A Journey Always Begins With The First Step

[Nayt]

Had the subject not been changed at Hroth's behest, Kei had it in mind to note the frequency in which she camped out and slept in barns. It was a little more common than she might have preferred several years ago, but sometimes it was tough to afford a room, and sometimes it was tough to get a job; what money she might have during those times would have to go to food or especially something to carry food in. She didn't seem to have such a thing at the moment. She was kind of bare; all she must have had here were the clothes on her back, which were relatively filthy. She, herself, was relatively filthy. On the road as she was, though, baths came only when the opportunity presented itself, and it just hadn't yet. There weren't any streams or lakes far enough away from civilization just yet.

Nonetheless, she'd slept in her fair share of barns, and she'd actually be willing to do it again. If Mrs. Fields wasn't going to budge with the room price, she might just do that.

The conversation, though Hroth might not have been trying for it, moved to something Kei was less fond of talking about. Obligation, debt, and all that jazz--those were just usual experiences in her life, things she made good on with relative frequency. Jobs, though . . . especially in the condition of that guy back there . . .

"Him? He's a pig."

Kei scoffed at the thought, even grumbled a bit. Her arms were folded over her chest already, and she tightened and tensed her arms as she thought about it.

"Apparently his son's moving out, right? Fine, sure. We talked about it; I wanted to just move all his son's stuff for him. No, you want to know what he wanted?" Kei was, at that point, fuming, "He wanted to hire me as a you know what for something like, God, I don't know, a house warming gift?"

The fumes died quickly though, and she wound up looking away with a look of hurt. There was a fair chance this wasn't the first time this happened before.

[adi]

Hrothgar had opened his mouth to object upon hearing Kei's first insult of the man, though he closed it immediately. The man didn't even look overweight. Hell, Hrothgar probably weighed more then him! Instead, he continued to listen with a eyebrows knitting down in concern, knowing that no good usually came from interrupting a woman while she fumed.

What Kei continued to explain made his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. He whipped his head around to look back at the man, a half-amused, half-confused look on his face. "People still do that sort of thing?" he asked, his opinion of the proposition as ridiculous was obvious in his tone. He raised a hand to scratch at his nose and hide the small half-smile on his face. His action and ton displayed his general naivety as to how the world worked outside of fiction and the scholarly class quite well.

"I mean, not that you aren't pretty or anything. O-or that you are too pretty, like you are trying to hard like a prostitute might.. or uh," Hrothgar fumbled. He couldn't imagine what sort of trouble women get into, or how often they are taken advantage of by the less moral citizens of the world, and how lucky he was to be born the gender he was. He just wanted to assure Kei that he did not think of her as an object or prize like that man seemed to.

"His son must be a loser, is what I guess I'm trying to say! If he has to have his father buy him some uh. Company," Hrothgar blurted, waving his hand as if it would waft the look of hurt off Kei's face. "A-And if you really wanted to move crates for him as a job, I could pretend I'm your brother-in-law or something?"

[Nayt]

". . . you'd be surprised," Kei whispered at Hroth's initial inquiry; she still looked away with an expression of mild hurt, even though he valiantly tried to make her feel better.

Kei could only frown somewhat as Hroth tried to explain his thoughts. She didn't know if he was trying to compliment her here or what, but-- well-- she just didn't know. In the end, it seemed he was just trying to say that the guy's son must have been a loser, and that was an easy sentiment to follow. Kei nodded somewhat. She'd like to think of both the son and his twerp father as losers. She only finally made eye contact when Hroth proposed a possible solution to this problem of joblessness.

Protest was the initial response. She wanted less to help that guy and more to break his nose. In fact, as much as she wasn't too fond of taking a job that required breaking someone's face, if someone were to give her a couple of gold coins to waltz up to that guy, rearrange his face for him, and maybe break his loser son's kneecaps, she'd be extremely tempted. Three gold coins and the job would be as good as done. It was likewise tempting, now that the thought came to mind, to look around to see if either of the two had any enemies.

They probably didn't, though, and she needed the money like something fierce, both for her own sustenance and for paying off her debt to Hroth, which was no doubt going to amount even more if Mrs. Fields was a truly vindictive and avarice stocked human being.

So, her features softened and she sulked with her shoulders as she resigned herself to this fate. Eye contact was broken in the process. With a sigh, she replied begrudgingly, "Y-yeah . . . brother-in-law, sure. Fine . . ."

[adi]

Hrothgar was no an expert at reading body language, but often enough actions were performed with such pronunciation even a fool would notice them. He immediately frowned after hearing Kei's sigh. Immediately he reached out and took his proposition back. "I mean, we don't have to."

"It was simply a suggestion. I don't mind helping, and you seemed rather upset," Hrothgar shrugged, feeling that his previous snicker was now weighing heavily between them. "I probably shouldn't have laughed, and I'm sorry for that. I just thought that... I don't know."

"I thought maybe it could be a bit of fun?" He rubbed at his chin, unsure of how to exactly explain. In any way he tried to explain it, it just made him seem like a jerk. Acting like a jerk was not exactly the first role he was taught to play in regards to women, and so he was conflicted. On one hand, it could be terribly fun. The scholar hadn't had a good bout of mischief-making in a very long time, since before he left for school. And on the other hand, Kei didn't seem very enthusiastic about it. If anything, she seemed put upon to have been caught in such a situation.

"I mean, wouldn't it put egg on his face to have a small guy like me get his goat about it? If we do it right, then not only will you get the job you were gunning for, but he'll regret ever messing with you."

[Nayt]

Truth be told, she hadn't actually thought that Hroth was being intentionally rude to her or anything of the like--the whole deal of sexism in this world just got her down sometimes. Kei traveled enough with the utmost self sufficiency that she felt capable of doing all kinds of work, including this, just as well as any man could.

"Well . . ." she trailed off.

It wasn't breaking the guy's nose, but that would've been illegal--or at least frowned upon. She didn't know if there was a local militia or law enforcement here or not. It was a small enough town that there might not have been--which meant it was a completely tribunal thing, and if that guy was well liked in town and she just walked up to him and beat the hell out of him without a word, that might get her hanged. But if the guy was provoked and then she broke his nose, and there were a couple of witnesses around . . .

While that was an unlikely scenario, Kei couldn't help but hope the worst could come out of this. At the very least, that man could be humiliated. Kei looked up from the ground and to Hrothgar once again, a telltale sign that she was a little more enthusiastic about the idea, now.

". . . okay," she smiled somewhat--which was at least much better than her previous expression of frowning or being tense in anger. She also sounded interested. "What's the plan?"

[adi]

Hrothgar grinned, happy to see his suggestion was favored. "Well, I don't really have one yet," he admitted with a small shrug. His hand began to rub his chin again. It was almost comical, a grand exaggeration of deviousness. "But first we have to come up with a believable story. If you're my sister-in-law, why are you traveling with me, and not your husband?"

"You're traveling with me because we both share the interest of books, and the book fair is quickly approaching," The scholars questions were rhetorical. He continued onwards immediately without leaving much of a pause, gesturing with his hands. It was straight up dishonesty, weaving lies like this. But for some reason, it didn't weigh on Hrothgar's conscious; this wasn't lying, this was being a storyteller. "Your husband, my older brother, has got business back home. Our uncle for which my older brother is named, and whom you never met, died recently. So he's staying home to organize the aftermath, regarding sorting out inheritance."

"We need to be from a place that is close, so that any threats of family offense will still work to scare, but far away enough for his knowledge of the place to be minimal at best. Some larger place would work well, a town or city proper. Smaller places like these tend to know all about each other through ridiculously close family ties," the redhead finally looked up from where he had been gesturing with his hands, vaguely accentuating the words he spoke. "That also leaves us to find a family name that fits, and a name for the brother and uncle to share. Any suggestions?"

[Nayt]

"Hm . . ."

Okay, that was good. Now Kei was extremely interested. He'd be able to tell, more than likely. She wasn't smiling so much as she was staring at him contemplatively. He hooked her quick when it all started to seem so deep. They weren't so different, in this respect.

"How about, um, either Forsinth or Ivernia? I've been to both; they're not too far from here." At least, they weren't too far by Kei's standards. As someone that had crossed an entire ocean, distance, for her, could all be relative; Hrothgar might not have thought a place like Ivernia was close enough to fit the concept he was going for, but Kei did. She moved on quickly. "And then, um, names. Hmmm . . ."

And now, to think up a last name. For a brief moment, she looked deep in thought. She stood with her arms folded over her chest and her eyes wandering somewhere past Hrothgar. Well, actually . . . they could have just made up a last name for themselves, but neither Kei nor Hrothgar were actually from around these parts. Their own last names would do just fine, but they'd have to agree on which last name to use.

"I think . . . either, um, your last name or mine would be fine," Kei reasoned as she focused on Hrothgar once again, "I might be from Algeroth, but, well, you know, we're not so far off, well, culturally. I guess as far as names go. Um . . . I hope I'm making sense."

Unfortunately, they didn't know eachother's last names.

[adi]

"Ivernia. More convincing, if I know the place," Hrothgar nodded, prodding the air before him as though there was an invisible map. It wasn't without a bit of hesitation that he offhandedly added, "And I'm very familiar with Iverina."

He chewed at the inside of his lip momentarily, weighing the decision on the topic of last names. There was probably a very low chance that word could ever travel all the way back to Ivernia over this small confrontation. If anything, it would buzz around Ceildh up until the book fair and die without having reached more then an outlying farm or postage checkpoint. But on the offhand that the news did travel all the way back to his hometown, it would probably still contain his full name somewhere in the distance-twisted tale. Rumors and hearsay had a way of only keeping the names intact, while allowing the details and exact situation open to exaggeration and inaccuracy.

"I think it would be best off if we used your last name if I still want to use Ivernia," he frowned, scratching at his temple. If his parents were to find out that he had dropped out of school to wander... he didn't wish to think about it. The etiquette and nuance-filled posturing of his family's status was one of the reasons he wished to drown himself with schoolwork in the first place. To have his only son's name floating around in a not-quite-positive light would probably upset Hrothgar's father terribly in both an personal and political level.

"I have family there, and I don't they would take kindly to me tarnishing the Reid name on the minuscule chance this somehow travels back to them."

[Nayt]

"My name's, um, my full name-- it's Kayli Narasc."

And she didn't like that name, either. She'd already said that before, actually--when she introduced herself either, she told them to just call her Kei, because it was vastly better than her full name.

"But please don't call me that," she added.

If they went with her last name, then her last name would be fine, but she really disliked the name Kayli. She'd been named after a mythological character, too. That was the worst part about it. Granted, it was what got her into reading when she was little, but still--scholars often didn't let her hear the end of it. Kayli was the name of the supposed first woman on Utopia-- Kayli and Dormon, the first human couple, according to Utopian Mythology, something which was fairly cultist until the End. Nowadays, it was growing in popularity, and just about everyone had heard the name Kayli. Hearing its origin time and time again was just unnerving.

Also, she sometimes imagined what it might be like to be one of two of the only people on the earth. It just felt impossible, for one, but also . . . weird. What if she didn't like that other person? Their potential for a species would be over rather quickly, were that the case.

But no matter . . .

"So, it's either Narasc of Ivernia or Reid of Forsinthe," she thought aloud. Kei scratched her chin in thought. "I don't know. I think either would be fine. We're too far from both places for anyone to be too familiar with. You know, um, they've all probably heard of them, just never been there. Probably don't know anyone from there, either. So either's good."

[adi]

"Ah, okay," Hrothgar nodded. He could understand the appeal of nicknames, though he had none himself. There wasn't exactly a nice way to shorten his name and still distance it enough from it's source. "I'm used to calling you Kei, anyway. But it's pretty."

"Narasc of Ivernia sounds good, we can use that," he said, repeating the name to himself a few times to get used to saying it. "So, there's really no need for me to change my first name, so we will be Hrothgar and Kei Narasc. We are from Ivernia for the bookfair. Your husband can't make it, due to family matters. He and our uncle share a name, which is?"

"Well, if I wanted to be old-fashioned and cliche about it they could be named Dormon," the scholar suggested, scratching at his chin again. "That's simple enough to remember, but suspiciously coincidental if you end up introducing yourself with your full name. Maybe a derivative of it or another one starting with a 'D'?"

[Nayt]

"Um . . . thanks," Kei whispered under her breath at Hroth's compliment. Though, he proceeded to try and make further use of the name and the myth attached to it--

Damnit. She was hoping for minimal references to that old story, but Kei supposed that it just couldn't be helped. Her name was an allusion to an old myth, so anyone that knew that old myth was going to reference it somehow. Still, that didn't make her any more fond of it . . .

"I-I suppose . . ."

Kei tried to restrain herself from sighing. She was all good with acting on fiction, but the first humans myth was really kind of bothersome for her. She didn't even like how it was written.

"But only if we don't use my full name," she added.

It was for the best. If she just went by Kei, no one would think anything of it. Dormon and Kei? That wouldn't sound quite as made up as Dormon and Kayli.

[adi]

Hrothgar offered an apologetic half-smile, noticing that she didn't seem quite pleased with the names. He would be the first to admit that he was socially awkward, but he still knew how people displayed small signs of annoyance or displeasure. Hell, most of his life was spent trying to hide those exact feelings from people around him. Still, it was best to keep the story simple and easy to remember.

"So," he inhaled, running through the story one last time. Pudgy fingers flicked up out of his fist as he covered the main points. It was obviously more for himself then for Kei. "Hrothgar and Kei Narasc of Ivernia, brother and wife to Dormand. Book fair. Sweet old Uncle Dorry kicked it, so it's just us. Okay. Got it."

The scholar peered around the corner at the man. He was paused in his work, rubbing his shoulder and probably complaining under his breath at the multitude of boxes still remaining. Hrothgar took a few steadying breaths, clenching and opening his fists, beginning to get into his character of an offended brother-in-law. His brows furrowed and he began to march with determination towards the man.

"A word, sir," Hrothgar spat out the title, as if the man had no right to any sort of politeness. He gripped the man on the shoulder roughly, or as roughly as a pampered scholar could manage. It was no wonder that con men were still about, he thought briefly. It was surprisingly easy to act in a place where you were a stranger and you had no reputation to hold up or tarnish.

[Nayt]

"Yep, about that," Kei replied in agreement.

When Hrothgar turned the corner, Kei followed. She was feeling a little pumped about this, now. She was far from against lying when it came to payback--and this was the best thing they could do without breaking the man's nose, probably. Maybe he'd at least be afraid that Hrothgar or someone else might do it for her.

The man had just set down a crate on his own; it wasn't too large, and certainly couldn't be that heavy, but he was winded by it--and with good reason. He was an older fellow; he had to be in his mid to late fifties, the type that had his share of unshakable beliefs and values--one of which must have entailed that women couldn't work. He was graying at his beard and the hair on the top of his head, and was hunched over by the time Hrothgar got to him. He twisted around to face the man once he was grabbed, and the older, frail man regarding Hroth with a confounded stare.

"Can I . . ." the man was gruff, but not aggressive; he sounded confused more than anything else. After all, it wasn't everyday that someone grabbed him by the shoulder and addressed him with the utmost aggression. It might not even seem like he realized that he'd done anything wrong. ". . . help you?"

[Nayt]

As frail as the old man seemed, Kei was right in her judgment of him; he highly doubted a woman's ability to work, and during their conversation--which began as somewhat rough and rugged--he expressed these doubts and sincere unwillingness to hire "a woman to do a man's job." What he regarded as a "woman's job" was decidedly horrid, and the thought of it made Kei want to break his skull like a coconut. Nonetheless, the interrogation turned into a conversation, and the old man inevitably hired them. With the utmost reluctance, of course.

Getting the job was difficult. Working the job was even worse. The man's son was absolutely horrible. It wasn't that he doubted Kei's ability to work, it was that he was looking forward to her doing a different kind of job than . . . well, helping him move. The whole thing pissed Kei off to no end.

But she got through it.

At least someone did.

By the end of it all, Kei was perfectly fine. She was used to this kind of hard labor--and moving from one house to another was definitely strenuous. Especially furniture. That was the worst. Kei had been doing this work for awhile to make money from town to town. It was the easiest money to come by, really. People always needed help with physical labor. Dock towns were amazing for that. If this little place had only been on the ocean, she'd have had no troubles finding work! Nonetheless, her partner in the job was much newer to this whole traveling and hard labor thing . . .

"Hey, you gonna make it?" she asked on their way back to their room. The sun was already going down then. Any hopes of meeting Aiden in the library were probably lost.

[adi]

"Going to make what?" Hrothgar's eyebrow furrowed in confusion. Did he offer to make Kei something earlier? If hoped he hadn't, though he couldn't begin to remember much before this morning and would hate to break his word. Then with a slow realization he understood that Kei was not asking for him to craft anything.

"Oh," he shrugged, wincing at the dull pain of overworked muscles that creeped through his shoulders and back as he attempted to straighten his posture. "Uhm. Yeah. Just don't quite have the hang of lifting things without pulling something, somewhere."

The fabric of his shirt rubbed abrasively against the new strip of sunburned skin on the back of his neck, making him pull his lips down with a small hiss. The idea of an inn bed was quite possibly more inviting than it had been after yesterday's long walk, but he dreaded the dead weight feel of sore muscles he would feel the next day.He fell silent for a few more steps, chewing over his words.

"You don't think Aiden got into any trouble, do you?" he asked, gaze returning back to the ground in front of him. "I guess I didn't expect that my inexperience would make that job take as long as it did. Though I guess he couldn't get into much trouble if he was just sitting in the library like he said he was going to."