WHO: six, marcus, marcoulf, barrow, matthias, laura & derrica WHAT: escorting some stranded orphans back to ostwick WHEN: firstfall 9:45 WHERE: on the road to ostwick NOTES: n/a.
"They're still back there," Matthias says, helpfully, as he comes up around the side of the large horse and large woman. His arms are full of firewood, and he's on a return trip to the fire, having decided to do what he's best at: burn things.
He comes to a stop just a few steps off from Six, taking refuge in the moment of silence, away from the gaggle of orphans that are gathered in the camp proper. The horse is between them and the children. That's good. Matthias is too tall to be a child child and would, if asked, insist that he is definitely not a child--but he might be easy to mistake, at a glance, for one of their charges. Just a particularly tall orphan.
"If we stay really quiet, they might forget we're here. Go off and get themselves lost."
Six doesn't startle - she is not quite that unaware of the world around her - but she does turn sharply, her eyes flicking over Matthias. It might be easy to mistake him for one of the orphans if she wasn't certain she had seen his face before, even if she cannot place where. Her eyes flick over him before she gives Sir another brush, fingers scratching at his flank absently. It's something he likes and she indulges.
Behind her comes a quiet whine, a Mabari lumbering over, clearly envious.
"I think that is the opposite of what we want," she comments finally, even if it is a little wry. "If they get lost we will simply have to find them again."
The Mabari puts Matthias a little on edge--it's dogs, in general, it's not the fault of this particular one--but he bears its appearance without any tells more obvious than a tensing of his shoulders. It doesn't look as if it's out for blood or anything. Then again, with dogs, who can say, really.
"If they get lost, we can make finding them the job of someone else. We already had a go at it, didn't work out, no hard feelings but we've got to be getting back to the Gallows. Doesn't have to be us that comes back out here to look for 'em."
Two doesn't do much more than wiggle, trying to get attention, until Six clicks her tongue and he settles down. He's still growing, almost at his full size and height, but he's clearly been well trained; she's not a particularly giving parental figure.
"Then we will have failed in our mission," she says, voice soft. "I would not like to be the one to report to the others that we lost children. I do not imagine it would make Riftwatch appear competent."
"If we appear competent in this, we're only going to be asked to cart more orphans around," Matthias counters. He shifts his stance, to better balance the weight of the wood he's got in his arms, and pinches up his mouth to show what he thinks of that future. "Is that really the reputation we want to be putting out for us?"
In case she gets the wrong idea, he adds (fairly quickly), "Joking. By the way. Mostly. I do bloody well hate kids but s' not the worst thing anyone's ever asked me to do."
Even if it does make him keep company with massive dogs. Matthias hasn't let the thing out of his sight just yet. If he does, it might drop that well-behaved routine, and who knows what might happen then. Near about anything.
"Or we may prove our worth and be given somewhat more... Developed requests." Six looks down at the wood he is carrying and hesitates before she reaches out, offering her arms. They're certainly bulkier than his, and she does not demand - only offers the aid if he wants is, Two coming to nuzzle awkwardly at her feet.
"It is a mission and it will be done. No harm will come to us or the children, other than some confusing headaches for us in the morning."
Which is clearly intended as a joke, even if her lips don't quite twitch. Turning her head, she hesitates before she nudges her Mabari with her heel.
A little grin surfaces on Matthias' face, first--he can think of a few ways to turn developed requests into something that skants toward the slightly dirty, or at least the deeply innuendoed--and he might have done, still, putting it together in his mind as he stands on his toes a little to tip at least some of the wood into her arms. Sharing the burden might be a bit of a blow to his ego, but she also looks more than capable of managing. And besides that, far be it from Matthias to underestimate someone else, not when living in the mage camp had been about sharing duties and chores and deferring to someone else's superior skill, if only so those chores got done more quickly.
Only then she brings the Mabari to his attention again, which curdled Matthias' grin somewhat. Not in any terribly obvious way--he doesn't want to look like a big tit--but he shuffles back after some of the wood's been transferred to Six.
"Oh," he says, at the introduction, "wotcher. Yeah. Has it got any tricks?"
The sudden weight of the wood does very little to shake Six; she is as solid as a tree herself, barely wilting in with the added weight. Her strength is enough that she could likely pick him up as well, but she doesn't see any need to make note of it. Her eyes flick back to look over at the children, to look at the rest of the group that they've brought with them, and some of the tension fades from her shoulders. At least she can do something here, which is better than what she had done beforehand.
Two wiggles, his tail wagging rapidly as his mistress' attention turns back to him and she sighs, voice soft and low.
"A few." Adjusting the weight of the wood, she strokes reaches down to pet his head. "He can sit, shake hands, chase his tail and pretend to die."
Matthias looks around at that last one, trying to suss out if she's having him on. Six looks quite serious. Then again, if his sidelong observations of her during this mission are anything to go by, she might always look quite serious. Hard to say.
He scrunches up his nose.
"What good is it in having a dog what pretends to die?"
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He comes to a stop just a few steps off from Six, taking refuge in the moment of silence, away from the gaggle of orphans that are gathered in the camp proper. The horse is between them and the children. That's good. Matthias is too tall to be a child child and would, if asked, insist that he is definitely not a child--but he might be easy to mistake, at a glance, for one of their charges. Just a particularly tall orphan.
"If we stay really quiet, they might forget we're here. Go off and get themselves lost."
no subject
Behind her comes a quiet whine, a Mabari lumbering over, clearly envious.
"I think that is the opposite of what we want," she comments finally, even if it is a little wry. "If they get lost we will simply have to find them again."
no subject
"If they get lost, we can make finding them the job of someone else. We already had a go at it, didn't work out, no hard feelings but we've got to be getting back to the Gallows. Doesn't have to be us that comes back out here to look for 'em."
no subject
"Then we will have failed in our mission," she says, voice soft. "I would not like to be the one to report to the others that we lost children. I do not imagine it would make Riftwatch appear competent."
no subject
In case she gets the wrong idea, he adds (fairly quickly), "Joking. By the way. Mostly. I do bloody well hate kids but s' not the worst thing anyone's ever asked me to do."
Even if it does make him keep company with massive dogs. Matthias hasn't let the thing out of his sight just yet. If he does, it might drop that well-behaved routine, and who knows what might happen then. Near about anything.
no subject
"It is a mission and it will be done. No harm will come to us or the children, other than some confusing headaches for us in the morning."
Which is clearly intended as a joke, even if her lips don't quite twitch. Turning her head, she hesitates before she nudges her Mabari with her heel.
"This is Two."
no subject
Only then she brings the Mabari to his attention again, which curdled Matthias' grin somewhat. Not in any terribly obvious way--he doesn't want to look like a big tit--but he shuffles back after some of the wood's been transferred to Six.
"Oh," he says, at the introduction, "wotcher. Yeah. Has it got any tricks?"
no subject
Two wiggles, his tail wagging rapidly as his mistress' attention turns back to him and she sighs, voice soft and low.
"A few." Adjusting the weight of the wood, she strokes reaches down to pet his head. "He can sit, shake hands, chase his tail and pretend to die."
no subject
Matthias looks around at that last one, trying to suss out if she's having him on. Six looks quite serious. Then again, if his sidelong observations of her during this mission are anything to go by, she might always look quite serious. Hard to say.
He scrunches up his nose.
"What good is it in having a dog what pretends to die?"