The courier blinked and then an expression of pleasant surprise came over his face at the stranger's intelligence and instinctive understanding of proper priorities. It was so rare to meet someone who was on the same wavelength that Tal felt an uncharacteristic thawing of his usual wariness towards unknown humans (and human adjacents). "Yeah, you get it!" If his reasons for being in Torchline hadn't been so grim he might have dragged the man off for a drink immediately afterwards...
And maybe that wasn't the worst idea? Alys and Boreal were out and Tal could use the distraction from his own spiraling thoughts after LongNight.
"Everest... Hart?" His brow furrowed as they reached the gangplank for the Peregrine and maneuvered the crate over it. "Wait, I know a Spyglass. Finn Rosencrantz! What happened t'him?" Last Tal had seen him, they'd been solving a mystery together and he couldn't remember if Finn had mentioned retiring his government job or not at that point. There was something else nagging at him, though, something about the Hart name that was familiar...
"You're not... crew of, uh..." He scowled in thought as he pulled names together, edging the crate over to rest against the side of the Peregrine's little cabin before straightening to crack his back. It cracked loose some brain cells, too, and he brightened as the synapses snapped together. "La Verbena's pilot, yeah?"
And maybe that wasn't the worst idea? Alys and Boreal were out and Tal could use the distraction from his own spiraling thoughts after LongNight.
"Everest... Hart?" His brow furrowed as they reached the gangplank for the Peregrine and maneuvered the crate over it. "Wait, I know a Spyglass. Finn Rosencrantz! What happened t'him?" Last Tal had seen him, they'd been solving a mystery together and he couldn't remember if Finn had mentioned retiring his government job or not at that point. There was something else nagging at him, though, something about the Hart name that was familiar...
"You're not... crew of, uh..." He scowled in thought as he pulled names together, edging the crate over to rest against the side of the Peregrine's little cabin before straightening to crack his back. It cracked loose some brain cells, too, and he brightened as the synapses snapped together. "La Verbena's pilot, yeah?"
