[Riesig] Incendiary [Past]

[Nashota]

The sun was high in the sky as she hoofed it to the harbor. The cobblestones were uneven beneath her boots, and the city streets stunk -- as usual. In the midst of the too-heavy scent of unwashed bodies, cooked food, and the smells wafting in from the harbor, Nashota grimaced. It was a motley medley of scents, and her own enhanced sense of smell was suffering. When a man with a hurried look to his features pushed by, shoving her, she growled, frustration skyrocketing almost immediately. She had an aversion to being touched, and being in the city tested it on even her very best days.

Whatever his reason, the man paid her no mind and kept the same pace as he pushed through the crowd, earning a few warning glances from other patrons who were making their way in the opposite direction. She sighed and continued on her way -- she was on her way to the docks, to look for work. Even with her own parents dead and gone, she needed money to live and eat. She could get by some days by renting out a hotel room for a night or two. On the nights she couldn't and had to choose between shelter and eating, she holed up in an alley and fought the cold off with pure stubbornness and the will to survive.

Her mother, during her life, might have chastised her and told her to find honest, steady work instead of the fleeting grinds she'd been taking as of late -- but her mother wasn't alive, and the idea of working on another farm wasn't all that appealing. She sighed again, flipping stray strands of midnight hair back over her bare shoulder as she continued on her way.

[Riesig]

"Bah da da da tst tst tst" were the sounds heard by those as Riesig paraded around the docks with his hair alight in Phantom Flames. He seemed like he had a whole lot of room to care, it was just totally vacant at the moment. He wasn't just making sounds though, he had his mists shaped like some drums hanging from his chest. And he was far too busy air drumming. He did manage to not walk into people though, and when he noticed that some random guy was charging through, he went to the first 'victim' as he dissolved the drums into a gauntlet around his left hand. Who happened to be Nashota. "Yikes. That guy must have be in some hot water to go charging around like that. Lucky someone hasn't shived him yet. You look like you're in a hurry too. Name's Riesig by the way. Where ya headed?" Any social clues that she maybe wanted to keep going where she was headed rolled right on over him as he held out his right hand to shake hers in greeting.

[Nashota]

Still pushing through the crowd, Nashota didn't notice the male speaking to her until she realized that he was indeed speaking <i>to</i> her. When he shoved his hand in front of her, she could muster up nothing more than a more or less confused glance between his hand and face. She'd been so focused on getting to the harbor, that her brain was having trouble switching gears so suddenly, but once it comprehended what her eyes were trying to tell it, she gave his pale appendage a skeptical glance. Pointedly avoiding it, she responded, "I was hard-pressed not to. Nashota. Harbor."

She didn't know if he'd been there, on the harbor, for long -- but there was no harm in asking, "What have you heard of side jobs?" She'd invested in working the odd stints, and even mercenary work -- typically, acting as a body guard for a few days or less -- but she'd turned away from that whole deal when her parents had passed. Who knew? Perhaps even this stranger had need of work and would provide well-enough pay. If she were being completely honest, she longed to travel the countryside on any number of the grand adventures that mothers whispered to their children before bedtime each night.

But that was a pipe dream -- and this was real life, with its stinky harbors, filthy alleys, and crowded streets. How drear.

[Riesig]

He held his hand out awkwardly for a few moments longer than he should have. When he realized that it wasn't going to be shaken, he shrugged and let it fall. He took no care that she ignored the social cue, because he didn't much care about them himself. He chuckled at her response. He leaned in a bit closer and whispered, "You know, we can still shiv him." He leaned back and laughed lightly again. "But seriously, the deeper you get into the town the more you see people stop caring as they get busier. And if you're looking for a job, it's not that hard. Heck I'm sure if you yelled loud enough someone here would give you something to do. But this stuff doesn't usually pay more than what you need." He seemed to suddenly realize that his hair was still flaming, mostly because he saw a glint of it in her eyes. He extinguished it so it set back to his natural hair. "What kind of work do you want to do? Maybe we could go find a job. Someone always needs something done. I've even got some friends that might want some work...if I can still find her..." A smarter person wouldn't offer to work with a stranger on the street. But Riesig was not a smarter person.

[Nashota]

The awkward pause wasn't lost on Nashota -- she simply didn't care enough to address it. It seemed they were, at the very least, on the same page, though as Riesig easily moved passed it. At his mumbled words, whispered in feigned secrecy, she snorted. "If I have to step back into that crowd, I might shiv every last one of them for spite." Her skin was bristling the strange sensitivity it usually had. It wasn't anything that was caused by any sort of power or object. It was simply her adverse aversion to being touched. The urge to shake herself was nearly overwhelming -- but she recalled that she wasn't in her wolf form, and that motion would look strange and pointless in her human skin.

Disappointment welled up for a moment, and she growled low in her throat, giving little care to whether or not Riesig heard it. She at least gave the recognition of nodding at his words instead of hearing them and not reacting at all. Part of her realized that was rude. Most of her didn't give a shit. That being said, his words brought the realization that he was likely right. The harbor was hardly a formal place, and she probably could have asked anyone instead of trying to be discreet about needing money.

She was reluctant to go back into farm work, but in all honesty, it was a good way to keep her strength without having to spend too much extra time exercising. "I'm more accustomed to farm work," she began, "but I'm a quick learner. Prone to decking rude customers. Doesn't play well with others." Probably exactly why she couldn't get a steady job. Punching customers wasn't exactly a desired trait in an employee. The sleeveless tee she wore didn't block much of the breeze coming off the harbor, and as she scanned her surroundings again, more out of habit than any actual worry, she sighed.

[Riesig]

"Excellent! Decking rude people usually pays pretty well! Unless you do it before you get the job. Then you tend to not get paid. Learned that one the hard way." He said with a sheepish grin as he pushed his hand through his hair. When she sighed, he looked confused. He thought about their exchange. He hadn't accidentally set her on fire. Did he say something else offensive again!? No, no. Probably not. She seemed amused by his shiving joke. He then remembered, the best way to answer these situations is to ask about them. "Whats got ya sighing Nashota?"

[Magikeeper]

Riesig had, in fact, seen Arl rushing off somewhere that very morning. At the moment, however, the only thing of interest was a young boy trying to make is way through the crowd while holding a sign. The sign itself seemed like a rush job, although the lettering was decent:

If Willing To Do A Dangerous Task Without Advance Pay,
Inquire In The Alley Next To the Bakery on 7th Street.
Help Desperately Needed.

[Riesig]

Riesig made a note to himself to track down Arl later. Maybe she was already at the location of this delightful task! He looked back to Nashota. "Look. Didn't even have to yell and a job shoved itself at you. Comeon. Let's go burn some shit. What do you say?" He had a happy look in his eye as he talked about burning things.

[Nashota]

She snorted at his words, the idea of getting paid to simply punch a person more than a little appealing. Maybe she should've taken up body guard work. "One can only hope," she retorted. She nearly asked after his words (how, exactly, had he learned that lesson), but as her eyes canned the pier, the words were lost. Not because she'd lost interest in this interaction, but because she'd thought she'd seen a familiar face. Here? In Tiburon? Doubtful. She let her eyes drift back to Riesig as more words fell from his ever-moving mouth. He had the enthusiasm of a child with the seemingly dangerous abilities of a man twice his age. "Habit," was her simple response.

It seemed, for a moment, almost surreal when the boy plowed by with the sign clench in his young grip. Strange timing, she noted with a hiked brow. Both brows, though, drew up and up when she noticed what it said. "Burning shit is well and good, but alleys seems a little suspect, I would think," she said. But she almost immediately disregarded her own words. She slept in alleys -- why not work out of one, too? The thought, truly, was more sarcasm than logic, but that didn't stop her from shrugging and walking in the direction the youth had gone in.

"Do try to keep the blaze contained," was all she remarked. Would they let her work in a city she had a hand in almost burning down? Probably not. It'd be a damn shame if she had to hoof it to the next capital. And she'd do what she could to drag Riesig's ass right with her.

[Riesig]

Riesig laughed at her. She was amusing. He nodded along as she worked her way into accepting the job. As she started walking, he called out. "What? Me? Burn something? It's been a while since I accidentally burned down anything. I mean, just take this for example." He said as he playfully made a Phantom Fire Fireball and tossed it casually at Nashota. It wouldn't burn anything, but she would feel the impact of an average punch playfully to her shoulder if it hit her. "See, things only burn when I want them to. But then, they burn so gloriously." He smiled and began following her even as he lit his head on fire with Phantom Fire.

~time skip to the alley~

He looked around and took a deep breath. The bakery smelled delicious. He was going to get something there later. For now though, he needed to find the job. He walked into the alley without hesitation. While it was true that people believed you belonged when you walked with confidence, he simply had no sense of proper decorum and did whatever he wanted. Including walking into random alleys. He looked around for whoever was to provide the job