[Ducky]

The blond man was indeed taking no small amount of humour from his companions plight but he did a formidable job at keeping the exact degree of his face with only a faint smile or giggle when the dirt and mud and vegetation were clearly beginning to irritate the poor city dweller. “Don’t talk so loudly.” Alfred chastised in the place of a proper answer, instead giving casting a suspicious glance at a bush as it seemed to move faintly then halt. “You don’t want to upset the locals, Watchman. And if we can catch up to your man without him noticing, it will be much easier for the both of us.”

 

Alfred paused briefly before continuing in the same quiet voice he’d used to try and tell Gilbert, in the nicest way possible, to talk less, unused to the chatter that came with travelling with another “Well, I did and I have.” He answered seriously before trailing off into a faint smirk and a tone of voice one would use when telling a funny tale “So I suppose you Watchmen should keep a closer watch, hm? See who has a little more coin in his pockets than they should? Or who had a little too much drink before their shift?” Alfred shrugged and rotated his shoulders “Now, if we could go back to the silence I’d appreciate it. I need to listen to the forest.”

[proosh]

The other man glared at Alfred from the corner of his eye, self-consciously tugging his studded skirt down around his short trousers, simple protection for his upper legs from rocks or debris thrown around in a street or bar brawl, as well as diverting rainwater away to keep his underclothes dry. He supposed it would also be of assistance when forcing his way through short foliage to prevent tears and scrapes. Whatever. “The pixies wouldn’t attack us in broad daylight,” he replied dryly, visibly shuddering as a bug crawled between his toes and earning an abrupt and almost violent shaking of his leg to remove it– Before he froze and lit up a bright red. “Or. At least I don’t think they would.” The last time he had been posted outside the city was during an investigation to the far east, where it was too cold for most of the more delicate races that lived in the forests to survive in. And ‘broad daylight’ was in itself inaccurate, as the sun was beginning to sink towards the horizon.

 

“Don’t get too smug,” he shot back at Alfred, scowling and conspicuously pitching his voice quieter, “We’re a public service and we’ve got three million people to watch over and keep from rioting.” Gilbert’s own speciality revolved around the inner city politics between the Dwarven and Troll gangs, specifically breaking up the bubbling tension between the two racial groups. “Watchmen are not infallible, but you would be wise to not spread any rumours otherwise.” He paused and seemed to consider something. “…Did you know we have a few pixies in the Watch? Fantastic little buggers. Some o’ them can lift a full-grown man like it’s nothing. A couple dozen can lift a troll and toss it from one side of the street to the other.” The silence returned and the shadows were lengthening. “…’Pparently those ones just come from the mountains.”

 

Hopefully.

[Ducky]

Alfred raised an eyebrow and he gestured to the thick foliage surrounding them and the few rays if light few and far between filtering down to the forest floor, “I never said it was pixies we had to be careful of. And if this is your definition of ‘broad daylight’, I’d love to see your definition of ‘late night’.” He stepped over a root, constantly mindful to try not to step on anything obviously beneath his feet and grateful that unlike the other his feet were protected by the boots on his feet.  “And how would you feel if a noisy, disrespectful and ungrateful man stumbled around in your home? Pissed enough to attack in ‘broad daylight I reckon.” Alfred answered with a smile tugging up his lips.

 

The blond did however, giggle a touch at the way Gilbert seemed to be getting a little riled up at Alfred’s comments in the watch.  “How can I not be when not a one noticed me coming and going as I please? Perhaps I have another way into the city other than bribing or taking advantage of your comrades. I doubt that you will ever know.” Because Alfred doubted he would ever see the other again, not when if they met in the city there was a chance that if could lead to he albino arresting Alfred for the variety of crime. “And what would you do if I did spread rumours? You’d have to prove it was me, and then you’d have to find me. And I honestly couldn’t tell you which of those two tasks would be more difficult.” Who needed to hear the confidence in the blond’s voice and see it on his face when it was pictured perfectly in his shoulders and his walk?

[proosh]

Gilbert scoffed and ducked under a branch, taking note that the dirt path they were following was starting to thin and become more overgrown. It had somewhat recently been churned up by what was presumably horses at a gallop. As if confirmation of that, he carefully stepped around what appeared to be a streak of dung. The thief was pushing the horses hard. While he was unfamiliar with the forest, Gilbert was not an idiot. “I work best at night anyway. You know that time of night when it gets real dark and you can hear the clacks a thousand paces away? When even the Thieves’ Guild is settling down? I’m a dwarf. We have dozens of words for the concept of ‘dark’.” And hundreds for the concept of ‘rock’, but that was a given.

 

He shrugged. “What, are you worried about your vampire friend trying to eat us?” While there wasn’t a vampire on the Watch, he had a fair amount of experience with the small population in the city, those that had sworn off humanoid blood and instead got a daily cut from the butchery run-off. He rolled his eyes and didn’t bother to respond to the blatant showponying at first, subtly stepping closer to the blond as the path narrowed. “Look, if we don’t have everything covere the Patrician will be on our collected arses, and then the whole city will go up in flames.” Surprisingly, that was not an exaggeration. He didn’t even mention the politics with the Thieves’ and Seamstresses’ Guilds, part of which was why he was trudging through the depths of the forest and begrudgingly attaching himself to the hunter.

 

“…We have some time to kill,” he said after a few moments, squinting as the setting sun shone straight into his eyes and pulling his rimmed helmet down to cast a heavy shadow across his face. The temperature was starting to drop, but at this time of the year the nights were fairly mild. “Tell me more about your prey. He a city-vamp or one from out east? How many people he eat before you started hunting him?”