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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 12, 2010 17:37:21 GMT -5
4th Week of Winter, 2nd Year of Queen Sabrina's Reign
It was a beautiful winter day, as beautiful as frigid could get, and I had stolen enough coin to fill my belly and procure for myself a warm bed at the end of the day. A good day, a busy day, especially considering it was not that late in the afternoon. I was walking down teh street, my hair and face a mess, my gown no better, oversized adn lumpy from teh layers I wore beneath it, tattered, torn, worn and soiled, but the smile on my face was bright, optim,istic. As far as cold winter days went, this one was turning out to be a good one.
I walked down the streets of the Artisan's District. Everyone kept a wide birth around me, as though I had a fence or barrier to keep people from entering my personal space. It placed a smile on my lips.
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 12, 2010 20:06:05 GMT -5
There was a cold smirk on my face to match the day. It was a smirk that only lasted a moment though. I could never really be cold inside, even if I tried.
It was my birthday, my sixteenth. I should be having my debut today, rather than wandering the streets, looking for a spot of business. That's why I smirked, trying to feel better about everything.
I was bundled up tight in several layers, all quite thin. A scarf hid my neck and the base of my chin and long leather gloves hid the scar. Around my neck was a sign that read MESSENGER BOY FOR HIRE. I walked along down the street with wide shy eyes, not headed in any real direction.
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 23, 2010 13:58:32 GMT -5
I continued to walk, looking about me, when a boy cut in front of my path, not seeming to look where he was going though his eyes were rbight as though taking everything in for the first time. I glard at him, then looked at his clothing. Not terribly well made, and the sign about his neck told me that he was certainly not of nobility.. perhaps he was at some point, but not now. He was an adorable thing though, even with the smirk he carried on his lips. Perhaps if I was better dressed I would have played a trick on him for cutting me off, but he would never believe I had a message to be delivered to anyone the way I was dressed.
"Mayhap, boy, you ought to look where you are going," I grumbled as I stood there, facing him as he walked on, my hands on my hips. He did not appear that young, but certainly not much older than myself if older at all.
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 23, 2010 14:50:15 GMT -5
My eyes flicked in the direction of the girl who spoke to me and they quickly dropped. "I'm sorry, miss." She seemed to be about the same age as I, and in about the same condition. I crossed my arms and dared to lift my eyes again. She was pretty. She was also clearly upset with me. "I'll be more careful from now on."
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 23, 2010 15:30:01 GMT -5
I had expected a snide reply, but instead he hung his head, as if ashamed, and appologized! I was taken aback, so much so that my jaw dropped open. On the streets and he was this... timid? This soft? How had it not hardened him like it had hardened me. My own hardened exterior softened.
"Well... just... try better next time," I murmured, feeling a little uneasy to not have been attacked back.
"You shoul develop a backbone, you know," I said, trying to be helpful in my own way, though it sounded no doubt like I was belittling him.
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 23, 2010 15:51:05 GMT -5
I tilted my head and quickly let myself study her. "I suppose so. I mean I'll try to. It's just something that you can't get out of you having been trained in Allysum. And I guess it's always been a part of my personality. I mean I almost landed in Valerian." I lowered my head a blushed, though my cheeks were already rosy from the cold. "You can call me Eric if you like."
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 24, 2010 11:18:47 GMT -5
My heart sank at the irony of it. An outcast from teh Night Court, somewhere I had destined to be, but never wound up due to my henious brother (by blood, and naught else, of course).
"No no... keep your timidity. Perhaps it will work better for you than it did for me. I am sorry, Eric, is it?" I said wtih a soft smile. "I am Estella... Essie. Why are you out here and not up there?" I asked, nodding my head in the general direction of Mont Nuit.
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 24, 2010 12:40:23 GMT -5
I smiled, thankful for her kinder attitude and the sound of her name. "Essie," I repeated with another slight blush and a smile.
Ah the question! It was never one I enjoyed answering. "Umm, well there was this accident and it kinda scarred me up you see... Well I really don't want you to see but... Well they said it'd be best if I left the Night Court, that no one would want an adept with a burned arm." I frowned and sighed. "Actually today is the day I should be having my debut." I stopped talking, already feeling guilty for burdening this girl who probably had better things to do than talk to me.
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 24, 2010 13:26:36 GMT -5
I frowned softly at the sad story, glancing down at his hands, though I probably should not have, and seeing them gloved to the elbow. I nodded, understanding.
"I am sorry to hear that," I said. It was sad, and only confounded by the fact that it was his birthday. I did not ask him how it happened, but smiled instead, trying to think better. If it was the only good deed I did, I would try to make his birthday a worthwhile one.
"Well then, what on earth are you doing looking for work on your birthday?" I asked him. I had some coin left, and some coin I had made last night and early this morning, enuogh for a good enough meal at a small establishment somewhere in Night's Doorstep. "You should have a birthday lunch," I offered. "As a celebration."
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 24, 2010 20:45:13 GMT -5
I frown turned back into a smile. I was grateful, but, but I couldn't accept. "Well that's just it, Essie. I have to work if I want a meal." I took a step towards her and blinked. "What I mean to say is thank you." I lifted my gloved hand to brush a strand of fine dark hair out of my face. "You're very kind."
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 26, 2010 13:42:35 GMT -5
I nodded in understanding.
"You work, and I steal," I said with a wink, "but that doesn't mean that a birthday should go by uncelebrated. I promise I will have you back here at your post within the hour. It is bitter cold anyways. I am sure some warm tea and a small meal might help put some colour back in your cheeks," I said with an all knowing smile that the colour had not left his cheeks since he had bumped into me an I had sought to put him in his place.
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 26, 2010 13:55:48 GMT -5
I nodded. "Thank you again." Though she couldn't be much older than me, I was a bit surprised at how grown up she seemed. The streets must do that to people and would no doubt do the same to me in turn.
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 26, 2010 14:17:08 GMT -5
I smiled widely, clapping my hands together once with a nod.
"Good then, let us go. Somewhere in Night's Doorstep," I said as I turned in the direction, "I do not have the coin to afford these places," I said, motioning around. "And take off the sign. For at least a little while you are going to be a normal boy."
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 26, 2010 14:23:04 GMT -5
I nodded and began to walk with her. A normal boy? Unlikely I thought to myself. I could never be really normal, Allysum let me know that. No one could think me normal with my gloves or shirt off.
I tried not to think about that however. This girl was being extremely kind and I was very thankful for her. "What sort of food do they have?"
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 26, 2010 15:02:15 GMT -5
"Oh you know, stews, breads, cheese, soup... meat, nothing of the expensive cuts, of course, but its good enough that it won't make you ill after, and enough to fill your belly. I know that they have a beef stew that is pretty good, maybe more potatoes than beef, but good enough. And their tankards are cheap," I said with a a wink. "They do not usually care about age, I have drank there before and I am certainly not of age," I laughed, "but its coin. If they had issues worrying about what the coin was going towards, they would not take it from me from how I look, knowing it had come from someone else's pocket anyways."
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 26, 2010 15:19:17 GMT -5
As she listed off food my mouth watered and I only then realized how hungry I really was. I wasn't so sure I wanted anything with alcohol, but I heard it made you forget, that might be nice. I nodded to her. "They probably would think the same of me," I told her as I removed my sign and hid it away behind a building.
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 26, 2010 15:47:23 GMT -5
I chuckled as he removed his sign and hid it away. "Oh I don't know. You at least look like you have cleaned in the past... oh I don't know, at least week," I snickered to myself. "I however," I said, glancing down at my sullied skirts, sniffing at myself. "No matter, we have coin, that will be enough. It's this way, I beleive," I said with a smile as I started to walk down the lane. I was never this nice. Not even ws it a rarity, it just never happened, but when I looked at Eric, down on his luck, trying hard to make an honest enough living, and cast out by those who believed him not good enough after it had been the only life he knew, I felt him to be a kindred spirit in a sense, both of us dealt hard hands that neither of us had a say in.
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 26, 2010 15:53:42 GMT -5
"Maybe for your birthday I could save up for you to have a nice bath or something." I shrugged and kept following her. "I usually just go down to the river at night with a rag. Too cold to actually go in of course."
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 30, 2010 11:02:34 GMT -5
I had to laugh at his joke, though I was not entirely sure it was said in jest.
"I usually spend my nights either picking posckets, or finding a place to spend the coin I had filched... food, or lodgings so I don't end up staying out in the bitter winter cold. SSome nights are just unbearable," I said, shaking my head. "It is not that I could not afford to go to a bath house should I need it, it is just that I prefer being... like this, as odd as it may seem," I explained, a little quietly as we walked on. "Quite frankly, no one wants to approach or touch you if you are filthy, or at least I have banked on that thus far."
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 30, 2010 11:41:08 GMT -5
I nodded, listening to her with a slight frown. "Hmm, I'd give just about anything for a friendly human touch I believe."
Suddenly, as I listened, an idea struck me. "Essie, I certainly don't condone of stealing and don't get the impression that I do...but perhaps, perhaps we could work together, pile our earnings and divide them equally. Besides I hear that there is safety in numbers." I blushed a little at making so bold an offer not to mention the amount of trust it took.
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 30, 2010 11:46:43 GMT -5
His offer hung in the air between us as I thought silently to myself, looking at his face with a shrewd eye. This was a business venture, afterall. He did need help, but I feared he would really not be able to bring in his share, and that would be rather detrimental to my own affairs, dire as they were.
"Perhaps... I could have time to think about it?" I asked him, feeling a little bad that it seemed I did not trust him. "I am sorry. Teh streets have made me hardened and shrewd, too shrewd for my 17 years," I explained with a side smile. "But utnil then, promise that if you need help, or anything at all, that you will seek me out?" I asked him. "And I will try to keep an eye on you that nothing should happen to you." I hoped that my idea would be welcome for now, utnil I could figure out really what kind of person he was. I rarely trsuted anyone, so that I even made this offer was a miracle in and of itself.
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 30, 2010 15:11:12 GMT -5
I could tell right off the bat by the way she looked at me that she would say no. Not that I was surprised. As she would go on to say, the streets had made her hard and untrusting.
When she asked to think about it I nodded, turning deep red. "I will." As we kept walking I couldn't help but glance at her every now and again. I decided that I looked up to her. "That you," I said quietly and softly.
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 30, 2010 15:24:16 GMT -5
I caught him looking at me, out the corner of my eye, and had to wonder at it. Twas not a look of leacherous desires, but something else, even as his cheeks burned a rbight red, certainly not just from the chill of teh winter air. When he thanked me, I barely heard it, so soft was his voice, and I smiled softly.
"You are welcome," I said, turning to him. I patted him on the shoulder, feeling almost like an older sibling, even though we were not far off in age at all. I could sense the kindnesss in him, the awe, the confusion and the fear, and his trying his earnest best to make a living honestly, not the way I had elarned to survive. I would not wish it upon anyone, really I would not, but those who fell to this sort of life... the nice ones.. they either learned to behard, or perished in trying to keep their meekness and quietude about them. I would not tell him that... I did not wish to dash his hopes of survival, and sewing the seed of doubt would not be upon my head, at least not this time and for this boy. "We're almost there," I said as I looked around us and noticed the grade fo the buildings getting less and less impressive, the streets less polished, the people more and more like ourselves.
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 30, 2010 16:02:14 GMT -5
I glanced at her again and could tell she was thinking. I wasn't going to pry though. I wasn't sure what she was to me, a stranger obviously, but did I see her as an older sister. I mean I still thought she was pretty. Eh, it didn't matter.
The streets grew full of holes as did the clothing of the people who walked on them. Is this what I was destined for?
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Aug 30, 2010 16:08:35 GMT -5
I could tell from teh look in his eye that what he saw unnerved him. it is one thing to pass through these streets as someone with a secured future, but another thing entirely when you were among them, when there were similarities and a kinship of sorts taht could be claimed with the downtrodden and unfortunate.
I sighed softly, stepping closer to him. "It is sad, I know," I whispered softly as we walked amongst others not too different from ourselves. "Sad, and certainly a little depressing, but like I said Eric," I smiled weakly, "I will try to help you in any way that I can. And today, you are not to worry about the future, or where you shall sleep tonight, or how much coin you shall make, for it is your birthday. If you are happy and I can get you to laugh at least once, it will be a success."
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Post by Eric Lamont on Aug 30, 2010 20:55:06 GMT -5
I smiled for a moment but a thought took me and vanquished my upturned face. "You really don't have to go through so much trouble. You need to survive out here as much as I do."
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Sept 7, 2010 11:33:52 GMT -5
I waived away his concern. "Really, Eric. I have been surviving out here for years. I can take care of myself and have enough time to keep a bit of an eye on you. Believe me, you'll thank me for it later," I said with a grin.
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Post by Eric Lamont on Sept 20, 2010 14:45:31 GMT -5
I nodded, pulling my head down, a little ashamed it seemed for trying to correct her. Her grin lifted my countenance however. "You're very kind...perhaps one day I can repay you." I knew that day would be long and coming and, sad but true, she might be out of my life before it comes. I knew well that people do leave, always.
"So how much farther till we eat?" I asked simply to break the silence.
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Post by Estella de Cartier on Sept 20, 2010 15:48:04 GMT -5
Yes yes, kind, but don't let everyone else hear of it, hmm?" I chuckled. Looking before me, I saw that we were close, and as he asked, I chuckled.
"We are almost upon it. See? It is right there," I said pointing at the weathered sign.
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Post by Eric Lamont on Sept 22, 2010 8:15:33 GMT -5
I glanced in the direction she pointed and saw the place. It matched my expectations for it and while it wasn't much I was really and truly grateful for anything, be it a feast or a slice of bread. I nodded to Essie and cracked a smile. The scent of food coming from it wetted my appetite even more. "I certainly am hungry!" I blushed a little, head down, looking up to her face with grateful but timid eyes.
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