Lion Head Mesa Would you stay if she promised you heaven?

Nazli had begun to scour the land for anything that might serve as a gift from the pharaoh to his daughter, as asked.

She had first gone to where the mazoi slept, their barracks, and upon a nearby hill she found clusters of small flowers struggling to grow outside of their season; they were delicate violet specks ready to open, but not quite there yet.

These she gathered carefully over the course of the morning. They were bundled neatly and wrapped with reeds so that they would stay together, and not be lost.

In her meandering Nazli made her way to the adjacent quarters of the hem without thinking, and upon finding herself there she bowed her head and hurried along, towards one of the many doors to the service halls of the fellahin.

he came down the hallway grumbling, brows knitted as if pinched. in his mind he was making grand vows that if ever again he even glances at another berry, he 'd toss himself off the mesa.

but despite the dull ache in his temples, the neb saw young nazli exiting the head priest's rooms, clear as day.

gucci paused. unintentionally, his diminutive self stood before a doorway leading to the service halls.

"g'mornin', yang miss." he called to the blue girl, smile less than an automatic curving of the mouth. "busy already?"

oh, neb, the girl breathed around her bouquet, careful as she pranced along the hallway and then she placed the flowers down carefully, and smiled to the small man.

Always busy, but in a good way. Nazli was known for loving her work - perhaps too much, given how many meals she skipped or hours she was found in odd places, doing who-knows-what. It was all starting to show upon her young features: tired eyes, sunken cheeks.

Is there something I can help you with, sir?

she was a brilliant, eager presence, and thus the hungover gucci had to squint to look at her.

he licked his whiskers, and cast a glance around her legs, at the rooms she had just come out of. at any other time, when his usual demeanor was not embittered, he would have thought nothing of it. now, ravaged by a mild headache, and recovering from having walked in on two separate occasions of public indecency the previous night, a single, scandalous thought occurred to him.

had akhtar robbed the cradle??

gucci looked back up at the girl, and now forced a more convincing expression onto his features. 

"hm, well now that ya mention, ah'd needja t' carry an invitation- but first," with a swaying flourish and one of his good smiles, he gestured down the main hall. "would ya accompany an ol' man on a short walk?"

A walk? Though he said a short one, that meant a few steps for the lean-limbed lilac. She nods to him and on a second bob of her head, picks up her bundle to follow him.

Rather than ask around the flowers, she looks to him with a few glances, wondering if the little man would speak at all; she could not reply, which made her a good set of ears for listening, and sometimes that was all one needed.

he led her a bit down the hallway first, getting his thoughts in proper order (hard to do around a migraine).

with a smack of lips and exhale, he finally spoke, not looking directly at the girl.

"... dear...." 

"have ya been thinkin' 'bout adulthood lately?"

Adulthood?

What could prompt such a thought? Perhaps the man was jealous, and only asked because of the berries on his breath. Would he one day reach adulthood himself or was he trapped in a child's body?

The girl shook her head and quirked a brow, her ears fanning back-then-front, as a sign of both confusion and concern. Had she not held flowers in her teeth she would have readily questioned him. Instead, she merely shakes her head.

the neb nodded, solemn. much worse than ah thought. akhtar, ya robed devil!

"ah see. but y'do comprehend what it'll entail, yeah? girls n women live much differin' lives." someone rushed past them, half-skinned hare dangling from their mouth. 

"there any part o' bein' grow ya lookin' forward to? social, mental, or..." he cleared his throat. "...physical?"

He spoke of things she did not understand; so far as she knew, there was no difference! Tavina had once been a girl, probably, and had different duties - but that was the only change.

She had once spoken of a desire to see the world and all it contained, and now she was sesh to royals! That was a difference. For Nazli it seemed much the same - she would continue to serve in every capacity.

Social, mental, physical - what was he getting at?

A frown laced her features because she was very confused, and of course she could not speak until she had found a place for this bouquet, which led the conversation to be one-sided further more. A shrug of her shoulders, a shake of her head; she spots a few buds of flowers falling and has to stop moving abruptly.

Another passing fellahin draws close and Nazli motions to them, and places the flowers down - Take these to my alcove, please? The neb requires my time, and without a word the other fellahin looks over their shoulder to a third, who comes with a motion and gathers the bouquet. Together they race off.

She faces Gucci then. Pardon me, neb, but where do these questions come from? I do not understand.

for a second, his tail went rigid, and whites of eyes took up more space. 

caught! cunnin' child!

he cleared his throat, but did not slow his gait.

"yang miss, ah respect a child's right t' self-searchin', ah do, but please..." he stopped, and turned and tilted his head towards her cream-painted face. "despite your station, do nawt meddle wi' them who only see you as tool, 'stead o' person. remember always you, again, are more than obedient young girlie."

he held her gaze, conveying without words that akhtar was lofty cradle-snatcher who don't deserve fleas let alone th' attentions o' such a clever yang thang!

Innocent as she was of any wrongdoing, or anything the little man might have envisioned of her, Nazli did not understand a lick of what was said.

Not to meddle? Seen as a tool? She felt insulted to a greater degree than ever before, and as this was a new experience it was a strong one, which she reacted to so sharply and without the ability to self-control.

Her fur spiked all over, every lilac hair upon her body. Her tail was up and puffing like a cat's for one instant, and the rest of her was taught, rigid. A look of confusion turned in to something of a frown, and she felt hot-cheeked, but could not identify why.

Neb Gucci I do not know what you are implying, but I do my work with utmost care, whatever is asked of me! I don't know what's gotten in to you to suggest otherwise -! She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but she didn't know why he said such things to her! Calling her a tool? As if it would be so wrong to be used! That was her purpose! He called in to question everything she knew of herself, and for what? She didn't know!

Now if you have no real need of me, I will be dismissed. There is much for me to do - as a tool of Akashingo, and an obedient one, that I cannot stand and -- and gossip! Good day, sir.

And for once she did not wait for dismissal, she pulled readily away from him and hurried down the corridor; it was easy to keep ahead of the little man with his mediocre reach, and she was thankful beyond compare, because he would not see the sheen of tears that had suddenly sprung up across her vision.

juvenile rage had young nazli resembling an offended feline, and gucci was, in turn, only more strongly convinced these were the results of having been in some way poisoned by the leading hebsut, the man having obviously abused his station.

but outright horror showed in his face to hear how she spoke of herself! were those words of bitter adolescent sarcasm, or did this girl truly think herself so lowly?!

refusing to question the structure of akashingo, his mind shut down that railway of thought. clearly, this was a youth in desperate need of soul-searching! he let that be his conclusion.

she'd stormed off in the time it took him to come it. the neb, mentally reset, remembered what he initially needed her for.

"wait! please, tell th' matrona t' come by th' wellspring, afternoon or-" but she'd gone around a bend.

the neb remained standing in the middle of the hallway. somehow, his headache was no more.

clearly, that girl needed help. clearly!