<hr/><strong>Name:</strong>Lilah 'Li-Li' Oliver (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=200832.msg9813377#msg9813377)<br/><strong>Faction:</strong>Whippersnappers<br/><strong>Date:</strong>6 June, 1871<br/><strong>Time of Day:</strong>morning<br/><strong>Location:</strong>The Great Maze<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Jack<br/><hr/>It wasn't good news for Lilah that they were heading back to town but as much as she would have liked to talk him out of it, the reasons for doing so were too sound even for her to argue. Despite the hard times and the hunger sometimes, the world made so much more sense when it was just her and Jack on their own and town just muddled all that up. People being people, everybody probably thought the worse with their filthy little minds whenever they heard about Jack and his Chinese girl and she felt dirty just knowing they were thinking it though more and more she was learning not to give a fig for what other people thought.<br/><br/>They didn't have much so it didn't take much to strike the camp. She always felt bad watching Jack work himself ragged but he never complained and there were just certain things she lacked the strength to do. She always handled what she could, nothing too small or inconsequential if it would help him, and kept a mental list of things she wanted to learn how to do so she would be more useful. When it was time she clambered down the rope without so much as a squeak. Some girls might be afraid of the height or the rough rope or the possibility of falling, but not Lilah, her boldness seemed to grow everyday with her confidence. She steadied the boat best she could and worried for Jack as he descended and once he was aboard she sprang into action.<br/><br/>"Lookie here," she murmured and took a damp rag first to one raw palm then the other, soothing the skin as best she could. The rag was the remnant of the shirt she'd been wearing a year when she came out with him but she'd worn it to nothing and it got too small so she'd cut off the new buttons he'd bought her to save them and had been using it for cleaning ever since. Once his hands were cleaned she wrapped the rag around his hand and tucked in the ends, then did the same to other with another rang, and at last took her place at the rudder. She hoped it would help him a little because she sure couldn't row the boat into town without him. She didn't fuss, however. "Permission granted!"<br/><br/>Lilah gave him smart salute, heedless of the convention of the lesser officer saluting first, and they were on their way. There were certain songs they'd found were good for rowing and they soon launched into a couple, Jack keeping the rhythm despite the fact their singing was nothing to boast about. It went on for awhile until their voices needed a rest and Lilah posed him a question.<br/><br/>"Do you ever think about just pickin' up and goin' elsewhere, Jack? Like...I dunno...maybe down to Shan Fan or Lost Angels, some place like that? I mean, if the minin' don't pan out."<br/>