Excellent! Mel's smile broadened and she drew behind the flax bundle, lowering it from in front of her face. She pulled one from the bunch and offered the nearly four-foot stem to him, some remaining wilted blue flowers still clinging in places, though most had gone to seed, presumably for visual reference. His very first flax stem - *how lovely a gift*.
Without bothering to explain the present, she moved on, glancing over her shoulder at him as she hugged the bundle across her chest and marched through the fields, slowly and deliberately finding her footing in the uneven grasses and ground cover.
The fields were tough but flax was tougher - it sprang up in sparse stands periodically regardless of how brutal life in the Hallowed Ground outskirts might have been, the plant persisted. It was a gratefully accepted boon where Caido offered few. The lack of plants, however, indicated that this might be quite the fetch and gather quest. How long had she expected to be out here gathering for two bundles? Such a goal seemed like a day-long task for someone that struggled with basic navigation on uneven terrain.
As she drew close she halted, catching her breath a moment before lowering her current bundle to the ground, looking up to Eli with an expression that briefly suggested he might better please her by simply leaving. She didn't like being seen like this. She wasn't weak, she wasn't useless. She didn't want him getting the wrong idea that she somehow needed assistance. The hostility in her expression vanished in a split second, replaced by a thin smile. She unwound from her belt a length of heavy twine and laid it flat, transferring the bundle onto it, though did not bind it. They needed more.
"You pull it up by the root - they're not very deep so it ought to come up cleanly - if you beat it on the ground you'll drop the dirt and then put it here - that might be enough to complete this bundle." Finally, unable to put it off any longer, she struggled to her feet. Eli might have seen grandparents more graceful. Clearing her throat she intentionally metered her breath, not winded but certainly slow about it. It was then she stopped looking at him again, turning toward the plants and pulling the brim of her black hat down as she one by one began to pluck them from the ground. Efficient.
Without bothering to explain the present, she moved on, glancing over her shoulder at him as she hugged the bundle across her chest and marched through the fields, slowly and deliberately finding her footing in the uneven grasses and ground cover.
The fields were tough but flax was tougher - it sprang up in sparse stands periodically regardless of how brutal life in the Hallowed Ground outskirts might have been, the plant persisted. It was a gratefully accepted boon where Caido offered few. The lack of plants, however, indicated that this might be quite the fetch and gather quest. How long had she expected to be out here gathering for two bundles? Such a goal seemed like a day-long task for someone that struggled with basic navigation on uneven terrain.
As she drew close she halted, catching her breath a moment before lowering her current bundle to the ground, looking up to Eli with an expression that briefly suggested he might better please her by simply leaving. She didn't like being seen like this. She wasn't weak, she wasn't useless. She didn't want him getting the wrong idea that she somehow needed assistance. The hostility in her expression vanished in a split second, replaced by a thin smile. She unwound from her belt a length of heavy twine and laid it flat, transferring the bundle onto it, though did not bind it. They needed more.
"You pull it up by the root - they're not very deep so it ought to come up cleanly - if you beat it on the ground you'll drop the dirt and then put it here - that might be enough to complete this bundle." Finally, unable to put it off any longer, she struggled to her feet. Eli might have seen grandparents more graceful. Clearing her throat she intentionally metered her breath, not winded but certainly slow about it. It was then she stopped looking at him again, turning toward the plants and pulling the brim of her black hat down as she one by one began to pluck them from the ground. Efficient.
