Jigano had been so lost in dodging his fiery rain that he had missed the approach of the boat and its occupant, at least until water had risen up in a wave to quench his fire. He spun in surprise at the growled words, finding the source of the wave and a man he had never met before. He glanced around swiftly, calling the remaining fire to heel and putting it out before he answered, and he took his time to look the stranger over when he did.
"I'm playing at training, out here where's little enough to burn if it goes out of control, and I'm surrounded by sand and water to help put it out if it does," he said dryly. "It seemed safer than doing it on the mainland amidst all the green growing things. Though I thank you for your concern. I don't think we've met before, or if we did it was only briefly. I'm Jigano and you are...?"
A handsome enough fellow by any standard, but his gruff approach and belligerence did take away from some of that for the moment. Still, Jigano had experienced rockier starts with people who eventually became friends. His first disastrous meeting with Loren came to mind, in fact...
"I'm playing at training, out here where's little enough to burn if it goes out of control, and I'm surrounded by sand and water to help put it out if it does," he said dryly. "It seemed safer than doing it on the mainland amidst all the green growing things. Though I thank you for your concern. I don't think we've met before, or if we did it was only briefly. I'm Jigano and you are...?"
A handsome enough fellow by any standard, but his gruff approach and belligerence did take away from some of that for the moment. Still, Jigano had experienced rockier starts with people who eventually became friends. His first disastrous meeting with Loren came to mind, in fact...
