Diplomatic meetings with one of their trade partners in Reim had gone well. Ja’far had been sent with a small group to settle things, leaving Sindria a few days earlier. He’d spent the previous day moving from meeting to meeting, reestablishing trade contracts with few breaks in between. The company head was going to spend the day with his subordinates, going over Ja’far’s offer before getting back to him with their agreement. Rarely did someone fail to reestablish connection with Sindria, especially with Ja’far at the head of the table. He was a formidable opponent, both in battle and out.
Reim was a lovely country, especially this time of year with all the trees in bloom. Since he had the day too himself, he’d decided to take some time to walk around the city. It was rare he got time to himself – even rarer for him to take it. Perhaps that’s why Sinbad was so adamant about Ja’far heading the expedition, despite the fact that they had a number of skilled negotiators in their palace staff ( all trained by Ja’far, naturally. )
He only hoped Sinbad wasn’t taking advantage of his absence.
No, best not to think of that. He’ll only stress himself out. He’d checked in last night with Yamuraiha’s Eye to ensure he’d gotten to Reim safely.
Ja’far browsed through the markets quietly, figuring he might bring something back to him ( a reward if Sindria is still standing with him there to put out fires, perhaps? ). He’s standing at one of the market stalls when he feels a tug at his robes. He glances to the side, then down to see a young child standing beside him.
Too young to be a beggar, in his opinion. It tugged at his heart a bit, despite how many times he’d seen a child on the street before. Reim, of course, had it’s short comings. When he had lived here with Sinbad as children, he’d seen many in a similar situation. Most had been slaves.
Ja’far smiled, quiet and reassuring, bending down to reach her level. The rest of the city’s patrons continued on their way as if she didn’t even exist – nothing like Sindria.
“You know, I think I do need some help. I was just about to stop for lunch; but it would be awfully lonely to eat all by myself. How would you like to accompany me? I’d treat you, of course.”
Better than a handout, this way. If he gave her money, he had no way of knowing that it would even stay in the child’s hand. He’d seen parents send out their own, knowing people are more likely to fill a child’s hand with coins than a conniving adult. And this way, he could make sure she got something good to eat.
❀When he knelt down to be closer to her, it filled her with a sort of surprise that she wasn’t used to. She’d expected him to brush her off or take pity on her and offer her some odd job as an afterthought like the others that had helped her out. Normally, people with wealth were unkind to her however after he came closer and spoke so softly to her she decided that she liked this man very much. She listened carefully as she got a closer look at his face and fought back the urge to reach out and trace her index finger over the dots on his nose, which she was sure would be rude also she wasn’t exactly the cleanest and most people disliked touching her as a result.❀
❀She was still forcing herself not to become distracted by this thought when she heard his request and took a moment to be sure she heard him right. She didn’t know what ‘accompany’ meant, not certain if he meant one of the companies in the merchant’s district or another word since the former didn’t make much sense in the context. Abandoning trying to figure that out, because if she spent too long thinking about it he might think her rude or unintelligent and leave already, she was able to piece together that he wanted her to go to lunch with him and do whatever that big word was. Since he seemed nice and she didn’t have much chance to be selective anyway, she smiled and managed a nod.❀
❝Mhm! I can go with you! And I can show you my favorite spots in the city too! And stay with you as long as you’d like so you don’t have to feel lonely anymore!❞
❀She thought it was the least she could do, if he wanted her to. After all she understood what it was like to be lonely, she hadn’t had someone to really just talk to more than necessary in a long time. In fact, she couldn’t actually remember someone just wanting to be with her for no other reason, even her own parents had hated it when she said too much. Of course, she always had her friends from the junkyard they’d left her at and the friends she’d made around the city, but they weren’t like real people they were just inanimate objects she liked to talk to so she didn’t think that they really counted. She wondered how come he was lonely too, since she’d never considered that grown ups ever felt like she did, especially when they were rich. Didn’t he have friends or family?Well, if he didn’t have anyone to spend his time with right now she was more than happy to do so, even if she probably wasn’t the best of company all things considering.❀
❀Giving him a toothy grin then, she wiped her hands against the rags that she wore unsuccessfully trying to get the grime off of them and held her hands out a little, revealing two thin and bony arms.❀
❝I can carry your stuff if too if you want, sir, if you have anything you don’t wanna. I’ve been getting really strong see? So it’s easy for me!❞
❀This was a lie but since she was used to carrying people’s groceries and whatever they trusted her not to try and steal from them she thought it was only right of her to ask, after all he was being nice and giving her something to do so she thought she should be as nice as she could too!❀
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