Jigano raised a toast to the compliment, neither confirming nor denying it, but there was a hint of sharpness in the grin he gave to his unlikely friend. He had survived a number of dangers in his own world, long before coming to Caido, and he had survived here long enough to claw his way back up to new strengths and powers, as well as beginning to regain some of his old ones.
He was right in assuming that the lack of personal experience with oceans left Jigano relying on secondhand knowledge of navies and pirates, with none of the personal experience viewing the rivalry that gave Adam his familiarity with the subject. He listened raptly until the word 'smoochy,' at which point he snorted and sipped his cider with a chuckle. "I've heard it said that love and hate are only two sides of the same passionate coin," he acknowledged. "Though I would personally disagree with it. The picture you paint is certainly one of, ah, tension and... shall we say, opportunity?" He chuckled again, until talk of 'Pet' drove all thoughts of romance from his head.
He found it unlikely that Peter referred to himself as 'Pet', if only because he didn't take the man as the type to speak in the third person. Or the type to speak much about himself at all, really, though clearly he and Adam were close enough for the magpie man to see a different side of the newest Launceleyn. He wasn't so uncouth as to call Adam a liar, though, and merely hummed noncommittally at the excuses.
When you wanted to distract Jigano, however, a tried and true method was getting him to talk about himself instead. The bard opened up about his history, and for the first time since he'd arrived on Caido someone asked about the old curse that had plagued his family for generations. "A devil's curse," he admitted after a moment's pause. After all, there was no need to hide it here, not since it was broken. "Oracles of my lineage were physically bound to our word. Breaking a covenant had... consequences," he grimaced. "Even if it was unintentional. Wracking sickness for a full day afterwards if it happened, or until I could fulfill what I had promised. I learned early to simply not make promises," he admitted wryly. "To find ways to word things that gave me loopholes and ways around it."
He swirled the cider in his bottle thoughtfully. "The blessings though... yes. An... understanding of the world around me that gave me preternatural reflexes, and the ability to enter a trance-like state that let me recall previous knowledge I had learned with perfect clarity, as well as access to certain spells of divine magic." He arched a brow at Adam with a grin. "I thought the trade well worth it, in truth."
He was right in assuming that the lack of personal experience with oceans left Jigano relying on secondhand knowledge of navies and pirates, with none of the personal experience viewing the rivalry that gave Adam his familiarity with the subject. He listened raptly until the word 'smoochy,' at which point he snorted and sipped his cider with a chuckle. "I've heard it said that love and hate are only two sides of the same passionate coin," he acknowledged. "Though I would personally disagree with it. The picture you paint is certainly one of, ah, tension and... shall we say, opportunity?" He chuckled again, until talk of 'Pet' drove all thoughts of romance from his head.
He found it unlikely that Peter referred to himself as 'Pet', if only because he didn't take the man as the type to speak in the third person. Or the type to speak much about himself at all, really, though clearly he and Adam were close enough for the magpie man to see a different side of the newest Launceleyn. He wasn't so uncouth as to call Adam a liar, though, and merely hummed noncommittally at the excuses.
When you wanted to distract Jigano, however, a tried and true method was getting him to talk about himself instead. The bard opened up about his history, and for the first time since he'd arrived on Caido someone asked about the old curse that had plagued his family for generations. "A devil's curse," he admitted after a moment's pause. After all, there was no need to hide it here, not since it was broken. "Oracles of my lineage were physically bound to our word. Breaking a covenant had... consequences," he grimaced. "Even if it was unintentional. Wracking sickness for a full day afterwards if it happened, or until I could fulfill what I had promised. I learned early to simply not make promises," he admitted wryly. "To find ways to word things that gave me loopholes and ways around it."
He swirled the cider in his bottle thoughtfully. "The blessings though... yes. An... understanding of the world around me that gave me preternatural reflexes, and the ability to enter a trance-like state that let me recall previous knowledge I had learned with perfect clarity, as well as access to certain spells of divine magic." He arched a brow at Adam with a grin. "I thought the trade well worth it, in truth."
