#anvindrfarseer

Smart young man. She chuckled, glancing over the buzzing festivities before turning her gaze back to him. “You’re right, of course. And why miss out on good food and drink, hm? I’m very well, thank you, and Ivarstead’s the same. Having their own little celebration around a roasted boar even now, I wager. And how are you, Anvindr?” She offered him the little, nearly empty tray she’d been carrying around for this early part of the evening. “Apple cider caramel?”

“I don’t know much about them, but I like their hair with the beads n’ braids n’ stuff. Maybe they live way out away from the rest of town so that kids won’t spook the fish while they’re tryin’ to make a living.”

“Oh my, he has some of the most piercing eyes I’ve ever seen,” Signy murmured quietly, watching as the man moved about on the docks. “I have half a mind to tell him a joke... just to see if I could get him to smile. I bet he has a great smile. He must be a fisherman or something, because he always comes in on that boat of his, and he certainly looks as though he has the build of someone who deals in heavy work for a living.”

But he couldn’t know what she was, could he, if he was helping. If she ignored how clear and piercing those eyes were, how they seemed to bore into her with just a glance, she could pretend this was not some trick. He had decided to help her and, foolhardy a choice as it might be, it was a sliver of hope that could keep her from losing Anluan. It would be enough to stay her hand, later, so long as he did the same.

“They almost look how the early mornings in Skyrim feel, if that makes sense. Calm and all that. Well, not so much in Winterhold, it’s too cold and windy. May be the eyes… I dunno. I like their hair, though, with all the braids and bits in it. I wonder if they carved the bits themselves or not, or if places just sell them.”

Wait. Wait. That face was incredibly-- “Oh, shit.”

Oh the river, oh the river, it’s running free.And oh the joy, oh the joy it brings to me.But I know it’ll have to drown me,Before I can breathe easy.And I’ve seen it in the flights of birds,I’ve seen it in you.The entrails of the animals,The blood running through.But in order to get to the heart,I think sometimes you’ll have to cut through.But you can’t…

“He seems a nice young man, and he’s got the handsome traits of his lineage. Pale skin, blue eyes and dark hair are always striking.” She flashes a knowing, vain grin. “Polite, holds good conversation. But he seems a bit - distant, in a way. No wife, no children, not even a colleague out in the marsh. I suppose he must get company anyway, but it would be a lonely life, and I imagine he’s chosen it for a reason - even if I don’t know what the reason is.”