Solo Tied Together With a Smile (Sewing)

[Sevaan]

7th of Spring, 518 AV

So far, it had been a pretty uneventful morning. Sevaan had woken up to a warm breeze, which was still a pleasant sensation so soon after winter. He knew that if it persisted, he would eventually become annoyed with it. It was already unseasonably warm. But then again, this wasn't that unexpected after the weird, snow-less winter they'd had. Although, that wasn't to say that Sevaan preferred the snow, as the snow coupled with Lhavit's winds made it hard to walk around outside. It was just... snow. But they didn't have any of it this year.

And now it was warm.

...Is this what getting old was like? Complaining about the weather and such? Sevaan shook his head, trying to will the thoughts away. Concern about the weather was perfectly natural, especially when one considered that if the weather kept up this trend, the clothes that he and Kaia had would be almost unbearable.

And so, he and Kaia made their way over to the Azure, slipping away from Surya Plaza to join the flurry of Lhavitians that roamed those alleys. Kaia, Sevaan noted, was quieter than usual that morning. She would occasionally let go of his hand to tug on her collar, as if trying to free herself from the cloth. Ah, she'd noticed the change in weather too. Their situation had just gotten more dire.

"We're looking for lighter clothes," Sevaan told her as they walked the length of the market, "Preferably of good make, but we can get a better deal on them if they're used." Kaia made a face, and Sevaan squeezed her hand gently. "It's not ideal but right now, it's the best way to save money."

His answer was good enough, it seemed.

Several chimes later, as he was examining a large shirt with a small tear in its sleeve, Kaia ran up to him with a dress in hand. "Sevaan, look!" she called, twirling the dress around. It was a purple dress, just her size, and just long enough that she could wear it with, or without, her pantaloons. She handed it to him proudly, and stood back as he inspected her find.

Immediately, Sevaan noticed that the left seam was coming undone. Kaia's face fell when he pointed it out to her. "I'm sorry, Kaia..." he said, handing the dress back. "It's a good find, but I just don't have the tools to repair it right now. We'll find something else, I promise."

They continued their stroll from there, Kaia's mood significantly worse. She now pulled at her collar almost violently and Sevaan had to promise to buy her a treat just to make her stop. "You could've bought that dress..." she told him, when they had stopped at a second stall. "You could've fixed it later. Who knows if that dress will still be there another day?" She idly pulled dresses from the stall, making a point to look at them disdainfully before returning them.

Sevaan sighed. It didn't matter anyway. Everything being sold here was too 'nice'. He turned back to the alley, trying to spot their next destination when he heard Kaia shout from behind him. He whipped around, going as quickly to her side as he could without running. She was standing at the stall proper, examining a shelf.

"What is it?" he asked. She pointed to a small bag sitting on the shelf, a sign and price sitting next to it:

Everything you need to start sewing!
20 ki

Sevaan and Kaia exchanged a look. Sure it was a lot now, but if one thought about it as an investment... well... it looked like they were getting that dress today.

[Sevaan]

A couple of bells later and Sevaan and Kaia found themselves in a quiet courtyard some ways away from the market. The Noon Rest was about to start, so stalls and stores were closing doors to get a bit of sleep. Sevaan considered taking a nap as well, but he'd slept well in the night and he was ready to tear into his purchase.

Maybe tear wasn't the right word. The point was the opposite, really.

He did end up purchasing the sewing kit, as well as the dress and a large cotton shirt for himself. The shirt was just bigger than what he normally wore, which would be good for air circulation in the heat. Both the dress and the shirt needed some repairs, so now would be the perfect time to get those done.

At his side, Kaia had curled up with her prize of the day: a few pieces of origami paper. She managed to convince him that she should still get a treat even though they went back for the dress, 'for being a good problem-solver'. She wasn't folding anything, currently, just idly looking through the paper, organizing by color and then by preference.

Sevaan took out a needle from his new kit, carefully threading it and tying a knot. It had been a while since he'd sewn. Maybe a year. He wasn't able to take his sewing kit with him when they left the old house. There wasn't much that wasn't sold, anyway. He picked up the dress and inspected the seam. It was loose down almost the entire side, a hole even starting to form where it connected to the sleeve.

He wondered if they'd ever come across Kaia's old dresses at the used-clothes stalls.

It was a solemn thought, but he could help but think on it as he began sewing through the seam. He started where there was least damage, crisscrossing up until he reached the hole. He avoided tugging on the thread as much as he could, but occasionally he would have to go back when he drew the needle too hard.

Kaia used to have a lot of dresses. Nice ones too. There were a few with beads, and a few that were embroidered. Some were even made of silk. The cotton in his hands felt like sandpaper compared to the memory of those dresses. He sighed, going back a couple of stitches where he jumped too far.

Every now and then, he wondered where all Kaia's... their old stuff went. Who bought them? Did they know their history? Where they still sitting, unused, in some second-hand store? If so, would there ever be a day when he could buy them all up again? Maybe not everything... but a few dresses would be nice. That armchair he and Kaia used to sit on by the window. The one where they would stare out at the stars and he would tell her stories of faraway lands...

Sevaan reached the end of the seam and pulled on the thread, drawing it closed.

[Sevaan]

Sevaan carefully closed the stitch and cut the thread, setting his needle aside. He shook out the dress to examine his work. The repair was almost undetectable. The only indication that there had been anything done to it was that the thread he used was a different color than the dress. Even then, the undyed thread could only be seen nearest the top of his work, where the seam had turned into a hole.

On a whole, not bad work.

Sevaan tested the strength of his stitch by pulling firmly on the dress. It didn't budge. He smiled, turning to show Kaia but the small girl had already fallen asleep. She lay on her side, her back just barely touching his and her breathing slow and deep. A little over a year ago, he'd never had thought that he would see Kaia sleep so easily out on what was essentially the street. It occurred to him for the first time that day that they might look like a pair of beggars. He might as well put out a hat for the passersby to express their pity.

No one was out at this time anyway. There was no one to see them like this. Maybe he should have just gone home and let Kaia sleep on a real bed. Sevaan sighed and neatly folded the dress, setting it aside and picking up his 'new' shirt. There was a tear its sleeve just longer than his hand. He wondered, as he re-threaded his needle, just how that happened.

There wasn't any blood on the sleeve, thankfully, so it must not have been a knife. Maybe, he thought as he began his stitch, the original owner of the shirt had grown too large for it and had ripped it while reaching for another honey scone. The fact that this was a large shirt and that the tear was nowhere near a seam made this story less believable.

For this tear, there was no way Sevaan would be able to conceal his repair. He considered patching it with some cloth from the bottom of the shirt, but cutting it would mean that he had to hem it, and that was a bit more trouble than it was worth. Rather, he was just going to sew the tear shut. Enough tight stitches would keep the fraying cloth from unraveling, and the final product wouldn't look too bad.

As he sewed, Sevaan struggled with keeping each stitch a uniform distance apart. The thread he had cut for this repair was very long, and he had to extend his arm after nearly every stitch just to draw it out. Occasionally, he had to cross over a few previous stitches to make it even. The end result wouldn't be as neat as the dress, but it was just the sleeve so Sevaan figured it would be easily concealed.

Kaia shuffled a bit in her sleep and Sevaan paused to stroke her head lightly. He noticed that she'd put her paper back into a small stack, in the order of red-purple-lighter purple-blue. He wondered what she was going to fold with it. There wasn't a lot, so she was probably thinking very hard about what she wanted to make. He wished he could buy her more, but it wasn't the time.

And besides, how would he be able to face her after telling her they needed to save money by buying used clothes, if he just went and spent money on luxury items like paper... and a... sewing kit...

[Sevaan]

No, the sewing kit was a good investment.

This way, Sevaan could easily make repairs on used clothes. Some used clothes were still in great condition except for the occasional tear or loose seam. He could even buy clothes in different sizes, and modify them to fit. A simple piece could look elegant if the fit was right. And eventually, he might be able to make his own clothes!

But... why would he need to...?

Unless he was planning on making a business of it, he'd probably never need to sew his own clothes. Repairing used clothes was probably his best course of action. Although, he could sew things like bedclothes or pillows. Things to make their little cottage a bit more home-y. If he was being honest, he felt that the place needed some sort of ground cover. A rug, or soft blanket, so that they could lounge without staying using the bed or their sole chair.

Sevaan realized he had stopped sewing to daydream about future projects, so he began again, adding several tight stitches in silence before allowing his mind to wander.

Making a rug would be a large undertaking. He'd have to purchase the raw materials, which wouldn't be cheap if he wanted them to be any bit comfortable. Would it still be cheaper than buying a rug from the Azure? He'd... never gone shopping for one so he wouldn't know how they were priced. He saw a couple earlier that day that were dyed in interesting patterns. Those were probably too expensive to even look at.

Now that the thread was shorter, the sewing was going quicker and Sevaan was nearing the end of this repair.

If he was thinking about home improvement, maybe the next step would be a kitchen. A place where he could prepare healthy meals for Kaia. Or maybe another room so that Kaia could have a bit of privacy. It was fine now that she was only nine, but she would eventually grow up and start to want her own space... Or would she prefer a nicer garden and a place to keep animals?

Sevaan tied off the string when he reached the end of the tear, making sure to go back a few stitches to close it properly. He had been going so slowly and carefully that he didn't realize almost an entire bell had passed. The tear was gone, but a hard ridge of thread now took its place. He might have overdone it... But at least the tear wouldn't spread. He folded it and set it aside with the dress.

Kaia began to stir as he twisted to the side, and after a few moments, she woke up. She sat and rubbed the sleep from eyes, looking around for the sewing projects.

"How long was I asleep?" she asked.

Sevaan turned to face her, picking up the shirt and dress. "A little over a bell," he told her. "It's still Noon Rest, but I finished your dress if you'd like to try it on."

[Sevaan]

Kaia's face lit up in a smile and she nearly jumped to her feet. "May I?" she asked politely, taking the dress from him and shaking it out.

Sevaan nodded, the corners of his lips tugging just barely upwards. "I suggest that you still wear your pantaloons," he said, "It's still a bit chilly."

Kaia crinkled her nose and began to undress. She was wearing a light undershirt, so there wasn't any need for her to head indoors. "You could just call them pants, you know." Her voice was muffled by the cloth around her head. "Pantaloons sounds silly." With her head now free from her shirt, Sevaan could see her mouthing the word to herself as if trying to get a feel for it.

He helped her get into the dress, buttoning it up the back. It was a delicate thing, in keeping with Lhavit's indoor style. It was constructed out of panels of thin, purple cloth, connected at the waist. The dress was tighter across her chest and shoulders, and Sevaan worried for a moment that the seam would burst. Kaia was a small child, however, and the dress seemed to have plenty of room for her. The sleeves were another point of charm, mimicking the top of the dress to the elbows, where it then split into the flowing purple panels of the lower half. It gave Kaia the appearance of a flower, with the way it flowed and bounced whenever she turned.

She twirled around happily for a bit, playing with the folds before coming to a stop in front of him. "Sevaan!" she exclaimed, "I love my new dress!" And with that, Kaia raised her arms in glee--

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip

--and froze. Her smile froze as well, and she blinked a couple of times at him before it started to break. "I-I-I'm soooorryyyy..." she said, her arms still raised to the sky. The seam had broken around where the sleeve connected to the side, right where the hole was beginning to form. Sevaan could see the tears welling in her eyes as she fought to keep still.

Quickly, he grabbed her face, squishing her cheeks slightly upwards. "Shhh..." he said, wiping away what tears managed to fall. "It's okay... The damage was probably worse than I expected. I didn't check the area around the sleeve." Kaia nodded, her lip quivering slightly but the tears had stopped. Sevaan gave her a small pat on the head before unbuttoning the dress and freeing her from her stance.

"Here," he said, taking the dress from her and getting his needle out again, "I'll fix it right now. Just wait a moment."

[Sevaan]

Sevaan started sewing almost exactly where he had left off. He was right in his assumption that the sleeve was also loose. It looked like it could fall off just by tugging on it. ...What happened to this dress? He decided to go all around the sleeve just to be safe. It wouldn't be as nice as it was before, but at least it would be whole. The other side seemed perfectly sound, so it was really only this side that he needed to work on.

This bit would be harder. Not only was he now sewing on a curve, but he was trying to deal with a seam that had already broken, instead of just reinforcing a loose one. He decided that he wouldn't treat it any differently and began carefully snaking the thread back and forth across the gap, saving the tightening for the end.

Now that Kaia was awake, he couldn't slip off into his daydreams. The small girl had found his new shirt and had decided that she wanted to put that on instead of her old one. She picked it up, not minding that it was neatly folded, and put it on. It practically swallowed her whole, nearly reaching her feet. She squatted down next to him, trying to maneuver the sleeves into her lap, and watched him work.

The temptation to pull on the thread increased as he past the gap and briefly, Sevaan wondered if that was the right course of action. He figured that it didn't really matter since he was technically continuing to a different part, so he did so, successfully reattaching the sleeve to the dress proper.

"This is a really big shirt," Kaia observed. "Are you sure you'll fit in this?"

Sevaan smiled but didn't look over, instead focusing on his stitches. "I'm much bigger than you," he responded.

Kaia's mouth pulled more to one side.:T "Yeah, I knooow," she said, "But how do you plan to wear it?"

Sevaan did pause then to look over. He tapped his chin, making a show of looking extra thoughtful of her question. "Well," he said, "I was planning on tucking it in. I think it would look rather good with high-waisted pants." He returned to sewing, making a round around the sleeve to reinforce the seam.

His fashion adviser paused for a long time, as if trying to imagine Sevaan in the outfit. "I think it would look good with a necklace," she said after a long time, "And maybe some earrings. Dangling ones."

Sevaan chuckled. "Do you, now?" he asked. She nodded. "I'll keep that in mind next time we're at the Azure."

She grew quiet for a long time, and Sevaan was nearly able to finish the first round of stitches before she spoke again.

"Dad used to have some nice ones..." she said, softly.

[Sevaan]

Sevaan set down his sewing to look at her, trying to read her expression. It was soft, a little sad, but she didn't look like she was in danger of crying. He didn't know if that was sadder. She was staring off into a space somewhere to her side, likely remembering her parents. It was nearly a year since they got news of their disappearance. That went unsaid between them. They both new it.

"Yeah, he did," Sevaan finally said, struggling to return to his sewing.

"More than Mom," Kaia added, still staring off into the distance.

They were quiet for a while, and Sevaan began going over the tear again, the same as he did his own shirt but lighter. If he made it too stiff, it would be uncomfortable for Kaia. She'd probably be wearing this dress for a long time, so he didn't want that.

Kaia's father had been fond of jewelry, cycling through his favorite pieces almost daily. Her mother, however, favored only a couple. She used to say that wearing so much jewelry made one look common, or that if all the girls were doing it, she didn't want to. She was a strong-headed woman. Like an Okomo. Sevaan could remember the day he arrived in Lhavit, when her husband had tried to explain how he found their new caretaker.

Thinking back on it like this, it was funny, but it took a really long time for her to accept Sevaan as any sort of family.

"Sevaan, you stopped sewing."

He woke from his daydream with a start, turning to see that Kaia had already returned from the stars and was now staring at him. Sevaan hadn't realized, but he had indeed stopped sewing. This must have been why it took nearly a bell to make a couple repairs. "Sorry," he said, starting for what felt like 100th time, "I was just remembering..."

Kaia nodded and shuffled over to sit by him. "I was too," she said, leaning into his side.

Nothing more needed to be said.

The repair went quickly after that, and Sevaan only needed to go over the tear one more time before it was strong as the rest of the dress. The undyed thread was visible, but only if one looked closely. Even then, the repair wasn't so messy that it needed to be hidden. Sevaan gave the dress to Kaia, who took it very carefully now and inspected his work.

"It should be fine now, if you want to wear it again," he told her.

Kaia nodded but didn't put the dress on, instead going back to her old shirt. Sevaan took the two new articles of clothes and folded them. He was a bit surprised at this, but Kaia was quick to explain.

"I can't wear it before we take a bath." she said, getting up and brushing of her knees. "It'll only get dirty." Sound enough logic. She helped him pack up his sewing kit and then picked up her paper to take home.

"Oh, and don't forget the Star Festival."

"The Star Festival?" Sevaan asked, holding their purchases in one hand and taking Kaia's in the other.

The girl nodded emphatically. "We weren't prepared last year, but now that you have your sewing kit, I think we should be."

Oh. More clothes.

Sevaan half smiled, half grimaced, giving her hand a playful squeeze. It looked like he was going to be using this kit a lot over the season.

End
Total Words: 3,721

[Luminescence]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
YOUR GRADES HAVE BEEN GIFTED
ENJOY!
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Sevaan

Skills

✦Childcare +3
✦Persuasion +1
✦Planning +4
✦Sewing +5
✦Observation +4
✦Socialization +4

Lores

✦Sevaan: Getting old?
✦Planning: Investing in a sewing kit
✦Lore of feeling like a beggar
✦Planning: Saving money by buying used clothes
✦Sewing: Keeping stitches even
✦Sewing: Repairing a tear
✦Planning: Ideas for making a house a home
✦Sevaan: Wants what's best for Kaia
✦Planning: What will Kaia want?
✦Kaia: Thinks pantaloons is a silly word
✦Childcare: Wiping away tears
✦Childcare: Comforting Kaia
✦Sewing: Repairing a ripped seam

Other

✦-21 Ki, 7 TKi, 2 JKi
✦+Sewing kit
✦+Purple dress
✦+Large shirt
✦+Origami paper

Notes
This was a lovely first thread, Sevaan; and congrats on completing the weekend challenge! Kaia is a sweetheart and I'm really enjoying seeing her and Sev interact. Just a small note for future threads; you should keep a running tally of how much money you spend to make it a bit easier for graders to doublecheck everything.

As always, please don't forget to edit or delete your grading request in the queue! If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grades, don't hesitate to shoot me a PM; I'll do what I can to fix whatever the issue may be!