"I don't see why you want to become a mercenary. It's not that great a job, and that's from first hand experience."
Tyren was attempting to get Caaliey to talk civilly to him while sitting behind her on Qwark. She'd let him on her chocobo, but only because she said he would slow them down otherwise. So far, all her answers had been in one word only, and he was hoping that this topic would break the uncomfortable silence. The grassy fields on the way to Junon had yielded no monsters as of yet.
"Mmm."
She flipped her head, her hair slapping Tyren's face. He was tempted to give up, but resolved that he would get a full sentence out of her if only for personal satisfaction.
"First of all, you only travel the world if the person who hires you wishes to do so. Which isn't often. Normally, all they're after is a personal bodyguard. Maybe you'll get to travel between towns, but that's it. The people who go on adventures to the far corners of the earth don't usually need to hire anyone to protect them. Secondly, these so called 'interesting enemies' are normally those people who threaten whoever hired you. Are you really willing to kill people in cold blood? And the pay isn't all that great. You only get good money if you're one of the best. Unfortunately, there will always be people better than you. It's just a fact of life. Honestly, the whole setup sucks."
By the way her hands tightened slightly around the reigns, he knew she only feigned indifference. A smile crept over his face as he saw the chance to needle her a bit.
"Aww, poor baby… did I destroy your dream that quickly? Do you want to run back to granny so she can kiss you better?"
He released one arm from around her waist to give her a condescending pat on the head, and she responded by swinging her heel back in the stirrup, whacking him soundly in the shin. He could feel the satisfaction radiating off her as he yelled in pain, and looking down, he could tell that there would be a nasty bruise there the next day. It was all worth it, however, as she finally decided to speak to him.
"Don't be such an idiot. Anyway, I can't go running back home when I have a helpless boy clinging to me the whole way, can I? Now how would that look to everyone else? I couldn't possibly deliberately disgrace someone so dependent on me."
Tyren narrowed his eyes, making a mock angry face, then attempted to slap the back of her head. Casually lifting her arm to stop it, she laughed.
"Uh uh uh. Just remember who's giving who the ride."
With a grin, Tyren lowered his arm. Maybe the ride to Junon wouldn't be so bad after all.