Tristram Ullr, the anchor of this trio, was starting to feel
underappreciated.
"You know what? Sure. Go ahead, Sigi. I'll just hand over budgetary responsibility to you. Have you on my side within the week. Singing my praises within two. Begging I take it back in two and a half." he fired back in monotone, stepping forward to gaze straight over Finn and upon the notice board. As a Sniper by trade, his eyes were already sharp enough to clearly make things out at this distance (provided Rex and his massive frame didn't obscure them from view), so there was no need to get mired up in the mess playing out up close.
Kids were gonna be kids, yes, and kids were excitable in both grabbing new jobs and biting eachother's heads off, but that didn't mean he was gonna waltz up and stick his hood in where it didn't belong...
Wow, a full on prostration. You need a bit more of a spine, buddy.
...Oh, don't do the 'kicked puppy' thing, that isn't fair! I like animals. Why do Hundi have to remind me so much of dogs?!He bit his tongue nonetheless. They simply didn't have time to be arguing with sassy runts, especially not for their own sake.
Anyways, of the four newly-posted quests, Orc Hunting was what immediately drew his attention— plain, simple, and a necessary service for Estival. Reliable coin. Moreover, it suited them fairly well in comparison— He didn't trust Cassia to not get swindled by the merchants they would be guarding on the second, nor Sigi to not drop some priceless artifact on the fourth.
Oh, yeah, he was pretty sure she had something going on with her left eye. Testing her vision during an ill-fated attempt at teaching the two archery in the pursuit of versatility lead to some interesting results.
The third quest was similarly straightforward in asking price, but he didn't like the vagueness attached. While "search and destroy" was all well and good, the problem he found once he read a little deeper was in the simple fact that there wasn't much way to confirm the true threat had been destroyed— at least, not as simply as cutting off an orc's left ear after a few hours posted up in a tree.
"I think that was what Cassie came to talk to me about, Mr. Reinhart. Maybe Tristram, too, come to that. Was it, Tristram?" the Nordic woman inquired in the background, but persevered without really waiting for a response.
"I must confess I haven't had a chance to see the board yet, but it sounds like she could use the work. And I could use something to do.""Mmmph, mmhmmph!" Cassia mumbled in agreement at Sigi's assertion, her fiery hair dancing back and forth as she nodded.
"Mmmmmmwaagoadventure.""Don't talk with food in your mouth! Chew, swallow, speak!" he scolded, ruthlessly destroying any notion that he was as forgiving as Finn for the sake of cuteness. Of Cassia's, at least.
..."Oi."This was when the rest of the conversation caught up to him. The hood shifted to face his right shoulder, and the woman beside it.
"In the future, don't treat me like some foregone conclusion." he grumbled after a beat to Sieglinde, who had quite contentedly not given him a shot to respond properly. If they were gonna start pulling that crap, he was gonna start talking right over them mid-sentence. No holds barred, every clause for itself. May their overtures die in a pit of pithy retorts.
"I could be busy. I could have something going on with my life. We're taking either the Orcs or the Haesting road one. They synergize best with our party. I want to kick back and perforate Orcs. Also, since you're so willing to give alms,"The burlap sack he'd been carrying now bounced up and down in attention-grabbing tosses, very pointedly out of Cassia's (or indeed Finn's, since he seemed set on meddling and was probably about to screech something about rivalry or challenges the moment they zeroed in on a quest properly) reach.
"I'll tell you right now that I was out at the butcher's, buying us what should be a week's worth of jerky for out in the field. You wanna enforce rationing without my iron-fisted rule? Just tell me now. I can always nab myself a hare or two off the book."