A/N: And now the frivolity begins. Let's wish Nox the very best of luck.
Chapter Three: Bonding With The Cabbage-Hating Generation
It would be a long four hours getting home. Nox looked over his shoulder at the listless teenager trudging along in silence. In the seven months since he had seen him last, Teelen, to the credit of his mother, had certainly become less rambunctious, but the newfound sullenness he had wrapped himself in gave Nox the eerie feeling that he was plotting something dastardly. Just how many kittens had he smothered? Going back to his limited supply of adult-conversation-starters, the cabbage farmer attempted to stir up a discussion.
"So, Teelen, it's been a while since I've seen you. You sure have grown." Oh, the damnable lies. The vertically challenged boy could have easily been mistaken for a juvenile gnome.
"Yeah, whatever. Call me Skullbasher."
"What?"
"I want to be called Skullbasher. Teelen's a sissy name."
"But-but, it's your name."
"I don't like it. As soon as I seek my fortune in Grundland I'm going to change it."
"Oh?"
"Yeah."
"If you don't mind, I'll just call you Teelen until that happens then."
The boy shrugged. "Fine. Whatever."
Ah-ha, Nox thought, diving into his first study of character. Teelen was trying to hide his true feelings behind a façade of apathy. Certainly that meant something. . . but what about the kittens? Alas, he needed more data.
"How was your education coming along at home?"
This question produced another shrug. "I can do arithmetic and read stuff."
"What kind of stuff?" Surely this would give Nox a good idea of his more constructive interests.
"A few books I found in the back of an old man's shop that interested me. How to invoke the dark gods, natural history of the nomadic orc tribes of the Kwatgic mountains. Their cannibalistic, you know. Oh yeah, and a book on how to use poison darts effectively on your enemies."
"Really?" Nox laughed nervously. His new charge had intriguing interests. "Um, you haven't ever actually invoked the dark gods yourself, have you?"
"I've tried, but it takes a lot of sacrificial kittens."
The two lapsed into silence after that. Teelen thought about how stupid farming was going to be; Nox tried to comprehend what kind of insane creature he had welcomed into his home.
They crested the last hill of their journey just as the sun was glowing like radioactive sherbet on the horizon. From this distance the house and surrounding cabbage fields resembled a quaint painting by Andrew Wyeth, realistic, yet with the attractive colors and strokes of a painting on canvas. Of course, Nox had never tasted sherbet and had never seen a painting by Andrew Wyeth so the only thing that came to his mind was, by the gods I could sure do with a cup of tea. Teelen was picking his nose and thinking nothing in particular.
"Hallo, sir!" Flench called, dropping his hoe to wave at them as they neared the house.
"Hello, Flench, Gritchim," Nox called back, "This is my cousin Teelen. I'll just take him inside now. You two can go whenever your done." The goblins nodded and went back to their work.
"Hey, those were goblins," Teelen commented as he stepped into Nox's home.
Nox took off their coats and hung them behind the door. "How observant."
"It's just, I've never seen one before. Do you have trouble making them do what you want?"
What was Teelen on about? "No, I pay them and they're quite happy to do what I ask of them."
"I guess I must have underestimated you if you can keep such monsters in a tight fist like that. I thought you were just a wimpy farmer, but now I'm impressed! Will you show me how you do it? Have you ever had to kill an unruly one?"
Nox felt himself tense up. Time to start making that tea before it was too late and he went into spasms. Between clenched teeth he said, "Teelen, I don't think you quite understand Gritchim and Flench's true nature."
"Yeah, whatever, you will show me, right?"
"I'm making tea. Would you like some?"
"Sure, just add a lot of sugar, kay? It's too bitter straight." The boy flopped down into the armchair and kicked off his shoes.
Nox escaped into the kitchen.
Time for more character analysis, he thought, as the kettle was placed on the stove and he readied the tea leaves. In short, Teelen was just another homicidal menace looking for something to kill. The aggravating thought made him drop the tea leaves container on the floor. He bent down to scoop up the scattered contents and tried not the think further on the matter.
Sadly, the matter wanted to be thought.
Doesn't it make you mad, it said to him in a taunting voice, how you live a peaceful life that doesn't disagree with anyone and yet people still want to come in and ruin it with their own bloodthirsty ideals? A kingdom is being torn apart only 70 miles away because people don't bother to work things out. Why, in the name of the gods, does that excite everyone? Everybody says they're doing things in the name of peace and yet they keep rushing off with swords, looking for something to slaughter. Are cabbage farmers the only sane ones left? And why does that punk teenager consider you wimpy for knowing how to live a comfortable life in nonviolence?!
The kettle whistled harshly, bringing Nox out of his bad dream. He dunked in the leaves and watched the clear water swirl with the brown. At the last minute he remembered Teelen wanted sugar in his. It crossed his mind in a small puff of steam that he wasn't sure if he owned any; a brief search of the kitchen produced a lone sugar cube at the bottom of a small, musty barrel. Oh well, it would have to do.
He went back into the other room to find that Teelen had lit a fire in the fire place. The boy was sitting on the floor, staring intently into the flame with a look of reverent awe.
"Tea," Nox stated, handing him a mug.
Teelen tasted it and made a face. "It's bitter."
"Sorry, I didn't have much sugar." Nox noticed Teelen's muddy boots discarded haphazardly in the middle of the room and placed them gingerly by the door. So much for personal responsibility. The teenager placed his tea on the ground next to him before edging even closer to the hearth. Nox watched with curiosity as he reached out a finger and let the flames play across it melting the skin and making it bubble.
"Aaah! Teelen!" The cabbage farmer rushed forward to drag the boy away and stifle his finger with the rug. He looked at the charbroiled digit in horror. "What sort of self-mutilation act was that?!"
"It's kinda fun," Teelen answered softly.
"Well, you're not to do it again," Nox commanded with a stern eye. "Go sit over there, away from the fireplace while I go see if I can find something cold to rub your finger in." Teelen snorted in antipathy and slunked over to the aforementioned corner.
Not only do I have a homicidal menace in the house, Nox realized as he rummaged about once again in the kitchen, but he's a masochist! Which god have I offended? He ran back to Teelen clutching a dish of frozen food he'd found in the ice box.
"Here. Stick it in this." Teelen's finger was sunk deep into the goo. "How does that feel?"
"Rather disgusting. What is this stuff?"
It was too easy to feel offended; Nox let go with a lecture. "I'll let you know that cabbage is one of the most versatile cooking vegetables ever discovered. You can turn it into pie, pudding, porridge, waffles, quiche, coleslaw, soup-"
"Great, but what's this stuff?"
Nox looked intently at the mint green paste-like substance he'd subjected Teelen's finger to. "Well, I was feeling rather creative in the kitchen one day and just sort of whipped it up. . . . I guess you could call it. . . gruel? Perhaps I'll patent the recipe and sell it in bulk to sailors. They'd just love it."
"Sure," Teelen agreed, insipid, and pulled out his blistered finger.
"Do you do that a lot at home?"
"What, burn myself? Only during dark rituals."
"Ah." Nox picked up his tea again and took a sip to calm himself. "I guess that would make sense." He contemplated the diminutive boy lounging against the wall in front of him and didn't like what he saw. The realization dawned on the cabbage farmer that he was the last strand of hope standing between Teelen and self-destruction. The pleading faces of Aniky and Cainem flitted across his tea-induced mind like desperate phantoms whispering, please save this poor wretch. By the gods, he was certainly going to try. Resolution creased his forehead like a banner. "Come on, Teelen, time for bed. I'll show you your room now."
"Aww, it's early still."
"Not if you're going to get up before dawn."
"Why would I?"
"To help in the fields, of course."
"What? No!"
"Ha-ha. There's no way around it." He lit a candle from the mantle and escorted his young charge up the stairs.
After Teelen was hunkered down in the guest room, Nox secured the door and armored the latch with several padlocks; for both their safety. He didn't want to wake up in the morning to find that the boy had run away, or worst, impaled him with a pointy stick. "Get some sleep," he called through the heavy wood. "And don't you dare burn yourself again. I'll be checking your skin in the morning and if I find any blisters I'll thrash you all the way to the Kwatgic mountains and back." A second later it occurred to Nox that a whipping would hardly be the ideal punishment for a masochist. Well, too late now. He massaged his weary head with the palms of his hands and trudged down the hall. His own bed was calling.
~*~*~*~*~
"Teelen! Are you dressed yet? If you don't hurry up I'll let Gritchim and Flench have your toast!"
"Wha?" The teenager struggled to sit up in bed and blinked several times. Darkness still pervaded his room like a fog. "What time is it?"
"Late! I let you sleep an extra three minutes!"
Teelen swiveled his head to look out the window, only to find that it was just as dark outside as it was inside. If the sun didn't have to get up yet, why did he? The sound of Nox fumbling with the locks and entering the opaque quarters finally convinced Teelen of the benefits of acquiescence. With an innocuous thump, he rolled onto the floor. It was cold.
"Up, up," Nox commanded, lifting him onto his feet by the elbows.
"But-but bwamphthppt, don't wanna," Teelen muttered incoherently as he was led down the stairs and seated at the kitchen table.
"Eat."
The idea of consuming burnt bread had never appealed to the sullen teenager. The fact that this piece was drenched in a slimy green substance that was undoubtedly 90% cabbage didn't help. "Do I hafta eat it?"
"I won't have you dropping dead with exhaustion half way through the morning. Aren't you aware of the vitamins available in cabbage spread? I thought it would be nicer than having the toast plain. Now EAT."
Grumbling under his breath, Teelen stuck the soggy food into his mouth and chewed. It was every bit as putrid as he expected it to be.
"Okay," Nox began when he was finished, "there's no time to change your clothes. Grab your boots and we'll head out."
"Whoopee." Teelen tried to contain his unbearable excitement at the thought of spending the day with a pair of domestic goblins and several thousand green leafy cabbage heads. Without warning he was grabbed by the collar of his shirt and pulled out of the house, his boots dangling from his limp fingers.
"Gritchem and Flench will be here any moment," Nox explained as they traipsed toward the well with their buckets. "I want you to be polite. They're hired workers, not slaves. Now, when you water cabbages you have to be sure not to drown them. Dump the water evenly over as many plants as possible to minimize trips to the well."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. They're just plants."
Nox stopped dead in his tracks. "Just plants?" There was a frightening glint in his eye.
Great, now he'd going to go insane on me, Teelen thought.
"If there is one thing I hope I teach you while you're staying with me, it's that cabbages are not just plants," Nox growled. "They are quintessential agriculture at its highest form. Remember that the next time I'm giving you instructions! If my precious vegetables are ruined because of your own ineptitude with a trowel and hoe then I'll be using you as fertilizer!"
Teelen blanched.
"Gud mornin', sirs!" Gritchim called out happily from where he and his brother were ambling towards them. The sullen teenager knew he would never again be so happy to see two goblins. "Just the usual, aye?"
"Yes, Gritchim," Nox said, his voice remolding itself into its old, tranquil self. "but could you take Teelen with you this morning? I think he'll learn a lot from watching you two."
"O' course, sir!" Gritchim brightened incredibly at the compliment. "Fill yer bucket and come alone, young Teelen."
Teelen rolled his eyes and dipped his bucket into the well.
~*~*~*~*~
"Let me show you once more," Flench said before bending down to shape the soil for the umpteenth time with slow, unassuming hands. They had finished watering hours ago; Teelen's legs and back were aching something fierce and he tried not to seem overly bored as he was instructed in the wondrous ways of dirt.
"Is it even planting season?" he asked, exasperated.
"No, but it will be someday. These are good things to know," Flench answered calmly, looking up from his pile of filth and dust. "Did you get all that?"
"Yes."
"I'll just show you just once more, then."
~*~*~*~*~
The hot noon sun was beating down, but Nox didn't feel it. He was too busy smirking at the scene unfolding on the other side of the field. He didn't quite feel sorry for Teelen, but the potential was there.
~*~*~*~*~
"Damnable weeds! How do they grow so deeply so fast?" Quite entranced with his work, Teelen failed to notice Nox's shadow looming over him in the crepuscular light.
"Teelen, you can come in now if you want."
"What? Oh." The teenager wiped the sweat from his face and realize how late it had become.
"You looked rather focused there for a while."
"It's these stupid dandelions! Why are they everywhere if we keep pulling them up?"
"Once the spores become airborne, the fate of the original plant is inconsequential. By the time we get around to burning the old plants, the new ones have sprouted."
"Yeah, well, that just sucks."
"Oh, I don't know." Nox inhaled the crisp air with a look of satisfaction. "There's something nice about knowing you'll still have job to do tomorrow; to know that they'll always need you."
"Eh?"
"Come on, Teelen, supper's cooking." They waved good night to the goblins and heading in.
"You know what I don't get about you?" Teelen said just as they sat down for their meal of cabbage soup.
"Uh-uh."
"You've got a whole religion set up around your cabbages, and revere them as your children, yet you also," he held up a spoonful of the green-tinted liquid as an example, "eat them like there's no tomorrow."
Nox took a sip of the delicious soup. "I feed them, they feed me."
"It still seems rather. . . insensitive of you, don't you think?"
Nox had the annoying sensation that he was being mocked. "Look," he clarified, putting down his spoon, "it's not like I would ever harvest one before it told me it was ready."
"Oh?" A look of amusement was playing across Teelen's features that made Nox want to hit him.
"Yes! Really!"
"Okay, whatever you say. I won't bring it up if it's a touchy subject."
Nox growled a guttural noise and picked his spoon back up. "Eat your supper," he commanded gruffly.
Teelen filled his spoon with soup, then slowly poured it back into the bowl. "If I were in Grundland right now I'd be eating roast mutton with just a bit of cayenne powder. And garlic."
Nox scooped more soup into his mouth, trying not to listen.
A/N: It appears Teelen's initial gloominess has worn off and he's getting a kick out of taunting his host. How long will Nox last before he snaps and gets the ax out from behind the shed???
Chapter Three: Bonding With The Cabbage-Hating Generation
It would be a long four hours getting home. Nox looked over his shoulder at the listless teenager trudging along in silence. In the seven months since he had seen him last, Teelen, to the credit of his mother, had certainly become less rambunctious, but the newfound sullenness he had wrapped himself in gave Nox the eerie feeling that he was plotting something dastardly. Just how many kittens had he smothered? Going back to his limited supply of adult-conversation-starters, the cabbage farmer attempted to stir up a discussion.
"So, Teelen, it's been a while since I've seen you. You sure have grown." Oh, the damnable lies. The vertically challenged boy could have easily been mistaken for a juvenile gnome.
"Yeah, whatever. Call me Skullbasher."
"What?"
"I want to be called Skullbasher. Teelen's a sissy name."
"But-but, it's your name."
"I don't like it. As soon as I seek my fortune in Grundland I'm going to change it."
"Oh?"
"Yeah."
"If you don't mind, I'll just call you Teelen until that happens then."
The boy shrugged. "Fine. Whatever."
Ah-ha, Nox thought, diving into his first study of character. Teelen was trying to hide his true feelings behind a façade of apathy. Certainly that meant something. . . but what about the kittens? Alas, he needed more data.
"How was your education coming along at home?"
This question produced another shrug. "I can do arithmetic and read stuff."
"What kind of stuff?" Surely this would give Nox a good idea of his more constructive interests.
"A few books I found in the back of an old man's shop that interested me. How to invoke the dark gods, natural history of the nomadic orc tribes of the Kwatgic mountains. Their cannibalistic, you know. Oh yeah, and a book on how to use poison darts effectively on your enemies."
"Really?" Nox laughed nervously. His new charge had intriguing interests. "Um, you haven't ever actually invoked the dark gods yourself, have you?"
"I've tried, but it takes a lot of sacrificial kittens."
The two lapsed into silence after that. Teelen thought about how stupid farming was going to be; Nox tried to comprehend what kind of insane creature he had welcomed into his home.
They crested the last hill of their journey just as the sun was glowing like radioactive sherbet on the horizon. From this distance the house and surrounding cabbage fields resembled a quaint painting by Andrew Wyeth, realistic, yet with the attractive colors and strokes of a painting on canvas. Of course, Nox had never tasted sherbet and had never seen a painting by Andrew Wyeth so the only thing that came to his mind was, by the gods I could sure do with a cup of tea. Teelen was picking his nose and thinking nothing in particular.
"Hallo, sir!" Flench called, dropping his hoe to wave at them as they neared the house.
"Hello, Flench, Gritchim," Nox called back, "This is my cousin Teelen. I'll just take him inside now. You two can go whenever your done." The goblins nodded and went back to their work.
"Hey, those were goblins," Teelen commented as he stepped into Nox's home.
Nox took off their coats and hung them behind the door. "How observant."
"It's just, I've never seen one before. Do you have trouble making them do what you want?"
What was Teelen on about? "No, I pay them and they're quite happy to do what I ask of them."
"I guess I must have underestimated you if you can keep such monsters in a tight fist like that. I thought you were just a wimpy farmer, but now I'm impressed! Will you show me how you do it? Have you ever had to kill an unruly one?"
Nox felt himself tense up. Time to start making that tea before it was too late and he went into spasms. Between clenched teeth he said, "Teelen, I don't think you quite understand Gritchim and Flench's true nature."
"Yeah, whatever, you will show me, right?"
"I'm making tea. Would you like some?"
"Sure, just add a lot of sugar, kay? It's too bitter straight." The boy flopped down into the armchair and kicked off his shoes.
Nox escaped into the kitchen.
Time for more character analysis, he thought, as the kettle was placed on the stove and he readied the tea leaves. In short, Teelen was just another homicidal menace looking for something to kill. The aggravating thought made him drop the tea leaves container on the floor. He bent down to scoop up the scattered contents and tried not the think further on the matter.
Sadly, the matter wanted to be thought.
Doesn't it make you mad, it said to him in a taunting voice, how you live a peaceful life that doesn't disagree with anyone and yet people still want to come in and ruin it with their own bloodthirsty ideals? A kingdom is being torn apart only 70 miles away because people don't bother to work things out. Why, in the name of the gods, does that excite everyone? Everybody says they're doing things in the name of peace and yet they keep rushing off with swords, looking for something to slaughter. Are cabbage farmers the only sane ones left? And why does that punk teenager consider you wimpy for knowing how to live a comfortable life in nonviolence?!
The kettle whistled harshly, bringing Nox out of his bad dream. He dunked in the leaves and watched the clear water swirl with the brown. At the last minute he remembered Teelen wanted sugar in his. It crossed his mind in a small puff of steam that he wasn't sure if he owned any; a brief search of the kitchen produced a lone sugar cube at the bottom of a small, musty barrel. Oh well, it would have to do.
He went back into the other room to find that Teelen had lit a fire in the fire place. The boy was sitting on the floor, staring intently into the flame with a look of reverent awe.
"Tea," Nox stated, handing him a mug.
Teelen tasted it and made a face. "It's bitter."
"Sorry, I didn't have much sugar." Nox noticed Teelen's muddy boots discarded haphazardly in the middle of the room and placed them gingerly by the door. So much for personal responsibility. The teenager placed his tea on the ground next to him before edging even closer to the hearth. Nox watched with curiosity as he reached out a finger and let the flames play across it melting the skin and making it bubble.
"Aaah! Teelen!" The cabbage farmer rushed forward to drag the boy away and stifle his finger with the rug. He looked at the charbroiled digit in horror. "What sort of self-mutilation act was that?!"
"It's kinda fun," Teelen answered softly.
"Well, you're not to do it again," Nox commanded with a stern eye. "Go sit over there, away from the fireplace while I go see if I can find something cold to rub your finger in." Teelen snorted in antipathy and slunked over to the aforementioned corner.
Not only do I have a homicidal menace in the house, Nox realized as he rummaged about once again in the kitchen, but he's a masochist! Which god have I offended? He ran back to Teelen clutching a dish of frozen food he'd found in the ice box.
"Here. Stick it in this." Teelen's finger was sunk deep into the goo. "How does that feel?"
"Rather disgusting. What is this stuff?"
It was too easy to feel offended; Nox let go with a lecture. "I'll let you know that cabbage is one of the most versatile cooking vegetables ever discovered. You can turn it into pie, pudding, porridge, waffles, quiche, coleslaw, soup-"
"Great, but what's this stuff?"
Nox looked intently at the mint green paste-like substance he'd subjected Teelen's finger to. "Well, I was feeling rather creative in the kitchen one day and just sort of whipped it up. . . . I guess you could call it. . . gruel? Perhaps I'll patent the recipe and sell it in bulk to sailors. They'd just love it."
"Sure," Teelen agreed, insipid, and pulled out his blistered finger.
"Do you do that a lot at home?"
"What, burn myself? Only during dark rituals."
"Ah." Nox picked up his tea again and took a sip to calm himself. "I guess that would make sense." He contemplated the diminutive boy lounging against the wall in front of him and didn't like what he saw. The realization dawned on the cabbage farmer that he was the last strand of hope standing between Teelen and self-destruction. The pleading faces of Aniky and Cainem flitted across his tea-induced mind like desperate phantoms whispering, please save this poor wretch. By the gods, he was certainly going to try. Resolution creased his forehead like a banner. "Come on, Teelen, time for bed. I'll show you your room now."
"Aww, it's early still."
"Not if you're going to get up before dawn."
"Why would I?"
"To help in the fields, of course."
"What? No!"
"Ha-ha. There's no way around it." He lit a candle from the mantle and escorted his young charge up the stairs.
After Teelen was hunkered down in the guest room, Nox secured the door and armored the latch with several padlocks; for both their safety. He didn't want to wake up in the morning to find that the boy had run away, or worst, impaled him with a pointy stick. "Get some sleep," he called through the heavy wood. "And don't you dare burn yourself again. I'll be checking your skin in the morning and if I find any blisters I'll thrash you all the way to the Kwatgic mountains and back." A second later it occurred to Nox that a whipping would hardly be the ideal punishment for a masochist. Well, too late now. He massaged his weary head with the palms of his hands and trudged down the hall. His own bed was calling.
~*~*~*~*~
"Teelen! Are you dressed yet? If you don't hurry up I'll let Gritchim and Flench have your toast!"
"Wha?" The teenager struggled to sit up in bed and blinked several times. Darkness still pervaded his room like a fog. "What time is it?"
"Late! I let you sleep an extra three minutes!"
Teelen swiveled his head to look out the window, only to find that it was just as dark outside as it was inside. If the sun didn't have to get up yet, why did he? The sound of Nox fumbling with the locks and entering the opaque quarters finally convinced Teelen of the benefits of acquiescence. With an innocuous thump, he rolled onto the floor. It was cold.
"Up, up," Nox commanded, lifting him onto his feet by the elbows.
"But-but bwamphthppt, don't wanna," Teelen muttered incoherently as he was led down the stairs and seated at the kitchen table.
"Eat."
The idea of consuming burnt bread had never appealed to the sullen teenager. The fact that this piece was drenched in a slimy green substance that was undoubtedly 90% cabbage didn't help. "Do I hafta eat it?"
"I won't have you dropping dead with exhaustion half way through the morning. Aren't you aware of the vitamins available in cabbage spread? I thought it would be nicer than having the toast plain. Now EAT."
Grumbling under his breath, Teelen stuck the soggy food into his mouth and chewed. It was every bit as putrid as he expected it to be.
"Okay," Nox began when he was finished, "there's no time to change your clothes. Grab your boots and we'll head out."
"Whoopee." Teelen tried to contain his unbearable excitement at the thought of spending the day with a pair of domestic goblins and several thousand green leafy cabbage heads. Without warning he was grabbed by the collar of his shirt and pulled out of the house, his boots dangling from his limp fingers.
"Gritchem and Flench will be here any moment," Nox explained as they traipsed toward the well with their buckets. "I want you to be polite. They're hired workers, not slaves. Now, when you water cabbages you have to be sure not to drown them. Dump the water evenly over as many plants as possible to minimize trips to the well."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. They're just plants."
Nox stopped dead in his tracks. "Just plants?" There was a frightening glint in his eye.
Great, now he'd going to go insane on me, Teelen thought.
"If there is one thing I hope I teach you while you're staying with me, it's that cabbages are not just plants," Nox growled. "They are quintessential agriculture at its highest form. Remember that the next time I'm giving you instructions! If my precious vegetables are ruined because of your own ineptitude with a trowel and hoe then I'll be using you as fertilizer!"
Teelen blanched.
"Gud mornin', sirs!" Gritchim called out happily from where he and his brother were ambling towards them. The sullen teenager knew he would never again be so happy to see two goblins. "Just the usual, aye?"
"Yes, Gritchim," Nox said, his voice remolding itself into its old, tranquil self. "but could you take Teelen with you this morning? I think he'll learn a lot from watching you two."
"O' course, sir!" Gritchim brightened incredibly at the compliment. "Fill yer bucket and come alone, young Teelen."
Teelen rolled his eyes and dipped his bucket into the well.
~*~*~*~*~
"Let me show you once more," Flench said before bending down to shape the soil for the umpteenth time with slow, unassuming hands. They had finished watering hours ago; Teelen's legs and back were aching something fierce and he tried not to seem overly bored as he was instructed in the wondrous ways of dirt.
"Is it even planting season?" he asked, exasperated.
"No, but it will be someday. These are good things to know," Flench answered calmly, looking up from his pile of filth and dust. "Did you get all that?"
"Yes."
"I'll just show you just once more, then."
~*~*~*~*~
The hot noon sun was beating down, but Nox didn't feel it. He was too busy smirking at the scene unfolding on the other side of the field. He didn't quite feel sorry for Teelen, but the potential was there.
~*~*~*~*~
"Damnable weeds! How do they grow so deeply so fast?" Quite entranced with his work, Teelen failed to notice Nox's shadow looming over him in the crepuscular light.
"Teelen, you can come in now if you want."
"What? Oh." The teenager wiped the sweat from his face and realize how late it had become.
"You looked rather focused there for a while."
"It's these stupid dandelions! Why are they everywhere if we keep pulling them up?"
"Once the spores become airborne, the fate of the original plant is inconsequential. By the time we get around to burning the old plants, the new ones have sprouted."
"Yeah, well, that just sucks."
"Oh, I don't know." Nox inhaled the crisp air with a look of satisfaction. "There's something nice about knowing you'll still have job to do tomorrow; to know that they'll always need you."
"Eh?"
"Come on, Teelen, supper's cooking." They waved good night to the goblins and heading in.
"You know what I don't get about you?" Teelen said just as they sat down for their meal of cabbage soup.
"Uh-uh."
"You've got a whole religion set up around your cabbages, and revere them as your children, yet you also," he held up a spoonful of the green-tinted liquid as an example, "eat them like there's no tomorrow."
Nox took a sip of the delicious soup. "I feed them, they feed me."
"It still seems rather. . . insensitive of you, don't you think?"
Nox had the annoying sensation that he was being mocked. "Look," he clarified, putting down his spoon, "it's not like I would ever harvest one before it told me it was ready."
"Oh?" A look of amusement was playing across Teelen's features that made Nox want to hit him.
"Yes! Really!"
"Okay, whatever you say. I won't bring it up if it's a touchy subject."
Nox growled a guttural noise and picked his spoon back up. "Eat your supper," he commanded gruffly.
Teelen filled his spoon with soup, then slowly poured it back into the bowl. "If I were in Grundland right now I'd be eating roast mutton with just a bit of cayenne powder. And garlic."
Nox scooped more soup into his mouth, trying not to listen.
A/N: It appears Teelen's initial gloominess has worn off and he's getting a kick out of taunting his host. How long will Nox last before he snaps and gets the ax out from behind the shed???