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[drawsblood]

// username: joric

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[morethan084]

[Her tired smile grows. She loves his crooked smile.]

Yeah, it is. I’m surprised the cubit let you two on it.

[drawsblood]

Well, it was his. The creature trusted him.

[ He turns the block and keeps whittling. ]

I never did much with mine. I didn't want the responsibility, I suppose.

[morethan084]

You never had a pet growing up?

[Daisy asks, watching his hands as he works.]

[drawsblood]

No. We kept animals, but they weren't pets.

[ He pauses to contemplate the shape, then continues. ]

Did you?

[morethan084]

None that were mine, no.

[Sure, some of the families she stayed with had pets, but she never stayed there long.]

I always wanted one though.

[drawsblood]

What kind did you wish to have?

[ He knows cats are useful to keep mice away, but he's always liked dogs for some reason. There were always strays roaming around that were friendly because people in the village fed them. They probably would have been more territorial and vicious if they'd had to fight for every scrap of food. ]

[morethan084]

Anything, honestly.

[Daisy finally moves to sit up on the bed instead of laying down, her back against the headboard.]

For a while I really wanted a hamster, even begged one of the sisters repeatedly. Unsurprisingly they said no every time.

[drawsblood]

[ He gives a brief chuckle. ]

That is some kind of rodent, isn’t it? Not my first choice. I think I’d want something I couldn’t easily lose.

[morethan084]

Yes, but that's why I wanted one. I figured maybe it'd be easier to ask for than a dog.

[Drawing her legs up, she continues to watch him work.]

What kind of animals did you have growing up?

[drawsblood]

We had some chickens and a few goats. Eggs and milk every morning. Those tended to be the sorts of animals we raised in the village. Our yards weren't large enough for anything else, and goats will eat any food scraps. Pigs will too, but no one wants a mud pit for a yard and you only raise them to kill them. We had our animals for what they provided, not primarily their meat.

[morethan084]

[Daisy is smiling at the image he creates for her.]

That sounds like a really nice way to grow up. Did you ever name them?

[drawsblood]

Mm hm. Though I'm not sure I can remember any of them.

[ He brushes some curls of wood off his pants. ]

Think one pair of goats was Olaf and Oda.

[morethan084]

[Daisy presses her lips together to keep from laughing.]

Who named them that?

[drawsblood]

Oh, that's too long ago for me to remember.

[ But a smile touches his lips. ]

Why? Are they not good names?

[morethan084]

No, they are.

[Daisy's quick to say.]

Just not names I'd picture you coming up with.

[drawsblood]

Well, I probably didn't. I had four siblings, you know. It could have been one of them, or my mother, or they might have arrived from the farm with names instead.

[ He shrugs. The carving he's doing hasn't really changed the shape of the object much just yet. It's a slow process. ]

We always had fresh milk, so that was nice.

[morethan084]

[Daisy smiles sadly when he mentions his siblings, looking briefly down at his work until he mentions having fresh milk.]

I’ve never had goats milk before.

[She admits, moving to sit with her legs crossed on his bed.]

What’s it taste like?

[drawsblood]

Close to a cow's milk, though a little sweeter.

[ Of course they always used theirs right away so it didn't have time to take a turn and taste bad. He thinks maybe he'll get a few goats when he returns home. The carving knife stops mid-carve as he realizes what he's just thought. Going home has had nothing but a bittersweet feeling attached to it, knowing what he'd be missing here, but for a moment he saw more than just curing himself of his rage. He began to see building his life again. The knife moves again. ]

Goats are a better value. Smaller, easier to feed, unable to trample you.

[morethan084]

Huh. I don't know why, but I'd imagine it would be almost bitter?

[Then again, it's not like she's really tried a lot of different milks.]

Trample you? Is that something people are concerned about where you're from?

[She grew up in a city, so the thought of cows trampling her is not something she ever thought about.]

[drawsblood]

[ He raises his brow and gives a shrug. ]

It's not common, but cows are huge, heavy animals that can take fright and thrash all over the place. One has to be mindful of that while working with one.

[morethan084]

[He has a point.]

So, you grew up on a farm?

[Already she’s smiling at the image of him as a farmer.]

[drawsblood]

No. I grew up in a village.

[ It is not clicking in his head why he wouldn't know about cows, though. ]

[morethan084]

And everyone there had farm animals?

[It’s hard for her to imagine herself living that kind of life, having grown up in a major city and more or less constantly moving since she was a child.]

[drawsblood]

Most people did, yes. It helps to have daily eggs and milk. But our yard wasn't big enough for cows. They need space to graze. Like I said, goats will eat anything.

[morethan084]

That sounds like a really nice way to grow up.

[And maybe a little smelly, but Manhattan also didn’t smell great.]

How did you learn wood carving?