Harley hinges forward at the waist to peer at his face when he bows. Her blonde hair sways with the motion and amusement curls her lip.
"Isn't 'of Waterdeep' kind of a given?"
She rises from her perch, slaps at the dust on her frayed overcoat, and hefts her trunk to her shoulder. It isn't a great feat of strength. The trunk is small, and all her worldly goods still don't fill it.
The young man hangs for a split second, like he's trying to understand her
question or maybe formulate a reply, before answering, "It's certainly not
a given. There are students at Blackstaff from all over the world! We
actually had a guest lecturer from Thay today that ran over. That's the
reason for my tardiness. I hope you weren't waiting long?"
He eyes the trunk she hefts single handedly, raising an eyebrow because he
assumes it's heavier than it is. "Can I help you with that?"
Harley flicks her gaze over him from head to toe, running quick calculations. She shifts her trunk higher on her shoulder with a golden toss of her hair.
"I've been waiting for hours," she coos with a rosy pout. "Hours and hours. I'm nearly dead of old age."
Gale stands a little straighter as she looks him over, trying to weather it without reaction, but shifting his weight a bit awkwardly — a small tell unless someone had a keen eye. "You wear your advanced age very well then," Gale replies, his tone dry enough not to give away whether he's joking with her. "Perhaps I can at least show you to your room before you perish?"
He smiles back, handsome but a little stiff, like he's not used to building a rapport with people easily.
"Alright. I'll show you to your room first so you can drop off your belongings, then we can begin the tour properly," he explains. The boy's pace is brisk — he clearly knows the campus well — leading her through hallways and past other students, pointing out landmarks she can use to navigate with almost too quickly for them to be useful.
Harley tries to keep up with him, but she's tired from traveling and wants to linger over the things he points out. Several times she has to break into a jog to catch up after getting distracted. Eventually she gets annoyed enough to grab his elbow to slow him down.
"What is this, a timed trial? You're rushing past everything so fast I can't remember a bit of it! Now you'll have to show me everything again."
He stops, turning to look at her with eyebrows raised. He opens his mouth, closes it, pauses for thought, clears his throat, and tries again. "My apologies. I supposed I'm so used to things that I hadn't considered..." Hadn't considered that she might need more time to memorize the layout. More importantly, he had been keen to get this task over with so he could get back to more important tasks. Now he realizes how rude that was. "Well, anyway, let's drop your things off first, and we'll start the tour over. Is that acceptable?"
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
"Isn't 'of Waterdeep' kind of a given?"
She rises from her perch, slaps at the dust on her frayed overcoat, and hefts her trunk to her shoulder. It isn't a great feat of strength. The trunk is small, and all her worldly goods still don't fill it.
"You're late, Mr. of Waterdeep."
no subject
The young man hangs for a split second, like he's trying to understand her question or maybe formulate a reply, before answering, "It's certainly not a given. There are students at Blackstaff from all over the world! We actually had a guest lecturer from Thay today that ran over. That's the reason for my tardiness. I hope you weren't waiting long?"
He eyes the trunk she hefts single handedly, raising an eyebrow because he assumes it's heavier than it is. "Can I help you with that?"
no subject
"I've been waiting for hours," she coos with a rosy pout. "Hours and hours. I'm nearly dead of old age."
no subject
no subject
"Let's go, whippersnapper."
no subject
"Alright. I'll show you to your room first so you can drop off your belongings, then we can begin the tour properly," he explains. The boy's pace is brisk — he clearly knows the campus well — leading her through hallways and past other students, pointing out landmarks she can use to navigate with almost too quickly for them to be useful.
no subject
"What is this, a timed trial? You're rushing past everything so fast I can't remember a bit of it! Now you'll have to show me everything again."
no subject