Jarred By The Meeting

Writers: Avery, Leigh M-F.
Date Posted: 17th February 2016

Characters: Corran, Nohria, Desai
Description: Warden gets stuck in a jar and Nohria saves the day.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 4, day 12 of Turn 8

Thus far, Nohria was satsified with how things were going. So were her comrades. But that was where her satisfaction ended. She still hadn't found the lock that fit the second key, and she was beginning to think the key protected something restricted. But she had time to figure it out. For now, she could let her mind wander as she helped other drudges work at cleaning out one of the storage areas. Currently, she was placing crates of jars back in their place.

Warden liked being in the storage areas. There were things to look at. Things that sparkled that could be taken. Things that made noise when he rooted through them. And things that smelled good. Right now he smelled a good-smell. And his person wasn't around to say no to him. So the brown flit cheeped softly to himself, considering, before they knew.

And then he dove down into the thing that smelled nice. He got his head in and started licking. That was going well. Until he couldn't get his head out. That was more distressing. He shrilled.

Several people jumped at the noise, and Nohria realized it was in the next aisle over, where she was supposed to go next. She rushed over, theorizing some unfortunate tunnelsnake had been caught in a trap without dying cleanly. She would put it out of its misery if that were so; the smooth-skinned types were edible.

But no. It was a brown fire-lizard in a crate, with his head stuck in a green-tinted jar, wailing miserably. Nohria burst out laughing as she knelt next to the box. "What were you thinking?" she chuckled, slowly reaching for the jar to see if she could help.

Warden cheeped piteously, though the jar on his head probably prevented her hearing much of it. He swung his head around, which just made the jar swing around too. His wings flapped as he tried to stabilize himself. It was just so heavy!

The person was welcome. People were friends. They helped. Warden needed it. He slowed his wiggles.

Ah, good. The little brown was panicking less. Okay, maybe they could make this work. But after trying to pry the jar off and finding she was pulling the fire-lizard halfway out of the box with each try, Nohria realized she needed someone to hold the brown while she worked the jar off. She looked about for someone to help.

Desai had noticed Nohria stepping away. When she didn't come back immediately, the brunette stepped around the corner to see what was going on. "Nohria?"

She saw the other drudge there with a flit. "Oh! What happened?"

"I don't know, but he's stuck," Nohria explained, "and he's stuck good enough I need both hands to work on the jar. Would you mind holding his midsection gently?"

Corran started getting some very interesting images from Warden's mind. Pain on his head. A distorted view of everything. Hands on his belly. Being trapped and fouled. He hunted through the corridors, trying to follow the trail to its source.

Meanwhile, Desai nodded at Nohria's words. "Sure," she said, reaching out to hold the flit so Nohria could work. "I wonder who he belongs to," she cooed. "Who's got a cute brown flit like you?"

"Probably one of the rankers around here," Nohria said, gently twisting the jar. "They probably didn't emphasize the 'don't stick your head in strange things' lesson well enough-" She paused as she realized why the fire-lizard had gotten himself in trouble. "Oh, blast it all. This jar smells like bacon grease. I don't think this was cleaned properly before it was put away." She tugged a little harder, and the object was finally prized off. "There we go!"

"'Twas Farien and Balisk who cleaned these. Lazy boys the lot of them," Desai huffed as she watched Nohria work.

Corran came into the storage room just then. "Excuse me, has anyone
seen a brown fool of a flit?" he called into the room.

Shaffit. This was exactly who she didn't want to see. But Nohria answered. "Yes, sir. Desai is holding him right now. We just got his head un-stuck from a jar."

Corran shook his head with resignation as he rounded the corner and saw Desai and Nohria. Warden cheeped very loudly and wriggled when he saw his person. Desai squeaked, startled by the flapping wings and moving forelimbs, and instinctively let go. Corran leapt forward to catch the little brown, who shrunk into the man's arms once he was caught.

"There there. How'd you get yourself in a jar?" the guard said, stroking the flit's back with a finger very gently. "You need to be smarter about these things. They could have not heard you and then you'd still be stuck."

Warden made a piteous sound.

"I'm very sorry if he disrupted you day."

Nohria didn't reply for a moment; she was too surprised. Corran was being so- so gentle with the little brown, and concerned about his welfare. She hadn't expected that. Guards didn't always know the meaning of gentle. But the fire-lizard obviously meant a lot to Corran. Nohria wasn't sure how to take that. "No, sir," she finally said. "He- He actually helped us find out these jars weren't cleaned properly before being brought back here. But now we know who the culprits are, and we can make them fix their mistake. So, uh." She nodded to Warden. "Thank you, I guess?"

Warden didn't leave Corran's arms, but extended his muzzle out towards
Nohria and made a happy sound at her.

"Sorry to hear that the jars weren't cleaned. I guess he made himself useful. But thank you so much for getting him out of there before he hurt himself very badly." The guard's thanks were sincere - Corran was very attached to his friend.

For some reason, Nohria hadn't expected gratitude, either. Sure, Corran had seemed sincere when she brought him ginger tea, but she felt caught off guard all the same. Most people didn't think to thank the same drudge twice. What was going on here? "You're welcome," she decided to say, and tentatively held out a hand to Warden to let him sniff it.

The flit cooed, leaned forward, and headbutted Nohria's hand. He liked her. She was a rescuer. He sent warm happy thoughts towards his owner and towards her. Then he ducked out his tongue to lick.

Nohria found herself smiling. Apparently, she was not immune to cute things. "Well, just stay out of trouble, little sir," she told Warden, withdrawing her hand, but not rudely. "We need to get back to work. Thank you for coming to get him," she added to Corran. "Have a good day, sir."

"Have a good one," Corran said, taking the flit out the room.

Desai's eyes widened and she pointed at Nohria. "I think he _likes_ you," she accused.

Now that really startled the black-eyed woman. "Wha- How- Excuse me?!" she sputtered. "Don't be stupid, Desai. No man has ever liked _me_. They liked _these_." She pointed to her large bust, then remembered her cover story and hastily added "My late husband was the exception. Now come on, we have to figure out how many more jars need to be sent back to the kitchen, and how to best discipline Balisk and Farien for their laziness."

Desai's face crinkled with mirth. "Maybe that guard sees just those, but I still say he's sweet on you."

"I see two more dirty jars," another woman chimed in.

"If he's sweet on me, let him _try_ to court me," Nohria muttered, and knelt back at the appropriate crate to fish out the improperly cleaned objects.

Desai laughed again. Nohria might think it was crazy, but she'd seen something. "Maybe he will."

Nohria wasn't sure if that flattered or frightened her.

Last updated on the February 21st 2016

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Jarred By The Meeting