"Six-an'-a-half bells!" Zhi said, in lieu of a proper farewell.
It was with greater care than usual that she made her way back to the little inn she was staying at, the one that had been gifted to her rent free by Galleon. She'd told Brindle to make his bunk there, since she'd suspected Lalataru would eventually want to know where Joz was staying, and Joz wouldn't have the money to stay at an inn. Zhi'd paid the little beggar family that inhabited a section of the abandoned house in the Reach to get out of it, and had since situated it with the sorts of trappings that would befit a streetrat-turned-beggar. The inn would be left to Brindle, though she'd warned him against damages, and near spit him on his own blade when he hadn't shown signs of hearing her. After all, her choice to do damage to such items as the table was different from if he chose to. She'd be the one answering to Galleon if the innkeep complained, not Brindle.
So, Brindle was there to greet her when she came inside the little room, huddling in her ragpicker's clothes. "Fine day t'go slummin'," she said. The clouds that had evaded her those few days ago when she'd first met Lalataru had finally rolled in, and the air smelled of rain. Sleeping around puddles was in her future, she just knew it.
Brindle didn't even look up, he just snickered. He was busy with a game of dice, but he was listening.
"I'll be off th'marks fer a bit. I'll drop in when I can. Extra coin fer th'room, if th'paid rent wears thin. If I'm findin' ye've spent it on vice, I'll have done an' slit yer worthless throat meself. Got it?"
Brindle rolled his eyes and muttered something. Zhi ignored the insult and continued. "Ain't much time. I've tole ye where t'find Clove, ye know the meetin' times. If ye've need o'more talk, I've paid Chirp extra, so use her. Stay off Thatcher's enemies, they're keen on ye since last time. Ye hearin' me?"
Brindle grunted assent, deigning to tear his eyes away from his game to give her an unimpressed stare.
"Ye feck up me take, I'll take it out yer hide. Fancy?"
"Yeah, yeah. I wasn't born yesterday."
"Coulda fooled me. Sell this lot off," she toed one of the pieces of her various get-ups, "keep th'gil. If th'Skites come sniffin', ye pay 'em. Don't haggle on it."
Brindle nodded, his expression overtaken by the special sort of boredom only teenagers have truly mastered. Zhi gave him a long look, and hesitated. "Don't get yerself killed, kid. Fair winds."
Brindle rolled his eyes at her. She kicked a sandal at him, smirked at the outraged squawk as it connected, and had the door safely shut before Brindle's return sally could hit her. The muffled thump brought a smile to her face, and then she was off for the Reach.
_____________
At six-and-a-half bells, it was raining. It wasn't a bad sort of rain, the kind that soaked you in seconds, but a miserable drizzle that fell from clouds that promised further misery. That was spring for you. Zhi was crouched on the side of the street that connected to the Reach, hands tucked into her armpits and tail tucked up between her legs and under the tatty coat she'd kept for just such a purpose. Rain was a given in Limsa Lominsa, and even if the coat didn't keep her from getting wet, it did provide her with a little extra warmth. Lalataru and his rutting kindness were not doing her any favors, that was for sure. She wrapped her arms around her knees in an unconscious pantomime of the day they'd first met (the main difference being her sour expression), and she waited for his man (woman?) to show up so she could get out of the rain and go spend quality time in the old wreck of a building she'd paid good gil for.
What fun.
It was with greater care than usual that she made her way back to the little inn she was staying at, the one that had been gifted to her rent free by Galleon. She'd told Brindle to make his bunk there, since she'd suspected Lalataru would eventually want to know where Joz was staying, and Joz wouldn't have the money to stay at an inn. Zhi'd paid the little beggar family that inhabited a section of the abandoned house in the Reach to get out of it, and had since situated it with the sorts of trappings that would befit a streetrat-turned-beggar. The inn would be left to Brindle, though she'd warned him against damages, and near spit him on his own blade when he hadn't shown signs of hearing her. After all, her choice to do damage to such items as the table was different from if he chose to. She'd be the one answering to Galleon if the innkeep complained, not Brindle.
So, Brindle was there to greet her when she came inside the little room, huddling in her ragpicker's clothes. "Fine day t'go slummin'," she said. The clouds that had evaded her those few days ago when she'd first met Lalataru had finally rolled in, and the air smelled of rain. Sleeping around puddles was in her future, she just knew it.
Brindle didn't even look up, he just snickered. He was busy with a game of dice, but he was listening.
"I'll be off th'marks fer a bit. I'll drop in when I can. Extra coin fer th'room, if th'paid rent wears thin. If I'm findin' ye've spent it on vice, I'll have done an' slit yer worthless throat meself. Got it?"
Brindle rolled his eyes and muttered something. Zhi ignored the insult and continued. "Ain't much time. I've tole ye where t'find Clove, ye know the meetin' times. If ye've need o'more talk, I've paid Chirp extra, so use her. Stay off Thatcher's enemies, they're keen on ye since last time. Ye hearin' me?"
Brindle grunted assent, deigning to tear his eyes away from his game to give her an unimpressed stare.
"Ye feck up me take, I'll take it out yer hide. Fancy?"
"Yeah, yeah. I wasn't born yesterday."
"Coulda fooled me. Sell this lot off," she toed one of the pieces of her various get-ups, "keep th'gil. If th'Skites come sniffin', ye pay 'em. Don't haggle on it."
Brindle nodded, his expression overtaken by the special sort of boredom only teenagers have truly mastered. Zhi gave him a long look, and hesitated. "Don't get yerself killed, kid. Fair winds."
Brindle rolled his eyes at her. She kicked a sandal at him, smirked at the outraged squawk as it connected, and had the door safely shut before Brindle's return sally could hit her. The muffled thump brought a smile to her face, and then she was off for the Reach.
_____________
At six-and-a-half bells, it was raining. It wasn't a bad sort of rain, the kind that soaked you in seconds, but a miserable drizzle that fell from clouds that promised further misery. That was spring for you. Zhi was crouched on the side of the street that connected to the Reach, hands tucked into her armpits and tail tucked up between her legs and under the tatty coat she'd kept for just such a purpose. Rain was a given in Limsa Lominsa, and even if the coat didn't keep her from getting wet, it did provide her with a little extra warmth. Lalataru and his rutting kindness were not doing her any favors, that was for sure. She wrapped her arms around her knees in an unconscious pantomime of the day they'd first met (the main difference being her sour expression), and she waited for his man (woman?) to show up so she could get out of the rain and go spend quality time in the old wreck of a building she'd paid good gil for.
What fun.