Pieces
Bits of adventure, pieces of life.
Chapter 5: Rowan's nightshort (shirt)
Set shortly after Rowan of the Bukshaa.
Jiller lays the last mug down and pulls out a stool for herself, hoping no one else will show up.
'Thanks,' Broden murmurs, before lifting her's to drink. The others do the same, and Allun reaches for the biscuits in the middle of the table.
It is dark outside, but the sky is clear for the first time in nearly two weeks. Heavy rain fell every day until the stream and Bukshaa pool overflowed. The fields all resemble swamps more than crops (hopefully they will not drown) and the hills have turned into mudslides.
Oh and many houses have been flooded. On top of the ones that were damaged by the incredible snow and cold.
Everyone has been busy working to save their homes and block or divert the floodwater. Jiller has been out all day carrying things and digging and there is a pile of muddy laundry still waiting for her, but somehow Allun, Sara, Lann, Bronden, Val, Ellis and her cousin Gem have wound up coming home with her and Jonn for a cup of tea.
She hopes they will not wake Rowan and Annad, who have also been working hard and gone to bed before the adults arrived.
'I hope all this rain will not bring us flies earlier,' Allun says. He dips a biscuit (his second) in his tea.
'They are very bothersome,' Jonn mutters. They leave fly swatting to Annad here. She loves it. She can spend ages thundering around the house with the swatter.
They talk about bugs for a while and move onto housing problems, lead by Lann and Bronden.
'I am experimenting with varnishing,' she says. 'A lot of furniture has been ruined by the cold or flood. Of course, I do not mind the hard work, but it is such a waste of good wood.'
Her own house is not too badly damaged, but others were not so fortunate. Both Timon and Sheba are living with Lann for now. Jiller is not sure who she feels more sorry for; apparently Timon snores very loudly.
The kitchen door creaks slightly and there are quiet footsteps. Sounds like Rowan come down for a late snack.
Their kitchen and eating room is basically one long room with a tall bench separating the areas. Rowan enters through the side and opens the pantry. He is half-asleep and does not notice the guests at the table right away.
Jiller turns to ask her son if he wants a cup of tea and freezes. Uh oh.
During the long Winter Rowan and Annad both outgrew some of their clothes, including their Summer nightshirts. They realised this shortly before the flooding and Jiller has not had time to make new ones yet. For now, Annad is wearing one of Rowan's old shirts to bed, and Rowan is wearing one of Jiller's. She thought she had a spare nightshirt but it has disappeared. Did she give it to Gem's daughter Arra?
The white shirt hangs loosely around Rowan's shoulders, partly unbuttoned (it is a warm night), exposing his collarbones and chest. The bottom ends half-way down his thighs.
'I was not expecting to see Rowan tonight,' Allun grins. 'Not so much of him, anyway.'
Jonn sniggers. The others have fallen into baffled silence.
Jiller decides to move things along so she can go to bed soon.
'Rowan?' she says. 'Would you like to take a cup of tea to bed?'
Rowan turns to her, blinks, and rubs the sleep from his eyes. He notices the full table and looks down at his shirt, and you can see the moment it clicks when he stiffens and turns red.
'... Ah - um... No thank you!' he squeaks, edging behind the pantry door.
It is too much for Allun and he bursts into laughter. Rowan glares at him, but it only makes him laugh harder, and sets Jonn off too.
'Grow up, you two,' Lann scolds, but she's trying not to smile.
Timon smiles at Rowan and tells him to be glad Sheba is not there. Whether this is of relief, Jiller is not sure, but it snaps Rowan out of shock. He grabs a wheat stick from the pantry and mutters a quiet,
'Good night,' striding out.
Allun stops laughing long enough to loudly accuse Bronden of blushing and start a fight.
I hope Rowan did not hear that, Jiller thinks.
I went to Armageddon Expo this weekend. Flew down to Christchurch and stayed the night with my friend in her student flat. I cosplayed as Kuroko Tetsuya from Kuroko's Basketball and a few people recognised it.
There was lots of steampunk jewellery for sale - I got a ring. Can you imagine the Zebak culture eventually going a bit steampunk?