After dinner, Mikon and Umu left the table so that Binder Lori could talk to Erzebed, the Lady Binder and Master Kolinh in relative privacy. While the dungeon wasn't hot, it also wasn't all that cool. After a day of many people being out in the hot sun, the dungeon felt a little warm and smelled a bit sweaty, making lingering in it after dinner not as comfortable as it usually was.

And so, everyone in Lorian spent their nights outside, sitting on the outdoor benches and stools and enjoying the breeze from the river that Binder Lori had made with her magic. After the heat of the day, the night was cool and refreshing as long as everyone was outside. Many people opened the doors and windows of their houses to let the interiors cool, setting up stools for them to sit at so they could ward away bugs from making themselves at home while this was happening. People also lit little piles of leaves—both dried and freshly fallen—that would smolder and smoke to try and keep the things away while they waited outside.

Waiting for their stomachs to settle, tired from a day's work but waiting for the insides of their houses to cool a little, people sat outside as they talked, played board games, took care of small chores, or just sat around to enjoy the cool after a long, hot day. Karina, Koyan and Kayas kept an eye on the children under the Lady Binder's care while she was still occupied talking to Binder Lori as the children ran about, tiring themselves one last time before they had a bath and got ready to sleep.

Mikon waved and nodded to people she knew as she and Umu headed for their house to get it ready for the night. Without Rian, no one had gathered around the log benches and fire pit in front of their house. Normally, this was a pleasant turn of events since it meant they could be alone with Rian sooner, but with him gone to Covehold Demesne again…

They didn't speak as they arrived at the house that was now their home. Mikon opened the back windows, while Umu went to the ashes of the fireplace and the tongs—made of flexible wood with pieces of bone at the end to keep from burning—to draw out one of the banked coals there, blowing it back to life before using to light the wick of the oil lamp. The oil lamp was new, since Rian needed to bring his glowing rock with him to light the inside of the boat at night, so he'd gotten one for the three of them to use while he was gone.

Judging from how it was made of stone instead of pottery, he'd asked Binder Lori to make it for him.

Just another small sign of how special he was, that he could ask the woman to make a stone bowl for him, and she'd grant it.

Once the lamp was lit and moved to a corner of the house to keep it from being put out, Mikon opened the door and the rest of the windows, letting the evening breeze into the house. Unlike every other house in the village, their house had a stone roof, and while it was strong and sturdy, it became very hot during the day and took some time to cool at night. With the windows and doors open, the breeze cooled the interior, though it would take some time before the room was cool enough that they could sleep comfortably.

Even with all the doors and windows open, they didn't have to worry about bugs getting inside, the way other people did. Bugs couldn't enter house, barred by something Binder Lori had done. At least, Mikon felt the same strange tingling feeling entering the house as she did when entering the dungeon, and they hadn't had to drive out a bug hiding under the bed in weeks. The only other house so favored in the village was the Lady Binder's, and that was probably because it had the most children sleeping in it. They even had a bound tool to create a breeze inside the house! Even Rian hadn't been able to get one of those!

Mikon supposed one needed to be a child—or probably a group of several children—to be that favored.

The flame of the little oil lamp burning on top of the table wasn't as bright as Rian's glowing rock, but it was enough to see by as she and Umu got the bed ready. First they laid out the bedrolls, then their blankets were laid out on top as the bed surface, to minimize the poking and keep all the layers beneath from moving around. The topmost blanket, the same one they put on every time, was starting to smell.

Mikon and Umu finished putting together the bed covers with some relief and, after carefully lighting a little sliver of wood and blowing out the lamp wick to conserve the oil, went outside to sit in the cool of the seats at the front of the house. Erzebed still wasn't back, and wouldn't be for some time. It was Erzebed's turn to mind the Um and make sure that everyone who went in were noted so they could help clean the insides at the end of the week. From the times Mikon had kept Erzebed company this summer, the building was also hot from the stone roof and took much longer to cool since there were no windows to help circulate air. That didn't stop the people who went there for privacy, however.

It had still been mildly embarrassing when her Aunt Kasco and Uncle Haqunoh had come in when she'd been flirting with Erzebed though. Especially when her uncle had given her an encouraging nod. He'd never judged her, and had always treated her like one of his own daughters, and she loved him for that, but it also meant that he was as embarrassingly affectionate with her as with her cousins.

Well, it had only been mildly embarrassing.

They used the burning sliver to light a small pile of dried and newly fallen leaves in the bonfire circle they'd gathered earlier, which began to give off smoke to keep away bugs now that they were outside the house. Mikon sat on one of the crude long benches that could fit three people, making it clear that Umu was welcome to sit beside her. Umu hesitated, glancing towards another seat, but the smoke was drifting directly towards it. The smell of smoke, while delicious on meat, was less desirable on clothes, and if Umu sat there she would have started coughing. With a sigh, Umu sat on the far end of the log bench from Mikon, all but perched on the edge of her seat.

It made Mikon want to sigh, but she put an encouraging smile on her face and let the other weaver be.

They sat there quietly, the two of them just enjoying the cooling breeze and listening to the sounds of people enjoying themselves. Up above, the red and storm moons together cast everything with a pinkish light, pale glimmers of lightning flickering over the latter's shadowed crescent. When she'd been younger, she'd been told that was a sign that a new dragon had been born on the storm moon and would be coming down soon…

Mikon turned her face away from that thought and pretended it didn't exist as her mind walked hurriedly away from it like she owed it beads. No such thing was going to happen. Binder Lori and Rian had both given a lot of thought to when he would be setting off for Covehold Demesne, and had agreed that soon after the first dragon of the year would be the best time because no other dragons were likely to appear for at least the next two months afterwards. He would be safe.

He had to be…

But while he was gone, she had to take care of the house, and everyone who lived in it.

On the other end of the bench, Umu had her head bowed, staring into the pile of smoking leaves as if it were a fire. The breeze made her bangs and the long locks framing her face fly back and whip about. The rest of her hair was pulled back into a bun so that her neck and shoulders wouldn't be so warm. If no one roused her or drew her notice, she could stay like that for hours, Mikon knew. She'd seen it when Umu worked, ignoring the gossip and conversations of the other women around her, hands and feet moving as her eyes followed the loom's shuttle intently.

"We should probably do the laundry tomorrow," Mikon eventually said, breaking the silence—well, not really silence, as the dark of night was loud with the cries of bugs and the yelling of children having fun a little ways off—and making Umu glance towards her. "There's not a lot of clothes piled up yet, but the smell of the top blanket is getting a little strong."

Umu made a face at that, giving her a sideways look. "And whose fault is that?"

Mikon shrugged unapologetically. "You do it too," she said, a teasing smile on her face.

The blonde looked away. The light coming from the corners of the house left her face in shadow, but Mikon was fairly certain she as blushing. "Fine. Let's do it in the morning before breakfast so we can get it down by noon." That was a bit optimistic, but the clothes would probably be dry enough by then. Umu looked towards the baths, then stood up. "I'm going to take a bath," she declared. "Are you coming? Your cousins are done, so you won't have to deal with them."

Mikon glanced that way as well, seeing a group of people coming out of the baths. As Umu had said, she saw several of her cousins among them, as well as her Aunt Taji. Vidts and Gutsi seemed to notice her and waved, which prompted the others to look and wave as well. She raised a hand and waved back. Yes, she did not want to have to bathe with her cousins, at least if Umu or Erzebed were going to be there. There would be far too many waggling eyebrows and teasing comments. It always made Umu uncomfortable and Mikon frustrated at her cousins' lack of subtlety.

Yes, it was them being supportive, but it was still frustrating!

"I'll put out the leaves," Mikon said.

––––––––––––––––––

After a refreshing bath, the two of them went back home and got ready for bed. The lamp was lit again so they could see as they closed the doors and windows. With everything closed once more, the two of them undressed again, adding their clothes to the ones they would wash tomorrow. The air was just pleasantly warm on their freshly bathed skin as they got their clothes for the following day ready. Mikon also readied Erzebed's bucket for her in case the woman came home wanting a proper bath. It wasn't likely to be needed, but Mikon wanted it ready so that it would be found without lighting the lamp again.

Umu went to bed ahead of her as a result, lying down on the side of the bed she had claimed. When Rian had left, the three of them had tried going to sleep with nightclothes on again—the other two because they had felt awkward sleeping as they had without him, Mikon because she hadn't wanted them to be uncomfortable—but had quickly reverted back for being too warm. Umu had tried sleeping with a skirt on, but even that hadn't lasted long as her legs had sweated through the night, making her kick restlessly.

Once she was done, Mikon blew out the lamp again, plunging the room in darkness as she carefully made her way back to the bed from memory. She sat down on the bed as she heard Umu making herself comfortable, stretching out her legs to do the same as she felt for her pillow to place it under her head.

Then she lay back, folded her hands over her stomach, and waited.

She kept her breathing quiet and even as she slowly adjusted to what little light was entering between the seams of the shutters. Mikon ignored the low sounds that Umu eventually began to make on the other side of the bed. Let Umu have her illusion of privacy. Once the other weaver finished, her breathing slowed as she fell asleep, leaving Mikon to her vigil.

Eventually, the door opened.

Erzebed came inside with a tired sigh, not closing the door behind her and letting in the pink moonlight.

Mikon sat up on the bed. "Welcome home, Riz," she greeted quietly.

The other woman wasn't surprised. "You know, you don't have to wait up for me," she said, even as she reluctantly closed the door until only a small sliver of light shone through, keeping it open by extending the latch so it caught on the doorframe.

The familiar phrase made Mikon smile. "Well, I wanted to," she said, carefully sitting up. Fortunately the bed didn't creak or shift as she did. "How was your shift?"

"Hot," Erzebed groaned quietly, mindful that Umu was already asleep. Militia took letting people sleep very seriously, unless they thought it would be funny. "I wish Lori would let us have a bound tool, the breeze isn't really consistent even when we leave the door open…"

Mikon nodded as she listened while Erzebed undressed. The militiawoman was messy, just dropping her clothes on the ground. With a sigh, Mikon rose from the bed and began picking things up.

"You don't need to bother, I'll take care of it tomorrow."

"We're doing the laundry tomorrow. I'm adding this to the pile."

"Those clothes are still good! I only started wearing them a few days ago."

"Riz, you've been following Lori as she goes downriver to work. Your clothes are full of sweat. They're getting washed. Stop complaining, it's not like you're the one washing them."

"But they're still good…" Erzebed muttered, even as she sat down heavily on the bed. Mikon winced, but Umu remained asleep.

Mikon put the clothes in with the others to be washed as the militiawoman made herself as comfortable as she could without actually rubbing shoulders with Umu. It meant there was little space left on the bed, but that was all right. After closing the door properly and latching it shut, Mikon went back to bed. Settling on her felt side, she pressed up against Erzebed's arm. "Good night, Riz," she whispered.

Eventually, Erzebed tiredly said, "You too."

She only sighed as Mikon leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

Mikon closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep, telling herself once again that she'd push her luck tomorrow night…