Another Day, Another Mark

Writers: Halyonix
Date Posted: 1st April 2026

Characters: Nirian
Description: Nirian gets another day started
Location: Vintner Hall
Date: month 2, day 11 of Turn 13
Notes: Mentioned: N'rada, Zariah, K'mai, I'serin

She heavily considered not getting out of bed that morning. It was one of those rare mornings when it was raining softly and her feline Pinot was curled up on the bed, quietly cleaning herself. Quiet bliss. If only she could just read her book. Maybe the rain would keep patrons away. Probably not. Nirian briefly considered rolling over and spending an extra few minutes snoozing but then she would definitely be late to everything that day.

Nirian sighed softly as she went over her schedule. Not like she needed to. It was almost always the same. Wake up, put on makeup, do something with her hair, find a quick breakfast, bring food to him, spend some hours making sure he had everything he needed, find lunch for herself, get ready for her shift at the tavern, work, come home to see if he needed anything else before she went to bed. Some days it varied only because her mother was able to take more of those tasks. Today would probably not be one of those days.

It would be easier if her brother N'rada could come in for a few hours and help. But he was too busy being a dragonrider. Yeah, he probably had legitimate excuses like drills, Threadfall, and sweeps, but Nirian knew well enough that he was also doing fun things during his down time. Time he had promised to come visit. To come help.

Part of Nirian didn't blame her brother. If given the chance -- and a dragon -- she would have done the same. So she was mostly mad that she _hadn't_ gotten that chance and was now stuck. And ever since the accident, she also knew how hard it was to see their father like this.

Resentment brought a soft growl to her lips. But at least she was _helping_. Unlike her stupid, selfish brother.

Nirian didn't need a Healer's assessment to know that their father wasn't getting any better. The problem was that he was lingering. A slow decline. Dragging. Not fading fast enough.

The moment she let that thought out, she balled her fist and hated herself for it. Then told herself that she was allowed to be at least a _little_ frustrated since she was the one who had gotten stuck as his caretaker.

She rolled over. Pinot let out a small mew of protest as she dragged the feline into a tight hug but was shortly purring. "At least you don't hate me for thinking about myself," Nirian muttered into the feline's fur. Eventually, she let Pinot go and, exhaling, slipped out of bed. "Another day, another mark," she said sarcastically. Maybe Zariah would come see her soon for book delivery help. Or K'mai would drop by for a good night of sex. She hadn't seen K'mai in sevendays, probably months at this point. Shells, she'd take that stick in the mud Lord No Name for an evening. Intellectual conversation was better than the drunken rambling most of the patrons fell into by the end of the evening.

"I'm overdue for a Gather," she said, even though she knew Pinot wasn't listening. "Or some days off anywhere but here. I bet I could convince a dragonrider to drop me off on a beach somewhere and come back for me in a few days, right?" Maybe. Probably not. What a wonderful that would be if so!

"He better come back for a visit," she muttered with sour anger as she dashed makeup on her skin. "A real one. Not half an hour and gone. He owes me." He owed her a lot more than one visit. Nirian herself wondered how much longer she was going to be able to keep up this limbo state of life. She wasn't getting any younger!

She slid on a shirt that she didn't mind getting dirty (just in case she had to take care of his personal, gross needs), looked herself over in the mirror, promised herself that she would find a way to treat herself to something good soon, and went to give Pinot a goodbye kiss. "Don't get into too much trouble without me," she told the feline fondly. "Or do, and then tell me all about it later."

Opening the door, she muttered to herself one last time. "Please let something fun happen today. Anything." And she got started on yet another uninteresting day in her life.

Last updated on the May 1st 2026

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Another Day, Another Mark