"I thought I was being rather kind," Doryn said, having a bit of a sip of the wine. A bit of an expert vinter himself, the Northman tended to be a bit picky about his wines, which was one of the reasons that he enjoyed patronizing the Dew Drop,-- it boasted a fine selection of rare and expenive imports and the lion's share of the inn's local vintages came from Doryn's own vineyards. It was, in it's own way, just yet another manner in which him and Hani were involved in a professional capacity. "I'm more of a defiler of the innocent myself..."<br/><br/>"...or so I hear," he says, eyes twinkling a bit.<br/><br/>It wasn't that unusual for the newest titled Noble of Crescent City, the young and handsome Knight-Captain of the Guard, to say things that few would expect him to say and in many ways Doryn prided himself on being remarkably straight-forward and even what others might call brash. He was rough, prideful, shocking,-- scandalous!-- and despite it all he'd proven time and again that he could play the game. Heaven knows that the City had more than enough smooth-talking cunning manipulators. More than a few of them now languished in the dungeons, having thought that they'd gotten the better of the new Captain of the Guard right up until the moment when his men burst through the doors into some sensitive location and Lord Aelland himself came strolling in afterwards as casually as could be, some men now garbed in chains that had once been thought unimpeachable bastions of Crescent Cities criminal underground.<br/><br/><em>"I am sure that the two of you enjoy comparing notes about all your conquests. Isn't that what men do?"</em>Hani asked, her voice with that delightful lilt.<em>"Of course it matters not to me, as I enjoy teasing Doryn. I know he is not serious. I am far from ready to settle down. I have too much to do first."</em><br/><br/>"You say that as if I'm ready to settle down," Doryn said, laughing. "I dare say that I have even less desire to do so than anyone at this table, I just have less choice in the matter. But, you were saying?"<br/><br/>Which, as it turned out, is when Hani went into her little long-winded spiel about having some business to attend to. He assumed, at first, that she was having to excuse herself shortly but it quickly became apparent that she was rather talking about one of the items that she'd stolen during one of her robberies. Which, well, surprised him,-- he hadn't yet heard any angry complaints from any of the Nobles at having some notable valuable pilfered from their home, in point of fact it'd been long enough since he'd heard anything that he was wondering if Hani had stopped her little 'hobby' now, perhaps because she was making enough money off her dealings with him that she didn't need to...<br/><br/>...not that he was surprised about<em>that</em>. He was fairly sure that Hani's hobby had very little to do with money.<br/><br/>No, what surprised him was the fact that she was talking about this in front of him, and in point of fact that she-- a suspicion confirmed when Ethirdir all but jumped on the offer without much prompting, which admittedly could be innocent but was rather all too convenient for his tastes,-- so his rival didn't just steal away women from Haniel but was also something of a fence? Interesting.<br/><br/>"Well, if we're talking about business-- rather uncouth, I would note, considering that we're sharing drinks after a toast to friendship,--" Doryn said, a bit of a sparkle in his eyes. "I'd note that I've been engaged in a long-standing hunt for a band of thieves that have been breaking into some of the estates of nobility. Quite the impressive partnership, or so I hear, pulling off heists that would beggar the imagination. I dare say that I get an earful from the poor soul in question after every hit."<br/><br/>He has a sip of his wine, and one might even think he was done.<br/><br/>Except, well,-- no,-<br/><br/>"Though, myself, from what I've seen of the crimes in question? I never really bought the theory that it was an entire crew of thieves. Just one good cat burglar, really, and probably someone slight and dexterous whom nobody would ever suspect of being involved in anything like that. Though that's just my thought, of course, either way they're still very much at large and in any event I haven't heard anything from them lately."<br/><br/>He glances over at Hani...<br/><br/>"...not so much as a peep," he notes, idly. "Anyway, you were saying something about a Bodyguard? I can loan you Friedrich, of course,-- or Vaughn if you prefer someone a bit more canny,-"<br/><br/>He has a bit more wine.