Fishing for Information (Banir)

[Alea Davenport]

75th Fall, 511

Alea stretched after she finished putting together her fishing tackle. This was going to be a good day. It had been ages since she'd last been fishing; what with getting used to a new city, she just hadn't found the time. But fishing had always relaxed her, and she was looking forward to it.

She had already located a nice spot along the coast. It was next to a snowdrift that, with a little rearranging of snow, might be able to block most of the wind.

She wasn't sure if fish in Avanthal came close enough to the shore to be caught by a fishing rod, but she figured she wouldn't know until she tried it herself.

Now all she needed to do was wait for Banir to show up. She hoped he remembered to bring his own fishing gear. She only had the one set. Oh well, if he forgot they could always take turns. Today was only partly about the fishing, after all.

[Banir Ironwood]

Banir had made a good attempt at getting a fishing rod. Sadly he was unable to attain one, and had the suspicion that someone was about to arrest him for attempted theft if he kept asking. His inability to properly get his emotions across, his large form and general rough and brutish look didn't help the matter. Walking away frusterated, humiliated, and almost criminally charged he made his way to where he would meet Alea.

New to the city, and to fishing, he hoped that he would be able to carve something from a tree to steady his nerves. Hatred burned in him for his own incompetence, many people could easily get a fishing rod. Feeling as though he was a failure, he arrived before Alea. His head lowered slightly and his scarf up over his nose. The young man stood before her, adorned in the same heavy winter cloak. Armour on his shoulders and along his right arm.

Looking more ready for combat than for fishing as the metal clawed hand twitched slightly. The light gleaming off the iron sending light every which way, though he did this without his own notice. The gruff and graveled voice spoke, direct and to the point.

"I am ready, we may proceed. I do not have a fishing rod, I apologize." Banir was a silent man by nature but his words seemed to have a bit more authority in them. He seemed a little more comfortable in the presence of fewer people.

[Alea Davenport]

Alea gave an exaggerated sigh, and said, "I suppose we'll just have to take turns with mine." Normally Alea would have been nicer about it, but Banir's man-of-few-words shtick was getting on her nerves. She was completely oblivious to his feelings of insecurity and self-loathing, not that he was expressing them particularly well.

She led him to the nearby fishing spot and began getting her fishing pole ready. Alea glanced at Banir, and noticed that he seemed a bit twitchy. If he breaks my fishing rod I am going to be so angry, she thought. Then she remembered that he wouldn't even be here if she hadn't invited him, and she suffered a twinge of conscience. "Would you like to try first?" she asked kindly. "I can show you how it works."

[Banir Ironwood]

Banir followed her like a shadow; silent, calm, and always just a step behind her. Once they had reached the fishing spot he looked around, taking in the sight. His graveled and gruff voice spoke just a breath below a whisper from behind his white scarf.

"This, is beautiful." Realizing what he had just said allowed his face turned a gentle crimson though concealed in his hood and scarf he still felt the tingle of nervousness. He prayed to which ever god would listen hoping she wouldn't hear that. Though when he heard her offer instead he stood there blinking a moment. Slowly he nodded relaxing a bit more as he grew a little confident in their privacy.

"I would, be honored, if you would teach me. Fishing is something new to me." His gruff voice was louder than normal, making actually sound a little more brutish but carrying the weight of a real man. Standing there his coat keeping him warm against the slight breezes of the day.

[Alea Davenport]

Alea raised an eyebrow at Banir's comment on the surroundings, but said nothing in response. She thought the landscape looked like a bunch of snow and ice, but if he wanted to see it as beautiful, good for him. At least someone was appreciating it.

She hadn't expected him to accept her offer; she'd thought he was too nervous. She took his acceptance as a sign of him starting to relax, and hid a grin. Her plan was working perfectly! Soon she would get him telling her his whole life story, and she would find out why he hid his face and sounded angry all the time, regardless of what he was saying!

She hurried to explain things as quickly as possible so she could get down to the interrogating. Somewhere along the way, she just assumed that since she understood her explanation, he obviously would as well. (She had forgotten for the moment all the times her mother had ever told her to explain herself completely because people weren't mind-readers.)

"Okay, so, you take the bait and you stick it on the hook. Then you throw the string into the water as far as it'll go, and then you stick the pole in the ground somewhere and wait until the fish start biting. It'll take a while, so we can talk in the meantime." She handed him the pole and a container of bait. "Try it."

[Banir Ironwood]

Banir wasn't a complex person, but neither was he simple. Managing to follow her orders easily without putting a hook through one of his fingers he did however crushed a few bits of bait. The young man literally didn't realize how soft and crush able they where. Finally managing to but one of the damn things on the hook he threw it into the water with quite a bit of frustration.

Sitting down on a rock after, and perhaps too firmly, jamming the pole into the ground. Taking out a bit of wood he used the sharp clawed metal to try and carve. Visually relaxing and calming down his eyes even gained a faint green tint to them. Throughout the time he had put the bait on, stuck it in the ground, and began to carve. He hadn't said a word, however after a few short moments he asked her in his gruff voice, a bit more authority in it to affirm the fact he disliked conversations.

"I thought fishing required silence, so as not to scare away the fish?" He cut away at the wood trying to be as gentle as possible, for once trying not to destroy something. Hoping that this would at least make her reconsider and allow them to sit in wonderful silence. Though that annoying sense in the back of his head strongly teased him that he would most likely be wrong.

[Alea Davenport]

Alea cringed at his rough and completely amateur treatment of her precious fishing rod. Temporarily forgetting her objective, she grabbed her pole and quickly checked it for damage, glaring at Banir. Fortunately, the pole seemed to have survived without more than superficial damage, just a bit of scuffing where it was shoved artlessly into the ground. "Gently!" she yelled, more than a little annoyed. "Like this," she said, and demonstrated by reeling the line back in and casting it with and experienced flick of the wrist...and the hook landed in the snow at her feet. She frowned and muttered, "Must have been the wind." She waited for the wind to die down before trying again. This time, she managed to land the hook and bait in the water. Smiling, she eased the pole into the snow, packing more snow around it to keep it stable.

Upon reflection, Alea realized that Banir HAD managed eventually to put the bait on the hook correctly, but then again, there weren't a lot of ways you could mess that up. She glanced back at Banir, who was playing with a piece of wood like nothing was wrong. "Now we watch the bob and wait for the fish to bite," she said gesturing to a small floating object that was attached to the string a short distance above the hook. "And there's nothing wrong with a little conversation. The fish can't hear us all the way over here, and it would get boring otherwise. As long as you don't yell, it should be fine."

[Banir Ironwood]

Banir had made no movement at the criticism given to him. Instead he watched and learned, he was patient and did what he could to examine every movement she made. Now he would know for next time, though he knew if his emotions got the best of him again. Or if he became frustrated, he would repeat what he had done. Letting out a quite sigh he looked back to the bit of wood in his hand. Using the metal claws he began to etch away at it, occasionally pausing to brush off the carved bits of wood.

Continuing his silent work he knew of no topic to begin upon, and hoped to the gods that Alea also had this dilemma. Conversations meant information, information meant looking into one's past. And the past, brings up things best left buried in his opinion. Devising in his mind answers that would hopefully just dance around a conversation. His plan was to bore her to a point where she would just stop all together. Though the behavior she displayed may need more than a few simple answers that he usually gave acquaintances.

Slowly he made another cut into the wood, making a face like shape. Skill in his little hobby was much needed, though in time it would come. Besides for the most part some people could see what he had carved. Well most people anyway, his thoughts drifted to his mother as he waited for Alea's topic that he would undoubtedly be forced to participate in.

[Alea Davenport]

Alea frowned at Banir's silence. He was not going to make this easy. She decided to start by seeing if she could get him talking. Maybe if she learned more about him, she would be able to come up with more specific questions. At the very least, more general questions would be a way to stall until she got better ideas.

When she couldn't stand the silence any longer (about twenty seconds after she sat down), she finally began with, "So, where are you from? Oh, that's right, you said you came here from Wind Reach. Were you born there?"

She wanted to ask him wny he covered his face and what made him angry, but last time she'd tried the direct approach, it hadn't worked. She was going to have to think of something else. Fortunately, she had all day.

[Banir Ironwood]

A few short moments of carving and Banir had come up with an answer for her. Wiping away at the flecks of shavings he spoke his voice gruff and graveled. And though what he was about to say may have been just a short and simple answer it was truth as far as he knew.

"I was not told where I was born. It doesn't matter anyway." It was happening already, the emotions in him where stirring. His birth had meant another's death, even though he didn't know that person it still pained him to think of it. And he remembered what his father had kept telling him. Attempting to shake these thoughts from his mind he focused more upon the carving.

Each rough line had been made with care, the disgruntled surface past the hard bark was beginning to look a bit like a person. His best yet, and this helped him relax as he slowly made another calm cut closer to the top. Etching into the bark and tying not to remove it.