Roleplay

“Eighteen?”

Gods she was young, too young to be left on her own to raise a child like this. He’d thought she would be older, probably with the more mature attitude she had. And he was never really good at guessing ages. Sickness? That would explain a few things, the stiffness she seemed to be working out of her hands earlier. He decided not to press the matter.

“It is a very nice home you have, one of the nicer I’ve stolen from honestly! And as for me, you know enough about me. You have my name, I work for hire for a lot of things, I am a thief by trade. My personal matters aren’t too important really, nothing for you to care or worry too much on. It’s nothing too interesting I assure you.”

Hannah nodded as V explained a little more about himself and told her not to worry.

“ Yes, it is a fine house.but..I admit, when my mom died, it felt so empty, after a while of being without her, that plus my sickness bringing me down, I almost just didn’t wanna live no more. “ gives a smile at Aaliyah. “ but then, I saw this little one out in the streets, she was all alone, just like me, and I knew that if she stayed in the streets, the slave traders would get her for sure, so I took her in as my own.”

He appreciated her not prying further, as a lot of people were prone to do. That just made him shut them down further, angrily at times. But her understanding attitude left him almost wanting to talk about himself. As did the similarities in their situations growing up. But not yet, he wasn’t here to build friendships, he was here to get paid.

“She surely would have been. I’ve seen it happen many times in my life, been..around that type of thing. So it is good that you took her in, a life on the street can be hard on a child.”

She nodded slowly. “ yes,I too have seen how hard it can be on someone, not just children, I try to do what I can, giving money, food, but I know I can’t take care of everyone, even if I wanted too.”

“That is a noble, but you are right. You can’t help everyone. So why do you keep doing what you do? You can’t help everyone, so why not just help yourself?”

Trying to help everyone you met was a foolish goal. People needed different things, things you couldn’t always provide. People got sick, people starved. The people you’d grown to call family would be taken in the dead of night, people needed rescuing. But it wasn’t possible to help like that, to that degree. He knew that well enough.

But the self. You could keep yourself going through just about anything when you had to. Taking care of the self could be done most of the time.

Hannah shrugged. “ I don’t know, it’s just like it’s embedded in me to help everyone I meet, my mother did it, and she taught me to do it, and I love the smile I can put on someone’s face even for a moment.”

She sighed. “ and as far as taking care of myself instead, if I just help myself, I do take care of myself, but I just can’t think of myself all the time.”

He was quiet as he listened to her, head dipping in a nod of understanding. He didn’t agree with most of that, but that was all based on life experiences he reckoned. When you had the means to do so it was also probably much easier to justify being a better person.

“I suppose, though I can’t say I fully understand why. Being nice doesn’t keep you from being alive.”

Another few wagons coming up the back, and once again he pulled them off to the edge to let them pass by. The road was picking up a bit in activity as the day passed, no doubt people trying to make the next town before nightfall.

Hannah looked at him as more wagons passed by. “ maybe not physically, but mentally, and even spiritually,yes it can.

He still didn’t agree. He couldn’t agree with that. He had his gods, his religion sure. But even that wasn’t enough to keep you alive when your belly was empty or a knife was at your back. He shook his head a bit and continued onward.

They’d made good time it seemed, the sun starting to dip low in the sky and the soft lights of a town cresting up the next hill they slogged. Thank whoever seemed to be watching them, he was exhausted. He’d forgotten how tiring walking like this could be, wishing nothing more than a stiff drink and a cot to collapse onto for the night. With this town being as far out from any main cities as it was, the citizens and clientele were far more diverse. Far less prejudice, the trio of them strolling into the small town with nothing more than minor glances in their directions.

The stabling and feed were a bit expensive, no doubt due to the amount of travelers through the area. But he paid it, gathering a small over the shoulder bag of his things from the saddle before he was rejoining Hannah and the girl.

“Right. I am tired, I am in need of a drink, and I believe there is only one inn in this town. I’m sure you have funds for a room for you two, unless you’re absolutely convinced you’re going to be attacked in the dead of night and request I stay in the same room. If not, I am going to rightly sod off for a bit.”

Hannah looked at V. “ yes, I have the funds for the inn. “ then she smirked as she picked up Aaliyah. “ the only time I fear I’m going to be attacked at night is when you’re around. “ she made sure he could hear the sarcasm in her coice