Completed Trading Interests (Shane)

[Letixia Raigner]

Spring 17th, 514 Leti was down at the docks today, enjoying one of the open air spaces within the city. She'd been speaking with the Knights that patrolled this area, and was now going to use her time for some personal training. She wasn't adorned in her armor, nor had her fishing gear like normal. Today she simply had her shield on her back and sword on her hip. She found an unused spot at the beginning of one of the docks, where a ship might unload some of its cargo. But this particular dock wasn't in use at the moment, so she took over the space. She set her shield next to a crate nearby, keeping it always within reach. She removed her boots and set them next to it. She got down on her hands and knees. She curled up her toes so that they were sitting on the cool stone. She then began to slowly walk her feet backwards, step by step, extending her legs. When they were fully extended, she adjusted her body so that her shoulders, hips, and ankles formed as straight of a sloped line as possible, her body being supported by her extended arms. While in this position, she made sure to control her breathing, and bring in her stomach and lower back muscles. Her body cried out for her to stop, which meant she was probably doing it right, but she continued to breathe slowly, in through her nose, out through her mouth, trying to maintain her line. After a few chimes of the position, the burning became too much and she let herself down back to her hands and knees. Leti then moved on to her next position. She reassumed her previous position, to gain the line of her body. She then lifted her hips slightly, breaking the line, She then began to shift her weight to her left hand side, rolling her body. It eventually rolled enough that her torso was perpendicular to the ground facing outwards. She found this position much more difficult to maintain, especially as she extended her right arm upwards to keep in line with her other arm. She could feel her torso, back, and arm muscles all straining under her weight. Keeping the line of her back straight was nearly impossible for the squire. After several chimes of this, she rolled and did it for the opposite side. Having finished that position, she found herself a good deal more relaxed, and tired. She sat down on the stone, looking out into the water along the coast, taking in deep breaths of the salty air. She brought her knees to her chest, then relaxed them downwards to the sides. She pulled her ankles in as far as her flexibility would allow, and held the seated position, smiling, as she thought about nothing more than the water in front of her, all the while maintaining her breathing. One breath in through the nose, then out through the mouth.

[Shane Wallsly]

A black dog, of similar size and shape to a black Labrador, came padding up to her sniffing at her curiously and moderately invasively poking at her side with it's cold, wet nose. The dog had beautiful, ruby eyes and seemed, on the whole, extremely peaceful.

Shane came running up the pier panting much more than the dog was. He was dressed in his usual brown coat and scarlet scarf combo. He also wore his gloves for it was a touch nippy by the water today. Shane had taken to walking Norman down by the docks on his lunch break. There wasn't much open food lying about and nobody seemed to care so much if Norman decided to follow nature's call. Shane would have walked Norman in the woods if he was sure Norman wouldn't go bounding after the first interesting thing he smelled never to be seen again.

“I am so sorry, Miss, did my dog interrupt your... Uh, sitting?” Shane apologised when he saw that Norman was disrupting someone. “He just gets away from me sometimes. Come here, Norman.” Shane ordered doubting the success of his order before it even came out of his mouth. Norman did what he wanted. The only time the stubborn dog listened to him was when his belly was rumbling.

“Oh, where are my manners.” Shane said with a friendly smile. “My name is Shane Wallsly and this dark fellow with the cold nose is Norman.” Shane hadn't gotten that good a look at her yet due to his preoccupation with the dog.

Credit to Skerry

[Letixia Raigner]

As Leti sat there, breathing, stretching, relaxing, she was slightly startled as something wet slid up her cheek. She immediately opened her eyes and looked over to find herself looking a large dog straight in the face. Laughing a little, she rubbed his head, "Why hello there boy. How are you today?" Leti always liked dogs, even if she never owned one of her own. They were almost always friendly and loyal, and they could be trained to be useful as well. Maybe she would get one after she became a Knight. Her eyes drifted upward to see a man just behind him. "No, he didn't, just came by to learn yoga too I'd guess." Leti rubbed the dog, whose name she just learned was Norman, atop his head. She released herself from her position and stood up, and faced the man. She smiled at his greeting, and as per usual, she stuck out her hand, hoping to receive the same. "My pleasure to meet you Shane," then glancing down at the dog, "Norman." "I'm Letixia Raigner, squire to Ser Ranqor Grayne. What brings you two down to the docks on this lovely day?"

[Shane Wallsly]

Her words caused Shane to smile. It was nice to see someone not entirely allergic to dogs as many surly residents of the Citadel seemed to be. As she stood Shane suppressed an involuntary inhale. Woah, he hadn't seen a girl like that in a long time. Clean, well-dressed, pretty girls did not hang around Undeniable Interests as you might imagine. Frankly, Shane hadn't seen or spoken to many women in his lifetime. He vaguely recalled playing with some girls in his youth but none of them really stood out. There weren't many children from those days he still knew, or remembered, anyway.

Shane was not, however, going to forget everything he'd learnt about manners just because he was faced with a member of the opposite sex. When she offered her hand he stepped forward, removed a glove and took a firm grip of it. “Likewise, Miss?” Oddly, it was his first time holding a girl's hand since his mother's death. It was warm and soft. He tugged it politely but firmly and withdrew the hand regloving it to protect it from the cold. He had to wonder how much harder his hand would be than a girls. He'd never done any hard labour before.

It was amazing how quickly his mind jumped to alertness as she declared her squireship. He froze in place. Odd tingles moved up and down his spine. Knight-in-training! A list of crimes against Syliras listed through his mind. Unlawful pat defecation in the Bazaar, Fire Theft, Hypnotising a baby etc etc Most of them weren't exactly something a squire would care about. The last one would probably rouse them to make an arrest though. He took a mental cleansing breath. Remember the code. The rules. She didn't know anything. Look at her. He met her by accident. A quick look up and down her person confirmed she was unarmed. She'd been practising stretches when Norman had interrupted her. She was just doing her squire training thing and pausing any longer was going to make her suspect something is odd.

“Letixia,” He said with a pleasant smile. “If I may be too kind, that is a very pretty name.” Norman wagged his tail jubilantly and nosed her about the knees demanding more petting. “Forgive me if I seem a bit nervous but I've never met a squire before. It sounds like a very hard lifestyle. You must be very tough.”

Credit to Skerry

[Letixia Raigner]

Letixia blushed mildly under the man's compliment to her name. It was rare for her to receive compliments, and if she did, it typically was applied to some form of her training. She felt Norman asking for attention, and rather than look Shane in the eyes in her slightly embarrassed state, she bent down and rubbed at his head vigorously. Leti didn't know much about dogs, so she hadn't the slightest idea as to what breed Norman was. "It can be quite challenging at the easiest of times. But it has so many points where it feels rewarding, and worth it. And hopefully soon I'll be a full fledged Knight. Then I can really make a difference." She knelt down next to Norman, giving him lots of attention, scratching behind the ears, under his chin, behind the neck. She'd forgotten how much she enjoyed a dog's company. She stood up, her sheathed sword tapping lightly against her leg. She reached over and grabbed her boots and slipped into them. She picked up her shield, holding it at ease at her side in her left hand. "I should probably stop loitering around here, a few of the Knights don't like Squires getting in the way of their patrol areas."

[Shane Wallsly]

“Oh yeah. The chance to help people must feel great. I sometimes wonder if I should have signed up myself.” Shane replied pleasantly. It wasn't an entire lie either. Shane could imagine it. If he were stronger, less clumsy and a touch more dedicated he could have done it. It would be so much work but at the end you would be a Knight of Syliras. Your word was law. The only people who could dispute you were Knights above you and hey if you were good enough what was to stop from becoming the Grandmaster of the entire Order. The Grandmaster was basically King of Syliras.

Shane froze as he noted the sword on her side. How had he missed that? Seriously? She was armed and, quite frankly, Shane could do nothing but bolt if she decided to cut him down. He certainly wasn't going to be able to hypnotise her into not wanting to cut him down. This girl was nice enough though. She seemed to genuinely enjoy the attentions of the dog. Shane didn't know if he could trust a person who weren't taken in by Norman’s charm. It seemed inhuman to want to do anything other than just snuggle up with the dog for all of eternity. Such an irrational want... It made him feel really human.

“Oh, hey, well...” Shane started kind of nervously when she noted she should probably get out of here. He was going to offer but she obviously wouldn't accept. She didn't want to associate herself with him. “I still need to... Do you want to walk with us? Norman and I, I mean.” Shane looked everywhere but at her as he asked. Surely he was overstepping his bounds. This was just an altercation and she was polite. She wouldn't want to walk anywhere with him...

Credit to Skerry

[Letixia Raigner]

Leti saw him go still as his eyes passed over her sword. This really didn't surprise her, a lot of civilians weren't comfortable with the idea of weapons. Then he said something that took her completely by surprise. He'd asked her to go walking with him and Norman. She was used to people asking her to do things with them all the time, but it was usually an errand or training or something along those lines. No one ever just wanted to spend time with her. It was... it was nice. She found herself smiling a silly grin, a blush filling her cheeks. She quickly stifled it down, as was her training as a squire. After having gained some semblance of control over her emotions, she looked up at him, locking eyes. "Sure, that sounds nice." She switched her shield over to her right hand, and stood over next to Norman, placing the dog between her and Shane. "So, where are we off to?" She found herself wanting to know more about Shane, and she couldn't keep that damnable grin off of her face. She found herself wondering what he did with his day, what sort of things he liked. This, was most certainly a first for the young squire.

[Shane Wallsly]

Shane smiled a little too brightly. “Excellent. I mean, yeah, good.” He felt even more nervous now than he had felt when he had asked. He was no longer wondering why she would want to walk with him. Now he was just nervous that she would stop wanting to walk with him.

“Where?” Shane repeated when she asked where exactly they were off to. Shane wasn't sure. Would she be interested in his normal route? Well he had to get back to Avira in time so he couldn't afford a scenic route. The average route would have to do “Well I usually walk along to the end of the docks and then cut around the outside of the Dyres District, drop Norman off at home in the Maiden District then cut down to the Nettle district for the end of lunchtime.”

“Shall we be off then?” Shane asked waiting a moment after asking before starting at a slow stroll. He wanted to begin walking but not just suddenly walk away from here. As he began to walk Shane thought it prudent to ask her something. To get the conversational ball rolling as it were “Umm, so you must stay in the Bittern District with the other squires. Uh, what's it like to live with other people? Like strangers and such.” At that point Shane noticed Norman was lagging behind sniffing at some barrels. “Come on, Norman.” Shane added hastily.

Credit to Skerry

[Letixia Raigner]

Leti listened to the route he normally took. She knew those areas well, having accompanied Knights on patrol along them many a times. If she judged where he lived correctly, he was surprisingly close to her father's apartment. She thought to herself that he should probably get a leash for Norman, even if he was well behaved. Dogs weren't always treated the best in Syliras, even by the Knights. She heard Shane start them along their little jaunt, and she smiled at the thought. "Yes, on the Second Tier of Bitterns." She'd heard him ask about living with other people, an interesting thought. She'd never been asked before, though likely because she mostly socialized with fellow squires. "It's really quite interesting, and they never stay strangers for long. You never get lonely, that's for sure. But over all it's just a bunch of like minded people falling into one big routine. I always wake up second of those in my room. Myself and two others always clean and maintain our gear in the common area before breakfast. We all eat together, then go to our trainings and studies." She knew the route that flowed between Bittern and Dyres quite possibly the best. She took it quite often, to and from her dorm. As they strolled along casually, she would stop and pop out a small, "Hello Ser Frensin," or "Good day Ser Klaus." She knew nearly all the Knights on patrol in this area, and the few vendors and buskers as well. "So what do you do with your day when you aren't walking Norman here?"

[Shane Wallsly]

She seemed quite happy with her choice of life. Shane didn't know if he could do it. It sounded so open. How could one keep secrets? How could you still be an individual if you never got a moment's peace. In his mind his home had always been the one place where he was alone with his thoughts. It was sanctuary to him. He just couldn't imagine having nowhere like that.

“Doesn't it get a bit overwhelming sometimes?” He asked curiously. “Where do you go when you want to be completely alone?”

Shane almost froze the first time she bid a knight good day but he slowly grew more comfortable with it. He'd never interacted with a Knight in a friendly way before. To Shane they had always been these omnipresent enforcers. If you went your whole life without being noticed by the Knights you were doing life right.

“I work mostly.” Shane answered truthfully. “I only get a couple of days off every season. I'm a clerk at a shop down in the Nettle District. You might not have heard of it. It's a pretty odd shop. It's called Undeniable Interests. Has the best books in the Citadel though, no doubt. Do you ever have any free time?”

“Aroof!” Norman barked at a passing woman. The woman cried in surprise throwing the pile of clothes she had been hold into the air.

“Norman!” Shane exclaimed with a scowl. He looked from Letixia to the lady to the clothes on the ground. “Uh, I am so sorry.” He apologised to the woman. “Let me pick these up for you.” He bent down and began to scoop up the clothing.

“You should have that animal under control or not at all!” The woman screeched at him.

“So sorry, ma'am. I'll train him better. Won't happen again.” He replied quite monotonously. The woman just wanted a good shout as far as he could see. He pressed the clothing into her arms apologised again and tried to guide Letixia and Norman out of the way of the scowling woman.

“So, umm, where was I?” Shane asked rhetorically as he scanned through his memory. “Oh yeah, wat do you like to do with your free time?”

Credit to Skerry