"Would you like any sugar or milk with your tea, Liadanann?" Father Vierini asks me as the kettle finishes boiling. My head starts to shake but I quickly find myself reconsidering.
"Some milk will be just fine, thank you." I tell him, though, I wouldn't mind maybe a coil of copper to be warmed up in the water. A tasty snack to crunch down on at the end of my drink. I can't complain too much, I suppose, the kettle is copper so I still get some of the metallic flavouring it can offer.
A steaming mug arrives in front of me, a once-empty coaster is covered up and a hand returns to its owner's side. Putting my arms slightly on the table, I blow gently into the simple, cheaply-made brown liquid and look around some more. Chipped paint, signs of experiments with strange toys and concoctions and walls chalked over with a myriad of colours. And, right by the doorframe, a bunch of small children watching me closely while they chew or mouth their surprise treats.
"I know I've said this before, but, it's not often we see guests around here." Father Vierini remarks, his smile growing when the children enter his eyes. Much the same, their expressions grow and some go off to play and in the case of a couple, do schoolwork. I think so, anyway, I'm hearing talk of writing tools without the follow-up of drawings.
"I had an unfortunate feeling that might've been the case." I speak, the path here seemingly appearing in the tea.
"I don't suppose I can convince you to take even one of these little rays of sunshine off my hands?" Father Vierini asks with a laugh that makes it hard for me to figure out if he's being sincere or not. Knowing they're there, I look their way and frown at the children, the question notably potent in their little hearts and minds.
"I'm... I'm sorry, I only came down here to get rid of some things." I say, my tone shaking as I watch the children shrink in on themselves a little. Quietly as they came, they go off elsewhere, vanishing into the noise coming from throughout the orphanage.
"Well, you came to the right place, getting rid of things and taking them is our speciality." he laughs and I can't help but shift about the tiny chair, my tail limping to another spot of the floor.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Don't worry about it, Liadanann, I just have a gods awful sense of humour." he chuckles, seemingly punishing himself with a mixture of still-too-hot tea in a jovial mouth. He winces at the burns but cannot stop laughing and he wipes what he can dry.
"I could probably learn a thing or two from you, then." I say, letting out a quick giggle of my own while Nin otherwise bothers my thoughts. Learning to laugh at my circumstance rather than letting it get to me could do me some good, I think. It probably would've made more sense to learn this years ago, however.
"That's ultimately life, we may not all be teachers, instructors or professors. Masters or, or, or-de-door orators... But, we can all learn many things from others." he nods out, a far more cautious series of sips sounding from his mug. Even then, he still backs his mouth away, ha-ha-ha-ha-ing.
"Here's to hoping we learn the right things, then." I say, raising my mug a little and he emulates my process, our smiles seemingly shared.
"Gods guide us to them." he says, making a quick, seven-stepped gesture. My eyes linger on his hands even after he's done with it. All these prayers, all these names, it seems like too much. Real reasons aside, simply having to remember one god, one prayer and one gesture all seems so much easier.
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"I guess God has guided me the right way, today. I saw your lot playing on the surface and I quickly convinced myself to drop off what I was going to give to a temple to you lot." I explain, using this talk of guidance as an excuse to clarify this spell of good luck for these children.
"I sure hope they haven't gotten into any trouble up there. It's a big city and I can't go looking for them as much as I used to be able to in the years gone by." Father Vierini sighs, yet, he still manages to find a smile when he looks out the kitchen window. I want to hazard a guess that there are some children playing out there but, given what I had to do with Vodila, I have some apprehension regarding his words. These kids have a lot of growing up to do, still.
It's not the best set of circumstances, but it's what we get. I'm pretty sure I heard it when I was younger, a phrase that seems fairly relevant right now. Work not with what you want, but what you have, but, use what you have, to work towards what you want. You might not have a proper family here, but you can very much go on to make one that still means much the same and perhaps more.
I frown, thinking a little more about how this might apply to my and Nin's relationship...
Shaking my head, I track the conversation back to something I can carry it on with, "So, you've worked here a while?"
Father Vierini nods repeatedly, "I have seen many faces come and go, boy and girl."
"Are the older ones all upstairs or are they off finding work or meeting others?" I ask, watching someone who must be an age countable with one hand waddle by. In fact, I might only need a thumb and finger to guess their age!
He shakes his head, a shallow expression taking it over, "I wish we did have some older ones, the others could do with the role models."
"Did something happen?" I ask, concerned by the implications and what my imagination can conjure up.
"Oh, no, no, no, no." he shakes.
"Then...?" I go, raising a brow and taking a long sip of tea.
"City law, not much I can do about it. Once you reach a certain age, one I'm not a fan of speaking around the children openly... When that day comes, a little after it, anyway, I don't like the idea of spoiling their birthdays with the news. But, when that time comes, I have a responsibility to send them out into the wider world and find them a means to be able to support themselves." he explains and my eyes widen, my body all the stiffer for hearing that.
"I see..." I mutter, my mind snapping to Nin's words about hiring help and the fact we do technically have room for maybe a couple of people to board with us. More if he's fine surrendering his room which shouldn't be too much of an issue with how he rarely sleeps anyway. Besides, our relationship gives him all the more reason to share with me.
"I know I'm making it seem a little grim..." Father Vierini mutters, his fingers pinching the top of his nose, "But it's not all that bad. We're probably quite lucky with our location, even with how end-of-the-road it is to get to."
"How so?"
"Did you happen to see some city-guard talk to the children earlier? There's a good chance I sent him on his way to their recruiters from this very building some time ago." Father Vierini explains and I nod, such a thing having occurred and it only makes him smile.
"Yeah, they seemed to get along quite well." I elaborate and his smile grows, my heart doing much the same. Like, three sizes so.
"The city-guard, mountain-guard and by extension, the realm-guard. They have an easy time recruiting from places like here when the estate-guard cannot handle the demand. It's a little sneaky but the boys learn good behaviour, true, genuine skills in other professions. And, obviously, a steady income without much want or need to bicker over rent and mortgages and all that rubbish." he tells me and I try to keep an ear out for Vodila and her brother. She'll be more reason than any to make sure Wellis grows up to be someone respectable, in character at the very least.
"So with a lot of them coming from places like this, they have a soft spot for the children of orphanages?" I ask and Father Vierini nods, his mug echoing his slurps. With a gentle slam, he leaves it on the table and he starts to smack his lips, fingers flexing a little.
He calms down and looks at me, "Yeah."
We smile.
Huffing in amusement, I move some of my hair out of the way while my eyes shift to the edge of their sockets, "You're as much as a child as they all are."
"It's how I understand their needs so well!" he chuckles and we both get up so I can show him the contents of the bags I brought with me. He made it clear that they'd mostly be for the children and not the staff but, as any smart man will say, most is not all.
"So, in this bag we mostly have-"