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400 word drabble: Fallow
Jul. 3rd, 2011 10:50 amWritten for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
avatar_500 prompt #32, Empty.
Summary: The Dragon of the West has a proposition for her, and Jin knows she doesn't have any choices left.
Author's note: I should probably warn for some misogynistic attitudes and language on the part of one of the characters.
Fallow
The bell over the door chimed, and as Jin walked in, she gathered her hair up and pushed it back over her shoulders. The combs and headdress pulled it tight, and the robe and slippers kept her steps shuffling and awkward. There were women she watched who looked like they were gliding, who made it look easy and elegant and made Jin feel ashamed.
Iroh, the old Fire Nation general, not Mushi the teamaker, smiled as she came in. He took her hand, and guided her to a chair, poured her tea, and kept smiling.
The guards at the gate to the upper ring had glared at her hard when she held up the pass, signed by the Earth King himself, and given to her by this man. Her mother had dressed her in her grandmother’s silks and put the combs in her hair when she saw it, and teased her about men so old they became teenagers again. Jin liked Mushi. She had wanted his nephew, but she liked him.
His face, and the way he had looked so frightened as she chased him, as she caught up with him and led him to the empty alley. And it had been so easy. All she did was kiss him again, and wrap one hand around his neck before he started to move with her.
She sipped the tea, and gulped gracelessly with her nerves. He put his hand on top of hers and she looked up at him, astonished to realize just how afraid she was. “I heard about the miscarriage,” he said, rubbing his thumb across her hand, kindly.
Here it came, her mother’s voice told her. He knows he has you. He knows no one else will take a slut whose womb can’t even hold a child.
“I wanted to ask your permission to tell my nephew. I think he would want to know.”
That she had been pregnant, Jin wondered, or that she had lost it and he was safe? “Yeah, sure, tell him. Whatever you want.”
“And I wanted to offer you a job.” He picked up his own teacup and took a sip. His hand stayed on hers, and it felt wrinkled and dry, like leaves. She looked down, and she could feel his eyes on her. “I’m not trying to get you into bed. It’s just, I’ve been a bit...” lonely. “Short staffed.”
avatar_500 prompt #32, Empty.Summary: The Dragon of the West has a proposition for her, and Jin knows she doesn't have any choices left.
Author's note: I should probably warn for some misogynistic attitudes and language on the part of one of the characters.
Fallow
The bell over the door chimed, and as Jin walked in, she gathered her hair up and pushed it back over her shoulders. The combs and headdress pulled it tight, and the robe and slippers kept her steps shuffling and awkward. There were women she watched who looked like they were gliding, who made it look easy and elegant and made Jin feel ashamed.
Iroh, the old Fire Nation general, not Mushi the teamaker, smiled as she came in. He took her hand, and guided her to a chair, poured her tea, and kept smiling.
The guards at the gate to the upper ring had glared at her hard when she held up the pass, signed by the Earth King himself, and given to her by this man. Her mother had dressed her in her grandmother’s silks and put the combs in her hair when she saw it, and teased her about men so old they became teenagers again. Jin liked Mushi. She had wanted his nephew, but she liked him.
His face, and the way he had looked so frightened as she chased him, as she caught up with him and led him to the empty alley. And it had been so easy. All she did was kiss him again, and wrap one hand around his neck before he started to move with her.
She sipped the tea, and gulped gracelessly with her nerves. He put his hand on top of hers and she looked up at him, astonished to realize just how afraid she was. “I heard about the miscarriage,” he said, rubbing his thumb across her hand, kindly.
Here it came, her mother’s voice told her. He knows he has you. He knows no one else will take a slut whose womb can’t even hold a child.
“I wanted to ask your permission to tell my nephew. I think he would want to know.”
That she had been pregnant, Jin wondered, or that she had lost it and he was safe? “Yeah, sure, tell him. Whatever you want.”
“And I wanted to offer you a job.” He picked up his own teacup and took a sip. His hand stayed on hers, and it felt wrinkled and dry, like leaves. She looked down, and she could feel his eyes on her. “I’m not trying to get you into bed. It’s just, I’ve been a bit...” lonely. “Short staffed.”
