North Sea Dungeon

Todd stood in front of the town bulletin board, scowling at the latest piece of parchment to be nailed to it.

Flitting about his shoulder, his fairy helpfully supplied the goings on about the island in regard to his earlier expression of irritation about the notices. "Who would do something like that?" one voice said. "I think it was someone's way of introducing themselves?" said another.

"It was really funny," said a third.

Todd grabbed the offending piece of parchment from the bulletin board, tearing it free from the nail it had been hung from and shredding it in his hands before stuffing the pieces into his satchel to be disposed of somewhere else.

"If your flyers are being vandalized please report it to a clerk at the Registration Office. A glyph can be placed on them to prevent them from being torn down. Thanks." the island overseer's voice came from the fairy next. Todd felt his shoulders go rigid. He needed to find whoever was doing this before they went to the Registration Office and made the situation ten times worse.

"I don't think you're supposed to do that." A voice sounded from behind him. A couple steps, and a woman appeared in his peripheral vision, towering over him. Her yellow eyes were serious as they surveying the bag he just shoved the crumpled paper in, but her mouth was curled in half a smirk.
"Didn't you hear?" She gestured to the fairy sitting on one of the horns framing her head. The fairy was kicking its feet, playing with the golden earring hanging from the horn it was sitting on and making it tint. "Glyph and everything. Should I report you from being the one vandalizing the Bulletin Board? I saw you ripping a couple already this morning."
She tilted her head, and the fairy fluttered up from its perch, burying into the hood of the dark cloak wrapped around the woman's shoulders.

Todd bristled, his own fairy flitting about from one shoulder to the other.

"I'm…" he began, grimacing. He didn't want to admit to being the victim of the harassment campaign that seemed to have been started against him, not knowing if this person had seen the flyers for themselves. He huffed, crossing his arms and glancing away. "I'm not the one doing the vandalizing," he settled for. "These flyers are targeted harassment. Not to mention taking up valuable space where job postings could be."

The woman looked toward the board, tilting her head in obvious thoughts. Then, understanding flickered in her eyes, and she looked back to the man (Half-foot? Tallman? The ears were a dead give away but he also stood in height way above any Half Foot she ever encountered. Maybe Half-Breed?) and grinned a little incredulously.

"Oh. You're the guy! Toddjob, right?"

Dragging a hand down his face, Todd briefly considered lying. But what would be the point? As soon as this stranger found out his name was Todd, it wouldn't be difficult to connect the very obvious dots.

So instead he sighed, crossing his arms in a defensive posture. "Yes. Okay? Have a good laugh about it now, might as well get it out of the way."

A short laugh escaped the woman before she slapped her hand on her mouth, eyes wide. "I'm sorry, it's just- It's not a common name." She let her hand drop before tilting her head, eyes still crinkled in mirth. "You're not much of a shrimp, though. Whoever wrote that note, if I'm guessing right it wasn't yourself, didn't get a proper look at you." Her eyes did a quick once over of the man in front of her, before she extended her hand in a peace offering. "I'm Yehla Damasquine. Nice to meet you, Toddjob... I'm didn't catch your family name?"

Todd gave the woman--Yehla--a flat look before begrudgingly reaching out to shake her hand. "Wertz," he replied. And then, as if to emphasize that his first name was intended to be taken on its own, he continued, "Todd Wertz."

Yehla's eyes grew slightly wide. Something like distress flickered but just a second on her face. Their hands still clasped between them (And Gods, how small his looked in hers), she drew a sharp breath.
"Aren't you... You seem to have Half-Foot blood, no? Is that really proper?"

Todd opened his mouth as if to say something before stopping, closing it, and pulling his hand back. There was an argument to be made--and he was nothing if not used to making it--that he was as much a tall-man as he was a half-foot, and that his name being of one convention or the other shouldn't lend any more weight to one half of his heritage or the other.

But something about the way she'd said it made him feel like he was inviting a degree of intimacy that was certainly awkward for everyone involved. It was easier with individuals who were less familiar with half-foot customs; Yehla, it seemed, was not one such individual.

Todd made a soft, disgruntled little hum in the back of his throat. "Forgive me. I'm used to others not caring one way or the other." He grimaced a little as he continued, glancing away, "Toddjob, then, if it makes you happier."

Yehla blinked, clearly surprised at how the man, clearly of a fiery temperament, seemed to simmer back down so fast. She took her hand away as well, tucking it back inside her cloak, and half smiled.
"I'm sorry. I lived a few years in a Half-Foot village. Habits die hard, I suppose." she explained, before her smile widened, bordering on teasing. "I'm guessing not a fan of the name, huh?"
She gestured to the bulletin board beside them. "And guessing this is not you trying to pull an elaborate scheme to get your name out there, either, like some people speculate. What happened?"