Closed Seeing Eye to Eye [Clerk]

[Hornet]

5th of Fall, 513 AV, Early Evening
Riverfall, Lapis Park

It was the odor that intrigued him the most. Where Semele Park dazzled the nose with the fragrances of various flowers, and the Knirin Gardens tended to be dominated by the scent of fresh grass, Lapis Park was filled with an earthier aroma. The combination of stagnant water, mud, various reeds and all kinds of life produced a putrid smell that wasn't quite like anything he had experienced before. It was as if someone had taken a bowl of clay and a bowl of meat and mixed the two together. The end result was still faintly appetizing, but there was simultaneously something unsavory about the combination.

Hornet had come to the park simply because he had not been there before. Lapis wasn't situated on one of the main roads, and the city had many sites that had been higher on his list. But he needed quiet places where he could add entries to his journal, so today he had decided to see if the gemstone park would be suitable for that purpose. His general conclusion was that it wouldn't suit at all. Sure, the park was quiet, but he had yet to find a dry spot that wasn't at risk of getting intruded on by an unwary giant.

Still, he was glad he had come. It wasn't every day that you got to try if the scent of a place was indicative of it's taste. Here, that was just a matter of scooping a handful of mud from one of the ponds and bringing it to your mouth. Never one for dallying, the Pycon immediately followed up on the thought. He crouched low on the edge of the water, stretched out his arm, and brought up a ball of goo. Time to discover which scent dominated the taste.

[Clerk]

Clerk, plucky and unassuming looking as ever, sat reclined on the shoulders of a nearby statue, a piece of soft, dark colored rock held awkwardly and gingerly in one hoof. He flaked bits and pieces of it off onto his trey, brushing them away every so often when there got to be too many to balance. It was yet unclear what the object's eventual purpose would be; in fact he himself was a bit hazy on the concept, and had begun the project more with the purpose of occupying his empty hands and bored mind.

After a time, he held it up to look at it and ponder what direction to go next, when he saw a figure over the edge of the rock in the distance. Lowering it down to get a better look, he saw a vaguely-turtle like Pycon of a very young age bent over and scooping up clay from below the stagnant water. Some might have thought this was an off-putting behavior, but he was somewhat familiar with the concept of finding food in strange, unappealing places. He sat in silence for a few more minutes before clambering down from the statue, tools still in hand.

"Are you new in town?" He asked, standing across the pathway from the other.

[Hornet]

It did contain Riverfall's clay. The mud had the slightly spicy aftertaste that had defined his meals for more then two seasons now, but the undertone was completely different from what he was used to. There was a hint of bitterness, likely caused by the traces of peat contained in the concoction. The greatest difference to his usual diet, however, was the texture of the food. The amount of water was much higher then he was used to, creating a slimy whole that had the tendency to stick to your palate. The whole experience was unlike anything he'd eaten before. It was not wholly unpleasant, but he wouldn't suggest it to the Pyve's cook anytime soon.

The question caught him by complete surprise. He had been so focused on his sampling that he had not seen the stone cutter make his way over. And then there was the question itself. It felt degrading somehow, to be asked if you were new in the town where you'd lived all your life. As if whatever you had been doing, whatever you had experienced up until that point simply did not matter because the person asking the question hadn't observed you doing it. What a smug sense of superiority, what an egocentric worldview to immediately assume that someone was new. Hornet didn't like it one bit.

What made matters worse was that the question was asked by a complete stranger, and that he hadn't heard a word about Pycon in Riverfall living outside the Pyve. Had this swine avoided them intentionally, and if so, why? The little turtle was going to find out, and he wasn't going to be subtle about it.

"Well, no," he replied forcefully. "I was born and raised here. Who are you anyway? How come I've never seen you at the Pyve?"

[Clerk]

Clerk smiled slyly at the other Pycon's sudden outburst, trying to contain his own dazed confusion in the easiest way possible. 'Pyve in Riverfall? I've never heard of such a thing. Then again, I haven't lived here long. ...Haha, that's funny. You're just a kid, yet you've lived here your whole life, and I'm new yet practically an old man. Oh well, we all have to find some place to retire eventually, right?" He rubbed his hat nonchalantly and then looked around in boredom and awkward silence.

"So, tell me about this Pyve."

[Hornet]

"So you have not lived here long... Then where in Harameus' ever changing name did that question come from?" Hornet didn't often resort to profanity, but this stranger really managed to get him riled up. "I mean, if you haven't even managed to notice that there is a whole community of Pycon in town, then you have absolutely no right whatsoever to be assuming someone just arrived."

It was just everything the other said and did. From being called just a kid, to the smile that appeared on the hawker's face, Hornet simply got the feeling that he wasn't being taken seriously. And it was difficult enough to prove himself worthy of the protection Riverfall had to offer without some random Pycon treating him like a little kid who wasn't even worth looking at in a conversation. That he was little more then a kid seeing everything for the first time didn't mean this pig had the right to rub it in.

"Yes, there is a Pyve in Riverfall, as you would have known if you had asked around a bit before deciding to retire. But no, why would you take the trouble of asking around? It's not like there's anything to learn when you get to a new place. The best experiences a city has to offer are obviously going to be where you happen to be at the moment, so there's no reason whatsoever to do a bit of research. That was sarcastic, by the way. Thought I would explain, since you seem to be too hated by Eyris to figure it out yourself."

It didn't matter how much older this man was. If he didn't have the common sense to either look around for other Pycon when arriving somewhere, or to be polite when he eventually did run into those other Pycon, he couldn't possibly have experienced anything worthy of respect.

[Clerk]

For a good few moments, Clerk simply stood were he was, not sure what to make of the other's sudden hostility- what exactly was it that he said? He wasn't used to people taking such issue with him, and could only stare on in wonder as every other word out of his fellow's mouth flew over him. He tapped his chin with a hoof repeatedly and shook his head back and forth while staring at the ground, bewildered by the entire strange reaction he'd received.

"You need...to calm down." He finally muttered. "There's no reason to swear or anything. I mean, when I see another guy I've never seen before I want to get to know him, right? I do apologize for confusing you for a traveler, but no need to blow your stack just because I asked where you come from." Still tapping his chin, he pondered the half-carved piece of material he'd been working on. He might have given it as a peace offering, but decided there wasn't much sentiment in a formless piece of rock.

[Hornet]

Was he overreacting to what essentially was an innocent set of statements? It would require his conversation partner to be a complete fool with absolutely no sense of politeness, but it was possible that the slights weren't intentional. Not likely, given how much they hurt, but possible. To be fair, the other did seem to be confused about his reaction. Perhaps he should still give him the benefit of the doubt.

Throughout the conversation, he had been rubbing his front right hand, squeezing and opening it again in an attempt to get rid of the mud still clinging to it. Now that the idea of forgiving started to cross his mind, the squeezing became more pronounced, the opening more reluctant, as if his body physically wanted to crush the idea. Even if the affronts had been unintentional, they still had been made. It would take more then a simple apology for just one of them for him to set them aside. The other would have to get politer, and fast. Still, that was no excuse to behave rudely yourself. Hornet at least would have to make an attempt.

"Well, sure," he replied brusquely, "but when I'm answering questions, I expect to receive some answers in return. So, I'm slightly over two seasons old, was born and raised in Riverfall, and just started my job as scribe in the Message Square. Now what about you? Are you going to tell anything about yourself, or what?"

Hmm, it seemed the remarks had cut deeper then he thought. That definitely could have come out friendlier.

[Clerk]

Clerk sighed, shrugged slightly and then mimed tipping his hat. "I'm Clerk, I carve from...ah, well, I was born in Kalinor, but let's not focus on that, right?" He gave a sideways glance, hoping his downplay was convincing, "I make stuff out of precious rocks, see?" He held out his project so Hornet could get a better view of it, but far enough he could take it back quickly if need be. "Is that good enough for you?" He wanted to punctuate his sentence with a scathing 'kid', but held it in.

[Hornet]

He had not expected the stranger to start by mentioning a name. From what he had understood during his discussions in the Pyve on the subject, the concept was generally considered strange, and was adopted mainly because the larger races expected it. The use of nicknames, which described the relationship between two people, was logical in a sense. A nickname described the feelings or associations one person had for another, and could change over time. A name as used by the big ones however, never changed and seemed to be considered defining somehow. For Hornet, the idea seemed rather foreign. If you continuously changed, how could a single name forever describe you? But it seemed that this Pycon had somehow found a strong enough sense of identity to use a name first and foremost when describing himself.

Suddenly, there was a reason to the conversation. If this stone carver had mastered the mystery of using a name, then Hornet just had to know what he had discovered. Perhaps he could finally get to know if he'd chosen the right name for himself. The other two topics mentioned, Kalinor and artwork from stones, might be interesting because he didn't know anything about them, but it was the mystery of the name that actively made him want to overcome his aversion to this person. He'd been struggling with the problem for too long to let a chance of a good explanation slip.

Judging by the last question, he was upsetting his conversation partner. The hostilities needed to be ended if he wanted to have any chance of seeing his question answered. Perhaps misinterpreting that last remark could get some cold out of the air?

"I don't know, to be quite honest," he answered with a shrug. "I haven't got any experience with stone carving, so I couldn't tell you if it seems any good before it's finished." It was a rather transparent attempt, but at least it came out better then his last one. "Now if you wanted to know about letters, then I could help you. As I mentioned, I work in Message Square, so I guess you could say I'm a clerk too." Talk about obvious and forced transitions. He would still have a lot to learn. At least by showing that he was willing to talk about himself he hopefully gained the goodwill to get a conversation on that all important topic. "It's an interesting name, by the way. How did you end up with it?"

[Clerk]

"An actual clerk, huh? I guess we have something in common after all! Of course, I don't know anything more about sending letters then you do about carving..." He drifted off, and then suddenly snapped back to attention.

"...Ah, that was rude for me to introduce myself with a name. I need to be more careful about that. Well, to answer your question, it's just an idea I got from adventuring I guess. I never really thought about it before, but I suppose that it's because I always liked to watch people making trades. It's not the first name I've had or will it probably be the last, but you know, when you spend so much time around the bigger ones it becomes a bad habit. I spent a lot of my earlier years tucked in side someone's traveling bag..."