Snippet #2439469

Adam sat, slightly damp in the carriage. He'd gotten stuck out in the rain when he'd gotten a little lost trying to explore the town before they finally made their way up to the castle. He hated the rain. He hated feeling wet and it was getting colder as they approached the castle. He looked between his colleagues in the carriage. There was the leader and what looked almost like a preacher. Then there was a young man that actually looked like he might be younger than Adam, something he hadn't been expecting. The cigar smoking man looked at the same young man Adam had been thinking was so young and asked him how old he was.

The man answered saying he was twenty and asking if Adam had seen a mummy movie. "I can't say I have. Though I think I saw a poster for it. I was busy the week it came to the town theater. And, no offense, but I'm surprised to see someone so young with us. Not that I should be one to talk, I'm can't be much older than you. But I must admit that from what I'd been told, I was expecting more of an experienced crew. N-n-not to say you aren't experienced or anything! I was just..." He put his hand on the back of his neck and rubbed slightly. And so it begins. If this is a real find we could be stuck together a while. It's best to try NOT to make enemies right away. Keep it together.

He didn't want to leave those as his last words so he turned to the man smoking the cigar. "You're, oh, I know you're name, Dr... Tree bark? Dry Barge? How, I've read it but ever heard it, how do you pronounce it? I, uh, I've been trying to keep up with the recent writings in the different fields. I must say, I've only read a couple of your papers, but they seem to simply ignore certain, in my opinion, very important aspects of what may influence people's culture." Sure. Go ahead and right out of the bat insult the leader of the expedition, the man with years more experience in the field then you.

He became somewhat flustered and spat out what might have been some kind of an apology underneath all the stumbling sounds he made as he finally turned to the last man in the carriage. "I must say!" He blurted out the words, as if trying to force the gears on a car without using the clutch. "I am surprised to see a holy man joining us. I guess I really shouldn't, I just hadn't thought about it before. I was never really religious. My parents never really raised me to believe in all that nonsense... Not to say that it's nonsense! Just that, you know, we never really thought that... Way." Now all you have to do is insult the driver and the horses and everyone in this carriage will have something against you. Why not insult the person who made it as well? Who designed it? How about insulting the first man to invent the wheel? Yeah, just, get everyone mad at you.

He clapped his hands together and exhaled an extended breath. He felt very uncomfortable at this point, which made him more nervous and made him feel more like speaking, though he feared that if he said anything more, he'd just make it worse. "So, did anyone have any luck talking to the locals?" There, that should be safe. He unconsciously scratched his chin under his beard. He suddenly felt a sharp pain and brought his hand back to look at it. There was a small bit of blood on the nail and tip of his finger. He grumbled and rubbed where it was just slightly bleeding. Yep. Great way to start.