watching the tide roll away (open)

saiden

Saiden grinned, not at all put off by the woman's embarrassed response. "I'd imagine someone could find a use for walking on water around Torchline." Again, he was more than happy to let the complimentary tone bleed into his voice. "So perhaps you're just stronger than most folks with water magic."

As she took the knife, he nodded and moved over so she could get close to the fish. "First step is to remove the scales." He gave her another one of those grins. Reaching out, he slid his hand the opposite direction the scales lay. "Just slide the knife over them in that direction. No worries if you miss a few." He leaned back to let her at the tuna.

Don't paint wonderful lies on me that wash away

"Hmm. Perhaps. I've only come into it recently though, so don't expect any miracles."

She dropped to her knees in the bloodstained sands, oblivious to the damp and the dirt staining her white skirts. The way she held the knife was practiced, easy, and after a few experimental passes that taught her how deep and hard to press, she began to remove the scales without too many difficulties.

"Do you fish for a living?" the girl asked, somewhat absently. She didn't look up to see his smiles, focused as she was on the fish.

saiden

Saiden just laughed at her response. It was a bright and happy sound. "No miracles, huh? So nothing like, oh say, walking on water, things like that?" Still laughing a bit, he watched her as she got the hang of clearing of the scales. "Alright good, next step."

Moving a bit closer to her, he knelt in the sands, uncaring of any mess he might make. They could always dip into the water after. "This part is a bit tricky. We need to make a shallow cut from the end to the head so we can get the guts out. Here, let me help you." With that, he reached out to try and lay his fingers atop hers, coincidentally pressing their sides together as well. If successful, he'd slowly guide the knife from the hole under the tuna's tail down its belly to just before they reached the head.

Don't paint wonderful lies on me that wash away

"I wouldn't call it that much of a miracle, if your birds can make it happen," she countered.

Taking a moment to brush scales from her hands, she found it a difficult task indeed. They clung to her and shimmered, sparkling iridescent against the whiteness of her skin. Maea soon gave up and resumed the task at hand, ready for the next step.

As the man leaned in to take her hand, however, she shied away. Let him simply take the knife and moved aside, so that they no longer touched. There was a tightness about her jaw as she kept her eyes on the fish, tension that reflected in shoulders that had risen just a little higher up against the ears.

But she didn't say anything. Just kept her eyes on the fish, and the bloody inside as its guts were laid bare.

saiden

At Maea’s response Saiden threw his head back and laughed. ”Aye, you may be right. Who is to say that Hels aren’t a miracle as well though?” The question came out in an almost conspiratorial whisper.

When she moved away, he gave her a puzzled look, but took the knife easily enough. ”Now that we have the cut, we take out the guts.” He reached in to scoop a bit out, before handing the fish back to her. ”Save them, though. They make good bait.” Moving a short distance away, he settled in to watch her, spinning the knife idly in his fingers.

”You should relax, you know. Beautiful day, good company, what’s not to enjoy?” He smiled disarmingly. ”Unless you don’t think I’m good company.” He leaned back onto his elbows, splayed attractively across the sand. ”To answer your earlier question, fishing is just a part of what I do.”

Don't paint wonderful lies on me that wash away

Perhaps they were, at that. But growing up with sharks swimming through the ground and snow that reassembled itself, walking on water was less a miracle than common occurences. It seemed strange to her that anyone might think twice of such things, especially from a local.

"No offense meant... I'm just not good with having people too close," she mumbled, head bowed and face veiled from view by the dark rags. Reclaiming the knife, she followed his example and removed the innards of the fish, caring not at all that her fingers became sticky with gore. Crimson on white. Blood in the snow.

"What's the other part?" She scraped out the last bits of entrail and hefted them up on the sand, just far enough away that the water wouldn't claim it and the Hels wouldn't try to snatch it. She saw them wing their way closer overhead, drawn in no doubt by the promise of free food.

saiden

Saiden chuckled at the woman’s response, clearly not offended in the slightest. ”Well, how are you going to get good at it if you don’t practice?” It was equal parts reasonable and flirtatious, and his grin was easy and open. And he still lounged rather attractively in the sand, framed by the sun and sea as music echoed out from the cathedral.

Nodding at the fish, he pointed at it with the knife. "Good. See those darker spots, though? You wanna make sure to get those out." Dropping his hand, he watched as she continued to work on the fish.

Her question caused him to smile disarmingly again. "I'm a cook. How about you? What do you do, when you're not mysteriously appearing like a spirit?"

Don't paint wonderful lies on me that wash away

"I wasn't particularly planning on becoming better at it," she replied laconically. The look she gave him was flat, rather dull - as if she'd taken in all he so generously seemed to offer and found it somewhat lacking.

With her hands deep in the fish, working to clean it according to the instructions he offered, she threw a look up at the gulls. To make sure they kept well away. Then returned to the task at hand, not minding the questions. A cook that went fishing for his own ingredients... made sense.

"I'm a Loreseeker," she replied, with even tones. Perhaps a touch lackluster, as if it didn't thrill her to admit it the way it ought. "I study the world and its people, search for the knowledge that has been forgotten... and return it back to those who want to use it to help others."

That's what Jigano had said it was all about, right? See, she did know the work.

saiden

Saiden gave the woman a disappointed look. ”Why not? Nothing wrong with a bit of fun, is there?" With that, he flexed a little, letting the muscles on his arms stand out.

As she cleaned out the fish more completely, he nodded approvingly. "Now grip the dorsal fin, that's the one on top, by the tail, and pull it off firmly towards the head." Still reclining on the sand, he went back to twirling his knife.

Regarding her with smoldering eyes, he sheathed his knife. Then he rolled to his side, propping his head up in one hand, uncaring of the blood there. "So tell me, how do you study people if you're not good with getting too close to them?" His flirtation was still far from subtle, and his grin was cocky.

Don't paint wonderful lies on me that wash away

"'Fun' is not part of the job description," she said, and looked away a bit too quickly as he flexed. "'Fun' is only that if everyone plays by the same rules. In my experience, few people ever really want to follow mine."

But then again, perhaps that just made her no fun to be around.

He'd hit a nerve, and it showed in the way she handled the fish. Her grip on the knife tightened, the movements becoming jerky, rougher than necessary. She cut off the dorsal, then took what seemed to be the next logical step and proceeded to remove the other fins in the same fashion. Hoping that she wouldn't mess anything up too badly.

Even if he started to sound like a jerk, it didn't mean she wanted to spoil his food for him.

saiden

As the woman responded to Saiden's flirting in a less than ideal manner he just smiled. "Rules, huh?" Rolling a bit so he was closer to her, but not too close, he dropped his voice to a heated and challenging whisper. "I'll follow whatever rules you want me to. Just tell me what they are." Despite the slightly teasing and taunting tone, he was telling the truth.

However, when she started hacking at the fish, he moved away, rolling onto his back. "Hey, if you're angry, take it out on me, not on the fish." Laying on the sand, he spread his arms invitingly, fully passive. "Besides, we're ready to wash it out."

Don't paint wonderful lies on me that wash away

To prevent herself from causing further damage - really, there was none to note on either fish or girl - she poked the knife into the sand blade first and sat back on her heels, relinquishing the now quite dead corpse to his further care. The look she leveled on him was difficult to read, though there was something wounded in her eyes that had very little to do with anything he'd said.

"Alright. Don't make people feel special if they're not. Don't marry people if you don't love them. Don't take off a wedding ring to kiss someone else, then put it back on like nothing happened.

"And above all, don't keep coming back to play if you're not going to accept that it's a two-person-game."

In a single motion she stood, turned and made her way towards the water, back stiff as she knelt down to rinse her hands.

saiden

Retrieving the knife from where the woman had stabbed it into the sand, Saiden reached out with his magic. Tendrils of water lifted from the ocean: one cleaned his knife, his hands, and body, one swept all the residue but the guts from the fish into the ocean, and one dipped into the tuna itself, getting rid of everything that wasn't supposed to be there. That done, he tucked the fish into his bag.

Then he followed the woman down to the water's edge. Grinning, he turned his magic to her now, washing her hands almost gently and tenderly with his magic. "Is that all? Simple enough to follow." Sheathing his knife, he just stood there without saying anything, letting the water lap at his bare toes.

Don't paint wonderful lies on me that wash away

She cared nothing for what he did. Let him rummage about best he wanted, as she tried to scrub away the slippery residue from her hands. But her thoughts were too disordered to really focus and Maea was getting nowhere with it, until the water suddenly began to help her with the chore. Looking up sharply, she found the fisherman standing there, easy smile on his face as if he was doing nothing out of the ordinary.

Her lips tightened into something that was meant to resemble a smile. "One would think so, yes. But apprently it's not."

Maea stood, small and pale and somewhat out of place against the colorful backdrop. A ghost gone astray into the light of day. The water on her hands froze, became snow and melted away as she brushed it off into the sea.