Loran
Strange looks followed the two men as they walked barefoot down the city street, sopping wet from head to toe, slightly muddy and playfully shoving each other as they walked, the only relatively dry items in their possession were the boots they were carrying in their hands, otherwise even the fishing rod slung over the one’s shoulders was dripping water! Unphased by their wet state and the looks they were receiving, Loran and his friend continued on their way, laughing as they exchanged jokes about the others’ incompetence as a fisherman.
Honestly, when Loran had bumped into Teagen early that morning and the later had invited him to join him on his fishing trip by one of the rivers on the outskirts of the city, neither was planning on jumping in. The wettest they thought they’d get was their feet when they ventured deeper in on the narrow side, which was why they had removed their boots beforehand. Plans changed however, when after about an hour in a fish finally took the bait only for it to be stronger than Teags was able to handle, causing him to lose his balance.
Naturally Loran had to laugh. It was the only thing to do.
Teagan got his revenge though, needless to say fishing was the last thing on their mind whilst trying to pull the other under.
It was a blast though, and they eventually managed to recover the fishing rod from the river, so all in all the experience was a worthwhile one.
The two friends would have continued their walk, probably make a stop at Teags’ place since its closest to dry off before parting ways, had they not come face to face with an out of breath and extremely frustrated runner. The poor man had been about ready to give up and return to the guild empty handed, but the second he laid eyes on the wet human being in front of him his face turned red with annoyance.
“Finally! Where the hell have you been? I’ve searched nearly the entire city for you!”
A sheepish smile immediately crossed Loran’s face as the runner yelled at him, while the hand of his not in the process of holding his boots immediately went to sheepishly scratch the back of his head. “’Pologies mate, me an Teags weren’t in the city till just recently. If we’d a known you were lookin for me, we’d a come back sooner, right Teags?”
Nodding in agreement, Teagen was about to open his mouth to attempt to aide his friend in diffusing the man’s temper, but one look at the stink-eye he received from that motion alone made him rethink his next actions more carefully. Giving Loran a wave with the hand holding his boots, along with a cheerful smile, he quickly started walking in a random direction, completely unfazed by the look of utter betrayal that crossed his friend’s face.
“Sorry, pal, tis gettin late, I still got some errand ta do. Catch ya later!”
Resisting the urge to gape at the metaphorical knife now wedged in his back by the retreating traitor, Loran swiftly returned his attention to the still annoyed runner, who was in the process of eyeing him before letting out a sigh. “Never mind that now boy. What on earth happened to you anyway? Did you actually go and jump in a river?”
Crossing his arms over his chest, causing a squelch noise due to the wet material, an expression of indignation (aka a pout) crossed Loran’s face. “Firs of all, I’m not a boy, mate, I’m on me twentieth year, an I did not jump, I was pushed.” In spite of his attempts a grin broke through as he recalled the incident and he puffed up slightly. “I did a right good job of gettin im back though!”
Rolling his eyes at the young man, the runner merely chose not to engage in the topic any further and went back to the real reason he was there in the first place. “Yes, yes, all right, back to the reason I was looking for you. Your presence is required back at the guild immediately.”
Some of the colour immediately drained from Loran’s face as his eyes widened and grin dropped. He gulped, surely this couldn’t be about what he thinks its about, could it? I mean after all, he’s still new, only been part of the guild a little while…‘sides, its not like that one thing is really all that of a big deal…is it?
“If this is ‘bout that broken window I heard people talkin about, I don’t know nothin. In fact I even got a alibi for-”
“It’s not about the window.” Loran visibly slumped with relief. Oh well, the runner has other things to do than to be concerned over a window right now. “You and some others are being called for a meeting, chances are its to receive some kind of mission.”
A grand total of three seconds passed before Loran let out a ‘whoop’ of excitement and set of running towards the guild with a wide grin, leaving a confused runner in his wake, before said man took off after him.
“Oy! Wait up!”