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 Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 3:22 pm
Julian realized his mistake the moment he bit down on his hastily-assembled lunch sandwich. One mushroom between the slices of herb bread would have been fine. Having found himself hungrier than usual today, though, the novice to the Chronologists had gotten himself two plump mushroom caps, plus some wrinkled black fungus of some sort to try for fun, and stacked them between the slices of bread. The strange black thing, sliding between the two mushrooms, attempted to wriggle out of his sandwich as soon as he tried to bite it, and it was only Julian's quick hand that kept him from losing the thing entirely on the dusty floor of the 'shroom shop where he had elected to purchase his meal.
Fireplaces and the lunch crowd warmed the inside of the place comfortably, but the wiggle of leaf-like fungus felt a little chilly as it landed on Julian's hand. The red-haired boy chewed his bite of sandwich hurriedly, and shifted his one-handed grip on it to avoid dropping it as he raised his other hand to his mouth. It was definitely a snack that required smaller bites; Julian, as discretely as possible, started chewing at the edge of the black fungus, before ultimately settling on picking the whole palm-sized thing up in his mouth and eating from there.
As he did so, his red-brown eyes scanned the crowd sheepishly, hoping no one was staring at him. At the same time, though, he was thankful he was not doing this back in the chapel's chilly little dining room - the lecture on table manners never would have ended. Once the strange wrinkly fungus was eaten, Julian decided it might be safest to take his time with the rest of lunch, and wove his way as carefully as possible to an open spot at a nearby table. If nothing else, he needed a second and a flat surface to restack his sandwich.
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 5:37 pm
If Julian came around here more often, he might have noticed that some of the stranger mushrooms were missing from the seller's inventory; the selection he had between two pieces of bread were farmed mushroom, cave mushrooms, cultivated mushrooms. The wild ones, not quite strange enough to be considered touched, lumpy things that sprouted between the roots of trees and rotting trunks....well. Those were mysteriously absent.
This was why Ever was there. Bright white hair marking him as a bit strange, the pelts at his belts a clear sign of the hunter, but the shop owner didn't seem bothered by his presence on her grounds. Quite the contrary, in fact; she was leaning forward, enrapt by what he was saying, eyebrows pulled faintly together in worry and fingers bunched into the heavy fabric of her skirts. His tone was low, but Julian -- if he chose to listen -- could pick up on much of what he was saying.
"...haven't seen him, that's why I was asking you. Three weeks ago, maybe, I bumped into him in the woods, traded him some meat for several of those little round mushrooms, but that was the last time..." And Ever himself sounded worried, in fact, frowning at her like he'd been expecting something else out of her. "And he's not the only one."
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Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 8:58 pm
Julian did enjoy watching the various townsfolk when he went out to eat; that was the real reason for his decision to eat out, and the task he set to once his unruly lunch was under control. He did not necessarily always come here, but when he did, the young Chronologist usually got the tamer cultivated mushrooms anyway. In fact, having been rather shut away lately, he had not heard too much news at all that anything unusual was going on in the city. People disappeared or died with sobering regularity, particularly during the winter months, but ... the fellow down the table looked like a hunter, and he sounded worried about this.
With a bit more subtlety than he had applied when rescuing his escaping sandwich filling, Julian edged down the table towards the white-haired man. He likely stood out, himself, with his own blood-red hair pulled back into a short ponytail at the nape of his neck, and draped in robes rather than the usual shirt, vest, and trousers of most boys his age. For the moment, he had nothing to contribute, but if the hunter noticed him, Julian's interest would be apparent, as he finished off his mushroom sandwich.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 6:47 am
It was the slow lean that caught his attention -- Ever was halfway through making a trade that definitely benefitted the shop owner more than himself, quite pointedly ignoring the sheen of worried tears across her eyes, when he realized how near Julian had crept in. All at once, he went still, dark eyes flashing up to settle onto Julian.
It wasn't exactly accusatory. Wasn't angry, exactly. But despite the fact that Ever didn't say anything, it was definitely an expression, one eyebrow raised and his eyes very serious, that demanded some kind of answer or explanation. Caught in the act of eavesdropping.
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 6:13 pm
The Chronologists, as monks, enjoyed certain protections in the city in exchange for their civic duty. Julian was under no illusions that any of them applied to that look that the white-haired hunter gave him.
"Ahh-" he stammered hurriedly, rubbing a last bit of sandwich from the corner of his mouth with the heel of his hand. "S-sorry, sir, don't mean to intrude on your business deal." The young monk shied back to his chair. "I just... thought I heard you talking about--" He stopped, lowering his voice slightly. "About missing people?"
Julian squirmed, looking as though he was not sure whether he should leave now. He ended up adding, "I- I'm a Chronologist and we... we worry about people disappearing from the records and things," as he glanced between the hunter and the woman behind the counter.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 11:16 am
It wasn't Julian's fault that he'd so thoroughly put his foot in it -- not entirely, at least. The words 'missing people' got a ragged sound out of the shop owner, and she pulled away to the back room, presumably to do inventory. Ever's eyes followed her and then resettled on the poor little monk, his posture shifting. Expression still serious, there was only a glimmer of something else behind his eyes, a touch of something teasing. He struggled to keep it out of his voice.
"Hunters worry about hunters disappearing from their rounds. And sisters worry about brothers disappearing into the trees." This last bit was said with a faint nod toward the back room; the woman not yet emerged. His tone was chiding, despite that flicker of amusement in his eyes. "Comparatively, I'd say your 'records and things' aren't worth two shits, eh?"
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 10:34 am
The white-haired man's tone made the young monk shrink away slightly. Then the words registered, and his slender, boyish eyebrows drew downwards as he realized he had been inarticulate. He glanced briefly to the doorway through which the shop owner had disappeared, and his cheeks colored slightly.
"No, they are, because records are names, and names are people," Julian insisted without raising his voice. "We have the names of everyone who has ever lived here in this city, written and stored away, and we are constantly aware that all of us are brothers in history, and making sure life goes on here.
"So maybe I don't know them personally, but they're not just names on parchment to me." The Chronologist spoke sincerely, but with the fervor of someone who had been taught this lesson at an early age and yet was still too young to quite fully grasp it.
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 5:20 pm
Ever's mouth moved -- silent, slowly, making out the words 'names are people' like he couldn't quite wrap his mind around that idea. It did sound a bit hollow, taken out of context, marginalizing lives into text on a page. Text that most of the city, most of the surrounding area, even some of the nobility couldn't read...
"...uh huh." It came out slowly, after enough of a pause to show he didn't mean it, to give it a sarcastic edge. "What are they, then?"
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 1:53 pm
Julian frowned, aware that he was being teased but getting a bit flustered anyway. But on the other hand, with his particular education, with the belief system he followed, the monk could not expect others to fully understand.
Resting his elbows on the table, he crossed is arms and shifted his weight a little, looking away from the hunter. Julian had been curious about the goings-on in the city and just outside it, not in having to explain everything he had been taught. After a moment, he half-glanced back to the hunter before returning to studiously examining the wood grain of the table before responding, "They're citizens and people, brothers, sons, fathers, and I was just wondering if there might be anything I could do to help."
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 9:59 am
The shopkeeper still hadn't reemerged, either too upset to deal with customers or too involved in something in the back room. It made the place a bit awkward, feel strangely empty, the pair of them in an unfamiliar space. And it also made the distance between them a bit strange.
So Ever grabbed his things, settling his pouch into place, and moved to settle next to Julian instead -- sitting backwards with his elbows on the table, maybe just a hair too close. His fingertips twitched against the edge of the table. "That's very noble. What skills, exactly, do you have to offer?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:14 am
At the proximity as much as the question, Julian's elbows drew closer together, one hand sliding up to rest instead on his upper arm ... and becoming acutely aware at how there was relatively little muscle beneath his palm there. He knew he had his own role to play in the city; one, he liked to think, that was more important than if he had been raised as a girl, but it was frustrating to think that he could not help in this time of trouble.
"I don't know," he finally admitted with reluctance.
Julian then seemed to notice again just how close the hunter was seated beside him, after inhaling for a sigh through his nose and realizing he was picking up the scent of unfamiliar leather and fur. Slipping off of the stool on the side opposite the encroaching stranger, the monk then fumbled to excuse himself.
"Ah, if you will excuse me, I should be getting back to the chapel...."
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 12:03 pm
Ever was more than familiar with the wriggle in Julian's posture; or, at least, he thought he was. The hunter, sitting too close, wrapped up in battered furs and weapons, his hair cropped into a tumbling mess. The familiarity, the flash of a smile, the brightness behind his eyes. Perhaps the lingering smell of alcohol...he took a moment to smooth a hand out over his hair and then reached out to snag Julian's wrist, to keep him from going anywhere.
"...do you have any coin?" It was asked with his eyebrows raised, not the desperation of begging but a serious note in his voice. Dark eyes fixed up on Julian's face. Maybe Ever realized how that sounded, because before he could reply he shook his head, impatient, and flicked a look toward the door to the back room.
"If her brother's gone, there won't be many more mushrooms, if you understand what I'm saying."
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