33 Hot Season 716
Besides temper's flaring?
F'mos would not have expected to see such a volatile situation since he had come to Etzos. Working with the Black's had exposed him to the communal culture of those which frequent the soup kitchen. The more well to do people within the walls may call them commoners but the Aukari had noticed that these 'commoners' never seemed to be wanting. Even when they seem to easily share what they had with those others which needed them.
It was such the easy going lifestyle that when he had first heard about the extortions and beatings, even the possible murder, F'mos thought of them as nothing more than the usual table chit chat. The gossip which he had grown to rely on to keep in touch with the goings-on within the city walls of Etzos as the Aukari couldn't make the trip as often as he'd like or risk detection by the authorities. Now he wasn't too sure. He wasn't even comfortable listening to the conversations thinking they were getting too dangerous a topic.
Dangerous because it would only take one spark to have yet another mob ready to beat someone else, or another group of soldiers passing by to get the wrong idea. Whether or not F'mos had anything to do with it, any of those possibilities will end up with him being involved and the Aukari only wanted to continue with preparing and serving the food. His job, which was the only thing which mattered to him despite the troubling times.
One of the reasons he had picked working for the Blacks too was that he wouldn't draw any attention to himself. It was outside the city walls where there would be less chances of him running into the authorities. It involved no one important as he would only have to work with the commoners. And despite all these considerations, he was told it was well stocked in terms of gear and food. Among all the others available to him, it was the perfect job for the Aukari who wanted to lay low.
And it had proven good to him so far even if it had only been a season. A deserter with nothing else to bring with him to Etzos other than the things he had with him when he made that decision. It only took that long for him to get a home with the essentials and even a kit to work with that other skill he had learned from his mother. The season was so good that he was even able to keep the beast properly for the season while he had no other choice but to live out in that tent.
The good fortune he had experienced showed even as he worked. Where last season F'mos had difficulty in even making sure he was able to function adequately in the kitchen, where the job was messy enough that he hadn't enough clothes to make it through the entirety of Ashan if he wasn't careful about it, his job in Ymiden had him with a new garment almost every other trial as he needed the change. Just like he had in this one.
Such things no longer being in consideration for him was good as it allowed the cook to focus on what was truly important. The food. At the time he was serving up the soup, when he was listening in to the gossip, the talk about the violence of Ymiden, it was evident that he was becoming distracted. As much as the soup was being scooped into the bowls of the Black's many regulars, there was a significant amount sloshing out of it. Falling on to the ground and F'mos own clothes.
It was quite fortunate that the hot cycle wasn't at its hottest yet and that the soup getting on his clothes wasn't like a whole bowl of it just falling on him like one of those times when he was just starting out with the Blacks. Back then, it was easy to pull through after the sudden shock of the heat biting into him thanks to Ashan being just right to cool him off. Now he wouldn't be that lucky. It wasn't Saun, but there was only so much that he could take before he erupted.
Because he was concentrating so much on the conversations by him, he never noticed the amount of soup weighting down his shirt. It was only when one of the other customers pointed it out, asking if he was hot in that or uncomfortable that he felt the sensations on his arm and side. Giving his thanks, he quickly finished up with giving out the soup to the rest of those waiting for it before heading to the back and checking if there was anymore soup to be served or if the Black's was done with lunch for the trial.
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