The Daily Grind (open)

[Daejyn]

63rd Spring 511

Daejyn had been up shortly before the sun as usual, to haul wood and dung for the morning breakfast fires, then water. Then a break to feed his daughter Lilani, and to check on Ugly Pony. Now, he was back to hauling water, for a different Pavilion this time, a yoke across his shoulders, a large water-laden bucket hanging from either side. Lilani was tucked into the sling against his back, a tuft of black hair showing above the multicolored fabric that held her in place, and occasionally a little arm sneaking out to wave around a bit. She was starting to get a bit fussy though, sick of being strapped in so tightly. Jyn navigated the busy city carefully, keeping his fingers crossed that she would keep from all-out wailing for a little bit longer and that he wouldn't douse anyone with the water he was hauling. He was finally starting to get used to the city, there seemed a lot of people to him, and it always seemed very loud. People called to one another without much concern about the volume of their voice, good natured banter and barter, children seeming to run all over the place. He liked it though, even if it had taken some getting used to. Life with the Zith had been quiet, the slaves spoke only when spoken to, and in hushed tones. Children, human ones anyway, certainly didn't run around or play.

He reached the pavilion he was carrying water to, bringing the heavy buckets back to the kitchen area, taking a cup of it for himself to drink. He took it back outside in the shade made by the shadow of the large pavilion, easing down to his knees and carefully unbinding Lilana from his back. He spread the length of cloth on the grass and lay her on it so she could stretch out and roll around a bit as he drank his glass of water, watching his daughter and the people and the city in front of him. It was, to his eyes, a vibrant place. Even the smell of horse, which Yaana had complained of even when they were outside the city didn't bother him. It was pleasant in its own way. He took a small square of cloth that he been tucked in his belt and twisted it before dipping the corner in his cup, then offered the wet end for Lilana to suckle, cooing to her softly.

[Nasira Whitefeather]

“You don't want a million answers as much as you want a few forever questions. The questions are diamonds you hold in the light. Study a lifetime and you see different colors from the same jewel.” The morning seemed to creep up from behind, almost unexpected. Maybe it was because the night prior, Nasira didn't get much sleep at all. She was awake for the most part, tending to her grandfather and also the horses. Once in a while, if she was lucky, she got a bit of shut eye for no longer than fifteen minutes. It wasn't much but it was enough to keep her on her toes. The bright sun began to slowly greet the Pavilion, its light gently flickering through the gaps of tall trees and kindly caressing the soft green earth with its warmth. Sira was sitting just outside her tent near the small pit that once held a fire, slowly beginning to diminish all on its own, nothing left behind but mounds of ash. As she sat on a large boulder, her legs crossed by the knee, her ears were filled with joyful laughter. Most children here never waited for their parents to awake to gain permission to run around with the other children. Most of them took it upon themselves to crawl out of their pallets, dress in what they saw befitting and without grooming, run out of their tents to be greeted by the rising sun. Sira was once just like these children. So innocent and chaste, wandering and frolicking around without a care in the world. Sure, she still held on a bit to those characteristics, but with age came much more responsibility. It was times like this, watching the children play, she wished she could have held on to adolescence just a little bit longer. As time progressed, more and more people began to offer their presence to the outside world, coming out of their tents to socialize, head for a days labor, train, mingle or tend to a necessary errand. Sira was just about to arise and leave the outside of her tent, until the sudden weight on her shoulder. "Goodmorning." the voice called out, sultry and without warning. Nasira looked up and over her shoulder to observe her father, already dressed and ready for the day ahead of him. A smile gently tugged at the corner of her mouth, her eyes narrowing as she turned her head to look away after acknowledging him. "Goodmorning to you too, father. You did some heavy sleeping in there. I'm surprised you got any sleep with all that racket those horses were making." she said, her eyes rolling just a bit at the thought, "-and not to mention, grandfather and all his hasty tasks he was asking of me." Nasira's dad let out a roaring laugh, as he lifted his hand just a bit and lowered it, giving her a couple of pats on her shoulder. "You know how he gets that time of night. I was awake for the most part, but of course, only pretended to be asleep. Thanks for handling my light weight, champ." he said, sarcasm ringing in his voice as he flashed a grin to his daughter. Nasira's eyes widened with amusement as she sent her fist towards his torso, playfully punching him in the stomach with a soft tinker of laughter. Their conversation only lasted a few moments, and ended with a wave. Once he mounted his horse, he was off through the Pavilion to tend to begin his labor for the day. Nasira stood from he boulder and walked towards the split entrance of her tent. Peeking in, she observed her grandfather who was already beginning to toss and turn which only meant one thing -he was soon to awake. She bit down on her lower lip, her eyes then taking sight of her two younger brothers who were sprawled out along their pallets, occasionally giving a heavy snore. Backing her head out of the tent, she turned to observe the various people passing her way, nodding her head to those who greeted her with a smile, with a wave or by her name. "Best go get his water." she said lowly to herself as she turned on her feet, heading towards the large area where most errands for food and water were ran. She pushed along side a couple of people, making her way to the much larger tent, finding that the large barrels of water were already carried in. She reached for an available bucket, wiping down the inside of it with a small hand towel near the water. She carefully filled the bucket with water, and once she was done she walked out of the tent. "All those in favor of voting Risya as slug queen say Iyyyyyyyyyyyy!" the voice rang loudly, carrying on through Nasira's ears with an emphasized tone to the last part. Nasira quickly jumped at the unexpected shouting, turning to look to her right, observing the stampeded of children dashing her way. Before she had time to step back, even just a tiny bit, she had already found herself landing right on her bottom, the bucket of water drenching her long white sleeved silk shirt, along with her gray colored pants. With a gasp, she inhaled as much air as she could as if she was a stray fish placed outside of his comfort zone. Her face was completely soaked, strands of dark brown hair sticking to her flesh. Her hands were extended, as if still holding on to the bucket. The kids quickly ran off, as if nothing had even happened. Of course, why would they feel guilty. They were those same innocent and chaste children. Right. "This is nice." she said in a loud voice, not so much angry but amused, "-very nice indeed." She pulled herself to her feet, wiping the dirt that was sticking to her hands in the grass before beginning to wring out her clothing. "If it isn't one thing, it's another."

[Daejyn]

Jyn didn't pay much mind to the girl who went into the pavilion, people moving around and coming and going, none of which paid him any mind. He did hear the herd of children coming, not just their shouting voices, but the thunder of their feet on the ground like a herd of horses. He scooped Lilani off the ground as they charged around the corner so as not to risk her getting stepped on or kicked, or even just startled.

The girl was coming back out with a bucket of water, probably from the barrels he'd just filled. When he realized what was coming next, he twisted to the side to keep Lilani from getting wet as well. When the children passed, leaving a soaked young woman in their wake, Jyn's back was also a bit wet from the splash. Lilani started to fuss a little at being scooped up so abruptly, and Jyn cooed to her again, bouncing her a little. He used a free hand to move the length of fabric closer to the pavilion on dry grass where she wasn't likely to roll out into the flow of foot traffic, and set her down again to roll about which quieted her fussing quickly. He ducked out of the plain undyed cotton shirt he was wearing and offered it up to the dripping young woman, it was already a bit damp, she might as well at least dry her face. He didn't say anything. Silence wasn't really his nature, but he was still finding his footing among these people, and never knew who wouldn't mind talking to him and who couldn't be troubled with an outsider.

[Nasira Whitefeather]

“You don't want a million answers as much as you want a few forever questions. The questions are diamonds you hold in the light. Study a lifetime and you see different colors from the same jewel.” Upon wringing out her top, she found it really didn't do much use. Wringing out the edges were simple and the determined girl even attempted wringing out the fabric around her torso. The clenching of her fists caused the areas of her shirt to have a wrinkled and stiff appearance, as she squeezed and rotated the fabric within her hands. As she did so, she heard the soft whining of a child, and her eyes turned in the direction it was coming from. She observed a young man, who was tall in height and well built in stature, holding on to the most tiniest of child. How peculiar it was to observe the gentleness of a man holding and cooing to his child. Peculiar, for it wasn't an often sight. Around these parts, it is usually women who are the nurturers, nursing and tending to their children, especially infants. -and to see a man doing so, was a unconventional sight indeed. The man himself had gotten a bit splashed which brought an amused smile to paint across Sira's lips. She looked away quickly, not wanting to find herself in the awkward moment of staring. As she continued to wring out the rim of her shirt, she knelt down to retrieve her fallen bucket, turning it upside down to drain out the remainder of water, which wasn't much. With her free hand, she reached for her eyes, wiping them roughly to remove any traces of water along her eyelashes and eyelids, and as she was doing so, she heard the rustling of the grass just near her, the result of shuffling feet. She looked up, seeing the same young man holding out his own plain colored shirt, leaving his own torso bare. Chivalry was common in the Pavilion from the majority of men, so it wasn't much a surprise to her. The only thing she found herself wondering, was his intentions of giving up his shirt for her to wear it, or to simply dry her own self off. With a hesitated smile that hinted a bit of embarrassment, she reached with her hand to grab a hold of the shirt, taking it and placing it towards her face. "Thank you." she mumbled, just before burying her face in to the shirt. It was reflex that caused her to inhale the scent of the shirt, just as it covered her face. It would have been a creepy sight if she was just to snatch the shirt and put it directly under her nose and sniff, as if inspecting it for odd scents. But the sight of her simply inhaling was natural. For some reason, his shirt brought forth the scent of pomegrante and horses -but that was just her own opinion. As she continued to wipe her face, she removed the shirt, her face now appearing dry. She couldn't complain at all, the water simply gave her the 'wake up' she needed. Her eyes kept to the young man in front of her, as she slowly handed him back his shirt. "I'm sorry about-" she said, not finishing her sentence but instead using the movement of her hands and expression of her face. She was sorry about getting him a bit wet and hopefully only him. With her arm still extended with his shirt, she looked just over his shoulder to the wiggling child laying in the dry patch of grass. "She didn't get wet, did she? Or he?" she asked, her hazel eyes turning back to his, as she mustered a smile, "I'm sorry, I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Nasira of the Ruby Clan. -and you must be.." She couldn't say she knew him, but she definitely knew of him. The man who attempted to steal milk and other goods from a family in the Pavilion. He had earned himself a name here amongst other people, and they often did speak bad things of him. That soon came to cease once he proved his obedience and humility, taking on different labors to re-pay for what he had done. All she really knew of him, was that story, but just like herself she was sure there was more than one chapter to him.

[Daejyn]

"Jyn," he supplied, as he took his shirt back and shook it out a bit before ducking back in to it. He stayed on his knees out of training and habit, but his brilliantly green eyes met hers confidently. "And thank you for asking, but even if she did get wet, its just water." he smiled. The baby rolled side over side across the length of the fabric she was laying on, exploring a bit, not old enough to crawl and maybe not even old enough to pull herself into a sitting position yet. When she drew near the edge of the fabric, Jyn reached back and rolled her back onto it with a practiced hand and tickled her belly which was now just a bit rounded like a well fed baby's belly should be, which was a relief. Her first month he hadn't been sure she'd make it. He'd certainly barely made it. The plight that had driven him to risk stealing when he had no idea at the severity of the consequences (they'd turned out to be fairly reasonable, but he knew among some peoples theft was punishable with death) was still etched on his body. His ribs, when he'd had his shirt off still showed, and the lines of his face still seemed stark. He was eating regularly now, thank the gods, but he had never been well fed in his life and it took a while to erase the evidence of a life time of lean rations. "Let me help you with your water," he said, knowing his only chance of ever being more than a drudge was to ingratiate himself to the Drykas... and hoped a strider would choose him. He'd never get any respect with Ugly Pony. "I just need to get Lili in her sling."

[Nasira Whitefeather]

“You don't want a million answers as much as you want a few forever questions. The questions are diamonds you hold in the light. Study a lifetime and you see different colors from the same jewel.” Jyn. A name was only a name, but the person behind the name probably wasn't as dull. Not to say his name was dull, but it was quite simple and plain, nothing extraordinary. Nasira watched with a playful smile as the young man began to tickle and fiddle with his daughter, before pulling her back on to the center of the fabric which she was laying on. She began to ponder and wonder more and more, but she knew her curiosity was something she would have to push away, not wanting to dip in to business that wasn't really hers. Gossip always seemed to go from one person to the next, finding its way around the Pavilion, but Nasira never payed much mind to it. She truly and honestly didn't believe much gossip she heard, especially coming from nosy old women. "Let me help you with your water, I just need to get Lili in to her sling." Sira hesitated at the offer, her fingertips pressing firmly against the bucket in her hands, beginning to drum lightly against the steel. She could probably carry it on her own, but when someone offers to do a kind thing you usually don't refuse, unless of course you just want to be modest about the situation. Sira gave a nod in agreement, her eyes leaving him and back over to the quiet, baby girl who was gently mumbling and cooing from time to time. "She's a beautiful sight." she said, her compliment very sincere as she took a few step towards the small infant, her head coming just in front of the beaming sun, casting a shadow over the girl, "-and so quiet. I'm sure she doesn't give you a hard time at all, does she." Sira knelt down just on the side of the girl, taking her hand and as gently as she could, began to rub a long her cheek. "If you don't mind, of course, I can carry her while you handle the water?" she asked, turning her head to look his direction. She only felt it was right, since after all he was to be carrying her water back to her tent. Just as she thought before, she found it so peculiar for a man to sling his daughter on to his back while doing his daily labor. -but then again, maybe this man had his reasons.

[Daejyn]

Jyn watched with wary eyes as the woman caressed his daughter. Lilani got a fair amount of attention from both the family he was directly indentured to, and the other Drykas he passed in his day to day. Babies seemed to be universally loved. Still, he always worried, just a little, that she might be taken from him. He was fairly certain it was an unfounded anxiety. No one had said or done anything to suggest that they might. But considering his position in this society, and his previous life as a slave, he was well aware that if someone wanted to take Lili from him there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"She is a very good baby, hardly ever cries." he agreed. He had gotten very lucky in that regards, he didn't know what would have happened to them if she had been colicky. "If you want, you can carry her, but you don't need to. I carry her most of the day." All day, every day, actually. Because what else was he going to do? If he gave her to some Drykas woman to nannygoat, it would just be that much more debt to repay. besides, he liked having his daughter close.

For her part, Lilani turned her slate blue eyes, the shade that every baby had the first few months of their lives, up at Sira and gurgled at her, waving one first enthusiastically, clearly not having a fear of strangers, yet anyway.

[Nasira Whitefeather]

“You don't want a million answers as much as you want a few forever questions. The questions are diamonds you hold in the light. Study a lifetime and you see different colors from the same jewel.” Nasira nodded, handing Jin the empty jug, reaching down towards his daughter. "Very well then." she said with a smile, picking up the lightweight infant, wrapping the cloth she was laying on around her tiny body. It had been some time since Nasira held on to a child this small. Babies weren't born too often here, and when they are born, mothers usually don't let other people hold on to their child in that beginning stage. She knew it was that inner feeling of worry and even jealousy of someone else holding on to their other half. Nasira continued to smile, looking over to Jin as she began to walk towards the pitched tent where the water was stored, not walking too fast so that Jin could have his moment to catch up. "You know, you don't see many men around here taking their infants around while doing labor." she commented, giving a long pause afterwards before she spoke again, "-her mother, where is she?" she asked, turning to look over her shoulder to Jin with worried eyes, "-if you don't mind me asking, of course." She just might had been poking in business that wasn't hers, but if anyone knew Nasira they knew she had a tongue that was hard to tame and hard to bite. When she wanted to know something, she eventually asked no matter how long she hesitated. She also had a short fuse at times, and even to her elders, she might just snap back with an unforgiving response. Nasira turned her eyes towards the tent, as she stood just to the side of its opening, waiting for Jin to head in to fill the water.

[Daejyn]

Jyn watched the woman pick up Lilani, and was on his feet in a flash, Sira's water bucket in hand, hardly needing a pause to catch up again. He kept an eye on his daughter as they moved back over to the water barrels. A brow raised a bit at Sira's question and he shrugged, before cleaning the bucket off of any stray grass or dirt from the tumble, and refilling it. "No idea. We weren't particularly close and had a fight about whether to stay here or push on until we found Riverfall. I wanted to stay here, she wanted to push on. She stormed off after the fight and never came back. She wasn't very maternal, so she may have just struck out for Riverfall. On the other hand, she may have been attacked by something, or even recaptured." He shrugged. Not that he had been much of a protector, he had a little knife and was willing to use it, and he was capable with his body in general, but had never learned to fight in any way. Certainly not something slaves were allowed to know. But just being fairly sizable and male may have been enough for at least some of the predators out there. "So, Lili got hungry, and here we are." he said, lifting the full bucket. "Do you only need the one?"

[Nasira Whitefeather]

“You don't want a million answers as much as you want a few forever questions. The questions are diamonds you hold in the light. Study a lifetime and you see different colors from the same jewel.” Recaptured? With an imagination like Nasira's, she only figured this man, his lover and child were on the run from bad deeds. Well that or, they might have been in bondage. Either way, she grew intrigued but held her curiosity. She began to lightly bounce the Lili in her arms, nothing to harsh but enough movement to keep her satisfied. "Well you don't seem too concerned. You should have followed her, in my opinion. There are plenty of dangerous areas on the way to Riverfall. I've never been but we all hear stories." she said, as she looked away from Lili to Jyn, "-yeah one is fine. I might come back during the evening, depending on how much my grandfather and brothers can swallow by the hour." She rolled her eyes, but not with attitude, and only amusement. Once Jyn was done filling up her bucket to the rim, Nasira nodded her head away from the tent, to signal him to follow. She went only a few steps ahead. "Do you plan on staying here long? I mean, when do you plan to be on your way?"