[Petal of the Timid Cougar] Housing Thread 2

[Nasrin]

14th of Fall, 512 A trickle of moisture snaked its way down Nasrin's temple, catching in the fine hairs there, curled by sweat. Her arms ached deeply, the unfamiliar and repetitive motions of her work causing her muscles to burn with effort. Reaching up, she paused in her task for a moment to wipe away the offending bead of sweat. For the past few hours she'd been taking a small rectangular piece of metal, sharpened on one side, to the wooden surfaces of her roughly carved furniture. Sharai and her team of builders had carved the giant pieces of wood so that her bed and worktable were simply extensions of the floor, rising up out of the grain like waves. They had not, however, smoothed or finished the wood, leaving Nasrin with the scaper and a smirk. It had taken her precious hours to figure out how to even use the petching thing, but finally she'd figured out how to angle the tool just so, how to apply pressure just so, to cause a thin strip of wood to curl up under the scraper like a panicked worm. The builders had explained to her that she could color the pale wood, but that it would not set well unless the surface of the material was smooth. Ayana would likely wish to coat the lower floor, her space, in all manner of bright and shocking colors. Nasrin would be taking a more understated approach, though she did appreciate Ayana's eye for flair. Her upper floor she would be staining in dark, luxurious tones, the deep toasted browns of tea and coffee meeting the light, clean cream of the wood's natural hue.

[Ayana]

Ayana huffed as she entered their shared home, four of her six arms carrying an assortment of paints and brushes, a smile spread full on her lips. Today was to be spent personalizing their new home, and for her, that meant colour. Lots of colour. Her eyes drifted towards her younger companion, stepping lightly towards her and her work. "You have got better, yes." Her voice held none of the teasing malice that normally coated her words, her tone friendly and familiar. Ayana was obviously in very high spirits today. Her arms growing tired, she set her paint down, giving her limbs a well deserved break. "Have you thought which colour you want? I need to know before I sew." Her gaze wandered over the furniture they had been left with, imagining the variety of colours and shades the wood could be changed to, and what colours she'd need to dye the fabric for the pillows she planned to sew for them. Maybe a red. Red went well with wood tones. Unless they were red too. Then she'd leave the fabric white. Turning back to Nasrin, Ayana tilted her head in slight question, waiting for an answer.

[Nasrin]

Nasrin grinned, glowing with pride at Ayana's compliment. Though her fellow Eypharian was only a scant few years older than her, she did look up to her and viewed her as an older sister, though she'd cut her own nose off before she let her know it. Nasrin had been the next to youngest child in her family, and since leaving home she'd felt the loss of her older siblings' guidance heavily, until she and Ayana had become close. "Yes, I am much better now. Soon, I will take those smelly Jamoura's jobs from them!" she joked lightly. Dubiously eyeing the armful of paints (which was a lot, considering it was an Eypharian armful,) she glanced at Ayana shiftily. "I was thinking natural colors. You know, relaxing. Creams and browns, maybe some nice blue, since I know you'll sneak something bright in there anyways."