Overwatering [March 3010] [Adelais]
Feb 3, 2019 19:37:23 GMT -5
Post by Swithin on Feb 3, 2019 19:37:23 GMT -5
Swithin had waited several risings of the sun, and he had gritted his teeth the whole while of it as he had thought of the way he had been sent off. As if he had been a dog digging in her garden. As if he had wronged the woman in some way, when all he had done was seek to right a wrong which had not been his fault in the first place. Despite his frustration, he had not let on to it among his family, though Oswin had seen the outburst, he pretended as if it were nothing, insisting on the fact to his brother that the woman had only been in extreme pain for the sake of her broken nose. Swithin had taken detour from his home each of those days, as he watched the wood pile aside her house dwindle again, as he noticed the crack beneath the door, the thatching hanging loose in the spring wind, the shutters slapping against the house in a quick gusts, and the flowerboxes.
Flowerboxes forlorn and empty, rotted through to the bottom.
Each time he had walked past, he had fretted slightly about his treatment, but he remembered his promise, that he’d make things better and the way her eyes had glittered with hope. His promise drove him. Swithin was no man to back down on a promise. It were as the oath he had spoken to First Marshal when he had joined the Eored, and Swithin took not an oath lightly. He had promised to help, and as a man who would one day stand before Mandos, who stood now a servant of the King, Swithin would serve those in need. What else had he to do? That was all. Whatever it meant to Adelais; he was determined yet to help. He would see to the downtrodden house through the spring and summer in his off time, and when next winter came the woman could sit and drink to her wits end in a house tight and secure.
Then again, maybe he could fix that too.
He knew of the issue now, disturbing as it was to him. The drinking. His Pop had landed him word on the woman’s drinking problem, among other things. Never having parents, and how the loss of her grandparents had struck her. Loss of her betrothed. It made Swithin sick at heart to think of all the loss, and he understood what could drive a person to drink. Words which had passed to Heruthain by Oda and Cynburga who seemed to see all in the city, and from Heruthain to Swithin. Swithin was upset that his father had intervened in the manner he did, yet on the other hand, a firm pride welled up in him that his Pops thought he had the means to help; then again it would have been nice to go in with a bit of warning…
Then again, she’d been so livid with him, and it was hurtful. That’s what kept him away those first few days. He had to gather his thoughts, get things together, get a plan in motion; and she had the wood to keep warm and the groceries he’d left her with. Leastways he knew if she took the effort to care for herself at all, the means were there, warmth and nourishment.
The man had to keep himself busy or he did not know what to do with his energy, especially now that he’d been riled to action; he was not one to laze about the day even when he was off duty and in the midst of his planning. The man could multitask better than most men, and his thoughts were filed in his head as he worked. There were others in the city who needed assistance, and he found himself upon the rooftops of two neighbors in that week fixing the thatching against the winds. Fixing the thatching until his ears ached with the winds off the Starkhorn that would creep through the fibers of his hat. His ear had been leaking off and on since the scuffle, and Oswin had felt bad for it in the aftermath after Swithin had explained.
He had also laid down the law.
“Your hands stay off her, or I’ll break your nose worse than Darelle broke hers. She’s in a state and you aren’t going to mess with her. That’s my girl.”
Oswin had only given him a laugh and simple shrug. “I don’t want one that needs taking care of. You know what Cap said about women. A man in the Eored needs a woman who can handle hearth and home while he’s gone. That one can’t handle herself even without the stress that’d come of a man coming and going like we do. ‘Side from that she already screamed your business out in the yard; I need a discrete woman or Pop’sll have my head.”
“It’s for the better I walked her home the first night then isn’t it?” Swithin had responded, though he found himself frustrated with his brother.
It had given Swithin a thought to ponder, but then again there wasn’t much he could do for it now. Their family was and Eored family, and even if he was gone half the time, someone looking out for Adelais was better than nobody, wasn’t it?
Then the day came that the meager wood pile he’d time to chop seemed short. The last dregs of winter weather were passing, but the Starkhorn could blow cool gusts cool for another month or two, and it wouldn’t be long until he was summoned back to the plains for his duty. It called for another trip to purchase wood, and this time he was prepared with his own maul and wedge. The man was not quite certain how he’d go about letting Addy know what he planned, and so he didn’t. He waited til the woman had the day shift at work, he had the wood delivered, and then he spent the whole of it lining the back wall of her house. By the end of it all, there was enough to see her through the spring at least if the freezing nights didn’t last too long. Maybe into mid summer.
He left before evening, before her shift at the healing hall was over, but Swithin had a close eye on those flower boxes. If she was going to have anything planted in them this spring, he was going to have to get them fixed up before muster. The weather was warm enough now that the first of the herbs could be planted, and those flowers if she still wanted them. Flowers could do a lot to brighten up a space. Swithin had an eye for gardening, and it could save a sum to grow a few of your own crops, and there was nothing like helping to turn the barren earth into something plentiful.
With missive, the man had left the stacks of wood and set on his quest to gather what he needed for the flower boxes, and when dawn came the next day and he was prepared for the work, and he took to removing and replacing the rotted wood, laying a pile of scrap to the back of the house. The boxes beneath each window were done and filled with fertile earth which had come off the plains. Then he set to the back of the house to see what sort of space she had for turning the earth. It was true the small house was set in a space that was distant from most parts of the city; that required a bit of walking uphill to get anywhere one needed to be… yet that also meant there was a fair bit of open and empty land behind leading back to the fort wall.
Swithin’s fingers tingled at the thought of setting up the soil and growing things. Swithin loved to garden; he loved to watch things grow. Despite his love for it, he'd been the young child who'd killed his Mam's garden by overwatering it, just because he didn't know when to stop giving; like everything in his life. Of course he'd learned beyond that with the planting now.
Maybe he shouldn’t… maybe not yet… but he could not help it, and the man had trekked back to the wood seller to fetch what he’d need for a small fence. First thing one in the city needed to make a fine garden was a fence to keep the dogs and critters out so he bought a cartload of sticks, and in the space just behind her home where the soil seemed the best and most level, he began to build. He had to keep busy; he could not idle his hands, and so it was that the sun rose in the sky to the brink of midday and the fencing was half done, and by the time it began to fall to midafternoon, he had finished. A small space; only two meter by two, but enough to start, and Swithin would tend it himself if she did not wish to, long as someone pulled at the weeds while he was away with the muster.
Then came the breaking of the soil within, and Swithin worked the hoe, chomping up the soil and pulling out the clumps of grass that took deep root. A long task on ground which had not been broken. It was warm work and he had no need of his cloak now, tossed over the fence while the sun was making it’s way further down the horizon. and he knew Adelais’ shift at the healing hall would soon be over, but this time he would stay. He needed to speak with her after work… Of course he was meaning to keep his promises. That bed was still broken in there, he was sure, and he saw the broken chair leaning against the wall when he’d looked in the window. The least of things in which he needed to care for… he had a couple weeks yet before the muster, and there was going to be plenty to keep him busy… merely business matters to start and she’d had a couple days to come down from her anger. Swithin tried not to think too much about anything beyond working out the details of what he needed to fix.
And he tried not to think about the most important thing that needed fixing… the willowy sprite with her moon eyes, who’d slept in his arms just the once, but she felt quite right there, and he didn’t want to be lonely any more than she. Maybe the words she’d said those nights past didn’t mean anything in her state… who knew if she knew what she was saying inebriate, but they’d stitched a longing in his side for something he was missing. It was easier to try and shuck that emotion from his mind than it was to think about it just now. Now he had soil to think about, and he worked to finish it before she’d arrive home, his back to the house, and his ginger braid falling over his shoulder while he worked.
Flowerboxes forlorn and empty, rotted through to the bottom.
Each time he had walked past, he had fretted slightly about his treatment, but he remembered his promise, that he’d make things better and the way her eyes had glittered with hope. His promise drove him. Swithin was no man to back down on a promise. It were as the oath he had spoken to First Marshal when he had joined the Eored, and Swithin took not an oath lightly. He had promised to help, and as a man who would one day stand before Mandos, who stood now a servant of the King, Swithin would serve those in need. What else had he to do? That was all. Whatever it meant to Adelais; he was determined yet to help. He would see to the downtrodden house through the spring and summer in his off time, and when next winter came the woman could sit and drink to her wits end in a house tight and secure.
Then again, maybe he could fix that too.
He knew of the issue now, disturbing as it was to him. The drinking. His Pop had landed him word on the woman’s drinking problem, among other things. Never having parents, and how the loss of her grandparents had struck her. Loss of her betrothed. It made Swithin sick at heart to think of all the loss, and he understood what could drive a person to drink. Words which had passed to Heruthain by Oda and Cynburga who seemed to see all in the city, and from Heruthain to Swithin. Swithin was upset that his father had intervened in the manner he did, yet on the other hand, a firm pride welled up in him that his Pops thought he had the means to help; then again it would have been nice to go in with a bit of warning…
Then again, she’d been so livid with him, and it was hurtful. That’s what kept him away those first few days. He had to gather his thoughts, get things together, get a plan in motion; and she had the wood to keep warm and the groceries he’d left her with. Leastways he knew if she took the effort to care for herself at all, the means were there, warmth and nourishment.
The man had to keep himself busy or he did not know what to do with his energy, especially now that he’d been riled to action; he was not one to laze about the day even when he was off duty and in the midst of his planning. The man could multitask better than most men, and his thoughts were filed in his head as he worked. There were others in the city who needed assistance, and he found himself upon the rooftops of two neighbors in that week fixing the thatching against the winds. Fixing the thatching until his ears ached with the winds off the Starkhorn that would creep through the fibers of his hat. His ear had been leaking off and on since the scuffle, and Oswin had felt bad for it in the aftermath after Swithin had explained.
He had also laid down the law.
“Your hands stay off her, or I’ll break your nose worse than Darelle broke hers. She’s in a state and you aren’t going to mess with her. That’s my girl.”
Oswin had only given him a laugh and simple shrug. “I don’t want one that needs taking care of. You know what Cap said about women. A man in the Eored needs a woman who can handle hearth and home while he’s gone. That one can’t handle herself even without the stress that’d come of a man coming and going like we do. ‘Side from that she already screamed your business out in the yard; I need a discrete woman or Pop’sll have my head.”
“It’s for the better I walked her home the first night then isn’t it?” Swithin had responded, though he found himself frustrated with his brother.
It had given Swithin a thought to ponder, but then again there wasn’t much he could do for it now. Their family was and Eored family, and even if he was gone half the time, someone looking out for Adelais was better than nobody, wasn’t it?
Then the day came that the meager wood pile he’d time to chop seemed short. The last dregs of winter weather were passing, but the Starkhorn could blow cool gusts cool for another month or two, and it wouldn’t be long until he was summoned back to the plains for his duty. It called for another trip to purchase wood, and this time he was prepared with his own maul and wedge. The man was not quite certain how he’d go about letting Addy know what he planned, and so he didn’t. He waited til the woman had the day shift at work, he had the wood delivered, and then he spent the whole of it lining the back wall of her house. By the end of it all, there was enough to see her through the spring at least if the freezing nights didn’t last too long. Maybe into mid summer.
He left before evening, before her shift at the healing hall was over, but Swithin had a close eye on those flower boxes. If she was going to have anything planted in them this spring, he was going to have to get them fixed up before muster. The weather was warm enough now that the first of the herbs could be planted, and those flowers if she still wanted them. Flowers could do a lot to brighten up a space. Swithin had an eye for gardening, and it could save a sum to grow a few of your own crops, and there was nothing like helping to turn the barren earth into something plentiful.
With missive, the man had left the stacks of wood and set on his quest to gather what he needed for the flower boxes, and when dawn came the next day and he was prepared for the work, and he took to removing and replacing the rotted wood, laying a pile of scrap to the back of the house. The boxes beneath each window were done and filled with fertile earth which had come off the plains. Then he set to the back of the house to see what sort of space she had for turning the earth. It was true the small house was set in a space that was distant from most parts of the city; that required a bit of walking uphill to get anywhere one needed to be… yet that also meant there was a fair bit of open and empty land behind leading back to the fort wall.
Swithin’s fingers tingled at the thought of setting up the soil and growing things. Swithin loved to garden; he loved to watch things grow. Despite his love for it, he'd been the young child who'd killed his Mam's garden by overwatering it, just because he didn't know when to stop giving; like everything in his life. Of course he'd learned beyond that with the planting now.
Maybe he shouldn’t… maybe not yet… but he could not help it, and the man had trekked back to the wood seller to fetch what he’d need for a small fence. First thing one in the city needed to make a fine garden was a fence to keep the dogs and critters out so he bought a cartload of sticks, and in the space just behind her home where the soil seemed the best and most level, he began to build. He had to keep busy; he could not idle his hands, and so it was that the sun rose in the sky to the brink of midday and the fencing was half done, and by the time it began to fall to midafternoon, he had finished. A small space; only two meter by two, but enough to start, and Swithin would tend it himself if she did not wish to, long as someone pulled at the weeds while he was away with the muster.
Then came the breaking of the soil within, and Swithin worked the hoe, chomping up the soil and pulling out the clumps of grass that took deep root. A long task on ground which had not been broken. It was warm work and he had no need of his cloak now, tossed over the fence while the sun was making it’s way further down the horizon. and he knew Adelais’ shift at the healing hall would soon be over, but this time he would stay. He needed to speak with her after work… Of course he was meaning to keep his promises. That bed was still broken in there, he was sure, and he saw the broken chair leaning against the wall when he’d looked in the window. The least of things in which he needed to care for… he had a couple weeks yet before the muster, and there was going to be plenty to keep him busy… merely business matters to start and she’d had a couple days to come down from her anger. Swithin tried not to think too much about anything beyond working out the details of what he needed to fix.
And he tried not to think about the most important thing that needed fixing… the willowy sprite with her moon eyes, who’d slept in his arms just the once, but she felt quite right there, and he didn’t want to be lonely any more than she. Maybe the words she’d said those nights past didn’t mean anything in her state… who knew if she knew what she was saying inebriate, but they’d stitched a longing in his side for something he was missing. It was easier to try and shuck that emotion from his mind than it was to think about it just now. Now he had soil to think about, and he worked to finish it before she’d arrive home, his back to the house, and his ginger braid falling over his shoulder while he worked.