Unwanted (Rina-Lady!)

[shinigamikitsune]

Did he have any plans? It was safe to say that he didn't. So he shook his head some and murmured softly. "I... I don't h-have an-ny wh-wh-where to g-g-go...." He'd been a slave for 500 years, and it sounded as though this new master was just going to set him free? That thought terrified StarFire more then anything else at the moment.

He looked down at the bowl and pushed it away a little bit. He was full now, and grateful that it wasn't something that was half rotten already. He wrapped his arms around himself, trembling a little at the thought of being set free so suddenly.

[Anonymous]

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Doyle reached out, putting his hand on StarFire's shoulder, "No worries. Ya can stay here until ya figure out what ya wanna do." His lips curled into that strange, sneering smile of his, "I already got someone else stayin' too. One more wont hurt nothin'."

He wasn't totally sure where everyone would sleep, but he could probably fix himself some blankets and such and sleep on the floor in his room. Give StarFire the kitchen where is was warmer.

[shinigamikitsune]

The poor little elf flinched when Doyle first placed his hands on his shoulders, a small part of him terrified that the man was going to drag him off and do horrible things to him. Though that fear melted away when the man spoke. However the smile kind of creeped him out.

He glanced up when the man mentioned that there was another person here, and he wondered if this person had been a former slave as well. Then he thought better of it. No doubt, if that person had been a slave at one point, he or she would have accompanied Doyle to the market. Unless they were still there..... Oh he was making himself so confused right now.

So instead he decided to focus on something else. "M-m-may I... be p-per-permit-ted... to b-ba-athe now?" He asked in a soft voice. This man did seem nice enough that such a request wouldn't be asking too much.

[Anonymous]

The wince made Doyle flinch inside. He knew it was probably because the kid was only recently a slave. But he still took it a little personally. He knew what he looked like and plenty of people seemed to think he was some sort of monster.

"A bath? Sure. I can arrange that." Doyle gave him that contorted smile again, the scars twisting his face, "Ya got enough strength ta get the fire up? I'll start bringin' water in for ya if ya think ya can handle that. If ya can't, that's okay too. Just take a bit longer."

[shinigamikitsune]

The petite elf nodded some, then thought about it for a moment. In theory he could start up a fire and keep it going. However, it really depended on a few things. "I... I c-can do that.... as... as l-l-long as the wo-wo-od... is in sm-small enough... p-p-p-pieces..."

He really didn't have much strength left in him, which was a shame, because in his youth, he was so much more then what he had been reduced to. Even just remembering how much he'd lost over the past 500 years, made his heart and soul hurt so badly that he just wanted to cry.

[Anonymous]

Doyle wasn't sure exactly what it was he had said that upset the kid, but for a moment, the kid just looked ready to burst into tears. Quickly moving to the fireplace, Doyle started building the fire up, "Hey, it's okay, yeah? Just take me a bit longer, that's all."

Poor thing seemed ready to fall apart. Doyle had the fire going soon and pulled out the huge iron pot he used for heating water and attached it to the metal arm that swung over the fire. He then grabbed the two buckets he used for carrying water and gave StarFire another twisted smile, "Alright, ya just relax. There's some cold tea if ya like and feel free ta eat more if ya want."

Doyle was strong and pretty used to lugging the water, though it still took a number of trips to fill the pot. He shed his shirt a few trips in, the sun outside combined with the lugging of the water soon had him sweating. His torso still had the hard muscles of his fighting days and there were a number of large scars and countless small ones, pale against his dark skin.

Once the water was ready, Doyle lugged the battered copper tub into the kitchen, setting it out for the boy and carefully filling it with water, "Hope this is the right heat for ya."

[shinigamikitsune]

StarFire felt bad that he wasn't able to help with readying the water for his bath. Though he was surprised that this man was heating the water for him. In all honesty, the little elf had forgotten the last time he'd been allowed to have a hot bath. Normally he was forced to use cold water, and even then, it was only when there was a stream or river that his Master came across while traveling.

He picked at the food in his bowl, even if it was starting to get cold, it was better then anything he'd eaten in the past while. StarFire thought about getting some tea, but he was afraid to break anything, or touch something he wasn't suppose to.

When Doyle announced that the bath was ready, he rose from his chair, and started stripping right there. Not that there was much for him to remove. Once naked, he moved to carefully step into the copper tub. It was a bit hot, but that was alright. He didn't want to waste the heat. "It's just right..." he said softly.

Once he was settled carefully in the tub, he looked up at the man. "Um... is it at all possible that... maybe I c-c-could get some soap...?" While he didn't stutter, his voice was a whisper.

[Anonymous]

"Soap? Of course." Doyle rummaged around for a moment before finding the hunk of soap. It smelled of herbs and lemon and had been hand made by Doyle's wife. He was running out of it, which meant having to try and make his own one of these days. That would be fun.

Handing the soap to the former slave, Doyle smiled again, "Ya just let me know if ya need anything else. Now, lemme see what I got that ya can wear...." He was starting to run out of clothes, thanks to Ruben. He still had one other shirt, thanks to not having worn it when he had fought that beast. He really needed to pick up new clothes.

Leaving the slave to bathe, Doyle attempted to locate his last shirt. No pants, but hopefully it would be long enough to cover everything.

[shinigamikitsune]

"Thank you," he said softly, taking the soap from his savior. With soap in hand, he proceeded to clean himself. It was easy to tell that he was dirty, but until he started washing himself, one didn't know just how dirty he was.

StarFire scrubbed and scrubbed with the soap and a rag, working to get all of the filth off of himself. Underneath all the dirt, his skin color was a creamy pale color, and his hair was a beautiful silver color. He had set aside some clean water in order to rinse himself off after he'd washed up, which was a good thing. Once he was finished, the bath water was nearly black with all the dirt and grime that the slave trader had allowed to accumulate on the petite elf.

Out of the rub, he stood there, waiting for Doyle to return with something for him to wear. "I... I'm finished..."

[Anonymous]

Doyle returned after Starfire was cleaned off and he was rather surprised at how much dirt had come off the skinny elf. He held out a towel that had seen some better days, but was clean at least, "Ya can dry off with this. And, I don't have any pants that would fit ya, but this short should be long enough. We can see about gettin' ya some pants tomorrow."

Doyle was realizing he was just going to need to accept the fact that he was never going to get to replace his clothes lost to that rotting monster. Things kept popping up that needed his money and attention first.

"I'm gonna dump this water out while ya change." It was too dirty to reuse, so he might as well give the garden a drink. After helping Starfire out of the bath, Doyle picked up the tub, muscles straining at the load. He was getting soft if carrying a tub of water was this hard.

[shinigamikitsune]

One thing that StarFire had learned early on, was that being a slave, meant having to loose your sense of modesty. So he didn't even blush when the man came in and saw him naked. However, he was surprised when he was offered a towel. It wasn't often that he was allowed such luxuries such as a towel. It might be old, but he accepted it with a soft smile none-the-less. "Th-thank you..." he said softly.

He didn't mind that there was only a shirt for him, it was more then what he'd had at different times. Once he'd dried himself off, he pulled the shirt over his head. It was indeed large enough to cover everything and nearly go down to his knees. It was so large on him that he was almost swimming in it, and it fell off one of his shoulders a little bit.

[Anonymous]

It didn't take long for Doyle to dump out the dirty water and bring the bathtub back inside, storing it over in a corner of the kitchen. He gave the kid another one of his odd smiles, looking him over, "There ya go, ain't so bad at all."

He could probably just get someone to take the shirt in a bit and get the boy some tights. That would be cheaper than pants and probably be just as comfortable. "Well, I gotta get the rest of my work done. Ya gonna be alright? Ya can make yerself at home, though their ain't all that much ta do."

[shinigamikitsune]

The little elf didn't even try to tug the shirt back into place once it fell down his shoulder a bit. Instead he just smiled faintly. It seemed as though this man was truly a nice man after all. "Um... i-is there anything... I could help w-with?"

He wanted to make sure that he was useful to this man, and wouldn't be a burden to him... after all, even if the man seemed nice, he didn't know if he'd one day kick him out, or turn around and sell him to somebody else.

[Anonymous]

"Ah, no, but thanks fer the offer." Doyle smiled, reaching over and lightly ruffling the elf's still wet hair, "Just get comfy by the fire, yeah? Rest up a bit. I ain't really got much here...sorry 'bout that." He mostly worked on things and didn't know how to read, so save for one holy book he had picked up while traveling and kept because of the beautiful pictures, writing and binding, Doyle didn't own any books.

"Uh, just don't up stairs or nothin'." Ruben was probably still asleep, the mage kept odd hours. Best not wake him up, he was grumpy enough normally, "Help yerself if ya get hungry, yeah? And I'll just be outside if ya need somethin'."

Another twisted smile and Doyle headed outside. He needed to get back on track with his butchering. There were some lambs and a few pigs that needed slaughter and delivery.

[shinigamikitsune]

StarFire nodded to the man before he left to go outside. For the first little bit, the petite elf looked around the place. There wasn't too much there for him to do, and he didn't dare touch anything that looked too important.

After a little while, he found the only book in the place. StarFire couldn't remember the last time he'd been allowed to even touch a book. So he picked it up with care, tracing his fingertips over it, before reading the title. He wasn't all that surprised to find that it was a religious book, since most people had at least one kicking around. The elf had his own Faith, but it never hurt to read about others. Besides, it was something to do.

So he found a little spot on the floor close to the fire, and curled up there, starting to read the book.

[Tally]

Ruben's sleep schedule was all gone to hell.  He shouldn't have been waking up until after sunset, but as he cracked his eyes open, sunlight flooded into sight.  He shut them again and turned his face away from the window.

He could never get back to sleep after waking up, so he dragged himself out of bed rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.  As he descended the staircase, the sound of someone moving around down below came to him.  Doyle must have been up and about.

Or not.  Some vagrant had wandered in while Doyle was out and was making himself at home. It couldn't be a visitor; Doyle had said before had no family or close friends in the village and never had the opportunity to entertain company.

Maybe Doyle wasn't too far away.  Ruben went to the front door and opened it up to call outside.  "Doyle!  Your house may be getting robbed."

Didn't the man know how to lock his door?

[shinigamikitsune]

The petite elf was rather caught up in reading the Holy Book he had found. While it wasn't to his normal taste of literature, it was still something. He loved books, and longed for the days when he'd had enough freedom to loose himself within their pages. StarFire didn't even really notice when the other person came from the downstairs.

It wasn't until the other person called out loud to Doyle that he even knew somebody else was close by. He squeaked in surprise, shutting the book tightly and scurrying to find the closest and smallest place that he could hide in.

[Anonymous]

Doyle had been chopping up wood when Ruben's voice suddenly cut through the air. Long legs breaking into a run, Doyle burst into the house, still clutching the axe, looking around, "What? Who? Ruben? You alright?"

He quickly scanned for the robber, but he couldn't see anything. It wasn't until he noticed Starfire trying to hide in between a shelf and the table. Ah.

"Uh, no no. Ya can calm down StarFire. Don't worry. Come on out and meet. Ruben, this is uh...StarFire. He's gonna be staying with us for a bit, til he gets back on his feet. He ain't a thief."

[Tally]

When Ruben turned back around, the vagrant seemed to have disappeared...no, wait.  He was cringing and trying to hide like a frightened dog.  Wherever had Doyle found such a thing?

Ruben ventured closer, and bent down to get a better look at...StarFire, was it?  He took in the oversized shirt on him—Doyle's shirt it looked like—and the pale arc of his one exposed shoulder.  The boy also noticeably lacked pants.  And he was "staying" here awhile, was he?  Mm hm.

Ruben pulled a face, not really pleased to be privy to this part of someone else's life.  "Whatever you do up there, just...clean the sheets. I have to sleep in that bed during the day you know."

[shinigamikitsune]

He froze as Ruben came closer to him, still clutching the bible that he'd been reading, close to his chest. StarFire knew the look that the other was giving him, the one that so many other people had in the past... while the man may not be interested, he was still judging him like that. He could feel it in the air.

For some reason, this disheartened him some, and he somehow seemed to manage to shrink even further into his little hiding spot.