[Petal of the Timid Cougar] Housing Thread

[Ayana]

Fall 6th, 512 AV

"So, start here, spiral outward?" Ayana and Sharai were both looking over the design her and Nasrin had drawn up the days before, the Jamouran seemingly unimpressed by their building design. "Simple. Easy." Sharai's tone sounded bored as she turned away, earning her a harsh glare from the Eypharian female. She happened to enjoy the design her and Nasrin had created, but bit down on any insults that tried to form. No, they needed this house, and working with these apes meant they might get a discount. She would suffer their insolence for that short time. Ayana watched carefully as the apes began to show her how to lay down the foundations of her new home, wanting very much to have this done right. It seemed simple enough, the wooden pieces interlocking like a puzzle to create a structure. All held together with a little glue. In her mind, it seemed very flimsy, as if the first rain or harsh wind would cause their house to fall apart. But she had been assured repeatedly that this was how every home in the Spires had been built, and they all held together against the elements. Lips pressed together in slight anxiety, the Eypharian nodded her head in affirmation when asked if she had understood everything. "Are you sure? Because once the glue dries, you can't fix things." It annoyed her how little faith was put in her skills and understanding, though she supposed the Jamoura was just making sure. "Yes yes, I understand! Now, may we please begin?" The common felt odd and broken on her tongue, having to pause and choose words. It seemed only her and Nasrin were able to speak Arumenic. Pity, it was such a beautiful language. Giving a grunt, which she suspected was an insult, given the way the other builders snickered, the apes set to work, some laying down pieces, while others painted them with fresh resin and passed them forward. Ayana glanced to Nasrin, before setting to work, taking the first piece of coated wood into her six hands, and pressing it into place.

[Nasrin]

Nasrin snorted. Just because she and Ayana had drawn up something sophisticated and modern, these smelly apes had the nerve to seem unimpressed with it. Their design was efficient and lovely, unlike the gaudy, mismatched, asymmetrical messes of houses that the rest of the petal was covered in. It would be a good home, one that Nasrin and Ayana had great need of, and it would serve them well. Obviously, the Jamoura just had an underdeveloped sense of architecture. She kept her thoughts to herself, however. Ayana had had to warn her once before about her harsh tongue, and they could not afford to insult their builder, literally. Nasrin needed to conserve every coin in her pocket for use in purchasing the materials for her fine product, and she suspected it was much the same for Ayana. She let her seamstress companion do the talking, as the taller Eypharian's Common was better. Nasrin preferred to stay silent than reveal an inadequacy. Not being much used to hard manual labor, Nasrin had put her talents to good use; several days before, much to the annoyance of Grath the Innkeeper, she had used some pots and bowls over the hearth of the inn to produce a hydrosol of cedar. The strong, wood-scented water she painted upon each piece of wooden puzzle before it was covered in resin and placed. At one Jamoura's questioning glance, she sniffed haughtily and explained. "Cedar water. Sealed under the resin, will keep biting flies away. Fungus too." Here, she looked slyly at Ayana. Nasrin was always eager to show that her craft was better and more useful than her companion's.

[Ayana]

Ayana gave a sideways glance to Nasrin as the woman explained her reasoning to the the Jamoura, eyes narrowing slightly. Oh she knew exactly why the woman had done this. Likely, there wouldn't have been many biting flies or fungus to annoy them. This was just an excuse for Nasrin to show off. With a derisive sniff, she went back to her work, pointedly ignoring Nasrin's gloating ways. There was nothing more infuriating to someone vying for attention than receiving none. Let Nasrin show off her work to the builders now. It would be her own handiwork that they would admire in the long run. An annoyed sigh left her lips as she felt her fingers grow sticky with resin. Her middle and pointer fingers would likely be stuck together until she could wash them. "You would think they'd be a slight more careful with this glue." She mumbled in Arumenic, not wanting to insult the Jamoura in a language they could be offended by. "I swear, if they spill any of this onto our floors, I'll wring each and every furry, fat neck here." It was an empty threat, of course, but it made her feel better to say it, renewing her work with more vigour. She caught Sharai giving her and her friend dissatisfied looks every now and then, grunting to her companions. A frown creased her brown and pulled at her lips, checking around her to make sure that she was laying the boards just the same as the apes around her. There didn't seem to be any difference. So why were they getting the evil eye from this ape? Meeting Sharai's eyes head on, she held the ape's gaze, until the other turned away with and scoff. Victorious in the small battle of will, at least in her own mind, Ayana continued to lay the foundation of her home.

[Nasrin]

Nasrin laughed at Ayana's complaint about the sticky glue. Truly, the stuff was a pain. Already it had gotten stuck to Nasrin's light linen clothing; she'd likely have to soak the garments later to remove the stuff. She wondered how the Jamoura got the resin out of their fur; surely there was some trick to it, but Nasrin was not about to ask their advice. Still, it was good to hear her native tongue from Ayana's lips. Compared to the rough accents of those who spoke Common and the animalistic grunts of the Jamoura, Arumenic was like a lilting song to her ears; enough to let her forget the fact that the seamstress had snubbed her moments before. "That is, if you can get your arms around them, eh cousin?" she giggled. As long as the Jamoura couldn't understand them, there was no harm in poking fun. After all, from the way the builders and Sharai kept looking at the two Eypharian women and chuckling, they were the subject of some jokes too. Noticing that Sharai and Ayana seemed to be having a...spat, Nasrin moved closer. "You're going to make fabric for this side, yes?" Nasrin said in Common. She gestured to the east, where a wall was just beginning to go up. "Sun will shine through it, paint color inside the house. I'll soak it in lemongrass, it will be warmed each morning by sunrise and give us energy."

[Ayana]

Turning her head to the east, Ayana studied the blank space where the wall would be raised. In her minds eye, she could see the wooden panels raised, the morning light filtering through the coloured fabric she would create to pull over the window, bathing the room in a warm glow of reds and fuchsias, invigorating them in the morning with its splendour. A smile tugged her lips upwards. That sounded like a beautiful and wonderful idea. "It will be perfect." She agreed, sighing softly as some of the tension she had been carrying drained from her. "We shall wake to the perfect morning, no?" A small giggle, her mood increasing rapidly. Oh she couldn't wait for the building to be done, and they could begin to live in this wonderful place. She wrapped two of her arms around Nasrin's shoulders in a small hug, before pulling away to continue her work, funnelling her excitement into productivity. She could already see the coloured design forming in her head. She'd need to get some ropes. And a few pots to boil the dye. When she had had her way with their home, it would be the most beautiful in all the Spires. The Eypharian hummed a small tune as she placed the next board, not even caring anymore that her hands were getting covered in resin.

[Nasrin]

Nasrin laughed heartily, grasping Ayana's arms briefly as they circled her shoulders and left sap on her skin . Truly, the Eypharian way of living would strike jealousy into the hearts of all the other Spires inhabitants! "Ahn, Sicpw, your lovely hands! They will be all suck together like a doll's at this rate. Perhaps we should have coated them in oil to keep the resin from sticking!" Somehow, the mess of glue that had so irritated Nasrin before only caused her mirth now. It didn't matter if their hands became glued together or their clothes were ruined; it was more than worth it for the life they would build themselves here. She threw herself into helping Ayana with the board placement, taking care to copy her friend's movements as best as possible. Neither of them knew anything about construction, but the Jamoura had assured them that the process was simple enough for even children. Maybe the Jamoura noticed their change in attitude, for they seemed to snicker less at the girls from that moment on, and even Sharai seemed to be sending them fewer disapproving glares.

[Ayana]

Ayana gave a short laugh. "I believe that your oils may not have been enough to prevent this, Nasrin. The resin would still have stuck to my dress and caught my skin where we had not expected." Her eyes drifted down to her friend's handiwork, watching as she laid down her first few boards. She learned quickly, it seemed, as the pieces interlocked together, the resin beginning to harden already. It was then that she noticed her hands, or rather, what was covering her hands. "Oh Nasrin, your poor gloves!" She exclaimed, taking hold of one of her gloved hands in her top two, being the least covered in the sticky glue. "They are positively covered in this sap! I suppose we must make you a new pair once the building has been complete." She released her friend's hands, returning them to the work at hand. The floor had come together quickly, and the bases of the walls were beginning to take shape. A sense of pride flooded her chest, knowing that this was their work. Of course, one would think that this task be better suited for slaves, manual labour of repetitious tasks. But there was an odd satisfaction in knowing you had done your part in creating something for yourself. Their home was already beautiful, and the image of the finished product, fresh and at the forefront of her mind, made their task seem less like work.

[Nasrin]

Placing the next piece and pushing it down firmly, Nasrin wrinkled her nose. "Is no matter, the gloves. You make me new ones, yes? Something pretty and pink. Too much...green here!" Though they had lived amongst the foliage for some time now (since the Spring, her mind provided) Nasrin had not yet grown used to the sheer amount of GREEN slapping her in the face every which way she looked. Ayana might enjoy such a garish amount of pigment but Nasrin felt herself longing sometimes for the shining white and gold alabaster of home, the hot yellow sands and an unobstructed view of the pale blue sky. Everywhere she looked here it was all leaves, leaves, leaves. And apes. Feeling a trickle of sweat on her brow, she moved a silk-clad hand to wipe it; too late did she realize her mistake. As she pulled her hand away, the glove did not follow, and remained stuck to her forehead like a jellyfish.

[Ayana]

Pink. Why pink? Any other colour in the world, and she'd have been ecstatic. Pink was probably her least favourite colour, right after white. Still, if Nasrin wanted pink gloves, she supposed she could dye them a light rose. It would go lovely with her skin, she admitted begrudgingly. But, the gloves would have to wait. There was no sense in making a perfectly good pair for Nasrin while she was still working. Speaking of Nasrin, the poor girl had managed to get her glove stuck to her forehead. A soft sigh left Ayana's lips, pressing her board into place before scooting closer. "Let me see." Careful to keep her glued up fingers from touching the girl, she gently tried to pry the glove, finger by finger, from the girl's forehead. Slowly, oh so slowly, the first finger was pulled free, leaving the skin beneath slightly red and sore. Ayana's lips pulled down into a small frown. "Hmm.. Maybe there's a better way to go about this.." Looking around, she spotted Shaira, carefully darting over to speak with the large ape. "Sorry to trouble, but my friend has slight problem." The ape looked around Ayana to spot Nasrin, a heartily, guttural laugh erupting in her throat. "You should pull her free, before it hardens." The Eypharian rolled her eyes. "Is there way to... soften the resin? Make it less sticky?" Shaira seemed annoyed, turning away. "Simpler to pull it free." It didn't seem like the ape would be sharing any more tips. It was likely the process of thinning the resin would take time, something that would cut into their work. The Eypharian came back to her friend, apologies in her eyes as she reached forward to again tug the glove free.

[Nasrin]

Hissing, Nasrin scrunched her nose against the sting as the pinky finger of her fine glove was peeled ever so slowly from her forehead. The sensation was comparable to the hair-removal procedure that she sometimes indulged in, in which warmed wax was applied to the skin and then removed with a clean strip of linen. However, that process was much faster and not practiced anywhere so delicate or precious as her face. The removal of the sticky silk left an unpleasantly red splotch on her forehead, and though she couldn't see it she could tell by Ayana's expression that it wasn't a fetching look for her. Intensely annoyed that Sharai offered no real solution, Nasrin mumbled quite a rude phrase under her breath. The resin was drying quickly and Nasrin had no desire to find out what life would be like with a glove stuck to her face permanently. "By Dira, Ayana...just...just do it! All in one go!" Bracing her hands on the boards below, Nasrin closed her eyes and prepared herself for the inevitable sting.