Daav settled on his heels, bringing his attention-- and Aelliana's-- once more to the study of the crack.

"The question is," he said, conversationally, "what to fill it with. Gravel? 'crete? Stumps?"

"Dirt," a rough voice said from nearer than he would have thought likely. Their new neighbor moved on his own land like a scout. Daav hadn't heard the disturbance of so much as a blade of grass.

Once again, he raised his head.

Across the gully, and somewhat further removed from it than Daav was on his side, a man squatted on his heels. His clothes were rough, but well-mended and clean. The brown eyes that watched him out of the shadow made by the cap's peak were wary to the point of being feral.

"Good morning," Daav said, pleasantly, but without any needless emphasis.

The man nodded, jerkily, bony fingers gripping his own ankles.

"Morning. Name's Shaper-- Yulian-- Yulie Shaper. I hold the land here." He looked down, as if to emphasize which land, exactly, he meant.

"I am glad to meet you, Yulie Shaper," Daav said. "My name is Daav yos'Phelium."

The man gave another one of his jerky nods. "You're Boss Conrad's Da."

"I am Boss Conrad's uncle," Daav corrected, gently. He glanced to the gully. "So you think dirt alone will seal this?"

"Could put riprap-- that's your gravel. Take a might of it, though, and the likeliest gravel pit in these parts is underneath where you're setting."

"Ah. I see that we may have been hasty."

Yulie Shaper frowned slightly and shook his head, as if levity were a pesky insect worrying at his ears.

"Problem with stumps is they rot and crumble up, so's you gotta keep hauling in more. 'crete...that might work, same as riprap-- but, see, nothing grows in rock. You wanna match up the edges, fill with dirt, then the grass'll grow the same on both sides. Hold it all together."