Miserable Without Matches [Minau]

[Orion Basilískos]

The evening sun burned brightly on one miserably bored and sad little romani as he hung from a tree branch by his knees, arms stretching towards the ground in the south western part of the city. He had gone there to practice his part of the fire routine, and had done so joyfully. But he couldn't find the rest of his matches, which he swore were in his pocket when he came there, but perhaps had fallen out. His hands stretched towards a small pile of spent matches below him, though still feet above the dry and useless tinder. For a while he just hung there, letting the blood flow into his brain as he thought, the sun glaring into his eyes.

Then, out of boredom, he began to swing back and forth. The store would be closed by now. There was no one in Constantinople who would be willing to man a store just to sell him matches at this time of day, when everyone else was finishing their dinner or preparing for bed. Too stubborn and not sad enough to go back to the camp to look for more, and not willing yet to leave one of the only open spaces he knew of in the overly crowded city, Orion grunted frustratedly and rubbed his face. He was giving himself a headache.

[Minau Eilis]

The sun was slowly receding from the sky, leaving a bloody mess of reds and oranges in its path, only fading away into the dark night that promised a relief to the city below from the suns ruthless heat.
Soft shoeless feet loudly jingled across the soft grass of the small hill, the bells around her ankles announcing her not-so-subtle arrival.
She had seen him practice earlier, it was an odd habit of hers to watch him play with fire, the way he moved it about his body and the way it seemed to jut only close enough to provoke the suspense into the ignorant watcher.  Making them certain of his udder doom.  The danger in it appealed to her, bringing it an odd beauty.
In one hand she clutched a single match which had been dosed in a certain substance which would make the fire a bright green.  Of course the fire would only be green as long as it stayed on the match, seeing as his fire whips werent coated in the same powdery substance as hers.  But that was okay, it would be cool none the less.
"A little unprepared are we?"  She announced, sitting herself down in the grass in front of him and blatantly playing with her magical match, twisting it in her fingers.
"Too bad all the shops are closed, and the camp is a little ways off.  Now what are you to do?"

[Orion Basilískos]

He could hear her before he saw her, though he didn't know who of his grand band of Romanies it was, he had his ideas. The sound of clinking metal, like bells or coins came ever closer to the rhythm of human footsteps. A smile spread over his upside-down face before she came into his view.

"Hellooo," he greeted her cheerfully, his mood brightened by one of his own. "Minau." he added her name as his eyes confirmed who it was. "Did you happen to bring any... mat-ches?" His eyebrows perked enthusiastically, and he noted the single match she held with a twinkle, hoping she had brought more.

Orion couldn't help but catch the twinge of sarcasm that seemed to ring through her question, which trademarked Romani humor. What was he going to do? His out stretched hands that hung above the ground, below his head moved up as he drew them in towards his chest, as if in a motion of prayer. "Beg." he teased back, folding his fingers together. "Beg and plead. Please tell me you brought some."

With a thought, he wondered if she would want something in exchange. It was true that Romanies were just one family, and he had practically grown up around Minau. But they also liked to haggle and trade. He pointed to a pile of what to others might look like junk beside the base of the tree. "I have fire fluid." He added with a grin, already imagining the happy feeling that came with just a handful of matches. Matches matches matches.