removed his nosering and put it through his tragus, We’re both Rej.
He nodded, Oh.
A thin black arm wrapped round Azura’s neck and he bent over coughing.
Wha’s wrong wiv im?
Sick, Rej. Boy’s sick and you’re making jokes.
Azura kept coughing until he was in a squat, his lungs raw and rattled, sweat covering his face and neck, saliva dribbling down his chin.
Wha’s he got? Look bad, aye?
Does.
Arcane im then?
You got coin for that?
Rej laughed, took the ring from his eyebrow and put it through his lip on the left side, All’s got’s me rings.
I told him we’d take care of him tonight.
Azura stopped coughing and stood up, blearyeyed, shaky legs, I’m okay. Thanks, but there’s no need.
Wha’s wrong wiv im? Boy’s dying n talking simultaneous like. Come on down, Z. Fix you up, aye? Aye, come on Raj, help out now like. Aye, watch a step. Like a bag of fish, aye? Slippery like and ragged. Been going too much, aye? Tells you like, sleep right, eat right, stay way from old queens wiv purple lips. All sick like they are, aye? Aye, all knows. All knows. Vere now, lie down like. Vere’s your man. Cough it out, aye? Not so bad, not so bad. Raj, water, aye? Vere’s your man. Sleep now and dream no thoughts,special not that childgoddess, aye? See shore and run in tover way like. Vere now, drink it up. Vere’s your man. Rej, slow, he’s drowning in that cough like.
Malik came home from his stall and kissed his wife, Azura. How was your day, Blackheart?
She leaned back and pushed her pregnancy towards him, Can’t wait to get him out of me. It’s all I can think about with him kicking at me, but at least we agree.
He’ll be a sound boy. Strong like his mother and smart like his father.
How was your day?
Malik sat on the Soarean rug with a grunt and stretched his legs, Felt weak like the heat’s going to melt me away.
Don’t be such a man, Mal. I need you out there making coin. You think your robes came for nothing, that this child won’t cost most of what I’ve saved?
Aye. Big and black and fat, he lay back on the rug and stretched his limbs each in their own direction, Come here, Blackheart. Once more before the babe’s born.
We’ll have all the fun we can once we count the coin you brought, aye?
Malik sighed and laid the moneybox on the rug.
Azura opened it, Where’s the rest of it, her eyes pierced through his face, Where’s the money, Mal? If I find you been to that temple, I’ll string you up by your fecking cock, aye?
Sweating, his heart beating too loud, No, of course not, Z, but it’s not easy out there. I’m not strong like you. It’s no job for a man.
Aye, she kicked him in the chest, knocking him breathless to his back, A man’s only made for sex, Death, and Angels. The lot of you are nothing but trouble, playing with yourself or these fecking gods. She kicked him again, Oh, ah, see what you done, Mal? This baby’s upset now and she’s learnt to kick you throughme, you bastard.
Malik jumped to his feet and helped her to the ground, I’m sorry, dear. I’ll try harder tomorrow.
You better, she winced, her dark features contorting in pain.
Raol stayed low and watched the other boys and girls at work. Their quick hands in empty and out with bits of iron or even copper and silver. Others carried small blades and made careful slashes in the money pouches. As if disconnected from the organism feeding and feeding off of the market, the children slid between the cracks of limbs and bodies, opening holes in spacetime where no holes existed. Studying them, Raol followed them with his eyes, his lips mouthing their movements, his tongue tapping against the back of his teeth, keeping rhythm, organising geometries of the crowd, seeing and predicting the movements of the manybodied beast swarming through the market.
He drifted in, slinking through legs and around bodies, the calamity of commerce above and all round, his vision funnelled on the passage of coin, the glint of iron,
He nodded, Oh.
A thin black arm wrapped round Azura’s neck and he bent over coughing.
Wha’s wrong wiv im?
Sick, Rej. Boy’s sick and you’re making jokes.
Azura kept coughing until he was in a squat, his lungs raw and rattled, sweat covering his face and neck, saliva dribbling down his chin.
Wha’s he got? Look bad, aye?
Does.
Arcane im then?
You got coin for that?
Rej laughed, took the ring from his eyebrow and put it through his lip on the left side, All’s got’s me rings.
I told him we’d take care of him tonight.
Azura stopped coughing and stood up, blearyeyed, shaky legs, I’m okay. Thanks, but there’s no need.
Wha’s wrong wiv im? Boy’s dying n talking simultaneous like. Come on down, Z. Fix you up, aye? Aye, come on Raj, help out now like. Aye, watch a step. Like a bag of fish, aye? Slippery like and ragged. Been going too much, aye? Tells you like, sleep right, eat right, stay way from old queens wiv purple lips. All sick like they are, aye? Aye, all knows. All knows. Vere now, lie down like. Vere’s your man. Cough it out, aye? Not so bad, not so bad. Raj, water, aye? Vere’s your man. Sleep now and dream no thoughts,special not that childgoddess, aye? See shore and run in tover way like. Vere now, drink it up. Vere’s your man. Rej, slow, he’s drowning in that cough like.
Malik came home from his stall and kissed his wife, Azura. How was your day, Blackheart?
She leaned back and pushed her pregnancy towards him, Can’t wait to get him out of me. It’s all I can think about with him kicking at me, but at least we agree.
He’ll be a sound boy. Strong like his mother and smart like his father.
How was your day?
Malik sat on the Soarean rug with a grunt and stretched his legs, Felt weak like the heat’s going to melt me away.
Don’t be such a man, Mal. I need you out there making coin. You think your robes came for nothing, that this child won’t cost most of what I’ve saved?
Aye. Big and black and fat, he lay back on the rug and stretched his limbs each in their own direction, Come here, Blackheart. Once more before the babe’s born.
We’ll have all the fun we can once we count the coin you brought, aye?
Malik sighed and laid the moneybox on the rug.
Azura opened it, Where’s the rest of it, her eyes pierced through his face, Where’s the money, Mal? If I find you been to that temple, I’ll string you up by your fecking cock, aye?
Sweating, his heart beating too loud, No, of course not, Z, but it’s not easy out there. I’m not strong like you. It’s no job for a man.
Aye, she kicked him in the chest, knocking him breathless to his back, A man’s only made for sex, Death, and Angels. The lot of you are nothing but trouble, playing with yourself or these fecking gods. She kicked him again, Oh, ah, see what you done, Mal? This baby’s upset now and she’s learnt to kick you throughme, you bastard.
Malik jumped to his feet and helped her to the ground, I’m sorry, dear. I’ll try harder tomorrow.
You better, she winced, her dark features contorting in pain.
Raol stayed low and watched the other boys and girls at work. Their quick hands in empty and out with bits of iron or even copper and silver. Others carried small blades and made careful slashes in the money pouches. As if disconnected from the organism feeding and feeding off of the market, the children slid between the cracks of limbs and bodies, opening holes in spacetime where no holes existed. Studying them, Raol followed them with his eyes, his lips mouthing their movements, his tongue tapping against the back of his teeth, keeping rhythm, organising geometries of the crowd, seeing and predicting the movements of the manybodied beast swarming through the market.
He drifted in, slinking through legs and around bodies, the calamity of commerce above and all round, his vision funnelled on the passage of coin, the glint of iron,
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