View Flat HTML
View Metadata
Search Post
Ranara and her little daughter Azabel move to Urtho's Tower when the latter can say six words ("up", "mama", "milk", "no", "now", and "please") and hasn't started to walk yet. Ranara sets up to teach little children to read, ones who don't have evident Gifts yet - Ranara herself has Mindspeech, is all, with about a classroom's worth of range. Azabel sits in on classes, worn on her mother's back or later plopped in a corner with toys or, when she's only four, plopped in a corner with a book, younger than the other kids in the class. When Azabel has in fact sat through her mother's curriculum she is turned somewhat loose, to walk very carefully up and down and around the Tower, exploring.
smol bell in urtho's tower
+ Show First Post
small-and-alone
"Mmm. It hadn't even occurred to me that it might be a jibe at you. Uh, is that the sort of thing that most people, who...know how people things work...would realize right away?"
anticipating_night
"I don't know, actually. Most people probably aren't thinking as frequently about how many times I've fallen in the river as me."
small-and-alone
Ma'ar nods, looking a little relieved. "- Anyway, it sounds like maybe she was saying mean things about you," he makes a face, "but not sneaky mean things about me?"
small-and-alone
"Well, I feel like that's a good sign anyway! If I can show up somewhere and make friends with people."
small-and-alone
Ma'ar eats for a little while in silence, mulling on whether there's anything to be done - well, anything that makes sense for him personally to do - on the problem of fellow villagers possibly making mean implicitly-about-Azabel comments.
"- Is there anything you think I could've done better?" he asks, eventually.
small-and-alone
"I mean, I guess not, but you're - calibrated? On how to be sociable with - people who grew up in the same class as you? And I'm not."
small-and-alone
"I'm glad."
Ma'ar gets up to put away his supper plate, and yawns. "- I guess I should head to bed soon. Goodnight?"
small-and-alone
Ma'ar washes his plate, and smiles at Azabel, and then heads out to the backyard to sleep.
In the morning he politely follows whatever routine is prompted. He's not up that early but he does mention to Charl that he would be interested in joining on a fishing trip at some point during his stay. He's content to read quietly through the afternoon, again, and then go see if dancing is happening tonight.
anticipating_night
Aza has patients in town, and sees them on this day; she's not around except for meals. There's dancing again, clouds threatening but not raining.
small-and-alone
Ma'ar attends the dancing again. He tries very hard to dance well, and can manage it a little better after the previous night's practice.
Eliana congratulates him when he gets through a dance that speeds up past the point when half the townies have dropped out.
small-and-alone
Ma'ar has not failed to notice all the people dropping out! He's beaming at her and so so pleased with himself.
(Half because he managed it without reading anyone's mind to get cues, but of course he doesn't say that.)
When there are fewer than six people left in the dance it's over and they start a new one.
The clouds mean there's too little light sooner this time, which might be why they settled on especially exhausting dances. Eliana doesn't go home right away.