Annie flopped back on her bale of hay and sneezed. The blankets helped with her allergies a bit, but not a lot.

"Ooooooh, this is gedding redickalus! We've beed in towd for three days dow, an-an-aaaaYEAAAAHCHOO! *sniffle* ad dere's dothig to do! Dobody's deedig ady sides paided, or bread baked, ad I'B TIRED OB SNEEDING ALL THE CLOCKIG TIBE!" *snoooooooooooorght*

Annie sat up, wiping her nose on a rag she'd managed to swipe from the tavern downstairs. While the girls had tried to gain employment, they hadn't seen much of the galdor who had vouched for them upon their arrival to Old Rose. Amani seemed to be her own entity (as galdori usually are) and came and went when she pleased--mainly to the bar downstairs.

The reporter coughed and sneezed again, looking in Emme's direction. "You god ady ideas?"

((thread fixed!))

Emme was startled at Annie's outburst, shaking her head as though to dislodge some water.

"We should get outside," she said hurriedly. Truthfully, she had been avoiding the outdoors; every time she went outside she felt as though a million eyes were watching her from every direction. But she desperately wanted Annie to be happy; after all, she had dragged her out of her comfortable life to go on the run. This was all her fault.

As it had many times that week, anger and rage at her ridiculous fate rose unbidden within her chest, and she felt rebellious for a moment. "Let's...go to the beach or something. I'll get my shawl."

Drawing a patterned shawl from her newly purchased old knapsack (nothing was "new" in Old Rose), she tied it around her short hair and pulled on her boots.

"It's a lovely, erm, day," she commented, looking out of the window to the seagull-dropping-stained roof below. "We could ask around, about that thing you were interested in, or...go to a bar or something..."

The idea of getting drunk had never actually occurred to Emme, but it sounded like something she would enjoy doing at some point.

----

Amani crawled up the stairs and into the attic, blinking groggily, "Ah. You are both here at the same time. I am surprised! You usually scuttle about like little..." She trailed off, as she caught sight of Annie and quickly put her hand over her mouth to prevent the other woman from seeing the smile that graced the mugrobi's face. "Lizards." She finished with difficulty, thumping a little as she made her way to her "bed".

"If you are that sick how will you complete your bucket list, neh?" The woman giggled, now fully awake. She hadn't been drinking too much today, so her head was quite clear. Can't help but laugh at that every time I think it... "



Although Amani looked up rather quickly at this comment she glanced away just as fast. "Perhaps you should not go downstairs to this bar. The brothers are more used to me now and I don't think they avoid it as much. It is well." She flashed the two an unnerving smile, "You don't have to worry that I will go, I know Miss Fair Hair does not think I am the best company."

It is a mutual feeling, I hope you'll understand. I do not like little weaklings.

"Unless," she added gallantly, "You need an escort. I have memorized maps of this place... It was... necessary." Amani couldn't keep the grimace off her face as she thought of the hours it had taken her to track down a few solid maps and memorize them. And maps are all different from the roads so it makes no difference anyway.

Her good cheer returned though, and she took to rummaging for something in her bag, and came up with a small white square. She tossed it to Annie, with a wink. "Soap. It keeps away sickness and smell..." She paused, "Ah...not that you smell bad. But you do look rather sick."

----


"Aye, outside. Where dere's actually air. Souds like a gread idea do be!"

Annie rummaged through her own bag for a moment and pulled out a half-dead fedora shaped object and flopped it on her head. It wasn't the real thing, but it worked--and had been cheap. At least I sorta feel like myself when I have it. Sorta.


"I dow for a facd deaches don'd bake be sneed," she said with a half laugh, half gurgle. "Aldough, I habe heard ob the healig proberdies of alcohol. A dring bight dot be a bad idea, eider."

Annie glared at the galdor, but said nothing. It was a stupid idea, anyhows. I have a knack for sayin the first thing what hits my brain. Gotta work on that, I think.

"I ain'd sick, id's by ah-ah-aahhhKERFLUFFIN!! *snooooorght* by allergies. I'b allergic to hay, twould seeb. Ain'd a habby experience, dot by ady beans." Annie sniffled again and whiped her nose.



"Gobsdabbit, I ai'd sick! I dink dere's bold in the hay. Thad's whad's cauzig be to sn-sn-sneeeeeeeeeeeehaaaauchuuuuu! *snifffgle* sneeze alla tibe." The reporter turned to Emme, trying to smile. Her nose was red and her eyes were puffy. "Fresh air will do be sobe good. Clear by head, maybe habe a dap od de beach...I'll de right ad raid id do tibe!"

And tonight, I'm sleepin' on the floor with a rag over my nose, she thought.

------

Emme looked at Amani with a polite smile frozen on her face. She wished Annie had not taken to the galdor so quickly - she did not trust her. What if she turned her over to the resistance? Or (Emme could barely stand the thought) the galdori government? She seemed like a woman who would do anything for money, or conquest, or purely out of spite...

Feeling emboldened, she grabbed Annie's hand. "We'll be back tonight, perhaps," she said carelessly, opening the hatch that led downstairs and gazing down on the bar below. It was full of rough men and women, sunburned and cranky.

"Whoop!" Annie let out a cry as Emme grabbed her and hauled her off towards the exit. "Yeah, we'll see you todight, Abidi!"

She descended the stairs hurriedly after her friend. "Boy, I did't dow you were id such a hurry do ged do the beach, Ebbe. You okay?"

"Just wanted to get out of that stinking attic," said Emme, which was half true; she hated that place, especially because that galdori woman was always hanging around giving her the stink-eye. The patrons of the bar and Mr. Spitz weren't any better; she was frankly amazed that they hadn't been raped or shanked yet.

Outside, the day was balmy and warm, as it always was in Old Rose this time of year. She turned her face upward to the sun, relishing the light and the fresh air. She had learned to get used to the smell - what she had mistaken for dead fish was just the smell of sea brine, and truthfully it wasn't much worse than her old home in the Dives.

The beach was not far from the Dove, but they could not take off their shoes until they had walked a ways away from Haverton Pier. The sand was littered with broken glass and the occasional rotting fish, but the stretch of glimmering blonde sand out near the Oasis was clean. Emme kicked off her slippers and dug her toes into the sand.

"This was a good idea," she said proudly. "How's your nose, Annie?"

Annie inhaled deeply through her nose, hawked in her throat a bit, and spit the contents of her nasal passages over into a knob of grass. "'Scuse me," she said, blushing slightly. "Consid'rably better, thankee. You're right, the beach was a fine idea, an' it's a good day fer it too. 'Sa shame I had t'leave the ol' camera spectra behind. I wouldn'a minded a coupla shots o' this view t'take back with me. I'd say outta all o' Old Rose I've seen so far, this here's my favorite!" She took Emme's lead and slipped off her shoes, flopping back on the warm sand. The sun beating down from overhead quietly warmed everything it saw, including Annie, who took off her shirt in response, revealing a pink camasol and her bare shoulders. The sunlight felt remarkable on her skin.

"So lemme ask ye somethin', Emme," Annie said after a moment. "Did you really only wanna get outta the attic 'cuz it smelled funny, or was there another reason? Say, one that comes equipped with swords an' heavy magic?" She glanced at her friend, a slight squint in her eyes, with a look that said she already knew the answer.

Emme looked down at her toes, wiggling them a little in the sand, and watched a sand crab scuttle across the beach nearby.

"I just-" she started, grimacing. "After...it's just not very easy to trust them."

((mind if I hop in? ))


Meseli stood rather poorly rooted to the sandy beach his cart was parked near some Dunegrass which his Kenser no doubt despised but would eat regardless.

With a sigh he stretched a lanky arm into the sky whispering incoherent sounds as a joint popped.

Annie nodded. "Aye, I kin understand that. Well, to an extent anyways. I think the gollies had more a problem with me than what I did with them. They ain't never been too fond o' the press 'snoopin', even though we have every right to know what's goin' on in our own town as they do. It ain't like we don't live there too er nothin'." Annie had never lost anyone close to the 'laws of the galdor', considering how she'd never really been close to anybody at all. Emme was a first.

"Just don' be too quick to write 'em all off as hatin' monsters of hate. You'd be surprised at how nice a friend some gollies can be." Annie smiled, thinking of the Caoja, and that one galdor with the dual toned eyes--oh, what was her name again? She was a nice 'un.

Annie heard someone muttering to themselves a little ways down the beach, and turned her head to see a lanky figure stretching on the sand. She cocked an eyebrow, but as the man hadn't done or said anything offensive, she gave a small shrug and turned back to stare at the ocean. To each his own, I s'pose.

Emme sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose and wincing. She'd had this headache ever since the morning Willy died, it seemed.

"I didn't believe it was this bad," she muttered. "When I was in the bakery...everything seemed fine. We had golly customers, and they didn't treat me horrible. We never had trouble keeping the shop. I had such a quiet life."

She bit her lip wistfully.

"When the resistance took me, I was just a bit winded by it all. They were so angry, and they'd been around for so long. I hadn't noticed. All those years, I never noticed how bad things were. I didn't feel it. Now..." She shot a glance at the direction they had come. "Now I can't even look at one in the face."

What I wouldn't give to have been in her shoes...all I saw was what was going on around me.

"I hate to be the one t'say it, but welcome to the world, Emme. It seems all nice 'n' fine when yer livin' yer work, makin' wages an' sellin' pies. But once ye set out th' door fer a new way o' livin', be it intentional er otherwise, you get a face full o' reality an' it's mighty hard t'shake it. Nearbouts impossible, I'd say."

Annie stood and waved her hand in the air, as if shooing a fly. "Enough o' this talk. Let's take our minds offa the bad stuff an' do somethin' nice an' productive. Like huntin' fer seashells! I've heard that a nice shell will bring in some serious coin back in the city, with the jewelers an' vendors what ain't able to get 'em for themselves. Who knows, we could come back loaded an' be straight fer months!"

Bending down, she picked up a small pink shell. Time had used water and sand to wear it down until it was in the shape of a heart. "Looka this 'un!"

Emme stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out what the big deal was. It was a shell.

"Very nice," she said appreciatively, inwardly wondering how Annie could manage to be so cheerful during a time like this. "What would it go for?"

True, they were running low on money. Mr. Spitz had allowed them to stay because he believed he had a chance with Amani, but she somehow doubted his illusion would last for long, and meanwhile they were quickly running low on rations.

She bent down and picked up a very common mussel shell. She stared at it, wondering inwardly if it had any value. One side was black-stained, crusted and ugly, but she turned it over in her hand and discovered the glimmering mother-of-pearl interior, a silky blue sea of iridescent colors and layers. She liked it - it reminded her of home, for some reason. Pocketing the shell, she decided to ask about its net worth later...perhaps.

Annie shrugged. "Dunno, maybe a couple o' shills or so. Even if it ain't much, ye get enough o' them an' it all adds up."

Digging around in the sand some more with her toes, she unearthed two small, pale shells attached together like a hinge. She bent over and rinsed them off in the water lapping at the shore and held them for Emme to see. Connected the way they were, the shells looked like a small pair of wings. "These 'uns look nice, too."

The two wicks continued looking for shells in silence for a bit longer, the only sounds being those of the ocean crashing over itself and the occasional gull cawing overhead. Annie tucked her skirt up into itself and waded out into the water so the waves lapped at her shins. It was a little cold at first, but felt nice in the warm sunlight. A mischievous smirk crossed her face as she leaned down to touch the ocean.

"Hey Emme," she called to her friend in a sing song voice. "Thirsty? Have some water!" Annie flung her hand up quickly, sending a splashing volley of seawater in Emme's direction before laughing at skipping away down the shore.

Emme gasped as the cold water hit her face, shocking her. Her memory flashed to a moment on a street corner at her old address, when she was only a child; the neighborhood had experienced record rainfall that year, and she had walked around a corner only to be greeted with a bucketful of chilly rainwater, thrown by a local boy.

She shrieked with laughter, and immediately began chasing Annie out of instinct, kicking more water towards her. "You beast!" she shouted, shrill with laughter.

Annie laughed, scooping more water up with her hands and tossing at her friend. "Hahaha, ye Kenser bottom! Have some more water, it'll make ye smell prettier." The reporter tried to keep running only to trip on a rock hidden under the surface of the sand, falling face first into the water right as a wave hit the beach. Struggling to stand, Annie turned back to Emme. Her hair, shirt and skirt were plastered to her body, and there was a bit of what might have been seaweed sticking to her cheek.

"Pthhbttaack! Bleargh!" Annie spluttered, trying to get the brackish taste of the water out of her mouth.

"Ooooohaaarr!"

Came a sputtering growl of a laugh as a rather stumpy, older gentleman with more teeth than hair hobbled past the two witches, "Ae think'ee both need a good dip in that thar sea y'bunch'o'scurvy lasses. If'n'ee think sea water's gonna make 'ee smell like roses'n'such." The man scowled, bottle of something half-consumed and obviously alcoholic in one hand. He wouldn't be holding anything in the other, however, for it was just a stub. He was either drunk or nursing a hangover with more alcohol.

Either way, his slightly toothless smile did little to make up for his scruffy demeanor, "Tis a fine day for swimmin'n'all, but y'should watch out for 'em rocks. They be sneaky things. Them."

The voice coming from behind them on the beach startled Annie, who turned quickly only to trip over the same rock and fall backwards into the water. Another wave crashed up behind her, and it did not improve the situation at all.

"I ain't scurvy! I drink plenty o' lemon juice, thankee kindly!" Annie struggled to her feet, wrestling with both the water and her twisted and knotted skirts. She wished dearly for the light sweater she'd removed earlier; the camisole, as well as her skirts, were clinging wetly to her body, and any amount of trying to get them unclung was utterly useless.

Crossing her arms across her chest, Annie's eyes did a quick one-over on the man. He didn't appear to be armed, but then again this was Old Rose, and you could never be too sure.

"Was there somethin' we could help ye with? Seashells, perhaps? They make fer lovely collectors' items. No two alike, an' that's a promise!"

Emme quickly got to her feet, also attempting to cover up some of her more transparent areas. She became sober and attentive at once; everyone who approached her in Old Rose seemed like a potential captor, even old, slightly insane men.



((argh lame reply, sorry))

"Er. Seashells? What'd I need 'em for, eh?" He blinked before taking a swig of whatever he was currently enjoying at such an hour, "Ye know it's dangerous fer a coupl'a lasses like yerselves t'be wanderin' th'seasided by yerselves."

The scruffy man eyed them with his less squinty eye and smirked, "Ye two strapped for coin?" Whether he was implying something naughty or genuinely curious was hard to tell. He glanced at their collection of shells, then back out to the sea, sniffing and wavering a little as he waited for a response.

Annie guffawed. "We ain't by ourselves! I'm here with her an' she's here wit' me! See? Strength in numbers an' all that." At the very least, they had their soberness (or lack of hangovers) going for them if they needed to run. It was looking more and more like a possibility.

Annie crossed her arms tighter across her chest and squintglared at the man. "An' what if'n we are, eh? There ain't no jobs around here what ain't drug er tumble related, an' we promised our ma's we'd be good little girls."

"Ooooaarh." The piratey fellow chuckled in his limited sobriety, "Y'all must be green as grass 'round 'ere. I be sure a coupl'a pretty lasses like yersselves could find somethin' t'do other'n pickin' up seashells in the market. Smilin' faces always make fer a good waitress or two. Though convincin' a land-starved pirate ye ain't a tumble's always hard work'nough."

He grinned crookedly, shaking his head at the two witches and licking chapped lips thoughtfully.

"Then again, I'm sure I know a ship'er'two that could use a deck scrubbin'."

Annie looked at the drunken sailor, with whom she didn't know what to do, a quizzical look on her face. Pretty? Me?!

"I don't know the first thing 'bout waitressin', Mister, an' I shore as heck ain't no tumble! Unless it's somethin' t'do with a typewriter an' a deadline, I'm worth about as much as a mirror to a blind man."

She cocked her head towards Emme. "Then again, if'n ye know of a bakery what's lost it's baker...we could be in business."

"Annie, let's go," said Emme quietly, trying not to look the pirate in the eye. She wanted nothing to do with that type of man, who would be so crass as to suggest they would tumble for money. She shot him a disapproving look.

Baking - the one thing she could do. Though she doubted there were any bakeries in Old Rose. Somehow, the thought of that old pirate hobbling down Haverton Pier eating a blueberry scone made her feel as though she was going insane.

"Thank you, sir, but we'd better be going," she said, attempting to drag Annie away.

Annie nodded her head slightly in agreement. "Aye, let's get outta here. No sudden moves, walk normal, don't run," she whispered.

Turning back to the scary man on the shore, Annie gave a small wave as the two wicks walked away. "Yeah, thanks fer the, um, tips an' all. You, uh, you take care now!"

They moved slowly at first, just walking, but eventually Annie began to quicken her pace. "C'mon, there's gotta be a less piratey place down the shore we can look fer shells er somethin'."