Open/Close [Hornet]

[Rosela]

Timestamp: 13th of Autumn, 513AV

Fingering the frayed edges of her 'Open' sign, Rosela took it off the hook on her door's window and replaced it with another handwritten one. It had been a year since she opened the shop, almost to the day. She remembered writing this very sign her first morning open.

She sighed dramatically and folded the old sign up, leaving the makeshift one in its place. Folded piece of paper in one hand, she left she shop and locked up behind her. It was early morning, and her day off, though instead of staying in the back room of the shop, she was venturing out for a necessary errand she'd been putting off for some time.

Irrationally, the sign had developed sentimental value, being one of the first and last pieces of the shop she interacted with on a daily basis. The shadow that lived underneath it was a quiet one, but she felt its regard everytime she flipped over the sign. In any case, the paper was frayed and worn. It was time for a new one, and she wouldn't be drawing up just any old thing for her shop. Sentimentality was one thing, professionalism was another. She simply did not have nice enough handwriting to do the sign justice.

Stepping into the message square, Rosela realized she'd never actually been in it before. She'd had no occasion to write letters; and could have written them herself in any case. She'd heard a priestess of Qayala ran the place though, so if anyone had nice handwriting, it'd be her.

Heeled boots clicking on the cobblestones as she came to a stop, Rosela looked around curiously. There didn't seem to be anyone around. "...Hello?" She called out cautiously, looking for movement beyond the ruslting of papers in the breeze.

[Hornet]

"Lakkargan requested to meet me this morning. Can I leave the square to you for a couple of bells? You've seen enough to be able to handle most requests, but if you really need me, I should be back about a bell before noon."

Wind's request was not completely unexpected. After all, Malin had mentioned that one of the main tasks would be to man the desk when Wind had errands in the city. But it would be the first time Hornet actually would have full responsibility for the square. Thus far, if there had been errands that had to be run, Wind had used him as a messenger boy. He was eager to prove that he was worthy of her trust.

There wasn't much opportunity for that, though. Although some traffic came through the square on the way to work, most Akalak either didn't stop at all, or only took a look at the requests and announcements hanging around. But Hornet didn't need to get bored. The hall of stones had requested a set of leaflets describing their new exhibit, so he spent the time copying the merits of a hollow stone over and over again.

It was a repetitive job. First, he had to crawl over to the stack of fresh parchment at the edge of the desk. Once there, he used two arms to lift the small paper weight, a third to grab a sheet, and his last to precariously keep his balance while doing so. After this act of acrobatics, he would then place the fresh sheet next to the example leaflet, and start the actual work. They wanted simple pamphlets, nothing too fancy, just an easily readable text without mistakes. Because their leaflet contained such gems as 'quartz crystal' and 'hydrothermal circulation', avoiding mistakes required a significant amount of attention. Balancing this attention with the speed required to finish the task in an acceptable time frame was a skill that he didn't have completely down yet. Quite regularly, he caught himself writing away without paying attention to the spelling, and he even had to throw away some attempts where he had made obvious mistakes. Yet just as often he became overly vigilant, continuously walking back and forth between the two sheets to double check the spelling, only bringing the quill down when he was absolutely sure he was correct, reducing his progress to a crawl as a result.

The six-armed woman arrived just after he had finished another leaflet and had lain down on his work for a short break. With one pair of arms folded under his chin and the other pair stretched out behind him, the small turtle could have easily been mistaken for a paperweight. The decorations on his back fitted that theme excellently, after all. But unlike most paperweights, this particular one actually kept a close watch on everything that was going on in the small plaza. So when his visitor called out, he was quick to rise and welcome her.

"Hello, and welcome to message square. Is there anything I can do for you?"

[Rosela]

Rosela stopped and straightened immediately when her call was answered, eyes narrowing in on the sudden movement near the desk. There were still no people though. Perhaps someone behind the desk? The reply seemed to have come from that general area...

"Yes, I'd like...a sign made..." She moved towards the desk, where something small was moving over the papers. "Just something in nice calligraphy... 'Open' on one side, 'close' on the..." When she realized the small thing was a tiny turtle, she walked over slowly, curious. Was there some magic at work, an automatically-greeting animal? Or was it some sort of Kelvic speaking through its other form?

When she got close, she bent over, one hand brushing her hair over one shoulder, the others braced against her knees for balance. It wasn't a real turtle at all, but some kind of clay one. She gasped in delight as she saw it move again, two hands flying to her mouth excitedly. She immediately made plans to look into such a creature for her own shop, maybe with some designs on the back, or a little bow. It'd be quite the conversation piece.

"Aren't you just precious! Oo, you should have a little hat!" One finger reached out tentatively, stopping a few inches short of touching the clay creature, in case it tried to bite her. "Are you magic? Is someone speaking through you?"

[Hornet]

So she wanted a sign in decorative handwriting. That would provide a nice change from the usual announcements. It meant a few large letters rather then a long text. That left a lot of room for decorations, but also little room for error. An interesting challenge then.

It seemed like he wouldn't get into that challenge anytime soon, though. Not with the way this customer reacted upon seeing him. Sometimes, an Akalak would be surprised, even curious, upon seeing him managing the square, but they were far too disciplined to respond as excitedly as this woman was doing. It felt good to be the center of attention like this, far better then being overlooked as usual. If this was how she responded to his normal form, he would gladly show off a bit for her.

"A hat, you say? That shouldn't be too difficult." In fact, he had never even thought to try to create one before, but he wasn't going to make much of an impression if he told her that. It would probably be best to take the clay from his forearms. That would cause him to lean over a bit, but would provide her with a better view of the lettering on his shell, so the lack of symmetry shouldn't be too bothersome. "It might take some time though, so give me a moment."

He took a deep breath, and started to shift clay to the top of his head. As his forearms shrunk, a lump started to develop where he had been bald before. While it grew till it was about the size of a thimble, he absentmindedly answered her questions. "Anyway, I'm speaking through me, and no, I'm not magical as far as I'm aware." With his concentration firmly on the clay that now covered his head from ear to ear, he didn't pay much attention to what he was saying. He just rambled a bit, letting his thoughts escape as they came. "At least no more then anyone else is, I think. I am alive, of course. So if living is magical, I guess I am, but I don't think that counts." With the basic shape completed, the Pycon focused his attention on the creation of a rim, taking the clay from the outside of the newly created protuberance. The end result was a stylized, slightly conical top hat. "There we go, how's that?"

He wouldn't be able to maintain it long, especially because the lack of length in his forearms would make moving difficult. Besides, changing your form always felt weird somehow, as if something in your body simply wasn't right. Shifting back probably would leave her disappointed, though. What he needed was an excuse, something that would require the normal length of his arms. "Now, you mentioned something about needing calligraphy?"

[Rosela]

Rosela tilted her head in confusion as he leaned over, implying he was somehow working on his hat. Perhaps he was summoning it? She'd heard of magicians who could pull objects out of thin air, an interesting trick, but something she felt was more on the level of a party trick. Alternatively, it could also be on the level of a turtle creature producing a hat simply to make her smile.

That didn't seem to be what he - or was he an it? - was doing. Something was growing on his head, looking disturbingly tumorous until she realized what he was doing. She almost missed what he was saying. It was a little hard to follow, though she wasn't sure if that was because he was confusing her or because she was more focused on the growth on his head. It was definitely becoming hat-shaped, and her smile spread. So the little guy was alive, and not magical. That he was aware of, anyway. Perhaps he was some uniquely summoned creature from another world? In any case, it made the prospect of her getting a turtle creature of her own rather slim. "Adorable! Have you thought about getting painted too? Color is very in." Color was always in, but she didn't want to insult the little guy.

"Oh, um, yes," She answered, almost missing his question. "Just a little sign. 'Open' on one side, 'close' on the other. I own a clothing store," she added by way of explanation. "I made this old thing when I opened, but it's getting a bit old now. I was hoping for something..." She waved a hand vaguely. "Stylish. A little fancy, but still legible from across the street."

She wondered how he'd call the owner to do her work, maybe some form of telepathy? He already said he wasn't magical though, so was the owner already on the way and he was here to simply stall her until he, or she, arrived? It was quite a little scheme and she resolved to compliment the owner when they arrived.

[Hornet]

Both ends of her mouth were definitely curving upwards. It slightly resembled the expression Serenity had worn just a few days previously, though the eyes of this woman were an unchanging green. Still, it was a hopeful sign; it seemed that his performance was going over well. When she made a second suggestion for his appearance though, he had to disappoint her.

"Paint is so... unchanging. My body shifts far too often to use paint to color particular areas. If I'm ever so lucky to discover what my shape ought to be then I'll have to think about it, but before that, I fear it's just a waste of time."

It seemed the writing itself wouldn't be that difficult. Just two words should be easily doable. Finding the right lettering from her description might be a whole different story though. Stylish and fancy? Whenever he had tried elaborate decorations, he had been critiqued that his letters weren't elegant. Finding the right mix this time around might take a few tries.

"I'm sure we can find something that matches that description. I think I have some ideas that might work. I'll just grab a wax tablet, so I can sketch out some possibilities for you."

As he hobbled over to the side of the desk, where his materials were stored, he considered the possibilities. What would she consider a little fancy? Her whole appearance seemed far more elaborate then any he had seen on the streets before, what with the six arms and all. He would need to try something a little out there, just to see her reaction. Then to be on the safe side, he would need a traditional script. And what could he do with the fact that it was a clothing store? Needle and thread, sewing... was there any way to work with that? Surely he had been shown some styles that worked for what she wanted?

As he started considering the possibilities, he reached the table edge. There, right next to the stack of empty paper, was his wax tablet, covered by a second tablet, with a stylus laying besides it. With it came the excuse he had been looking for. He dragged the set out a little, so that he could open it in full view of her, and then spoke up again.

"Sorry, I can't really write with my arms as short as they are. I think I'll have to shift back. Hopefully, a hat will develop naturally with time though."

He let go of his concentration, and immediately the clay started flowing back over his head to his arms, the small top hat rapidly shrinking. As he allowed the process to complete, another thought struck him.

"By the way, are you sure 'close' is the text you want? I get the feeling that 'closed', ending on a 'd', might be the word you're looking for. After all, you're telling your customers that the shop is closed, not that they have to close your shop."

[Rosela]

Rosela was mildly disappointed that he wouldn't be painting himself up, but told herself not to pursue it. She was here as a customer, not a consultant. Perhaps she'd planted a seed of interest though, and after her sign was done, he'd go with it and let her paint his back.

She tilted her head slightly, shifting her weight to one hip as she watched him move towards his tablet. So...there was no shopkeeper coming? The little guy would be doing her sign himself? Reminding herself firmly that this sign was to be on the face of her shop, she braced herself to be critical of his work. The lettering simply had to be big enough, no matter how adorable he was.

"So you change as you get older? And you don't know what you're going to change into? I suppose that does make it hard to plan accessories..." It was a disconcerting thought, not knowing what would happen with one's own body. She had enough trouble convincing people to change their wardrobe colors with the seasons; how hard would it be to plan a wardrobe if one didn't know whether they'd need hats, or shoes!

"Oh, ok, yea." She felt bad to know he'd sacrificed his arms just to amuse her, and bit her lip nervously. "Sorry, you didn't have to go through all that just for me. It was a super-cute hat though." If she'd somehow known she would be in this, admittedly very unusual, situation, she'd have whipped up a tiny hat for him at the shop.

There was a moment of shock as he revealed the mistake on her existing sign and she slowly unfolded it to look down at the 'Close' side. All this time...a full year...she'd been displaying a sign that had practically proclaimed to the entire world her poor Common. How had she never noticed? How had no one told her? She sighed deeply and it came out with a disappointed groan. "Closed... That's exactly what I mean." With a huff and a flutter of chiffon skirts, she abruptly sank down until she was nearly eye level with her diminutive new friend, and propped her head up on the heel of one hand. "Can you believe I never noticed it was wrong? How awful is that... Thank goodness I came, I suppose. If I'd have just made a new one myself, I probably would have made the same mistake." Looking down at the paper, her lip stuck out in a pout and she suddenly wanted to crinkle it up.

OOC Note :

Wow, I actually didn't realize I'd been writing 'Close' all this time! We'll just roll with it, I guess, Common isn't her first language anyway

[Hornet]

OOC :

I actually thought it was an intentional mistake because common wasn't her primary language in the first place

He let her remark about accessories pass without comment. When clothing or other ornaments were needed, his body would provide, whereas man made objects had a tendency to be impractical. Take his backpack for example. Made extremely adjustable for any changes that might occur, the maker had failed to take into account the possibility that his back would be oriented horizontally. So whenever he used it, he had to move carefully to avoid everything falling out. There was no point to telling that to the owner of a clothing store though.

Her apology, on the other hand, couldn't be let standing. She was a customer, and customers shouldn't feel bad. "Hey, don't worry about it. I don't mind experimenting with my form from time to time. This particular experiment just wasn't very practical, is all." And of course, he would have shifted back soon even if it was.

Customers shouldn't feel bad. So had he been too blunt in pointing out the mistake? But how could he have pointed it out to her without giving her the feeling she did something wrong? He would have to practice his customer interactions. For now, he would just have to try to make her feel good about coming.

"It's an easy mistake to miss, so I'm glad I noticed. After all, we want you to get the best sign possible. So let's take a look at possible designs. These will be just quick sketches, intended to give you an idea of what the finished text would look like. Since I won't be putting in the time required to get every single line perfect here, they'll probably be a bit wobbly, so please don't mind that."

His first attempt would be very decorative. Judging from her reactions to him, she seemed to be excited by cuteness. So he would make the letter as cute as possible. Flowers, hearts... "The first style I could use can definitely be described as fancy." He started sketching a big, curly 'O' in the upper left corner of the tablet, marching in a big circle to bring his stylus all the way around. "It's a rather playful script, curvy, with some decorations in the larger open spaces. Which would look like this." He drew a smaller 'o' next to the first letter, and filled it with a small flower.
O o

"A second possibility," he continued, as he moved down the tablet, "would be a less playful, sharper style." The 'O' he sketched this time consisted of two halves, each ending in a sharp point. "My idea was that the pointed ends represent the needles used in your shop. There would also be some decorations, like this," he drew a series of interlocking circles halfway on each side, "which were inspired by the loops that appear in clothing."
Op

"And finally," he concluded, as he moved to the bottom of the tablet, "we could try a more traditional style." Here, he made particular effort to make some parts of the letter wider then others, as if they were done by a pen stroke. "These can be either fully decorated capitals, like this 'O'," he mentioned as he finished the first letter, "or it can be simpler, with just the first letter capitalized, and the others in lower case in a similar but less elaborate font," he continued, as he finished a lower case 'o' next to the capital one.
O o

"Are any of these styles what you had in mind?"

[Rosela]

Rosela realized and appreciated he was trying to cheer her up. She wasn't a generally sad person by nature, but public embarrassment was something she couldn't bear. If she had been in Ahnatep, the gossip circles would have run rampant at the mistake in her sign, likely cascading into some rumor that she had some mental defect that prevented her from writing D's. Riverfall was different, however, to the point where such a rumor occurring was nearly laughable. It may have been due to the presence of the kind-hearted Kontis, or maybe there was simply less reason to politick among one's neighbors. Whatever the reason, she'd gotten lucky thus far, and should be satisfied she was now rectifying the mistake.

"Oh of course," She smiled and attempted to put her anxiety behind her. What was done was done. Perhaps the fact that no one had mentioned it played in her favor. In a city where Tukant was so prominent, it was possible no one had actually noticed. "I do the same when designing for my shop; no sense jumping into a dress without figuring out what the whole picture's going to look like. I've had completely finished designs only to go back and change where the waistline is, or the cut of the bust."

Still sitting on her heels, she leaned up a bit to watch him as he sketched on the wax pad. Her worries about his size were losing their foundation, as he didn't seem to have any difficulty writing full-size. "Ooo, that's pretty..." She intoned quietly as he worked. Bringing up a hand, she bit a thumbnail to keep herself from commenting. She only designed in front of clients for custom work, work that didn't come in as often as she'd like, but she hated it when they started critiquing before she was even done.

When he finished, Rosela felt free to speak and broke into a wide grin. "That one." One finger pointed to the ornate second design, careful not to touch the wax of the tablet. "That's exactly what I'm looking for. Just enough decoration to look fancy, while still being legible. Exactly what I had in mind."

[Gossamer]

Character: Rosela
Experience: Observation +4, Interrogation +1, Rhetoric + 1, Socialization +3,
Lore: Open Sign: Sentimental Value, Pycons: Small clay creatures that talk

Character: Hornet
Experience: Observation +1, Socialization +2, Calligraphy +3, Negotiation +2
Lore: Business: Discovering a Customers Needs, Business: Making Suggestions To Customers


Additional Note: Nice little meet and greet thread. To bad it ended so quickly. Horent, your writing was almost impossible for me to read. Please post in a different text next time if you come back. If you ever decide to finish the thread let me know.