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* Calis is sitting in his room, cross-legged on the bed, reading. There is a pile of clothes on the floor that looks like it was shoved off the bed. * Bienca raps on the door lightly with her fingernails. "Calis, honey?" <Calis> ::distracted, not looking up:: Mm? <Bienca> ::gently:: May I come in? <Calis> Uh-huh. ::turns a page:: * Bienca opens the door and enters, patting Gar who gets up to rub her hip with his head. <Bienca> Are you settling in well? ::she grins at him, knowing he's not paying the least bit of attention:: <Calis> Uh-huh... * Bienca sits down on the floor and starts moving the laundry out from under his bed. "What are you reading?" She frowns at the mummified remains of a cheese sandwich she finds under the bed. <Calis> Hmm? Um- ::consulting the cover:: A Treatise On Light And Color, And Magickal Applications Thereunto. ::he glances up with a grin:: I don't think the person who wrote the book got to pick the title. <Bienca> ::blinks, then shakes her head with a grin:: Better you than me. I can't read at all, so I'm spared the headache. <Calis> ::nods:: They taught me, at the orphanage. Most of the other kids didn't really care, but I told them I didn't want to be a farmer or a tanner, so they thought maybe I could be a scribe. <Bienca> Reading's never been much use in my professions. ::smiles:: <Bienca> ::a good sized beetle pokes its way through the laundry and starts scurrying across the floor. With a negligent swipe, Gar crunches the insect and eats it in one bite:: * Calis lays a piece of string across the book, closes it, and sets it very carefully on his bedside table before looking at Bienca again, almost shyly. "Dawn said you were a- a thief." He flushes faintly, as if uncertain whether the word might give offense. <Bienca> ::nods:: I am a thief... well, on leave of absence at the moment. Before that, I was a whore, and before that, a slave and a runaway. From where I sit, thief is a pretty good job. <Calis> ::blinks, then stares at her, then tries *not* to look at her, blushing furiously:: Oh. I mean, um, yeah, I guess. Um... <Bienca> ::touches his arm lightly:: I know... this is all very new to you. But the crowd you've fallen in with, 'whore' isn't a bad word. <Calis> ::still blushing:: Yes'm. I mean... I... ::he sighs:: I'm trying, but everything's kinda... upside-down. <Bienca> ::nods:: I know, honey... that's why I thought I'd come talk to you... if you wanted. Explain some things and answer some questions. Dawn... he's a good mage, but he doesn't have a lot of... personal experience with children. Yet. <Calis> ::brightening:: He said you were gonna have a baby! That's so neat! It'll be like having a little brother! Or sister, I guess. <Bienca> ::touches her stomach:: Well, I hope so, at any rate. And I already have a son - he's a few years older than you are, so you have a big brother, too. I'll see if I can't make him come home for dinner sometime soon, so you can meet him. <Calis> ::looks a little dubious about a bigger brother:: Um, okay. Is he, um? A thief? Too? <Bienca> ::laughs:: No, he isn't... too clumsy. Mostly, he's a street rat. And a shaman - that's like a priest, sort of. <Calis> Oh. How come he doesn't live here? <Bienca> ::shrugs:: He hasn't lived here regularly for quite some time. He spends time with his friends, and most recently, he's been living with his sweetheart. <Calis> Oh. ::blushes again:: Is, um... ::looks down at his hands in his lap:: Is Dawn his dad? <Bienca> ::shakes her head:: I don't know who Nip's da is. I was pretty young, then. Maybe your cousin's age. Dawn hadn't even moved to Marsember, then. <Calis> Oh. ::reminded of his cousin, Calis rubs at a scab on his knee:: But this one is his? You're not... Are you mad at him? 'Cause of 'Dria? <Bienca> ::shakes her head:: No, I'm not mad. I think your cousin's a nice girl, and he needed someone to be nice to him, right then. He doesn't care for me any less just because he likes your cousin, too. <Calis> ::sits very still for a few minutes, obviously chewing that over mentally:: 'Dria said *he* was being nice to *her*. I guess they were nice to each other. I thought... I thought maybe he'd marry her- ::he blushes, already aware that this was flawed logic on his part:: -but that was before. ::he rubs at his knee some more, frowning:: She's not a whore, though. It's not okay, for her. <Bienca> ::looks at him:: Well, there's nothing really wrong with being a whore. It's easy work and the money is very, very good. But it's not for everyone, either. <Bienca> I know things are really different, with us, than they are where you came from. We don't always marry the people we love, even if we live with them. And actual cleric-performed marriages are pretty rare. Usually it's just a "common law" after a while. <Calis> ::looks up at her, head cocked:: He's not going to marry you, either, is he? <Bienca> ::shrugs:: He hasn't asked me, no. I would, if he asked, but really, I'm content with things as they are. <Calis> Oh. ::He eyes her briefly, not altogether convinced but not brave enough to say so.:: Even if he's, um, being nice to other girls? <Bienca> ::laughs easily:: Honey, he can be as nice as he wants to whoever he wants. ::holds up one hand:: But, again, not everyone is like that. It's always best to ask questions, if you're not sure. At least to me, and to Dawn, until you understand better. <Calis> ::nods slowly:: For sure no one was like that back home. ::he intently examines a toe:: What about Miss Violet? She likes him an awful lot... I don't think she's okay with... with sharing. <Bienca> ::frowns:: Violet has... well, she has a lot of problems, honey. She's pretty sick right now, and we're trying to get her some help. <Calis> ::cocking his head, processing again:: Is she taking medicine? One of the ladies who worked at the orphanage would sometimes sneak into the infirmary and take some of the medicine, and afterward she'd act kind of like Miss Violet. I helped her, once or twice. She was nice. But then they made her leave. <Bienca> ::nods:: She is... some medicines, they make you feel less pain in your body. Others make you feel less pain here ::she taps her chest:: Like when you're unhappy, they make you feel happy again. ::frowns:: But they're really bad for you and eventually they can make it so you're much, much more unhappy then you were to start with. <Calis> Oh. It sounds complicated. ::he sighs, then looks up again:: Is that why Gar's in my room all the time now? 'Cause Dawn found out about Miss Violet's medicine? <Bienca> ::winces:: Yes, honey... <Bienca> ::quickly:: You don't mind, do you? Gar likes you, he told me so. <Calis> ::eyes wide:: No! I like him, too! ::he grins and reaches out to pet Gar's massive head:: Even if he snores. ::this is directed to the big cat, for all the world like an old friend re-opening a discussion so old it's become a joke:: <Bienca> ::drums her fingers over Gar's ears:: He's a good friend. We've been together a long time now... <Calis> Miss Bienca? Is Dawn gonna keep... seeing 'Dria? I asked her, and she told me to mind my own business. <Bienca> ::shrugs:: I don't know, really. He can if he wants to, but he may not. She's young yet, and might need a chance to find someone who can more meet what she wants and needs from that sort of relationship. <Calis> ::he pouts, very slightly:: In other words, mind my own business. <Bienca> ::shakes her head:: No, honey... It *is* your business. You love your cousin, and I know you'd probably rather have her here with us. <Bienca> But Dawn and 'Dria need to decide for themselves, how they're going to go on from here... it isn't something that anyone else can decide for them. <Calis> ::a little sheepishly:: Okay... <Bienca> And... well, sometimes adults don't really feel comfortable talking about these things... she probably doesn't always understand how she feels, and I'm sure she doesn't know what's going to happen... so she can't really tell you, can she? <Calis> But she- ::he lets out a sort of "grownups are idiots" sigh:: How can whores be okay, but talking about it not be? <Bienca> ::laughs:: I didn't say it wasn't okay... just that she might not want to talk about it, while she figures it out. <Calis> ::grins shyly:: You're really pretty when you laugh, Miss Bienca. * Bienca grins. "Thank you... it's good to hear it. I've been starting to feel old." <Calis> ::very solemnly:: Of course you're old. You're having a baby. But you're pretty, too. * Bienca laughs again, very, very amused. "Ah, I do like you, very much, Calis. I hope... I hope you'll be happy here, with us." * Calis smiles genuinely, wrapping his arms around his knees and hugging them to his chest. "I hope so, too." <Bienca> ::unfolds herself and stands, dropping the laundry into the basket:: I'll leave you to your book... and take this down to Violet... <Calis> ::a touch defensively:: I was gonna pick it up, soon's I finished... <Bienca> ::shakes her head:: Tell Dawn I said to teach you 'Unseen Servant.' ::she leaves the room:: * Calis is reaching for his book again before the door is closed. |
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