[The Tisuma Baths] Nice to Meet You. Again. [Miana]

[Neis]

25th Winter 511 AV Noon Neis hated working the scrubbing boards. Any other job in the baths she was fine with; be it ordering the clothes, removing them from the steaming water, or collecting them from the piles from under laundry chutes. But the scrubbing boards were the worst. The harsh cleaning salts they used dried out the hands into the likeness of a Wind Eagle's talons, very scaly and painful. It wasn't helped by the dry winter air, either, so even the slightest movement could cause cuts and bleeding. The salts stung horribly on those, too. But the job had to be done, or no one would have clean clothing. And what would the outsiders think of Inarta then? Disgusting bird people. Which is basically what they were, except more like 'Clean bird people'. She was on the last few articles of clothing when a long cut opened on her hand, stinging terribly with the salts. Neis resisted sticking her finger in her mouth the stop the blood flow or even help the pain, because the cleaning salts could not be good for you. She couldn't wait until she got out of the inner chambers, maybe to somewhere she could buy a small vial of oil or lotion to cure the dry hands with her few spare pinions. Neis had ran out a while before, and had somehow managed to not have to be assigned the scrubbing boards. She especially liked the lotion that smelled like roses, but it was too expensive and she had nothing of worth that she could barter for, except maybe Oshkin. Oshkin was probably out somewhere, being free, and eating rats and animal carcasses like Ravens liked to do. Neis was almost finished at the scrubbing boards when she felt a prodding on her back. Attempting to ignore it for a few chimes did nothing, because she still felt it. Annoyed at whomever was disturbing her work, she spun around to see what this person wanted. Seeing the girl, her expression softened. This girl was another Dek, a mute, who had once been so kind to share a crust of bread that she had gotten somehow with Neis when she had missed a meal. Neis had never gotten her name, but there was a reason that this girl was poking her. "What do you need?" she asked.

[Miana]

Warm steam rushed at Miana as she entered the Tisuma baths along with the strong scent of sulfur that mingled with the air. As expected, the baths was much much warmer than where she had worked just a bell or two ago- she had been cleaning the floors of the Courtyard of the Sky, briefly replacing a regular on the cleaning team who had been injured, who, she reflected rather irritably, had been reluctant to give it up. It was only expected though, a job in the Courtyard was considered the lightest work a Dek could do; some Dek's even fought over a position. However, the allure of the light work that the Courtyard promised was considerably dampened and dulled by winter's chilled air. Wearing only light and cheap lontev's, the cold air had no trouble setting the poorly clad Dek's teeth, or what's left of it, chattering like noisy little birds. Although the baths warmth was an incredible improvement over the icy conditions from up above, Miana was quick to realise the warmth of the bath came with a hefty price; the excessive water vapour that was trapped by the stony mountain made the whole area humid, allowing a mist to cloud over the baths. She didn't know whether to thank the gods or curse them for being assigned to work in the laundry chamber. She sighed in resignation, quickly rolling up the long sleeves of her lontev and pulling her hair back into a ponytail with a cord she had made from dry grass last fall, Miana once again tried to adapt to the extreme conditions and the herculean task of that was the laundry washboards.

Weaving her way towards the back of the baths where the laundry chambers were obscurely hidden from view, she had passed the steady throng of people, naked as they day that they had been born, roaming around the baths either to enter or leave. She had almost reached her destination- only to be blocked by a flock of fledgling Yasi boys at the seventh bath who stared at her with such unfathomable expressions. They looked at her with a mixture of revulsion and morbid curiosity, like children inspecting roadkill. Slowly, she turned around to survey her immediate area and realised that nearly everyone in the baths was looking at her with the same expression and chatted to each other in viciously low voices. For a moment, she was back in the nurseries and eight years old, a fresh target for all the inevitable teasing and bullying…

It was one of the near Yasi boys that broke her vivid memory, "Oh, gods, I can't believe I checked her out. That ear is just horrible. Why the hell is she just standing there? Creep."

His friends laughed harshly, looking directly at her as if she was nothing but furniture. "I can't believe you were checking out a drudge. A drudge! C'mon man, have some class."

"Hey!" The boy mock-snapped, "you're the one who went all the way-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence; Miana once again made a start to the laundry, threading through the Yasi boys without touching any of them. For what seemed likea friction of a second, Miana paused ever so briefly in front of the first Yasi boy, quickly sweeping her eyes down to his lower body and his... endowments and tilted her head in an angle, revealing her smirk to both him and his friends. A smirk that clearly read, "Don't worry- you're still young after all." If she turned around then, she would've been awarded with the image of the boy's blushing embarrassment and his ridiculous attempt at covering himself with his hands, awkwardly trying to form a thread that didn't sound so absurd on his lips. He failed, and also failed in keeping his pride, for his friends caught on to the exchange and were laughing with delicious raucousness.

Before she had pushed the door that separated the small hallway and the laundry, she first heard the ungodly loud noise that seeped through the cracks of the door, and the clatter of the pots being filled with gushing water. Miana grinned, besides the market place at summer and the laundry chamber, sounds of constant chatter and laughter from the common and the lowly was barely heard all throughout Wind Reach. With a feather light touch on the door handle and a hand on the wood of the door, she gave it a push and instantly recoiled at the concentrated smell of salt that assaulted her senses, sending a wave of a shudder through her body, the little hairs on her body standing on their ends. And, she reminded herself as she gingerly stepped into the room while scrunching up her nose, nowhere else in Wind Reach is there a stronger smell of salt than in the lowest level of the baths. Instantly, she turned to the location of the majority of the Dek's who worked at the washboards, not bothering to ask the Chiets. Although the laundry room allowed the castes to mingle, the lines were drawn too clearly to be ignored. And thus, she sat herself between the two Dek's and found herself a metal scrub board and set herself to work, wincing as the harsh salted water contacted her skin.

And so, the work continued in the laundry- full of chatter and laughter for the more merry Chiets and Deks, while she and the skinny girl who sat next to her was silent and grave, absorbed by their tasks. Or not. As she dragged the rough thin fabric of a Lontev dress over the metal panes of the washboard, her mind wandered on and off, sometimes listening to the bustle around her, sometimes waking past memories best be left alone. She blew a small sigh.That's right , she told herself crossly, there's no point in it at all . At that thought, she worked a little bit harder than she originally did, making her way through half of the pile that she took from the Chiets and ignored the blistering scorn of the salts that played upon her hand. Nearly finishing a fancy shirt, surely belonging to an Endal, she heard a pained hiss beside her and immediately, Miana turned to the source of the sound. The skinny girl who sat next to her help up a bloodied hand, studying it with startling intensity as her brow furrowed, the arcs of her eyebrow meeting the tips of her long russet colored hair. Then, almost immediately, the girl dived her bleeding hand back into the tub with the salts and the washboard, continuing the gruelling task given to her again. Stupid girl , Miana thought as she watched the girl's face twist into a pained grimace and the water on her tub grow darker.

She's spending all that energy for nothing, Miana thought grimly, her eyes sliding over to one of the Chiets that had his arms crossed across his chest, unpleasantly observing the Dek's like a predator. Miana could instantly tell that he was waiting for someone to slip- he wanted to relieve himself. And this girl, she frowned as she turned her eyes back to the girl, is a prime target.

So she prodded her back, hoping to give her a small warning. But the girl ignored it and, although Miana was starting to lose interest in alerting her, she continued her prodding until the girl spun around and was about to give her a snarky comment or two, but almost immediately, the girl caught herself and looked at her piteously. For whatever reason it was, Miana didn't care. Right then, all of her attention was utterly absorbed by the bleeding hand that was still dipped into the stinging water. The girl hadn't even finished her sentence before Miana fished the injured hand by her wrist. Ignoring her surprised gasp, she looked at the water, now utterly red, and the nodded towards the unpleasant Chiet meaningfully and finally, she settled her gaze back into the young woman's. Unfortunately, her way of communication seemed to fail, as the girl looked even more confused and rather startled by her actions. She probably looked like a crazy mute Dek who just happened to malfunction and grabbed the nearest person she could grab. Miana let out a frustrated grunt and shot up to her feet, instantly pulling the girl with her. She was making her way towards the back of the room, but, for the second time of the day, her path was once again blocked by the same Chiet she was pointing at.

"What the peching hell are you doing?" He growled, looming over her her thin frame. "Are you trying to skip your duties, Dek?" He was, just like Miana expected, thoroughly in a bad mood and incredibly unpleasant. She mentally kicked herself for being involved; she should've left the girl alone, to learn from her mistakes just as she had done. Instead of watching this exchange play out in a safe distance, she was part of it. Great. The girl behind her whimpered and cowered a little behind Miana's back, further encouraging the man's testosterone fuelled pride to take another step forwards. Miana hadn't notice that the laundry became devoid of the laughter and chatter that had once occupied the place, instead, a stony and expectant silence grew thicker as they watched a scene they were so accustomed to play out once again. It was only when one of the male Chiets, maybe the brute's friend, stepped up and tried to calm him, only to be barked at by the brute. "I am fucking calm! I am trying to ask these two why they're not working." He turned his eyes, wild with unfocused rage, down to meet her own grey eyes and growled, "Do you know who the hell works to keep you all alive? Do you realise that your 'work' is the only thing that's keeping you alive? Well? Speak! Speak you unbred mongrel, or else I'll give a real reason not to talk!" He didn't bother waiting for her response at all- instead, he had his big and burly hand up in the air, making a move to slap her across the face. In anticipation for the slap, she closed her eyes as tight as she could and waited. But no slap came. Slowly, she peeled her eyes open and scrunched her face in confusion.

The man who had tried to calm his friend, the brute, had his hand on the mid air arm that hovered above her head, tightly holding on to it with a fierce expression on his face. "That is enough, Kreihov. You've made your point, now stop your ridiculous antics before I beat some sense into you." Quickly scanning her saviour, she took note that he was incredibly muscled and ripped.

She wasn't surprised that even Kreihov faltered and snapped, "Fuck you, Greiw. I want to hear the damn bitches explanation, so stop grabbing me." Violently, he yanked his arm away from his friend's deathly grip and once again, casted his grim eyes at her and demanded for her to explain.

This time, Greiw, the man that saved her from a slap, looked down at her expectantly. "Come, Dek. You're ordered by a higher caste to speak. Speak or else you'd be punished for violating the laws of Inarta."

Fear clouded her vision for a second. What would the punishment be? A thrashing? Miana looked at her almost assailant and his friend and gulped. She had no problem believing that they could break her spine. But then again… there were worst things that a man could do to a Dek woman. Far worse things. A memory floated into her mind and instantly, she fought to surpress it. A lump grew in her throat and her stomach swirled, Miana closed her eyes, trying to keep everything in her body to still. Distantly, she heard shouts but she really couldn't be sure. Everything was just… swirling. She staggered at her feet and gripped the girl's wrist tighter. She wanted to puke. She wanted to cry. Oh gods, she wanted to break down on floor already, scream and abandon all accumulated self-respect that had bound her feet to the ground after all these years. Oh, how tempting it was to just surrender. But, it wouldn't solve anything , she reminded herself once again, like a mantra in her mind. It wouldn't solve anything at all. The girl's hand would still be bleeding. That brute of a man would still be wanting to shed a bit of blood, his friend would still expect a reason. People will still stare at her. There would be no point in breaking down at all. So, for the first time in ages, she spoke her first sentence as awkwardly as a toddler.

"Her hand," Miana murmured haltingly, her words full of croaks and gasps, "is injured. I grabbed her hand so I could fix it." For a moment, nothing really happened, they still argued but in less than a chime, their argument begun to die and confusion grew as they exchanged unsure glances with one another. A chorus of murmured "What?" and "Did that girl say something?" rang into her ears, forcing her to once again repeat herself, this time, with more volume. "I said, this girl hurt her hand so I grabbed her," her words scorched her throat; it didn't want to let go of their safety. Didn't want to be exposed in the world. "She was getting the clothes dirty by her blood mixing into the water. I want to fix her hand, so I pulled her along with me." It was painful to hear Miana, each syllable was stretched and uncomfortable, scratchy and raw. The edges of her mouth was also red, unaccustomed to the stretches. It was as if her words were metal that she spat out, making her mouth bleed from the force of the action. For a moment, Miana almost feared that she wouldn't be able to finish her sentence; she had kept her head low, for her eyes were darting all over the place, searching and searching for a comfort that will never be with her. But she stuck through it, no matter how forced and awkward. She made it through and almost cried for it. And now, all she needed to do is to wait for a reply. How strange.

[Neis]

Neis looked around at everyone staring. She didn't like attention drawn to herself, and this was definitely attention. Especially considering that this girl hadn't talked in years, as far as she could remember. Apparently she could, though, because she just did. And everyone was staring, wide-eyed, and this girl was fumbling around and glancing back and forth nervously. "Really, it's all right...it's already starting to scab, see?" Neis said quietly, looking down. That was a complete lie, considering only the smallest part was scabbed, and just barely. The rest was bleeding, and even more every time she moved her hand. Neis wanted to just tiptoe back to her seat and continue, but this girl had already spoken for her. The main part of the cut was beginning to scab as well, but it hurt terribly. A combination of the salts and the sweat from the humidity was mixing with the blood under the cut, stinging badly. It was growing red, but Neis just tried to stick through it. She especially didn't want to get the girl in trouble, but she didn't mind getting herself in trouble. As long as the girl didn't get into too much trouble, Neis was fine. She stared at the ground, as if it were extremely interesting. Feeling extremely guilty, as if it were her fault that her hand decided to split open randomly, thoughts were soaring through her head about how she could be punished. She didn't do anything bad, but there were no rules. This man looked like anything would be a good reason to punish a Dek or two, and this made Neis cringe. She had been beaten before, even though she's never broken any rules or done anything wrong intentionally, but just being too slow was often cause for punishment.

[Miana]

The tension in the laundry room was thick, everyone was listening carefully now, not bothering to continue their charade of working. In an effort to break the strained tension, the girl that Miana had clung to tried to give an excuse.

"Really,""Really," she squeaked, her voice no bigger than a murmur, "it's alright.. it's already starting to scab, see?" No one bothered to check if it was true or not, too rapt by the strangeness of squabble. Even Miana didn't turn around; she already knew what it looked like from experience and grimly reminded herself that she should hurry up and escape.

But the beast of a man and his friend only gaped at her, their expressions shifting constantly. Miana fought the desire to bow her head, not wanting to give in. Jutting her chin out, she decided to run a risk. "Please, sir. She's bleeding badly. I just want to-"

Her were words were sliced in half by the cracking contact of his heavy hand to her face, her head thrown back on the intense impact. Eyes wide in shock, took her time in recovering. It felt as if she was hit by the Katashika falls instead. Momentarily dazed and deafened, Miana didn't realise that Greiw, the man that saved her from the first slap, had landed a heavy punch on the violent Chiet and was ushering them to the storeroom that no one really went into anymore.

Face stinging, she became vaguely aware of the dried salts that surrounded her and the faint string of apologies that the girl that stood beside her gurgled out. Still slightly dazed, Miana shook her head in an effort to regain some clarity. Taking deep, smooth breaths, she pulled the Dek hard and forced her to sit on the floor. "Wait here," she ordered the girl, grey eyes sharp against the girl's skittish eyes. Quickly scanning the storeroom, she hunted for the spare towels, grabbed two and then left the storeroom. She would need to clean out her wound first before she could do anything.

Once again, a relative amount of chatter and laughter had reigned the laundry room, gossip buzzing on their lips. But once Miana was in plain view, it slowly died out. In any other time, she would've been disturbed by the obvious silence- irritated, even. But it would have to wait, she thought as she ushered herself near one of the Chiet's steaming large pots. Ignoring their torrent of questions, and their general presence, she soaked a towel in the clear, hot water, wincing at it's heat. Instead of twisting it dry, she let it hang on the side of the bucket and hauled it by it's handle. With the dry towel thrown back at her shoulder, a swollen cheek and a bucket in her hands, she headed to the storeroom, fully ignoring the fact that she looked more than a little strange.

"Hold out your hand," Miana ordered the younger Dek hoarsely, still unused to her newly rediscovered voice. After a beat of inactivity, not enough to warrant her impatience, Miana inspected the girl coldly, not bothering to hide her growing agitation.
OOC NOTEAre you up for a fight, Neis?

[Neis]

OOCAlways. And my posts are so short compared to yours! I'm jelly! Neis flinched at the hard slap to the girl's face. She flinched at most physical contact, even playful punches that she sees between two friends. It reminds her too much of being beaten just for fun, like Neis had seen before. This made her grimace. Then she was quickly pulled into a storage room. All she did was stand there and whimper. Nothing like this happened every day, and it was scary. She was confused that someone actually cared whether she was hurt or not, and that someone actually took pain so they could help her. The girl told her to wait, and that is what Neis did. She stood there and whimpered, staring at the cut and her surroundings. Compassion was never used on her, and it was definitely strange, but nice. It was nice that someone cared. She tried to smile, but it ended up more like a grimace. It didn't matter, the girl wasn't back yet. It was a few chimes before the girl re-entered the room, carrying a bucket of steaming water and a towel. She was ordered to hold out her hand, but she didn't want to. She didn't want someone to take care of her, it was too alien an experience. But she also did want to be cared for, something she had missed in her childhood. Her mind was arguing with itself, being confused and angry and happy and sad at the same time. She must have taken too long to lift up her hand, because the girl looked up and made a noise, cause by her sudden intake of breath. Neis looked up too, although she wasn't sure why the girl was so surprised.

[Miana]

Impatience and irritation begun to grow in Miana as she continued staring into the girl's eyes. Peering into them, she had noticed the conflict that the girl had felt. To some degree, she understood her confusion. But, Miana thought, lips set into a tight line, I didn't get slapped just to get dismissed.

"What are you hesitating for?" She snapped, unable to help herself. Frankly, the girl's whimpering had worsened her irritation. "Put out your hand so I can stop it from infecting."

But the girl stubbornly held her ground, making Miana even more frustrated than she was. "Look here, it doesn't have to be this difficult. Hold out your hand so I can go back to work." Her eyes sharpened, grey eyes turning steely and cold, letting none of a contradiction to her earlier actions."What? Are you still surprised that a mute like me could speak? Don't worry- after this I'll go straight back to not talking. I hadn't planned in it on the first place, anyway. Don't mistake this as an act of kindness, by the way. I just didn't want to have to see another Dek getting beaten up by something as trivial as mixing blood in the laundry water."
"

As she words tumbled out of her mouth, Miana became increasingly bewildered. Her first coherent sentences in years were harsh and brittle, and she had hurled it to an unsuspecting girl that was hurt. It wasn't supposed supposed be like that. Miana avoided her eyes, ashamed. She had let out her anger to someone innocent... I am no better than that brute, she thought to herself angrily.

Miana turned to the girl, looking guilty. "No...that's not what I wanted to say..." she started, finding her throat once again drying up from her speech just before, "I didn't want to snap at you, honest. I really want to help you so please, let me."
OOC NOTEHaha, this is probably my first short post in Mizahar.

[Neis]

The harsh words were worse than the cut, or any pain she could remember experiencing. It felt as if...as if the girl had been waiting for this specific moment just to yell at her. Neis didn't understand what she did wrong to deserve this from a fellow Dek, one who had seemed nice and caring just moments before. She wanted to cry. Tentatively holding out her hand to the girl, Neis felt tears welling up in her eyes, threatening to spill. It was odd that this was effecting her so much, considering how much verbal and physical abuse a Dek had to go through in their day-to-day lives. But the tears were there, appearing with more power than she had wanted. They started spilling down her cheek, salty tears mixing with salty beads of sweat on her face. Sweat from the humidity, tears from the hurt. What a terrible combination. Every tear reminded her of the stupid birthmark under her eye, taunting every time she cried. Neis was a very fragile person, unable to hold herself together. Regular taunting and hurt from other Inarta was tolerated well -- it happened all the time. But someone who's first direct words to her was a continuous sentence full of bitterness and spite was too much. Too much. The apology helped, maybe even slightly. The tears stopped falling so rapidly, and the clean water rinsing the cut made the pain lessen. She felt, maybe even some, compassion emanating from the girl and just that was enough to make her feel better. "I'm sorry..." She apologized, in the same whispery almost-tone she had used before. She didn't know why she apologized. She just did.

[Miana]

Her tears were fragile and pure, descending down dry beaten cheeks, ruddy from heated emotion and mugginess. Miana forced herself to look away, for she knew full well that those tears were caused by her. It was simply too much- it made Miana's stomach twist painfully, like a swivelled malicious dagger plunging in.

Miana's face was a picture of impassiveness- total vague blankness. While her face betrayed nothing from her, her mind was a different matter altogether. A one sided war was afoot, and she was losing badly. The girl's apology made it even worse. Gingerly taking her hand, a hint of hesitance in Miana showed. She barely kept her pathetic excuses locked from her mouth when she carefully pressed the dry towel to her wounded hands, applying a gentle pressure that slowly drew blood out from the wounds.

She was familiar with this- treating cuts and little bruises. Most drudges were. Patching and mending their bodies was necessary- for a damaged thing was of no use in Wind Reach at all. "You should be more careful, girl." Miana found herself saying, still focused on her wounds, "you know how well they treat us when we've become damaged goods." Her sarcasm was apparent, and in an effort in humour, she gave the girl a small smile. "If we are the definition of 'goods' though, it's better to cast it away."

Noticing the flow of the blood slowing down, she glanced at the girl briefly, "Clutch the towel gently on your hand, don't put to much pressure on it." After making sure her instructions was met, she turned to the bucket beside her and took the steaming towel, twisting out the excessive water. Prying the younger girl's fingers loose, she stared at her eyes. "This is going to sting a bit." 'not as much as the salt though,' Miana added in her mind.

With practised speed, she skimmed the towel over her wounded hand, cleaning it in a way that didn't make her broken skin stick to the fabric.

Suddenly, Miana stopped all her movements and peered at the girl almost bashfully, "I, uh, don't have a bandage to wrap this in... do you have any?"

[Neis]

She blinked the drooping remnants of tears out of her eyes, and sniffled. She looked at the girl. "No...I don't have and bandages and...what's your name?" The lack of bandages could pose a problem, but since the cut was scabbing, it would buy them time to find one. Everything that had happened so far seemed completely normal in the life of a Dek, except someone caring. The last person that had cared for her was her twin brother, until he went off and became an Endal...apparently he was too good to associate with his measly Dek sister. That sent a small fit of anger to go coursing through her person, but it ended quickly. "And...will you be my friend?" She asked the question as if she feared to be decline, which in fact, she did. All of this made Neis feel younger than she really was, so vulnerable and childish. "Oh, and my name's Neis." Added as an afterthought, but not purposely. Sometimes one can forget their own name when the only thing they're being called is 'it' or 'stupid dek'. OOCSorry for the short post...but I felt like I got everything I needed to in it. Quality > quantity anyways, right?

[Miana]

For a moment, Miana thought she might've forgotten to think properly. Her mind had froze over, as frosted as the winter air outside as she fought to remain her inner calm.

The girl's, Neis, question started off normally enough. A name. She had almost started the name exchange herself. It was trivial. But her next words were nothing of the sort. "Ah," was all that she could utter, frowning as she focused all her attention at the scabbing wounds, "ah."

She sounded like an idiot, a face full of conflicting emotions. In her awkwardness, her stare almost set Neis' hands burning yet again. Miana coughed delicately, trying to figure out how to sidestep the question."Your hand looks a lot better, now that it's cleaned up. But the bandages are still..."

Her voice trailed off, her eyes roving around the younger Dek's face. The faux teardrop stared boldly back, and she forced her insincere words back into her throat. Friendship. She searched her mind for a definition.

"Neis," she begun, trying to tie her thoughts into one sentence, "do you really know what your asking for?"

Cautiously, she wove her explanation almost soothingly, "We are the drudges of Wind Reach. Destined to clean the shit of society. People like us... we're better off alone. Bonds between Dek's are so fragile. One moment, we could be buddies, the next I could be ignoring you to save myself. We never know how long we'll last, or how long we'll have our limbs."

Miana spoke haltingly, her eyes trained on Neis' ruddy golden eyes, a stark silver contrast. "Friendship... it's a hard thing. Trusting another being is hard. I envy you for freely giving it out. I don't think I can do that... but I think I'll come to like you. Not yet at least. But eventually."

She looked away, a faint tint of red at her cheeks, "You... you don't mind this, don't you?"

OOC NOTESorry about the late post, I've been really caught up with RL, hope you don't mind the short post!