Redsand Canyon date palms

another soldier?

as she had done with towhee, tamar stood beside the military housing. this time she had brought peeled birch branches which gave off a piercing, almost citrus scent. and a spool of rabbitskins as well.

@Maxim. the pale eyes of the young woman searched for the wolf who would be new to her vision.

another plebian crossed his sights. this one more brilliant than the last in her appearance. not dimmed by dark colors, but more like a sun.

he was coaxed in by her warmth.

he welcomed her presence further with a strong, deep chuff as he approached her.

tamar smiled and dipped her head.

he was unfamiliar to her. this must be the one called maxim.

"welcome to mereo," the girl murmured. "i am tamar, the housekeeper. i have brought you some bedding. will you tell me which den you have chosen?" 

her eyes watched him with curiosity as she waited for the new soldier to tell her where he lay his head.

i have not picked yet, he informed her as his eyes drifted from her sunfire fur to the collection of living units.

over there? he gestured towards the end near the left side, not quiet on the end but near enough. somewhere mildly secluded.

"that is a good choice."

tamar carried her bedding and branches to the left. "towhee will be your neighbor." perhaps he knew this already. the girl ducked inside and as with the first new auxillary, she chose a wall and began to form a mattress of what she had brought.

"will you tell me of yourself, maxim?" tamar asked, looking back over her shoulder at the doorway as she arranged the skins just so.

he watched her set to work with a look in his eyes that could only be described as fondness. the smell of citrus blooming around them as she worked and highlighting the lively color of her against a still empty house.

there is not much to me! he laughed with some boyish charm. i am young, i leave home when the time comes and i find mereo. germanicus tells me this is place of soldiers and militaries. i offer my body and teeth.

the bedcover was perfect.

yet tamar still plucked at the fur, somehow afraid to turn. maxim's voice was inviting and jovial. but his eyes held a man's appreciation. she had come to know that look all too well.

at last she did move to face him. he was handsome in an angular way. tamar suspected he missed very little. "was it hard to leave home?"

her work was incredible. unable to be compared to anything else maxim had ever witnessed. not even his well ranked home had been so carefully maintained.

no, he said with strong confidence. when you have no choice but to go, there is no way it is hard. a soft shrug of his shoulders.

have you always been an, ah, housekeeper?

<3 i would like to have an updated one!

tamar nodded.

this she did understand.

but when maxim asked after her own past, the girl felt herself close. "this is the first place i have not been a servant or a slave."

the moment was dashed. she offered a tight smile and bowed, attempting to skirt around the man. she meant to find arsenio now. only he was able to quell such thoughts.

he wondered, only for a brief moment, if he had looked too much upon her honey coat and curves.

but that was not exactly his fault, was it?

maybe it was.

regardless she saw it fit to leave now that things had been settled. only leaving him with a glimmer of who she was beyond what he had stared upon.