"Uryston!" "Ury!" "Big Ted!" The children of the grain fields cried out when Uryston made his way through them. Something was different about his face. Something changed in the way he held himself. It was no longer back straight, head held high. It was now, head held down, crease in brow, fingers tightly wrapped around the sickle. The children started to notice it when he came closer. The angry look in his eyes.
”..Uryston?” One of the younger ones asked.
"What." There was something sharp about the way he answered them.
Uryston began to get to work, slicing at the grain while the kids were behind him. He hoped that by the way he looked at them, they’d just leave him alone and find out he didn’t want to talk. He never felt like talking anymore. Never felt like singing. So, he stayed quiet.
"Yeah, Ury, what’s the matter?"
Still, he said nothing and kept working, his back turned towards them. He heard them whispering amongst themselves, and finally one spoke up about Mal. The one subject that he really didn’t want to talk about anymore. Period.
So they noticed. It didn’t really surprise him. Once Mal had started growing distant, Uryston’s mood kept dropping. He stopped harvesting for a second, debating on whether or not to answer them. Barely, he shook his head, and he got back to work. It wasn’t any of their business.
"Y’all better get back to work before the Peacekeepers see you." It was as good as any answer for them, because a lot of them realized he was right and scattered off to their posts. One stayed, however, holding his own little sickle. Uryston noticed and stopped once again, finally turning around. The kid had to be about six years old. He was tiny. He should have been in school, not working. Not yet.
"Didn’ ya hear me? Go on, get outta here."
"It’s Mal, innit? Ever since he won the Games.. Ever since he came back, it ain’t been the same for you both. Right?"
Uryston’s jaw tightened, as did his hand around his sickle. He would have just sliced the kid’s head off right then and there if he didn’t have a conscience. The kid wasn’t backing off, and he had a feeling he wasn’t going to leave until Uryston gave a satisfactory answer. He sighed and gave up, averting his eyes to the ground.
"Kid, it’s best you just leave it alone. Things ain’t never gonna be the same again. Now go on back to your post."
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