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Anna ~ Don't let anyone dull your sparkle ~ & Maven's Queen
message 451:
by
Anna
(new)
Aug 30, 2020 11:48AM
The blacksmith was already working, the loud hammers of metal on metal ringing out through the main part of town. He was already sweating profusely, and occasionally dabbed at his forehead with an old rag when he wasn't busy pounding. He pulled a horse shoe he had just finished shaping out of the fire, the ends red hot. He stuck the shoe into a bucket of water, and a cloud of steam erupted out of it. He didn't hear or see Dasha approaching as his back was turned and he was busy working.
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On her way there Dasha thought ahead to what she would say. What was the story they had settled on again? That Jarin was her brother and that they had just wandered into town in search of a better life? She hadn't thought to ask Jarin what name he had chosen to go by, but she supppsed she could work around that. She heard the metallic clanging long before she even laid eyes on the man. When she finally did, it seemed he was just finishing with his task. Dasha came to a stop a few yards behind and watched for a moment, not wanting to interrupt at a crucial point or surprise him. She shifted the basket of linens she still held to her other arm, the one she had had it balanced against tired of supporting it. She would drop those off next. ". . . Excuse me." She spoke after she was sure it wasn't a horrible time to interrupt, making her presence known.
The burly man grunted and turned around to see Dasha, a young woman with a basket of clean laundry on her hip. He swiped at his brow again and set his tongs down."Good morning, miss. What can I do for you?" He greeted. "Careful around here with those sheets; I wouldn't want you to get them dirty them around all of this." He gestured to his workspace and leaned against the wood post supporting part of the ceiling to listen to what she had to say.
"Oh, right." She took a step back to show that she heeded his warning about the sheets and forced an attempt at an appreciative smile, though it probably just looked more tired than anything. "I'm actually not here on buisness of my own, I'm here on behalf of the young man you just took on as an assistant." She informed. "I'm afraid he won't be coming today. Right now he's not really of the sorts to even stand, let alone work . . . He didn't want to miss and upset you, but I couldn't let him come. Not as he is." She framed the statement so that if he was upset about it, hopefully the brunt of the blame could be passed off on her and not Jarin.
((Apparently Jarin never introduced himself as Jesse. I'll fix that and she he did, since he was hired.))The blacksmith frowned and ran a grimy hand down his stubbly chin. "Jesse? What happened, may I ask?" He was surprised that the second day of apprenticing someone, the apprentice himself wouldn't even show up. He was a bit upset in his own way, but there wasn't much he could do about it. If it was just responsibility, then those characters had to be weeded out in order to find the ones who were worth it. But the way this young lady was stating it made it sound less like irresponsibility and more of genuine apology.
So that's what name he had chosen. Jesse. Dasha made a mental note of such. She figured this man deserved an explanation, besides, providing one would probably make increase Jarin's chances of still having an apprenticeship once he healed. She couldn't give the truth though, she had to give a story. Luckily she was a quick thinker. "He was thrown from our horse during our journey here when it stumbled into a hole." She supplied. "Horse broke it's leg, and Jesse's back got pretty tore up . . . I thought he would be fine if I cleaned it up as best as I could-" her statement cut off abruptly, hinting that the rest of the made up story was too hard to tell. On silent command her vision blurred with tears, but she didn't let them spill over. They had been too easy to conjure and she was afraid if she let them fall real ones would follow suit. Instead she remained silent, taking a moment to blink them away. ". . . He's not one to complain, I didn't even know he had an infection until his fever was so high he started talking nonsense." At least that part was one hundred percent the truth.
"Hmm," the blacksmith murmured, nodding once. The story sounded bad, but it was likely it really had happened. People lost horses out here all the time; from weather, horse thieves, accidents such as the one Dasha described, the occasional hungry wild animal, among others. He ran a hand down his jaw as he considered his next words. "Well, I'm sorry that happened to you both, miss. That's quite unfortunate. Ah, will we still be coming back to work when he's healed, miss?" His accent bordered each word he spoke, and though it was strong, it wasn't hard to hear him with his loud voice.
From the looks of it, it seemed like the man believed her. At least that was good. She would have to remember to fill Jarin in on the story she had went with later, but right now that was the least of her worries. She needed to finish getting this taken care of, move on to the rest of what she needed to get done, and then get back to Jarin. "He really wants to if you'll still have him." Dasha answered with a nod.
"Don't let him worry about that right now. He needs rest," the blacksmith said, not unkindly. "I won't be going anywhere, so I'll have him if he comes back when he's healthy again." He waited, putting his hand to the beam above his head while he allowed Dasha to tell him if there was anything else she needed. "Any other questions? If not, I best be getting back to work now."
Dasha nodded in agreement with his first statement. He did need to rest,, that was certain. She visibly relaxed a bit upon concluding that it seemed Jarin's position would remain secure for now. It had understandibly been a big point of worry, and now it was one less thing on the list. "Thank you." She replied sincerely. This time she didn't even have to think over and force out the words like she had with Jarin. "No, nothing else." She said with a shake of her head, "I'll leave you to your work." She knew she needed to get moving as well so she could get back to the prince. ((I apologize for the delayed response/inactivity. I had a bit of a health scare over the last week, but its better now and I should be posting more regularly!))
((Oh no! I'm so sorry! I'm glad you're doing better.))"Alright, miss," the blacksmith nodded. "Have a pleasant day." He smiled a little and turned back to his forge, hammering metal and shaping them before sticking them in buckets of cool water when he finished. He hummed to himself but most of it was drowned out by the ringing of his tools.
Jarin was sleeping again, though rather lightly. He was motionless aside from his breathing, and if he weren't on the floor of a dusty old house, nobody would have thought he was sick.
Dasha watched the man turn back to his work before she turned as well and headed off on her own way. She shifted the basket full of linens that she held to her other arm. Her first order of business now was to get rid of them. After that she needed to find a way to get her hands on a few necessary supplies. She wasn't sure how she was going to accomplish that yet, but she would find a way to manage . . . she had to. And she would have to quickly. She was in such a rush that she almost didn't remember and worry about the blunder that she had made yesterday with giving the boarding house woman the wrong name.
The boarding house woman was a callous woman who knew that working hard was the way to survive. While she wasn't rude, she didn't just let others sit back when she needed their help. Currently, the woman was wiping down a long row of tables after breakfast in the dining room, as most of the boarders had gone out to work or waste time in the saloon. Her graying hair was pinned up in a thick bun and she was currently wearing a simple blue dress overlaid with a white apron tied behind her back. The front door of the boarding house was open.
With her fast pace the boarding house quickly came into view. She slowed a bit as she neared, noticing the door wide open. She hoped this wouldn't seem too late in the morning to drop of the clean linens but to be fair the woman hadn't given her a deadline beyond 'tomorrow' and she had had more pressing matters to attend. She hadn't even had time to think about tidying herself up a bit this morning after her long night, and she was sure she probably looked more worse for wear than yesterday. It was too late and frivolous to worry about that now, but the linens were clean and thats all that really mattered. Once she reached the door she lingered outside only a mere moment to inspect the sheet on top and make sure it was indeed spotless before ducking inside. It didn't take long for her to spot the woman she had spoken to yesterday- diligently wiping down the dining tables. Dasha had made her way soundlessly into the room without so much as a scrape of her boot against the floorboards- a habit and tell of her bounty hunter background. She hated to disturb the woman's task but she also didn't want to be caught just watching her. Not to mention she still had time to think of. She took one final step forward, making sure to let her boots firmly thump against the floor boards to make her presence known. ". . . Good morning" she added for good measure of getting the woman's attention. Since she was running a boarding house she was probably used to hearing all sorts of noises of people passing through and a few footsteps probably wouldn't stand out as out of place. "I have the linens that you gave me yesterday ready." She added, holding up the basket a little higher.
The woman glanced up when Dasha thumped her boots on the floor and spoke up. She didn't smile. She just bobbed her head once and stopped the washing. "Good morning," she replied. Straightening her back, the woman moved over to the basket and lifted the top sheet, inspecting it with a trained eye. For being out in the dusty atmosphere as they were, the sheets had been well cleaned and were acceptable to her. "Alright, then. Sheets look fine. Mind going up to rooms 3, 4, and 5 and remaking the beds?" She pointed a finger at the sheets. "I need them ready before I get new boarders in and have no place to put them."
Dasha hadn't counted on having the additional task of making the beds to deal with as well, she had planned on simply dropping off the sheets and then continuing on with her business. The task wouldn't take long though, she was well versed in making beds. And a few minutes delay wouldn't be the end of the world. "Of course, I'll have them done in a jiffy." She replied with a nod before she started off to do just that, not wanting to waste any more time.
The woman nodded and went back to her work scrubbing the table. All the sheets that Dasha would need were located in the basket as long as she had remembered to gather them all up. Each bedroom was the same; there was a rickety wooden dresser beside an unmade bed, and a window that had been scrubbed to the best of the woman's ability with a creaky old lock.
Dasha headed up to the rooms that the woman had talked about, basket still in hand. She started with the room farthest down- room five. She didn't stop to look at the rooms much instead she went straight to work- pulling what sheets she needed from the basket and then putting them properly on the bed. Although she was in a hurry she made sure to tuck the edges neatly. Once room five was done she headed to room four, and then to room three- completing the same steps in each. As she finished with the last one she took a step back and looked it over, making sure the bed looked presentable as she had with the last two. Upon finding it satisfactory herself she picked up the now empty basket she had set to rest on the floor while she worked and headed out of the room to go find the woman again.
The woman was still working on cleaning the dining room so it would be presentable for dinnertime. She was setting up the tables and straightening the chairs, turned towards Dasha so she saw her when she returned with the basket. "Finished the beds, I suppose?" The woman asked, and didn't wait for a reply. "You can take the basket into the back of the kitchen there. I'll fill it up with things to wash over the next few days, and if you're able to, I'll have you wash the next set. That's all for now," she nodded, watching Dasha for a minute.
Dasha listened to what the woman said and then nodded in understanding after she had finished. "Alright, thank you." she replied simply, not wanting to keep the woman from her work any longer than necessary. Besides she had little time to spare herself. She quickly went to go place the laundry basket where the woman had mentioned, while doing so wondering how Jarin was holding up . . . hopefully somewhat alright. She would finish up in town and find out soon enough.
The woman nodded in response and kept scrubbing. If Dasha showed up the next time she needed sheets washed, the woman would consider paying her depending on the quality of her work. Jarin was sleeping, exhausted from the fever that had claimed his body only hours before. However, he didn't seem like he had improved at all. He appeared to be growing worse as the wounds on his back continued to fester and his temperature had risen slightly again. It all really depended on Dasha, whether she was going to be able to save him or not.
Once the basket was back in place Dasha wasted no time in moving along and leaving the boarding house. The less time she wasted the better. She still didn't have much of a solid plan. All she knew was that she knew she needed to at least get her hands on some bandages and something to help sterilize Jarin's wounds somehow. The automatic thought would be to seek out the help of a doctor, but in this time period she doubted that would be of much help. The methods were still crude and not entirely science based. Besides only doctors in larger cities would have access to anything of true use. It would be up to her to take care of this, which was fitting anyway since she was the one who had caused it. After a few minutes walk she found herself in front of the general store. It was about the only option she had as what she needed couldn't very easily be stolen. Her only hope was that she could somehow convince the owner to extend her a line of credit. She hated the idea, but it was about the only solution she had. As long as she could get some decent bandages she was fairly certain she could handle the rest somehow. Before she could talk herself out of it she pushed her way through the door and into the shop beyond.
About twenty minutes later she was finally headed back to the building in which she had left Jarin, a few items in tow. It had taken a while to reach an agreement with the store owner. He had simply refused to risk extending credit to a new individual in town, especially one that didn't have a steady form of income. Instead it had come down to a temporary trade- for a single gold ring that she had had with her. She had taken what was absolutely necessary as she didn't want to build up a big bill, and would pay the balance back later- at which time she would get her own property back. It was a fair deal. She didn't blame the man for wanting collateral, if she were in his shoes she would want it the same as he. That didn't make her feel any more comfortable parting with one of her few, and longest held, belongings though.
The walk back seemed to take longer than the walk into town had, but perhaps that was because she was anxious to see how the prince was doing. Eventually the building came into view and she neared it.
Jarin had moved positions a little from where he had originally fallen asleep, but only by a few feet when he shifted around the floor in his sleep. He was curled up in the fetal position, facing away from the entrance. He wasn't making any noise, but he was still alive, anyway. When Dasha entered and set the bundle of her things down, Jarin slowly woke despite her silence. He yawned and rolled over onto his other side to look at her."What you doing?" He mumbled. "Are...are you Emmie?"
Once Dasha stepped through the doorway she immediately looked to where she had left Jarin as she set down what she carried. He was still more or less in the same spot- motionless. She held her breath until she spotted the subtle movement brought about by the intake of breaths of his own- confirmation that he was at least still alive. How much longer that reigned true was currently in her hands. She was sorting through the supplies she had just brought in when he turned over and started asking questions. She sighed when she heard him ask if she was Emmie- the same that he had thought she was last night. The fever must of been returning. "No, I'm not Emmie. It's Dasha." She replied before continuing with what she had been doing. "I have some things to help." She explained as she got everything in order.
"Dasha?" Jarin asked, feeling confused. He watched her worriedly as she sorted through several supplies that he did not remember seeing earlier. Maybe he just hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings. Or maybe they just hadn't actually been there before. He sighed a little and nodded, resting his head back on the floor, cheek pressing into the dust. He shivered from his fever and curled up. "Whatever you do, don't hurt me." He rubbed a hand over his face, somehow having retained some of his sarcasticness.
"I won't" Dasha responded but as she glanced back over what she had gotten, she knew that would almost certainly be a lie. She already knew cleaning the wounds would not be a pleasant experience for him."not intentionally anyway." She amended. She went over to try and coax the dying embers of the fire to return to life. "I did get my hands on some camomile, that should help a little with the feaver but mostly with the pain." She knew he probably wasn't alert enough to care about nor process what she was saying, but talking through the process and reasoning out loud made her feel slightly calmer about this. "I'll get some brewed into tea- Don't worry, its much less bitter than dandelion- and after you drink that I'll take a look at what we're dealing with here." As of right now she was assuming the worst, and she had prepared for such- though she didn't directly tell him that. Anything less would be a pleasant surprise. "I'll get you fixed up." That last statement was more to assure herself rather than him. Finally she had a small fire going again, although it had taken most of the remainder of their wood stockpile, and she busied herself with the tea- a task which additionally reminded her she would also need to aquire more water as well.
Jarin nodded weakly and once more rested his cheek against the floor. He hadn't drank the dandelion tea that well last night, but at least he had gotten it down. If this chamomile tea wasn't as bitter, he would do his best to obey her. Funny as he was an ex-prince and she was the bounty hunter. As far as alertness went, Jarin was only half there while the other half burned up with fever. Once the tea was boiled and steeped, Jarin sat up the best he could and took the cup from Dasha and sipped it, wincing as it was still a bit hot. But it didn't taste too horribly bitter, and as it cooled he was able to drink the rest of it with no more than a few funny faces at the taste. He lay down again on his side, facing her, and waited to see what else she would do. Not much was really going through his head right now.
((Sorry for just dropping off for a bit- when I finally updated the app I guess that messed with my notification settings and didn't realize it until now)) Dasha made sure he had downed all of it before taking the now empty cup and setting it aside again. "Alright, that shirt is going to have to come off for now." She would have to assess the damage and care for it correspondingly- something that she hadn't really bothered to do the first time since at that point she had still had hope for a swift parting from this time period. With any luck everything would be superficial and nothing too deep - treating infections in those types of wounds was fairly easy . . . of course any type of intervention would be more difficult to achieve here though.
((Oh, that's okay. Understandable. Also I guess I forgot to explain that I'm switching to this account for RPs.))
Jarin groaned again, not because he was bothered by her, simply because he was tired and not feeling well overall. He pulled the bottom of his shirt from his pants and up over his head, grunting a bit as the movement tugged on his wounds. The strips of bandages were damp and stuck to his skin but there didn't seem to be any fresh blood. He reached a hand back and started unwinding it for her, though he didn't know where to put the bandages and let them drop to the floor beside himself. While most of the wounds were healing quickly on their own, three of them were clearly infected. It wasn't the prettiest sight to see but they didn't appear too deep. Jarin wrapped his arms around himself and shivered.
Jarin groaned again, not because he was bothered by her, simply because he was tired and not feeling well overall. He pulled the bottom of his shirt from his pants and up over his head, grunting a bit as the movement tugged on his wounds. The strips of bandages were damp and stuck to his skin but there didn't seem to be any fresh blood. He reached a hand back and started unwinding it for her, though he didn't know where to put the bandages and let them drop to the floor beside himself. While most of the wounds were healing quickly on their own, three of them were clearly infected. It wasn't the prettiest sight to see but they didn't appear too deep. Jarin wrapped his arms around himself and shivered.
Dasha glanced over when he groaned to make sure he was doing alright. She watched until he had the shirt half off, seeing if she needed to step in and help. She figured he could manage from there though and instead busied herself with preparing a clean rag to use to wipe away any surface dirt that may have collected along the wounds. By the time she had that ready, he had the shirt and previous bandages already off. "Alright, let's see what we're working with." She said, mostly talking to herself at this point as she headed back over to his side to assess the damage. She first just scanned over the wounds, making no move to touch them yet. For the most part it didn't look too bad, but there were a few gashes she didn't like the looks of at all. Infection wasn't a thing to play around with here, but perhaps this wouldn't be too incredibly hard to deal with. ". . . well, I've certainly seen worse."
"I'm cold," Jarin said unnecessarily, even though his skin felt like it was burning up if she touched it. "Can I put my shirt back on?" He was feeling drowsy again and it wouldn't be easy to sleep with someone poking and prodding at him, studying him like a science experiment. He didn't really understand right now that there was more to just looking at the wound and saying that it looked bad.
"Not yet. I've got to get this cleaned up." Dasha replied. "After that you can put your shirt back on." She told him as a consolation. Since she didn't know how much he would tolerate, she figured she would get the worst out of the way first. She needed to make sure the infection was neutralized. She plucked a half full pint bottle of clear liquid from her line up of supplies. It was the only thing that hadn't come from the general store, but she had had to sweet talk the store owner into obtaining it for her. The only plus side to this time period was the fact that high proof alcohol was readily available for situations such as this whenever a disinfectant was needed . . . of course she could think of a handful of other things she would rather be using, but this was better than nothing. "This will sting a little." She warned as she pulled the stopper from the bottle, though it hardly counted since not even a second later she was dousing the infected wounds- not even enough time to process the warning in a clear mental state. At least this way she wasn't subject to dealing with any form of protest from him.
Jarin was about to ask what was going to sting when he suddenly felt it; it felt like someone had just lit his wounds on fire and he cried out at the sudden pain, arching his back. He hadn't been expecting something so terrible like that and it felt like it was seeping deeper and deeper into his back. "That hurts!" he cried, but his brain didn't register enough for him to try moving away from the pain besides arching his back away from her.
Dasha had known it wouldn't be a pleasant process, but at least the worst would now be over- well after the pain subsided. She replaced the stopper on the bottle again- a little under half of what she had bought remaining in the bottle. "That means its working." she commented, though she knew it wouldn't be of any comfort, nothing would be as long as it still burned. She set aside the bottle and started to work on getting clean bandages ready.
"You said it wouldn't hurt," Jarin said, crossing his arms across his chest and shivering again. The horrid stinging burning sensation was slowly dying down but still very much there. He moaned and scooted a few inches away from her to "make" her stop. "Is it done?" he asked, unable to think of anything besides wanting her to stop and being able to go back to sleep.
Dasha resisted the urge to point out that all she had said was that it shouldn't hurt too much, not that it wouldn't hurt at all. Now was not the time for such petty details and instead she just continued on, grabbing the role of clean bandages and starting to unwind it. "Almost, I've just got to get you bandaged back up. Don't want it getting dirty again, then I would just have to start the process all over again and I'm sure neither of us wants to do that." Not wanting to give any opportunity for argument she started doing just that, this time more carefully and precise than the first time she had done it with the makeshift bandages.
Jarin let him wrap the bandages around him again, a little tighter this time perhaps. He moved his arms up when she asked and didn't really offer any resistance. When she finished, he reached for his crumpled shirt, pulling it on carefully to keep from disturbing the bandages. It was basically evening now and time for both of them to try falling asleep. Hopefully for everyone, Jarin would start recovering for real and lose the fever. He waited, then slowly lay back down again, resting his head on his arm.
Once she was done Dasha rinsed off her hands again- habit from more sanitary times- and then gathered up all the supplies she had used. She packed them carefully back into the crate that she had carried them in again. "You should rest some more now." She stated to Jarin as she shoved the remaining part of the bandage roll back into the crate, right between two glass bottles to cushion them incase the crate was ever jostled. She doubted the suggestion was necessary though as she glanced back to see that he had already switched to a more relaxed position.
The rest of the evening and night Jarin slept without stirring. He didn't mumble random phrases and he didn't speak about Emmie or anyone else he knew from a past life. In the following morning when the sun rose above the tops of the buildings, Jarin was awake and appearing to have already improved rapidly from before. His wounds were still painful but they were less inflamed and Jarin seemed to be back to his more normal self. He yawned and stood, heading outside towards the group of trees before Dasha could stop him. He did have to use the bathroom and he wanted to get out of the stuffy room. Besides, he needed to go back to work today even though he was still weak from his fever.
After he had fallen asleep Dasha had tended to the fire, tossing on the last of the stash of kindling they had to get them through the night, and then settled in herself against the wall to the right side of the doorway. Despite the fact that she herself was near exhausted, and she knew Jarin's condition was now less severe than it had been, she found herself unable to sleep. Instead she kept watch over the slumbering prince for a while from her post across the room; waiting for any signs that could suggest a decline in condition to arise again, and on a couple of occasions where she thought him to be too still- she listened for the intake of a breath while she held her own. Eventually, only a short while before dawn and as the fire dwindled to nothing more than glowing embers, her unease dissipated enough for sleep to coax and then relentlessly pull her under. She didn't wake with the first rays of sunlight as usual, nor slightly later when the sun was further up into the sky and Jarin got up and wandered from the structure. Instead she remained in the strange jumble of nothingness and flashes of an odd world of her subconscious' creation that came when she had gone too long on too little rest, her knife - which she had pulled sometime in the night after hearing an odd noise in the distance- still cradled loosely in her left hand.
When Jarin returned, Dasha was still asleep so he entered quietly and glanced at her to make sure she was still fine herself. Just exhausted, no doubt. It had been interesting how she had stayed awake for him, sacrificing her own sleep so that he'd be okay. Weird. He hadn't expected her to do that but she had. Even though Dasha could sometimes be a bit short and cranky, he was sure it was her way of guarding herself. He didn't blame her.
Jarin went over and looked for some food, but really there wasn't much besides the bundle of dried fish hanging in the corner. Gross, but he supposed that would be their meal. He stoked the fire and pulled two down to let them heat up.
Jarin went over and looked for some food, but really there wasn't much besides the bundle of dried fish hanging in the corner. Gross, but he supposed that would be their meal. He stoked the fire and pulled two down to let them heat up.
While she remained asleep, Dasha's subconscious continued to weave a tale that was almost unfollowable, jumping from one tiny detail to the next in a heartbeat. Blurry faced figures brandishing swords. A child's rag doll lying on a patch of sun browned grass. The jingle of coins. The thunder of three sets of horse hooves on the ground. The flash of a blade in the sunlight. Three other blurry faced figures- one in a worn light blue dress with flowers delicately embordered around the hem. Sharp pain in her left arm. The heavy smell of smoke. Dasha woke with a start, the knife that had been just barely supported in her fingers clattering to the ground after it lost its purchase on her fingertips and dropped the few inches that remained to the dusty floorboards. For a few moments she was disoriented, unsure of where she was, while any form of solid memory of the subject of her dream quickly fled- leaving her with nothing but the lingering emotions it had brought with it . . . mostly fear. A quick glance around the structure reminded her of where she was- which in this case wasn't really much of an improvement. The last of the lingering fear dissipated as her eyes landed on Jarin who was awake and moving which reminded her of the plight of the last two days. She swiftly forced her breaths back even and normal, as if she hadn't had to shake off any fear at all.
Her left arm was asleep and she had a headache- the latter probably still from lack of sleep or slight dehydration, or a combination of the two. ". . . You're awake." She observed aloud as she glanced Jarin over, trying to judge what type of state he was in this morning. It was hard to make a conclusion from just a few seconds of observation, and impossible to make a judgement on his mental state with such. She forced the fingers of her numb hand to move, the blood flow starting to return with an uncomfortable tingle. Dasha couldn't help but grimace as it was a sensation she never could tolerate well.
Jarin turned at the sound of the blade clattering to the wooden floor. Dasha was finally awake. He studied her for a moment, feeling that Dasha was probably doing the same to him in return. "You okay?" he asked mildly, not wanting to intrude too much since she seemed to be the type of person to keep nearly everything to herself. He knew Dasha a little more but he still wished that if they were going to stay here for a long time -- since it had already been weeks -- that they could actually get to know one another. "I uh, I'm feeling alright today. Like I hadn't ever had a fever in the first place. What about you? You look like your arm hurts or something." He sat on one of the old rickety chairs that threatened to crunch beneath his weight.
Dasha couldn't recall a single time in the last few years that anyone had bothered to ask her such a thing. Perhaps it was for that element of surprise that it took her a moment to process the question. ". . . Weird dreams." She replied, not giving a straightforward yes or no answer. A 'yes' wouldn't of been completely honest, and vulnerability in any form was not something that she wanted to own up to. "Must be from all the heat." She quickly added. "You certainly look better than you have for a while." She commented, changing the subject before he even had the change to inquire further. "Hopefully it'll stay that way." She knew that while he might be feeling better than he had been right now, they still needed to be vigilant about keeping his wounds well cared for until completely healed or the whole process could start over.
Slowly the feeling returned to Dasha's arm, the pins and needles tingle fading until it was no longer there. After it had gone she picked up the knife that she had dropped and stashed it away within her boot once more. "It's fine, just went numb on me. Happens quite a bit." She realized that that probably didn't sound all that reassuring that it wasn't a problem and added on in explanation: "But only if I lean on or position it wrong for too long, circulation is somewhat impaired from an old injury".
"Oh, maybe," Jarin said, not really sure what else to say. And it could happen, having weird dreams due to the heat. He had had several dreams of his own because of his fever, in fact. Jarin turned the dried fish over in the coals. "I hope so. I need to work too if we're to get anywhere in this place. The blacksmith probably thinks I've left him or something." He went over to the bucket of water, swirling it around. He decided he should get some fresh water from the river instead. "Sorry about that. That kinda sounds painful. Bothersome at the least. I'll be right back and get more water for us," he explained before ducking out of the shelter. He also didn't need to see her face wondering why on earth he seemed to care much about how she felt. He did care.
Dasha was about to comment how she was sure the blacksmith would understand given the explanation she had supplied to him, but didn't get the chance to as Jarin quickly ducked out with the water bucket. For a brief moment she thought about stopping him and going to get the water herself- not because she thought him incapable of completing a simple task like she might of the first week they were stuck here, but because she had spent the last few days on nothing more than being concerned about his well-being and that did not dissipate completely with the first signs that he was on the path of recovery. She didn't, though she did voice a semi loud reminder that he may or may not have heard depending on his pace : "Just be careful . . . I don't need any additional injuries to patch up." With him now gone, she stayed where she was a few seconds longer anf breathed a sign before she got up from the floor. Once standing she stretched the remaining stiffness from her joints and tried to brush some of the dust from her clothing to little avail. Her hair was next. At least that was one thing she could still make look presentable. She shook out the old braid as she wandered over to the one boarded over pane of glass that remained intact. It didn't do much to keep out the elements, but if she wiped the dust from the surface it reflected enough to let her make sure she didn't miss any strands of hair as she redid it.
She thought ahead to what she needed to accomplish today now that Jarin didn't seem to be an issue. She knew she needed to get busy if she wanted to get the ring she had put up as collateral for the supplies back. It would take her a while to find enough odd jobs to pay off the bill, especially since so few of the residents here seemed to be willing to pay her any mind at all. She knew it was foolish to be thinking about such a thing when other matters such as being able to obtain a better form of shelter for the time being were more urgently at hand, but this was one matter in which logic sort of took a back seat. She didn't want to leave this place without it, besides it was irresponsible to leave objects that wouldn't originally be there in different time periods than they originated. Although that wasn't as preleven of a concern given that even here it was considered an heirloom, that gave her the justification she needed. Perhaps she would check in with the boarding house woman, see if there was anything for her to do again yet.
It was already warm out compared to when Jarin had left maybe half an hour ago to use the bathroom. The sun would only get hotter, he knew, and it seemed like more people were out today than they usually were. He ignored them as he walked to the river and scooped up some fresh water, then returned, walking away like he knew exactly what he was doing. It was easier to blend in when you acted like that, obviously. He ducked into the falling apart building and walked over towards Dasha. He handed her the tin cup so she could take some of the water. "I'm uh, trying to make some of the fish somewhat edible if you're interested. I don't know what else there is to eat besides that," he said with a simple shrug. When he had been growing up in the castle he never had to worry about the food he was going to eat next. It always showed up on time, and if he didn't like a certain food he sent it away for something better. He'd eat anything now, even if it was the duck with the weird seasoning on it the cook thought was so amazing.
By the time Jarin returned Dasha had already made her rounds throughout the dilapidated structure- she had carved another tally into the board she was using to keep track of days, and had given the fire a glance. She had spotted the fish then, sitting amongst the coals and had figured as much. She doubted that it would improve it much, but it certainly couldn't make it any worse. Although she didn't have any qualms against fish to begin with, she was growing tired of them herself. She nodded in acknowledgement as she scooped up some water in the tin cup he had handed her, her mind still partially on where else she could look to find a couple more odd jobs. "Maybe I can catch us a rabbit or something for tonight." It wouldn't be a huge improvement, but would be a step up from dried fish. "No promises though, if it gets too hot today nothing will even be moving to trap." It was already fairly warm, and Dasha knew it would only get hotter by the time it reached mid-day. She drank down the water she had taken and then filled up the cup again before handing it over to Jarin.
"If there are any rabbits around this place," Jarin said with a slight wistfulness in his voice. He wanted something normal to eat and it was taking so much of him not to complain. But he wouldn't, because he wanted Dasha to know that he could do things on his own without needing help. "If we don't watch out, we won't be moving if it gets too much hotter," he said. He took the cup back and thanked her, gulping it back thirstily. Even water that had a slightly weird taste was better than nothing at all. He just hoped it didn't have something bad in it like germs from animals or parasites or anything. They'd find out later, but he'd seen others getting water there so it must've been safe enough. Jarin turned back to the fire and prodded the fish, then used the end of the stick to yank it out onto the floor. "Who knows if this will do more good than harm." He picked his up, burned his fingers, and took a bite, the fleshy meat charred from the coals.
Dasha wandered over to the doorway, peeking out to see how high the sun was in the sky to get a sense of what time it was. Earlier than it should be for how warm it already was. She breathed a sigh, silently hoping that the temperature would bottom out soon. If it didn't she supposed she would just have to brave the heat anyway. At the very least they would need more fuel for the fire tonight, that couldn't be pushed off. She glanced over when Jarin spoke about the fish. "I sort of doubt it could get much worse . . . at the most maybe a little tougher to chew." Although she was not all that worried about it as she could force herself to down anything that counted as edible in a pinch, she did watch to see his reaction.
