Oblivion [markson]

three

Yien turned over in bed. It seemed even more uncomfortable than usual. He has tossed back and forth a lot. It was hard to find a comfortable position, even though he has never found the bed comfortable in the first place.

He felt something soft press against his arm, which for sure felt different than the hay and hide he laid on. He sat up and picked up a small piece of light fabric. The string that was tied around the gourd was tied to it. 

He carefully untied the string and unfolded the fabric. Yien quickly recognized the careful writing. 'Dear Yien, I hope this finds you in good hope, meet me at my house at sundown, Y.'  Was signed into the fabric with dark ink. His brows furrowed as he read it out loud to himself. It was pretty unusual for Yu to contact him this way, but it seemed important.

He carefully folded the paper and secured it where the skirt was tightly wrapped around his waist. Yien laid back down on his back and put his hands behind his head for support. He looked up at the ceiling, what could Yu want now?

That night, Yien waited til his door had been locked, as it usually was. Most likely to prevent him from leaving even if it wasn't too effective. He laid motionlessly in his bed until the footsteps became incoherent. He stood up and walked up to the window with careful steps.

He hoisted himself onto it, quickly and swiftly slipping through. He crouched down on the cold grass and carefully crawled beneath the windows, the soft light from the candles illuminated the inside. Only seen through the windows that weren't closed yet.

He jumped over the railing and landed under the porch. He looked around to make sure the guards weren't out yet before he vaulted over the fence and sprinted the path down the hill. There was a branch that was just perfectly angled for him that he used to get onto the rooftop of one of the houses. 

Light on his feet he made his way towards Yu Haras' house, jumping from roof to roof, careful to not disturb anybody inside. He jumped off of the roof when he neared Yu Hara's neighbourhood, and decided on walking instead.

He noticed a soft light on his right. There was a guard walking down the street holding a torch, lightening up the area around him. Yien stopped and hid behind one of the nearest houses. After counting to ten in his head he looked over the corner, seeing the guard gone, he resumed in sprinting down the street towards Yu Haras' house.

There was a  faint light in his window on the back which was the window Yien usually came in through, he looked both ways before leaping in through it. He rolled forward on the ground and crouched on the floor. Suddenly making eye-contact with Yu Hara who has stopped peeling his potatoes.

Yien sat down on the floor, cross-legged, staring back at him. He tilted his head slightly, and let out a snort. He pushed himself closer to the stack of unpeeled potatoes that blocked him from the older man. He made himself more comfortable and grabbed the other small knife and a potato, and started peeling it.

No words were exchanged, and no words were needed. Time went by as they peeled the potatoes. There was a little more than usual, Yien has noted, which was very good.

"Your Name Day is coming up in seven days," Yu said in a low voice as he lifted himself up to stand. Yien remained sitting with his legs crossed as he watched Yu pick up the bag of fully peeled potatoes. "You know what that means, Yien."

Yien let out a sigh as he let his head down. His hold on the skirt tightened, but he remained silent. Instead listening to the new set of footsteps that neared where he was sitting. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see, Lin Hara; Yu's spouse, smiling softly at him, "let's take this to the parlor shall we?"