"--Raina, right? A slight turn of the head, eyes still locked on the woman's blues; one finger pointed out like a gun, lips curled in a playful smirk. Trying his best to act out his self. I mean, she is single, right? "Jan Ren from Blue Pegasus. It's my pleasure." He introduced. That line that he has practiced for an hour in-front of the mirror... Pulled off flawlessly! Practice really does make perfect!

...Yes, it started out perfect. So, how did it get to this, really? "...Uh huh..." By the time they got to actually taking water samples, crouched by the waters and sleeves pulled up to fill the vials, he was barely listening. Trying his darned hardest to find an opening to talk, but... "Right? You can see that too, right?? You can tell just by the color of the water by this point! Even someone who knows nothing about it can point out how bad it is for us. Hargeon's known as a port town in the first place, and yet these people don't seem to care a bit." ...My only guess is that something in their conversation went in a way that would allow for this enthusiastic biologist to freely fire off everything on her mind. Jan was, after all, welcoming enough in his conversations. But... Listening for this long about something he was just introduced to, he'd lie to say he got everything she had to say.

So instead, "Y-You really care a lot about this s-, your water, huh. Ah, here." Mustering a half-assed smile, Jan handed the lady the two glass containers. "Yes! And get this." --She opened, bursting into another rant. Jan had already resigned himself to the listening part. Apparently this was the main focus of this job?

Raina eventually led Jan back to her lab, not too far away from the collecting field. Convenient, really. Inspecting the tidied room, the Sinese man tried to make himself familiar with the gear presented. Doing as told, he dipped a small piece of paper in one of the vials given, watching as the biologist turned to her own work, instructing him all the while. Seems he was tasked with the easier part, only having to test salt levels. He'd asked about her partner, starting a small chat about her absence and her usual work while waiting for the results to show on the paper.

"--Sorry." Though mid conversation, as she got the chance, drying out a different piece of paper to give it the time to change color (as she explained it), Raina cut off subject. "I've been rambling so much, you must be tired of listening already. Sometimes I get a little heated. Valdis says I can really break into a rant at times." He really didn't pay much mind to it on his end, though it was possible she felt conscious about it. In which case... "Well, a little bit, yeah." He admitted, half-joking. Giving a short pause before resuming, smiling at her. "But you know what, it's nice. To see someone care so much about these things." Adding that he personally didn't wouldn't make things any better.

"Not many people can break off into a hour-long lecture about aquatic life in Hargeon, you know. It's nice." Jan finished, taking a look at the paper he was handed; noticing how the edge changed color indeed. Her own dipped piece now displayed a fuschia-colored end.

While he left the lab honestly not as content as he'd hoped, Jan Ren got to learn a thing or two. Mostly that the waters in Hargeon are surprisingly polluted...

And that marine biology is not something he'd dare dab in.

---

WC: 613/500