How to ditch your uncle (open)

Flint Gallium

"Its cold" , I murmur to no one in particular as I stroll down town. The winter months are coming which means that it is going to be hell to prepare for these next couple weeks. After looking over the budget old man spur determined that unless he can sell his eggs, wool, and milk for a little more we would not be able to buy enough food to make it through the whole winter should it run late.

I finally convinced him to let me take a cowhide into town. I have been working hard lately making sure the animals are well fed and that the cows are milked and the chickens have had their eggs collected to be sold. Bessie died this morning, she was just a calf when he found me and I grew kind of attached to her. We will be eating her tonight.

The cowhide is for clothes. A jacket, a new pair of boots, and a pair of gloves. Spur didn't give me anything other than the hide though. The cow should be big enough to make the jacket and gloves but I may have to hold off on a new pair of boots. Half the hide will go into my clothes and he will keep the other half to use for his business.

As I approach the edge of town someone catches my eye. A girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a scar running down her face. Why I would even pay attention to her is a mystery.

Maybe it is because I am too tired to care, or I am in a better mood than most days because I know I will have warmer clothes for the coming winter. Whatever it was I did something I usually don't do to strangers. I waved.

OOC: I am not all that great at this yet but I'll do the best I can.

What do I want? Great I think I pissed her off, I think as I nervously scratch the back of my head, a pretty difficult feat to accomplish while trying to balance a cow hide. Her blue eyes paired with the scowl on her face reminds me of lightning during a storm. Old man spur would would tell me, between working me to death and drinking, that I should try to make friends. Seeing that he doesn't seem to have any I was confused as to why he would say that to me. I don't even think he really cares that much for me, he just keeps me around because I am the cheapest labor he is going to find.

Its not that hard, He would say. Just smile and wave. Simple gestures like that can go a long way. That idiot! Something tells me she is not the smiley type.

I think about just turning around and walking away but that may irritate her even more. Why do I care? Its not like I know her. Not personally anyway. I am sure I have seen her around school at some point. Or have I? I am not very good at keeping track of people but I have the feeling I would remember someone like this if I saw her before. As I consider my options I realize I will have to walk by her to get to the leather worker. Blowing her off now would not be wise, especially since I am the one that initiated contact.

Ok stay calm. Just think of something smart to say. My palms start to sweat and I open and close my mouth a few times like a goldfish. Just say something!

"Do you like cows?"

Damn it! I told you to say something smart!

She's walking over here! That's a good thing right? I ponder this as she approaches. She seems very interested in the dead cow hide I am carrying as she starts to pat it. She seems to like it. And her response... maybe it wasn't such a stupid question after all.

Now that she is closer I can see that she is really pretty. The scar she has on her face makes her look a little more intimidating but it hardly takes away from her beauty. Maybe I should complement her. My face starts too feel warm What the hell am I doing?

I look into her eyes as she examines the hide. They lost the edge they had a few moments ago. Her scowl softens, and she looks like she is thinking deeply about something. It could just be me but I swear I detect a hint of sorrow.

"Did it die or did you kill it?"

I sigh. "She got sick and died. It would be wasteful to kill one at this age." All the milk, cheese, and butter we could have had... its a shame really.
"We will be eating some of her tonight. Spur er... I mean my guardian gets the good stuff. I will probably get the stuff the butcher doesn't want."

There really was no point in going that far I suppose. I should be thankful that I am getting more food than I usually get. Now that I think of it her being here is sort of strange. This is known to be one of the more dangerous areas of the shopping district. Not many people come here without good reason and yet here she is, completely alone as far as I can tell.

"What brings you here?"

OOC: Its fine. I am busy too lol.

I crack a smile as I watch the wind blow her hair into her face. It was pretty funny.

"My Uncle is super lazy and my sister is like little miss perfect."

I frown slightly. I always get annoyed when I hear about people being lazy. In this district it is usually either work or starve. Unless you are a former tribute that was lucky enough to survive a trip to hell and back laziness means you are just being a burden on someone else. It is hard enough to make a living here as it is. She mentions her sister being perfect. Somehow I detect a hint of what I can only assume is jealousy. I wish I could relate to her but hell I don't think I have any siblings. I never met my parents. When I ran from the orphanage, Spur took me in. On paper he is my guardian but I don't think he sees me as a son and I can't picture him as a father. He is more like an employer.

"I don't like lazy people," I murmur in a low and quiet voice. I think about what she said about her sister being "perfect".

"I am sure your sister has flaws like everyone else. Even if she was perfect, I would rather meet someone with flaws. Perfection is uniform, flaws are unique."

Hmm. When did I get so insightful? I hope I didn't make her feel insulted. She looks like she would be difficult to handle if she got really angry.

There is something I have wondered for a long time, about families and siblings, mainly siblings, When I was younger I would watch kids play. One thing that always confused me was watching 2 siblings fighting with each other and then having one defend the other when another kid tried to pick on one of them. A bond like that makes no sense to me. Wouldn't it be easier to let the other kid pick on your brother or sister for you? Weren't you two just yelling at each other and pulling each others hair a minute ago? I remember thinking about this.

Do siblings love each other or hate each other? I would like to know. So without thinking of the possible implications of my words I ask her,

"Do you love your sister?"

She starts yelling at me after I ask her my stupid question. I flinch and listen to her. Then she starts to walk away in a huff. She gets about 5 steps from me and stops. She turns around still furious and says

"See this scar on my face? I got that protecting her! Do you understand that!. I let my parents die! All I cared about is that she's safe! Now I have to live with dumb Uncle Eddy who doesn't care if I'm dead or alive! But all I care about is that she is safe!"

She starts crying.

"And today I was trying to help her to have more fu fun and a taw taught her how to es escape through the window! Now she's pro probably lost and alone and it's all ma my fall fault !"

Crap Crap Crap! She is crying! I upset her! What do I do now? Spur, you moron! I don't know how to deal with this. What kind of guardian are you, not teaching me how to deal with someone when they are upset?

I feel awful. I watch her fall onto the road as she cries hysterically. Ok, calm down. I can fix this. First I need to calm her down... but how? I hardly know her... I don't even know her name now that I think about it. She seemed to calm down when she was petting my cow hide when I irritated her before... I think I know what to do.

I have never had to comfort anyone before. I have seen people comfort each other several times though. I am a little nervous but lets face it, I don't think I can make things any worse.

I take the cowhide off my back and i drape it over her shoulders to keep her warm. Thats not good enough, I think to myself. What else can I do? Oh wait. I know.

I kneel down so I am right in front of her. Then I embrace her. Right when I pull her close I kiss her forehead like I have seen parents do with their children when they are really upset. That always seems to work.

"I'm so sorry" I tell her. "I had no idea. Please don't cry. We will find her, I promise."

I feel a bit guilty promising that to her. I don't even know what her sister looks like, let alone if we will even be able to find her. All I know is that I upset her and I want to at least try to set things right.

After she calms down she introduces herself to me and stands up. Demi huh? As I ponder her name I notice a younger girl watching us, well younger than the one in front of me at least. She looks closer to my age. Blonde hair, pointed ears... I look at her then back to Demi, then back to her. It couldn't be... I feel a sense of relief come over me. That is soon replaced with panic when I realize what I was just doing a moment earlier. Oh crap! Please tell me she didn't see that! My face starts to feel warm again.

"You love me that much?

I see Demi turn around so fast it almost makes me dizzy.

Mia!

She grabs on to the other girl so tightly I don't know if she is hugging her or trying to squeeze the life out of her. I am tempted to think the other one when she starts trying to pull away. Should I stop this? I decide against it and look at Mia apologetically.

I watch Demi let her go and Mia has to spin to regain her balance. They continue to talk and they hug again.

The scene is very touching. I still don't quite understand the relationship siblings have, I doubt I ever will. Now I am at a loss. I feel like an intruder as I watch the two of them interacting with each other. If I slipped away now they probably wouldn't notice.

At least introduce yourself first. I think to myself. I don't want to interrupt them so I decide maybe I will leave it for another time. I turn around and walk away... or at least I would have but I make it 3 steps before I realize that I came to the market for a reason.

That "reason" is still draped over Demi's shoulders. I have no choice do I? I just hope Mia didn't see what was going on earlier... or if she did I hope she isn't as intimidating as her sister when she is angry.

Nervously I approach the pair. "The name is Flint. Now about that cowhide..."

Lol its ok. I'm in no hurry.