#meja who is hass and doesn't give a flying fuck: the moons are just colorful rocks in the sky y'all need to calm down. free baby i guess

[reneesbooks]

last lines of 2024

@oh-no-another-idea my beloved tagged me and i have been doing some writing and lurking while on my tumblr hiatus. some salt and brine for y'all--meja meets a strange child in the morbhard market.

minor cw for mentions of child abuse/mistreatment

The boy skips along the gutter until he reaches the next section of the marker, trying his luck with the wealthier booths. Meja bites her lip as the third merchant turns the little boy away with a hissed curse, always calling the same strange word after him: mallaithe.

The boy tugs at the sleeve of a portly man in a fine coat. Meja feels a shiver go down her spine and starts walking quickly towards the two of them. The man turns and, sneering that same word, backhands the boy across the face.

Meja freezes, feeling a flush of anger crawling up her cheeks. That a child was unwanted in such a place as this, with so much abundance, is already unthinkable. That a child would be so brazenly mistreated by so many is unconscionable. Her feet move again, carrying her across the street to the man and the boy.

The boy is picking himself up from the street when Meja reaches him, and looks up at her with watery brown eyes that remind her of Kamon’s. The portly man in the fine coat smiles widely at her, chattering and gesturing at the table of wares behind him. She ignores him and crouches down to help the boy up from the street. The portly man’s voice silences with a strangled gasp.

Meja brushes the dirt and dried mud off the boy’s clothes, inspecting the new mark on his face. It’s only a dark smudge on his amber skin now; by sunset half his chubby face will be black and blue. She glares up at the portly man, who scoffs something about Hass barbarians and pointedly turns away from them both. Meja turns back to the boy, smiling kindly at him. Up close, she can see he’s no older than five, all missing teeth and bright eyes. There’s a strange scar on the side of his neck, perfectly round. His black hair is thick and messy, hanging into his wide brown eyes. He could be Kamon’s baby brother, or their little son.

She offers the boy her hand and he takes it, staring up at her with those big brown eyes. She throws one last glare at the portly merchant and leads the boy away, down the street towards Joni’s tent.

tagging @akindofmagictoo @zmwrites @serenanymph @avrablake and anyone else who wants to join in and share some lines <3