Anna ~ Don't let anyone dull your sparkle ~ & Maven's Queen

[[deleted user]]

Jarin raised an eyebrow at her as if she was judging his "cooking." "I thought it might be a bit better warmed up instead of dusty and I don't know, coldish?" He nibbled the corner of it tentatively, hoping it really wasn't as bad as he was expecting or Dasha seemed to think it was. It tasted like fish, anyway. He took a bite and chewed. "A bit rubbery and warm so it makes it more fishy," he said. "Fish isn't half bad if it's done right and not dried like this." He shrugged. "It's honestly not too bad." He chewed more and swallowed before reaching for a cup of water.

[Lynn]

When he didn't spit it out or make a horrid face, Dasha knew it it wasn't completely terrible- not that she had exactly expected it to be. Afterall all it had done was heat it up, and maybe get a few ashes stuck to it. ". . . too bad we don't have a pan around here, if we could bring it to a boil in some water first that would help the texture." She commented, talking due to casual wishful thinking more than anything. She made no move to try it herself quite yet, as she preferred to let it cool a bit as to not burn herself. The skin on her wrist that had been damaged with the malfunction of her communication cuff all those days ago had only recently healed and she preferred not to put up with any other superficial injuries if she could avoid them, no matter how miniscule.

[[deleted user]]

"Yeah, it might make it a little moister than this," Jarin said. While it wasn't completely horrid, it wasn't easy to chew. The texture was much like jerky, though more rubbery in a strange way. He watched her for a moment, then picked the stick up and slid hers out of the coals onto the hearth. It was what he'd done, and everything was covered in dust anyway so a little extra wouldn't hurt. "Let it cool for a few minutes and then it's fine to hold," Jarin suggested. "Or use some cloth or something to pick it up."

[Lynn]

Dasha nodded and would have thanked him but a clamor overhead stopped the word short and had her instinctively reaching for her knife. Before she even had it drawn the source of the noise- a decent sized board- dropped on the floor only a few feet away, sending a shockwave of movement through the floorboards and a fresh poof of dust drifting into the air. A new beam of sunlight now lended its hand to illuminating the room- making the dust particles dancing in the air all that more evident. Dasha glanced up at the new gap in the roof with a frown.". . . Perfect." she muttered sarcastically under her breath. It wasn't anything major- afterall the structure already had problems- one more hole wasn't that big of a deal, but it was a reminder that they surely couldn't stay here much longer. One of these days the entire structure was liable to cave in on them completely.

[[deleted user]]

"New sunroof," Jarin commented once the rattle of the board ceased. He was thinking the exact same thing as Dasha. If the structure fell apart piece by piece, eventually they'd be more in the sun than out of it like they'd hoped. This was clearly why nobody else wanted anything to do with this building. "Well, I don't know how property works in a time period like this but this won't last forever. You wonder if you're allowed to just start building or if you really do need permits and complicated stuff like that." He sighed and finished his rubbery fish. The skinny dog that had been stopping by occasionally had disappeared for the past few days but had again returned and was standing in the doorway, scenting the fish. He looked worse than before, bloody on one side of his legs like he'd been struck by some angry person.

[Lynn]

"Perhaps we can patent that before the trend catches on." Dasha deadpanned as she wandered over and gave the board an experimental nudge with her boot. Now that she was closer she could see the deep cracks and dark discoloration in the board- a tell tale sign of one thing. "Dry rot." She reported aloud. She glanced back up to the hole in the roof. "Good news is this was almost certainly just a board that was added in later to patch up that hole. The rest of it is probably fine- different type of wood without the microorganisms that cause dry rot within it." That didn't change the fact that the building was generally far from stable, but it was better than the whole thing being potentially riddled with dry rot. She didn't respond to his other statement, that wasn't something she wanted to think about- being stuck here so long they would need a more permanent form of shelter. She still had to hold on to the hope that it wouldn't come to that. She could find them somewhere else temporarily surely, someplace a little better than this at least. She sighed and went to sit near where Jarin was. She picked up the fish which he had pulled out of the fire for her a minute ago and took a bite while she contemplated the idea. She was silent until she caught movement at the doorway from her peripheral. She turned to look, already pulling out her knife again which she had just recently replaced back in her boot, ready to get to her feet if need be, but found it was only the scroungy dog that had been hanging around. She relaxed slightly but kept the knife pointed at the dog. "Oh no, not you again. Shoo." She stated firmly as if it could understand her. She gave a quick jerk of her arm for good measure as if she were getting ready to throw the knife, hoping to scare it off. The bounty hunter in her knew she should just kill it- put it out of its misery and rid herself of a problem, but she had never stomached killing things other than fish well. Sometimes she even still hesitated with rabbits. Right now killing the dog was not something that she could morally justify- not that she would admit it- unless it became an immediate threat she would leave it be.

[[deleted user]]

Jarin laughed slightly, then watched Dasha as she studied the board. Dry rot? He hadn't actually heard that before. It didn't sound like it made much sense, but apparently it was to her. He wondered faintly if another board would threaten to drop onto their heads at any moment, or if Dasha took wood lessons when she trained for her bounty hunter job. No, it was probably just one of those detective things she did since she tracked down her bounties. Jarin watched Dasha eat the food for a few minutes before following her gaze to the door. The dog. "He's hurt," Jarin commented. "It looks fairly recent." Without really thinking he leaned over carefully to not disturb his own wounds and held out a hand. "Here, boy. Come on." He clicked his tongue, but the dog just stared at him warily. Jarin straightened. "I think he's hungry, too," he said, grabbing the fish tail from the meat he had finished chewing off. He tossed it towards the dog, and to no surprise the dog crept forward and sniffed it before snapping it into his jaws. "Don't kill it, Dasha. It's just a dog. What did he do? Maybe he wants help or something." He turned to look at her. She was holding the knife and he wasn't sure he liked what she was thinking.

[Lynn]

"I just wanted to scare it, I wasn't planning on killing it!" Dasha argued truthfully before she had a chance to think better of it. The bounty hunter in her wasn't happy that she had let such a thing be voiced aloud. In her line of work it was common for any sort of morality to be thought of as weakness. It didn't pay well to hold high morals, it paid to be cold hearted and only slightly sort of ruthless. That was how she had been trained, so why had his assumption of such an aligned motive rub her the wrong way? It was the heat, it had to be. "-unless it decides to attack," She quickly added. She brought the knife down beside her, letting the tip of the blade lodge into the floorboard below with a heavy thunk. Probably not too good on blade sharpness in the long run, but it made the point that it was within easy reach for her to use if she deemed it necessary. "then all bets are off." At this point she didn't suspect that to be a very likely threat though, if it hadn't by now -and it had been given ample chances- then it probably wouldn't. But Jarin hadn't known that, this was his first encounter with seeing the dog and without so much as a second thought he had leaned closer to it rather than keeping his distance. It was a stupid move and she was bristled by it, nearly as much so as she had been by his general presence the first couple days . . . maybe slightly more if that was possible. She took another bite of her own fish to keep herself from saying anything rash, keeping her eyes on the dog all the while.

[[deleted user]]

Jarin raised his eyebrows but said nothing, studying the animal for a few minutes. He wondered what it would be like if the dog hung around for several days. It was another mouth to feed, so he was sure Dasha wouldn't appreciate it, but Jarin didn't like how the dog was just injured like that. It didn't sit well with him. He looked over at Dasha. "Can I have the skin of your fish? And the tail?" he asked hopefully, holding out his hand. The dog was still there and finally decided to take a seat. If it needed it could leap out of the doorway and hurry off, even with a bad leg. "It's not like we eat either of those things and the dog might get some use out of it."

[Lynn]

". . . Fine." Dasha answered in a clipped tone, ripping off the last edible bits and then handing them over without so much as glancing to Jarin. "That'll keep it from attracting other animals anyway." She had switched to staring past the dog out the doorway now. She was still mad, which was probably apparent in how rigid she was sitting and the set of her jaw. If it wasn't for the fact that the dog was in the doorway she would of got up and walked out of it by now- high heat or not. This wasn't a situation she liked.

[[deleted user]]

Jarin could tell he was making Dasha feel somewhat tense and annoyed about what he was doing, but since he wasn't currently being threatened by her knife, he was going to feed the dog. Besides, it was hard not to ignore the feeling of doing it so he got his very own way. When his status was still a prince, Jarin always got what he wanted. And right now it was to help the dog and do whatever he could for it. He tossed a small piece of the chewy skin towards the dog, but further into the cabin. The dog crept forward, limping on it's bloody leg. Piece by piecehe encouraged it to get closer. "It's hurt, Dasha. We need to find a way to trap it so we can help its leg. Clean it up and see if we can help the dog heal," he explained, very intent on his actions. "It would be cruel not to try."

[Lynn]

Dasha really didn't like that idea. The dog did seem quite docile, but cornering or trapping live animals- even domesticated ones- always had risks involved. Though she did feel bad for the dog, she wasn't keen on accepting that extra risk. Besides, they didn't really have anything to use to trap it with. There was the option of trying to just corner it in here but she was sure there was probably at least half a dozen different holes that it could manage to squeeze through throughout this structure if the situation demanded it. "We simply don't have the resources." She stated evenly, seemingly unswayed.

[[deleted user]]

Jarin was stubborn and didn't like how she was refusing to help him out. Was she just fine with watching the dog suffer and eventually succumb to whatever was causing it to be injured in the first place? Maybe the dog had been hit by a car, but since the closest thing to a car was a horse drawn wagon, it just didn't seem to fit. "All you have to do is grab it and hold its head down so it can't bite you. Sure, it's got claws but they aren't like a cat's. If we get some rope we can make a leash to keep him here until he's better."

[Lynn]

Dasha automatically wanted to argue further, but refrained from doing so and instead remained silent for a long moment. She still didn't like it, but she realized that most of her opposition was simply for the fact that she wanted to be argumentative, not for actual practical reasons. ". . . Rope won't work." She stated, not outright giving in but not arguing it as harshly any further. "If it wants free it'll chew right through it and be on it's way anyway. Don't expect it to stay around here, even just to heal."

[[deleted user]]

Jarin let out an irritated huff. "Dasha, you're being completely unreasonable. I want to see if something is possible just so he's not hurting. Is it really that crazy? Do you have a better idea besides letting it die?" He frowned at her and studied the dog, though it was busy sniffing around the entrance nervously and alertly. He stood, and as soon as he did, the dog was gone, hurrying off down the dusty streets with the limp to one side. Jarin didn't look at Dasha, unwilling to see the triumphant look on her face.

[Lynn]

Dasha chose not to respond and chance making tensions higher. She had suspected the dog would bolt as soon as any substantial movement was made. It was part of the reason she was still sitting here on the floor and not already out beyond the door. She watched as it disappeared from sight, expression neutral. After a few moments she grabbed her knife, sheathed it, and tucked it away again. ". . . Before it gets any hotter I'm going to head further into town, see if there's any new odd jobs around for me to pick up." She stood and only paused to wipe some dirt from her pants before heading out, not waiting for approval or even any form of acknowledgement. She figured Jarin didn't care much to be around her right now anyway, not with the dog now gone and in no better shape than when it had appeared.

[[deleted user]]

Jarin shrugged and momentarily looked around their rundown shack before heading out after her. He still felt sort of weak, not something he particularly enjoyed, but he needed to get going and do something. It didn't help that the heat was blazing hard down on top of him. "I'm going back to the blacksmith," he said as he passed her, striding with his long legs. He didn't wait to see if she was going to protest his decision. He was an adult, wasn't he?

[[deleted user]]

((We are still intending them to get close eventually, correct? How should we do that?))

[Lynn]

Dasha did still think it was a little early for him to be heading back to work, but he didn't leave her time to argue that point and she knew it was for the best anyway. The sooner he got back to work, the sooner they would potentially be getting out of here. Time was valuable, something that she especially could not afford to waste. Besides, she was hopeful the old blacksmith would take it relatively easy on him his first day back with the story that she had fed him. She continued on her way further into town, slower than Jarin but still making good time despite the heat. She doubted there would be much, if anything, for her to find to do but it was worth a try anyway.

((Yeah, correct. Honestly since they are both so stubborn and/or stuck in their own ways I don't think any external event/conflict we could throw at them right now would work well in favor of that outcome. I'd say first of all we just need them to have a decent talk (I was planning on Dasha bringing up the Emmie thing that night which would be a good place to start) and then we can see where we can spin it from there. Otherwise I seriously have no idea))

[[deleted user]]

Jarin headed down the wide open dusty road, hands stuffed in his pockets and listening to the familiar ring of the blacksmith's hammer sending blows onto the steel, shaping it into either a horseshoe or something else. Jarin hoped the man would forgive him and still be interested in teaching him the works. He was doing it because it would get the two out of here but he also didn't know if that meant Dasha would be just as willing to grab onto him again to turn him in. Finally he approached the blacksmith and stood there until the man paused long enough for Jarin to call to him. "Sir?" he asked, wondering if the blacksmith still had the capability to hear him after what he'd been doing.

The boarding house was open and the woman was inside scrubbing the floor while her customers had left for the day and would return for their meals or their beds later on.


((They are super stubborn, yeah, But if we have her bring it up in like a casual manner maybe they'd be willing to talk together and be more normal. Then maybe they could see each other's sides to the way they act and get each other a little more. Otherwise, I agree; what do you do, then? XD))

[Lynn]

As the blacksmith paused to readjust his thick leather gloves, he heard Jarin behind him and turned, wiping sweat from his forehead onto his dusty off white sleeve. "Ah, Jesse. Feeling better I suppose?" He asked before momentarily turning his attention back to the project at hand. He inspected what he had just worked on and seemed to be happy with it as he then lowered and dunked the still faintly glowing metal in the water bucket. It chased away the remainder of the faint orange glow with a sizzle.



As Dasha walked she was still thinking about this morning, mainly about the dog and Jarin. She didn't like how the subject had ended up, but then again she hadn't really liked any of the options for the subject at hand to begin with. She knew that if the dog managed to survive much longer it would come back, and then she would have to deal with it again. She was dreading that already, so much so that she didn't hear anyone come up behind her. A firm hand clamped on to her left forearm, pulling her to a stop. Reflexively she turned, right fist already mid swing, ready to find its target of the jaw of whoever had dared to lay a hand on her. Unfortunately it never found it's true target, as her fist was enveloped by a strong, callused hand almost twice the size of her own which absorbed the shock of the blow. "Whoa, easy there miss." Dasha's knuckles stung from the impact. She had used more force than necessary and at the very least she knew her hand would bruise, she wouldn't be surprised if she had split open the skin across a few of her knuckles even. Right now that didn't bother her, what did was that fact the the stranger hadn't even flinched. He stood about a half foot taller than her, with sun streaked honey brown hair partially covered by a well worn hat, mossy green eyes, sharp facial bone structure, and a deep jagged white scar that ran at an angle from his left ear to just above his chin which was partly occluded by well groomed facial hair. Dasha guessed him to be a few years or so older than herself. It occurred to her that he would be considered attractive if not for the scar, but if he didn't release her hand in the next five seconds she could change that further. "I must say, that's an impressive right hook you have there." He commented before releasing both her right fist and left forearm.
"Perhaps in the future it will make you think twice before grabbing someone without any warning." Dasha replied, taking a pointed step back from him. She noticed him subtly shake out the hand she had hit full force, as if it was sore. That brought her a bit of satisfaction.
"My apologies, I didn't intend to startle you." The stranger offered in reply. Dasha couldn't help but feel as if he was familiar in some way, but she couldn't pin point how. "I simply wished to speak with you, though now I realize there would of been better ways to gain your attention . . . It did work to confirm my suspicion that you are certainly capable of fending for yourself though." Dasha wondered how he could of possibly formulated such a suspicion when this was the first time she had even seen this man on the street but quickly remembered that this was a small town. Anything or anyone new got talked about and word tended to travel like wildfire. "Story going around is you're in a bit of a rough patch. I can help remedy that." His eyes scanned her from head to toe, stopping momentarily at her wrist when he reached it. Dasha glanced down realizing the metal cuff that matched Jarin's she wore still was peaking out from her shirt sleeve. If he thought anything odd of it, he didn't say or show as much. Still, once his eyes continued on she tugged down the sleeve to cover it fully. As she did it suddenly clicked where he was from, she had heard the general store owner talking about him. "You're that saloon owner two streets over." Dasha realized, talking aloud.
The stranger smiled, the action warping the scar across his face. "Guilty as charged, miss. Though I'd prefer you just call me Shiloh."
With the confirmation Dasha sighed. "Let me save you the time, I'm not interested in the type of job you have to offer me. Now if you'll excuse me I really must be going." She turned and started off, suddenly eager to get to the boarding house to see if there was anything for her to do despite the fact she didn't generally enjoy any tasks that was given to her there.
"You know where to find me if you change your mind." Shiloh the saloon owner called from behind, watching her leave. "I'm confident in time you'll come to realize that I can offer you a more than fair and useful deal, be it employment or otherwise." Dasha had no interest in what he was saying but spared one last glance back before she ducked around onto the next street and caught sight of him pulling out and lighting a long cigar, the silver ring on his right middle finger glinting in the sunlight. As she made her way to the boarding house, inspecting the damage to her knuckles, she made a mental note to keep a wide berth from the saloon. Perhaps it was simply because of his abrupt first impression or his over confidence in the fact she would approach him again, but Dasha didn't wish to ever hold a second conversation with the saloon owner.

((Exactly! I'm sorry for such a long wait, I've been having terrible writers block on just about everything lately))

[[deleted user]]

((That happens! I was sort of dealing with that lately myself aside from being busy, so sorry that this isn't quite as long as your post! I feel like we need to skip maybe a few days to get the two closer, but only if you think that'd help? Maybe after their conversation, though.))

Jarin was careful to arrange his features properly so as to not appear surprised that he was being called Jesse. He'd almost forgotten that he'd given a nickname. It still took time to get used to especially since back in the continually breaking hut he called himself Jarin. Maybe he needed to change that.
"Ah, yes, sorry about my disappearance. I hope that it didn't make you less interested in teaching me?" he asked. I'm Jesse.
The blacksmith shook his head. "It's not like you asked to be sick, and I haven't been paying you yet, so it's still alright. Now. Back to your sorting. I need to finish these orders of horseshoes first before I do anything else." He pointed to a pile of rags and the box beside it that contained a miscellaneous assortment of anything from a shard of metal to an old nail to a filthy rag that Jarin would prefer not to imagine how it obtained the colors it had. Jarin nodded obediently and started sorting, standing by the table and wishing that he could learn what was really interesting, such as the way metal was shaped and how to create useful pieces. If it even worked, then he could get home someday. As he thought about that he wondered if that was what he even wanted anymore.

The boarding house woman was inside, and as soon as she caught sight of Dasha, she raised her eyebrows. "Back for more work? If you are there are more dirty linens needing washing as well as some pots that are burnt on the bottoms and need a good scrubbing to clean them. If you finish that successfully I'm sure I could hand you a coin or two and maybe give you more work if I'm satisfied." She was scrubbing the floor, leaned over a particularly dark spot that had stained the wood. "The linens are in the back room in the basket like before," she said, not even knowing if Dasha would be willing to help her out or not.

[[deleted user]]

((I'm just sending this message to all of my RPing threads.

Just checking in with you all in case anyone isn't interested RPing with me anymore, has a lot going on, or is finding that there aren't any plots left available to this group and would prefer to end it. If you aren't able to RP anymore, just let me know and that is okay. If you are just busy and still want to, then that's fine! :) Or if you're getting bored of this RP/can't think of anymore plots to keep it interesting, then we can bring it to an end.

Anyway, just wanted to put this out there!))

[Lynn]

((Yes, I 100% agree with skipping a few days after their conversation. That's probably the best way to make progress on this with them.))

The entire walk to the boarding house Dasha had to resist the urge to check back over her shoulder. She knew the saloon owner hadn't followed, but something about the guy had rattled her, making her slightly paranoid. She figured it probably mostly had to do with the fact he had managed to sneak up on her, which wasn't something she liked. It made her feel like she was loosing her touch . . . like she had been here too long and she was forgetting. Unfortunately the last part was at least partially certain, she knew she had been here too long. Her growing cluster of tally marks back in that dilapidated old building was evidence enough of that. Had the regulatory board of transtemporal travel taken notice of her absence yet? She didn't want to think about it, but it was almost a certainty at this point.
Although she was none too eager to take on any of the work that the boarding house had to offer, it was almost a relief when she finally reached it- for now her concern of both the regulatory board and the saloon owner would be forced to take a back seat. Sure enough, she had hardly stepped two feet in before the owner caught sight of her and told her what needed to he done. Although to others that might of been off-putting, Dasha didn't mind- she preferred for interactions to be straight to the point. "Yes ma'am, I'll get on it immediately." She said with a greatful nod before hurrying off to get started. She was glad the woman didn't seem to remember, or at least, didn't care to use, the name she had accidentally given the first time she had come here. That made her feel at least a little bit more at ease.
Dasha decided she should deal with the pots first. More than likely those would require the most and more forceful of the scrubbing and it was best to get the worst overwith first. Now that the adrenaline had fully faded from the incident in the street, her hand was starting to ache and her knuckles had begun to darken with forming bruises. She had definately dealt with worse before, but it wasn't ideal with the morning of endless scrubbing she had before her.

[[deleted user]]

((Should I write the next post as having skipped over the conversation or should I skip to the conversation so we can RP it and then skip after that? Just want to make sure we're on the same page.))

[Lynn]

((I would be ok with either way, but skipping to the conversation and then again afterwords might be best- that way we would know definitively what they talked about and there wouldn't be as much grey area to work around with that.))

[[deleted user]]

((Sounds good!))

[[deleted user]]

The rest of that day Jarin spent working on cleaning and sorting the items around the blacksmith's shop until he finished all of those menial tasks. The blacksmith couldn't find anything else for him to go off and do, so he finally made Jarin watch closely to how he hammered out and forged a horseshoe. He drilled Jarin on what was done to be assured the metal was hot enough to become pliable as well as when it was over the right temperature. He made him repeat steps back to him until Jarin's brain hurt from all of the details. But Jarin wanted to learn and he paid as close attention as he possibly could. Besides, Jarin wanted the blacksmith to know that he was worth teaching. When the day was over, Jarin now had beginning information so he could possibly start training within the next couple of days with more hands-on work.

That evening, Jarin was back in the run down shack, crouched in front of the fireplace and trying to boil some meat from one of the snares they'd concocted near the river, along with a few wild onions that had been determined were not poisonous. It was only the lean meat from a rather skinny rabbit so it wasn't like it had much to it, but it was better than nothing. Jarin was pretty hungry and unused to going so long without eating a full meal due to his previous royal life. But he stayed quiet about it, refusing to show his weakness in front of Dasha.
"I'm not much of a cook but it looks ready," he said, tilting his head towards her. "Our little bland soup of two ingredients."

[Lynn]

By the time Dasha had finished she was plenty tired of scrubbing. Of course it had been sort of slow goings since she had been mostly trying to rely on her non dominant hand which she wasn't nearly as swift and dexterous in using. It had been late afternoon by the time she had finished the tasks to the boarding house owner's satisfaction- much too late in the day to go out in search of other odd jobs as she had originally intended since the sun was at it's peak and a handful of businesses had already closed. That would have to be pushed off for now. It was probably for the best anyway, she doubted anyone would give her much of a chance currently. She knew she had to look a mess with wrinkled clothes, damp and now slightly dingy sleeve cuffs, tendrils of hair escaping her braid, and one darkly bruised and slightly swollen hand- the other rubbed raw in places from all her scrubbing. She couldn't honestly say that she would of been too enthusiastic about hiring someone in such a state if she were in their shoes. She determined ut would be a better use of her time to gather some more firewood and such, at least then she would definately have something to show for her time.

As evening neared the heat began to make its gradual decent which Dasha was thankful for, even though it was only a few degrees difference. When Jarin spoke, Dasha looked over from where she had busied herself with restacking and sorting what wood they had managed to get their hands on today by size and how dry or green it was. "Well at least it's bound to be better than tree bark or more dried fish." Dasha replied, attempting to be positive about it, even though it didn't sound all that appetizing. The second thing she was going to do once she finally got out of this wretched time period was get a good, enjoyable meal. The first was going to be a very long hot shower.

[[deleted user]]

"That's true," Jarin agreed. He really didn't want to get to the point where they were chewing on bark for any sort of nourishment possible, or just because they wanted the feeling of a full stomach. That was the very last resort. He stretched, cracking his back with a grunt. "I guess we just eat it straight from the pot? We don't have any smaller bowls around here. Just the tin cup." He thought a moment, then grabbed some thinner branches and the single knife they'd scavenged. With the blade, he whittled down an end on each stick to make a sharp point. "These can be our utensils," he offered. "Since the water's too hot." He handed one to Dasha, then looked at the pot of very thin soup. He really was just hungry and he wanted more than this pitiful meal. He wished he was back in the castle, even if it wasn't really the sort of life he had been enjoying. He had been picky, because at least there he had as much food as he wanted.

[Lynn]

Dasha shoved the last few pieces into place and then stood from where she had been knelt, carefully wiping her hands clean of dirt on the hem of her shirt which had managed to come untucked at some point during the day. "Maybe tomorrow we'll be able to catch something better." She doubted it- this place seemed to be in the middle of a drought and the temperatures just kept climbing during the day. If this kept up things would only get worse and they very well soon could be reduced to gnawing on tree bark. The already nearly barren land had begun to bear mark of struggle, the dusty ground now forming a web of cracks like gaping scars within the earth in some of the places that received the most direct sunlight. The water level at the little river that they relied on for water had also dropped about two inches in the last couple days, but she wasn't going to worry about that yet. It was bound to rain soon . . . at least she hoped it would.
"Better that way anyway, less dishes." After scrubbing those pots today the last thing she wanted to see was more dirty dishes of any sort. Dasha watched as Jarin carved away at the branches, though she didn't admit it out loud, she was sort of impressed with his ingenuity. "Thanks." She said without really thinking much about it after he handed her one of the impromptu utensils.

[[deleted user]]

Jarin nodded, also feeling hopeful in the matter. He was sick of this place, more than he'd let on. Constantly caked in sweat and grime and never having a moment to feel like you could relax. Once the evening drew near, the sweat had dried onto your skin in what felt like a thick, nasty paste of gummy mud and even the night air still felt gross and heavy, hanging in the air. He was sure that he'd taken on twenty pounds of grit since stumbling into this stupid time period in the first place. He could blame Dasha for it, but she hadn't wanted to trap herself here either. And at the moment, t he two of them seemed to be sort of getting along together with the least bit of tension lately. "Yeah, that's true," Jarin nodded, not liking the idea of washing dishes. That equaled more work in the high temperatures of the day even if he hadn't washed any yet. A faint smile touched his lips at her thankfulness. It surprised him, but in a pleasant way. He didn't even tease her about it. "We can throw these in the fire later and make fresh ones next time," he said, plunging the sharp end of the stick into the pot. He managed to spear a hunk of rabbit with a slice of onion and pulled back, nibbling on it for a second. Jarin gulped it own and gestured for Dasha to do the same thing.

[Lynn]

Dasha nodded. "At least there's no big shortage of branches." It took her a couple stabs to actually spear something, she wasn't as agile with her left hand as she was the right- which was still dully sore and awkward to use for semi fine motor tasks such as this. Once she had a chunk of the meat skewered she pulled it away from the pot and watched the steam it sent dancing into the air rise while she waited for it to cool a little. After she was sure it wouldn't burn her she took a bite. It certainly wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it was better than what she had expected given what had been at their disposal. She finished it off silently and then speared a couple wild onion pieces- again watching the thin trails of steam roll off of it.
"About this morning . . ." She said suddenly, before she could change her mind about doing so, "I could of handled that better." It wasn't a direct apology, but it was an admission of fault which in its self was generally rare coming from her.

[[deleted user]]

"Of course. But so far there seem to be plenty of them around for miles. Already dry and usable," Jarin nodded. It would be terrible if they were here long enough to see the surrounding trees disappear while the small town struggled with keeping themselves alive among the brush. He had no idea what he wanted to return to anymore, but certainly he just wanted to get out of this desolate place. He stabbed another piece of meat, taking a few more tries than before to trap it, and chewed on it thoughtfully while Dasha spoke up. It took him by surprise that she was saying anything close to what she was, but he knew that if he teased her about it or even risked pointing it out, she might just clam up again and they'd never have that opportunity again. "What happened this morning? I mean...I went to the blacksmith's this morning after our pathetic breakfast." He couldn't really remember what specific she was meaning.

[Lynn]

"With the dog, before we went our separate ways." Dasha clarified. "I was angry with you for being careless and putting yourself in harm's way without a second thought so soon after I had just put so much effort into your recovery." She realized that he still might not be able to recognize the potential danger she was referring to and decided it best to outright explain. "For all you knew at the time, that dog could of had rabies. If that had been the case and you would of been bitten I wouldn't of been able to do anything except sit here and watch you die." The sentence hung heavy for a moment as she remembered how close to death he had already been once while they had been here - closer than she had let on. She couldn't watch that again. She forced the thought from her mind and continued on.
"Anyways, because I was angry I was unwilling to listen to or consider any part of your argument . . . I can't say it would of changed my mind any, but if we are to survive this I've got to at least be willing to listen to what you have to say." With that being said, she unceremoniously stabbed another onion piece and pulled it out to cool, a signal that that was all she would say on that particular matter.
After a few quiet moments of watching the steam drift off the piece she had speared she spoke again. ". . . I also may have attempted to knock out the saloon owner." She hadn't planned on telling Jarin that fact, but she figured he would find out soon enough through the town's gossip grape vine, and it was probably best it came from her own mouth. If nothing else so it didn't catch him by surprise if he heard about it in passing on the streets. "But I think I handled that fantastic. The only thing I regret about that is not hitting the intended mark. . . and the fact he was wearing that tacky ring." That's what had caused the most damage to her hand- the bulky band of that stupid ring. It would heal though, and she couldn't say she would of done anything differently looking back on it.

[[deleted user]]

"Oh," Jarin said, listening and stabbing another piece of meat. It took him a few tries before it was skewered onto his stick. He chewed it, turning his full attention to Dasha. "I suppose the dog could have had rabies. He just seemed alone, like he needed help or something." He could see Dasha's point, and it was a very good one. He just didn't like the idea of letting the dog stay out there and run around, injured like that. Someone must have been hurting the animal for it to turn up bloody like that. "Can't we try to help it? And if it acts mean around us, then we leave it alone?" he asked, not trying at all to be annoying or anything. He just wanted to see if he could convince her, if the two were supposed to be on the same page. Besides, having a dog around might come handy if they needed the extra protection. It just meant they'd have to gain the dog's trust and somehow make it want to protect them instead of just eat their food.
"I think both of us are too stubborn for our own good," Jarin admitted, chuckling. It was sort of funny. Who had known in a million years that the two of them would have wound up together? He shrugged again, trying to let her know that it was in the past now and he didn't mind too much as long as they tried again harder in the future.
"You what?" Jarin gasped, letting out a surprised laugh. Disbelief covered his face and while he thought, his expression finally morphed into one that appeared angry almost. "Why did you have to do that? Did he touch you? Did that creep try to do anything to you?" he asked. Somehow, even though the two of them in particular did not always get along well, and that originally Jarin was only along for the ride before being handed off to die, it angered him that anyone would have dared touch Dasha. He had no idea how to explain it but that was how he felt. "Did you get him at all? Knock him out good like he deserved? Is that what happened to your hand?"

[Lynn]

Dasha needed time to consider the dog thing. She was still apprehensive about it. Until it healed it would be another drain for resources, another mouth to feed- and there was always the chance that it could turn on them no matter how friendly it was if they failed to find enough to satiate it's hunger. If this area didn't get rain soon, finding enough food for themselves alone was going to be near impossible without adding the appetite of a good sized dog to that demand. For the sake of getting along she would think about it further though. "I'll consider it." Besides, as Jarin pointed out there may very well be advantages to having the dog around. She just had to rule if those positives outweighed the risk and cost of helping it.
At most she had expected a sigh, maybe a few chiding words about how that hadn't been a very wise choice - but then she realized that was only because that was what she was used to hearing in such a situation. All the members of the regulatory boards and her other supervisors cared about was the reaction that her actions caused, they didn't care about the girl behind them or what drove her to them. She didn't blame them really, It didn't pay to treat her like anything more than a malfunctioning piece of equipment. A bounty hunter, especially one of her background, was above all else one thing- expendable.
It was for that reason that Jarin's reaction, both initial and secondary threw her for a loop. ". . . Yeah" Dasha replied, answering his last question first. "Well mostly anyway. That started it and then the tasks I was given at the boarding house today only exacerbated it." She sighed, "Unfortunately no, I didn't get the chance to drop him. It was like he expected it." That still didn't sit too well with her and she couldn't help but frown, but she figured in his line of buisness he had had a fair number of fists flying towards him and in turn had developed some quick reflexes. "At most I gave him a very sore hand, but perhaps it will be enough to remind him there are better ways to get someone's attention than sneaking up behind them and grabbing their arm . . . for the next few days at least anyway."
She wasn't too hopeful that he would change his ways permanently so easily, he seemed far from that type and it was for that reason that she was going to make sure she stayed well away from wherever she thought he may be. She had no doubt that she could take care of herself around him if the situation demanded it again, even if he was much bigger than her in stature. Something about that man just made her feel uneasy, that it was best to keep a wide berth even if she could handle herself- and not just because she knew of his sleazy occupation. Perhaps it was because he had sounded so certain that she would change her mind and take him up on his offer- like he knew something that she didn't.

[[deleted user]]

"That idiot," Jarin grumbled, rolling his eyes with annoyance. He didn't know a whole lot about old western towns, but he did know one thing; saloons were popular among the men not only because of the drinks and gambling and games, but because of the girls. And again, how dare anyone bother Dasha. "I'll go talk to him tomorrow..." he shook his head. He knew Dasha could easily take care of herself since she was a bounty hunter, but it didn't sit right with him to be in the same town as a man who didn't leave others alone. He stabbed a piece of meat again and looked sideways at the woman. Jarin could either try to land a punch at the man or he could stretch his imagination and pretend that he and Dasha were together as a couple. But the second option was awkward and he wasn't sure he wanted to try that. Not yet, as much as they'd been getting along despite everything.

[Lynn]

"Jarin, no. Promise me you won't." She objected immediately. She had the point of her makeshift utensil pointed at him from where she sat. She quickly realized that it probably looked threatening- even if it wasn't fully extended and just gripped directly infront of her.
Sure it was only a branch that would most likely snap with any substantial force put behind it before any real bodily harm could come from it, but in her hands it could easily be considered a valid weapon. Intimidation wasn't really what she was going for, accidental or otherwise so she quickly lowered it further, flipping it so the point was towards her. The idea of Jarin being in the same room with that man made her feel very uneasy for some reason.". . . I just think it would be best if we both steer clear of him. Judging from my brief conversation with him and his line of work, I doubt he is the type to take any form of confrontation civilly." She added, hoping that logic if nothing else would sway him.

[[deleted user]]

Jarin looked up at Dasha and then at the stick pointed his way like a weapon. He ignored it. He wasn't intimidated by it right now. "If he's going to act like that, then I should go stop him." He said it very matter-of-factly, like he didn't think that there was any reason not to. "And how will I know that you will steer clear of him? Or that he'll steer clear of you?" It was so random, how much he wanted to suddenly protect her. He didn't have the same training as a bounty hunter like Dasha, but he did have pretty big muscles and a temper if he let it take him away. That could always do some damage and he'd gotten into fights before.

[Lynn]

Dasha knew outright forbidding him from doing so would not work, ultimately he would end up doing whatever he pleased and it would just be another point of tension if she did. "If it's an isolated occurrence there is no need to waste the time and jeopardize your safety." She argued. She figured that Jarin could very well be capable of fending for himself in a fair fight, but she was almost certain that any fight with the saloon owner wouldn't be fair. She found it far more likely that Jarin would end up getting a bullet to the back or something, and she wasn't willing to sit back and let that happen. Given that logic most likely wouldn't make a difference if he was already dead set on it and that she couldn't outright forbid it, she knew there was only one option left- asking nicely. ". . . Please." She breathed a tired sounding sigh. "Just trust me it's not worth it."

[[deleted user]]

Jarin wanted to keep arguing about this. He wanted to tell her that he had plenty of good reasons himself why he needed to punch the man onto Mars. But he grunted instead, unhappy with Dasha for telling him it wouldn't work. But he supposed that if he just went and confronted the man at the saloon, he'd end up dead with either a knife or a bullet buried in his back or chest. Right now there wasn't really any reason for doing that. "Okay, okay. I won't personally go after him this time. But if he bothers you again or if I see him near you or he comes near me, then the deal's off," he said, looking at her. He was still hot and irritable and he was sure that wasn't helping him out.

[Lynn]

"Fine, that's fair." Dasha agreed. It wasn't exactly what she had hoped for, but that compromise was better than nothing. She hoped that they would be long out of here before that had a chance to happen . . . but she had also once hoped that they would be long out of here by now, and yet here they still were. "Just don't be stupid about it if it does come up." She added as she was still responsible for his safety- even if she was kind of sort of condoning violence by accepting the compromise and not opposing it further. "Under no circumstances do you approach him within that saloon, instead draw him outside." That was one detail she would not compromise on. "That will lessen any hidden advantages he may have, and provide impartial witnesses on the street . . . levels the playing field out a bit more."

[[deleted user]]

Jarin nodded, twisting the sharp stick he was using as a fork to eat with between his hands. He was still angry with the man and he knew it would be hard for him to control the urges to go find him. It didn't really make a whole lot of sense since Dasha had captured him in the first place as a bounty. But somehow he felt wrong to sit by if the man bothered her. "Thanks," he said, even though he doubted that was what she wanted to hear. He half smirked and glanced into the pot of attempted soup. There was a little bit of meat and onions left but he stood anyway, stretching; he forgot his back was still healing and grimaced. "You eat the rest. I'm full," he lied, moving away towards his "spot" on the floor. They didn't have much food but Dasha needed it more than he did.

[Lynn]

Dasha frowned, knowing that was unlikely given his work at the blacksmiths today, but it was uncomfortably hot and perhaps his appetite hadn't quite come back after being so sick yet. It certainly didn't cross her mind that he was trying to do something nice, that was a rarity in her world that she naturally wouldn't even consider. "You sure?" She questioned as she watched him settle in. "You're still recovering, you really should eat a little more." It was the logical thing -it took greater energy to heal and he would naturally need more anyway given how much larger in stature he was then her- and it was what she had already counted on.

[[deleted user]]

"I'm sure. It's fine, really," Jarin said, waving her questions away with a flick of his hand. He sat down and half leaned up against the wall of the rickety building; for one thing, his back still hurt from the wounds and their infections, and second, he didn't want to be crushed in case he leaned too much and knocked part of it down on top of him. They really needed to find a better spot if they had to stay here any longer. "Don't let it go to waste," he said, attempting to tease her and make her eat it. "Otherwise I'm sure the dog won't mind eating the meat."

[Lynn]

Dasha had no doubt that the dog would indeed have no qualms about eating it, onions and all. It was clearly desperate enough to eat about anything. She was still sour towards it about the berries, and certainly didn't want it getting this as well. For that reason she pushed the subject no further and instead went ahead and speared another piece. ". . . How'd today go?" She asked after she had finished off that piece before spearing another. She hadn't had time to ask earlier.
She had thought he was returning to work at the blacksmiths too soon, but clearly he had survived the day. She just hoped whatever he had done hadn't put too much strain on his back. The quicker he healed up the better, then they wouldn't have to worry about the possibility of re infection.

[[deleted user]]

((Onions are apparently really bad for dogs. Not that Jarin would actually know lol))

[[deleted user]]

"It was alright for me. I'm still trying to get to learning the more important things but it's taking awhile. I guess he needs to trust me enough first," Jarin said, shrugging. He wanted to start working with metal immediately instead of sorting and cleaning. That had nothing to do with making a proper gear. "So, how did your day go? Aside from the saloon dude." He still was having trouble preventing himself from going after the man but he might be leading himself to his own death if he did that. For now, he would be careful. He just sort of wondered why Dasha cared if he did or not because if he was a bounty, she could bring him back dead and it wouldn't matter to the higher ups.

[Lynn]

Although it did mean that they were really no closer to having a replacement piece, Dasha was sort of glad he hadn't been thrust into something major straight after returning. Forges could be dangerous and she would rather he had at least a couple days of recovery under his belt before he faced such. Besides a little while longer here probably wouldn't kill either of them.
Dasha sighed when he asked about the rest of her day, thinking of all the scrubbing she had done between the sheets and the dishes. Mostly the dishes. "In a word mundane, which is probably a good thing . . . all I know is I don't want to so much as see another blackened, crusty pot for at least the next fourty eight hours."