The clothes make the man... [Attn. Aservus & Ranch Open]

[Guest Celes]

The sun was out and so was Aki, her legs crossed over each other she sat on the wooden bench outside of Cari’s house. The other woman was out to the market today and Aki was waiting for her to bring some cloth she had asked for, all the while spending some time on a dress she had nearly finished. With a satisfied smile, Aki fingered the pattern and the seams of the deep blue dress she’d made for Sara Hinge, a local woman who needed a full new wardrobe after her third child. She had found Cari in her shop one day wearing a gorgeous deep brown dress with a golden thread and had asked how the woman had gotten to such a beautiful gown, to which Cari replied she had a new tenant at the ranch, one gifted with needle and thread. The woman wasted no time and a day later appeared on Cari’s doorstep, carrying a basket of honey rolls and not so subtly inquiring after this new tenant, the seamstress. Aki was introduced and soon found herself taking on a job for a sky-blue dress, one she knew in an instant would never suit the woman. She would never make another dress for Sara Hinge if the first were sky blue, as the woman wanted to look young and thin, not plump and motherly.

 

The dress was a deep blue color, Aki had convinced Sara that it matched the woman’s eyes and was now working on the final touch ups to make sure that Sara would look the way she wanted to in the dress. Aki did not care that her subject had put on twenty pounds ‘eating for her child’, she put in soft lines and different types of fabric to put a shade over the side of the dress which would slim Sara down just to the size she liked to see herself in. The measuring had been difficult as Sara kept turning to look at herself in Aki’s mirror, asking why Aki had to measure every inch of her body, rather than just her legs and arms and maybe her torso. Aki smiled, put some more pins in her mouth to remain from speaking and started to drape black cloth around Sara’s bare arms. The woman nearly squealed that she had asked for bright sky blue and here the dance began. Aki sat back and watched the new arrivals who had come to work and live at the Ranch of the Rashad’ family as she let the memories of Sara fade to the background. The woman would be a good regular customer and the dress to prove that lay over her lap, almost grinning as broadly as Aki was.

 

In a way, it was strange to work on a dress for a woman and make her feel beautiful without getting something back for it. Of course, she would be paid a fair amount of coin which would pay her rent in the Ranch, but when Aki still worked for her Mistress Carmen she made dresses and settled them on young women and earned more than coin, she earned their trust and therefore their secrets. A woman’s secrets were often more valuable than a man’s as a woman lay next to a man at night and found out who he was, the side of him he did not reveal to his traders or his staff. She learned those secrets from the giddy girls, smiling in their new dresses, boasting about their lovers and their secrets. Aki looked up from a memory passing over her like a day dream and found a young man walking up to her, he looked slender and well built, maybe he was a warrior? She smiled at him and said in a soft voice, to lure him closer, “Kind sir, in need of a new suit perhaps? A shirt and pants to match that stride?” and wondered who he was.

 

Akasha Zarene “Aki”

Seamstress, DF

[Asfaloth]

Aservus N'Taldin had spent the morning cleaning stalls in the barn. He didn't mind the work but he'd come to a decision while doing it, he needed new clothes. He had come to the ranch with nothing but a few extra shirts and pants beyond what he'd worn and all if it had been black. It was too hot under this Cairhenien sun to be wearing black all day everyday, especially when he was out working in the stables or on the housing project. No, it was time he got something else to wear.

 

He returned to his room and found a clean shirt then went to find Cari. He needed to ask her help in finding someone as he still didn't know his way around the ranch or town very well yet. When he got to her house though he noticed a woman sitting outside on a bench. She appeared to be sewing something. perhaps she could help him?

 

"Kind sir, in need of a new suit perhaps? A shirt and pants to match that stride?"

 

"It just so happens that that is exactly what I need. Perhaps you can help me." as he spoke he flashed a known darkfriend sign at her. How he continued, and how much she could do for him, would depend on how she answered. "I need some clothes that will serve many different purposes, both here and elsewhere. Is this something you think you'd be interested in?"