while you work

[allsongs]

Date & Time: before the faux-invasion
Location: the Hold
Characters: Ahiru and Simmaeri
Summary: magical people are kind of magnetic people
Warnings: SHE NEVER STOPS SINGINGGGGGGGGG



[it's nearly done, this new dress of hers. in exchange for the fabric and some lessons in fashioning clothes the way this world prefers, Simmaeri would be teaching the seller this technique, learned ages ago.

she sings, singing a song young girls sing to please their mothers and nurses. a human tongue – but then, all thinking beings are called human where she's from.]

Here is my needle, here with my thread.
When they kiss the wool my mother made, my cloak is nearly done.

[just a sleeve and a bit of cleaning up to do at some seams, really. she's in no rush to finish, so she'll work methodically out here, now that the air has dried some with no threat of rain.]

Comments

[motioned]

[She rests her chin in her hands from her spot next to the woman, smiling at the sound of the song.]

Have you always been able to sing so well? It's really amazing!

[allsongs]

Not always.

[it comes at the close of the verse, along with a fond smile. while it might've taken a second hearing of the name to start jogging her memory, Simmaeri had the faintest recollection of this girl – Ahiru – and her admiration.

Simmaeri smooths the cuff of the sleeve in her lap.]

I had to learn. Many years and days. Many peoples to teach me.

[motioned]

[She scoots a bit closer, a sure sign of her interest in the topic at hand.]

What kind of people were they, the people who taught you?

[And her head tilts with curiosity.]

And what are you making?

[allsongs]

[she holds up a length of the gown as she speaks, turning it to better face the girl's direction. mute color, like most of the city, but put together as something very unlike Exsilium.]

Young girls. They learn to make, like these...They sing to make time pass more.

[tilting her hold again to better look at her, regarding her with a thoughtful sound.] Young as you.

[motioned]

[She looks at the dress with no small amount of wonder, a smile on her face.]

Wow, girls my age made clothes like that? It's so beautiful! I can't imagine doing it that great. They must have started to learn when they were really young.

[allsongs]

Yes. [her pinky moves to lightly graze at a fold forming on the sleeve as she begins to settle it back down on her lap.] The mothers teach for a long time. To learn how to make these and others...

[with an air of curiosity:] Is there a word for them? Those who make these.

[motioned]

[A moment of thought before she answers.]

People who make clothes? Well, where I'm from, we'd call someone like that a tailor! Or a designer.

Are you making that for yourself or someone else?

[allsongs]

Tailor... [has it been said here before? it means other things in other places.

well, it means this now, too. more English.

her fingers trace along the seam she was sewing.]

I will wear it. What I have will not last long.

[motioned]

Yeah... Nice clothing is pretty hard to come by in this place. Not that I'm complaining! It just makes it even more exciting when you find something. Still, it must be pretty useful to be able to make your own clothes.

[She leans a bit closer, examining the woman's work with no lack of interest.]

Where'd you find that, anyways? In the market? What kind of fabric is it?

[allsongs]

[Simmaeri makes sure to situate herself in a way that gives Ahiru more chance to look as she wishes, switching over to a different sleeve for just that reason. just a bit of cleanup on this side, really, but it's hardly a chore.]

The woman named Clara has given me this fabric. She said it will last for long, made to last. [made to last has a different cadence than the rest, matching that of aforementioned Clara.]

[motioned]

Clara? Is that a friend of yours?

[She bends in further, reaching a hand towards the fabric before stopping abruptly, realizing it may be rude. She glances up towards the woman, silently looking for permission to feel the dress for herself.]