Q glances around and then shakes his head. "It should be fine... Mandor's servants know not to disturb my projects while cleaning..."
He's momentarily distracted by the compass he'd been working on, lifting up the polished needle and staring at the piece for several, silent seconds, calculating how long it would take him to finish putting it together, what's the likelihood Despil would return before then, and wouldn't he have to make sure Noel wouldn't interrupt him-
The needle gets put down and Q turns back to Noel.
"I suppose we'd better go find my errant cousin and be on our way? Otherwise Mando might catch him and detain him."
Noel waits patiently, quietly even, his eyes on the little cartographer while he stands there with Q's backpack on his shoulder. He doesn't know what to make of the man. He seems like he might just be distracted but Noel suspects there's more to it.
"Detain him?" he asks as he gestures towards the door and walks through it. "Why would he do that?"
"Because Mandor likes to keep track of all his projects," Q answers distantly, setting down his second bag and adjusting his vest. He'll need a coat, he knows there's one... he didn't pack it yet, did he?
He deliberately ignores the waiting thrum of the unfinished compass and goes to look for his coat, slipping it on before picking up his bag and following Noel out the door, then leading the big man to Despil's rooms.
"Aren't you his relatives, not his projects?" Noel asks with a hint of a chuckle. Perhaps all old mages are like this. Cold and calculative. Noel's father fits the mould.
"We've been travelling together for a while. He's good company," he replies easily. It's not exact but you won't get a lot of exacts out of this one.
"Is it not?" Noel asks with a quirk on his brows. "I've always found him awfully easy to be around." Not exactly the most eager to open up, Despil, but oh he's fun to hang around with. Noel has had to work quite a bit to get him to open up even a little bit.
"I used to be a merchant," he admits with a shrug. This goes right into the realm of right-out lies and he'd rather steer clear from it as quickly as possible. "But unfortunately, I lost all my merchandise. So here I am, searching some fortune..." Here Q, have a charming smile, all smooth and suave.
Q doesn't trust charm as far as he can throw the person using it. He's been raised in the Sawall household, after all.
"What merchandise was that?" he asks, voice deliberately distracted as he absently reaches into his bag, apparently looking for something that may or may not be in there.
It's a story Noel has told several times, it's easy for him to elaborate on. Despil has heard it as well. His father made him practise it.
"Spice," he replies with a shrug. Then thoughtfully adds: "And a little bit of whatever commodities that came up with it. I'd load up in the south and sail to north," he tells this as if it were a routine. It's reasonable. A lot of spice salesmen do this.
"But there was a problem with the cargo, and then a ship sank, I was accused of smuggling, and a whole mess was born," he finishes it up with a tight little twitch at the corners of his mouth, letting Q know that he doesn't want to talk about it further.
Q's about to respond but he's actually distracted for real, now, frown growing as he lifts his head, eyes growing distant as he looks off to the opposite wall. There's a dissonance to the almost musical, metallic thrumming he's always hearing, but he's always associated it with Mandor doing something with his magic elsewhere.
Strange man.
He finally refocuses on Noel. "Have you actually ever smuggled, before?"
"Well," Noel's expression grows mildly embarrassed, all an act, rehearsed and well honed. He might even feel a little bored of the performance. "Perhaps a little bit," he admits and then throws in a charming grin of a man who obviously knows he's done something wrong but isn't exactly sorry for it. His pretended crime of very little significance.
The skin around Noel's eyes even crinkles as he chuckles. He's a very good liar.
That dissonance is jarring and Q looks uncomfortable from it, stopping and pinching the bridge of his nose as he feels a faint headache starting from it. What on earth is Mandor up to in his laboratory?
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He's momentarily distracted by the compass he'd been working on, lifting up the polished needle and staring at the piece for several, silent seconds, calculating how long it would take him to finish putting it together, what's the likelihood Despil would return before then, and wouldn't he have to make sure Noel wouldn't interrupt him-
The needle gets put down and Q turns back to Noel.
"I suppose we'd better go find my errant cousin and be on our way? Otherwise Mando might catch him and detain him."
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"Detain him?" he asks as he gestures towards the door and walks through it. "Why would he do that?"
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He deliberately ignores the waiting thrum of the unfinished compass and goes to look for his coat, slipping it on before picking up his bag and following Noel out the door, then leading the big man to Despil's rooms.
"Have you been with Despil long, now?"
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"We've been travelling together for a while. He's good company," he replies easily. It's not exact but you won't get a lot of exacts out of this one.
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"And what is your profession...?"
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"I used to be a merchant," he admits with a shrug. This goes right into the realm of right-out lies and he'd rather steer clear from it as quickly as possible. "But unfortunately, I lost all my merchandise. So here I am, searching some fortune..." Here Q, have a charming smile, all smooth and suave.
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"What merchandise was that?" he asks, voice deliberately distracted as he absently reaches into his bag, apparently looking for something that may or may not be in there.
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"Spice," he replies with a shrug. Then thoughtfully adds: "And a little bit of whatever commodities that came up with it. I'd load up in the south and sail to north," he tells this as if it were a routine. It's reasonable. A lot of spice salesmen do this.
"But there was a problem with the cargo, and then a ship sank, I was accused of smuggling, and a whole mess was born," he finishes it up with a tight little twitch at the corners of his mouth, letting Q know that he doesn't want to talk about it further.
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Strange man.
He finally refocuses on Noel. "Have you actually ever smuggled, before?"
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The skin around Noel's eyes even crinkles as he chuckles. He's a very good liar.
"But of course I would never again..."
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"I... see..." he manages haltingly.