Don't ask, don't tell

Horknath was a simple person, with simple needs. He liked a good brawl, and he liked to explore new places - this was partly why he had chosen the path of the mercenary, after an... accident abruptly ended his career as a gladiator. Being a freelancer wasn't bad; he was rather free, gained decent amounts of money, and usually he could just get along fine with his clients. Usually. He glanced at the dwarven merchant he was accompanying that time. It was nearly night, it was cold as hell, the road was all rocky and, judging from the smell, it was just about to start raining. And even with that, all he could think of was, 'I wonder what's he got in those bags of his'.

Valdyr cursed under his breath as he looked at the sky. "Alright, we should settle our camp nearby," he finally said as he looked around, exhausted from carying his two heavy but not so big bags. He was a broard dwarf with dark hair and beard, and the latter was so long it could have been tucked into his belt if he didn't braid it for it to be out of the way.

Horknath grunted an agreement, straying from the road to drag himself towards an open space. After looking around with a critical eye, he deemed the place secure enough, and dropped his worn out bag, along with his axe. "I think here it will be fine", he said. He himself was broad but frighteningly tall, his hair long, braided and black. His beard was shorter than Vanyr's, and he scratched it, waiting for the dwarf to tell him if he was fine with stopping there.

Valdyr nodded and came not far from the orc. He settled down his bags carefully, then took off his backpack, taking out his sleeping back, and what he needed to start a fire. He didn't feel too confident around the half orc yet, and always kept an eye on him. Especially regarding his precious bags.

Horknath let himself heavily fall on the ground. He was strong, yes, but carrying around that axe wasn't exactly child's play. He absent-mindedly snatched a branch from a tree, picking up other smaller ones and some grass. "Wouldn't put my bags there if I were you", he grunted out then, looking a Vanyr with his only uncovered, clear eye.

"...What's wrong with there," Valdyr asked, being defensive, as he gathered stones for circling the fire.

"Giant ants pit", Horknath simply answered with a shrug. He picked up his alcohol bottle, and poured an amount on a piece of cloth. "You're free to leave them there, but I can't guarantee your stuff will still be safe tomorrow. Those things can chew anything."

Valdyr took back his bags up from the ground as quickly as possible. "And you suggested we camp here tonight ?! What's wrong with you !"

"Easier to get rid of those than to walk inside the forest and find way worse", Horknath explained, seemingly unimpressed. He lighted up the cloth he was holding with a match, and then walked up to a hole in the ground. It was as large as his punch. He balled up the cloth and put it in the opening. Then he covered it up with a rock. "Done." He went back to hos seating place.

"... That's it ? Why didn't you tell me beforehand you were going to get rid of them ?" Valdyr groaned and finally laid his bags near to his sleeping bag, as he went back to his job : starting a campfire.

"Wow, I don't know where did my proverbial thinking skills go all of a sudden", Horknath growled unhappily. He lifted his hand up to his bandaged eye... then opted to leave it like that for a while. He grabbed more of his matches instead, to help with the fire.

Valdyr pinched the bridge of his nose. Okay. Next time he'd better go for the human, half drunk merc. He figured he'd better stop talking. "Next time, please warn me about that sort of stuff, okay ?" Alright, now he was done.

"Alright." Horknath pulled out a flask of liquor from his bag. Then another one. Unfortunately for Valdyr, this half orc was someone that liked to chat when he was bored. "Want one?", he asked, pointing to one of the flask. "I make it myself."

Valdyr looked at Horknath, squinting his eyes so slightly. "What's in it?" Yes, he'd better stay alert. Who knew what might that orc try to do to him.

"It's whiskey. I brew it myself. In my cantine." Horknath grinned, not minding the suspicious look he was getting. "... well okay it's not my cantine. It's the cantine of a tavern. But those are details", he said with a wave of his hand. "If you don't like strong stuff, I suggest you to refuse."

Valdyr snorted. "A bit of strong beverages never killed me." Aaaand damn his pride. He went to take the flask Horknath offered him, and smelled it, before getting a taste of it. "Hey. It's not bad."

Horknath's grin grew larger. "You have good taste", he just commented, before opening his flask and chugging down half of it at once. Like he usually did. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Uh, where do you come from again? The north? Most dwarves I met come from there", he said, in an attempt to conversation.

Valdyr remained a bit wary, but kept on drinking as he went to cook something to himself. "Mh. I'm more from the East," he grumbled lowly.

"Hmm", Horknath closed his flask, humming lowly. "I see. And, you're a merchant. Is it a well paid job", he asked without much shame. Nah, he wasn't going to ask the most obvious question. A nosy mercenary wasn't what people liked.

"... Yeah. Well. Not enough to hire more than one mercenary, sometimes," Valdyr replied a bit bitterly. Then he sighed as he cooked his meal. "You hungry?"

Horknath shrugged. "I count as two. And I rather work alone. ... even if it's not only a choice I made. Others made it for me", he added. "Hungry, yeah. Pretty much."

Valdyr prepared a bowl and set it down next to him, gesturing for Horknath to move closer. "Guess it's pretty hard to trust you right away, uh?"

Horknath accepted the invitation, getting closer to the bowl. "Well. If you consider that almost everyone considers my species an abomination... yeah", he said. "At least I have the reputation of being a reliable worker."

Valdyr squinted a bit. "... Yeah. I've never quite understood how your species came to be. I mean. The full story never reached the East, but it seems like here everybody knows."

Horknath grimaced. "... lots believe that half orcs are born when orcs invade human villages and rape their women", he grumbled. "That's the official version. I've never really wanted to learn", he concluded. It wasn't really his favourite argument.