Copper Pieces

I got snatched up by my ear.

Well .. actually since I am rather tall and she was rather short ... more like I got snatched down by my ear.

Now there is only one woman I can think of I would tolerate that from. Only one .. and she knows somehow that is the way it is between us. And I would not recommend the action to just anyone. At all .. ever.

But in this case it worked .. got my attention very quickly and I chuckled.

It was Oren of course .. and she wanted to know what the hell I was thinking. Well .. I had been thinking about a lot lately so .. who knew? I told her she was going to have to get a little more specific with me.

She asked me what I was thinking making T'zuri beg and borrow cooking pots just to be able to do what it was her responsibility now to do. Well .. uh ... how the hell was I supposed to know she was going to want to start cooking?

Oren jerked my earlobe again and I tried to concentrate better. She asked me what I thought she would be doing as my slave. And .. well ... I did not have a good answer for her. I mean ... honestly .... I was actually having some vague issues there.

She sat me down next to her on the wagon steps and she sung me a song. I do not mean that literally .. it is a saying. What I mean is she told me how it was .. laid it out clear and concise. And by the end of it I was feeling mighty low and thoughtless.

I left Oren with a new purpose and that was to find T'zuri some pots of my own so she could cook with them. All the way to my supply wagon I felt like all the faces of the free women were staring at me and judging me. I was so embarrassed I could barely keep it together. How was I supposed to know? I wanted to beat her to a bloody pulp at that moment. For causing this. To me. Why could she just not ask me? By the time I got to my wagon I was furious and I started throwing things around inside .. contrary to my compulsion to keep things on the strait and narrow ... this was going to bother me later. But right now it felt good to smash and grab.

Then I found a crate .. I do not remember where I got it from. I mean .. where or who I stole it from ... but it was there and I vaguely remembered what it contained. Prying off the slats I discovered some copper pots nestled within each other. Pleased .. these would work.

I also found a set of small bowls with blue flowers .. with a slow exhale I sat and stared at them for a long time.

I am not sure how long I sat there in the jumbled up mess of my supply wagon. I know it was a long time though. I finally packed the little bowls away with the pots and pounded the slats together again with my fist .. then taking the time to put everything back where it belonged.

Now that took a while indeed.

By the time I was finished I had lost all my anger and frustration .. and I packed that little crate over my shoulder and headed to my fires.

I have no idea if T'zuri knew .. what all went into this. I know she .. seemed to like them. Which soothed my boyish need to have my gifts appreciated. I also gave her some trinkets that I was not sure she would like .. I think she liked them also.

I told her to bank the fire and to come to me .. that I would be sleeping in my furs.

I did not tell her .. all the things in my head. I .. just could not seem to work them up to the surface again. It soothed me some that she took a girly liking to the flowered bowls. It soothed me some to have her sleeping next to me. In my own way I wished to fix everything. On my own .. without her help.

I do not think I did.