The desire to ask him how generous was strong. It took all she had to restrain herself from such comments in public. Though, when he began to talk about his jobs, she found herself staring at him. How the hell did he find a sleeper cell with a teddy bear? "What... how...." She took a deep breath. "Please, please, explain to me how you managed to accomplish that with a teddy bear. Was there a tag on it? Was there a marking on it? Something to tell you where it came from? There is no way you just looked at it and said 'oh I know where this is from' unless you'd ran in to them before." She didn't even consider that she was giving him ways to explain the situation. Not that she thought he needed excuses. She believed it had happened and he'd done it. She just didn't understand how.
She didn't push the questions or conversation as the food came. When he picked up his burger and bit into it like that, she stared for a moment then laughed. He had so many skills. That had to count as a skill. There was no way it couldn't be. The licking of his lips made her blush again, smiling. Though his answer made her frown some. Closer to home?
"Do I want to know what you mean by closer to home? Like here, in the states? Plenty of cannibals?" That was so gross. She couldn't imagine who would ever do that. Why would you? What made you think it was alright? It had to be an illness of the mind, surely. The comment he made about going wild had her even more curious than where he'd run into cannibals. "I'd like to see your definition of wild then. But there are all kinds of old stories about there being tribes in jungle places that hunt outsiders and take their heads. They shrink them. They're called 'head hunters'. Did you ever see any evidence of things like that? I don't think they're real or they're not what people think they are."
Gerwulf could have just brought up client-based confidentiality; however, he hadn't even named a country nor any people. Just a teddy-bear. "Good Ol' fashioned snooping and a bloodhound. The bear had something inside it, an effigy tied with hair and in a little vacuum-sealed bag. Old superstition from the country of its origin. It took me a bit of time to get a forensic archeologist friend of mine to look into it properly, and he got me the name of the country. After that, it was just a clear shot to locate people with ties to it decades past." Shrugging after the explanation, like it solved everything. He'd not give details, and in his line of work, it was obvious that he wouldn't. Just the jist of the story with such confidence that it wasn't farfetched at all.
Liking her reaction to his lips and tongue, he kept those thoughts to himself as he nodded to her question on whether or not there were cannibals in the States. He didn't give information on that because it would be a poor conversation to continue during dinner. It was called long-pig for a reason after all. "Maybe, though I doubt it. As for those tribals, I know of them, but we kept away from each other," Gerwulf stated, though never mentioning that it was because he scared them. When something didn't die with arrows or poison, it meant that it was just a monster in human form after all.
"Yeah, you know it's actually a form of dehydration. It is a ritual, but it doesn't mean what people think it does." There were many reasons for the removal of the skinned head, of course. During the age when they were popularized, the tribes only made more of them because they could be sold like a macabre commodity. "But, they do exist and will kill for almost no reason, or that is what it feels like to people who consider themselves to be civilized."
The mention of a bloodhound and the other methods of using the toy for tracking calmed the confusion in her mind. That made much more sense. "That sounds like a lot of work. I'm guessing you make pretty good money for jobs like that. It sounds like it probably took months or longer to get the answers your client wanted." Everything he said sounded on the up and up. There was no reason for her to question or suspect that there was anything untrue or left out of his story. It did seem like he had a lot of useful connections though. The kind of connections she needed to make in time. Ones that could help her keep herself safe and bring her brother home one day. If he wanted to come home.
The way he brushed over the cannibal question, made her eye him, but she let it go. It wasn't something she wanted a true answer to anyway. The idea of it made her stomach turn. She wondered why they stayed away from him. A lone man in the jungle? Seemed like an easy target to her. Even if in non-jungle settings. Though, he was skilled, so perhaps they didn't have the skills to match him. She couldn't help but imagine people native to the jungle with spears and low tech weapons trying to fight a modern man with better tools and weapons. She supposed it made sense.
Aesa was eating as he was talking, but she listened close to what he said. "I'm not a big believer in people not having a reason for what they do. It might not be a reason we agree with, but there is always a reason. I don't care how primitive or modernized you are. The only beings I give a shot at that kind of explanation are animals. And even then it's for survival. For food and the like."
What he didn't mention was that Gerwulf was his own bloodhound, and other methods were gathered over years of effort. "It was, but it was enjoyable. The issue with jobs like that, you don't get paid much, and you're basically working for a pittance when dealing with teens and the like." Shrugging, it wasn't like he got much from the deal. He found the answers; he gave them to the kid, and that was that. Sure, he made out like a bandit when it came to salvage or loot in relation to what he did and to whom.
Gerwulf was glad that Aesa didn't ask further about cannibals; it may have been a funny thing to start with. But the details were things that brought some people on the brink of tears or nausea. As for his own survival in the Congo, it wasn't like he could tell the stories related to how he stalked the place like an apex predator. That each time he was in human form that it was to make sure that the only people he killed were poachers and not any of the locals.
Using the time between speaking to finish off the first burger, before scooping up as much of the dense chili cheese fries. The crisp nature of the fries and meaty sauce was great. When it was time for him to speak up again, he did so after a sip of the orange soda. "That is true, which is why I said almost no reason or how it feels like to outsiders." Listening then to her description of animals, he couldn't help but nod. "Some animals are just more wily than you would believe, just as interesting as people."
The idea of him being kind enough to do all that work for mere crumbs made her approve of him and his work even more. He seemed like a man with a very good heart. The thought that it was all a lie, a ploy to get into her bed did cross her mind, but was it really a bad thing when she wanted to let him in it? No, but she didn't think he had lied about it or who he was. He seemed like someone who didn't give a fuck and didn't need to lie to be liked. Nor did he strike her as someone who cared if you liked him or not. Take him or leave him, your choice.
"I didn't think about the teenage angle of it. That was good of you to help them even if it wasn't for much money. Need more people with attitudes like that in the world." She'd given out some free memberships to her facility, even if that hurt her bottom line. If it kept someone safe, or gave someone a hand up, she'd deal with the bills when it came. She could always dip back into the underbelly of a city like this and make a few extra dollars.
"I've not really spent a ton of time around animals. I mean in the PNW we had lots of animals, but I never had the luxury of hiking to see them in their habitat. And dad didn't let us have a dog, cause grandpa would just kill it." She cursed herself, not having intended on sharing that. "Anyway. I'll have to take your word for it. Though I admit, animals being wily and things still doesn't surprise me. Now, is there anywhere that you've not been that you want to go?"
