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"Me?" He asked, when he had spoken he forgot that the question would eventually be turned back round to him. "Uh, a town called Kemet, far away from here. I have travelled a lot though in my life. It must have been good growing up in Barton. It seems like a good place to be a child."

If he was honest anywhere seemed better than the farms of Kemet to grow up. "You'll really be able to show your Dumyr what's what around here then!"

Trin tried to cover her shock, but she had only heard of things like that in gossip. To hear a first-person account of it was, well, new. "I had no idea, Reesh." Trin blushed, and lowered her head a little. She fetl ashamed for taking her life for granted. Of course, it hadn't all been a breeze, but she had grown up in a loving family and didn't have to get a job that actually paid for more than gas money untiol she reached college.

Looking back up again, she couldn't help but saying, "So I guess that's why you have so many children? To give them a... erm... better childhood then you had?" She winced, realzing how condescending that had sounded. "I didn't mean that in a bad way, I just... I can't really phrase words unless it's on paper, coming from someone elses mouth."

Aubri reentered the room, holding a few pages of old papyrus, some quills, and a bottle filled with shimmering ink. The ink had a slightly red ink to it.

She set the objects down on the coffee table, by the brownies.

"It's just the formal binding agreement, allowing your Dumyr to be evaluated. Normally, the parent would sign it. As you are now the official caretakers..." She shrugged.

"It asks for name, an address - you don't have to fill that in, I'll reroute all letters to your houses to avoid any confusion on the Dumyr's fault - and other basic information about your household. Fill all that in here, here, and here - " she pointed to blanks in the mass of unintelligible hieroglyphic-like words - "and sign here." Another point.

"If you want me to translate any of this for you, just ask. After you sign it, I'll write in the Dumyr equivalents for everything for their benefit."

In retrospect, it was a stupid question. Something like that always seemed to happen whenever Kat was with a group of people. She decided to stay out of the person's past subject for that reason. They were also people she had never met before in her life; she wasn't about to open up to them after only one meeting.

Trying her best not to budge Dau, who, like a cat, always chose the worst possible time to lay on someone, she reached for the form. A quick snatch of papyrus and a dip in the inkwell, and Kat was back to sitting up straight. Using her left palm as a writing surface, she scrawled out Katherine J. Kirby on the indicated spaces. Not used to writing with a quill, the signature was blotchy, but not illegible. However, she stared blankly at the household information spot.

A few drips of red-tinged ink fell in the black before Kat thought to ask what the Dumyr had in mind. "Uh, Aubri? Pardon my ignorance, but what do you mean by 'basic houseld information'? Do you mean other inhabitants, or what?" She visibly fidgetted at the thought. Describing Xerxes, Valex, and the others in kind words without blatantly lying was not something she wanted to do.

"Only those whose Dumyr are possibly staying in Baarikmet, yes," Aubri explained.

To Kat and Hakim, she shrugged. "Number of inhabitants, size, how many nights a week you're home from work... that sort of stuff. Mostly how many inhabitants. To give the kids an idea of just how many siblings they have. It won't count against you, I don't think."

"Alright," Kat said. "I just wasn't sure."

Numbers were far easier than descriptions, so she set about it quickly. Floors, speaking inhabitants, non-speaking inhabitants, and working times were all included, although her writing got a bit squished by the end from writing too large in the first place.

Placing her finished copy next to Reeshie's, she, too, grabbed a brownie. Nibbling on the chocolate mass, she glanced over her copy for any spelling errors or spots where the ink had dried or blotted badly. She didn't want to hav Aubri make a mistake on translating the form on her part.

Trin nodded at Aubri, then watched silently as the others scribbled various things on their paper. She felt more part of the Dumyr "family" now, but couldn't help feeling awkward as the others set about describing their houses and such while she twiddled her thumbs absently. With nothing else to do, she reached for another delicious brownie.