PM to join [blossoming blooms] A Child of Flowers

[Shayna]

Time Stamp: 25th Winter 513

It was a miserable day in the swamp, at least for those who weren't fish or enjoyed the rain. The clouds opened up over the city and it seemed that the rain just was not going to let up, unfortunately for the slaves of the city this often meant that they were going to get wet..and since it was winter, cold. The downpour was not completely unexpected for the low hanging clouds had foretold of a rainy day, but one slave had hoped that it would wait until later in the day.

Shayna, dressed in her newish dark blue breeches that hugged her short legs and her unbleached tunic that now hugged her body thanks to the downpour, scurried into the nearest shop that did not bar the entrance of slaves. Her midnight hair plastered to her scalp and her hands raised to push it off her neck, away from her still healing brand on her neck. It was still an ugly red but at least it wasn't throbbing or messy any more, it was a blank circle marking her owned by a freeborn and not a Dynasty.

Once inside, she stayed near the door so that she didn't drip in the owners floor, and tried to remember all the questions she was suppose to be asking..without looking as if she was asking. She wasn't sure which slaves worked in the shop, or if it was manned by slaves though she couldn't think of a single establishment that didn't have slaves. She was suppose to just bring any news back of the Rujaro to her Master, it seemed both an easy job and a difficult task. It was physically easy, walking and talking, but it was mentally taxing in trying to get slaves to open up to her when normally her relationship with other slaves were ..strained at best.

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[Lilou]

Lilou balanced on the balls of her feet, tiny clippers in hand. Elanai had explained that morning how to cut roses, and set her off gathering up some of the rest. She'd been slowly learning over the four days how to cut and gather different flowers for bouquets. At the moment, her Mistress and Siv were arranging a really big wreath of roses for a buyer... something that was going to take them all day. And they needed a lot of roses, of all colors.

"You want to cut them at an angle" the woman had explained, though the slave wasn't too sure what an angle was. Still, she remembered how the clippers had looked when Elanai had done it, so just copied that. "So it grows new roses soon, you want to cut above the second bunch of leaves... ok?" That had all made sense. She'd also been told which ones to cut... apparently those just coming out of bloom, so, when the buyer got them... they would be in full bloom. She then was supposed to put the roses in a bucket of warm water beside her... warm! Someone had apparently heated it that morning... though why did roses get warm water? She hadn't asked that though... but asking questions was getting better. Elanai didn't mind her asking plant questions, but she hadn't tried other questions.

Reaching forward with the clippers, she grabbed part of a rose's stem, just to mark out it's location. The flower itself looked good. She found the first set of leaves... the second... right above those. She tilted the clippers and cut, grabbing the rose with her free hand where there were no thorns. She had a few cuts and holes from when she wasn't careful. That rose went straight into the bucket, and she moved onto the next one... good flower, above the second set of leaves. She managed to collect about five more flowers after her pause when there was an interruption.

The door opened, hidden by a large quantity of bushes and other flowers. Lilou froze, trying to remember where everyone else was. The man-whose-name-she-couldn't-remember was out, and Elanai and Siv were inside the main house working on a big wooden table. Which left... her. She had to talk to this person... the little girl shuddered, before peeking through a gap between leaves. The person looked wet and dripping... it was raining outside. It had been raining a lot that day. She didn't look mean, and she was dressed in plain clothes... so probably not a Dynasty. That was a relief.

"Hello?" she called from behind her flowers, peeking her head out a little. "Uh... uh..." What did Elanai say? "How can I help you?" Her expression was slightly nervous and worried, and the slave simply wanted to go back to the flowers... the pretty flowers. At least she wasn't getting wet today. The wetness outside meant no need to water too... but she'd been asked to water the roses that morning anyways. Funny.

[Shayna]

Shayna did her best to not wring out her clothing onto the floor, as she scanned the room. She smiled at the flowers, not too wistfully but she remembered a time when she too worked with gardening and soil. She enjoyed the work, but she did not enjoy the status of being a field or garden slave. She had a new owner now, and one that was beginning to show much more promise then she had originally thought when he had first bought her. However it seemed his own ambitions, though still secretive to her, might match hers. If she could help him catch a rujaro, or better yet the leader then his power and influence would rise, and as his personal slave so would hers.

When the voice spoke, Shayna was a little surprised at the size of the speaker. The child was handling the shears well enough to show that she was taught how to. Shayna herself was born on a breeding farm, and had not been put into the market until recently after having been taught skills and lessons to raise her value. She did, however, remember working in the fields at this child's age to help callous her palms.

"Good morning." Shayna said, rather stiffly, not sure at all how to address a child slave. If she had been adult then she would have been cool and aloof, sizing up the other as if there was a competition to win. But she found that she didn't have that instinct to rise above this one. Perhaps it was the openness of face, or perhaps because children rarely put off a sense of threat. "Are you the only one working in here?" It was unlikely that the child would know anything of interest on the Rujaro, but she couldn't let the opportunity to see if there were other older slaves about.

"I just ducked in to get out of the rain, I hope it moves soon because I can't dawdle too long." She put on a friendly face, trying to seem as if she had no other motive for ducking into the flower shop.

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[Lilou]

Lilou wasn't entirely sure if she was happy or sad that the woman was just here because of the rain. It meant she didn't have to talk... but it meant she didn't have to talk. It didn't make much sense, but it worked. She wanted to go back to her gardening... but talking to people wasn't so bad. They could be interesting, and teach her things! Normally no one taught her, but she'd learnt a lot since she'd come to the flower shop. So much about flowers! Maybe this woman would teach her more. Maybe. Possibly.

"Errr.... there are people here? Not in here" she answered in reply to the question, remembering it after several moments of silence. She didn't think it was that important, really... unless the person wanted to buy something. But they didn't right? She was just here to be out of the rain. Lilou glanced back at the rose bush, wondering if she should return to work... or talk a little. Could she do both? Maybe. Possibly. Another longing glance at the roses. They were so pretty, like everything else there. And there was this perfect white one...

Giving up on resisting the urge, she reached over and carefully snipped off the rose, leaning over several other blossoms to do so. She was still careful not to damage those too. She straightened with the tall flower in her hand, and stared at the woman for a moment... before quickly dropping it into the bucket with an awkward blush. She felt like someone needed to say something... even with little social skills she knew that. "Err..." she began again, trying to think of something to say. She didn't talk much, but now she felt better, after coming here.

"You like flowers?" she asked, coming up with a random but obvious topic. Should she stop talking? Would the woman like it? The slave didn't know. The woman was old, and knew better than her. Maybe she just wanted silence. Some people liked listening to the rain, right? It was a nice sound, to be honest.... though she preferred flowers. Flowers were better than anything. Better than everything. Flowers and plants and trees and... green things. She nearly sighed in delight at the thought.

[Shayna]

Shayna watched as the child struggled with the decision as to entertain her and to care for the flowers, and she silently understood the indecision but she smiled when the girl moved to snip some cuttings. The child probably didn't know anything that could help her master but she didn't really want to go out in this rain again. Though she didn't move any closer, Shayna didn't want to drip water onto the floor any more then she already was, she spoke up. "Yes. Indeed I do enjoy flowers. Before this master I used to work in a garden. Planting herbs mostly but a few flowers." Shayna smiles, it was odd just having a conversation to be having a conversation. The child was too young to really know much, and too young to be too much of a threat to Shayna or her Master. So instead of having to think about her words and weight them carefully, Shayna was able to just..talk.

"I planted quite a few Gardenia's. They were pretty white flowers with a yellow center..didn't spell very good but the extract was good for something." Shayna shrugged. She didn't know what ms. Katherine had used the extract for, though she knew that she got fiercely upset at her for spilling some on the floor. "They didn't smell good but they were very pretty."

Shayna straightened her tunic style blouse, and tried to keep it from clinging uncomfortably to her without success. "My name is Shayna, my owner is Mamoru. What is your name?" She was unused to simply holding a conversation to be having a conversation, and she found herself automatically wondering what was too much to tell and what was enough.

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[Lilou]

Lilou's face split into a wide grin when the woman mentioned she liked flowers... and she grew them too! It was perfect! She mentioned something called 'Gardenias'... she remembered those. They were here, somewhere... Elanai had shown her only a few days ago. "Gardenia gardenia gardenia..." she muttered to herself, hopping up and dashing madly around the glass room, looking for... aha! A white flower, just as the woman had said, with pretty folding petals.

"There's a gardenia here!" She hopped and waved and pointed from behind another large bush, motioning to the flower. The woman grew gardenia's, and so did Elanai! She completely ignored the other comments, vaguely wondering what 'extract' was. But it wasn't important. Flowers were more important, and this person seemed to like them too... anyone who liked and grew flowers and plants was a good person.

She poked her head back around the leaves to glance at Shayna when the introduction came, staring for a moment. The woman was a slave? Ok, that was good. It meant she would be nice, probably. Most slaves were nice. Especially the women. Some of the men were mean. But everyone in the flower shop was great! "Lilou!" she blurted, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Er... owner... Elanai. She's nice." Elanai was very nice. The gardener taught Lilou all sorts of things about plants... and people almost never taught her anything before this. They said slaves didn't learn.

"Is Ma-more-you nice?" She frowned at the name, having to sound it out slowly while figuring it out. Mamoreyou was a funny name. People had funny names sometimes, though. Shayna was nice, and Lilou was easy. Elanai had taken her a bit, though. Elaaanaaayyye. It sounded like that.

[Shayna]

Shayna smiled a little as the child started to look around the shop, muttering 'Gardenia' under her breath. Shayna herself had not ever known a true 'owner' until she was older, being kept and trained on the breeding farm until just a season a go when she was finally deemed ready to be sold. She idly wondered how different she might be if she had been placed so early, then again she probably would not have learned as much about different things that she had in that time if she hadn't stayed on the farm for as long.

Very rarely had Shayna felt comfortable around even other slaves, slaves could turn their back and offer up information for their own comfort or well being at any moment. She didn't trust other slaves generally, seeing them as rivals. However, even in such a short time as when she had been purchased by a freeborn who had no other slaves but she, had slowly began to make her feel a little confident in her standing with him. Of course that was subject to change if he purchased another that would rival her. But for the moment she was less inclined to be distrusting, especially of a child.

"Mamoru is different." Shayna answered the other, She moved to squat gently in front of a flower display. Her lips curled upward as she pointed to a petal that had just started to curl. She wouldn't groom the plant, it was not her place, but she indicated it toward the child so that she could choose to pluck or leave the petal as is. "He is freeborn and new to Kenash. Between you and me I don't think he has ever owned a slave before."

Standing once more, still not eager to be out in the rain, Shayna tilts her head to the side. "Have you always been with Elanai Lilou?"

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[Lilou]

Lilou spotted the woman pointing to a flower where one of the petals was curling up. It had nice, white, flat petals... a daisy, she thought. The curly one looked a little funny... sticking up like that. She moved over and frowned at the plant, poking the petal in a vain hope that it would uncurl. What would Elanai do? She'd seen the woman with a cut flower... the day before... she'd plucked off the curly bits. Imitating her Mistress, she did the same, careful not to pull to hard and bend the delicate flower.

"New.." she muttered to herself, holding the silky smooth petal in her hand, and staring at it. "Is he nice?" she repeated, having not gotten an exact answer from the first question. He was new... was he nice? Different could mean even more...er... mean! She wondered what to do with the petal in her hand... glancing around, the slave found an empty stone bench and carefully laid the flower piece on the edge, where it looked quite pretty... even if it wasn't attached to the rest of the plant.

The question about Elanai came, and Lilou frowned a little. "No. I was at Riverwave... more plants there, but not many flowers. I came here... five days ago!" She held out a proud five fingers to Shayna. She could count to five! She could count to ten too. One two three four five... five... she knew this one... she knew it! Er... Six! Six seven eight nine ten. She wanted to say it out loud, but people mostly didn't like it when she talked a lot. Even when she was still talking, she didn't want to talk too much. Though only Shayna knew when too much was.

[Shayna]

Shayna moved toward the bench that the petal was carefully laid on, sinking to her knees and tried to keep from settling too close to anything that didn't want to get wet. The dangers of living in the swamp. She tucked a inky black curl of hair behind her ear, and grinned at the child's exuberance. She could count herself, mostly because it was good to be able to when one was gardening. There was so much to count, but that was the extent of her math skills. "Do you know, that if you collected petals that have to be plucked, or pruned. Then place them in a cloth sack, and crush them carefully you will have a very pretty perfumed bag that your Mistress can either hang around or sell since I suppose she wouldn't need to make this place any more flowery." If Lilou had been an older slave, or if she had been owned by the same person as Shayna, Shayna would not have offered her that tidbit of knowledge. Knowledge was power, especially in the world of slaves where a well placed bit of information could sooth a master's wrath or curry favor. However she wasn't so it please Shayna to try and give the girl a bit of information that she might use to curry favor with Elanai.

"He is nice as far as I know. He has never been harsh, not to me anyway." Shayna smiled again, this time a bit distantly. She herself was still learning Mamoru and his quirks. "He just doesn't understand how Kenash does things. That is one of my jobs, to make sure he doesn't get into trouble with the Dynasty." This last she says in a whisper, looking around just a little. She did not want anyone to over hear and assume that her master was doing something to stir the Dynasty ire. Most, in her experience, wouldn't assume so but there were some who were so paranoid that ..well Shayna didn't want to stir those Ire.

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[Lilou]

OOCI seem to be posting in this rather than other things. :| Oh well XD

Lilou gaped at the idea of putting petals in a bag. "Wouldn't they turn brown?" she asked, confused. "Brown petals aren't pretty anymore." That was said with a slightly glum tone, and she shrugged. Elanai must have thought of it too. She was so smart, she knew everything about flowers. Shayna seemed to know a lot too. "Why not just hang flowers around? You get the smell and the color!" It seemed a funny concept, in her mind. If you put petals in the bag... you couldn't see them.

She nodded when Shayna explained that Mamoru was kind of nice. Elanai was very nice. Very very nice. She never hit or yelled or anything... and she gave nice food! Yummy, hot food. Not just stew. The day before, she'd had a salad, as it was called... made with lots of plants. Plants were nice... though the slave had never seen such leafy ones. They'd had warm and squishy bread too. She'd never eaten that before... bread was always hard and cold and crunchy. What was the difference? Anyways, this new kind was better.

A question coming to mind, she blurted "Do you get bread? Hot bread?" Her jaw snapped shut as she worried about the woman not liking her talking so much. Maybe she'd reached 'too much'. Shayna was nice and easy to talk to, like Elanai. But maybe the woman would get angry and grumpy after too much talking. Some people did. Lilou gave the other slave a slightly worried look, glancing over her shoulder at the roses and other flowers behind her.