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Post by Luna Broadblade on Jun 28, 2017 12:26:36 GMT -5
Kay startled a little at the paw on her shoulder. Looking up, she caught Jan’s smile. She returned it. Jan was a nice mouse. Without a word, Kay re-hid the little knife. Most adults didn’t like her having it out, and it might make Jan more comfortable to have it gone. Though, he was looking more comfortable already, now that his little wooden mouse was back with him.
“Tell ya what… tomorrow, couldja help me pick up sticks so I can carve some good guys?"
Kay fell back on the bed, so that she could stare up at the ceiling. The shadows were getting deeper, which meant the world was getting lighter. In a couple hours, the Sisters and Brothers would be coming to get the dibbuns out of bed. Would she have returned by then? This bed had become awfully comfortable in the last few minutes.
Tomorrow… Did she want to go to sleep before tomorrow? If she didn’t sleep, would it still count as tomorrow or would it be one really long day?
None of those questions answered Jan’s question. And Kay should answer soon, before the silence grew awkward and Jan took back his invitation.
“I’d like that,” Kay replied after a moment’s thought. “Though we should make something scary too: To scare away bad things…. What are bad things scared of?”
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Django
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Post by Django on Jun 28, 2017 16:22:21 GMT -5
“I’d like that. Though we should make something scary too: To scare away bad things…. What are bad things scared of?”
Jan stifled a yawn, rubbing his mouse's nose at a slower pace. It was probably a good idea to get at least a nap in before the sun rose, or else his repeating habit could get worse. It always got worse when he was tired. Well, extra tired.
"Bad things," he said, too sleepy to wonder if he'd repeated her voluntarily or not. "Um. Swords? Lots of 'em are scared o' Martin's sword, right?" That's what the old stories said. "We could make a wooden one, and paint it, so they'll think it's real."
Django didn't personally know any vermin, so he was hard-pressed to think of what they were scared of. He was scared of lots of things, but mostly those were just feelings, concepts, like abandonment and cute girls his age. He looked at Kay, laying down on the mattress. He wondered if she was asleep yet until he saw her eyes moving about. He wondered if he was going to fall asleep before she did.
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Post by Luna Broadblade on Jun 28, 2017 20:42:57 GMT -5
Jan was tired. Kay could tell. He was yawning, and his hands were slowing down. Soon he would be asleep. Maybe Kay would be too. The nightmare was long gone, and Vig was looking extra alert with all the attention she’d received. So it was probably safe to sleep again.
"Um. Swords? Lots of 'em are scared o' Martin's sword, right? We could make a wooden one, and paint it, so they'll think it's real."
Kay hummed in agreement. It was best not to talk around sleeping beasts, and Jan sounded like he’d soon be one of those. But not talking was super hard. Kay had spent a long time not talking, but that hadn’t been normal. It didn’t feel normal, not wanting to talk.
“Vig’ll keep watch,” Kay whispered, unable to contain the thought. She glanced quickly over at Jan, checking if he was asleep, or upset because he had been asleep. It wouldn’t do to upset Jan now. Especially when she needed him to explain to the Sisters why she wasn’t in her bed tomorrow. If he was asleep though, that was okay. She'd just keep blinking at the ceiling, and if sleep came, it would come quickly. Between one blink and the next.
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Django
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Post by Django on Jun 28, 2017 22:32:01 GMT -5
"Vig'll keep watch."
Jan nodded, unable to stop a full yawn this time. It was time for a nap. He didn't know much about children, but he knew they needed their sleep. Kay suffered nightmares. His mother had suffered nightmares, he'd been told. Was her face haunted by them? Kay's wasn't. Not yet.
Focus. "Can you sleep? I don' wanna sleep 'nless you can," he murmured, his head lolling to one side on an old pillow. "Mm, safety is importan'." That was most definitely a repeat. He was too sleepy to keep a harness on his lips. His eyes fluttered open and closed. He had to be responsible and watch the little one. Who would come looking for them this far up in the abbey? He had to make sure he woke up soon, so he could take her back downstairs.
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Post by Luna Broadblade on Jun 29, 2017 16:15:29 GMT -5
"Can you sleep? I don' wanna sleep 'nless you can,"
Kay hummed in response. No reason Jan should think she was more awake than she was. He looked sleepy.
"Mm, safety is importan'."
She hummed again… And then hummed a little more. What was that song teacher Miskal taught them the other day? How’d it go? Up, then down… softly, ‘cause it’s a lullaby… Think about the lyrics, and what they mean. The pond, and the fishing, and the things to be done tomorrow. Up, then down, then steady for a bit… No actual words though, ‘cause she didn’t remember them and neither did Vig. Just steady sound…Up note…
And then, between one note and the next, one blink and the next, Kay was asleep.
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Django
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Post by Django on Jun 29, 2017 17:21:13 GMT -5
Kay's sweet humming drifted through the paling night air. His eyes closed the moment before she stopped. With a heavy exhale, he sunk into sleep. ____________________________________
Morning came with worries and sleepy children. "Oh, where is that little scamp?" Sister Lyla overheard Brother Matthew's cry as she passed the Dibbuns' rooms. The old hedgehog stopped in the doorway and looked in, concerned.
"Who's missing?" she asked. In the midst of several yawning little ones, a frantic mole was scratching his head with a large digging claw. He turned to the old hedgehog and let out a sigh.
"It's young Kay," he said. "She likes to wander in the night. I never know where she's going to be in the morning."
Sister Lyla couldn't resist a chuckle, and at the incredulous look Brother Matthew gave her, she sniffed it away. "Sorry, Brother, it's just, my previous ward, Django, did the same thing. Still does. Who knows where that boy is?" She shifted her carved walking stick to the other paw, and held out her free one to the mole.
"Come, let's go find them."
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Django awoke to a faint voice calling his name. His sleepy ears twitched, lazily catching the noise through the door that was barely cracked. His eyes fluttered open, sunlight pouring into the room. He straightened one stiff leg, and felt another body on the mattress.
All at once, he was awake. Well, mostly awake. He sat up, saw the little mousemaid and her doll. Sat up too fast. He blinked several times, trying to get sleepy vision into focus.
"Jan? You up here?" Sister Lyla's familiar voice reached him from out in the hallway. Crap. Only now was he realizing he should've taken Kay back to her bed last night. Well, that just proved what he already knew. He was very bad at dealing with kids.
"Yeah, in here, Sister," he said, voice hoarse from sleep. The old hedgehog and a mole entered. Jan finished sitting up, dangling his feet over the edge of the bed. Brother Matthew, as Jan now remembered him, took a breath to speak, but the mouse put a finger to his lips and indicated Kay. "Be gennle, please. She had a rough night."
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Post by Luna Broadblade on Jun 29, 2017 18:04:19 GMT -5
Kay blinked open her eyes slowly, her tired brain taking a moment to process. A mouse, a mole and a hedgehog… In a moment she had names to faces, and then she was wide awake. Brother Matthew was looking at her sternly. Obviously she hadn’t wandered back in time for roll call. Sleep had crept up on her again when she wasn’t looking.
She glanced at Jan. He looked nervous. She looked back at the Brother and Sister. Clearly they were the ‘cause of it. She looked back to Jan, and couldn’t resist giving him some advice a little late.
“We should have made a break for it ‘fore they came in.”
“Now none of that young lady,” Brother Matthews told her sternly. Evidently he was still displeased about that time she’d dove for the door while he thought she was cornered. He hadn’t expected her to make a run for it. Those had been a fun two hours, leading him on a chase through the Orchard. Especially when she’d climbed up that tree and watched him go in circles.
Getting caught was less fun.
“You are missing your breakfast,” Brother Matthews informed her. Still with his stern voice: It seemed like she only ever got to hear his stern voice. “All the other dibbuns are ready. Don’t you want to eat with them?”
His voice had gone all soft and sensible during that last part. Kay narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. Obviously he was trying to trick her. Well, he wasn’t the only one with a soft and sensible voice.
“Mr. Jan said we’d go collect sticks to carve good guys with,” she sagely informed the two interlopers. Sitting up, she gave them a stern look. “You wouldn’t want to make him a liar, now would you?
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Django
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Post by Django on Jun 29, 2017 20:59:41 GMT -5
“We should have made a break for it ‘fore they came in.”
Jan let out half a laugh and nodded to his companion. Sleep overtook them before trouble caught them. Of course, Jan was now past the point where his night wanderings didn't end up with scoldings, but he wasn't going to tell Kay that.
“You are missing your breakfast. All the other dibbuns are ready. Don’t you want to eat with them?”
Breakfast. That sounded good. Jan liked food. He stood on the floor, placed both paws on the small of his back, and stretched. A clatter alerted him to his little wooden mouse landing on the stone. He yawned and picked it up, sticking it back into his pocket.
"Mr. Jan said we’d go collect sticks to carve good guys with. You wouldn’t want to make him a liar, now would you?"
Oh. That's right. He did still want to do that, but there was a pit in his stomach that required his attention. He nodded again with another laugh, sliding his paws into his pockets.
"I did say, uh, that," he said, withering a little under Brother Matthew's stern gaze. He cleared his throat. "But, um. I can't carve good guys without breakfast. They won't be good... good guys without food." He caught Sister Lyla's smile. "Also, uh, you need food, too. You c'n eat with me, if ya like."
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Post by Luna Broadblade on Jun 30, 2017 17:42:52 GMT -5
" But, um. I can't carve good guys without breakfast. They won't be good... good guys without food… Also, uh, you need food, too. You c'n eat with me, if ya like."
Kay looked at Jan. Thwas was a pretty reasonable suggestion, and it was agreeing with the other two. Was he trying to trick her like Brother Matthews? Hmm… Now that he mentioned it, her stomach was feeling pretty empty. Especially since she hadn’t got up and started running immediately like that one time. She looked back at Brother Matthews.
“I wanna eat with Jan,” she told him. After a moment she remembered her manners. “Please.”
At first Brother Matthews looked like he was going to object. Then, Sister lyla whispered something into his ear and he seemed to relax.
“Alright,” the vole relented at last. “I’ll allow it, because I trust Django to look after you today. Perhaps it will alleviate some of your night time wandering.”
Kay had to stifle a snort at that. There was little doubt she’d still wander at night. After a year, it was pretty much her nature. That wouldn’t help her case though. Instead, she looked back at Jan and flashed her widest smile.
"We're gonna have fun today!"
"Only for today mind you," Brother Matthews interjected sternly. Kay looked back to him, smile fading slightly. "There's still lessons for you to take, and some chores to be done."
"Yes Brother Matthews," Kay replied obediently. Grabbing Vigil, she stood up, then looked at Jan, patiently waiting for him to lead the way.
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Django
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Post by Django on Jun 30, 2017 18:27:56 GMT -5
Jan had a faint inkling that he just might be the liaison between Kay and her caretakers, but he brushed that away. She wasn't his responsibility, just a nice little mousemaid he'd promised to play with today. No need to panic. He wasn't becoming a father.
"I think there's two bowls of porridge with your names on them," said Sister Lyla with a twinkle in her eye. "Maybe, if you're good, I can ask the friar for some fresh biscuits, eh? Come along." The old hedgehog shuffled to the door, a flustered Brother Matthew following in her wake.
Jan looked down at Kay. That expectant expression foreshadowed much trouble in his future. Ah, well. Kay was a night wanderer, like him. They understood each other, and if there was anything a child needed, it was someone who understood them.
"Let's eat," he said, leading them out of the room. He closed the door on the dusty dorm, knowing they'd both be back before they knew it.
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