Completed Small Snippets

[Tabitha Aryns]

Spring 16th, 514AV (Morning) The Soothing Waters “So he…” “What-” “Yes, really.” “No!” “How could he…” It was a normal day, after the morning routine of getting up, shouldering ones way to the bazaar for a short breakfast, and then hurrying back over to the Soothing Waters for a day of work listening in on white noise. To Tabitha the background noise of the Waters never made much sense, she caught bits and pieces, but wouldn’t have been able to link them together appropriately. Eavesdropping, and sewing, at the same time wasn’t a walk in the park as she maintained focus on her work. Pushing the needle through the fabric, and out the other end, tightening the stitch, and repeating until finally she could tie the knot off and start on the next article of torn clothing. Today it seemed some of her co-workers were gaggling like geese over a male, either meaning a boy, or a man, Tabitha dimly noted by the pronoun ‘he.’ Having of sat alone, and away from the others to prevent being pulled into conversations, she could just listen, and not get involved. To the distant woman: Talking meant less working, and poorer production values, thus the increased likelihood of getting scolded by their superiors. Tabitha had witnessed such events occasionally. “They were..” “By who?” “...The scandal!” Multiple people, and apparently something scandalous, that meant something secret had been discovered, if she were to fill in ‘They were’ with something along the lines of ‘They were caught… doing something’ it would make sense. Tabitha pursed her lips for a moment, needle stopped. She needed to distance herself from the two that were having difficulty whispering correctly but she would need to move all the piles of clothing around herself with her. It would be more work than it was worth, and it would definitely be a time waster, so she sat there, annoyed, more so at her lack of action than the two squawking geese. Though she could pipe up and tell them to get to work, but that wasn’t her job. Shut up. She hissed internally at the two, refusing to look up and be spotted looking at them.

[Tabitha Aryns]

“You two!” The sharp voice of their manager Ivis rang out, apparently he had just then decided to check in on the launderers and seamstresses. “This is not a Tavern for you to gossip in, back to work, chop-chop!” A double clap synced with the last two words that left his mouth, causing the two geese to cringe at having of been caught dawdling. When he left the room the two stayed quiet for perhaps five chimes, the silence was peaceful, and Tabitha welcomed it with a quiet sigh. Within that time she had started on a sock, and a tunic. It wasn’t difficult to patch the socks toe hole, she sheared a small square from one of her larger squares of fabric, using extra needles to hold it in place once she had turned it inside out. When she had finished, she removed the extra needles, and started on the tunic. The red tunic looked worn from well use, and unfortunately had a vertical tear at the hem four inches long. Tabitha could either sew it up like everything else, or trim the tunics hem a little shorter to hide the fact it had been torn once. The faster, and easier way, or the slower, and harder way; she bit her bottom lip in indecision before just going with the hem trim. The patron waiting for the tunic to be finished would most likely prefer it to look well taken care of, not patched- at least thats what Tabitha would have wanted if she had torn the tunic herself. Hehe. Hehe. Just as Tabitha would retrieve her pair of scissors once more, she heard the stray giggles from the two geese, but paid them no mind yet. She flattened the tunic out and gripped both the front side and back side hems of the tunic and started to scissor her way through the fabric at the point where a tear would no longer be noticeable. Discarding the useless fabric to the side, she set the scissors down and took up her needle and thread once more. Folding the outside part of the hem inside by a centimeter, she utilized her extra needles once more to keep the hem from flipping away from where she had folded it. Proceeding to stitch the hem up to acceptability, pulling out extra needles along the way, she would do much of the same to the back side of the hem, so as to keep it neat and symmetrical. The tunic would be four and half inches or so shorter now, but at least it looked as good as new still, for used standards. She folded it up quickly and set it in the done pile with the other finished clothing before picking up a pair of breeches with an embarrassing hole in the front near where ones crotch would be. Tabitha wiggled her finger through it and contained a snicker. I wonder how long it took them to notice this, or if someone pointed it out to them? Such cruel thoughts, but they were hers, and no one in the room could read them so she didn’t feel guilty thinking them. “Oh stop, you're…” “Not if we…” “But he…” Tabitha’s attention snapped to the two once more to listen to vague whispers, slowly looking up with a blank stare, the two were definitely at it again, but for how long? She hadn’t been paying much attention that time, thankfully, but she doubted Ivis would come back in any time soon to save the day.

[Tabitha Aryns]

“Would you two geese please be quiet and just work?” Tabitha voiced a thought meant only for her internal complaints, she had said it just loud enough for them to hear, and turn their heads on such gangly necks to look at Tabitha. Like a strawberry, Tabitha’s face went red in embarrassment as she realized she had questioned them out loud. They looked no younger than Tabitha was herself, but they looked similar in appearance, it would have been easy to mistake the two as close relatives- and maybe they were, for all Tabitha knew. The shorter of the two scoffed at the ‘request’ while the taller, and slimmer one nearly burst into a giggle fit. Most girls were vindictive, cruel, and backstabbing, the two across from Tabitha gave off that vibe, distinctly noticeable by their reactions. “Why don’t you get back to work, Squint-Face?” The one who had scoffed immaturely shot back at Tabitha. Mature, really mature. Came the internal retort, but was left unsaid, only for the mocked Tabby to narrow her eyes at the two. There was nothing wrong with her face, and so what if her eyes had a slight squint to them? The taller girl giggled sweetly, like honey, but it was poisoned in a false whisper to the short girl. “Look! She’s squinting again!” All Tabitha had done was redirect their amusement to herself, she couldn’t let them agitate her, but she didn’t want to let them just call her whatever they wanted. So what if her eyes squinted more than others? There was nothing wrong about her face, they all had eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, everyone was similar, just with unique differences. Don’t let it deter you. Coaxing herself into maintaining a calm attitude with the two, Tabitha raised a brow, expression as stern as her mother’s when the elder woman was displeased. “Instead of goofing off, you could have that pile of clothes around you finished, or were you hoping for charity?” She added a curt nod at the large pile of unfinished clothes around them, it hadn’t gotten any bigger due to there being other seamstresses being available to work on the clothes but they would be working overtime just to get everything finished. They would all have to stay late just to finish what the two girl’s lazy ethics couldn’t do. “If you get in trouble again, don’t blame me.” Tabby cut the shorter girl off, who was about to throw some snide remark back at Tabitha no doubt. “Oh shut up.” The shorter of the two girls barked at Tabitha, the taller nodded in agreement. “We won’t get in trouble if you don’t tell, but if you do, we’ll make your life miserable!” Petty. Immature. Threats. Tabitha was tempted to get up right then and go to Ivis, but instead she bit her lower lip subtly, feeling the challenge in their statement before shrugging visibly. Once work would be over she would go to Ivis and really test the truth of their words, because that was all they were right now, empty words. For now Tabitha went back to work without a reply, readying the breeches once more. “Yeah, thats right Squint-Face, you better get back to work.” Still they tried. Despite they themselves went back to gossip whispering. Lets see how Ivis reacts to this, you lazy geese. Tabby focused on the breeches, every few chimes or so she would glance up at the geese, watching their piles of clothes carefully to see how much they could do while they fooled around.

[Tabitha Aryns]

The hole in the breeches was patched in less than five chimes, having of sat it to the side and starting on a male blouse whose buttons had fallen off, two of them. She picked up one and inspected it, a small wooden button carved to perfection and dyed to an amazing dark blue color. Glance. Tabitha looked over to the two geese before she would start, nothing had been done, the same garment in their hands as they giggled and gossiped. Back to the shirt, she tied a knot at the end of her thread and pushed the needle through from the inside of where the button would go, pulling until the line had been tightened and the knot itself didn’t pull out. Upon doing that, Tabitha pushed the needles tip through one of the four holes on the blue button and let it slide down the thread like a chute. “When do..” “Do you think..” “I don’t..” It was hard to not overhear at least some of their whispers, but Tabitha was focused on work, so she could only hear chunks of the conversation. Glance. Still nothing was done. Looking back down to the shirt, Tabitha twisted and twirled the button until it was symmetrical with the other buttons that were still there, taking needle in hand once more and threading it through a buttonhole parallel to the first one she chose. Looping it around into the previous hole from the inside shirt and back to the second hole, she repeated a third time, before doing a diagonal cross to the third button. Much like for hole A, and hole B, she looped the thread three times repetitively this time through hole B and hole C respectively. A similar fate for hole D was done, looped with hole C three times, and from hole D to hole A for aesthetic purposes. To secure the button she pushed the needle through the fabric underneath the button once, but not through any of the holes, instead she carefully wrapped it around the stitches attached to the button holes six times and pushed the needle through the fabric to the inside shirt once more. She threaded three stitches into the fabric, looping through the outside stitching with the needle and then tied it off. Testing the button, Tabitha tugged at it lightly and twisted slightly, when it didn’t come off, she happily cut the excess thread off with her small pair of scissors. That was just one button. Glance. Tabitha saw the two geese had finished a garment, a new one in each of their hands, but the pile around them was had barely budged. Those two.. Why can’t they just talk and work at the same time? “Tabitha, come here.” Ivis’ voice called into the room, causing Tabby to jump slightly, if anyone that was to be called out she had thought it would have been the geese. Confusion marred her face as she sat the shirt and its last button down before getting up and walking to the front where Ivis would be. What she saw was an angry customer with the very same red tunic she had hemmed previously, the expression on his face was evidence, he was not happy with her work- she was certain. “Y-yes Mister Ivis?” Tabby squeaked, fear resting itself upon her shoulders.

[Tabitha Aryns]

“I want you to apologize to our patron for ruining his tunic.” Ivis said simply, there was no if, and, or but about the request. Tabitha stared at her manager for what seemed forever, before glancing over to the angry customer, who held the red tunic tightly in a fist. He was definitely expectant, and he made no secret about that. “-and I demand my rightful dues! Repayment for damages done.” The man added onto Ivis’ request, his leer turning to the small woman with a ferocity that made her cringe. He didn’t stop there, quickly turning the situation into a rant. “My sister bought this for me, and now look at it! Its ruined! Absolutely petching ruined!” Tabitha opened her mouth to reply but was cut off immediately before she could. “This is all your doing! You lousy seamstress!” The insults burned like a hot knife penetrating the center of her chest, carving away at flesh and bone to reveal a wound of the soul- Tabitha knew she was not the best of the best of what she did, but such insults were unnecessary. She just couldn’t get a break today, could she? Desperation filled her voice now as she tried to reason with the patron, she was not sorry, nor would she apologize on the behest of her employer; whatever the consequence of that may be. “If I had just sewn the tear up it would have looked worse, sir! I hemmed it to hide the fact it had been torn in the first place. Like a scar on flesh, thats what it would have been!” Thankfully she had spewed the words out before another interruption, from either Ivis, or the patron. Tense was the word one could describe Tabitha in this situation, the distractions earlier in the morning, combined with the mild confrontation between herself and the geese, she was tired. The patron stared at Tabitha scrutinizingly, she wasn’t sure if he believed her or not. “Oh, really.” He mocked, holding the tunic by its waistline and examined the repair work. “Hmm. I suppose you’re right..” Came the mumble, the deciding factor. “Can’t see a petching tear anywheres.. But its too short for me now.” “Whatever.” The patron scoffed. “I’m still demanding payment for this atrocity.” “Eh?” Tabitha couldn’t get a break, not even when the patron saw reason, instead he would extort her anyways! Exasperated, she wouldn’t fight, she would pay if she needed to but couldn’t believe her lack of luck. “H-how much then..?” She questioned uncertainly. “10 gold mizas.” “What?!” That price was insane, he could buy five or six new tunics for that amount, or at least five or six decently common enough tunics. Now that she actually looked at the tunic, remembered, it hadn’t felt like any wool, cotton, or linen she’d ever touched and it had such exquisite embroidery. Technically speaking, she had destroyed a piece of art, filled with love and care, all of the embroiderment on the piece she had cut off was gone. “You heard me girl.” “This is extortion.” Tabitha countered, unwilling to admit she had made a very big mistake by not paying more attention to the quality of the tunic. “You’d only need maybe 3 gold mizas to replace that tunic.” The patron turned to Ivis with a stern look, he was not going to back down from the demand of twenty mizas. The manager, Ivis, watched the two, as Tabitha was content to not follow his command so he was letting her handle the situation. She followed suit, turning to look at her employer almost distressedly. “You’re not going to let him extort me are you?” “I want my twenty mizas, girl, or I’ll get the knights in on this.” The patron threatened now. “That tunic is made of very fine wool, and embroidered to perfection, it was a gift to me from my sister and I want my dues. Its worth more to me than you are.” He then would add, as if it were an after thought. “Make it 20 gold mizas for wasting my time.” Ivis replied to Tabitha without so much of a flicker of emotion. “You seem to have this completely under control, now dig yourself out of the hole you’ve dug yourself into.” Knights would be bad, the conflict washed over her expression as she realized Ivis would not side with her in this matter. Mouth opening to reply but nothing came out, she glanced in between the patron, and her manager, feeling the creeping, crawling, nauseating wave of defeat over take her as she fumbled for her purse. Twenty gold mizas it would be, she didn’t have the energy to fight the demand, and she didn’t want the patron to go so far as to get the authorities involved. Out came the twenty gold mizas, leaving her with only ten left on hand, numbly handing them over to the patron. “You’re lucky I’m not asking for more. Good day.” The patron snatched the mizas from Tabitha’s hand and walked away. Leaving the godsmacked girl to her manager, who was quick to retort on Tabitha’s behavior with a passive threat of his own. “Next time listen to what I say Ms. Aryns.” Ivis stated calmly. “Any more disobedience will result in your expulsion from the Soothing Waters as an employee. The behavior you displayed just now will not be tolerated, this is your one and only warning. Now, back to work, you have a bell left to make use of, I’d make the most of it.” This was definitely not the time to tattle on the geese. ooc-20 GM for the extortion.

[Tabitha Aryns]

The next bell dragged on. Tabitha felt as if someone had wrapped an anchor’s chain to the both of her ankles, and pushed her into deep water to drown, metaphorically speaking. The shirt’s last button was slowly finished, a lot of the fight and energy that was once in her had dissipated. She had been scolded for trying to stand up to a case of unfairness. It didn’t bid a pleasant feeling for the young woman. The geese on the other hand squawked and giggled as quietly as they could, being the ones to not have received a threat of expulsion, it made Tabitha wonder if any of their work ethics mattered. Without watching them, Tabitha listened to their conversation while her hands numbly worked on the next piece of clothing; another shirt, same like many other shirts she had seen pass through her hands. Torn, and in need of some sort of repair. To say she was distracted would be a false statement, she wasn’t, what she was doing was choosing to be unproductive. If the geese could be as such, so could she. Let the next girl or boy deal with the pile of clothes that had to be done. None of it mattered to Tabitha anyways, she was simply a body, amongst a sea of them. “That girl is always late.” “I know, right? She should, like care a little more.” Giggles. The sarcasm was thick in tone. “Ivis is way too nice.” “He is, but he’s so dreamy~” Nope. Tabitha felt her mind roll in the other direction and away from the conversation, she wasn’t going to listen to her co-workers coo over their manager. If Tabitha had been a little more of the darker persuasion, she could use such information as blackmail, but she wasn’t, and nor would she dare. Despite the temptation. Instead she refocused her attention back to the shirt she had been staring at for the past thirty chimes or so, and probably would continue to do so for another thirty. Stitch. Tabitha pressed the needle through where it needed to go. Pull. She grimaced slightly, almost forcing the action. Stitch. She began to repeat, slow, rhythmic actions, repairing the shirt. In between each stitch she was sewing, Tabitha felt her mind wander, not to a fantastical place, but on some of her mistakes. Maybe she should have listened to Ivis in the first place, he was the manager after all, place her trust in his abilities, and rely less on her own. Yet that sounded wrong to her. Being largely an independant individual, she didn’t need to be taken care of anymore, and what companionship she craved was because she wanted it, not needed, but here she was being told to be an obedient girl. This city, this Syliras, to her it was so upside down compared to Zeltiva, where curiosity and independance were encouraged. With a shake of her head, the shirt finished, she looked up to see the geese walking towards the door. Her shift was over, and so she was not required to stay much longer. Picking up her belongings, she exited through the door to see the usually late girl that would take her shift after her own. Instead of running straight for the backroom, she was making small talk with the geese. “Oh my gosh guys, theres this play at the theatre going on!~” “Play?” The two said in unision. “Yeah, theres been a few shows but its suppose to have a third going…” The conversation faded slowly to white noise as she exited the building, Tabitha had heard enough. A play would be a wonderful way to relax, and, possibly raise her mother’s spirits up; she also scadoodled out of there right quick to avoid Ivis. The theatre was something she had passed every other day to make her way towards her mother’s apartment, she knew the way there, and back, but hopefully she would make it to her mother’s in time. Tabitha started to run, an urgency in her step as she bolted for the Traveller’s Row to toss her sewing kit inside her small room, and then out of it just as fast towards her mother’s home. Or, at least, as fast as Tabitha could run with her short legs, and lack of real stamina. That didn’t matter though, she just had to go, go, go. Tabitha hoped that the play would be her silver lining in the day, but unfortunately things never do go as one hopes.

[Radiant]

Tabitha :

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	+3 XP
Socialization	+2 XP
Negotiation	+1 XP
Rhetoric	+1 XP
Intimidation	+1 XP
Leadership	+1 XP
Sewing	+4 XP
Subterfuge	+2 XP
Planning	+1 XP
Running	+1 XP

Lores

Lore Earned

Subterfuge: Eavesdropping Conversations

Sewing: Patching Tunics

Sewing: Sewing Buttons

Co-Workers: Two Annoying Girls

Work: Disgruntled Customers Can Demand Compensation

Loots

-20 GM

Notes :

Nice job thread, Tabitha! You have proven that the rumor about job threads being boring to be false! Good job (Hehe)! See what I did there?

Enjoy your grades!

My radiance is not bright enough?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, beam me a PM and we can work it out.