The Mugging

[Aerin Vaettir]

“Well, I can’t say that I’ve cooked for nobles before. Some important people of our village, sure, but never a true blooded noble.” Elle replied, setting the dishes she carried into a basin. She turned, taking the plates Delliks carried, her fingers brushing against his as she took the dishes. “I don’t know if my cooking would stand up to an elf noble’s tastes, but I hear you humans have lower standards to fine cuisine. I bet I could knock a few fellows socks off if I so chose.” She said, smiling, then turning to place the plates into the basin. She took the bread and cheese and stored them back into the pantry. She turned and glanced at the well pump that was housed in Aerin’s kitchen. It was quite a convenient contraption, that and the fact that Aerin’s shop/house sat on top of a natural well. It was one of the main reasons he chose the location.

“Could you pump this for me?” She asked, pushing a big bucket under the pump spout, smiling sweetly up at Delliks. “It’s new and still rather stiff. I’m just a bit too weak to get it going myself.” She said, straightening. She stepped back to allow Delliks room, batting her big blue eyes at him. Was the pump stiff? A bit. Could she pump it? Of course, but what was a little white lie to give a man the opportunity to show off his strong arms? Plus it was a good gauge for Elle. She liked to give men opportunities to show off, see if they did in fact show off whatever it was they were to present to her, arms, chest, skill, intellect, then she’d tell if he was interested further in her. Plus she was sure the shower of compliments that followed helped boost a man’s ego.

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Delliks laughed at the comment. "Lower standards eh? Or is it just that we prefer survival over a little bit better of a taste?" He smirked as he watched her clean up, putting things where they were supposed to go.

His eyes met the pump and he nodded. It didn't look that new to him, not to mention he figured a new pump would be easier than an old one but then he realized it was all determined by installation probably.
"Aye, I should be able to do that well enough." He smiled and moved over to the pump. He placed his hands on the contraption and being pumping up the water with little effort. As the water poured out he was reminded of his home.
He sort of zoned out as he began to relate a story.
"Back in my homeland, at least at our camp, we didn't have these pumps, all our water collection was done with a bucket and a rope. That over the river. We would collect and abondence ever so often and boil it, make sure it was clean, so that when we needed it it could be accessed quickly." He sort of shook himself out of it, the bucket nearly overflowing.
He chuckled a bit before stopping before water spilled over. "Much quicker this way eh?"

[Aerin Vaettir]

Elle watched Delliks work the pump, eying his arms all the while. She did listen to his story, about fetching water from the well. She smiled herself, stepping up to the bucket when he finished filling it. She lifted it with enough ease to suggest the pump wouldn’t have been a problem to her.

“Much faster. This pump is one of my father’s designs. I made sure to know how to build it for Aerin once we left home. I had to have a lot of help though. Father is sort of a genius when it comes to creating things. His new ideas is what made our farm prosper.” She said, pouring half the bucket into the basin, then she fetched a rag and some soap block and began washing the dirty dishes. What she cleaned she set aside on another large cloth to dry later.

“But ours was outside. It dipped into a huge natural spring that ran under our village. He put it outside so that anyone could use it. Anyone willing to make the hike to our farm that was.” She added.

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"Your father sounds like a pretty smart man." Delliks stated probably the obvious as he walked up to where he had watched Elle grab a cloth and began drying the cleaned dishes.
"And generous too, I am sure that spout helped many travelers. People like your father were always well respected by us back in Core when we ran into them." he explained. Sometimes it was a women who offered food, or a boy that offered some toy, or a man who offered a place to stay, or several other things.

Delliks continued to dry as he looked over at Elle. He slowly smirked, "Were you as flirtatious on the farm as well?"

[Aerin Vaettir]

Elle laughed as Delliks asked his question.

“Oh yes. And my parents were less thrilled about it than Aerin is. At least Aerin never tried changing me. He scolds me about my flirting, but as long as I tread carefully he’s fine. My mother and father would prefer if I ran off to a convent somewhere. And yet they pester my brother and I for grandchildren.” Elle said, before shaking her head.

“No way. Not yet anyways.” She said, handing off another dish to Delliks. She turned to look at him. “Does my flirting make you uncomfortable, sir?” She asked, purposely making the words as flirtatious as possible, even throwing in a wink.

[Deleted]

Delliks laughed loudly for a moment as he took the plate. "Your flirting make me uncomfortable? I am sorry if you hoped it would, lass, but I've dealt with my fair share of it. I must say, I admire your persistence." He set the dish down and accepted the hand off of another.

Delliks was enjoying Elle's company and flirting to be quite honest, but his respect and desire to honor his new found friendship in Aerin prevent him from acting on any of his feelings at the moment. It was his sister, and in his company not to mention after just meeting him, he could not easily bring himself to be reciprocal. Although Delliks was a tad flirtatious by nature anyway.

[Aerin Vaettir]

Elle smiled as Delliks laughed, and her smile turned to a grin as he expressed his admiration for her persistence.

“I hoped it would work. I haven’t had much luck with the men of this city. It’s like they don’t know what to do with a girl like me. It’s rather refreshing to have a man appreciate your hard work for his attentions.” She said, finishing off the last plate before she set aside the rag. She’d have to dump the basin, a job she hated doing, but Aerin couldn’t do it. Well he probably could if he wanted to ruin his leg for the rest of the night and probably the following day.

“Perhaps I’ll need to be more persistent if I plan to get anywhere with you.” She added, turning to poke at the fireplace in the kitchen. It served to both heat the shop/house as well as to cook. But with it being warm out she doubted that she’d need to keep the fire going, so she beat open the burnt logs until they were smoldering bits, then she set the poker aside.

[Deleted]

"I suppose you will." he chuckled at the statement of more persistence. Although knowing that it would mean quite literally nothing between the two, it felt, well it felt strange.

He watched the glowing embers quietly, thinking of his sister as he did so. He wondered how she was doing, probably still scared to heal a fallen comrade alone.

"Why did you two leave the farm again? Adventure eh?"

[Aerin Vaettir]

“Something like that. Aerin was the one who really wanted to go. I didn’t at first, then I realized he’d leave without any one of us.” Elle said softly, putting the cleaned dishes back where they belonged, and where they’d probably stay until she visited again and cooked. This portion of the house was more Elle’s than Aerin’s.

“I couldn’t just let my blind brother go out into the world alone. I mean, why should he get all the adventure? Besides, someone has to watch him, and Lenore is only skilled with a blade to a certain extent. She is just a raven after all. She’s his guide and eyes, not his guard.” Elle sighed as all the dishes were placed where they were meant to go. She eyed the kitchen, seeing what was low and what she’d have to bring next time. “Besides, farming isn’t that fun. Can you imagine either of us working the fields?” She asked, smiling at Delliks.

[Deleted]

"That bird can fight too huh?" Delliks chuckled, "That would be something to see, although I suppose she can't carry a sword with her has a bird... can she?" He asked realizing he really wasn't that sure.

The man tried to imagine farming. Could he do it? It didn't sound that bad really, he had practice taming and training horses, although more so for battle than for work, that was probably a very different thing. "No, I don't suppose you two could work the fields. You would hunt all the livestock and Aerin would experiment on um all eh?" He let out a little laugh, thinking about a cow turning a blue or something because of a potion. He wasn't sure what the man did in his studies but he assumed there was at least a little experimentation.

[Aerin Vaettir]

“Lenore can fight in a way. She’s mostly quick more than skilled. I tried teaching her a few basic forms but I don’t know if she ever picked them up.” Elle said, shrugging. “She doesn’t carry a sword but sometimes she pulls a knife out and I have no clue where the hell she gets it.” Elle added, chuckling a bit. She turned and took hold of Delliks’s arm, leading him out of the kitchen and back to the table.

Elle giggled as she sat back down at the table, nodding to Delliks’s remark.

“Yes probably. “ She said. She knew Aerin worked on his summoning as well as crafting new potions. She wasn’t sure what he did with his summoning though. He practically knew every form and could summon probably everything this plane had to offer. He could probably banish everything too. Not much for him to perfect. But he did experiment with different potions. And whenever he learned or encountered a new herb or something he always tried to learn its properties. Normally he’d send Elle on a mission to gather books about them so she could read up on them to Aerin, but if that didn’t work he’d do it the hard way, testing the herb in various forms on rats. Elle always felt bad for the little beasts, but they were a problem pest in so many places. Aerin simply contributed to thinning their numbers.

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Delliks shrugged, the more he thought about it he supposed a knife made sense. There had to be something to symbolize her claws as a bird.

Delliks was led into the main room again where he saw Aerin busy and Elle sitting back down. He felt as though this meant it was time for him to go. Nothing left to do and it was about time he left he supposed.
"I suppose I will be seeing you around then. I think it is probably time for me to venture off elsewhere, still a few hours of daylight left." Delliks smiled as he stood there, "I thank you again for your cooking lass, and your company and hospitality Aerin." he said his thanks to each of them before waiting to be dismissed, or convinced to stay longer...

[Aerin Vaettir]

Elle gave a pout as Delliks declared his intention of leaving. She wouldn’t stop him or pester him about staying. She already pushed him enough and didn’t really get anywhere. She’d have to try it again when her brother wasn’t around. She stood and smiled.

“Well safe travels then. And thank you for helping my brother.” she said.

“Yes, thank you.” Aerin voiced, emerging from his office and smiling in Delliks’s general direction. “Do drop by should you ever want. I rather enjoyed our discussions earlier.” He added.

[Deleted]

Delliks grabbed the door and opened it before turning round again. "Yes, I am sure I will be seeing you folks again." He gave a wink to Elle before leaving completely shutting the door behind him.

The man headed out into town... what was he going to do before all of this happened? Oh he couldn't remember, perhaps he would go on a nature walk instead.