[center][h3][sub][b]E V A N D E R   W H I T E M A N E[/b][/sub][/h3]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/EqOFKC8.jpg?1[/img][/center]
[right][hr][color=gray][b]Windward Island[/b]
Port Harbor, the Sunken Shepherd
[@Mcmolly][/color][hr][/right]

Evander couldn't help but smirk as he listened to her answer, his head tilting to face the earth below for a moment, an effort to mask his amusement. He threw in a few quietened words and hums of agreement as she spoke, elaborating on her answer somewhat. Admittedly, she'd lost him as soon as the winds of fate were mentioned. It wasn't an altogether unsatisfactory answer, and his amused confusion did not mask annoyance or irritation. No - there was something beyond these 'winds of fate', he was sure. She merely wasn't ready to share her reasons for answering the call with him, and he understood why. They had only met that day, after all. And it wasn't as if Evander had no secrets of his own.

As they continued to head down toward the docks, now slightly behind other divers that had hurried past, Solia moved past her answer to his own questions to instead offer up some questions of her own. He listened carefully as they walked along, offering the occasional nod as her question developed. It was a fair one, and something he'd probably wonder himself were he in her shoes.

[color=A9CCE3]"Aye - sorry 'bout the questions."[/color], he remarked while looking toward Solia, gauging her reaction. [color=A9CCE3]"I don't mean to make you feel as though you're being interrogated."[/color]

He noticed her head had dropped to face her feet once more, something Evander had now come to expect as common for Solia. Was it simply that she was shy? Perhaps - but he had the distinct impression Solia was someone often trapped in their own thoughts. He'd known her for only a little while, but it often seemed to him as though she had much on her mind. Evander couldn't know what - and indeed while he had many questions for her, most glaringly the question of what she was, he reminded himself that he had already decided she was 'one of the good ones'. His gut instinct trusted her, and so would he. Asking question after question would do no good.

With this in mind, Evander continued on. [color=A9CCE3]"But 'ach, don't worry about it"[/color], he noted with a slight wave of his hand dismissively, [color=A9CCE3]"You're perfectly right to ask. Truth is, I don't have too much waiting for me in the frozen sea. No family, no work, nothing. I left not long after my father passed."[/color]

Though the conversation topic may have easily been quite a hard one, Evander spoke of it with a surprisingly casual tone. It was clear he'd since moved on. [color=A9CCE3]"I joined the Diver's Guild 'cause I figured it was easiest route away from nothing. I was never in it to get rich or anything like that - I was content with the idea of protecting cargo, navigating rougher waters. I got plenty of experience doing that in the frozen sea, so the idea was to that experience an' travel around with it."[/color]

Raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun, now that they had escaped the shade the tavern provided, Evander continued on. [color=A9CCE3]"So anyway, I joined up, well. Must've been eight years ago? I did a few dives here and there, but only on a smaller-scale. Years ago now, and I can't really remember much of them. I [i]do[/i] remember not liking most of the divers I met, though. Always in it for themselves. Never felt like you could trust them, you know?"[/color]

[color=A9CCE3]"So I kept that up for a year or two, but I got bored of it. Bored of the competitiveness, of the backstabbing, all that. I joined up with a merchant-captain who'd spotted me through the guild. Give or take a few years later, I switch crews to Reballo, which I've been doing for two years."[/color] He paused at the mention of Reballo. His part in the crew of the questionable merchant had troubled him for a long time.

[color=A9CCE3]"Reballo's... 'ach, he's a guy making a living, I suppose. He just... exaggerates a lot of the stuff he's selling. It was a good job - I sailed all over. From the Dragon Sea to the Imperial, but I've been looking to get out of that for a while now."[/color] Grinning, he added, [color=A9CCE3]"Then, as [i]fate[/i] would have it, I ended up here, and you asked me to tag along."[/color]

By the time had finished his small-story, the two had reached the docks. They'd fallen behind the majority of the other divers, and caught the end of Bron's final address to the crowd. Looking around quickly, Evander caught sight of the purple-haired girl and her accomplice from the frozen sea that he had spotted at the tavern, and it would seem that both likewise spotted them, as Evander briefly caught the eye of Terhikki while she too surveyed her surroundings.

Turning to face Solia in full, and with a confident smile, he clasped his hands together.

[color=A9CCE3]"...and that's the very short story of me!"[/color]

He gestured an arm toward the Skullfish as the other divers began to board.

[color=A9CCE3]"Shall we?"[/color]