{Belrea} A Work in Progress {Aedeline & Gabhan}

[MissMisnomer]

A Work in Progress

Under the passing shade of a cloud filled sky, a butterfly landed on Aedeline’s nose, the pacing of its miniature legs rousing the little girl from the light sleep she had slipped into. Her fingers came up to scratch at her nose, sending the insect fluttering away. She blinked her eyes to clear away the cobwebs of sleep clinging to her brain, sitting up as she yawned.

How long had she been napping?

She’d only laid down for a little bit, just to pass the time while she waited. But the grass was so nice and cool under the warm sun, and the animals in the pasture were as gentle as always, ignoring her while she slept. She squinted down the stone wall along the perimeter of their property, making out the shape of two people working on repairing a spot in the grain silo that had started to collapse-

“Oh no!” she chirped, getting to her feet quickly.

She ran over across the grass, a few livestock nonchalantly getting out of her way as she passed. However, the closer she got, the more she slowed down, stalling a stone’s throw away from the dark skinned boys at work. Her breath came in big gulps as she rubbed at her throat, taking a hesitant step to hide partially behind a hooved bovine.

She peeked out from over its spine at the small cluster of youths, swallowing.

“H-hi guys,” she called quietly. “I was...going to be here when you came. But I...fell asleep.”

Her attention moved to the bulkier of the bunch. She waved tentatively with a small smile.

“Hi, Gabby.”

(1/10)  

[scarlett arbuckle]

MissMisnomer

You would think that having grown up in Thelle, Gabhan would be tired to death of the countryside, and its oppressively expansive fields, packed to the brim with ridiculously efficient crop formations or peacefully grazing beasts. However, as Gabhan got older and his younger siblings began their apprenticeships into the family business, his days had been spent more on a pendulum-like schedule that swung between the heavier duty work of cutting stone at the nearby quarry or manning the transportation lines of goods to and from Hafelle, then towards more 'clerical' pursuits such as sitting with his father, nearly bored to tears with paperwork and overly serious discussions of profit margins and cost saving measures.

If you asked his father, he should be glad not to take as many house calls; if you asked his brothers, it was just their father trying to find Gabhan's niche in the family business. 'It sure as heck ain't skilled labor, that's for sure.' His eldest brother had joked.

But this farm was different; Theo was ... if not friends with Gabhan's father, Crighton, then he was at least a good acquaintance, as you had to be when living in a small town together. The connection between their families must have gone back generations - at least longer than could be actively remembered, and so it was the sort of job that should be handled by more adept hands, and not the potentially blundering work of a fledgeling stonemason. ('But you still decided to send Gabby? Really?) So it was decided, rather unofficially once Crighton had waved them on their way with their tools and supplies, that Gabhan would do the preperation, and leave the delicate work to his older brother Teaghan.

For Gabhan there was another reason to come to this old farm. One that, as it happened, scuttled behind a bovine close by, composing herself for a moment until she greeted them. Gabhan gracefully pretended not to notice until she made herself known. He was settled on his haunches, holding a deep bucket infront of him, one arm nearly submerged to the elbow in chalky white plaster, which he was mixing by hand. "Oh, hey! Don't worry 'bout it, I had faith you'd come say hello soon enough!" He greeted with a crooked smile, pausing his mixing briefly. Teaghan, behind him, spared her a quick glance and a wave, then turned studiously back to his work, laying bricks in the worn out hole in the silo. A thick cloth of hide had been stretched between the grain, half spilling out, and the setting bricks, though quite a bit of musty grain had had to be swept from it, first, and gone over with a fine tooth comb for contaminants.

"Must've been dreamin' real hard, with all the racket we made chippin' earlier!"  

[MissMisnomer]

“Oh, umm, I didn't think I was dreaming that hard? But maybe I was, it seemed like an awful short nap, though…” she mumbled, twiddling her fingers together. “I kinda remember there was a giant fish in one of my dreams, but he was flying, so that was a little strange. But it was really pretty, like a rainbow…it let me ride on its back for a bit while we flew over the fields…”

The creature she was hiding behind took a step forward, hankering for a particular patch of grass. Aedeline moved with it, watching their work with open curiosity.

“How did you get all the stuff to stay in there, didn't it want to fall out when you made the hole?”

(2/10)  

[scarlett arbuckle]

MissMisnomer

While most would brush away his simple questions as small talk, it was sweet that Aedeline instead began to mumble explanations. Had he made her nervous? Gabby had paused in his stirring, only to jump and continue the swirling motions thanks to a nudge of his brother's foot. The plaster was getting thicker, now, so each motion served to burn the muscles of his shoulder.

"Oh yeah? And you weren't scared at being that high up?" He whistled, as if impressed. He didn't care for high up places, himself, but... that wasn't really something he needed to share with a kid.

At her questioning though, Teaghan grunted and shot an impatient look to Gabhan. Gabby ignored him. "Yeah, it did! Your uncle helped us with a few bags, so we could catch some of it - and the birds cleaned up the rest for us nice and quick."

"Yes, sure, tell the youngling all about how you messed up." Teaghan drawled, pausing in his setting to drag his arm across his forehead. He was slim, compared to his brother - paler than Gabhan's dark bronze. His knuckles were somewhat scuffed from working with the bricks and stone of the silo, the fingers somewhat stained with the setting mortar.

Gabby's mouth twitched and he rounded on his brother, nearly sloshing the bucket with plaster onto himself - though he was able to catch it with a hasty lunge before he did so. "Hey! How 'bout you shut your face, and put down bricks faster -- I TOLD you I shoulda started mixin' later, the bricks ain't gonna set before the plaster's done!"

[2/10]  

[MissMisnomer]

Hearing his sharp whistle, Aedeline's cheeks colored happily as she grinned. She hadn't meant to brag or anything, but his apparent approval was validating, nonetheless. The dream had not been a scary one, quite the opposite. Being up in the sky looking down at everything while they quickly flew along like the wind itself…

It would be amazing to be able to do that in real life someday.

But that was not the sort of thing someone like her would be capable of participating in, not with the way things were.

Though that was hardly something she should be worried about at the moment, not when the boys were starting to bicker. Her fingers curled up into little fists that clenched at the skirt of her dress, stepping out from behind her hiding place.

“But you didn't lose everything, so it's okay! I'm sure stuff would have fallen out no matter what, that's just how it works. We can use the grain in the bags to make some nice cakes, so it's not getting wasted or anything. And if you hadn't come to fix it, then the whole thing would have broken, and it would have all leaked out anyways,” she stated, emboldened by the defensive tone in Gabhan’s response.

But then that meant both the boys were now looking at her. Her lips pinched into a small pucker, touching her toes together as she glanced away.

“B-besides…I bet you made the birds really happy…they might sing an extra special song today just to thank you…”

(3/10)  

[scarlett arbuckle]

MissMisnomer

Ugh... what a cute little kid. This was why Gabhan liked coming here - the little sprout didn't seem to have noticed how full of it he was, and besides that she just got so excited about talking to visitors, it was hard not catch some energy from her. Transforming her almost shy smile to a toothy grin was just icing on the cake, so to speak.

Though, that being said, his happy mood was quickly quashed when Teaghan butt his ugly face in - the mood soured, and Gabhan resorted to grumbling under his breath, at least for the long, awkward moment where the brothers turned their backs on eachother. Teaghan hastened his work, the scraping of his tool against the brick nerve wracking - Gabhan was just thankful that the little sprite had seen it fit to break the silence once again.

"That's right - though, I'm sure they'll sing extra sweet for you anyway, kiddo." He agreed warmly. If only everyone could be so positive! He pulled his arm, finally, from the concoction, standing with a wince, due to the burn of a cramp in his leg from squatting so long, scraping what liquid he could from his forearm back into the bucket. "Maybe, if we have enough time--"

"Gab." Teaghan interrupted. The younger of the two blinked, but set the pot down, shuffling close to look at what his brother was pointing out. His face instantly darkened, cursing under his breath before he could catch himself. As the weight of the new bricks continued to be built up, it was clear that the base of the silo, underneath, must have been damaged somehow, the plaster beneath where they were working had started to warp and crack. The brothers exchanged a long look. This type of fix meant more tools - more bricks, more supplies, and more importantly they needed to empty the silo, not just by a few sack fulls.

Clearing his throat, Gabhan turned back to Aedeline, drawing his arm against his workman's apron to try and whipe off more of the sticky plaster. "Hey - you up for helpin' me hunt down your uncle? You know where he'd be, about now?"