Bread Bandit

Max: 146

Watching Jura’s reaction change quickly, he wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned that guy he found. He was definitely dead, or passed out drunk, he didn’t stick around to find out. Granted it would be a little off if they left a dead man on the fishing dock… he never thought of that. Oh well.
Max nodded and threw his shirt on, it was freezing cold. At least one thing reminded him of those mines- the temperature. Dark, damp, cold. Just like home…
“Okay, do my best to keep my mouth shut.” Which was probably best. Max had a very loud, deep bassy voice. It would be hard to miss it in a crowd.
Back out into the dark warehouse they went. Max rubbed his hands together to burn off the cold energy and waited for Jura before traveling down the flights of stairs again.

Jura: 188

Jura wasn’t a stranger to dead bodies nor the necessity of having to care for yourself by whatever means, so he wasn’t going to fault Max for doing what he did, stripping some poor dead man to his birthday suit so he could have some decency himself. It wasn’t like a corpse was going to need clothes.  

“If you can whisper, you can talk- just no shouting or someone will hear us?” He said as he walked down the steps a ways after locking the room up again. His footsteps quiet save the occasional creak of old metal under his and his companions weight. “I’ll try not to run, so I think another twenty minutes will have us at my house. Think you can manage that much?”

While he walked, Jura spun around to walk backwards, keeping his eyes on the larger fellow, “Couple alleyways, through two buildings if things are quiet, then we’ll be home free.” The rogue paused while he spoke, waiting for Max to catch up with him, “What do you want for dinner?” Maybe he would try and cook. It had been a while.

Max: 226

“Hmm. I don’t whisper.” Max replied. His whispering sounded more like someone’s normal voice. Probably due to the depth of it.
It was gonna be one quiet walk.
“I’ll be right behind ya, and if yer runnin, still behind ya. Just farther back and more wheezin.”
He watched Jura with a bit of a smile, it was nice to have company. He was used to someone always around but it was nice to have living company.
Then Jura slammed him with that question. His stomach appeared to have grown ears because it instantly reminded him of what he’d been lacking for the past two days, though the bread had saved him for a while. It would take an army to fill his iron gut.
“Food….. dunno, anythin. Everythin. Whatever is good enough. I been eatin random plants while I came here. Most of em just make ya sick.”
He couldn’t imagine a big glorious meal in front of him, either. He only pictured Prison rations- but double the portion and a frosted bread roll. He’d never really had a large proper meal before. He really didn’t have a clue on the beautiful variety some people are enjoying each day. It was a miracle his teeth didn’t rot out, saved only by the rotten fruits they were fed.
“Yer food ain’t gonna make me sick is it?”

Jura: 271

“I hope not,” he said nonchalantly. “I don’t really do a lot of cooking, but if whatever I throw together isn’t … uh,” Jura paused before he resumed, a little self conscious, “-good, then I’ll go run to a tavern and get you something half-way decent. What do you think?” Most shops were closed for the night, but some of the Inns and bars nearby were not. He could pick up a couple sandwiches maybe. Pay a little extra for the toppings to be doubled.  

He tried to keep his attention on the path ahead of them when they left the warehouse, ears attuned for noises that were not Max’s wheezes or his deep voice ringing off all the walls. He spoke quietly in turn, not that it was uncommon for him to begin with. He hardly ever raised his voice above a whisper. “Yeah, probably shouldn’t do that. My Auntie says a lot of things are poisonous and you shouldn’t nibble on anything unless you are absolutely sure you know what it is.” Jura clearly didn’t know plants, so if he was starving, well, he was just starving.

The gate came up, opened as quietly as he could get it. “Slip through. We have to sneak down a road or two- there's a path that leads between a row of buildings… How do you feel about climbing a little?” Up fire escapes of course, something Jura thought to be manageable enough. He wasn’t going to go climb up the facade of a building and expect Max to follow, or even know where to place his hands and feet without falling.

Max: 304

“Uh sure- not thinkin that far ahead yet Jura, haha. Sure whatever ya toss together’ll be good enough… how bad could it be? Worse than poisonous plants?”
Max laughed, cleared his throat, and remembered they were supposed to be quiet. It was a very difficult task. Maybe he wasn’t much of a sneaky thief anymore. The bakery incident probably just proved it.

As they walked along the cold winter’s night, Max’s breath drifted up into the air in a cloud above him. His eyes adjusted well whenever they passed through the odd building and gradually made their way to their destination. A rat the size of a cat scurried past and nearly made him jump. They didn’t get that big in the mines. As Jura talked, Max realized how good that his friend seemed to be living now. Some Auntie meant that he must have family, if that’s what an aunt was. He was pretty sure anyways. What sort of weird feeling that brought. Family. Jura and his best friend of old were his family. That’s how that worked in his head.

“I can climb.” Max replied in a confident tone. He had to do a lot of climbing around before. Climbing up was the easy part.

To be honest the buildings he was seeing in this city were massive and slightly unnerving. When they went down the backways Max fell to silence as he was focused on looking at the cracks between the buildings for any watchful eyes. Now he was paranoid. This was wide open territory, he felt very exposed. Still he slid through the gate and followed Jurra back through a few turns and alleys until they reached what Jura must’ve been talking about. Interesting to say the least. Yup- he could climb that. So climb he did after his friend.

Jura: 461

“UH, well.” Jura replied a bit loudly, quieting before he resumed, “I’m not really a good cook, but I can throw stuff together in a pot and it should be edible?” He knew enough not to put unidentifiable plants in there or food that was going rotten anyways. Nothing you bought from the Faline market tended to be poisonous anyways. Normal crops, really, when the weather was warm enough for them. Winter usually had stored veggies, grains, roots like potatoes or gourds of various shapes and sizes. Some of the older ladies near his home said you could use gourds to make soups. Maybe he would pay a couple a visit in the earlier hours of the day- break away from his nocturnal habits just for a little while to help Max out.

Jura had lost his found family ages ago, when he had been captured and tossed into a prison for just existing- too much of an inconvenience for somebody. His Auntie now was just a kind lady who saved him from an untimely demise. Not family by blood, but neither were his vanished siblings or Max. That didn’t matter to Jura anyways.

The rogue led Max along quickly through streets and nooks, till the both of them ducked down an unknown number of alleyways and eventually came to a stop below a metal contraption. Hung along the side of a building, “It’s a fire escape.. More like walking up then climbing. Let me just get the ladder down for you.” Jura announced as he approached the wall and searched for handholds and outcroppings of bricks to facilitate his way up. Some buildings were harder to manage without a running start, but this one wasn't. In no time he was up on the lowest platform, forming a crystalline lockpick to release the ladder down. “Just keep quiet though, this is residential.” Lots of people to peek at them if they weren’t careful. Whispering, or speaking as he usually did, Jura resumed, “We just have to go across this roof, jump over to the next two, then down the other side should get us into the mar. It's a maze in there so keep close to me. We won’t have as many guards to worry about so..” He hesitated for a moment, thinking of what he’d do once they were safely on the way to his own home. Would it be best to try and wash Max’s clothes or just give him the decency of a sheet till he could go petition a tailor for help? He certainly didn’t have anything that might fit the man save maybe a loose night shirt. Even that would be stretched thin by muscle Max had in abundance and Jura lacked. “Yeah. No guards really.”

Max: 240

“Geeze…” Max mumbled and watched in a bit of Awe as Jura literally spidered his way up the face of a giant wall, he had never seen anyone pull off such a stunt. If he tried that he was aware that more than just one thing would end up broken. So there he waited firmly rooted on solid ground and watched as a metal ladder descended from the fire escape. Max didn’t even bother to speak in agreement if they needed to stay quiet then, he did however give the man a solid nod.
When the ladder was down, he grabbed a firm hold of the cold metal bars and began to climb up to Jura. The pair climbed the ladder to the roof, and from that point on Max simply followed after him.
Jumping over rooftops though? He almost vomited when the first jump came up, and that was when Max discovered a mild fear of heights. By hell he jumped it though, just nearly fell flat on his face on the other side.
“We gettin down soon?” He grumbled as he brushed the pebbles off his forearms.
One more jump to go— the gap was a bit wider but manageable. This time Maxin didn’t trip up. Descending was a strange idea now that they were up here. Max was incredibly grateful for Jura the spider monkey. Without him who knows, maybe he’d be headed back to the jungle.

Jura: 263
While they ran along the roof, Jura slowed on more than one occasion to double check that his friend was still with him, even stopping on the other building he’d jumped across to in order to wait. If Max fell, that would definitely suck but he was glad to see the man stick the first landing- or as close to it that mattered. Certainly earned himself an armful of rocks.

Jura grimaced at the fall, offered a hand to help him up and resumed to the next roof. That went smoother than the last, but it was followed by a rather exasperated sounding question. “Yeah Max, going down is easy. Another staircase- this way” He said as he set off towards the side of the building and to the aforementioned way down. It also led below to an alleyway, one that was crowded by old crates, people’s discarded or ill-cared for belongings, and whatever else they tucked out of the way. It wasn’t a problem for Jura to wiggle through, but Max was sure to knock a few things over here and there. “One more street, we take a path off that and my house is there.” At the end in an alcove of sorts. A couple neighbors, as one could expect in the tight seehousing of the mar, but a nice quiet place by his standards.

The rogue hurried his company along by taking his hand and pulling, even through the clutter. The sooner he was home the better, and the sooner Max could be purged of many years worth of dirt.

Max: 216

“Thank God. Can’t climb like you, Jura.”
Max paused just a brief second before following after Jura so he could take in the surroundings stop all the buildings. In this area the view went on a ways- smoke was rising from chimneys and overall it was rather beautiful. His eyes widened out a bit but briefly before he quickly hurried after the man. So- height had its advantages.

They went down the metal stairs into a total junkyard. They stepped down into a tiny path that was made to the stairs and around the clutter but it wasn’t wide enough for anyone larger than a frail old lady. Jura weaved through it like some majestic animal where Max could tell this was going to be bad.
cRASH
One box, a second, followed by a third. He tried stepping over the boxes that had fallen and ended up crashing into a handful of glass items.
“SHIT-“ His frustration was growing right before a hand snatched his.
Immediately quieting down, Max was torn through the trash and began to laugh loudly like a crazy person when it came falling down behind him. When they were out he wiped a tear away from the event and their pace quickened towards the apartment.
“Sorry-sorry HA! Gods I suck at this.”

Jura: 200

Jura didn't expect him to have the same skill set, far from it. Max was built for hard labor, things that would break Jura beyond repair, not flitting through clutter effortlessly- a necessity of his work. He looked behind him briefly as piles of junk collapsed in Max's wake. The blame for the chaos could easily be pinned to a stray dog after a rat, or some other animal, instead of a man running from guards blocks from here.

"It's fine, almost there." He assured as he tugged Max out of the alley and onto a wider road, not a main by any means, but wide in consideration of all the other roads in the mar. The one Jura lived down was a narrow, which he figured would rule up Max a bit. "Shh." Jura hushed as they entered the narrow path to his dwelling, at the same time fishing a key from somewhere in his own garments. "My neighbors are old, let's not wake them."

The key was held up as he crossed the threshold to a door, apparently the one belonging to Jura as his key turned in the lock. "I'll start a fire and draw a bath-"

Max: 171

It was just a little ways longer, just a tad, a lot of journeying for the night was rather draining for his old bones. How many days had he not had sleep for now? He wasn’t sure. Max goanced down and wondered if Jura had just forgotten and wondered what exactly to do about it. He flicked his tail in this situation.
“Uhm, Jura-“ He tried to start but the man pulled a key from his pocket and fiddled with the door.
“Jura-“ He paused while Jura went on about fires and baths. When they went inside he would finally say something. It was dark as it should be but small—- to anyone else, to Max his place was huge. That wasn’t the first thing that was on his mind however.
“So- see ya got yerself an interest in hand holdin’ now, aye?” Max had this shitty grin on his face and a near purr to his voice as he teased with the man. “Don’t mind but my hand’s gettin’ sweaty.”

Jura: 390

Clearly he was occupied trying to figure out which task should be done first. Max needed food, yes, but most places were closed and Jura didn't have much for at the moment snacking… a bath would take a while to warm up and poor Max was probably tired from sprinting around the city after him-

Turning his head, Jura stared at the man for a moment at his comment. Trying to parse why he had a grin on his face. Oh.

"S.. sorry." Jura said a bit sheepishly, releasing the hand he'd been dragging the man around by half the night. "I'm wearing gloves so I didn't notice." He took a step back towards the door, holding it open so the man could enter, he could glance about outside, and eventually lock that too. A window up on the wall behind him let a small sliver of light in, but his house was nestled between many and didn't have much space for any others in the wallz. That didn't really bother him anyways, as he didn't like the idea of being spied on.

Atop that one window were the shape of little birds, black considering, but bird shapes all the same.

Jura shuffled in the gloom toward the location he knew to be the fireplace. Finding a box with a flint and steel stop the mantle, and logs left on the hearth. The dull clunk of dry wood greeted both of their ears as he piled some in for a bit of light. A few clicks and little mutters on his part before an ember took, slowly spreading and illuminating part of the room. Plain white walls that glowed orange from the fire, an old worn table to the right of the fire with a few books and a blank mask atop it, a corner of a bedpost visible just past that before it became too dark. "I have some candles…" Jura muttered half to himself and half to Max as he got up and darted off into the darker side opposite the fireplace. Another room judging by the muffled sounds of him moving things around.

The place overall didn't seem large, considering the noise he made from the opposite side, but quite enough for someone who spent much of their life without a home or existing in a cell.

Max: 241

Max was looking all over the place now when they were fully engulfed by the apartment, he quickly forgot about the hand thing and turned his attention to the amount of things. For once the older was quiet, and he took a seat next to Jura as he struggled to get the fire going.
So this was a house. Not the fancy one, just a house.
He pondered for a moment, it was very clean.there wasn’t much in it outside of his belongings. Some figures at the window of tiny little things he couldn’t see well from the floor, where was all his gold?
Max scratched his beard in thought,
“This is nice, Jura.” He took a big whiff. “HA smells like ya too, good smell.”
When he ran off to fetch candles, Max sighed and stood up. He tore off his shirt and tossed it into the fireplace, stripped down to his skivvies, and threw his pants in as well.
Oh- now he could get a whiff of himself.
“Ah didn’ think that through.” Max chuckled and sat back down in front of the fireplace where he warmed up over his burning clothes. It made the fire a few times larger as they burned easy, a little too hot actually. They were probably covered in a sort of animal fat when he attempted to clean them one time…
He scooted back a little and returned to warming his hands.

Jura: 447

"You are probably smelling lavender. It's a flower." Jura explained when he returned from his candle hunt. A success, considering he held three in a hand, and a couple matches between his fingers. His other held the metal frame of a lantern, old and probably bought for cheap in a resell market. It worked at least but wasn't particularly pretty.

Approaching the table in the corner, he set the lantern down and placed one candle inside. Lighting it after he flicked the match against the rougher surface of the worktop- distracted as he did so by the fire flaring to life with a series of pops, briefly bewildered before he felt the tiny match flame lick his finger tips  wholly unpleasant, Jura quickly lit the waiting candle before he shook the match out.

Max had tossed his clothes into the fire. That solved one problem, but another arose- he'd mention his thoughts just as soon as he closed the metal and glass casing of the lantern. A little bit of silver plating along the back directing the light out to a wider area. "Um, well you can borrow a sheet if nothing of mine fits right. The best I can offer is some sleeping shirts…" plain white, and probably too tight on Max's frame where they hung loose on Jura, but what else was he going to do?

"If…" he started, contemplating his words, "If you want to stick around for a few days, I can get you some supplies from the markets." There would be one coming up on the weekend, longer hours too. A benefit for night owls.

Giving a weary little cough, the rogue picked up the lantern and turned away. Headed to the back room to arrange the bath. His house was nice compared to some in the mar. A benefit, he assumed, of working for Enn, who knew Jura to be more than a little antisocial. It came complete with a fireplace for cooking and heating the space, the former he rarely had the energy for, and even a place to draw water, affording him the opportunity to stay home. Of course the water was cold, as one could expect from metal pipes in the winter, but easily warmed with a couple buckets of boiled water. He even planned to add some scented oils, peering at a little shelf along the wall as he turned the bath basin over and half rolled half wiggled it into place beneath the spigot.

Calling back to Max as he ran the water, Jura offered for him to look around, "There's a chest at the end of the bed, I have clothes and blankets in there."

Max: 525

“Aye.” Max gave a brief reply to and turned his head to the scar sitting around the bedpost. It had flowers all over it. Woman’s clothing maybe? Or… well… Max got up to investigate away from the fire, his skin shining bronze in the light as he moved to the darkness. Gently he picked up the dainty cloth and held it up by a finger. He liked it. The ends were frilled but it was a little thicker to stay warm in. Max put it back and looked toward the windowsill. He saw a few objects there that looked fragile enough to break if he poked one with a giant finger.
“Birds?” Max murmured while he approached them. They looked small, Jura did say something about an owl. Maybe he had a thing for feathered friends, did he hand carve these? Well, then there was a rock sitting there too. Max inspected it and felt the slight drain it gave him. Why did he keep a rock from the mines?
Was it some sort of keepsake from the hell they went through?
He flipped it over and felt a shock rippled through him at the tony stick figures carved into it. He’d done that!
Maybe he’d ask why he kept this when he wasn’t practically standing around butt ass naked in his home. Onward with investigation. Max went to the mantle of the fireplace and looked at the dried flowers hanging from the stonework, these must be what he was smelling. Yup, sure was.
If max was going to bathe he needed to remove something first. There were hng golden plate guards somehow driven into his flesh yet not piercing his skin, they didn’t hurt. It was some sort of contraption that Jimmy had that got transferred over to him. Max wiestioned if it was magic but they never fell off with the magic dampening stones so…. Maybe not. He left them on almost 100% of the time, in the mines they acted as a shield to protect him from rockfall.
Reaching around funny, he managed to unclip them and groaned when they fell away. He stretched out without the extra weight and felt a good relief through his spine.
Max’s back was covered in scarring. Some new and some old. Whip scars for sure, scars from battle as he used his back shield a lot, and scars from mining. Across his chest he had a couple that overlapped, and a few across his arms. Otherwise his body was not exactly built for his age. His muscles were much more tired but still had plenty of spring, he was built like a brick shit house.
Maxin crouched down and picked up the dirtied plates that needed to be cleaned. He simply tossed them next to the fire and let the heat do that work for him.
Silence had filled the room now for plenty a while, along with the sound of boiling water and Jura messing about.
“So….” Max called over to him. “Ya be carvin’ animals in yer free time? They look good.” It was awkward but that’s about all he had to say.

Jura: 394

Maxin wasn't really naked, not when he had undergarments on, but it wasn't like Jura was minding that. He was too occupied with filling the tub with water and running a cast iron kettle back and forth from the fire and to the basin. Clearly not very athletic as he had to pause frequently, restraining his breathing so Max wouldn't question him about dying.

On round three of fetching the heated water from the fireplace, he spotted Maxin by the window. Glancing to the seven little birds that lined the sill. Most were song birds, some he'd seen in one of his books. Each reminded him in some way of the kids he grew up with. There was even one for Jura, or at least one could assume as much. A small black colored owl with half its face chipped off to show the pale wood it was carved out of. Maybe an accidental stroke of the knife, or something intentional. Clearly he didn't care to explain it or the rock that was nearby his little figure.

"Y-yeah, masks too. It's calming, I think…" Certainly something to do when he was too worn out to stand up for more than a few minutes, anyways. Or when the weather was too awful for him to leave his apartment. Snow, the like. Sometimes even with heavy rains, the change in pressure and temperature didn't play nice with him. That was fine though, as long as he could keep himself bundled up and by the fire.

When he passed through again, he paused. Staring at the plates in the fire and the scars on the man's back. Some he remembered watching Max get, unable to help or really do anything for him save making the situation worse. Punishments from the guards. When max was too wild, too mouthy,looked at them wrong or didn't beat up enough people for their entertainment. Whatever it was they just didn't like. Most of the prisoners at the time had a few, even Jura did, though he couldn't say what earned him those scars in particular.

Clearing his throat, Jura spoke in a rather breathless tone, "Ok, the water should be warm enough if you want to go in." He'd stay out in this room to give him some privacy, well aware that there was no door between the two spaces.

Max: 349

“Want to?” Max teased as he stood up to his full height and stretched his back out again. “Guess I promised. But yer right I smell like a rat rottin’ in the sun for three days.” He chuckled. “Aye, aye.”
He walked past and patted the man on the shoulder while heading into this candle-lit room with a bin filled with water. Max stared at it and tilted his head to the side.
“This is—- this uh, tin thing? Right?” Max started to get the creepy crawlies from it. Where did the filth go… how was it supposed to run downstream? He stuck a finger in the water and sniffed it. It smelled like everything else in the house, it wasn’t a bad smell. His hair stood on end and Max had to physically force himself to drop the underwear and dip a toe into the water.
“Alright.” He grumbled and stood in, then eased down like the old man he was and got comfortable.
There it was, staring him in the face. A bar shaped item that must’ve been the soap. He glared at it, grabbed it, glared at it again- and bit it.
Max immediately regretted his life decisions and spat it out with a horrendous look on his face.
“Shit-“ Max wiped his tongue off furiously and went to throw it across the room- but remembered the promise. He had to wash himself with it.
With a long sigh—- Max did it. He scrubbed his skin as if his life depended on it Gods save that Jura say something about how rotten he smelled again. When he was done, he soaked in the soapy water for a bit, then stood up in the tub.
“Uh—-“ now what.
Max stepped out and shook himself out like a damned dog.
He looked down and noticed a sort of large cloth there that must’ve been for drying off——- oops.max felt like an idiot, not knowing what to hell to do, and wiped himself down.
Max walked out and looked around for the man.
“Got somethin to wear or-“

Jura: 313

Jura wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but he couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief when he heard the succession of splashes that he prayed to mean Max was actually washing himself. Part of him even wondering if he should give the man a crash course on how to- why was he cursing??

"Are you… ok in there?" Jura called back a bit tentatively, probably not loud enough to be heard regardless, especially so considering he was slowly back away across the room to go ruffle through the chest of clothes. Most of it surely wouldn't fit max, but he figured a fresh shirt would help… and maybe something for the rest of him if Max didn't mind things being tight.

While waiting for a reply, an old night shirt was pulled out from beneath considerably more decorative garments. Red, silver and blue sets of clothes he'd been gifted, stolen or commissioned in some effort to impress the man he worked for.  He left those in place, closed the lid and stood up. Tossing the shirt onto the bed as he mentally tried to gauge if it would even fit a man nearly twice his weight- unfortunately glancing towards the doorway to the back room just as Max made himself known. Very much unclothed as one would expect following a bath, but without the decency to wrap himself in a towel.

Jura stared for a moment, opened his mouth to comment and then just closed it, lost for words or anything that wasn't just plainly incriminating on his own part. Grabbing the shirt he'd just put down to toss Maxin's way. "Try that…and a word of advice. If you take a bath around someone that isn't… you know, put the towel around your hips and spare someone their nightmares." He mimed how to tie it briefly before turning around to face the fireplace.

Max: 210

“Ah, c’mon Jura I ain’t that bad. Nightmares might be a stretch.” He said with a bit of a joking tone as he caught the shirt. “Towel? Thas what that is. Got it.”
As soon as he tried to put his arm into the shirt, it got past his elbow and stuck on his bicep. If he moved that thing was getting blown out at the seems.
“Too small, mate.” Max tossed it back at the bed and went back into the room to fetch the towel he had simply dropped on the floor. It was wet but, eh maybe it would work.
He,,,, wrapped it around his waist but it definitely didn’t stay there. He tried to tie it but it kept falling apart. Defeated, thoroughly now, Max tried to tie it the way Jura sort of showed how. Walking back out, he gave a weak sheepish grin.
“That was horrible Jura, and I never want to do that again. But I do smell nice.”
He walked over to the fireplace and with his toe, picked up and flipped his filthy, grimy, disgusting underwear into the flames as well. Then he kicked out his large plates and scooted them away from the fire.
“Alright- so that’s done. Promise filled.”

Jura: 395

"I didn't say I was the one that was going to have nightmares. I've seen you naked before." Jura said as he not so subtly rolled his eyes. "Anyone ELSE. Like the little old lady down the street-" he started, waved his hand and left it at that. At least Max made an attempt to tie a towel about himself in lieu of proper clothes, the last of which Jura watched catch fire just like the first. Gods. So filthy.

"It's not so bad, besides it's good for you. Clean up once in a while just for my sake?" Maybe pleading on his own behalf would work better to convince Max to take a bath once in a blue moon, which was way better then never again. Spare himself some offensive scents at least and the potential coughing fits. "I appreciate it all the same… now clothes..I was worried you'd be too bulky.." the man said as he rubbed his chin and turned to regard the shirt thrown back atop his bed. Jura picked it up and folded it neatly before draping it over his arm. There was a second at the bottom of the dresser but it likely wouldn't be any better. Perhaps getting the two altered into one would be best, find someone with some good sewing skills to repurpose the fabric, or just bite the bullet and buy Max something new come morning. That still left them with the problem of what he was going to wear now. Washing his previous outfit was out of the question, as it quite literally went up in flames the moment Max had thrown it into the fire. Oh so concerning.  

"You can have a pair of undergarments at least…" maybe a sheet if poor Max was feeling shy, but Jura doubted it. He didn't come off as self conscious. So, with that thought in mind, he returned to the chest, returned the shirt to the bottom of the pile and pulled out a black pair of underwear. Holding that out to Max with an outstretched arm while he looked for a clean sheet with his other. "Our hips look about the same size, so unless you have a fat ass, I'm out of options here. We'll have to go shopping tomorrow.. or I will, you'll get arrested for walking around with your balls out."

Max: 266

“S’pose that’s true.” He replied after a moment and casually flicked his tail in a smooth sweep across the floor.
Maxin probably would have given the elderly a heart attack, he was sure it would’ve been funny to see at least.
“Fine- fine, Jura, just let me know when I have to drown myself in that tin tub.” He grumbled and folded his arms across his bare chest as if he were pouting dramatically, or maybe just pouting.
Jura was very carefully tended to all of the colorful clothing and Max was already bored and fidgety standing there nearly naked still. When the man was presented with underwear—- Max took them, looked at Jura, back to the pair, and then quirked a brow.
“Ya need to eat more, Jura. Waist size maybe- everythin else…?”
Max sighed and tried them on anyways. The towel was getting in the way, so he turned to face the opposite direction to be…. Kind… and ripped off the towel. Probably didn’t spare Jura from anything actually, but he struggled to get into the underwear. Sure they stretched but got stuck at his thighs. He muscles were a little too much, and things started to get tight. As soon as a thread popped, Max shot them off and threw them back at Jura.
“Fuck- I’ll just wear the towel.” Max rubbed his face with his hand and put the towel back on while he walked over to the fire place to absorb the heat again.
“Wandered ‘round that Jungle butt ass naked for Gods know how long. I’ll live. Thanks for tryin’.

Jura: 314

When the undergarments were tossed back his way, he caught them easily, inspected the torn seam and uttered a miserable sigh. Neither of them were good at planning. A hard habit to break when one lived most of their life day to day in what was arguably a hellish place. “You could decide for yourself, you know, if you get muddy, take a bath, if you’ve been sweating a lot… take a bath.” Jura said with another little exasperated noise while he shoved the damaged garment back into the clothes pile. Glad, at least, that Max didn’t smell like he crawled out of the sewers.

At the mention of his own weight, Jura gave a noncommittal nod. Everyone said that, and he tried to abide by it, but it was pretty hard to convince himself to take his mask off long enough to eat when he was hungry. He would much rather find a secluded rooftop to snack on a cold meal then eat something when it was fresh and warm but in the presence of others he didn’t know. One of his many problems. “I’m told that often, I know. Ah Jura you’re too skinny...Jura drink more water, Jura take some medicine…”

“Do you want this sheet?” He interjected when Maxin moved to sit by the fire, wondering if he was still cold and gently holding it up to wiggle enticingly in his direction. Perhaps it was worse in here now that he was damp.

Letting the chest close, Jura got up and approached Max to sit beside him.“When did you get out?” was his next question. Had he asked that already? Sometimes he couldn’t keep his thoughts and his words straight, too much bounced around in his head and never reached his lips or anyones ears for that matter. “Do you know if anyone else got out when you did-?”

Max: 319

“Bleh, we’ll see.”
Maxin scratched the nape of his neck when Jura went on about the whole weight thing. He remembered fondly the scrawny little thing and how he struggled with it when he was younger in that prison. It was not the ideal grounds for someone in Jura’s condition. Max had secretly snuck his food into Jura’s rations to help him out but there never seemed to be much of a difference.
“I was teasin’ Jura. Remember how ya were back in that hell hole? Better now, talkin without hackin’ away. Think ya made it out nice here.”
Max looked over at the sheet being waved around and shrugged.
“To sleep in- sure. I’m fine right now, just lovin’ thjs fire thing…” His head turned over to look at Jura with that question. Max shrugged.
“It wasn’t long ago. The further this way I got, the colder it got. Oh….maybe, three weeks? Somethin’ like that.”
Max snorted angrily and turned his arms back to the dancing flames.
“Aye. Some idiot we all called Yena. Hell knows where they went. Backstabbin’ no good lyin’ son of a bitch. Took my shit and left. Them fishermen set me up mighty nice. Went to the river for a wash- that asshole stole the clothes off my back, my money, my food… gone. I ever see ‘em again they’re dead.” Max clenched his fists and tightened his muscles at the image of kicking Yena’s teeth in. He didn’t mention the extent of how bad it was. Max lost his job because of him. Everything good he had going for just having broken out of prison a week prior was already up in flames. Max had to run off but ass naked and sneak around at night so he wouldn’t be seen… h til he found a very large man passed out drunk on the shore. That was perfect, but not ideal.

Jura: 320

Jura realized he was probably being a little too moody and offered a faint ‘sorry’ while adjusting how he was sitting so his legs were crossed under him, fiddling with his hands and gloves where they rested on his lap absently, “Yeah I think so, at least a little bit. Auntie’ll still say I'm too skinny when I see her next you know. I’m trying to eat more… Everyone says that's part of why I get sick so much.” Part, but not all of why he got sick. He thought he was just cursed to always be like this, a horrible little frail thing. He was certainly jealous of Max’s muscles.

Glancing sideways at Max, and then shortly afterwards to the fire, he wondered how long Max was left running around in the woods without a thing. Even in the prison, they had clothes. Tattered to bits most of the time but it was enough to give them some semblance of comfort. Sure as hell didn’t work to keep anybody warm though.

“Yeah it’s cold here, dry in the winter. Snow instead of rain kinda thing.” Three weeks though. At least when he’d gotten out, he didn’t have to worry about the weather or fending off wild animals and bandit types. Ferula was a kind lady to care for him for so long in her home, and even still every time she saw him on her infrequent visits to Faline. “That's a long time to be on the road though- you found some fishermen along the way?” What a stroke of luck that must have been. Of course that little bit of pleasantness didn’t last. Someone named Yena was gonna be on his hit list too, and he didn’t do assisination work. “What’s he look like-” Jura asked, feeling a flicker of rage at the thought of his old friend being robbed and left with nothing, not even his decency.

Max: 123

Max patted his back out of sympathy, poor guy must’ve been bothered to hell. He didn’t exactly know what that was like but he was trying his hardest to show some act of kindness. Even if it made his skin crawl. Physical contact was sort of strange to him again. The hand holding seemed to be a little much, it was still on his mind.
“Oh- yeah, yea. Came across them when I tried to steal their boat, haha. Made me work for ‘em, paid me well for the work I did. Musta worked well for em.”
He chuckled and shrugged his shoulder.
“A dirt bag, I dunno.”
Max settled into silence for a moment.
“So- uh, how did you get this place?”

Jura: 371

Jura wasn't so bothered by affection with people he knew, and he considered Max to be his friend, even if it had been years… he hoped the feeling was mutual. "I guess it could have turned out worse with them… I still want to know what that guy looked like though." He repeated, side eyeing Maxin yet again when he felt the hand pay at his back. Hesitancy, he figured. At least the sentiment was nice.

"I work for a guy here, thieving.. you know, the only thing I'm halfway decent at. He said I could stay close to the mar, that he had some apartments I could rent, or … not." Jura specifically remembered inviting himself to the man's office when he was sick and feverish but oh so stubborn;  worrying himself to death over not being able to pay rent when he physically couldn't manage anything save getting up to take a piss- and even that was exhausting. "This one was out of the way so I thought it was good enough-, private? A lot better than the busted up place I was calling home before. Just slightly less awful than living on the streets. Only sometimes kept the rain off you." He chuckled at the idea and the memories he had of waking up soaked. It was very much of a stretch to even consider his last hovel a dwelling. Not much use in the place save the fireplace he slept next to in the winter in an effort to not freeze to death. "This place is good though, it's got water and a fireplace, I can walk to work from here even on bad days." Which he wasn't going to elaborate on, and instead resumed, "You gotta be good with mages though, to be here." Which he assumed Max was, being a mage himself. He just wasn't going to tell him anything else about the mar unless Max went to talk to Enn himself. Something he considered and also worried about.

"I guess at the end of the day I'm kind of a freeloader." Of course, he figured that was enough of the house topic, "Did you like being on that boat? I always daydreamed about sailing."

Max: 242

“Private is good, like that. City’s got too many people in it.” Max looked at him funny. “Good as in fightin’ em? Heh, don’t know that I fought a mage before. Besides you.” He teased and nudged Jura playfully with his shoulder. It was true; magic was way over his head. If it wasn’t fighting was there something special they had to do for mages? Some secret language or code or something maybe…? No idea. “Freeloader, don’t know what that means…”

And then the conversation shifted a little more to his area, but in a good way.
“Felt like second nature. Already knew how to work hard in the mines, lots of things to do on a boat- didn’t have many sails, but we caught a lot of fish. Only five of us.”
He sat back and leaned his weight onto his palms while he reminisced about the open waters.
“Wasn’t out there long but… nice breeze, a bit windy… takes a little to get used to though, the ship rocks quite a bit. Some of them waves get pretty big but I liked the spray of the water… navigatin’ was a whole different thing, not mine. But Jura- ya can see for miles out there. Ain’t nothin to worry about on those waters. No people, just quiet. Ya should try it some day…”
He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
“Wish I woulda stayed. Maybe they woulda let me back with ‘em.”

Jura: 251

"Oh, no. Not fight.. well, fight with.. together?" He replied, a bit taken back by the suggestion. "There's people who don't like mages, they treat them badly- like us. The prison…" he made a circular gesture with his hand as he said these. Hoping max could fill in the blanks and not make him explain all the little details. Aristocracy bad yada yada.

Max's next comment went ignored, Jura's own words stemmed from his self conscious thoughts and really didn't need to be dwelled on, so when Max started explaining life at sea, Jura chose to focus on that instead. Enthusiastically for someone who never so much as stepped foot on a deck. He just did his admiring and longing from afar, watching all the sails as boats came and went from the many ports of Faline's coastline.

Jura found himself wondering if Max missed those people. If he had stayed, they never would have bumped into each other and his friend would have been in a much better situation. Not sitting buck naked next to him in his small apartment in the middle of winter. He didn't even have anything to share for him to eat, entirely his own fault for being so disinterested in food himself. He'd scrounged around through his food vessels earlier while hunting for candles and came up disappointed but not surprised.

"I bet the nights are wonderful." The rocking not so much, nor the wet. But what did he know? "I think I'd get seasick."

Max: 241

Max wasn’t understanding what was being said so, he let the topic slide and focused on the small vessel that took him to sea. He laid back against the ground and folded his arms back behind his head as if he was laying into the sandy beach.
“They are, unless the water’s choppy and yer tryin’ to sleep. Then it’s a pain in the ass.” Max sat up slightly and looked at Jura with a grin.
“Oh I sure did. Ya get used to it after a day or two. You an’ me Jura should go back out there. Think you’d like it a lot.”
He sighed and laid back down.
“The guys were tellin’ me ‘bout magic ships that sailed the sand dunes by floatin’. Desert ain’t my thing, but could ya imagine flyin’ ships… ha.”
He tried to imagine Jura on one of those giant ships he had seen but definitely had a difficult time picturing the man doing well out on the rough sea. Even when the waves had low swells, it made him sick for the first couple of days. Max looked over at Jura and wondered why Jura hadn’t been out on the sea already… especially if he was dreaming about it.
“Why don’t we find somethin’ small to join for the day and you can try it out?” Weird thing to say but okay, he said it. Maybe he just missed the seas that much.

Jura: 333

"Maybe I'll see what it's like." And try not to die in the process, but he wouldn't know how he'd take the unsteady waves until he tried standing on a deck. That wasn't to say he expected anything good to come from it save himself being absolutely miserable, clinging to a side rail lest he fall into the sea and drown. The offer also came with an added bonus, he hoped so much anyways, of seeing Max again every now and then. Now that he'd met the man after so many years of thinking him dead he really didn't want to let him go a second time.

When Maxin settled back down, Jura took the opportunity to unfurl the sheet by flinging it out, then to the side to drape it over him. "I've never seen one like that, but they are in some children's books. Are you sure those guys were telling the truth and not just some fantasy?" He asked, skeptical of something so large and heavy being able to drift through the sky. Maybe it was doable, with some magic far stronger than anything Jura had seen for himself.

"What, like one of the fishing boats? I know there are ships hiring for dock hands and unloading but not so much… just taking anyone off the street out to sea for some slight seeing." What was there to look at in the early morning fog anyways?

He'd ask about it still, once they'd both gotten out in the morning and had some breakfast, and some clothes procured. Jura planned to let Maxin sleep in though, he'd go out and do the inquiries in the wee hours of the morning, before most of Faline woke up and got to staring at him for his ghastly appearance. Perhaps some of that could be amended by wrapping himself in a scarf so only his eyes were visible, it just wasn't as secure a feeling as a mask that was strapped to him tightly.

Max: 262

“Aye- I’m sure, in the desert they have ships that sail the sands. An’ I’m sure someone out there’s lookin for a day’s worth of work. Fishin’ ain’t too bad, though the nets get heavy if yer haulin’ in a big catch. Could be an easy way out there.”

Max released a giant yawn. Today had been full of adventure, more than he had bargained for in fact, and it was finally beginning to wear on him. This was the happiest and most relaxed he had been in in a very long time. He stared up at the ceiling and wondered where he would be sitting right now if Jura hadn’t gone and gotten curious about what was crashing around in that bakery. He didn’t fight the sheet being thrown over him but instead he closed his eyes and began to hum a tune he had learned from one of the taverns.

“Did I tell ya,” he interrupted his own humming. “After fishin’ the third day we went to this… tavern place, an’ ya should’ve seen ‘em, Jura. They looked like rats from the sewers- smelled like ‘em too. The guys I was with called ‘em pirates.” He snorted. “Looked like homeless men to me.”

“Guess if ya sing their songs yer banned from the Tavern for life, they don’t want that crowd there… So anyways I learned a new song.” He grinned his toothy smile and stared up at the ceiling. “Ah- I’m gettin tired finally. I’ll teach it to ya if ya ever wanna get kicked out of somewhere fast.”

Jura: 294

Well at least someone here had confidence in what Jura just considered stories. “Yeah I figured they do,” Jura said in response to fishing, not something he wanted to engage with on top of being his first time on a boat, absolutely certain he’d be making a fool of himself on top of puking his breakfast up. “ You can do most of the net hauling.” This he added with a cheeky smile, watching his friend stretched out on the floor and yawn. Right, most people weren’t nocturnal like Jura was. They’d also done a lot of running. That much made Jura tired too, but he was at least able to relax in the seclusion of his own home. Max didn’t have anything similar and probably had to deal with a whole lot of new things in his life very quickly.

“You can sleep in my bed, if you want. Tell me all about your stories and songs in the morning.” He’d like to learn the song, genuinely, but Max looked tired and he didn’t want to keep the poor guy awake. Standing, Jura stretched a bit himself, waiting a moment to see what Max would do. Was the floor good enough or would he take up the offer, and Jura’s outstretched hand.

He figured he’d spend some of the night fiddling with one of his mask blanks in the side room, where hopefully the light of a candle wouldn’t bother his company too greatly. The mask could work unpainted, but he knew he had to put in some holes so it could be worn, just a little bit more comfortable with that idea than a scarf around his head- something that he was sure he would be battling at sea with all the wind.

Max: 179

“Bed?” Max repeated with another yawn popping his jaws. “That I’ve been in before, ha.”
He took Jura’s outstretched hand and held onto the towel when he stood back up. It was still relatively damp. “Don’t gotta ask me twice.”
The man stood up and brushed himself off, then leaned down and snatched up the sheet.
Max was already halfway over to the bed that was actually large enough for him, thankfully Jura was also of a taller stature, but he paused and looked around the apartment, not seeing another place to sleep.
“What about you?” Max yawned and stretched upwards. The tie he had put in the towel was really tested.
“I’ve been sleepin on hammocks and the ground for a long time, I’m used to it. Take yet bed if ya got nowhere else, I’ll survive.”

If Jura’s answer was decent enough, Max would hit the bed like a pound of bricks and pass out. He really needed the sleep, it’s been a few days. So much that he had forgotten about the stomach pains of hunger.

Jura: 241

"You said I didn't have to ask you again, just take the bed. I'll work on some stuff while you rest." It wasn't uncommon for him to miss sleep, especially when things got into his head. He knew he'd spend the entire night worrying about tomorrow, what kind of job he could find Max, getting him food and clothes and whatever else he needed… and ensuring the poor guy didn't have to run for his life from the guards again. He also of course worried about himself, but that wasn’t new.

Pointing at the bed, Jura spoke again- slightly louder than usual, "That'll make my back hurt. Bed. Right.There.” Each word accentuated by him aggressively pointing at it, “ It’s yours for the night.” With that he left Max to his own devices, getting up from the ground to go to the table nearby, or rather, under it so he could get one of his half-worked masks out from the chest there, and a leather wrapped bundle of carving tools. Then he gave Max one final look- a ‘don’t sleep on my fucking floor’ kinda of glare before he retreated to the back room.

Faintly he could be heard muttering to himself, followed by the splash of water as he dumped out the basin with some sound of struggling. The empty tub leaned back against the wall while he went to the other corner and seated himself nearby with the lantern.

Max: 249

“Aye, aye worse than a mother.” Max got comfortable in the bed, threw the wet towel, and covered himself with the sheet.

Laying on his stomach, as soon as his eyes were shut he was out like a light. Not much tossing and turning through the night but Max was in absolute turmoil with his nightmares. Some weren’t as bad as others, and then some were worse. Maxin dreamt of drowning, being crushed in the mine, watching Jim’‘ die, Jura drowning, and pirates singing. What a night.

When light struck the man’s eyes he woke with a start and felt the stress through his entire body. Did he feel refreshed? Actually it felt as if he could sleep another week… by the way- where was he. Max tried to roll over but his back had locked up in pain. He resorted to simply looking around. Everything looked strange. Then it finally sank in that he was still at Jura’s. Max groaned loudly and painfully rolled to his side. He cursed and sat up with a few crunches coming from his spine. He wasn’t used to sleeping on something so soft, it felt wonderful. This was nothing compared to the pain he usually felt in the morning. Max felt cold, then it also occurred to him that he was naked. He sighed.

His next goal was to see if the man was around. Max scooted off the bed and tried to cover himself with the sheet as he did so.