"Thank you." They finish up at the range, and Thorn leads the way back to her inn room. She closes the door behind Lenora, and moves over to her pack, right by the sky-suit.

"So, I think I mentioned that I had a small inheritance, yes?" 

"Yep. And I'm not prying because everyone has secrets, but I guess you're gonna tell me something about it now? Is this about buying a locomotive?"

She pulls out her two heavy bags of gold, and plunks them down on the table. She pulls a coin out to show Lenora. 

"This is my inheritance. One thousand five hundred sovereigns in almost pure gold, more or less. Naturally I don't just announce I have this much money in public, but you I trust. And I'm serious about buying an engine, as you might have guessed."

"The trouble with that is that one, I'm a total novice, and two, I'm not sure even this much gold is enough to afford a fully kitted, fully stocked engine. I haven't done the actual calculations; I'm in the middle of gathering the information I need to be certain. It looks close, though." 

"Wow. Gold, huh? Okay, serious business time. I stand by my prediction earlier - about one thousand Sovereigns, probably, for something that successfully flies. More to really kit it out, though, you're right."

"The information I have from Wolvesey backs that up; five hundred for the hull, something probably in the high hundreds for an engine, another hundred for ship's guns. But then there's skysuits, uniforms, crew pay, supplies, fuel..." She shrugs. "Enough to make me worry. But the thing that I'm most worried about is my own inexperience. I want to captain a locomotive, but I'll be damned if I get myself and my crew killed out there. That means I need officers with sense, and you seem the type. You've experience ranging all over the sky, you're sharp enough to get your engine out of a sticky situation, you get along with me fairly well and you can shoot straight. I want you for my gunnery officer, maybe my first officer. What do you say?" 

Lenora shuts her eyes, takes a deep breath, leans against the wall.

"...It's kind of a lot to ask, you know? I like you, you seem sensible, but - you're right about being inexperienced. And I don't really know you yet, you know? So maybe I have to think about it."

"That's fine. I just wanted to put this to you, since I need someone of your experience. And if you want to know more about me, you can ask. I'm thinking of this as being something like an equal partnership, so even the strangest parts of my life are an open book to you if you feel you need to ask." 

"Heh. I'm not really a nosy person! I don't know what to even ask."

"We can come back to it. I have a budget for staying here for another few weeks without cutting into this gold any more than I already have. I just wanted to get you thinking about it seriously."

She opens her mouth, then sighs. "I kind of want to speak about my tangled history, but it's a long story and I think not best told now. Perhaps when we both know each other better." 

Lenora chuckles, a bit awkward but trying not to show it too much. "Mine's a bit tangled too. Just a bit... So, uh. Should we get to know each other better? Like, how do you even do that... What are your feelings on the color green? I think it's nice there's a bit much in the Reach, honestly."

"Yes, we should get to know each other better. Traditionally I achieve this by having sex with people, or along the way to same." She halfsmiles. "You asked. As for green, it's a decent color, but I generally prefer deep blue. The Blue Kingdom would be excellent for me if it wasn't so terrifying." 

Lenora blushes. "-Fun fact! The Blue Kingdom is not actually very blue! There is a sort of blue tinge to the light but most of it is a sort of off-white or tan!"

"What a dissapointing moniker. I try to live up to "Thorn" a bit more than that, you know?" 

"Pretty but sharp, as in 'every rose has its Thorns...?' I have to wonder whether I'm really very bright-eyed, myself. 'Nyms are a bit silly, but they're traditional at this point."

She laughs. "I think it fits you, you have a kind of liveliness of character to you. I haven't done much wandering in the last day or two, but I'm still the Runed Wanderer. Though I'm thinking of changing the "Runed" part, it's a bit superficial even if my tattoos are quite obvious." 

"Maybe I'll have some suggestions if we hang out more. Ooh- Just had a thought. You need experience, right? Why not sign up for a short trip as crew, learn the ropes? There's nobody I wanted to sign on for good with in town right now, but I know a couple captains who might not say no to two extra crew on a temporary basis."

She blinks. 

"- Yes, that sounds like exactly the kind of thing I should be doing. I could even earn some money from it to make the math work out more in my favour."

"Sounds fun. I can ask around tomorrow and get back to you about it. Also, if you're thinking 'partnership', if I decide in favor of this later... I own a cannon, it's in storage. Old Harold gave it to me when he sold his engine and retired. And I have like - maybe 300 Sovereigns? - in a bank account."

"Thank you; I'll run the math taking that into account. When and where should we meet again tomorrow?" 

"Well, we could meet in the morning and get to know each other more, but most of the people I'm thinking of I'll be able to track down after noon, probably. So, evening again for forward progress on plan get-a-job."

"Works for me. Anything else you'd like to do tonight?~"

-She blushes again and fidgets.

"-Uh. I'm not really... Oh, god, I just realized." She looks mortified. "I called you pretty. And you are! But I'm not- I don't like women that way? Or, I thought I didn't, but maybe that's not entirely true? And I tried to buy you a drink in a bar."

She covers her face with her hands.

"You've been flirting far better than I thought it was possible to flirt accidentally, certainly." She grins. "And it's up to you to decide wether you're willing to try, since I very much do like women that way and you in particular."

She smiles briefly, visible between her hands, then takes them away and shakes her head.

"I. Have to think about it. So! Tomorrow afternoon or evening some time? Where, at the pub again, here...?"

"Let's say five again, at the pub. We can eat together and I'll buy you a drink. And then we'll figure it out from there."