A Workless Day, 12th of Spring, 510 (Murdoch)

[Gabriel Thule]

The street was alive with the movements of many, many people, more people than Gabriel could even count. Of course, he didn't bother to make a quick guess, satisfied with the fact that it was a lot, and he would never see more people anywhere in his life. Period.

Ah, such was the harsh reality of his cruel line of work. It gave you times of enormous wealth, and then it dropped you into pits like the one Gabriel Thule, son of Davian Thule, inhabited now. A deep, dark pit with no apparent exits other than the way from which one came.

Mercenary work, it was like a drug. The thrill of the competition, knowing that a slip up could end your life, was unlike anything a calm job in the city could offer him. He was a warrior, an adrenaline junkie. He was addicted, and his addiction was to the adrenaline that powered him.

A slight smile crossed his lips as he folded his arms, eventually pushing off of the wall. He yawned, with a stretch, and then continued down the road, humming a song to himself.

He took a corner sharply, turning on his toe in his own little odd way, and before he knew it, he collided head on with a man coming the other way, on the wrong side of the street. Gabriel made a loud oof noise, stumbling backwards, collecting his now swimming head.

"Sorry about that, sir," he finally spoke in his calm, deep voice, bowing ever so slightly. "I hope you aren't too hurt!"

[Murdoch]

Murdoch had been making his way through the crowds of the marketplace, a smile on his friendly face and a murmured hello for most of the vendors and shopkeepers he saw. He was a fixture in the lantern-lit lanes of Stormhold, well known to just about everyone who hung out in the third tier.

It was his personable demeanor that allowed him to stop and observe a length of silk at one of the stalls, offering a flirtatious smile to the lovely little raven-haired beauty who was fingering one of the bolts. The woman blushed and batted her eyelashes, and Doc grinned even wider as he made to slip past her to ostensibly look at another bit of cloth. Of course, it really just gave him an excuse to trail fingertips against the small of her back, to brush seductively against her as he moved around her to the other side of the vendor. To whisper something sweet and complimentary against her throat, making her shiver a little as her breath quickened.

And, of course, to get his fingers on her coinpurse and slip it carefully from her belt without her noticing.

He took a moment to look at what he'd been pretending to want to look at, and then he gave the woman another sultry smile and a wink for good measure, ensuring she was properly flustered before he slipped back into the crowd.

The purse was hidden in an inside pocket of his shirt and he began winding down pathways and halls, slipping through the market in a mish-mosh of directions, the better to lose the woman should she discover quickly that her purse was gone.

He'd just decided that he was away safely and begun to slow his steps when he rounded another corner - and then an explosion of pain had him laid out on his back, completely unprepared for whatever had just collided with his face.

This is it, he thought dazedly. They've caught me. Now they'll throw me in the wilds and I'll get eaten by bears. Awesome.

But then he heard someone apologizing... oh, shyke. Just some tourist bumbling through the castle. He forced his eyes to open, and rolled over onto his side so he could swallow with choking on the faint trickle of blood that was leaking from his nose. "Syna's shining tits, man, you got a petching steel plate for a head," he groused, shoving up to his feet and pressing the heel of one palm beneath his eye. Yep, that would be a shiner in the morning.

[Gabriel Thule]

Ah. A witty one. "What can I say? I make a living off of smashing into people going down the wrong side of the street," Gabriel countered sarcastically. giving his wry little smile. He looked over the man's injuries frowning as he spotted the bleeding. "Gods almighty, are you all right? Your nose is bloody bleeding, and from such a light impact! I'm only a tad bit sore around the forehead, nothing like you have. You're full on falling apart!" Gabriel declared, moving his arms as if singling him out.

Finally, after another long silence where he was regarding the man, he extended a long, friendly arm. "Gabriel Thule, at your service, sir. Can I get you something for the nose, or that area that looks like it may be bruised tomorrow?" he was obviously trying to be on his best manners, not wanting some random legal wrath called down upon him. "Here, I have some spare cloth you can tidy yourself up with if you wish!" he then stated, pulling a loose piece of cloth from his bag and handing it to the mystery man.

Mr. Thule was indeed curious as to the man's origins, but he wasn't rude enough to show it. He looked friendly enough, but Gabriel has seen too many friendly people in his time (including himself) to trust first impressions. "Once again, sir, my apologies for hitting you like that. I didn't know you were around the corner!"

[Murdoch]

Once the worst of the pain subsided, Murdoch remembered himself and immediately a wry, self-deprecating smile slid into place. "You've more than earned your fee," he quipped, taking the cloth with a murmur of thanks and using it to get the blood off. It wasn't that bad, just a little spatter, but the black eye would be truly spectacular.

He wasn't sure if the man wanted the thing back or not, so he just kept it in the other fist as he shook hands. "Murdoch, and no sir. The gods forbid I ever try to be a Knight," he laughed good-naturedly. "I think they've a rule about how many shots of whiskey you're allowed. Don't worry about the eye, though, probably makes me look a bit dashing, eh?" he chuckled, giving a roguish grin. Which only served to make him wince in pain, and chuckle again. "You have to watch yourself coming around corners in Stormhold. There's too many of 'em to just go flying around with your head down."

[Gabriel Thule]

Ah. A drunkard, judging by his comment on how he loved his whiskey so much that he wouldn't join the Knights. He wasn't sure exactly how the Knights got brought into the conversation. It might have been because of how much he had said sir in the past minute, but he wasn't about to ask, so the joke intended, if there was one, would forever go unnoticed.

"I suppose you're right, Murdoch," Gabriel then mused to himself. Gently, he took his cloth back, resolving to wash it, and once again looked over the man. He looked fishy, or maybe he was making things up. He had a bad habit of doing that. "Bloody corners. I wonder how many people have this happen to them a day," he then joked with a quiet chuckle.

"Yes, the black eye will get you ALL of the ladies," Gabriel said with a wink. "They just love black eyes," his voice dripped with sarcasm, and he let out another one of his quiet laughs. "So tell me, sir, where were you headed?"

[Murdoch]

"They do, actually," he laughed, slapping Gabriel heartily on the shoulder. "Trust me, you've no idea how much women love a bit of a rough-and-tumble man. They may look nicely upon a clean-cut fellow, but it's the rogues they make bedroom eyes at. Well, anyway, I was heading over to the market to grab some lunch. And you, Gabe? What're you up to this fine day, other than getting paid to muss up my face?"

[Gabriel Thule]

Gabriel laughed quietly at the joke about being paid to do something as simple as run into Murdoch. "Ah, if only I was being paid for something, especially something that simple," he joked in response. "To be blunt, absolutely squat. I've been sitting around with nothing to do because no one here has seen fit to provide me with a job. One of those months, I suppose. There are times when I can pick anything from walking down the street with a letter to hunting down lost daughters, and now I can't even find a job wiping a beggar's bloody ass," Gabriel said with a slight shrug. "I may as well join you, then, if you would find it so acceptable. Who knows, maybe some pompous merchant will need to have his coins counted or some shite. Now if only I could count..." he smiled playfully at the last bit, being capable of counting, just feeling open enough to make jokes now.

[Murdoch]

"Well then, I think that calls for a drink!" he said, slapping Gabe on the shoulder and waving him to follow Doc as he started down one of the corridors. "Come on then, first round's on me."

The man was adept at slipping through the crowds, but then this was his city and he was used to it, had lived in it most of his life. "If you're looking for a job, you should head over to the Employment Office. They've always got an odd job or two for a bloke looking to make a few coins, and if you're a citizen they can usually set you up with something more permanent. You got a place here, or are you just passing through?"

[Leviathan]

Thread Award! Murdoch   Skills Skill Gain Info. Seduction 2 Casual Flirtation, Distraction from Theft Larceny 1 Simple Pick Pocketing Rhetoric 1 Casual Sarcasm in Speech   Lore Using Your Head the Wrong Way   Extra + 2 gm, 7 sm -- + 1 Silver Ring 4 gm value Gabriel   Skills Skill Gain Info. Rhetoric 1 Casual Sarcasm in Speech   Lore Using Your Head the Wrong Way Additional CommentsSorry there wasn't many skills earned. Not too much to work with. As always, feel free to PM me any comments, questions, or concerns.