Corryn sighed as he stared up at Nivos and her smugly smiling face. What was she trying to do with that little speech? Guilt trip others into not asking for money, or increase her own standing as an almost saintly person willing to sacrifice everything for others... Sacrifice... He could feel fresh anger mingled with the faint press of sorrow. It welled up inside him, powerful yet distant. What a horrible thought, losing everything in a gamble. One life for a possibility, a mere chance at sucess. And yet her voice was tinged with awe, like a child who speaks of heroes.

He felt like laughing, a burning need that rushed through his body. Nivos's words, Ms Decor's words. They finally made sense to him. She was being honest. Utterly honest. She wanted nothing else but the joy of saving lives, willing to go to any lengths for that purpose. Honerable, yet still painfully naive. If a warrior fights for nothing then how will he pay for the food to keep living, the armor to deflect the foes blows, and the sword with which to strike down on his enemies. She was still far too inexperienced to realise that yet, bobbing along on the great sea of youthful idealism.

He remembered when he had thought like that, long ago when the name corryn had no meaning. It had been the first time he measured his options against the coldness of the reality that lay before him. It was not a pleasent memory but there were far worse things that lay locked away within his mind. He rose from the table, a single clawed hand held lightly in the air.

"Ah Nivos, your subtle spite makes this all the more interesting, no?" he said, the corner of his lip rising as he spoke "So, do you really begrudge his desire for such a large sum? This is after all an open ended contract. It could take a year, or even a decade to complete." Corryn paused for a moment glancing over to the stoic figure of the man. "No one becomes a mercenary because they want to Nivos, there is always a reason. Loss of honour, loss of position, loss of a place to call home. We don't know his reasons, for all we know it is compassion that fuels his greed."

He closed his eyes, imagining the indignation that would no doubt blosom over nivos' face. The compassion line had been a nice touch, and he wondered idlely if his taunting would actually bring her too angry screams. It didn't really matter, either way it was different to how the soldiers he usually had deal with would react. Cocking his head over in the direction of where bob still stood corryn spoke again.

"The reward i was promised for completing this job..." he began "I don't expect you to give it to me. Far too valuable, too unpredictable. You'd have to trust me a lot to actually want to give it to me. Which really raises the question, are you baiting me or do you know who I am?"

Bob stared, his mouth hanging open, thin dry lips moving slightly as if trying to corner an answer to the difficult question. Corryn merely waved a hand, grabbing hold of nivos and pulling her back down on to her chair as he descended on his own. 'Damnit, Corryn thought to himself as he sat on the simple wooden chair. He'd given away far more than he'd intended there. At least there wasn't anyone he recognised, if there was it would have been really bad. As it was he could probably just shrug it off by saying to trust someone you had to know who they were on a level slightly deeper than physical apearance. That just left Nivos, she was more than smart enough to realise that he was hiding something about his identity. Or maybe she wasn't, either way he was going to be deceptively honest.

"Corryn isn't my real name" he said simply "But it's far more true too me now than the one my parents gave to me. I'm no longer human, so using that name is no longer an option, right?"