Placeholder Wuepa Days

[Naiya]

Summer-85th-516 AV
15th Bell

Naiya sat back in the shade of the pavilion, her shop was open, but it was much cooler out here where the drizzle of rain chased away the heat of the season. The mild weather was a blessing, a hopeful promise of better weather to come in the fall.

Across the walking path a child sat outside a pavilion of their own, her gaze chasing the drops where they splashed in the dirt. Naiya waved with a grin, picturing her little, redheaded wuepa joining the girl in the next year.

The girl didn't notice Naiya's attention, which was just as well as a man approached her shop. She signed a greeting, welcoming the man into her store as she got to her feet, brushing damp grass as she stood.

"Good morning," I am "Naiya, the owner of this shop, can I offer you a sample of anything?" Her words were met with a curt shake of his head. He was not interested, but he seemed to have purpose.

"I heard from another Drykas that you were a seamstress," inquiry, confirm, his hands moved with a subtle urgency. Naiya nodded, prompting him to continue. "I tore my wife's headband, the one she wears for special occasions." Sadness, colored his words and embarrassment found form in his posture.

"Did you bring it here?" Naiya asked, her hands shaping try, willing. He nodded as Naiya bid him to show, her the band.

He produced the material, and Naiya was immediately concerned, the fabric was lace, and it would not take kindly to simple stitching unless it was along a seam. She took the band and gestured the man inside as she followed slowly behind him.

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Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant

[Naiya]

His eyes circled the shop while Naiya examined the band, the tear appeared as though something had caught in the lace and been yanked free rather than carefully loosened. She thought for a moment, a special occasion headband would likely be stowed away, perhaps with other special occasion gear. For a man, a nice belt maybe, which would explain how it had worked into the lace.

"What happened?" She asked as she peered at the cloth, trying to imagine a solution that did not involve cutting the band and starting it into a new length of decoration.

The man glanced at her from the shelf loaded with cheese, his face flushing red with embarrassment. His hands hovered with half-formed signs, but they dropped after a moment.

"I'm not sure," He finally admitted. He gestured to the band in her hands and shrugged, "It must have caught on something while I was unloading the chest of fall clothing to check what needed mending before the cold arrives." His words were shaded with discomfort and guilt. The poor man.

Naiya nodded along with his words, plucking at the tear. Her hands hovered for a moment, Good and bad, "I can't repair it as is, I'm no lacemaker, but I could salvage it. If I sew down the torn edges, I could either make a new band or add a decoration to cover the stitching."

The man looked up from a jar of sweet yogurt he held in his hand, disappointment clear in his features. He shook his head, that wasn't going to work. Naiya passed the band back to him, apology in the shape of her shoulders.

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Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant

[Naiya]

"I wish I could be more help." Naiya said to him, her hands moving with sincerity. He nodded, he knew, of course, that she would have helped. She had offered her best solution, but it wasn't what he wanted.

Naiya turned out to gaze at the man as he left, feeling less than helpful. Her gaze fell back outside, to the soft rainfall that tapped against the pavilion like the swish of a strider's tail. She pattered about the pavilion, making busy.

Her hands lifted a rag to dust the shelf beneath the jars. If she moved all the jars closer together, she could clean the cleared space, then shift the jars over one section at a time to remove the loose dust and dirt.

She wiped with her rag, knocking the dust to the floor. She repeated the process, moving up the shelves until she reached the top. Her arms were tired from the effort, the work different than the usual movements of her body, but one that was slowly growing familiar.

She stepped back to admire the work. To her dismay she found the dust had fallen and sprinkled across the lower shelves, in fact all the shelves and jars had a new layer of dust.

With a sigh she began again, this time lifting each jar and cleaning it as well as the spot beneath it. She moved carefully through the jars she had on display, letting the dust collect on the floor and the lower shelves, then tending to the next shelf.

She was nearly finished, for the second time, before a gentle voice caught her attention. She turned to face the sound, setting her rag into her belt and the jar in her hand down.

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Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant

[Naiya]

"Dawnwshisper," The rugged face with gentle eyes had returned, in his hand, he clutched two empty jars, and a bright smile spread across his cheeks. "I came to ask about that cheese. We've been skirting the city, not quite close enough to come calling before."

His bright mood was infectious. Naiya found herself returning his easy smile with one of her own. Her body became marginally less formal in posture, Welcome back, shaping her hands, and pleasure softening her posture. "I'm glad the season has treated you well. Tensions have been running high here in the city, it's taken a toll on those of us remaining here."

Her smile didn't falter, however, as she shared the tidbit of information. Instead, she stepped back from the shelf, opening the view of what she had for sale. A gentle apology danced across her hands as she gestured to the shelf. "I was just tidying, all the loose dirt's been kicked up, I'm nearly done, though, and if you pick something that needs a wipe down, I'm happy to do so for you."

He laughed off her apology, gesturing with a grand motion, a not quite self-depreciating sign. "Please, don't let me stop you, I can wait while you finish up." Naiya quickly began to turn down the offer in his words, that was silly, there was no need for such things. "Now, I can see you getting all torn up about it, but I wanted to dry off a bit anyway, and what better place than in good company? I'll linger here, you finish up what you were doing." His hands shaped clear instance to go with his words, and Naiya acquiesced. No use fighting over something so simple, especially not with a customer.

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Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant

[Naiya]

"How's your family?" He asked lightly, as Naiya pulled the cloth from her belt. She spoke over her shoulder to him as she went back to wiping clean jars and shelves.

"They are well." She told him, smiling to think of her wife and her sister. "My wife has returned, and my sister and her children are happy and well fed."

She tossed him a look over her shoulder, he seemed to be watching the rain out of the pavilion flaps. "What of your husband?" This question came softer, the echoes of concern in his voice and the shaping of his hands.

It was not easier to answer. Perhaps it would never be easier to know that her husband was gone. Alive but not here, the gods only knew what that meant. Captured, enslaved, tortured? She couldn't know, and even the inexplicable connection between Khida and Shahar wasn't of use to them.

What answer did she give, then? Did she want to relate the struggle to this man who was nearly a stranger? Perhaps instead she should simplify.

"No word," hope still. This was easy enough, clear, and served as a distinction of her place in the world. Not a widow, but a first wife awaiting the day of her husband's return.

Apology, semele's kindness. Kind words, well meant, Naiya knew. Still, outside of their home, it was harder to imagine that Semele still watched over him. Ready for a shifting of thoughts, Naiya placed the last of the now clean jars down and stepped back out of the way.

"Was there something, in particular, you were looking for?"

"The same as last time, everyone was so pleased with both." Naiya nodded, fetching the wax wrapped blocks of cheese. He offered his jars once more and Naiya took them with a grin, pleased. She filled both containers, one with yogurt, the other with cheese.

"Two silver for the cheese, three for the yogurt, makes five in all." Naiya informed him, passing the containers back to him. He fished the coins from his pocket, passing them over before offering his thanks.

"My pavilion will roar with joy at the return of the cheese." He chuckled, Naiya grinned.

"Likan the cheese-bringer," a strong name, she teased.

"Many thanks, Dawnwhisper," came his reply, his eyes turning to the outside, catching the softened rain. "I'll be back when we've finished this." He promised her, and she accepted his words with a nod, waving as he departed.

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Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant