted note.

Vida stood up and shook her fur out and then balanced on her hind legs, resting her front paws on the front of the crate. She had a hunch that the two were talking about her but she had no clue what about. She looked at the two for a second before decided that they would never understand dog-tongue.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

"It could teach you about responsibility... and it can be an experience for Vida herself. My Lia tells me a girl is never a woman until the day that she fosters."

Gabrielle couldn't help but smile at him, although her cheeks had a light tinge of red. She was not used to being with men who were non-Svefra, or who were not her relatives for that matter. While she didn't think this man was flirting with her at the moment, he was jabbing at her in a friendly and casual manner, and Gabrielle didn't have that kind of relationship with outsiders.

"Who said I liked you in the first place? It's Vida I like. That's why I took your pouch, because I knew she'd come with you when your dim brain finally figured out who took it," she replied, sticking out her tongue at him.

Gabrielle stood up and stepped away from him, striding over to the side of her boat which faced the ocean. Turning back to Romen and Vida, she leaned against the railings, wondering if it was obvious that she wanted some distance. Being the distrustful person she was, Gabrielle always took a step back even when she had the chance to gain a friendly relationship with someone.

"Want to go for a swim?", then she thought, 'Then maybe carelessly leave your pouch somewhere and forget about it again.'

[Romen]

Romen rolled his eyes. He didn’t need to be taught about responsibility. He feigned an insulted expression as she explained why she took his pouch. ”Ouch!” he said with a grin. ”And while we’re on the subject, I knew it was you since I noticed the pouch was gone. It was just finding you that I had a little trouble with” he added.

He watched her walk over to the railings. Obviously she doesn’t exactly trust me he thought to himself. When she asked if he wanted to swim he raised an eyebrow. It was probably quite normal for a svefra but the idea of jumping into the cold sea during winter did not appeal to Romen. ”I think I’ll pass” he said, walking over to join her at the railings of the boat. He looked over into the grey sea which gently washed against the side of the casinor.

”You might be used to it, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been in the sea and the last time I was it was the middle of summer” he said with a smile. Vida had followed them over but was no longer listening to their conversation, having seen a couple seagulls land near the port and watching their moves carefully. She would never have any chance of catching one but just in case…

[Gabrielle Seawind]

For some reason, the idea bothered Gabrielle. This man lived in the city of Syliras, which was practically next to the sea. However, the last time he had swam was seasons ago. She understood that it was Winter and the water was freezing, but the thought still bothered her. For a moment, she contemplated on pushing him in the water.

She was also bothered by the fact that he had followed her again. The Svefra felt much discomfort that she couldn't explain. With that, she made up another lie. "I think you have to go. I really am going to take a trip out to sea. I already gave you back your pouch... this isn't your place."

The last sentence felt genuine when she said it, and held much more meaning than Gabrielle intended it to. For some reason, it also pained her to say it. She honestly felt like she could develop a strong bond with this man, but he was an outsider, he knew nothing about her -- he even practiced Reimancy. 'Nothing good would come of it.'

[Romen]

Romen watched Gabrielle for a minute before sighing. ”Alright. Guess I got what I came for anyway” he said and turned away. He let out a short whistle and called Vida to follow and he walked to the edge of the ship, climbed off and stepped onto the dock.

It took Vida longer however. She walked on, following her master to the edge of the ship. She looked back at Gabrielle wistfully. She had liked the girl even though Romen didn’t trust her. She turned back and climbed out of the ship and leapt onto the dock. The sound of her claws hitting the concrete ground echoed through the docks.

Romen had already known that refusing to go for a swim would probably not have increased the svefra’s trust but he had no interest in catching something this early into winter. He turned around and waved goodbye with a grin. No matter how he felt about being kicked off the boat, he was still Romen.