That line had cut Eleonor's thoughts short. He wasn't human, but he looked like one. He was prideful, maybe. Possibly. Was he? She couldn't really get a grasp on him quite yet. But, as she was against the tree, she thought of what he could be. If he wasn't a human, yet looked exactly as such...

"Elf?" She asked. "No." He responded. "A dwarf?" She would ask. "No." He would respond. She had to wrack her brain for any other answers or ideas. From beastman, to a gnome, she listed anything that looked remotely human, all to his single word reply of No. Once Eleonor had thought she exhausted all of her ideas, one more thought came to mind.

"Ah! You're a d-" Victors hand slapped over her mouth.

"If you say I am a demon, I will eat you." Her face went blank, then her eyes, and then everything seemed to click and her face ran redder than a fresh tomato, as she pushed Victor away and squat off to the side, fanning her face.

"WH- You can't just say that!" Eleonor told him. "Even I know what it means for a man to eat a woman!" She squirmed against nothing in particular, as if a bug was on her back.

"And why can I not?" Victor, asked wondering about what she meant.

"I'm a lady! My father isn't just a noble, or rich, he is the Lord of Knaw Salong!" She told him, standing up and turning to him with a still crimson face. Holding her face in her hands for a moment, she calmed down, and then pointed to Victor.

"Apologize!" Demanded the supposed noblelady. Victor simply shook his head. "Wh- WHY?" His manner of going about talking to her was most disrespectful. He did not bow or kneel, he didn't even offer to kiss her hand! And he said that she smells! And she told him all of such reasons.

"I know not of why I should pay respect to someone because of their birth." He started, lifting his hand and a finger with it. "I will not kneel to you simply because an insipid girl claiming to be a noble demands it." Another finger lifted and Eleonor noticed a slight twitch of his eye as he continued onto the last point. "All things smell. Why do you think you are exempt?"

"But you said I smelled bad! That's... terribly rude to a lady! Noble or not!" She said, face flush with anger and embarrassment. She wasn't one to typically get in a tizzy when someone was not paying heed to her title, but this man was just terribly rude!

"No. I did not. I simply said I could smell you."

"You... you didn't?" She questioned; and to her dismay, he shook his head. Eleonor felt her face practically droop into one of embarrassment. That meant that not only had she jumped to conclusions, she had been rude herself! As she was about to offer her own apologies, Victor paid her very little to mind.

Victor had not engaged in such an in-depth conversation in quite some time. He didn't find it particularly annoying or enlightening. He figured he could live for a couple decades yet, despite his body and its condition. Not only that, the talking, although typically a simple back-and-forth with Victor not giving the slightest of damns to who she was and simply talking, gave Eleonor some food for thought as well. Granted, it was more the equivolent of a tiny, sour grape than a meal.

That thought left a bad taste in her mouth and it was not likely to go away any time soon. And, to Victors credit, he hadn't walked away yet. Something he had thought of doing instead of this was going out to look for more mercenary work. He'd had plenty of offers for work that he would gladly have taken up, given the time and rewards earned. However...

"I guess I'm not going to get an answer to my question any time soon then? About... what you are, that is..." questioned Eleonor. She had exhausted all the humanoid - vaguely or otherwise - races she could think of. And yet none of them got her a bite; but Demon did annoy him, apparently. It would annoy anyone, really.

"No."

"So I could have said what you were already?" She looked askance.

"Perhaps."

"You don't say much, do you."

"No."

Her brow twitched. So much frustration had been building since his initial comment about her sm- No, Eleonor... that was your fauly... calm down. She breathed to herself. Rubbing her temples with her fingers, she looked up and at Victor again, taking in his jaw, his general facial shape, any tells that would give her an idea of what he was.

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"You just look like a human to me, though."

"I would assume so."

"I'm getting really irritated with the way you talk."

"But you can understand me."

Deep breaths Eleonor... He's not purposefully trying to annoy you... he's just... special... yeah! Topic change, then!

"So what is your name, mister bathes-in-the-river-in-the-presence-of-a-lady? I'm Lady Eleonor D'siri. Daughter of Lord Bern D'siri!" Childish as it was, it brought a smug smile to her face. And only now did she realize Victor was scowling - not that it would detract from her omnipresent confidence.

He held no reservations about his name. The idea that magic involving your real name was not something he had ever experienced, nor he believed even existed. Besides. It's not like humans would know that their naming conventions originated from Dragons.

"Victor." Was his reply. He heard minstreils sing songs about "dragons" with preposterous names. Aldu-in or Aldu-out. Victor was incensed every time such a preposterous name came about. To his invisible confusion, Eleonor looked confused, and wrapped her thump and pointer about her chin.

"No family name?"

"No."

"But you look like a noble, you apparently care about hygiene - which is more than I can say about the majority of people in Knaw Salong - or other cities. And you also have that... face that most nobles have. That weird air about you that makes you more handsome." Victors eyes narrowed slightly. "That! That face!"

He withheld a sigh, something he didn't even know he could do since he was cursed. And, despite his instinct to just walk away, he was still yet curious about what face he was making that made him more "noble-looking".

"What face was I making?" He asked, albeit reluctantly.

"It's that scowl! That scowl you just had!"

"I don't scowl." He said, scowling.

"You're scowling right now, though?"

"I'm not scowling."

This went on for an embarrassingly long time before Eleonor finally gave up. Dragon: One, Human: Zero. And, through a solid five minutes of convincing and a miracle, Eleonor had convinced Victor to stay and talk for a bit. It started with her asking if she'd guessed his race in the list at least, and Victor said no, causing the tomboy to plant her derriere on the grass and then fall onto her back. Just to make sure his equipment was where he put it, he looked over everything. The bucket. The rag. And his sword, shield, and squirrel.

Even Victor thought for a moment he'd felt surprised, looking to the river and then back to his gear to reveal there was, indeed, a squirrel on his clothing, currently picking through the spaces beneath the shield. The moment that Victors eyes had glanced over the squirrel's back, it had froze in place. Shaking for a couple moments before turning around. Coming face-to-face with the biggest predator it had ever seen, the squirrel, with its bushy tail, slowly stepped off the gear and then fell over, all but sprinting behind the human it believed to be his companion.

At first confused by the squirrel suddenly being so... friendly with her, Eleonor picked it up in both hands as it shook rapidly. "Well, aren't you awful sociable?" She asked in a cutesy baby-talk voice before she took a breath.

"Do not burst into song."

And she sputtered, coughing and dropping the squirrel into her lap.

"Why would I suddenly start singing?" She asked, flushed. How did he know?

"Too many times I've seen women sing to animals."

Oh, so its not just me. That's comforting at least.

"Your relief is palpable."

"Shut up."

"No."

She could not win, apparently. Victor: Two, Eleonor: Zero.

"Were you expecting company?"

"No? Why? Did my unmatched beauty capture your middle-aged heart?" She smirked.

"No." He said definitively. "But there is someone in the bushes. Come out." Victor demanded.

And out from the bushes came a lone man, twigs in his scarlet hair, dirt dirtying it until it was matted.

"Lady D'siri. You know your father will be incensed when he learns you've come on a rendezvous with... a strange... man... My lady, please get away from that d-"

"IF you say Demon, I will not hesitate to cut your tongue out. Lest you spout an insult any more rude to myself or anyone else." He said, looking back to the man.

Getting a look on him, Victor would note the appearance of, what he assumed to be, a hodgepodge of metal, leather, straps, and wood. As if he had tried to imitate the look a druid, a knight, and a ranger all in one. He had hair longer than Eleonor's own, draping down to his lower neck and no further, but it appeared longer than such due to the sticks and the dark mix of dirt.

"First, Jurian, I would say he would be more angered by the fact you apparently sat in the bushes for gods know how long, while I was talking with a strange man - no offense Victor - and Second! Were you going to watch me bathe?!" She almost yelled the second part, only stopping herself when she stood up and nigh dropped the squirrel onto the floor.

"Wha- No! Of course not! Why would I?" He asked, swea-

"I can smell your sweat, boy."

"Oh shut it Victor.

"No."