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"The weather's alright I suppose" Charitina half mouthed half said to herself looking up. A light drizzle poured down and sank into her clothes. She was half tempted to sit up from the wet grass but truth be told it was far too much effort she thought taking another bite from a piece of bread. Poor quality. The bakers in the capital weren't very good if she was honest but one needs to eat. A part of her wished she could go back home to see her sisters however she had made a vow before she had left and was far too stubborn to admit she wasn't really very sure what she should be doing.

A small quacking bird, more commonly referred to as a duck, approached the bank of the pond and quacked expectantly at the young woman. She took another bite of her loaf and considered the matter for a moment. The cheek of the birds in the capital was unbelievable coming right up to her and fully expecting her to throw bread to them. Were she in the lands in the east she knew for a fact that the birds would be too scared to come up to her. Too scared that they would be eaten or just killed for sport. What had made them so confident here?

"Fine. You have it. It's pretty mediocre." She said offering the bread to the bird but it shied away before coming up to her. Irritated a little she threw the piece of bread right at the bird and missed landing at the duck's feet. At once every other duck in the pond started making a not at all stealthy approach towards the piece of bread. Still slightly annoyed with the birds she now produced from her many layers of clothing a brush, some ink and some paper and began to takes notes on the men she'd met today considering their worthiness for marriage.

The baker's son. Limp armed and fat. He would not be good for creating strong children. The owner of the store she bought her supplies from. A young man and wealthy as a result of his inheritance but she had her doubts. One who came across great fortune naturally obviously must be quite lazy. She removed him from her consideration crossing out his name, or at least the name she'd given him in lieu of knowing it. The search for a suitable man seemed pointless. The men of the capital were all inappropriate mates. Poor hygiene, weak or otherwise. She may have to look further afield.

Having considered her options she got up off the grass after putting her tools away somewhere in the bag she had nestled underneath her bright red patterned cloak and crawled up to the pond to begin drinking. Fortunately it didn't appear there was anyone around as last time she had done this people had looked at her quite strangely. Water was water she thought. Something's going to s**t in it and a bird isn't the worst thing she thought to herself as she began to lap up water like a dog from the lake.

Charitina knew there was something off about the water. Not great tasting however drinking water had never made her ill in her life so she gave it no further thought until suddenly while submerged in thirsty thoughts a strange voice came from behind her seeming to have approached her in complete silence. She jumped slightly at the sound of a voice behind her submerging a little more of her face in the water before she pulled herself back to stand up straight. A man's voice or was it? There was something strange about the voice but the tone suggested male. Reaching her full height she began to consider her options.

Should she run away? Well she'd not done anything illegal or rude. She'd merely used the water for its intended purpose and given the lack of a spring in this city and the exorbitant cost of water (to think they had the gall to price it at all) she was determined not to run away even if her voice scared her somewhat. Her eyes flitted as she considered another possibility. Perhaps she should attack the man in front of her but that armour he wore look thick. She probably couldn't pierce it with her weapons unless she smashed him over the head with her tree. She considered her options again but her nature overpowered her.

"Sorry" She murmured meekly and looked down at the ground. There was something strange about the man's armour and the tools he had on him. What was that pipe with a grip for example and that second larger pipe on his back? Judging by the fact he was coated in extremely thick armour she presumed it must be some sort of weapon but she couldn't imagine how a pipe could be a weapon. That said he probably wouldn't consider her tree branch to be a weapon (unless he saw the minute and complex rune pattern on it) and so she bent down to take it stealthily from the ground. She knew drawing her sword at this range could be stopped but releasing the rune on her tree would be significantly easier.

"Can I go now?" She didn't really want to be talking to this person. Something about him was off putting. He seemed to rest in a way that was just not quite right. Like something that was almost but not quite human.

"Oh" Slight surprise escaped Charitina's lips for she could not resist the urge to show surprise. What a relief that she wasn't in any trouble. She'd worried that she might be taken to prison for drinking water or worse fined but this meeting was turning into something entirely different. She breathed a heavy sigh or relief before she fully processed what exactly he'd said to her. Go to eat. With him. How forward! A man was putting the moves on her? This was completely unheard of in her village. All the men were obviously already married or she'd known them all her life but still to be so forthcoming! She couldn't help but look at her feet and cross her fingers. Squirming between eachother she considered her options.

What would mother say if she heard that Charitina had turned down a man's advances. She could hear her now. "You stupid girl! Why can't you be more like Martha!" Martha would've not merely accepted the invitation to eat she would've made the invitation herself likely by crushing him underfoot. She must be more like Martha. Still looking at her feet she managed a response.

"Uh. Yeah. Okay." And she began to trail after the armoured man. If he was eating with her then obviously she'd have to see his face. She had to be certain he had a handsome face as well to know if he was an appropriate marriage prospect. She'd already settled on names for all four children she planned to have. One would obviously been named after her mother as was proper. The other three would be given traditional names. They would of course be two girls and two boys she knew because she knew what it was like to have only sisters. A brother would be good for them.

"Where do we go to eat around here?" She still looked at the floor preferring it to looking the armoured man in the face (or helmet) and instead she planned to trail him by following his feet. Hopefully he'd pay for her too. She needed some more glass for her tools so she'd prefer not to pay but if she had to she decided that she might steal glass if they went to a restaurant. If they didn't however, and presuming this was a local, they might go somewhere cheap and good. That would be preferable. She put the stick through her sash and readjusted her garnet red cloak and hood. The rain was starting to come down harder now changing from a drizzle into a light shower and it showed no indication that it would get any more tolerable.