Distractions

[Sophie De Roux]

Sophie looked distastefully around the room; it was so busy, so noisy, so distracting…

Her day was not going well. Usually she never left the house if she could help it, save to walk to the castle library or to meet someone about her research, but the sheer amount of snow around at the moment had begun to cause problems to the house. To begin with it had been merely annoying; a leaking roof causing ink to run on her papers and putting damp patches on the bed, having to have the fire constantly stacked because it was just so cold - but for the last few days the roof has been creaking ominously under the weight of the snow, and this morning the woman she was boarding with had decided it was best to vacate the property until the roof could be cleared and checked.

So, the two of them had moved in with a family the woman knew - and already Sophie knew she hated it. Young children running screaming around, not enough space for all her things… then their dog had chewed the work she had been up doing all night completely to shreds.

She rubbed her eyes, the dark circles ringing them standing out like footsteps in the snow on her pale face. Her hair was lank from going without washing for just a little too long, and so she had pulled it back into a plait, but the waves and kinks just would not be restrained, and already bits were coming loose and flying free. Sophie disliked having to consider practical things like clothes and hair and appearance, but the cold weather was such that if she didn’t wrap up warm enough she would become too cold to concentrate on her work.

She had found herself a table near a fire in the pub, hoping that working here would be easier than it would have been where she was staying, but she had been interrupted twice now by people curious about the papers spread across the table, the unusual sight of a girl in a pub, who clearly was not there to pick up a man. She was convinced no one intelligent would ever voluntarily come to a place like this, and so had no interest in striking up conversation.

Sighing irritably and muttering in French to herself under her breath, she took a sip of watery beer - disgusting - and tried in vain to continue with her work. If only she had a quiet place to study… She just couldn’t work out this bit of what she was reading at all…

[Dante Grixis]

Dante pushed his way into the bar and quickly ordered a ale. His day had been filled with training without rest and he needed the alcohol to soothe his nerves. He nodded to a few people he was casually aquatinted with as he made his way to a table. He ran a hand across his chin which was covered with two days stubble. His eyes had dark circles under them, he hadn't had much rest in the last two days. He was training for his upcoming fight with Arthur and needed to be at his best.

He sat down at an empty table near the fireplace. He glanced at the girl sitting at the next table. She was reading something. It struck him as odd but he liked a good book and a fire as well so he didn't think much of it. He took off his cloak and hung it on the back of the chair realizing that his chain mail and blades were still on. He didn't care enough to take them off. He sat quietly sipping his ale until he heard the girl curse in a foreign language, possibly French. He turned to see what was wrong and started reading the book over her shoulder.

The book was a history book written in his native tongue of Spanish. She seemed to be having trouble with it. He began to translate out loud, his voice heavier with his accent than usual, "As the Roman Empire laid waste to the land they also were uniting it. The barbaric people of England were assimilated into the Roman culture as well as the people of all the lands that they conquered. Even today one can see Roman influences in many societies, in architecture, art and even language." The rest of the page disappeared behind her form and Dante became silent again.