The young boy who Aeryn had recruited to lead herself and Eshalu had, until this point, not been taking his job particularly seriously. He had, of course, remained easily in sight, but at times he'd run well ahead of them to clamber up onto a wooden railing and scamper across its length. Or he might lag almost behind them, collecting stones from the ground and stuffing them into his pockets. While typically filthy for a young boy, his clothes looked a little nicer than an initial glance had suggested.<br/><br/>When she raised her voice at him, he spun, his expression offended. "What're you implin'?" he snapped back, clearly unfazed by her weapon. The quantity of soldiers passing in the street probably enhanced his cheekiness: he'd definitely have a size advantage if it turned into a foot race in the midst of the crowd. "Sure, the house<em>was</em>close to the docks, but things change real quick around here."<br/><br/>His tone changed, suddenly understanding (and perhaps even a little … condescending?). "Look, I'll cut you some slack, since you just got offa the boat. Something came outta the harbor four days ago, pulled down a couple a houses. Anybody who could get offa the harbor front did. The old house yer talkin' about has, uh, carpenters in it, now. If I 'member right."<br/><br/>He could, of course, be lying, but his expression doesn't look particularly duplicitous. Even if he's an apprentice or errand boy, as his clothes would suggest, it's likely that he has a<strong>fair</strong>bit of experience lying.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">The Young Boy might or might not be lying. It will take a Fair (+2) effort to determine the truth accurately. Empathy (for passive detection) or Rapport (for carefully constructed questions) might be useful here.</div></div>