Solo Birthday Bash

[Rosela]

Timestamp: 24th of Summer, 513AV

Rosela awoke on her birthday with an instinctive sense of hope. She'd mentioned briefly in conversations that today was her birthday, and she'd gotten the occasional well-wish, though not much more than that. Still, she couldn't help but hope that someone, among the many, many people she dealt with, had done something special for her.

The sun still shone the same as it always did, though she tried to count it as a plus that at least it wasn't raining. She took extra care when dressing and doing her makeup, and hummed an Arumenic birthday song to herself as she applied her blush in short, fluttering strokes. It was her birthday; it was bound to be a good day.

Birthday or not though, she had work to do, and had planned to spend at least part of the day in the shop's workroom, putting together a few new belts. The day had her feeling bold, and she was going to try a few new designs.

The sun hadn't quite touched the inside of the shop by the time she got in, but she walked with ease through the shadows that shifted to watch her pass through. The back room was dark and filled with shadows, as always.

"Good morning! Did you know? It's my birthday." She felt a bit of pride informing them, though she was fairly certain that she'd already mentioned it.

"We offer the expected congratulations."

It was hardly a cake and candles, but it was the best she was likely to get from the shadows. "Thank you."

"Working today?"

Rosela sighed dramatically. "No, just putting together a few belts before I go out for the evening."

Question answered, the shadows fell silent, as per their usual habit. Rosela knew better than to try and pull small talk out of them - it usually ended up with her frustrated and confused. Instead, she sat down at her work desk and pulled up the strips of leather she'd been working with the night before.

[Rosela]

It wasn't long before Rosela firmly regretted starting on the belts. Her wrists were sore and her fingertips were red and tender from pushing the small, curved needle through the tough leather. These particular designs were something she hadn't tried before, employing cutouts in the leather to see through to the darker base. It looked great so far, but she'd discovered the cutouts were too loose and fragile on their own. This meant that she'd be spending much of her time stitching around the cutouts to sew the edges to the base, and she wouldn't be getting nearly as many done that day as she'd hoped.

At least it looked good - ever her one saving grace. She'd started with a simple design of diamonds, but had bigger plans once she'd tested the technique.

"Hey, shadows?" She didn't know why she always waited for a response. If they knew she was talking to them, they didn't bother with the pleasantries of starting a conversation. "Do you have birthdays? I know you're not really born and all, but do you have...I don't know, first-time-cast days?"

"As long as there has been light and earth, there has been shadow."

Rosela hummed thoughtfully but did not respond right away. They never seemed to mind if she took her time in responding; she wondered if it was because they didn't talk to many people. Grunting as she finally pulled the needle through again, she pulled the thread through and looked particularly at the shadow in the corner in her desk. "Do you celebrate anything at all?"

"We celebrate in the joy of our dark Mother."

"That makes sense... Does Akajia have a birthday then?"

"We do not contemplate our Mother's origin." Its tone was slightly miffed, as though it were insulted.

[Rosela]

Pulling the needle through once more, Rosela changed the subject. It was getting to be lunch time, and though she had resolved to have left by now, she didn't want to leave her work so far behind. "So you can you see the Kulkukan Tavern right now? You can see into other buildings, right?"

With the tone of an ever-patient teacher answering an oft-repeated question, "We cannot see into other buildings, but we are connected to the shadows that exist there." There was a pause, and as though anticipating her question, it continued. "There is a large gathering there now. Many people continue to enter."

Rosela hoped, irrationally - she immediately realized, that it was a party for her. Thinking it through, she frowned. She couldn't crash someone else's party, trying to drum up support for her own. It kicked down her evening plans a notch, but she mentally ran through the taverns she knew. She wouldn't find anyone at the Crystal Rose, not unless she played the stood-up-date scenario again. The same would go with the actual restaurants in town, not enough casual interaction to draw in a stranger.

"What about... What about the White Crane?"

"It appears to be quite deserted." There was a brief pause as Rosela assumed the shadows communicated with each other. "There is some objection to the music today."

"The musiiic..." Rosela whined. She had little enough ear for music and if no one else liked what was playing, she didn't have much hope for herself. "What about, I don't know, the Blue Bull?"

"Much of the city guard is there." Rosela perked up. The Kuvay'nas were always an option for a good time. "There is a marriage occuring in short time for one of the members." The words were offered almost hopefully, as though it expected to cheer her up. Instead, Rosela sighed and tossed the nearly-finished belt onto the table. She wasn't about to try and jump in on a stag party.

"Thanks..." She murmured morosely into the darkness.

"Will you be attending the gathering in the Blue Bull?"

"No..."

"Which will you attend?"

Rosela hesitated, spinning the small leather needle flat on the table. She didn't want to attend any of them, but it seemed inconceivable that she not have anything to do on her own birthday. It had always been simply...taken care of for her.

"Let me just...Let's just finish these belts, hm? Maybe something will open up by the time we're done."

[Rosela]

It took Rosela the length of another belt to come up with an alternate plan. She didn't need a bunch of men fawning over her to have a good birthday. Granted, it would have been nice, but there were other ways to treat herself. This time, however, she couldn't ask the shadows to do her dirty work.

Pushing the needle through the belt once more, she looped around and pushed it back through, twisting it to get it through the leather as quickly as possible. "I have a plan," she announced triumphantly to the shadows. "There's that - mmf - Baha'Tian Resorts downtown, and I've never - mmmf! - been there. It's supposed to be really - come... on... - nice." Her voice was strained with the effort of stitching quickly, the leather as strong as ever in spite of her need to hurry.

The design was a series of X's this time. It required significantly more stitching to keep the cutout edges in place, but by using a thread the same color as the dark brown backing leather, it created a nice effect.

"There is a great number of people there now." The shadows sounded almost hopeful for her, but as she couldn't help but wonder if she was simply ascribing her own emotions to them. She wanted to think they cared for her, but it was hard to tell.

"Good. I like meeting new..." She paused to tie the thread into its intricate hidden knot. "People." Throwing it down, she jabbed the needle into her waiting pincushion and stood up with a stretch. She blew a kiss to the shadowed workroom as she strutted out. "Wish me luck!"

The day that had started out so sunny and carefree had darkened slightly, with ominous clouds overhead that threatened a summer storm. Walking quickly, Rosela tried not to let it get to her, and instead anticipated listening to the calming sounds of rain while getting a nice massage.

[Rosela]

"I'm really sorry, Miss. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do." The young Akalak behind the counter seemed genuinely saddened as he returned from the back hallway. "I tried to see if we could get even one room open, but they're all booked solid for the rest of the night."

"Not even..." Rosela cleared her throat to keep her voice from trembling. "Not even for my...birthday?"

The poor boy looked crushed and he sagged noticeably. "I'm so sorry... There's absolultely nothing open." Glancing around at the empty waiting area, he leaned in conspiratorially. "It's these petch- I mean, these awful people from Kenash. They waltz in here, thirty people, no reservations, just throwing mizas everywhere. They've been running us ragged all day."

"Lasha, we need - oh." A brisk Akontak woman turned out of the hallway and stopped abruptly as she saw Rosela. "Ahem, I'm sorry. Lasha, when you get a chance?"

The Akalak looked back at Rosela, stricken. She waved her hand, attempting to get as close to nonchalant as she could get. "It's okay, I'm...I'll try again another day."

"Let me take your name. I'll leave a note for the manager and I'm sure he'll give you a good discount for not having any room today."

It wasn't a room now, but it was a small consolation. "Rosela. The Clothier."

"Oh, you own that Red Diamond place, right? My mother shops there all the time."

"That's lovely. Do tell her to remind me of you when she comes in." It was always nice to meet part of her customer base, but at the moment, she simply did not have the energy for it.

"Will do. And um... Happy birthday."

"Thank you."

Back outside, Rosela meandered slowly back to the shop. There had to be something she didn't think of. A gust ran along the road and she wrapped her arms around herself. Were there any other resorts in the city? Any other bars? She knew of that shady-looking place, the Rat Hole, but she just couldn't bring herself to stoop that low. Only sad, lonely girls took themselves out to dinner on their birthdays, and even if she was miserable, she'd die before broadcasting it to an entire restaurant. Maybe she could just go to the bakery and -

"Ah! No, no, no! Petching rain!" As though it were being laid delicately upon the earth, she saw the curtain of rain rush towards her along the street. After a moment's hesitation as to whether she should try to make it home or to the shop, the rain hit her while she stood there. All six arms flew over her head and hair, and she sprinted furiously down the street, cursing in Arumenic between breaths.

[Rosela]

The glass in the door rattled as Rosela slammed it behind her. Her hair was all but soaked, and she was positive her makeup was running. A quick, miserable glance in the mirror at the back showed her she was right. Wet, alone, and sodden, all on her birthday.

The shadows were silent as she trudged to the back, kicking off her sandals hard enough to send them skittering across the floor.

"I assume you saw?" Rosela asked bitterly of the darkness.

"The Kenasherns have done extensive traveling about the city."

"Yea." She couldn't say much else. She was out of ideas. Plopping down in her chair, she picked up the next pair of leather strips, flipping them over in her hands. "I guess I'm not sure what I expected... I didn't even plan anything. What was I thinking..." She was speaking more to herself now, staring at the leather in her hands. "Who would I have spent it with anyway? A bunch of strangers..." The idea actually appealed, but the snorted scornfully to make herself feel better. Against her will, her bottom lip trembled.

Trying to distract herself, she grabbed her leather knife and set the top layer of leather on a book in her lap. Alone, on her birthday. Her eyes filled and she rapidly blinked the tears back. Normally, she imprinted what she was going to cut out before she actually did it, but she'd had enough of planning for one day. She needed to do something.

"When I turned twelve, I remember that birthday...too. Everything was decorated and there was this huge cake... Well, it seemed huge at the time; was probably just regular size. Pink, everything was pink. I'd invited everyone I knew, and I'm sure my parents leaned on a few families to come. But...no one did." She sniffed quietly, one hand rubbing at her cold nose. One wrist twisted the knife along the leather, outlining the running horse silhouette she'd had in her head.

"My Nani gave me all the excuses in the world, and said it wasn't my fault. I...I don't even remember what I thought at the time. I just remember...sitting there in my party dress, watching the servants take down the streamers. I don't know what happened to the cake." The knife turned again to round the haunches and extend out into the tail. She sniffled again and cleared her throat in an attempt to pull herself together. "I don't know why they set me up for such a huge disappointment. Everyone but me knew perfectly well that all the children in the families my parents socialized with were too old. Who would want..." Her voice broke and her lip trembled, dangerously close to tears. She pulled at the leather cutout, attempting to remove the middle, but it was caught by a tiny bit of leather on one hoof. With shaking hands, she cut it away.

"The concept of the birth-day is to celebrate an additional year of survival." The shadows' voice was quiet. "Yours is a social species, lending to the idea that one requires social interaction in order to bring on a celebratory mood. However, this is not...required."

Despite the fact that they were technically right, and she knew they were trying to make her feel better, it didn't help in the slightest. Looking down at her horse cutout, she strongly and harshly cursed herself for not doing the initial outline. It looked terrible. Hardly a horse at all.

Throwing the belt to the corner, where it curled up in the base of a shadow, she pulled her knees up to wrap her arms around them. Wet, and starting to get cold, she would have given anything in the world for someone to come up behind her and put a cloak over her shoulders. As it was, her cloak was at home and she couldn't risk getting one of the shop's wet. Burying her head in her knees, the shadows could only watch as she slowly gave in and cried.

[Taylani]

Rosela

Skills :

+3 socialization
+ 4 leatherworking

Lores :

Gnosis: Shadows are poor at small talk
Leatherworking: cut outs fragile alone.

Notes :

Aww now really I am going to have to flog Favchean for not sending Rosela a Birthday note at very least..nevermind that he didn’t know. Poor Rosela. But I enjoyed reading it. Please PM me if you have any concerns about your grade and don’t forget to delete/edit your grade request