1st adventure: the fallout

Steve accepts the wine with a thank you and sits down on the corner of the bed. "I think it's a little more than a magic bobble Konrad. If I'm understanding correctly you're basically saying you'll shatter someone's heart for magical science."

He takes a sip.

Breeze, eyes closed and now sitting with her legs and arms crossed, vigorously nods at Steve's observation.

The crack in Konrad's mood is as noticeable as the silence that follows in its wake. He quickly mans the helm. "It certainly does now, doesn't it? Please forgive me, Breeze. I'm an explorer at heart, and if no one's feelings stand between me and something I'm curious about, I rush headlong toward it. I will never suggest it again."

Once they are able to move on, he reciprocates Steve's query. "You don't have to worry about how I'm doing. There is nothing new under the sun, and I have seen enough under it - in its light or in its shadow. What about you, Steve? What's on your mind?"

Breeze seems satisfied.

"Apologies accepted."

She lies down again, then goes back to flapping her legs.

Konrad glances over his raggedy clothes, blackened and mulching from dampness. "Aye. I'll have to replace this, but tomorrow... Did you think I would have? She made it clear, it was either her or us, and she sure came to us right quickly. The coin we kept came in handy, didn't it?"

Steve ignores talk of the coin for now. "I honestly didn't know what to think you would do. To me, this came from the same guy who was off talking to the lady who hired us in an attempt at personal gain and then got cupcakes right after instead of staying with his team and trying to save a man's life. We almost died out in that forest Konrad and if Breeze hadn't been there we would have. So I'm here to see which Konrad is the real one. So tell me which is it?"

He takes a sip of the wine.

Konrad considers a jape involving a full moon at night, then sighs. "I thought we buried this already, Steve, you by yourself after you calmed down, without my need explaining. You're a smart lad, do you really need me to tell you what we both know about my motivations and intentions?"

Grinning, he answers, "I imagine saying 'because I'm always happy' would be even more worrying than the truth." The grin fades. "I smile whenever its appropriate to go with my polite tone and manners. I smile because I want to make friends and put other people at ease. I want people to open up to us, and making friends along the way can save your life, even if you exchange nothing."

The prodigal grin returns. "Just ask Breeze, she's done nothing but make friends whenever she shows herself to anyone, and Yen brought her cupcakes for days."

Breeze rolls on the bed, having fun by herself.

"Hey, me, I'm cute, and the scar on your face isn't." She thinks for a second. "Sorry."

With a tiny smirk, he replies, "Aye, ugly Scar is fighting for dominance, and I have to compensate by accentuating my mother's eyes, and my father's cheekbones. Every day is a battle, truly," he finishes with a facetious "poor me".

Konrad turns a pointed look at Steve under one eyebrow. "I don't."

He chuckles. "Is that so? And who says they're scared?"

He places his hand over his heart. "Very well. I suppose it must be painfully obvious. I'm only eager to leave my past behind, you see. That is the reason for my 'shield', but nevermind that. So, I shall be polite and happy to meet new people, and so sour and dour once I've gotten to know them. What I mean is...less forced smiles," he smiles.

Steve laughs at the joke. Doubles up even. "Okay, okay, enough of that. But if you don't mind me asking, what life did you lead prior to this one? You are obviously well trained and have a good head on your shoulders in a fight."

[Not intended to be joking, but I'll go with it.]

The room grows silent. Konrad laughs nervously. He was hoping he could pass over it with "nevermind that". "I didn't fight for anything good. I took the wrong jobs, worked with the wrong people. It was a long time before I found myself paying the price for it all," he turns the scarred side of his face toward Steve, "but I did pay. I'm...making it my mission to ensure the world drops it for good."

[Oh too bad. I thought it was pretty clever. Sorry for the misunderstanding. The down side of no tone and lack of immediate clarification in play-by-post RP.]

"Oh I see. You don't have to go into it if you don't want to. I just want to know more about you."

"Wow. I've never even thought about being part of a ship's crew!" The way his face lights up, you can see that Steve is rather taken with the idea. He starts spitting questions a mile a minute. "What do you eat on ships? Will I need new clothes? How do ropes work? I hear storms are a thing, how's that? Is it true sailors have lots of STDs? Do you have lots of STDs?"

"All right, all right," Konrad says, waving his hands. "I could teach you to handle the ropes, I do better showing instead of explaining, but I'll tell you now, it's tough work. No, I don't have VD, and I don't presume to know how many any of my crew had - except...Thorald." The name rolls off his tongue with minor discomfort. "You could wear whatever you want within reason, and generally, you want preserved foodstuffs - if it goes down better than 'had better', it's probably not what you're looking for. Visits to the mainland are the best days of your life."

"Storms are terrible, people die."