[FIN] Serious Business [Bee]

[Dark]

The water was absolutely frigid, but Myfanwy gritted her teeth and bore the discomfort for sake of the greater good; being clean was more important than momentary unpleasantness. She used a liberal amount of soap in her conquest over dirt: it took two lathers before she considered herself even moderately clean, and even then she was doubtful of complete victory. Her skin wasn't crawling anymore, though, and after rinsing herself thoroughly with a final rush of icy water, she proclaimed herself done.

Her teeth were chattering, but that was a small price to pay for cleanliness.

Myfanwy climbed out of the tub and shook herself dry as best she could manage, for all she was still uncomfortably cold after having done so. At least her wings dried off easily enough--a couple flutters and the water beaded right up and off.

"Thank you for the bath," she intoned politely. Now that she was clean, it was hard to ignore the gnawing demand of her stomach. Hopefully the promised supper would follow shortly.

[Bee]

"Naught of it," Reisz said, and gestured for the girl to follow her back into her place. She got a small fire going and hunted around amongst the food. She hadn't the faintest notion what a wee thing from the Gardens might like and didn't much care. Veldt cooking she could do and Veldt cooking the girl was going to enjoy. She smeared a biscuit with a sweet lemon-orange marnalade and handed it to the girl.

"Nibble on that while I make supper," she instructed. That should tide the girl over nicely. She grabbed meat at random and threw it into the pan she had placed over the fire. A nice lemon marinade, she thought, spicy enough to make a good mess of the sinuses, just the way she liked it. Vegetables of course. Nothing fancy, she reckoned. "Should be an hour or so," she said. "Settle on in, lass." She paused. "Might thou have a name, or shall it be Lassie?"

[Dark]

Myfanwy nibbled on the biscuit as she had been instructed, making tiny noises of appreciation--it was good: sweet and citrus-y marmalade of some sort over a hearty wheat biscuit that practically melted in her mouth--and was busy carefully devouring the crumbs that were leftover when the woman inquired on the topic of her name. Mommy would be absolutely horrified it had taken so long for introductions to take place, but Myfanwy decided it was acceptable under the conditions; she hadn't particularly been herself without a bath first, after all.

"Myfanwy Eumeleia-Zolner," she supplied, not sure whether or not it was appropriate to give her last name. It wasn't a particularly common practice in society, but she was proud of her heritage. Was it permissible to ask for a name in return, or would the woman supply it on her own? She knew she should have paid more attention to etiquette lessons--bah.

"What shall I call you?" she inquired finally, deciding it couldn't hurt to ask.

[Bee]

Well that was certainly a mouthful. Reisz could not at all imagine the use for so many names, especially ones that tied the tongue all up in knots, but if her parents were important enough--or, mayhap, simply vain enough--to have a surname, she supposed the girl had a right to trot it out. Eumeleia-Zolner. Two more names than most people had. She was a bit inclined to speculate, however, about who in this happy golden world give a helpless child such a name.

"Reisz," she supplied. She was mostly fond of it; short and simple. No one she could think of claimed a surname. No one had never really needed one. She poked at the meat. "Now I don't mean to pry, but what might compel a bright young thing such as thee to go wandering off by herself? Awful long way from any nice establishments."

[Dark]

Reisz. It made her a bit over-conscious of her own rather lengthy name; even if she didn't care to divulge her surnames when introducing herself, there was still the rather cumbersome Myfanwy to contend with. Her sisters called her Myffie occasionally, but it wasn't a particularly dignified shortening, now was it. Reisz was dignified.

"I'm on a quest," Myfanwy informed, very seriously, "I have six sisters, and they all need protecting, so I'm looking for someone to teach me how to fight." If she was lucky, perhaps Reisz knew someone, or could direct her to someone who knew someone of whom possibly knew someone else who could instruct her. Social networks were at times very handy.

She wasn't sure an adult would understand--the reason she'd left a note for her parents rather than tell them of her decision in person--but her sisters were the most important thing in the world to her, and she wanted to be worthy and capable of keeping them safe.

[Bee]

Reisz burst into a merry round of laughter. Not of the derisive sort, mind, but rather of pure and unfettered amusement and delight, unmuddied by sourness of any flavor. Reisz believed her. She had that certain affect, that look of pure bloody-mindedness. It was admirable. The thought of this delicate-looking wee thing cutting broad swaths through scores of enemies was a mental image that no price could be levied upon, not one wretched coin.

"A worthy goal, for true," she said, for it was. Reisz had never been able to protect her brothers, carried off by sickness as they were before she first saw the sun, but the folk outside the realm didn't have that trouble to contend with, keeping their kin safe. And for all her butterfly wings, the girl was a Heart. She had a birthright. "Happens I know a person who might be willing to help. Happens thou won't even be needing to travel far."

[Dark]

Myfanwy was a little startled and put out when the woman started laughing, but she quickly realized there was no sort of censor or mockery in the laugh; Reisz seemed to be genuinely delighted by her proclamation, though Myfanwy couldn't fathom as to why. And--

"Really!?" she exclaimed, leaning forward with excitement, "You know someone? They could teach me?" After all these weeks, she might just have found what she was looking for! "Who are they? Where do they live? Can you take me to them?"

All thoughts of dinner--though it smelled delicious--were irrelevant in comparison to her desire to seek out this person immediately and prostrate and plead and beg if she had to, until they agreed to teach her. Learning how to protect her sisters was more important than a full belly, though her belly didn't particularly agree with her on the subject.

[Bee]

And an impressively eager student to boot. Fortune was favoring the both of them today, evidently. She was in the best spirits she'd felt in a good while and this girl would get to learn something she should have learned from birth. What family don't teach their little Heart to serve and protect? She generally tried to be fair in her judgments and easygoing in her behavior with outsiders but some things just didn't suit. And with that many sisters--especially if they weren't Hearts themselves--it was downright irresponsible.

The little lass was even Reisz's very own rank. If that wasn't some sort of kismet, then Fortune was a blind fool of a woman.

"I reckon that won't be an arduous endeavor." She leaned forward a little bit as well, put on something of a conspiratorial whisper, just between the two of us, mind. "Yer already in her house."

[Dark]

Myfanwy's eyes widened, "You!? You'd be willing to teach me? Really?"

What kind of fate had been involved that the random stranger who'd found her out in the wheat patch and was kind enough to bathe and feed her, would also know how to fight and be willing to teach her? It was improbable beyond the extreme, but she wouldn't refuse when fate came knocking. This was her chance!

"I'll be the best pupil ever!" she exclaimed, "I'll do whatever it takes!" She willed Reisz to feel her conviction, and that the woman would agree to take her on.

This training would be the most important thing she would ever take on it her life--beyond her goal of protecting her sisters, though it was integral to that--and she was willing to give it everything she had and more to achieve success.

[Bee]

"I reckon the first thing it'll take is a filling meal and a good rest," she said, returning to the meat and vegetables. She tossed in a few of her favorite spices indiscriminately to add that special touch of flavor. She gave the girl a speculative look. She hated to be the one to burst her bubble, but if she had sisters, odds were good that she had a parent or two, as well.

"Also might be fine thinking to send a letter off to your kin," she said. She credited herself with fair to middlin' intuition, and they told her that if the little Heart hadn't been trained as a fighter, then probably someone back home didn't know she'd run off to become one. A family fretting didn't sit right with her, no matter how much she'd taken to the girl. "They might want to know where their errant lass is bedding down. You'll be here a long stint."