With his tongue, he swirled the liquid in his mouth, relishing its fruity punch and the numbness tingling from the coolness. Perched on a bar stool of a beach side shack, his eyes were trained on the coast, scouring it for someone he could trade something with, knowledge, time... ideas but primarily, information. Just when it looked like he was running out of luck, a kind faced woman approached the bar. The blonde turned away from the shore and idly stared at his drink, while training his attention to the woman, using only his peripheral vision.

Sleek navy blue hair and similar colored eyes, hidden behind thin-rimmed glasses and betraying much anxiety. The woman flopped onto a bar stool a couple away from Victor. The bar keeper approached the woman with much earnest, it was clear to Victor that he held a soft spot for her, the woman seemed oblivious though. 'Woah Raina, you doing ok? She stretched out her hands on the counter and rested her chin on them. 'Need me to get you something strong today?' the bar guy said with a wink, the woman just scoffed. 'Y'know I never drink...' she responded softly. 'I know, I know but you really look like you could... what's up?' the bartender asked, casually leaning towards her. 'Valdis isn't here again, I swear, I think she doesn't want to work on our project anymore, probably thinks it is a lost cause...'  

That was Victor's cue, he needed a way to slip himself into the conversation, so he gulped down his drink, gritting his teeth to mediate the slight brain freeze, he set down his glass with a clink and cleared his throat. 'Hey, could I get a refill...' he asked, making sure his tone was pleasant, to not give away his intent to interrupt. Sluggishly and slightly annoyed the bartender peeled himself away from Raina to mix the drink, who had now turned her attention to Garrett too, it amused the blonde man to notice a soft hue of pink paint her cheeks. Victor slid off his stool and sauntered towards one closer to Raina. 'Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear something about a project, what is it about?'

Her eyes brightened significantly as she straightened out. 'Oh, it is just something we are doing to ensure that the Hargeon remains environment friendly, beaches near docks often get super polluted and we just wanted to measure the changes so we could advocate for certain reductions and for certain mea-' she peered into Victor's eyes carefully as her thoughts seemed to be stolen away. 'I must be boring you, hardly anyone wants to hear about this st-' Victor happily interrupted her again, she was such a ripe target. 'Oh no, please go on, I'd love to know more... Sounds like a noble venture' he said, smiling wide, intrigue etched into his expressions. 'Really?' she asked. Victor noticed the bartender returning with his drink and he needed a quick way to get out of here, before this friend-zoned man found a way to steal Raina's attention away. 'Absolutely, in fact, why don't you show me what a day in your shoes is like, can take the place of this Valdis person?'

538/1000

'Oh yes! That is a brilliant idea, I really could use a hand y'know...' she trailed off, suddenly finding her fingers very interesting as the blush assumed a darker shade. Before the oh-so-sauve bartender even knew what happened, Victor picked up his drink, downed it again, left the money on the counter and winked at the man behind the bar before turning to leave with the scientist. As she turned, Victor placed his hand between her shoulder blades, leaning in to ask 'So where do we start?' Her gaze fluttered towards him and nervously she responded that they started right there on the beach, they were to collect some water samples, which she would later analyze.

So the two ambled towards the beach, wind tousling their hair... Her navy strands flew awry and she struggled to keep them in check, furiously tugging them behind her ear. Victor just smiled and watched her, enjoying the refreshing taste of the breeze. Once they were near the water, Victor splashed in, about knee-deep beckoning Raina to join him, which she did after a little reluctance. 'So what are you, exactly? A scientist of some sort for sure, right?' Victor asked as they splashed around for a bit and then got to collecting the samples. 'Yes, I'm a marine biologist...' she replied, proudly as she corked her flasks. Victor offered to carry the samples as they began their walk back into the city.

'It is good to see someone putting all their work into something so important.' he said, softly as he followed her through the city. She gave him quite the tour on their way, pointing to various little shops that she frequented, and cafes that she visited when she and Valdis took breaks. Garrett, maintained a jovial presence and finally she was unlocking the door to a pretty big building. 'I work in the basement... It is an old building, apparently, my lab is where a dungeon used to be...' she said shivering gently. Victor placed his hands on her shoulder and ducked into the building after her. 'Let's see what you have in your dungeon then...' he said, smirking. They took a flight of stairs down and soon were in the dark laboratory, which Raina was quick to illuminate.

'Wow, that is a lot of equipment...' Victor said, eyeing the room carefully. 'We got a few nobles to fund us...' Raina responded, before adding, in a very professional, but excited tone. 'Now, let me walk you through the process of the sampling.. we have to check for physical and chemical impurities. then also have to do a test for any pathogens or living organisms and of course properties like hardness of the water, pH and stuff too... Since they're all from the same area, we can conduct all the tests simultaneously, we have more than enough samples...' she explained. Following which, Victor carefully followed her instructions and placed the samples in various machines. As she ran the tests and noted the details, he peered over her and pretended to observe keenly.

Once they were done, she flopped onto a chair and sighed with relief. 'Well that is one third of the job done... Since Valdis isn't coming, I guess I can offer you her half of the income for this work... Just in case you've had enough and want to call it quits.' She didn't look like the kind who'd judge him for taking the money, so he did, before adding 'I hope you aren't just paying me off to get rid of me, because I'm not going to settle for just one third of the fun...' he said with a wink. 'I'm in it for the day, sweet Raina.' he snuck in the term of endearment, along with his assurance.

1165/1000
==End==