32nd of Fall, 513AV
Savio took a deep breath of the chilled Fall air. It was damp and heavy, but not yet cold enough to make his lungs sting. It still surprised him on how the weather had gotten so cold so quickly, back home in Syliras he had expected such temperatures later in the season but he supposed that since he was further north that things were a little different. No matter, he still had to go to work.
The young man rolled his shoulders, shifting the almost empty messenger bag on his shoulders before he took off in a soft jog. He passed the front gates of the school and headed the long path that lead into the Northern Quarter of Nyka. Like most mornings, all of quiet. The creatures of the Aperture had returned to their deep and dark home after roaming the narrow streets all through the night and most of the city had yet to fully awaken to embrace the day.
Well, it wasn’t quiet daylight yet. The sky was still quite dark since the sun hadn’t begin her normal trip across the sky, bringing light and warmth in her wake. That was fine for Savio; it gave him some time to get to the Bureau so that he could help Anđelko with the morning chores. The mail needed to be sorted and Infik needed to be tended to, and things like that. Poor Anđelko was getting up there in years and couldn’t do that much anymore, more so since the chill was affecting his leg. But to be fully honest, Savio would never be daring enough to tell the old man that. That cane he uses is viscous when he uses it as a weapon.
After a bell, Savio finally made it to the building he had come to know so well. He even though the other building stood quietly in the early dawn, Savio could hear his boss rummage with those stone walls and he could see the flicker of candlelight through the window. It was no surprise, since Anđelko always woke up very early despite going to bed late every night. Other than Ximal, the ex-monk was one of the hardest workers Savio knew.
The acrobat knocked twice on the wooden door before stepping inside, no longer needed to wait for the other’s permission to enter. Once inside, Savio was instantly wrapped in warmth and the comforting scent of parchment and ink.
“Good Morning, Anđelko.” Savio said as he sat his messenger bag on one of the tables not completely full of packages and letters to be delivered and removed his coat and laid it carelessly over the back of a chair.
The older man looked up from his desk and gave Savio a nod in greeting before delving back into his paperwork. “Once you get your bag packed, the Infik need to be tended to. Do that for me.” It wasn’t a question or a request, it was a command but one that Savio didn’t mind. He had a little friend out there that always demanded his attention in the morning since he first met her earlier this season. If he did not see her, she would make such a fuss until he did. She even once got out of the pin and searched for him on one of his days off. Grozdana was a very demanding little Infik.
Once he stuffed his bag full of packages and signed off on them, he picked up his simple coat once more and shrugged it on before stepping out the back door to the small pin the housed the little critters. Many of them were already awake and trotting about or calling out to each other softly in the early morning light. Grozdana on the other hand instantly rushed up to him, bleating out loudly and happily. The young man smiled fondly at the adorable behavior before kneeling down and petting the downy like hair the covered the small animal. The little female continued to make happy noises as she pressed her body against his lap and rubbed her hornless hair against his upper torso.
Savio chuckled as he continued to pet his little friend. “Good Morning to you, little one. Staying out of trouble?” She only looked up at him with her big dark eyes in reply but that was answer enough for him. With a final smile, he stood up and walked over to the small shed where Anđelko kept the food, while being mindful of the little Infik weaving in and out from between his legs. Once there, he carefully unlocked the door and grabbed the bag of feed and carried it over to the troth; the action immediately calling the attention of all the other little Infik until they surrounded the wooding bench to eat.
While the little animals were distracted, Savio placed the back bag so that he could clean out their troth of water and fetch fresh for them. When his chores were completed, he stood back and smiled at them. They, of course being distracted by breakfast, paid him no mind. Even his little Grozdana was happily eating what Savio provided. He always had a soft spot for small critters, even as a child he was forever bring home little animals but his father always made him let them go after seeing to it that they ate.
