Eight Intertwined

49 - Brothers

The journey through Noblecourt to attain the crystal ore for Barham was bound to be a simple one, but Therion frowned and shuffled his feet the whole way. He was hoping the scholar would actually keep to his word and not ask him for anything else after this, but Therion knew it was best to not dream about such things for the time being. He was exhausted already, and getting his hopes up was only going to drag him down more.

Once again, the fool's bangle continued to jingle with each movement Therion made, and even as he shoved his hands as deep into his pockets as they would go, he could still hear the sound. He didn't think it was ever going to leave him alone at this rate, and that did nothing but worsen his mood. He was glaring down at the ground just in front of his feet, trying to take out his anger silently so he didn't feel the burning urge to punch Barham and dislocate the man's nose as soon as they saw one another. The fool's bangle was too loud in his ears, and he was desperate to block out the noise even though it just kept getting louder inside. 

Before Therion knew it, Alfyn had come to fall into pace beside him, and Therion perked up at the sight of him. This was enough of a distraction to block out the obnoxious noise for at least a little bit, and he was beyond relieved to have been given the chance to snap himself out of it briefly. Therion hadn't realized he was ever going to be put in the situation of wanting to talk to Alfyn, but he supposed there was a first time for everything. 

"Stealin' here, stealin' there, stealin' pretty much everywhere... Heck, you thieves sure do work hard," Alfyn smiled. He was clearly trying to seem personable enough to make Therion open up, but the thief didn't say much as he continued to stare at the place where his feet made contact with the cobblestone below. 

Alfyn still kept talking even though Therion was keeping up his silent. "And you're one of the best, right? You gotta have a massive stack of treasure hidden away," he went on, his grin still just as present as ever. Therion didn't know how Alfyn was able to stay so positive no matter what he was faced with; it was a bit uncanny, but Therion found himself oddly okay with it. Under most circumstances, he would have expected to hate being around anyone who was even remotely similar to Alfyn, but something about him was oddly charming, and it felt like the background noise that had become all too prominent in Therion's mind was finally starting to subside, even if it was just for a few moments. 

Therion was able to pull out a coin subtly, and he flipped it with his thumb before catching it in midair and tucking it away out of sight once again a moment later. "Let's just say I'm prepared for retirement," he said simply. He did have a stockpile of leaves to act as a collective signal of victory from his past thieving exploits, but he kept stealing for the sake of his own entertainment. He enjoyed it, and what else was he supposed to do with his time? It wasn't like he had anything else to do. 

He wished he hadn't had that thought process when he went to Ravus Manor, but it was too late for him to regret that now. 

Alfyn smiled at that, but Therion could see his grin falter at the edges. "I... I see," he began to say, seemingly struggling to find something to say to someone so radically different from him. Alfyn didn't let this brief moment of awkwardness stop him though, and he kept going after just a few beats of hesitation and silence. "Anyway, one more task and our job's done! Light at the end of the tunnel, eh?" His grin had come back full force already, and Therion was left to wonder just how much passion and optimism could possibly fit into a single person. 

That didn't stop Therion from snorting at Alfyn's words though. "'Our?' It's not like you're doing any thieving," Therion pointed out, though he supposed none of the other members of the group were doing the heavy lifting. Hell, they weren't even helping him when it came to putting up with Barham, and while Therion couldn't blame them and certainly didn't hold it against them, that didn't change just how frustrating it could get to do all of this alone.