Post by Ankhiale on Dec 10, 2013 19:28:21 GMT 10
Title: Letters
Rating: G
For: KrisEleven
Prompt: #5 - A story with Briar and Daja together.
Summary: Daja gets a letter. Briar delivers it.
Notes and Warnings: It’s not a fight or hijinks, but I hope it qualifies as a nice moment. Briar’s trying to be nice, anyway. Set post-WotE, though it’s not obvious in the story. No spoilers.
*******
A knock on the open door drew Daja's attention away from her forge. "One moment," she called. She finished adjusting the temperature of the fire and then turned. "What is it?"
Briar leaned against the door, arms crossed, watching her. "A letter came for you," he said, extending the paper. Daja, frowning at the odd note in his voice, came over to take it.
For just a moment, he hung onto the letter, then relinquished it with a huff at her curious - and suspicious - look. Daja flipped it over to break the seal and froze.
The dancing monkey pressed to the blue wax was as familiar to Daja as her own name.
"Briar...?" she asked. It came out almost a squeak.
"I talked to Polyam a bit, last time Tenth Caravan Idaram stopped by," he said, hands in his pockets, still watching her. "Second Ship Hariti brought this along with their cargo."
Gently, Daja heated the wax just enough so it softened, and she could lift it up intact. She unfolded the letter. "It's from Amai and Dilana," she murmured. "The twins. They were too young to go on the ship with us." Tears began to run down her cheeks unheeded. "They say they're well. They've heard of my great deeds and that my name has been entered into Tenth Caravan Idaram's logbooks." She looked up at Briar. "They want to come visit, sometime when Fourth Ship Kisubo is in the area. The whole family's curious enough that they're thinking of spending the winter in Summersea this year."
"Fourth Ship Kisubo?" Briar asked. He rummaged in his pocket for a handkerchief, then handed it to Daja.
Daja blew her nose. "When a ship goes down with all hands, the name is retired. If there's enough of a particular family left, they can start a new ship, but only the twins and Grandmother were still alive, and so the twins were folded into Aunt Mayza's crew."
Briar didn't even bother pointing out that Third Ship Kisubo had technically not gone down with all hands. To the Traders, a sole survivor was actually worse. "I suppose we should warn Tris, then," he remarked. "You know she gets cranky when guests drop by without notice."
Daja was staring at the letter again. "Briar."
Briar's eyebrows rose at the sharpness of her voice. "Yes?"
"You said you'd talked to Polyam. Amai and Dilana say that they got a letter from 'my new brother'. Did you write my family a letter?" she asked sharply, jabbing the letter she was holding at him.
"...Yes," Briar answered cautiously. Daja rarely lost her temper, but she looked to be on the verge of it now.
"Why?”
"Why didn't you?” Briar retorted.
"Because ... because ..." Daja stammered, uncharacteristically unsettled.
"Because you still think of yourself like you're trangshi,” Briar answered softly. "Because even after Gold Ridge, even after carrying a marked staff all these years, even after dealing regularly with Tenth and other Traders, you still think and act like you're an outcast. Like you can't be both a part of our family and a part of your own."
The silence stretched. Daja stared at Briar, then stared at the letter, then stared at Briar some more, and then folded up the letter with excruciating precision.
Finally, when Briar couldn't stand it anymore, he asked, "Just how angry are you?"
One corner of Daja's mouth quirked up, entirely of its own volition. "I'm not happy with you contacting them without asking me," she said. "You're not off the hook yet. But Briar-" she snaked out one strong arm and caught him in a rib-creaking hug “-thank you. Now watch the fire for me for a minute while I go talk to Tris."
With that, Daja ran inside, holding the letter in her hand like it was made of spun glass. Briar watched her go, then settled in to watch her fire.
Rating: G
For: KrisEleven
Prompt: #5 - A story with Briar and Daja together.
Summary: Daja gets a letter. Briar delivers it.
Notes and Warnings: It’s not a fight or hijinks, but I hope it qualifies as a nice moment. Briar’s trying to be nice, anyway. Set post-WotE, though it’s not obvious in the story. No spoilers.
*******
A knock on the open door drew Daja's attention away from her forge. "One moment," she called. She finished adjusting the temperature of the fire and then turned. "What is it?"
Briar leaned against the door, arms crossed, watching her. "A letter came for you," he said, extending the paper. Daja, frowning at the odd note in his voice, came over to take it.
For just a moment, he hung onto the letter, then relinquished it with a huff at her curious - and suspicious - look. Daja flipped it over to break the seal and froze.
The dancing monkey pressed to the blue wax was as familiar to Daja as her own name.
"Briar...?" she asked. It came out almost a squeak.
"I talked to Polyam a bit, last time Tenth Caravan Idaram stopped by," he said, hands in his pockets, still watching her. "Second Ship Hariti brought this along with their cargo."
Gently, Daja heated the wax just enough so it softened, and she could lift it up intact. She unfolded the letter. "It's from Amai and Dilana," she murmured. "The twins. They were too young to go on the ship with us." Tears began to run down her cheeks unheeded. "They say they're well. They've heard of my great deeds and that my name has been entered into Tenth Caravan Idaram's logbooks." She looked up at Briar. "They want to come visit, sometime when Fourth Ship Kisubo is in the area. The whole family's curious enough that they're thinking of spending the winter in Summersea this year."
"Fourth Ship Kisubo?" Briar asked. He rummaged in his pocket for a handkerchief, then handed it to Daja.
Daja blew her nose. "When a ship goes down with all hands, the name is retired. If there's enough of a particular family left, they can start a new ship, but only the twins and Grandmother were still alive, and so the twins were folded into Aunt Mayza's crew."
Briar didn't even bother pointing out that Third Ship Kisubo had technically not gone down with all hands. To the Traders, a sole survivor was actually worse. "I suppose we should warn Tris, then," he remarked. "You know she gets cranky when guests drop by without notice."
Daja was staring at the letter again. "Briar."
Briar's eyebrows rose at the sharpness of her voice. "Yes?"
"You said you'd talked to Polyam. Amai and Dilana say that they got a letter from 'my new brother'. Did you write my family a letter?" she asked sharply, jabbing the letter she was holding at him.
"...Yes," Briar answered cautiously. Daja rarely lost her temper, but she looked to be on the verge of it now.
"Why?”
"Why didn't you?” Briar retorted.
"Because ... because ..." Daja stammered, uncharacteristically unsettled.
"Because you still think of yourself like you're trangshi,” Briar answered softly. "Because even after Gold Ridge, even after carrying a marked staff all these years, even after dealing regularly with Tenth and other Traders, you still think and act like you're an outcast. Like you can't be both a part of our family and a part of your own."
The silence stretched. Daja stared at Briar, then stared at the letter, then stared at Briar some more, and then folded up the letter with excruciating precision.
Finally, when Briar couldn't stand it anymore, he asked, "Just how angry are you?"
One corner of Daja's mouth quirked up, entirely of its own volition. "I'm not happy with you contacting them without asking me," she said. "You're not off the hook yet. But Briar-" she snaked out one strong arm and caught him in a rib-creaking hug “-thank you. Now watch the fire for me for a minute while I go talk to Tris."
With that, Daja ran inside, holding the letter in her hand like it was made of spun glass. Briar watched her go, then settled in to watch her fire.