Dirty little... [TYRIN, OPEN]

[Zeke Mortz]

all your words
have lost their edge

Zeke certainly picked the most excellent of days to have a hangover. It was dry, bright and hot. The dust wouldn’t stay out of his eyes and his mouth felt like sand. He felt awful but if he couldn’t get at least one map sold today he certainly wouldn’t eat tonight. It’d been a long time since he’d had a long-term job and his money from it was long since gone. Maybe he should just try fishing for dinner instead?

He was sick of trying to catch people’s eye and then pursuing them down the street until they bought something. Rhoda was a bad place for this sort of business since he had to avoid any upper-class districts where his uncle might be wandering. Rich folk liked maps. Fishermen liked maps. But essentially no one else cared for them. She ducked out of the crowd and leaned against a building, a map dangling from one hand. It smelled awful on this side of town. He closed his eyes and let his head hit the building behind him, rather hard actually. He tilted his head sideways, staring through the crowd listlessly with grey-green eyes.

A heavy hand yanked on his trousers suddenly.

“Ey lad I like yer bauble there…”

A drunken bum seemed to be sitting near his feet. He tried not to wrinkle his nose instead, he smiled. It was a little forced, but he managed. He tried to shake the grip from his pants, but to no avail. The smelly sir was reaching towards a brass colored protractor or perhaps his compass, both hanging from his belt. As he leaned closer Zeke’s smile turned into a bitter sneer. He lifted one booted foot and pushed the man back with it, placing his heel roughly on the man’s shoulder and effect ripping him off. He was lucky he had a functional belt.

“Gimme tha! Argh! Ya little shit!” The rough voice came again, lips sputtering with rage this time.

Zeke remained silent but the man staggered to his feet, frothing and furious. Zeke dropped the map and stuck his hand in his coat as a large, hairy hand grabbed him by his shoulder. Zeke was not a happy man right about now. He flashed something at the man from the inside of his coat, who staggered back, then launched a more aggressive kick as the man suddenly turned to flee, a bitter snarl twisting his already rather unfortunate features. Zeke spit in his direction and looked around, dropping his hands momentarily.

“Tis.. Ugh!” She let out a very vocal sigh of frustration as he realized he lost the map he had been trying to sell. She grabbed fistfuls of the front of his hair and slammed his back against the wall before sliding down it. He had others in his satchel, but the amount of time it took to just make one was… well it wasn’t something you wanted to lose. He dropped his hands to the ground, shut his eyes, and banged his head backward against the wall. Over and over. A week or mores worth of work… that is what he had just lost in that exchange. All because of some stupid drunk piece of…. UGH!

LAIKA OF GS!

[TYRIN SCHILLER]

ICARUS IS FLYING TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN

The streets of Rhoda were, as always, crowded and smelly – a state not helped by the fact that it was hot as hell out today and the odor of a thousand different people’s sweat had been added to the general stink. The lack of a breeze only made it worse, so that as Tyrin walked down the street it was like pushing through a cloud of the smell, hanging still in the stagnant air. It was unpleasant and unavoidable. And, in all honesty, it didn’t bother him that much. He’d grown up with the smell, after all. If anything, it made him more comfortable; not because he enjoyed it, per se, but because it was just one more reminder that he knew these streets. Even now that he had a ship and wasn’t stuck here, he knew how to get around.

As an added bonus, he also had all the practice he could ever need in moving through crowds without being jostled or bumped in to. It had been easier when he was a kid, sure, but some habits never really faded. No one really moved out of his way, but nonetheless he managed to avoid bumping elbows with too many of the other denizens of Rhoda as he made his way down the street. He was headed for the shop of a mapmaker, one “Zeke Mortz”, who he’d been told might be for hire as a navigator if the price was right. If not, well, a couple updated maps would be a decent consolation prize.

He would have gone right past the little scuffle on the side of the street – such things were not uncommon in this part of town, after all, and it wasn’t any of his business – except for the paper that fluttered out into his path. He adjusted his next step to put the toe of his boot down gently on the edge of the paper, stopping its slow skid across the ground, then leaned down and picked it up. A quick glance at it revealed it to be a map of considerable quality, and Tyrin looked over at the man who’d dropped it with renewed interest.

He matched the description Tyrin had been given, and he seemed more than a little upset at losing the map. Maybe Tyrin wouldn’t need to go all the way to the shop after all. Tyrin headed over to him, map in hand, watching dispassionately as the man banged his head into the wall a few times. ”Hate to interrupt,” he said dryly, ”But I think you dropped this.” He wiggled the map a little, the paper crinkling slightly with the movement. He didn’t bother to wait for an answer before continuing, ”You Mortz? The mapmaker?”

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Zeke Mortz]

all your words
have lost their edge

This stranger was rather lucky to find Zeke who hadn’t owned a shop in Rhoda in nearly ten years. He’d been barred from doing business by his uncle and his friends. It really wasn’t a great place for him to be stuck and that may have been why he was having so terribly much trouble making enough to eat.
His eyes opened just a slit, his head turning a little against the roughness of the wall. He took in the stranger for a long moment before knitting his brows together and sitting up a little away from the wall. He tilted his head and slowly reached out and took the map from him, taking a long moment to look down at it then back at the man in front of him, studying his face.

He wasn’t sure if he should answer the question. If his uncle found out he was in town well… he’d be in trouble. He rolled his map up, still keeping his eyes on the man in front of him. Finally an answer came.

“Indeed.” His voice was deep and measured. His eyes were calculating. He chewed the inside of his bottom lip as he tucked away the map in his coat and crossed his arms over his chest and broke eye contact. “Thanks.” He would have walked away but the man in front of him seemed to have business with him. He took a step back away from him and tilted his head forward, carefully glancing towards the man now and then but adjusting himself just in case he needed to run. The guy didn’t seem like someone he should be worried about.

The guy seemed the opposite of the sort he should be worried about. His family were involved in nobles and merchants. Not… skeevy street… persons? Was he a skeevy street person? He couldn’t quite tell. But he certainly wasn’t a noble or a merchant. After studying him for a long moment Zeke rolled his head back like he tended to do and smirked a little the man in front of him, though it was supposed to be a smile. God the sun was bright.

“You need maps, mm?” He raised a pale brow and cleared his throat of what felt like a handful of dust. He wasn’t much of a talker but if this was a customer. Better put on his big boy pants. “Where can I help you find, friend?” He ran a hand through his hair.

LAIKA OF GS!

[TYRIN SCHILLER]

ICARUS IS FLYING TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN

Some people might have been put off or even offended by the way Mortz – if this guy was indeed him – was looking at Tyrin: cold, calculating. Tyrin wasn’t bothered in the slightest. Instead, he gave as good as he got, giving the man an impersonal once-over as he stood up from where he’d been sitting against the wall. He didn’t look like much, to be quite honest. Didn’t have the muscles or stance of a fighter. Didn’t seem to want to meet Tyrin’s eyes or even look directly at him. But whatever – Tyrin’s look at the map he’d rescued from the street had told him the only thing he was really interested in: that this guy made some pretty damn good maps.

He gave only a short nod in response to the guy’s thanks. Picking up the map had been something of an impulse; he’d done it partly because he’d thought it might give him a little extra cred with this guy, and partly because he had something of an idea how long it must take to make a map that detailed and he would hate to lose that much work thanks to some drunk hobo. Plus, it hadn’t exactly taken very much time or energy on his part.

Tyrin’s relatively neutral expression slid slightly more towards a frown at the word ‘friend’. It wasn’t a word he used lightly, and it rubbed him the wrong way to hear it out of a stranger’s mouth. ”Not your friend,” he said shortly. He immediately winced internally; damnit, he was supposed to play nice. Just move on. A little awkwardly, he forced the annoyance away and continued in a less harsh tone, ”And I’m not looking for a map, really. I hear you’re a decent navigator.” No point in beating around the bush, right? Get the question out of the way and if the dude said no, well, that was that much less time Tyrin had to try and make nice.

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ