The spring air was full of the scent of blooming flower, grasses and bugs. Birds eating those bugs and feeding their young. But the closer you got to town, the more that scent changed from serenity and natural order to baked clay, broken paints, and stagnancy of all kinds.

In that town, blond twins would play their strung out hurdy gurdies, the harp, the pipe, the flute, the ocarina - whatever instrument fancied them as they danced about. Sometimes, a coin or two would be tossed onto the white rug near their feet. Other times they entertained at taverns and bathhouses, wherever the wind took them. Those times, a vielle or rebek were more appropriate.

Sometimes as they played their music, folks would join in and dance with them. Sometimes it was a lavender and other times the kind waitress at the tavern. It was always fun, however the blond twins never seemed to age.

The boys were elves and they had the time to have fun playing music to delight people and earn some money doing so before heading home to where their parents awaited them. There, their gentle and soft spoken father and their kind and clumsy mother awaited them, and listened as they talked about what adventures they had in the town.

Like many elves that didn't live closer to the capital, their home was among the trees and near water, so fresh water was always available. The twins enjoyed their forested home but they also enjoyed being among people and bringing some joy wherever they traveled. Yuui, the older twin, was the more outgoing and would make friends with anyone he could. Fai, on the other had was more reserved and preferred making close friendships rather than friends with just anyone.

There were several children they watched that eventually would grow taller faster than they did but there was one they saw often, holding onto his mother's hand as they walked through town. For humans, they stood out a little with their black hair as most of the other residents had brown hair. The child would look at them, eyes as red as a bunny's, and skin as dark as maple bark and the mother a warm yet lighter color than the child. Whenever the kid was given a coin by his mom, he'd let her hand go and set it down for them, smiling as he lingered a little to listen to their music up close, before going back to his mother's side, and holding her hand again. He'd peek over and watch them as long as they were nearby but when his mother thought it was time to go, he left without a single protest. The closest he ever said was, "can we come listen to them again soon?"
His mother would smile down at him, and give a small nod, "Soon," she would agree.

Yuui thought the boy was cute. Fai thought the boy was sweet. They both thought he had a kind mother, and she reminded them just a little of their own parents. Not the same, surely, but there was love there, and that was the same.

Years passed, and the boy had grown and sometimes they would see him at the market all by himself, buying food. Sometimes he would have a thoughtful expression, and sometimes it was all relaxed. Only a couple of times, he seemed concerned he didn't have enough to buy everything he needed. Those times, if he couldn't afford to simply give them a coin, he would see if there was anything he could give up two of, one for each of the twins.

Although their appearance hardly changed, the twins slowly grew, their hair growing the fastest. Fai would put his into a ponytail so it didn't get in the way of dancing or playing, while Yuui's hair was a little shorter and down more often, the hint of a curl framing around his face and danced around in the wind.

Although they were barely anything in terms of elfen lifespan, the twins eventually reached their early adult stage. By then that once boy was a tall man, who like them, still lived at home.

That once boy, Youou, worked hard and got a job as an apprentice to a doctor to help support his mother and himself so his mother could take it a little easier. Youou's job mostly consisted of visiting the ill and reporting their conditions to the doctor, grounding herbs into medicine and whatever else the doctor requested of him. When he was at home, he helped his mother spin and knit. Youou liked the knitting part, as he usually pressed too hard to spin in a controlled fashion. And besides, while it wasn't like getting to comb his mother's hair, he still got to work with something soft between his fingers.

However, even with working for a doctor, he only knew what was wrong, but not how to cure his mother when early fall, she fell victim to the sweating sickness. At first she was cold and exhausted, and sore just about everywhere, and then the fever hit and she sweated all the time, and sometimes she didn't even know where she was. She was always tired and when she tried to do things, it wouldn't be long before she collapsed. One rainy day, she fell asleep, and she never woke back up.

As her son, society only allowed him to grieve for one year for her passing, and even as he got rid of some of the clothes he wore - as society expected, there was still mourning in his heart over her, a sense that there should have been more he could do for her. In that time, not much helped his spirits. His nearby relatives did what they could to make sure he was actually taking care of himself during that time.

There was one thing that both soothed his spirits and made him feel incredibly lonely at the same time. His ears would catch their tunes and while it had always made him happy before, there was also now the reminder of his mother and all the times they spent together.

The twins noticed and it didn't seem to matter if the music was jovial or a soft melody, that grown up boy would wear a sad expression. By the additional clothes, the black gloves and hat, they knew he must be in mourning, so they tried extra hard to cheer him up, even a little. Even so, even after he took off the extra black, he still had yet to smile like he used to.

One time, as they came home to their parents, they told them about the 'man in black'.

"... What else can we try? None of the songs we know are working. He just seems so out of spirits."

"Has it been going on for a while?"

"It's been almost sixteen months that even when he tries to smile, he still looks so sad and lonely. He's always been kind to us so we wanna help him feel happy again."

Their mother smiled at them, "such good children I have."

Fai lightly flushed at that while Yuui beamed a little.

"Maybe we could write him a song?"

"A song he hasn't heard before?"

"I'm sure you two will come up with a beautiful song," their father said.

"Let's write it together."

"I hope it'll make him smile a little more."

Yuui beamed at his brother, "we'll make it super special, just for him. Who doesn't like presents after all?"

Fai smiled at that, and while at home, they worked on writing and perfecting a song just for the man. They really hoped he'd like it.

Even though he still hurt, Youou pored himself into his work. While there was nothing that could be done to save his mother anymore, there had to be someone out there he still could help. It was those thought that helped him get through work, and he studied every field available to him. Even if that sadness lingered in his heart, he had a job to do and he was determined to do it the best he could.

Another of the guys that worked for the main doctor often studied with him and when work kept them until the sun had nearly set, rather than light a candle to see, they bid the doctor adieu, preparing to see him again in the morning. Syaoran thought it a bit late to be going to the tavern - his favorite person had probably already gone home anyway - so opted to walk with his colleague as they headed home for the night.

In the town, their places were only a few roads apart, so it made sense to walk together until they needed to split up to head to their respective places. It was rather quiet as they walked, most other citizens having already made it back home.

"Would you like to come over for a banquet tomorrow night?" Syaoran asked.

"Hm?"

"There'll be chicken and stew."

"Hmn."

Syaoran understood that meant he was considering it.

"Well if you decide to join, a ham or a faggot are always welcome."

For those showing up, it was always polite to bring something to the hosting family as a gift, common items being liquor, half a pig or if one could afford to spare one, a faggot.

Wood for cooking and staying warm were given in the same amount regardless of household size. Eight bundles of coppiced wood called faggots would be given to each household per week. Coppiced wood would regrow from where it had been chopped however a bundle called standards was wood that wouldn't grow back after it was cut. As such, it was rare folks were allowed a standards and it often was the time of year of celebration households were allowed one standards. In it would include the household's Yule log among other non coppiced wood. It made it practical to siphon the amount you used to last as long as possible and when you could, solicit a friend for a faggot in exchange for a hearty meal.

"We'll see," Kurogane murmured.

It wasn't as positive as an Ah or Hn but it was still more likely than another Hm.

"Alright, then, if nothing else, I'll see you tomorrow at work."

"Hn. See you tomorrow," Kurogane agreed.

The next evening, after work Kurogane showed up to the dinner a little later than he'd thought to, but in his arm was a washed pig's bladder where he put the faggot. He'd found those faggots made pottage taste better.

One of Syaoran's cousin, Mei greeted him first. "It's good to see you could make it. Syaoran has been looking forward to you."

"Ah…" he nodded before he gestured with the ballooned faggot, "where'd you like this?"

"The pantry is good," Mei said. With a curt nod, he carried it to the pantry before going to wash his hands and gave his knife and spoon a wash too. Just to make sure they were cleaned before finding his place at the table. Mei had already joined the table and was sitting next to Syaoran but there was a spot on his other side that had been saved.

Across the borde, he saw why chicken was being served. Sitting by another apprentice doctor was a priest, the usually soft spoken Yukito. It wasn't a secret the clement man had many admirers, Syaoran included. And even if he knew he wasn't the one for him, he still admired and liked to see Yukito.

Youou could admire that quality, where Syaoran had eaten his umble pie but it didn't stop him from being friends with the man. Not even knights were known for that.

During the courses, Syaoran, Mei and him split a messe. Youou kept his manners up while in front of company and Syaoran's family. While he had no problem with most civil rules, it was the chewing on bones one that he had to be most mindful of as thinking usually led to chewing on the bones and at least it eventually didn't go to waste as the carnivorous pets were given them after the meal, but it was simply rude to feed the pets during the meal. Every course had something different but there was always something meaty or fish as well as savory foods and sweet foods. Cod and herring and fish and sausages and chicken were served, stew and baked corn and cinnamon brewet and bacon baked potatoes and beans and boiled cabbage and boiled eggs and mincemeat pie were served. Honey glazed carrots and berry pies and peanuts and parsnip pie and and cashews and apple tarts and peach pie and bread and ale and almond milk were all served that night.

Youou hardly spoke, letting the family do most of the speaking, but when someone spoke to hi, he did respond. Conversations were polite and all touchy considered subjects were left off the borde. Politics was just the top subject not to discuss over eating. And Youou certainly didn't mind - better not to spoil the food with sour conversation.

The most interesting thing discussed as far, as he was concerned, was there was now a better test one could do to check if it was a simple skin lesions or really leprosy. Most were too cowardly to risk it as no one wanted to be known as a leper, but the test would save an unknown amount of people from a misdiagnosis of leprosy. No one knew how many had been mislabeled a leper because they didn't want to take the risk of becoming infected by the possibility. And while it was illegal to do a diagnosis without consulting their astrological chart and urine, when it regarded leprosy, some doctors weren't above skipping a step or two. And when the label of leprosy was applied, not many dared challenge those findings.

Syaoran was very excited for the new test, and rightly so. He had a heart of gold, and while bloodletting and herbs were the go to medicine (outside of religion), anything new to better help the ill was near cause for celebration. It's only been a couple hundred years they even had access to learn from the deceased.

Youou would also be thankful for any advancement in medicine. The more people they could help to have a better quality of life, the better. And while some could pay them more, as a practice, unless you wanted and could afford pain medicine for surgery, everyone was treated equally. Since there wasn't a lot of doctors, the job was always in demand and doctors they discovered not following the rules would be imprisoned, a crime worse than shorting someone bread.

Soon, it was growing late as it was beginning the seventh hour and many guests bid Syaoran's family good night, having washed their spoon and knife before leaving. Kurogane stayed to help clean the other dishes, bowls and plates from dinner. Mei worked next to him. Even though they were doing better off than some, they never hired a permanent servant, only hiring Masayoshi for small jobs or when they'd be away from home longer than one night.

Mei was one of the few others around with black hair, and was similarly mature as Syaoran, knowing he really liked her, but he liked her as much as he like Yukito and that he liked someone else more than both of them. He liked her too - the dancer and waitress at the tavern, but she was only a good friend. And perhaps one day her cousin in law. Until then, she would support her cousin and continue to try and help the two become a couple.

"Thank you for the help," Mei smiled.

"It's no problem," he murmured, as he scrubbed at the dishes to get them clean.

"You're rather polite," Mei commented.

"Only in front of company."

"Oh?" Mei asked.

"Like to think and chew on things… but that ain't polite. So only do it at home."

"Well when it's just us, you can do that," Mei said. "We all have one rule we don't get along with but do so for company's sake."

"Is that so? Even you?" It was asked both rhetorically and curiously.

"I like putting my elbows on the borde," she announced, "and when Syaoran is puppy-eyed, he makes himself resist feeding the animals scraps."

"Sounds like him," Kurogane agreed. "Or bringing his reading to the borde."

Mei laughed with fondness at that, "he usually does that over cereal."

There was a hint of his old self as he almost smiled at that. "He's got a good heart."

"I've yet to meet someone wanting to be a doctor that didn't have a good heart."

The bowl in his hand nearly slipped into the basin at that. There was a hint of a blush as he said, "these dishes won't wash themselves."

Mei laughed, "indeed, they won't."

Overall, it was a good evening.

The More You Know:

Hurdy Gurdy: between a violin and guitar. Commonly used to entertain at medieval festivals.

Vielle: precursor to the violin. Used for indoor playing.

Rebek: a pear shaped base and thin long necked instrument. Commonly 4-5 strings. (Think of Miguel's instrument in The Road to Eldorado)

Lavender: the smell nice flower but also the name for a wash woman in a bath house. Often they provided sex for extra money.

Chicken at meals: generally reserved for meals when one expected a clergyman to attend. Most expected chicken would be easier for clergyman to eat than red meats with the numerous (and often circumvented) dietary restrictions given to them.

Stew: generally better food and nutrition than pottage. As such, the better off or those hospitalized could afford it/would be served it.

Faggot: an exact measurement of coppiced wood

Standards: an exact measurement of non coppiced wood

Pig's Bladder: Football, rubber chicken, balloon, edible, and more. Oh the things you could use a pig's bladder for.

Messe: a bowl or trencher of food served and split between two to four people, that used the sharp end of their knife to spear out a piece.

Spoons and knives: regularly carried on one's person regardless of gender. Forks were still a novelty item mostly for the rich and nobles.

Hand washing: required before sitting down to eat.

Washing your utensils: acceptable before, but required after a meal.

Dinner manners: included but not limited to no slurping pottage, no belching, no elbows on the table (called a Borde), no gnawing bones (or putting them back in the shared bowl) no smacking lips.

Borde: a long board setup for dining upon

Eaten his umble pie: to know one's place and position. Both at the borde and regarding those of society.

Knight behavior: while all vowed a code of chivalry, most honored it towards their knightly peers, yet not even half honored that code among non-peers. A Knight with no fight was a blight on society. Worse than Vikings (raiders of land when they couldn't farm)

Courses: Each meal generally had three courses but the fancier meals had upwards of seven courses. Each courses could have a mixture of meat and fish ingredients, sweet, and savoury foods.

Shorting someone bread: the reason we have a baker's dozen (selling 13 for the price of 12) is no honest baker wanted to be considered a bread cheat.

Seventh hour: Medieval times split the day hours into seven hours that were longest during summer and shortest in winter.

Cereal: morning food staple and as such a way to say the morning meal. Usually barley or rye or if you got the expensive stuff, wheat. Same ingredients were also used for bread, pancakes, and pizza.