PM to join [BDC] A Little Chat (Shayna)

[Aspahassajiv Rajor]

The girl took a moment to compose her answer before launching into it. Ajiv smirked slightly at that. It was of course wise for her not to raise certain idiosyncrasies of the Rajor house, which were merely reflective of those of the Dhani more generally. Perhaps she was worried that raising such features would be seen as gossipy and rude, or perhaps it was that she did not seek a demonstration. In Ajiv's case, neither of the unpleasant outcomes would be particularly likely to result. The Rajor were not ashamed of their predatory nature, though they were also not prone to flaunting it as some families were. Much of their crueler practice took place in their underground nests. Admittedly, if she had raised the concepts in an accusatory fashion or given hints of insolence he might well have ended the interchange with a punishment, but there was no point indulging violent tendencies when they distracted from the potential gain at hand.

The girl stuttered slightly on the name of his race. It was good for others to know that they were the prey in the world and that the Dhani were the predators. The Rajor might not be well-liked, but at least they would be respected and feared. Still, those who slumbered with serpents would provide warmth while the arrangement lasted, and sate a hunger conveniently when it did not; Ajiv was certainly not alone amongst the Rajor in this line of thought. He pursed his lips slightly. Talking to this slave was not the time to worry about relations between the Dynasties. As she spoke of some further details of his family and their plantation, he absentmindedly pushed the sleeve of his shirt up so that the dark flesh of his forearm was exposed to a ray of winter sun that had been warming the steps. His fingers twisted some of the blue cotton under itself to secure it in position.

"That isss correct; the Dhani are … the femalesss lead uss. To have child … to birth, it iss mossst valued. The Rajor," as Ajiv said the word, the 'j' was almost crossed with a shushing sound, "are perhapsss a little … lessss strong … on this matter. Perhapsss not. But in Kenash, a man may be very ssstrong through bussssinesss. That isss … different." Ajiv leant back, his arm stretched behind him to catch as much of the sun's ray as possible. "I am made to sssay 'ssstrong' too much; I do not have the words." He tilted his head back then rolled it leftwards on to his shoulder almost petulantly. He took a moment to observe the path down to the street and the world beyond the shop's land.

"It isss also correct that the Rajor will buy more difficult ssslavesss. We are good at training. One should ussse one'sss sstrengthsss. We are also … ah … arm strong." He slapped the step next to him loudly to illustrate his point. "A difficult ssslave will not … more ssstrong usss." Ajiv winced. "Many ssslavesss are afraid when they come. Perhapsss this is why we do not ssscare our ssslavesss with public punishmentssss. Direct punishmentsss are effective." His voice was a little lower and softer as he spoke this last sentence, almost as if these 'direct punishments' were a moment of intimate sharing. "Of courssse, one can alssso use … not-punishment … What is thisss word?" He turned his eyes back towards the small girl's emerald ones expectantly.

[Shayna]

Shayna was slowly becoming a little less daunted by the man speaking to her, at least she started to relax her muscles and her grip on her broom was becoming more natural. She used one hand to move her hair over, back away from her face as she tried to reason out what he was trying to say. It was difficult for her to teach this man because of their station differences, because she herself was uneducated so was not really experienced in learning, and because she was uncomfortable with the idea that her Mistress would come out and find her lounging on the step conversing rather then her normal duties.

"Weaker." She says gently, her freckled face puckering gently as she tried to explain, " Instead of less strong, it would be weaker. And instead of very strong through business, you can say more powerful...though I suppose very strong would work.." When he slapped the step, she jumped just a little, then scowled. Not at him, not really, the scowl was at her reaction. Before her time spent in Askara custody she would have met him with respectful coolness..hiding the slight fear of snakes behind a cool impenetrable mask. Her time at the hands of another had made her fearful of Dynasty and even some freeborn, and that made her angry.

She wasn't even aware that she was scowling until he asked for another word, a word she had to dredge up from her mind. "Um reward? Or ...maybe incentive?"

[Aspahassajiv Rajor]

Ajiv nodded slightly as Shayna offered a word to replace the construction he had pieced together. Drawing a small breath, he reminded himself both that being understood had been a victory and that growing stronger as a Common speaker was an even greater one. He murmured the words 'weaker' and 'powerful' under his breath in repetition before moving on with his discussion of the greater options the Rajor had in buying slaves. He noted that the girl seemed to be losing tension in her arms and hands, letting the broom sit in them rather than strangling it into submission, daring it to waver from the angle at which she held it as she had been. But when he slapped the stair tension entered her body in a different way: first in her jump, and then in the scowl that settled across her face. Was her liveliness really such that she would dare to harbour annoyance at a Dynasty member? So few could train properly: once properly moulded, a slave should be as incapable of bearing anger towards their master as of raising a hand against them. Perhaps this one truly had such behaviour limited to her mistress, but she had just moments ago mentioned she was from a breeding farm. It seemed an unlikely trait to have been instilled rather than bending towards all Dynasty members; Ajiv had always found it better to assume incompetence in other slave owners. It was more frequently the case.

"'Reward'. Yesss, I do know that word. That isss what I sssearched for. It isss a word I need lessss than 'punishment'." Ajiv laughed slightly. Apart from the first 'ha', the following sounds were more breathy aspirations or pants than fuller chuckles. He sat up, swivelled round, put both feet on the step below him. He rested his elbows on his thighs and clasped his hands between his knees, allowing the sleeve he had pushed up to fall back towards his wrist. His long hair fell forward slightly over his face as he leaned forward and regarded the world at the periphery. A young couple of Dynasty members he knew from various functions giggled to each other as they sauntered past, wrapping themselves in a a layer of bubbling delight that excluded the rest of the world.

"'Incccentive', thisss isss the sssame asss 'reward' or different? Reward mussst be usssed too. The Rajor know thiss, but do not alwaysss act ssso." The last two sentences were almost idle musing; Ajiv was simply forcing more Common out of himself to ease the rust and shakiness he felt around it.

[Shayna]

She forced herself to limber her arms and legs, trying to smooth her face once more. She had lost much in that one night, and she was still just learning to take back some of what she had lost.. things like the ability to read the freeborn and Dynasty, to be able to gauge whether or not they were gathering anger, or pleasure in actions and words. The fear that had lived in her heart since that night had blotted out the confidence that she was well trained and well behaved.

She turns her face away from him, looking out toward the black swan lake, not really seeing what was out there but simply hiding her features from him. "Incentive is almost the same as reward. A reward doesn't have to be an incentive, it could be simply a surprise. An incentive is something someone knows will happen if they do a good job." Her hands move to lay the broom aside, balancing it against the step so that her arms were free to come up and cross in front of her. Her hands grip her upper arms, and her head remains turned so that her black curtain of hair falls over her shoulder, obscuring her features even more.

"Is it true...that .." She started to ask, then stopped, hesitant to ask such a bold question. He had encouraged her to, and of all the things that was forbidden to slaves, it was knowledge that she chafed for. So when she had a chance to learn, on any subject she tended to soak it up like a sponge to water. "Is it true that Dhani aren't born like...like most ..races. But they are hatched?"

[Aspahassajiv Rajor]

The Dynasty and the slave sat on the steps, each facing away from the other. Similarly, they were both cloaked by their hair: the former merely owed to some loose strands, the latter to hide herself away. He gazed down towards the street whence he had arrived and over towards Gold Beach. Below him the Dynasties and wealthy freeborn passed by, chatting together. His prodigal, partying past lent him some standing in the fashionable social circles, but he could not engage his full wit at the social events to cement and increase his standing: the Common held him back. As his focus shifted back towards himself he noticed the path before him was somewhat dusty and that there was debris from some of the plants that had clung to some foliage until the beginning of winter rather than in autumn. He tutted.

As the girl explained the difference between incentives and rewards, Ajiv nodded slightly to himself. Incentives were by far the more important thing. Not to say that a slave always needed to know what the result for good behaviour or performance would be. He had seen excellent results from a slave owner who offered rewards randomly to this in his employ who had performed well. The unpredictability of the reward appears to have made it all the sweeter. If the reward was significantly delayed from the behaviour, however, Ajiv had been less convinced of randomness's desirability.

The girl had set her broom down. That was probably a good sign, but then she had turned away from him significantly. Ajiv could hardly be bothered to trace the clues as to her mental state. Unless she proved overly silent when he spoke and needed help he would be quite content. Worries of silence were quickly assuaged by the girl asking a question, however hesitantly. The question also amused him somewhat. Reproduction would always spark the mind when confronted with the other. Whether the act required or the details of child-bearing, its the rawness of its physical nature and basic animal importance would always jolt it to the forefront of a mind.

"Yesss. That isss correct. Dhani are sssnakess when we firssst hatch, and ssso we of courssse come from eggsss asss do the sssnakesss. That isss alssso why a female Dhani will never have a half-breed. They cannot be hatched." Ajiv had hit a rhythm with his Common, the familiar subject matter aided him as he'd hoped. "It often issss more than a human lifetime that a Dhani learnssss to walk asss a human." He made a meditative sound somewhere between a hiss and a whistle, then licked his lips. "It mussst be very different to be youth as a human rather than a sssnake. Do you use armsss and legsss often as child?" The Dhani still did not turn to face the slave as he asked the strange question on limbs in childhood.

[Shayna]

Her curiosity perked, Shayna turned, sliding around on the step easily. Her short legs curling so that her ankles crossed on the ground below and her hands fall to clasp gently in her lap. She now faced him, and took the opportunity with his head turned to look over him. It was hard to imagine that this human was actually a snake, that he could turn into scales, venom and teeth. It was also frightening that he could, Dynasty could be cruel and hurtful by themselves it was slightly unnerving to know that some were so deadly.

Now that her curiosity was roused, Shayna almost forgot herself, her features becoming just a little less closed and guarded. "That seems so odd to me. To burst from an egg..though I suppose you don't remember that any more then I remember being birthed from the Birthing slave who carried me." Shayna remarks, in a tone that was both musing and reflective. One had raises to push her black hair back behind her ear. "We are born with arms and legs, though we are not adept at using them. It's something that we have to learn to control. Learn to walk, learn to use tools."

"Females will never have half-breeds...but that implies that the males might?" Her hands drop now to the stone step, leaning back, not quite causally but comfortably. As if she is used to sitting on these steps, though surely not conversing with a Dhani. "How does that work...do the half breed live as long as you? Can they be..snake..and human too?"

[Aspahassajiv Rajor]

"It isss true. It ssseemss odd to me that I burssst from an egg. Not odd asss … birth, but odd ssstill. I cannot imagine or remember it." Ajiv turned his head to glance at Shayna and noticed that she had turned back towards and was sat in a more relaxed fashion. As he turned back towards the street below, he silently congratulated himself on moving the slave to an appropriate state. Of course, it was possible she would end being too talkative and prattle on endlessly about herself. If that happened, he would have to make a quick judgment as to how much improvement in Common he was gaining from such behaviour. If it was much less than from speaking it, he would take action to move her into a more taciturn mode.

"'Adept'? What isss thisss word?" Ajiv could make a good fist at guessing from the context, of course, but it would be better to ask now than embarrass himself later. It made sense that the humans had to learn to manoeuvre their complicated bodies. There was somewhat of a learning phase with Dhani, too, but it was eased by the transition through their Dhani form when they could support bipedal movement with their snaking tail.

"It isss true. A male might." Ajiv was not sure what the treatment of one who dared to procreate outside the race would be; doubtless unpleasant. "It isss not possssible for the child of a Dhani and another to change their form. Changing only by the true born of Ssssiku. Lifesssspan … I not know. Half are very rare. Never have met half or known one who met half."

[Shayna]

When he turned to look at her, she dropped her eyes quickly, not wanting to be caught staring openly at him. She found herself almost wishing she could reach over and touch his skin to see if it felt like human skin or if it would be rough like scales. Not that he had scales on him, he looked human enough without the telltale lisp she might not have realized he was Dhani. But the desire to find out was there, however she curbed it.

"Adept, it means to be good at. To be able to do something well." Shayna bit her lip gently, trying to summon up the word to make sure she got all of the meaning out. Once she was certain she got all of the definitions out she went back to questions on the Dhani. "So what happens if a half breed is born? " her knees raise and she wraps her arms around her knees resting her chin on her knee tops. "Rare or not they have to be born sometimes. Do the Dhani accept them?"

[Aspahassajiv Rajor]

Ajiv made the slight hiss whistle sound again as he considered the definition that Shayna had offered him. He went over it a couple of times in his mind to ensure that he had fixed its usage, leading to a short pause before he began his answer to Shayna. "If a half breed issss born … And that is true very rare: I ssssay I have never met half or known one who met half …" Ajiv repeated his clumsy phrasing from earlier "If born … where isss thisss child born? He isss born of some woman who issss not Dhani -- ah -- as have sssaid. Isss thissss woman living with the nest? Cccertainly not assss -- ah … guessst. Assss sssslave … maybe." Ajiv stood at this point and wandered down the stairs slightly, kicked at a leaf. "Thisss child would not be … welcome, I think. Child isss without mother; we are female led. Child isss not true Dhani; the raccce matterssss greatly. Child isa ssslave, or," Ajiv turned to look up at Shayna. "Sssssssnack." He let the hiss ride on the opening of that word, then flicked his tongue out over his lips. Then he laughed a hissing wheeze. "But, ah, sssuch thingssss are almossst never."

Another cluster made the various greenery and foliage of the grounds sway, some carefully planted flowers, some the more wild nature at the back of the plot. The whispering of the longer grass as it slithered over itself caught Ajiv's attention. Perhaps it was the way that it echoed two Dhanis contorted together in the flush of wrestling. Regardless, it gave him idea. "I tire of ssspeaking of my raccce. You know the namesss of," he let a hand drift out broadly, "garden?"

[Shayna]

Shayna listened, he used quite a few words this time with the sound of the s in them, with his Dhani-lisp it was difficult at times to understand without careful listening. Yet when he stood and walked down slightly, and finished his words, Shayna's eyes widen at his referencing a snake, and the flick of his tongue. She paled slightly having almost forgotten that Dhani had no compulsion against eating most things. She tried to comfort herself by reminding herself that surely he wouldn't damage Morealis and Rajor tentative peace by gobbling down a garden slave. Though it would have helped if she were more valuable then a low rung slave.

He needn't have worried that she was going to continue asking questions about his race after that, and she was thankful that he seemed ready to move on. Until, of course, he asked another question. She swallowed a sigh and rearranged her face to a more appropriate vision of calm if not still just a little pale. "I know the names of the plants in the garden..if that is what you are asking." She says, standing and moving down the steps slowly. She left the broom where she had leaned it, her sturdy boots hardly making a sound on the steps. She gives him wide berth, trying not to be obvious about it, as she slips toward the back. "We will have to be quick though. I am not sure if my Mistress wants anyone in her gardens..." Before the incident with the Askara's she would have just told him out right that he was not allowed in her Mistress' garden but that had left her less confident in her station as a slave. Perhaps because her Mistress' punishments were more often less permanent so she preferred her wrath to that of others.

She opened the gate, "Plants, flowers and herbs are grown in gardens." She said the first three names clearly, slowly for his benefit. She stood waiting for him to enter the gate before slipping inside as well, all the while refusing to look him in the eye again.