Scarny smiled at her happy friend. Her only friend. The only one that actually knows what she feels and the pain she feels. She looked around before taking of her dress. Then she was just in her under. She smiled at Scar before running and jumping off the edge into the water. She looked at him. "Come on ya sissy get in here." She laughed.

Scar let out a loud growl coming from his lion traits. It was the loudest Scarny had ever heard. HE then charged at the water and didn't seem to jump but just kept running. Within seconds he was under Scarny swimming around with her on his back. This was his favorite part of the day. Coming to lake and just having fun with Scarny. He missed these days and he was getting them back

Tess nodded, still twisting her fingers around the lace of her dress. "I...I did not mean to attract trouble. I thought the king's guards would have been protecting the marketplace a little more." The girl watched as the two Creatures played around the fountain and a small smile passed on her lips. Jewel was now openly swimming through the fountain water, splashing up and teasing Birdie whenever near him. For all her lack in strength, Jewel was an exceptionally fast Creature. "Your creature is beautiful," Tess commented sincerely. Usually she was forced to complement the other nobles and she had almost forgotten what true admiration was. "I hope Jewel is not frustrating him too much." Indeed, it seemed like Jewel's energy was limitless as she ducked and weaved around the fountain. "I also enjoyed your dancing." Tess was trying to keep a conversation going, if anything to extend the amount of time she could stay away from the keep. "Do you dance somewhere else, too?"

Jay looked over at Birdie who was happily trying to catch the small Creature by swatting at it with his paws. For a moment, Jay was worried that he might hurt the Creature, but she soon realized that the Creature was too fast for him. Jay looked back up at the girl and gave her a short, course laugh. "Hah! As if the king's guards could give two craps 'bout the lowest of the low." Jay snorted and then gave the girl a smile. "It's no both. Eventually he'll tire himself out and just collapse," Jay laughed and then stopped abruptly when the girl asked if Jay danced any other places. She did do private dances for special occasions and parties, and she always brought Birdie along to make sure that the men never touched her. Though Jay decided to not tell the girl about those, thinking that the girl would take it the wrong way and think of her as a stripper, which was wrong since Jay never actually took her clothing off. Jay had more pride than that. "No, it's mostly jus' in this ol' place," Jay said abruptly and glanced over her shoulder at Birdie again as he continued to make the commoners angry by splashing them with water from the fountain.

Tess frowned, confused. Was she insulting the King or his guards? Wasn't the king a good man? To hear her father tell it the King could move mountains and worked very hard every day to make sure his people were safe. Perhaps Jay was wrong; this was probably just a bad day for the guards. Or maybe they had been busy elsewhere. At any rate, the kind probably had better things to think about than the lazy peasants in the slums. She was very surprised to hear that Jay did not dance anywhere else. "Then you have another occupation?" Tess questioned, a confused eyebrow raised. Nobody could fully support themselves by just dancing. Tessla remembered thinking that a while earlier. Was this girl...poor? She didn't look like the many destitute her parents had described to her; she seemed healthy and well fed. Birdie was strong and energetic, much more so than the overstuffed Creatures within the keep. Perhaps, she wondered, excess was just as unhealthy as lacking. Another scenario entered her head. "Oh, you live with someone, yes? Perhaps married?" The noble girl had failed to try and see if the girl was wearing a wedding ring.

((I won't be on for the entire weekend, but I'll be back Monday night. Off to the beach :))

Jay half laughed, half snorted at Tess's question of being married. Of course she wasn't married. What man in his right mind would want a girl like herself to support? Jay held both of her hands and wiggled her fingers around. There were six rings on her left hand and seven on her right and numerous bracelets jangled as her hands moved. "Nah." Jay laughed and then continued, "None of these are wedding rings." Jay sighed and placed her hands back at her side. "Yeah, I live with my adoptive mother. She used to be a cook when she took me and my brother in, but then she got sick. Dancin' may make me a lot of gold, but it's enough. My brother pays part of the bills, but it's mostly jus' me, her, and the left o'er money from 'er restaurant." Jay was about to add the money that she got for private dances, but stopped herself before she said anything of it. Jay sighed before looking up at the girl with a small smile. She didn't want this girl or anyone for that matter pitying her. "I can't feel sorry for myself though. There are too many people who got it worse than I do." She gave a small chuckle and silently asked herself why she was telling this girl anything about herself.

After they reached their home, Duncan and Humphrey cleaned up theirselves. Then, they went to bed. "Good night, Humphrey," Duncan said silently, petting Humphrey until he sleeps.

Tess nodded at Jay's explanation, though not really fully understanding her living situation. Did just two women support themselves within one household? Of course, she had said with the help of her brother. He must be a very wealthy type to be able to support two houses. Tessla could not, though, make herself understand why someone would dance for money if they had other opportunities. Why, running a restaurant did not seem like a bad spot of employment...so why dance? "Why do you dance, if I may ask? It seems like you have other, less..." Tess trailed off, trying to find the most diplomatic word to use. "Questionable." She still doubted if this was the right word; it wasn't like this woman was stripping or teasing the men. But it still was far from a stable job, for stable jobs were what kept the economy stable. Or, that was what she was taught up in the keep. "How are others less fortunate?" She looked around the square, searching for people who seemed destitute. "Is there not enough work to go around?"

((Yay beach! My excuse is far less fun: I had a paper to write all weekend. Poo!))

((Man that sucks.))

Very curtly, Jay said, "I dance 'cause I like it." Jay looked at Tess and then down at her sandals with a sigh, knowing that no one would buy what she was saying. Instead, Jay decided to tell this girl the truth. "I dance 'cause I can't do anythin' else. My adoptive mother, Nessa, she made some good money, but she got sick when I was still too little t' keep the restaurant open. Trus' me, I tried so hard to open it again when I got older, but there ain't enough money in the world." Jay shook her head as she remembered the numerous futile attempts to reopen Nessa's restaurant.

Jay gave a quick snort and a laugh at Tess's question of work. "There ain't enough work in the world for everyone." Jay stopped seeing her tone was a bit too harsh and remembering that this girl had barely been out of the keep in her entire lifetime. Jay continued more softly, "Look, it's just that there are people who ya don't even wanna know how low on the totem pole they're. I'm lucky to have a roof over my head, and you are too." Jay sighed, realizing once more that her words sounded a bit too harsh. "I'm sorry, it's just that I've seen some bad stuff 'round 'ere, and it's hard talkin' 'bout it with someone."

Tess noticed the shortness of Jay's reply and worried that perhaps she had overstepped her boundary for asking questions. People in the keep always bragged about where their money had come from: trading, textiles, rewards for brave deeds and an impressive wedding dowry. Tessla doubted many of the nobles within the keep every had to work much for their money. Instead it came from the many businesses they owned within the city and around all of Carmanio. She was having trouble thinking, with the amount of money each noble bragged about earning, that there would not be enough jobs for the people in the city to work.

"Hey!" Tess turned to see a woman shaking herself after being splashed with water after Jewel had dived into the fountain. "Oh dear," Tessla sighed, walking on over to the lady. "Forgive my Creature, please," she bowed her head slightly. "I am afraid she likes playing in the water and forgets that there are others around who do not appreciate it as much as her." Tess turned to give a warning glare at Jewel, though both of them understood that it was mostly for show. She couldn't help but smirk when she saw how wet Birdie had gotten while trying to chase Jewel.

Jay laughed and made her way over to the fountain. Birdie wagged his tail like a puppy and made his way over to her. He licked her face, but Jay stepped back with a smile. "Oh no you don't. You're all wet." Birdie seemed to give her a mischievous smile and Jay new what was about to happen. She tried to back away, but Birdie had already embraced her with his soaked wings. Jay shook him off with a laugh and patted his giant shoulder. Now soaked as well, Jay turned to Tess and her Creature. "Well, your Creature must be pretty sneaky to get past my Birdie, 'ere." Jay only chuckled. This girl was naive, but Jay found it a bit funny.

Tess reached into the pocket of her cloak and withdrew a fine-looking hanky, gesturing for Jewel to get in. With a chirp her Creature jumped in and continued to emit a weird growling sound as Tess scrubbed hard to dry Jewel off. She knew her mother would have a heart attack if she saw the state Jewel was in, and in public no less! Tessla couldn't help but laugh to herself as she mimicked her mother's voice in her head. She looked over at Jay and Birdie and saw that Birdie had hugged Jay with his wings, getting the girl wet. She held Jewel up with a playful glare. "Don't get any ideas, Missy." She shook Jewel slightly at the last word to emphasize her point and her Creature barked in reply. Jewel was kind of strange with her noises and could mimic a whole variety of sounds. Tessla thought it charming and loved how her creature could almost "talk" with her different sounds to match her different moods. It was too energetic for the keep, however, and many times complaints about the noises coming from Tessla's room caused her mother to be stern. Thinking about her mother again, Tess sighed and continued to softly dry Jewel.

"Well, your Creature must be pretty sneaky to get past my Birdie, 'ere." Jay only chuckled. Tess rolled her eyes. "Jewel has had a lot of practice being sneaky, believe me." Jewel let out a muffled chirp underneath the hanky as if agreeing. The girl turned to admire Birdie. "Your Creature is fantastic. I bet many people think twice before approaching you." Jewel let out a disappointed mew and Tess lifted up the wet creature, bunches of fur sticking up everywhere. "You are ferocious, too. I bet that nasty man will have to finally wash his hands. I hope you do not get sick." While the last sentence was still part of her tease, Tess couldn't help but wonder if Jewel really could have caught something from biting the man.

Jay patted Birdie's side lovingly. "Why thank ya. He tries to stand down when I'm workin', but he can't help it sometimes." With that, Birdie have a short growl jokingly at Jay's last statement. She gave a quick laugh at her Creature and then turned back to Tess. Jay couldn't tell whether Tess had been joking or not about her Creature getting sick.

"Well I sure hope she doesn't." Jay thought for a moment and then, as if a light bulb appeared over her head, Jay gave a quick, "Oh!" Without giving the girl an explanation, Jay slid a hand into the makeshift feather on Birdie's wing and pulled out a small pouch. She opened the pouch and produced a tiny herb. Birdie shuddered at the sight of the herb and Jay only smiled. It was an herb that Nessa had given her. It was quite bitter, but always kept Birdie from getting sick after licking or eating something he shouldn't have. Jay held the palm out with the herb to Tess. "It don't taste that good, but it'll keep her from gettin' sick. At least it works for Birdie. He eats everythin'." Jay chuckled at the thought of all the things her Creature had eaten in all their years together. She didn't know whether this girl trusted her enough to take the herb, but only hoped that she trusted her enough after Jay had helped her out with the man from before.

Tessla glanced down at the herb as Jewel crawled down her dress enough to try to sniff it. The Creature gave a disappointed sneeze and ran for cover underneath the noble's cloak. "Th...thank you," Tess accepted the herb, trying not to show the doubt on her face. While the girl did seem a little...rough around the edges, Tess was trying to convince herself that she probably knew the best (and cheapest) ways of keeping herself and her creature healthy. She raised her arm and dug around under the cloak, frowning in annoyance. "Jewel! Come on out! Just think of the trouble we would be in if I came home and your hair had fallen out because of mange...or whatever that horrible man could have." A rebellious chirp sounded from somewhere within the folds of the fabric and Tess groaned, looking up to the sky before shaking her head. "I will give it to her later, thank you. Please...would you accept some payment? I really did mean to come down and show my appreciation for your dancing. I wish I could play as fast as you move."

((Sorry! Finals are fast approaching and I got buried in papers to write.))