Reaping what was sown #1

[Ajo'tey]

[

Arc 719, Rebirth Cycle, 9th of Ashan
In a small town on the riverbank of Zynyx river

It had only been a day so far, but Ajo'tey wasn't one to postpone things that had to be done, he was rested and fed. Time to get to work! He wanted to surprise everyone by getting to work at the crack of dawn, so all the more reason to get dressed and start paying his dues. Just as he put on his pants, without warning the flaps of his tent flew open. Too hard and too symmetrical to be done by the wind, and with a far too redfaced redhead poking her nose in as she stared at the halfnaked Ajo'tey before muttering something about 'wakey, wakeyhead...' and vanishing back out. Apparently his surprise worked a bit too much and he ruined the carefully planned wake-up call from Caroline. With a smile broad as the horizon, he put on the rest of his clothes and climbed out of the tent.

There he found Caroline, waiting, kicking up dust as she walked from left to right, looking at the grass with an angry look. Like it was the poor grass' fault for ruining her plans and getting her so flustered about it even. "Good morning, Caroline...I'm very wakey!" Her face jerked up as she raised her finger threateningly, approaching him fast as she poked his chest a bit too hard. 'Don't get smart with me y'hear! I'm only here to get your lazy ass to work!

She reminded him of Qu'ska so much. Both of them refusing to show their real self, and building that hard and blunt exterior to scare most anyone away from wanting to know their true persona. Even the way she talked was similar, 'Don't get smart with me.' Was one of the first phrases in Common he had learned from Qu'ska. The rest of what was said might as well have been gibberish because as Caroline was so fired up, she spoke at blistering speed. He couldn't help but smile as this tiny fury, barely reaching to his shoulders, looked up at the savage man without any fear whatsoever. More so, she was almost tempting him, provoking him to retort so she could throw down with the Sevir.

With an overreacted sigh, he pushed his fingertip gently against the center of her collarbone. "You. Win. I work."

For a brief moment, she froze as she followed his finger with her eyes, Ajo'tey wasn't sure if it was fear or something else, but her mind seemed dazed until he spoke to her. With a harumph and a faked angry look, she walked away backwards as she ordered Ajo'tey to follow. Teasing him as she tapped her knees. "Come. Heel! Heel boy, heel!" Ajo'tey didn't need to understand what she was saying to know what she was doing. With a squeek, she started to run away, with Ajo'tey right behind her. "No, nononononooo." After a while they arrived at the storage shed, both already out of breath, before even any work was done.

There they were greeted by Gyll, the man in charge of keeping an inventory tally and storing the pallets and crates in an orderly fashion.

"The hell is wrong with you two?"

[Ajo'tey]

Arc 719, Rebirth Cycle, 9th of Ashan
At the storage shed

The pair didn't really have an answer ready, at least not one that would them sound like normal adults. Gyll huffed and let it be, introducing himself instead and asking Ajo'tey for his name. To which the helping hand replied. With the formalities out of the way, it was finally time to get started on rolling up sleeves and breaking a sweat as the storage keeper broke up the chores at hand in different blocks and did his very best to simplify what was expected of Ajo'tey and Caroline.

"I already noted the storage inventory -staying up until now because of my junior going apeshit over working at nighttime- and marked the crates as well as their designated spot in the building. These crates are out back, you can go through the gates over there and get them in.

Ajo'tey listened intently, doing his very best not to look at Caroline as he knew she would be having the time of her life knowing he understood fuck all about what had just been said. But as Gyll walked out front for some much needed rest, and Ajo'tey was nothing the wiser, he caved and asked Caroline for help. "No worries. I will explain you, ya big log." Ajo'tey frowned at the last phrase, not because of the teasing insult, but because he didn't understand what a log was. Caroline's almondshaped misty green eyes grew big at the pressure she felt by simply thinking she made Ajo'tey angry just now. She didn't knew if it was because of his appearance, or simply because she didn't want to make this man whose company she enjoyed, angry with her. When Ajo'tey grinningly also put on huge eyes, she felt the tension ease up from her shoulders. 'Damned tree.' "Look, you go there. No, there!" Pointing towards the closed gates, she continued: "Lift that beam...The wooden log...blocking the door. Understand?" She emphasized as much as she could with body language, signaling and lifting an imaginary beam with her hands. It was beyond silly but Ajo'tey didn't laugh, too much, he was focused on the task at hand, not to mention he appreciated Caroline's help!

"I understand!"

[Ajo'tey]

Arc 719, Rebirth Cycle, 9th of Ashan
At the storage shed

Positioning themselves on either side of the beam, each near an L shaped support, Ajo'tey and Caroline put their backs into lifting the obstruction from its place. Caroline's small body clearly had to put her muscles to greater use to lift and support the beam as the pair scuffled around fast to place it out of the way. Doing her best to stop her heavy breathing, she tried to relax her body as much as she could while being mindful of her breathing. It seemed to work as her hands stopped trembling quickly. Meanwhile, Ajo'tey pushed the gates open, revealing a grazing horse 'keeping watch' over several small crates on a trailer, and a hell of a lot of barrels surrounding it.

Caroline groaned, she really didn't feel like working today but knew it was too early in the mo' to start complaining. "Alright. Ajo'tey, start with these. Barrels with green mark, put on green spot inside. Got that?" He looked at her sideways, with a bored look of disbelief on his face. She snickered at the reaction, apparently he already understood what was to be done. "Very gooddd! You'll be telling poems like a minstrel before you know it!"

Slightly annoyed, slightly impressed, Caroline got to work too as Ajo'tey was already working on handling one of the barrels with the green X, trying to get a decent hold on it before lifting it and hoisting it over his right shoulder. It took a lot more effort than he had figured it would, the barrels were honestly too heavy for him to carry on his own. After a few stumbling steps, Ajo'tey was already forced to put it back down with a thud. Coming to terms with his own limitations, he turned around to stop Caroline from making the same error. Who was actually leaning against a barrel, arms crossed, ruby locks over her face unable to cover the amusement in her eyes. Her wordless taunting cut deep in his pride, but instead of getting suckered into a 'No, you are!' squabble, he motioned with his hands to work together and move the barrels inside.

"Look, you don't need to carry these ones. The barrels. Roll the barrels. Like this!"

She pushed one of the barrels over gently and then started moving her hands over its wooden surface to roll it over the grass, into the storage's designated area and then pivoted it relatively effortlessly back straight. "All done!" Ajo'tey followed suit, with an exaggerated amount of care and delicacy, but without any hiccups otherwise. The duo continued their work without any problem, not taking a break until the last of the barrels was put in its respective destination. All that was left to do was do the same for the handful of crates out back.

[Ajo'tey]

[

Arc 719, Rebirth Cycle, 9th of Ashan
At the storage shed

Neither had any idea just how many consequences their next few actions would have on their lives, it's not even sure that the threads of fate would change if they did though. Caroline was handling the last barrel and started showing signs of minor fatigue, it was also she whom opted to take a break. But it was Ajo'tey who chose to look at the shipping manifest left in the trailer. Not that any of these things could really be avoided besides by sheer luck, so playing the blame game was actually useless. But it would still happen. After one event snowballed into another larger one, and so on, until eventually it crashed at the end of the road.

"What you got there? Oh a list of goods they brought...a LOT of food! Yum!"

"Lets take a break and eat something from one of the older barrels, the town has enough food for now anyway!"

While talking more to herself than to Ajo'tey, she maneuvered barrels around to reach the ones that were already stashed at the warehouse. Until she found an unmarked barrel and forced the lid open. Muttering to herself how odd it was that it was this tightly sealed. Ajo'tey was leaning against a barrel, looking at the scavenger in amusement. But when the muttering stopped, and the color vanished from her shocked face, he was moving in the blink of an eye. What the hell was in that barrel that shocked her so? When he looked inside over her shoulder, already pulling her back from the presumed horror, he found nothing decomposed. Only sacks and boxes, some of them open enough to show the many jewels tangled inside.

Ajo'tey had little doubt, considering the circumstances where and how it was stashed, the otherwise poor town they were in, not to mention Caroline's reaction.

This was ill-gained loot.

[Alistair]

Ajo'tey

Knowledges
Running: Giving chase
Endurance: Working after running
Strength: Lifting barrels
Deception: Acting like it's understandable
Strength: Lifting a heavy beam together
Psychology: Noticing shock

Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Renown: N/A

Points 10

Comments: You might've felt it wasn't that exciting but it was a very cute and well-written thread; I'm also very impressed by the aesthetic and color coordination of the posts/template. It looks great. Enjoy your rewards!

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