"Uh... sure," he agreed, not sure what the lady was getting it by adding 'so I hope' to her greeting, but wrinkling his nose suspiciously in case she was making fun of him.
Tal was, unfortunately, pretty used to being made fun of.
His nose didn't unwrinkle as Miki kept talking and he struggled to follow her accent, and his fingers tapped a subconscious staccato against his thigh, but at the claim that he hadn't been around much he snorted, then gave a shrug. "Yeah, well, me an' Hak Etme don't really get along." His voice was gruff as he scowled out at the desert around them, clearly uncomfortable with all the sand even though the heat of the day was still far off and the night's chill lingered on the bones. "But th'Caravanserai was where people lived out here, 'til they didn't anymore." And he couldn't blame them for moving away! It was too blasted hot for any honest Halovian!
He returned his attention to her as she kept talking and both brows rose above his goggles at the word 'trespass.' His arms rose from his sides to cross defensively over his chest and he scowled at the Ancient woman. His goggles might have let him see through darkness, but Tal was notoriously bad at reading people. "I've already done y'plenty o' favors," he pointed out, chin raising belligerently as his honor was called into question. "Not my fault you weren't here t'see 'em. But y'wouldn't even be able t'set up here safely if I hadn't been part o' th' Landshark hunts." Back when he'd been part of the Monster Hunter's Guild and they'd trained out here against the wily, hungry beasties.
Any blood on the sand at all would call them to the surface, and they were deadly difficult to deal with without magic.
"But if y'don't want us around, we can get what we need elsewhere. C'mon, girl," he whistled up to the guardian dragon as he glanced back to his floating boat, in no mood to be bullied by some stranger before dawn had even properly broken.
Tal was, unfortunately, pretty used to being made fun of.
His nose didn't unwrinkle as Miki kept talking and he struggled to follow her accent, and his fingers tapped a subconscious staccato against his thigh, but at the claim that he hadn't been around much he snorted, then gave a shrug. "Yeah, well, me an' Hak Etme don't really get along." His voice was gruff as he scowled out at the desert around them, clearly uncomfortable with all the sand even though the heat of the day was still far off and the night's chill lingered on the bones. "But th'Caravanserai was where people lived out here, 'til they didn't anymore." And he couldn't blame them for moving away! It was too blasted hot for any honest Halovian!
He returned his attention to her as she kept talking and both brows rose above his goggles at the word 'trespass.' His arms rose from his sides to cross defensively over his chest and he scowled at the Ancient woman. His goggles might have let him see through darkness, but Tal was notoriously bad at reading people. "I've already done y'plenty o' favors," he pointed out, chin raising belligerently as his honor was called into question. "Not my fault you weren't here t'see 'em. But y'wouldn't even be able t'set up here safely if I hadn't been part o' th' Landshark hunts." Back when he'd been part of the Monster Hunter's Guild and they'd trained out here against the wily, hungry beasties.
Any blood on the sand at all would call them to the surface, and they were deadly difficult to deal with without magic.
"But if y'don't want us around, we can get what we need elsewhere. C'mon, girl," he whistled up to the guardian dragon as he glanced back to his floating boat, in no mood to be bullied by some stranger before dawn had even properly broken.
