In Which Kellerin Comes Back Again, Gives Landri a Hand, then Gets Thoughtful Again
And in here, with a darkened lantern and some soup and a half-dead, half-sleeping Landri - no, she was going to go nuts thinking like that. And she couldn't stay in here without thinking like that. And he was right: there wasn't anything else she could do.
Kellerin left the lantern on and went back out. She hesitated one more time, then locked the door, went back out, and started toward the crossroads.
She came back again at late o'clock, after half a candle of listening to music, seeing some dancing, watching people pack up their stalls, and hanging out on the edges of crowds just being part of it all. (She didn't feel like a part of it all when she actually thought about it, but when she didn't - when she just drifted, watching and listening and taking stuff in ... well, she could've been anyone. Not Kellerin, with Kellerin's problems, but anyone.)
She knew it was half a candle because of the drums - different than in the Locus, not a whole bunch in a fancy rhythm, but a single, huge drum in a steady two-to-a-second pace, sounding from a tower in a house at the corner of the crossroads. A lot of people took this as signal to drift home, and, as the musicians straggled to a halt and the dancers fussed about, then saw okay, yeah, it was bedtime - well then yeah, Kellerin figured go home.
(Home? Shit, no, Kellerin, don't think about that.)
She wended her way back to the guesthouse, then back upstairs. Bathroom, then own room. The light had been snuffed out, but the shutters were open, and from reflecting-in-from-the-alley light she could just barely see: a lump in the bed (Landri), a lump on the couch (Lissa), and a cluster of little lumps on the table (the foodthings). Whatever, she wasn't hungry anyway. Kellerin relocked the door and hung up the key. Then she picked her way over to her pallet, kicked her shoes and peeled her socks off, and flopped down.
She was asleep in minutes.
She woke up once, undid her belt because she was lying on a lump of cash, then re-fell asleep.
Woke up again, to sounds. Sounds? Shuffling. It was still dark outside. Shuffling and breathing - a strained sound, then a hiss. Kellerin sat up, looked around.
Landri was up. All she could see was silhouette: he was on his knees, one hand against the bed, holding him from falling, the other against his face. She saw him wipe his wrist across his face, then sit up again, and prop himself against the wall, and inch forward on his knees.
"Landri?"
A breath out. "Kij-girl, if I could oblige you to give me the smallest bit of assistance, I'd be deeply indebted."
"The fu-" Kellerin scrambled up out of bed. "The hell're you doing, you're supposed to be resting."
The silhouette shook his head. "I need the lamb."
"Huh?"
"Hh - " that was probably a laugh. "The tiny room. The jani closet. The reading room. The relief. The back house. The cubby. Th-"
"Okay, okay, I got it." At least he was feeling better. "Hang on," she said, starting to come over.
A rustling noise from the couch. Now they were all up. Great.
Well, then it probably didn't matter if she lit the lantern. It'd probably make it easier, too. "Hangonasec," Kellerin said, and turned to the table. She found a box of matched, got one out, lit it, lit the lantern. Opened its shutters and turned around.
"So, lemme j- shhhit" and turned right back around, because oh right. Kind of naked under there.
Her clean clothes were on the chair next to the table. Perfect. Kellerin grabbed the pants and held them backward until they were taken from her hand. Some rustling sounds, then: "a very little bit of help balancing, Kij-girl -"
Kellerin backed up a couple steps and offered her arm. It was leaned heavily on, and she waited while Landri got the pants on. Definitely didn't want to look, so she lookedover at Lissa, wasn't this noise bothering - oh. Oh, she had a pillow over her head and was pretending to sleep. So nice of her. Thanks for all your help.
Landri finally got straightened out, and Kellerin turned around and let him lean his am over her shoulders. That was the only option - she didn't want to touch his back, not when it was mid-heal. "You doing okay?"
Landri grimaced. "You must be having me for a joke."
"That bad?"
"Hhnh." Landri limped along. Maybe it was better not to talk. She got him to the bathroom door and nope, definitely not going in there with him, but she hung out in the hallway until he was done.
It took forever. When the door opened, he was panting, and using the doorframe for support.
No jokes this time. Kellerin got him down the hall and back in, and then she remembered: sleep and eat. "You want anything from here?" she nodded to the table, and Landri turned to it like he'd just noticed. "Like maybe some soup?" Kellerin hinted.
Landri paused, then nodded.
She hitched him over to the table. "I might stay standing, Kij-girl," he said, voice tight. "Too much trouble to sit down. Incidentally, could you get me -" she was already over there, ladling out soup for him. "Thank you."
Ate, standing, leaning heavily against the table. Midway through, swallowed and said, "I'm not wrong in thinking that to be poppy liquor," and gestured with his spoon to the vial next to the lantern. When had that gotten there? Meiches, probably.
"Yeah."
Landri put his soup down, picked up the vial, unplugged it, and dripped it carefully into his food, counting. Stoppered it and set it down, then stirred his soup up and finished that. Put it down, turned his eyes to Kellerin. She came over and got him over to the bed, where he just collapsed off her and onto the bed. A gasp, then he heaved himself back over to his earlier place and lay back down. His back was tense and trembling; the unhealed parts gleamed a bit in the light. Kellerin swallowed and looked away.
"Thank you, Kellerin," she heard.
"S'okay." She went and blew out the light, then went back to the bed. She wanted to pat his shoulder and tell him it'd be okay, he was already halfway well, just wait a bit and he'd get better. But fuck, he - he was better! So why shouldn't she say it?
She wavered a bit, standing there. But she didn't say anything. She went back to bed.
He was asleep the next morning when she woke up to the sound of a door shutting. That was Lissa. Asshole. Definitely awake now, so Kellerin got up too, retied the moneybelt, and went out.
Outside, she found out that the market had only been a yesterday thing. It was quiet on the street - well, not quiet, but compared to yesterday yeah - quiet and empty, with so much space. Still, there were breakfast street-food stands over by the crossroads, so Kellerin went over and looked at each one before deciding on one with a sign reading OLINSCARRI EGG-FORTS. An egg-fort, apparently, was a fried egg topped with ground meat all cooked inside a salty pancake. Sort of like an egg mcmuffin, but better, and probably less likely to clog your arteries to death.
Kellerin had that, then just sat there, on the lip of the fountain. It was empty. Not completely - there were clothes-washers setting up on the basin's other side, and a woman feeding her pigeons on a rooftop, and the breakfast carts were getting a steady stream of visitors - people would emerge from the maze of streets with baskets or bags, come over and get things, and then redisappear. But think about this in comparison with last night, and - there was no one.
Quiet. Just water plashing slightly against the basin's lip, and the voices of people over buying breakfast things. Pigeons making irritated eating noises. A dog barking. Someone, muffled, singing.
The smell of the egg-forts cart, and, next to that, the mango-cakes cart. The smell of the water next to her. The smell of the path.
If she went back now, she'd be hanging around in a room with a convalescent Landri all day. Sit around watching him sleep? Feel bad when he gets up and moves like an old man? Feel worse when she couldn't do anything to help? No.
No. Out here, there was a city to see. She'd seen the market yesterday. Today: just look around. She'd never really seen a city out here - she'd been kinda busy at Dovaris (no, Kellerin, don't think about it), and the Locus - like Landri had said, the Locus was a very strange city. Well yeah, she'd seen that, but she hadn't really appreciated it til she'd seen this.
So this was normal for down here? okay. Go look.
Kellerin leaned down. She hesitated a sec - she's seen what had been happening in that water last night - then rinsed her hands off. Wristed grease off her mouth, then wiped her hands on her pants. Stood up, picked a direction, and started walking.
~:~
Oh yay ♥ :D
Kellerin is so Kellerin about this whole Landri-being-injured thing. So avoidy. Much embarrass. Many awkwards. wow :D
This is the kind of quiet contemplation, nervous itchy restlessness, and painful emotional ohgods that I should've had, but didn't, first time round. Of course, first time round, I was a very different person, writing a very different book.
Still: I like this one better.
:D
Kellerin left the lantern on and went back out. She hesitated one more time, then locked the door, went back out, and started toward the crossroads.
She came back again at late o'clock, after half a candle of listening to music, seeing some dancing, watching people pack up their stalls, and hanging out on the edges of crowds just being part of it all. (She didn't feel like a part of it all when she actually thought about it, but when she didn't - when she just drifted, watching and listening and taking stuff in ... well, she could've been anyone. Not Kellerin, with Kellerin's problems, but anyone.)
She knew it was half a candle because of the drums - different than in the Locus, not a whole bunch in a fancy rhythm, but a single, huge drum in a steady two-to-a-second pace, sounding from a tower in a house at the corner of the crossroads. A lot of people took this as signal to drift home, and, as the musicians straggled to a halt and the dancers fussed about, then saw okay, yeah, it was bedtime - well then yeah, Kellerin figured go home.
(Home? Shit, no, Kellerin, don't think about that.)
She wended her way back to the guesthouse, then back upstairs. Bathroom, then own room. The light had been snuffed out, but the shutters were open, and from reflecting-in-from-the-alley light she could just barely see: a lump in the bed (Landri), a lump on the couch (Lissa), and a cluster of little lumps on the table (the foodthings). Whatever, she wasn't hungry anyway. Kellerin relocked the door and hung up the key. Then she picked her way over to her pallet, kicked her shoes and peeled her socks off, and flopped down.
She was asleep in minutes.
She woke up once, undid her belt because she was lying on a lump of cash, then re-fell asleep.
Woke up again, to sounds. Sounds? Shuffling. It was still dark outside. Shuffling and breathing - a strained sound, then a hiss. Kellerin sat up, looked around.
Landri was up. All she could see was silhouette: he was on his knees, one hand against the bed, holding him from falling, the other against his face. She saw him wipe his wrist across his face, then sit up again, and prop himself against the wall, and inch forward on his knees.
"Landri?"
A breath out. "Kij-girl, if I could oblige you to give me the smallest bit of assistance, I'd be deeply indebted."
"The fu-" Kellerin scrambled up out of bed. "The hell're you doing, you're supposed to be resting."
The silhouette shook his head. "I need the lamb."
"Huh?"
"Hh - " that was probably a laugh. "The tiny room. The jani closet. The reading room. The relief. The back house. The cubby. Th-"
"Okay, okay, I got it." At least he was feeling better. "Hang on," she said, starting to come over.
A rustling noise from the couch. Now they were all up. Great.
Well, then it probably didn't matter if she lit the lantern. It'd probably make it easier, too. "Hangonasec," Kellerin said, and turned to the table. She found a box of matched, got one out, lit it, lit the lantern. Opened its shutters and turned around.
"So, lemme j- shhhit" and turned right back around, because oh right. Kind of naked under there.
Her clean clothes were on the chair next to the table. Perfect. Kellerin grabbed the pants and held them backward until they were taken from her hand. Some rustling sounds, then: "a very little bit of help balancing, Kij-girl -"
Kellerin backed up a couple steps and offered her arm. It was leaned heavily on, and she waited while Landri got the pants on. Definitely didn't want to look, so she lookedover at Lissa, wasn't this noise bothering - oh. Oh, she had a pillow over her head and was pretending to sleep. So nice of her. Thanks for all your help.
Landri finally got straightened out, and Kellerin turned around and let him lean his am over her shoulders. That was the only option - she didn't want to touch his back, not when it was mid-heal. "You doing okay?"
Landri grimaced. "You must be having me for a joke."
"That bad?"
"Hhnh." Landri limped along. Maybe it was better not to talk. She got him to the bathroom door and nope, definitely not going in there with him, but she hung out in the hallway until he was done.
It took forever. When the door opened, he was panting, and using the doorframe for support.
No jokes this time. Kellerin got him down the hall and back in, and then she remembered: sleep and eat. "You want anything from here?" she nodded to the table, and Landri turned to it like he'd just noticed. "Like maybe some soup?" Kellerin hinted.
Landri paused, then nodded.
She hitched him over to the table. "I might stay standing, Kij-girl," he said, voice tight. "Too much trouble to sit down. Incidentally, could you get me -" she was already over there, ladling out soup for him. "Thank you."
Ate, standing, leaning heavily against the table. Midway through, swallowed and said, "I'm not wrong in thinking that to be poppy liquor," and gestured with his spoon to the vial next to the lantern. When had that gotten there? Meiches, probably.
"Yeah."
Landri put his soup down, picked up the vial, unplugged it, and dripped it carefully into his food, counting. Stoppered it and set it down, then stirred his soup up and finished that. Put it down, turned his eyes to Kellerin. She came over and got him over to the bed, where he just collapsed off her and onto the bed. A gasp, then he heaved himself back over to his earlier place and lay back down. His back was tense and trembling; the unhealed parts gleamed a bit in the light. Kellerin swallowed and looked away.
"Thank you, Kellerin," she heard.
"S'okay." She went and blew out the light, then went back to the bed. She wanted to pat his shoulder and tell him it'd be okay, he was already halfway well, just wait a bit and he'd get better. But fuck, he - he was better! So why shouldn't she say it?
She wavered a bit, standing there. But she didn't say anything. She went back to bed.
He was asleep the next morning when she woke up to the sound of a door shutting. That was Lissa. Asshole. Definitely awake now, so Kellerin got up too, retied the moneybelt, and went out.
Outside, she found out that the market had only been a yesterday thing. It was quiet on the street - well, not quiet, but compared to yesterday yeah - quiet and empty, with so much space. Still, there were breakfast street-food stands over by the crossroads, so Kellerin went over and looked at each one before deciding on one with a sign reading OLINSCARRI EGG-FORTS. An egg-fort, apparently, was a fried egg topped with ground meat all cooked inside a salty pancake. Sort of like an egg mcmuffin, but better, and probably less likely to clog your arteries to death.
Kellerin had that, then just sat there, on the lip of the fountain. It was empty. Not completely - there were clothes-washers setting up on the basin's other side, and a woman feeding her pigeons on a rooftop, and the breakfast carts were getting a steady stream of visitors - people would emerge from the maze of streets with baskets or bags, come over and get things, and then redisappear. But think about this in comparison with last night, and - there was no one.
Quiet. Just water plashing slightly against the basin's lip, and the voices of people over buying breakfast things. Pigeons making irritated eating noises. A dog barking. Someone, muffled, singing.
The smell of the egg-forts cart, and, next to that, the mango-cakes cart. The smell of the water next to her. The smell of the path.
If she went back now, she'd be hanging around in a room with a convalescent Landri all day. Sit around watching him sleep? Feel bad when he gets up and moves like an old man? Feel worse when she couldn't do anything to help? No.
No. Out here, there was a city to see. She'd seen the market yesterday. Today: just look around. She'd never really seen a city out here - she'd been kinda busy at Dovaris (no, Kellerin, don't think about it), and the Locus - like Landri had said, the Locus was a very strange city. Well yeah, she'd seen that, but she hadn't really appreciated it til she'd seen this.
So this was normal for down here? okay. Go look.
Kellerin leaned down. She hesitated a sec - she's seen what had been happening in that water last night - then rinsed her hands off. Wristed grease off her mouth, then wiped her hands on her pants. Stood up, picked a direction, and started walking.
~:~
Oh yay ♥ :D
Kellerin is so Kellerin about this whole Landri-being-injured thing. So avoidy. Much embarrass. Many awkwards. wow :D
This is the kind of quiet contemplation, nervous itchy restlessness, and painful emotional ohgods that I should've had, but didn't, first time round. Of course, first time round, I was a very different person, writing a very different book.
Still: I like this one better.
:D