making me feel glad that I'm not you

Morgan

Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go

"The fiercest battle..." Morgan paused, as if thinking about it, but really the answer came immediately to mind; she just had to consider how to speak of it. "A few years ago, there was a break out in Whitebrim. Several occupants headed towards the Citadel, armed and crazed." She had seen hunger in their eyes, a desperate and wild kind, as they had lurched towards the gates; it had made her stomach turn. "I was Captain of the Guard at the time and formed the first line of defense with my team, outside of the Citadel. It was a long fight, almost an hour. They just kept coming, and they weren't afraid to die." Her voice was not that of a solider proudly telling a bawdy war tale; she spoke with the quiet solemnness that befitted an event that had meant so many deaths. Stopping there, she glanced over to Saiden to see if he wanted her to continue.

Learning that this man had been in his old world (which made sense, really - she'd been struggling to think of many 'nobles' in Torchline), she nodded, but looked away with an eye roll as he touched his scar. "No. Do you ever turn off?"

As for his name suggestions...they did, unfortunately, draw a smile from her. "I'm not interested in fame, only what they might do for the sick."

I've been kicking them away
Been hoping not to let them take control

saiden

Saiden listened to Morgan's tale. Eyes studying her features as she spoke, he hummed when she was finished. "Mmmm. But ye won in the end." Smiling, he wagged a finger at her. "And you said ye weren't a storyteller," he teased.

Laughing at her question, he shook his head. "No." Winking, he smirked. "How bad would it be if I said that I very much prefer to turn on?" Although he still chuckled, he did drop his hand into his lap and kept them there.

Watching her handle the flower, he narrowed his eyes at her. "It doesn't have to be either or, ye know. Ye can have fame and help people." He shrugged. "I have to know, though, what do ye like to do for fun?"

Morgan

Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go

"I'm not. We did win, though. It took a lot, and several of the guards were injured...but we didn't lose anyone, that day." Saying that she frowned, let out a sigh; she had not lost anyone then, but the next time there had been an attack at the gates? It had been a very different story. Those deaths still pulled at her heart every time she recalled them and knocked the wind out of her, made her want to hide in shame; very few things did that to the Warden.

She groaned at his joke, rolling her eyes. "I don't do a lot for fun. I like to train." That probably didn't count, though; it was for her job, and not what most people would consider a casual hobby. "...Sometimes, very rarely, I like to read novels. I don't have much time, though." When she got to her room at night, she was usually tired enough to simply undress and fall into bed; it had been a while since she had felt awake enough to spend time reading.

"I don't know if I dare ask what it is you do." Morgan glanced over, fingers still lightly tracing the edges of the lily.

I've been kicking them away
Been hoping not to let them take control

saiden

Smiling, Saiden shook his head at Morgan's insistence that she wasn't a storyteller. "Ye are in my eyes." He lifted an imaginary glass and toasted the air. "To victory and living to fight another day."

Narrowing his eyes as she explained the few activities that she did in her free time, he nodded at the last example. "Books, huh?" He scratched under his chin. "I'm not much of a reader, but what kinda books do ye like?"

Barking out a laugh, he winked at her. "Then I'll spare ye having to ask." He spread his hands a bit. "I like to cook in my spare time. I know it's my job, but I really do enjoy it."

Morgan

Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go

Morgan let out a lightly embarrassed laugh, unsure of how to take the insistence that she was a storyteller; at least he wasn't trying to call her beautiful again. Deciding to go along with it, she mimed the glass with him, giving a cheers; it made her think of how long it had been since she'd done it in real life, sat in a bar with her guards and sang and drank the night away.

"...Tales of adventure that end happily. There's enough misery in the real world." Escapism wasn't something she indulged in often, but when she could Morgan definitely appreciated the chance to go somewhere else through words. There were, also, a couple of romance novels under her bed; those were never going to be discussed with anyone, especially not Saiden.

That he was a chef was a surprise. Morgan had decided he was likely a smuggler or prostitute, from his attitude; perhaps she had assumed too quickly. "Who do you cook for?"

I've been kicking them away
Been hoping not to let them take control

saiden

Laughing along with Morgan, Saiden grinned as she toasted with him. "Aye, that's the spirit." He leaned over to nudge her shoulder with his own.

Nodding at her explanation, he smirked. "So ye both read and tell adventure stories? Along with being an adventurer yerself? Good on ye." Gesturing around at the hot springs they had found themselves in, he winked at her. "And how would ye rate our current adventure?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"I'm a ship's cook." Pulling out a waterskin, he took a deep pull from it and then offered it to her. As he waited, he wiped some sweat from his brow. "So mostly the crew. But when I'm on shore I've got a little shack with a grill."

Morgan

Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go

"I suppose I do, but I wouldn't really call myself an adventurer. All I do is for the betterment of the Citadel, not for my own gain." While she did occasionally take trips to other realms for herself, Morgan's life had always been in service of the people she cared for and she was content with it being that way. She looked over the hot springs, the place where they had seen the beautiful lily, the reflections in the water, and sighed. "It's beautiful, here, but I don't care for the heat. ...And it was a perilous journey to get here." Hopefully he'd understand that she hadn't loved falling off a cliff towards lava.

She took the waterskin, wiping the opening with her sleeve before drinking from it. "What kind of ship is it? I'm well aware that Torchline has plenty of....illegitimate businesses on it's seas."

I've been kicking them away
Been hoping not to let them take control

saiden

"But ye go on adventures." Saiden grinned at Morgan and gestured at their surroundings. "That makes ye an adventurer. A goody two-shoes, sure, but also an adventurer." Laughing, he nudged her with his shoulder again.

Shrugging at her words, he slid his legs deeper into the hot spring. Letting out a sigh, he felt his body relax as the heat seeped into him. "Aye, but we made it. And found what we're lookin' for." Looking over at her, he arched an eyebrow.

"It's a galleon. Huge ship. Bigger than a house." He stretched out his arms as wide as they could go and wiggled his fingers. "Lots of mouths to feed."

Morgan

Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go

"A goody two shoes." Morgan repeated with dry humour, raising an eyebrow. "I suppose it's better than being the opposite, if that just means someone that is honest and does the right thing." Which was, ultimately, what she wanted to be. Morgan had never understood the appeal of being a criminal; thief or killer, how could they live with the guilt? She was quite content to exist within the laws of man.

Still staying very much on dry land, not quite trusting the water, she watched as Saiden sunk himself deeper within it. "Are you close to the Gods?" Morgan asked, wondering if the water benefitted those who were accepted more.

"I see...so how does a busy ship's cook end up on this mission?" Morgan asked; the rest of them were all officials, council members, people whose job was to scout for things like this; how had a chef gotten caught up in it?

I've been kicking them away
Been hoping not to let them take control

saiden

Grinning at Morgan's tone and expression, Saiden nodded. "Aye, a goody two shoes." Laughing at her next comment, he shook his head. "I dunno about that. Some rules were meant to be broken." His grin tuned into a smirk. "And it can also mean someone who is insufferably holier-than thou and absolutely no fun."

Arching an eyebrow at her, he shook his head. "No, not really. Why do ye ask?" He frowned, giving her a puzzled look.

"Not so busy right now. The Ark's in port for the season. But I think what yer really hoping to hear is that Ronin married my sister." Winking, he waggled his eyebrows at her.

Morgan

Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go

Morgan raised her eyebrows and looked over to Saiden with an unimpressed expression. "So are you saying I'm insufferably holier-than thou and absolutely no fun?" She asked, clearly quite offended by the notion; she tried hard to put herself on equal footing with everyone else, to not give herself any more in praise or resources than any of her people.

And she did have fun. Just not with Saiden, and probably not ever with Saiden, with the way this was going.

At least he wasn't insulting her over the second matter yet. She shrugged and shook her head, holding the hair that shook out over her shoulders with one hand as she tied it back again. "I was just curious. You do have your feet in Frey's Breath." At least it seemed the water wasn't poisonous to those not devout.

"Your sister...?" Morgan thought back to Ronin, the man that had come with him on a cloud...Saiden's sister? "I thought Ronin was married to the governor of Torchline."

I've been kicking them away
Been hoping not to let them take control

saiden

Saiden arched his eyebrow right back at Morgan. Grinning, he shrugged. "Did I say that?" Chuckling, he winked at her. "Or did I say that good two-shoes could be insufferable?" He met her gaze squarely.

Looking into the water, he nodded. "I do. It's quite pleasant, ye should try it." He kicked his legs a little, causing ripples to spread across the surface of the hot spring. "I met Ludo a couple o' times. It was good to me."

Turning away from her, his hands gripped the rocky ground. "Aye, my sister. They were married afore Ronin and Remi. She...died. Giving birth to my niece. Who also died." Taking a deep breath, he felt his vision grow hazy as tears prickled his eyes.

Morgan

Snakes are biting at my heels
The worries that refuse to let us go

"Don't be pedantic. You knew how it would sound." Morgan said back, meeting his eyes squarely; she'd never had much patience for those that picked and switched their meanings around. She always aimed to speak directly and clearly and found herself immediately suspicious of those who didn't.

She went to put her fingertips in the water, watching the smaller ripples that resulted spread out towards Saidens. "I've never met Ludo. ...I've only met Frey, and that was short." She wasn't sure if she'd want to meet Ludo, from all that she had heard; it sounded quite frightening, and there were plenty of people she wouldn't want to see risen from Mort's Realm.

And it seemed death was to hang over their conversation, as Saiden went on to explain about his sister. "...Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't know Ronin had such tragedy in his past."

I've been kicking them away
Been hoping not to let them take control

saiden

Saiden shrugged at Morgan's complaint. "How something sounds and how something is aren't always the same." Grinning, he reached over to punch her in the shoulder.

As she mentioned Frey, he chuckled. "Oh aye? How was that." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "I've heard quite a few stories about them. What were they like?" Licking his lips, he smirked.

Sighing, he slid out of the pool. Standing up, he dried himself off with a flick of his wrist and the barest touch of his magic. "Aye, he does. And so do I." Turning back to the center of the cavern, he slid his hands into his pockets. "We should probably get ready to head back soon." He began to meander away.