I will probably regret saying this when I’m desperately starving in a few months or something, but for now I’m grateful that it’s winding down. I’m not sure how many more hours I can spend hunched over without turning into Igor-Tee. Yeeesss, Kohric, what is your bidding? Agh. My poor spine.
The youngsters were the first to take advantage of the lull. Nyarno practically vanished the minute the adults were looking the other way, with Ghee and Oshtik not far behind. Even solemn little Eyani finished his chores in a hurry and practically danced out into the fields to romp. It was cute. Kohric let me go a short while after, and I may have done a teensy bit of dancing too. I found Eyani and we made straight for the beach.
It hadn’t rained yet, which was a miracle, and the sun was actually peeking through the ever-present clouds. The breeze coming off the water was cool, but it was still warm enough out that the air felt refreshing instead of chill. Eyani and I did absolutely nothing productive, and it was wonderful. No learning, no practicing, nothing. We splashed around in the water, chased a funny-looking crab-lizard thing that I didn’t even ask the name of (hah!), and finally ended flopping under a tree and dozing. It was blissful after so many days of nonstop manual labor.
Eyani fell asleep after a time, and I didn’t have the heart to wake him. I wasn’t feeling sleepy. I’ve never been one to nap, really. So I went ambling along the wrack line to look for shiny pebbles to bring to Nandi (he covets shiny things worse than an entire flock of crows). The poor guy hadn’t gotten away from his chores and I thought a sparkly may make up for our abandoning him to play.
I hadn’t been at it too long when I spotted Oshtik sitting in the sand, looking out over the water. I still haven’t gotten their body language down pat, but I thought she looked rather sad. Her ears were drooping, her posture hunched, and her tail was curled tightly around her feet.
I approached her carefully. “Oshtik?”
She dipped her head and flicked one wrist in a half-hearted mockery of the normal greeting gesture. I sat down nearby and fumbled through my Azu-nah lexicon. The normal question here would, of course, be “is something wrong?” But I don’t know the Azu-nah word for “wrong.” Morality isn’t something that comes up in the day to day struggle to keep the clan fed, or in the little lessons Kohric has been giving. So I muddled along as best I could.
“Do you hurt?” I asked, feeling stupid. I knew that wasn’t the way another Azu would ask. I tried again. “Does your spirit hurt?” This language barrier really sucks.
Oshtik was quiet for some time, and I began to think she may not answer at all, but she finally turned to me and spoke. Her yellow eyes were like two pieces of amber in a bed of gray ash.
“Kohric does not teach today, or the next.” She sighed gustily, her sides rippling. “I will not learn new things for many days. Maybe a hand-and-tail of days!” Her muzzle was wrinkling, and her eyes were scrunching shut. I swallowed a laugh; I have apparently been hanging around with the Azu-nah equivalent of a geeky teacher’s pet, and didn’t realize it. I smiled and leaned to bump my forehead against hers. I ruffled her forelock with one hand.
“I can teach you human words,” I offered.
Oshtik made a delighted sound, haaaa, and surged to her feet. “Yes! Tee will teach? Yes!” Yeah, she’s definitely an Azu-nerd.
I grinned and hugged her.
That's really precious. :) I'd probably get along well with the little kids.
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