AINO
Once they entered the main streets again, Aino kept a certain distance to the other woman. Unwilling to draw the attention of gossip mongers of her mother's ilk, and even less inclined to hover like a jailer over Hotaru, she walked by her side instead. That was not to say she wasn't wary, but if the woman hadn't run thus far, then she likely wouldn't now either.
"Lead the way," she said, pulling a simple leather thong to offer the other woman; no elastics here, only plain, sturdy and serviceable. Yet as a woman of long hair, Aino knew the plight. "My brother and I go onto the Sea of Glass and drill through the ice. Then we haul up as much fish as we can get, before it thaws over. That's a few times a week. The rest of the time we process the catch, and sell what we don't need on the market." Scarce little was left over after the family had been fed; it was a hard, dirty and thankless job that never ended. Every scrap was needed, and it was hard not to keep berating Hotaru for stealing that hard earned goods just for fun.
"It's been... two years? Since my pa and little sister died, at any rate." The way she said it was laconical and to the point, emotions buried so deep that not even a flicker showed on her face. "That's when I came home to help the family." Pale blue eyes flicked over to regard the slender female beside her. Assessing, whether this had been enough of an answer.
"Lead the way," she said, pulling a simple leather thong to offer the other woman; no elastics here, only plain, sturdy and serviceable. Yet as a woman of long hair, Aino knew the plight. "My brother and I go onto the Sea of Glass and drill through the ice. Then we haul up as much fish as we can get, before it thaws over. That's a few times a week. The rest of the time we process the catch, and sell what we don't need on the market." Scarce little was left over after the family had been fed; it was a hard, dirty and thankless job that never ended. Every scrap was needed, and it was hard not to keep berating Hotaru for stealing that hard earned goods just for fun.
"It's been... two years? Since my pa and little sister died, at any rate." The way she said it was laconical and to the point, emotions buried so deep that not even a flicker showed on her face. "That's when I came home to help the family." Pale blue eyes flicked over to regard the slender female beside her. Assessing, whether this had been enough of an answer.
For the good times that we share,
and the bad times that we'll have
and the bad times that we'll have
