• Graded • [The Menagerie] Old Friends, New Customs

[Faith Augustin]

100th Ashan 717

"Is it odd that we're doing this, do you think?" Faith asked as she slipped an arm around his waist, once he had locked the door to their house and they started walking down the street towards the Menagerie. "Going to visit our Enormowl friend?" One of the good things about being so short, she considered as they walked was that she fitted just perfectly where she was. Of course, that was as much to do with him being the height he was too. Realising what she was thinking, Faith grinned at him. "I'm just the right amount of short for you, have you noticed?"

Quite how these things came into her head, Faith really didn't know. What she was clear on, however, was that it was good to be able to walk in the sunshine with him, not concerned about his eyes. She had finally stopped worrying about that and the relief which she felt as she glanced at him was enormous. "How long do you think it will be until your grandfather replies?" Faith glanced up at him, her arm around his waist tightening.

"I asked Kura, Lady Elyna, Tristan and Lord Andraska about the name Nardovino. I don't know if anything will come from any of them." Glancing at him with a slight smile she considered a simple truth. "I've spent not enough time thinking about how to proceed with that and far too much time considering weddings, these last few trials." Her eyes twinkled in amusement at that thought. "Galena has loaned me a book on Scalvoris traditions." Her mentor was fast becoming her friend, it was obvious every time Faith spoke of the woman. "We're already doing it wrong. There are supposed to be boxes and things."

Did he want to do it all following tradition, she asked as they walked together? If so, he needed to buy some boxes for putting ribbons and ropes into.Passing a group of teenagers who were lounging on the grass together as they chatted, Faith glanced at them and smiled. They were all sporting similar clothing, fashion among the teens of Scalvoris at the moment. Waistcoats, hats and bright cotton handkerchiefs for the boys, scarves which would usually drape around the neck tied around the waist for the girls.

Faith smiled as the Menagerie started to come into view and considered. Some of those teenagers were thirteen or fourteen arcs old. Much to her surprise she was only eighteen herself, although she would be nineteen in Saun. She had really thought that she would be older. At least she could be sure of her date of birth, she considered, because of the short number of trials in Saun, perfect memory and that being the time that there were two suns in the sky. "How did you celebrate birthtrials?" Nothing like a straightforward question, she considered and she smiled. "I've never had one. I'll be nineteen on the first of Saun, and I wonder what I'm supposed to do." She had not been taught such by the owners, Jamal and Mildred had not celebrated any and Tristan's birthtrial had not happened whilst he owned her. So she literally had no idea at all what to do.

[Padraig]

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Just the right amount of short? Padraig grinned curiously after locking the door, and that after having a tussle with Cosmo just inside in order to make sure he stayed there till they returned. Draping his arm round her shoulder then, he considered it. "I think you're right," he teased Faith. "I wonder if there's some sort of mathematical equation for this."

It did seem a little strange to call on an animal that had made a mess of their garden before roosting on their chimney. And one that had eaten them out of house and home before Karem had shown up with a better option. Still, he'd grown somewhat fond of the over-sized bird that night, and wanted to be sure the thing was doing alright now that he'd been returned to the menagerie.

"I'm not sure." When his grandfather would reply, he meant. "Like I said before, he's not much of a letter writer. I wouldn't put it past him to just turn up one trial, now he knows where we are." Surely, he'd come though, Padraig thought. It was true that they hadn't really communicated since he'd left home. But they were family, after all, and he knew that his grandfather cared, even in his own way.

He thought, he told her, that each of them could be forgiven for preferring to think on happier things, like the wedding. Though he did hope she'd hear something back from those she'd asked about the name she'd been born with. If for no other reason, then some sense of closure. "What do you mean, boxes and things?" he asked. "And when have we ever done anything in the expected, ordinary way?" he asked.

Traditional? Well the same applied didn't it? Nothing they'd done since they'd met had been all that conventional. It seemed strange to him that they'd choose to start with their wedding, he told her. "What are the ribbons and ropes for?" he asked as they passed the group of youngsters. He glanced at them, took in their appearance and while something there, or not there caught his eye, his focus was currently elsewhere.

"Birthtrial?" he asked curiously as they approached the entrance to the menagerie. "I don't know. My grandfather wasn't much for celebrations. There tended to be a special meal on that trial, and he usually had something for me. A gift," Padraig explained. "A book about science or a blank one to write in. Or other things he hoped I'd be interested in."

And as soon as they stepped inside the reception that was positioned between the street and the area where the animals were kept, a man there behind a desk recognized them and grunted a greeting before saying, "You know, you two may have ruined that enormowl. He insists on being hand fed now, doesn't like anyone in his cage and is always hooting and calling out the bars into distance. I think he might be looking for you."

[Faith Augustin]

Some sort of mathematical equation? "Of course there is." Faith teased him back, although she sounded quite certain. "It is sought after as the ultimate expression of mathematics. Perfect balance which confirms, with absolute certainty, that nothing is impossible. Even perfection." With a smile up at him she was quite content to walk together, nestled next to him and their steps moving in unison.

He was concerned about his grandfather, she thought. Not exactly worried, it wasn't strong enough to be worry but there was a niggle there. "Well, whether he writes back, arrives or neither of those things, it's good that you've written to him. He's your family and if there's some reason he can't come to the wedding?" Faith had no doubts whatsoever about her stance on that. "Well, we'll just have to write to people again, tell them there's a change of plan then take the wedding to him." That was no bother, after all.

On the subject of boxes, ropes and ribbons, though, Faith smiled. "There are boxes which are bought or made by the person who proposes, traditionally. Then, one of us gathers up ribbons and the other ropes. We decide how many of each. Each one is supposed to represent a memory or something significant to us. Keep them in the boxes and exchange them the trial before, when we braid them together. During the ceremony my hand is tied to your hand with them." If that was what they wanted, Faith said. If it wasn't, then they'd do it their way. "It's all based around a wedding of body, mind and spirit. That symbolises the body. We're supposed to stay tied together all trial."

She gave a shrug, which she entirely meant. "I just want to do it right for us, Padraig. I don't care how we do it, as long as you and I are happy. It's the only time we're going to do it, after all." At least if she got the whole birthtrial wrong, she thought, she could put it right the following arc. He explained what his grandfather had used to do on his, but that just caused a frown on her face. "No, I don't mean like that. I mean." What did she mean, exactly, she wondered. Then, she realised, he was talking about it in a way she did not really comprehend. "I mean what am I supposed to do? " There must be things she had to do, Faith reasoned. "Jobs, tasks, chores. Things to do?" In fairness, she still had trouble with sitting still. She was better, much better, but birthdays might just be a step too far.

As they got to the menagerie, pausing in their conversation just long enough to sign in, Faith looked at the man who accused them of ruining the enormowl "I'm sorry. We didn't know what to do with it when it landed on our roof. It was unnerving, you know, it's very large. My apologies if it inconveniences you now, but we did our best" Then they went to visit the enormowl they had, apparently, ruined. Faith wondered if that meant they had to keep it and considered asking, but decided that Padraig was having a good trial and she didn't want to ruin it.

[Padraig]

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"You think?" Padraig had teased when Faith confirmed that yes, there must be a mathematical equation designed just for the making of romantic pairings. If that was so, he suggested, then some ambitious young entrepreneur should start up a matchmaking business. "They'd make a bundle," he added.

But no, he'd argued. There was no reason to think they ought to delay their wedding or move it for his grandfather's sake. No reason to think he hadn't received the letter. So he'd either write or he wouldn't. "My suspicion is that if he intends to come, he'll be turning up on our doorstep without announcing himself first." It was more like the old man, and much more what Padraig would expect of him.

"So how many then?" he asked when Faithi mentioned the ribbons and ropes. It was an unusual tradition, but it had a certain appeal. But if they were going to do it, then best to do it right. "And all trial?" Naturally his mind wandered to practical things, and those personal things that even married couples might not ordinarily be inclined to share. Not a very romantic thought however and he grinned, opting not to mention it.

As for her birth trial? Well she'd never had one before and he resolved to make it special for her. But as for what she should do, the answer was simple. "It's not for you to do anything except for what pleases you. You just enjoy it. That's what you do."

But spoiled enormowl's were a different conundrum. And in truth, that one belonged to the thing's keepers and not them. Still, "I apologize. Luring it with food was the only way we could get it to follow us back." And as they were shown to the place where the owl was kept, one glance at Faith revealed what was on her mind. "Don't even think about it," he whispered with a grin.

Turned out, the enormowl's cage was a very large one by necessity. There was a smaller indoor area where the creature could get in out of the weather, which connected to a much larger one outdoors where there was plenty of room to move around and spread his wings. He was indoors at the moment though and when he saw Faith and Padraig, he perked up and hooted excitedly.

"Have a look around if you want," the man told them, and then he was gone. Padraig smiled and slipped a hand through the cage to ruffle the creature's feathers. "Word has it you've caused a bit of trouble since we last met." When they'd arrived the owl had been resting in a corner. And now that he'd moved, at least Faith from her vantage could see he'd been sitting on something. Cloth or felt, black...Hard to see without getting closer, but it definitely was something out of place.

[Faith Augustin]

When Padraig said that his grandfather was as likely to turn up unannounced as anything else, Faith decided there and then that, from the moment they got home, each of the three spare bedrooms they had would be made up. Beds made, aired and warm and with the little touches which she continued to make for the house. Crocheted cushions, delicate covers and throws for the chairs in the rooms. Knitted blankets on the beds and quilts which she'd made and would continue to. She'd made curtains already and she just put aside a break or two, each trial, in order to ensure that their house had all the finishing touches it needed to be a home, and welcoming to those who came there.

She didn't answer just then, when he asked how many ribbons and ropes because her attention was taken with his incredulous 'all trial?' question. Faith glanced up at him and recognised by the look on his face that he was thinking in a much more practical, problem solving manner than she was and she smiled a slight smile then bumped herself against him, "From the time it happens in the ceremony," she explained, "for the rest of the trial, yes. We're supposed to dance together, eat, all of that stuff in the party after, with our hands tied together. Lets get married and noon and do that business in the morning." Her raised eyebrow told him all he needed to know about what she thought, but she said it anyway. "A practical romantic is an oxymoron, you know. The idea is that we fall asleep with our hands still tied together." Her grin then, though, was pure mischief. "Eventually."

Once they were through the reception area she considered what he said about her birth trial. "My ideal trial is one spent with you. Lets do that. I don't need gifts or meals just a whole trial the two of us?" Faith smiled up at him at that prospect. However, his recognition of what she was thinking with regards to the enormowl caused the smile to turn into a very amused scowl. "I have already thought about it. Besides, that is a foolish demand. It is like me telling you not to think about grasshoppers. Don't. No matter what. See? You already have. We have room you know." Faith gave him a grin and then turned her attention to the owl.

Who was, undoubtedly, pleased to see them. However, Faith turned her attention to the inside of the cage. "What have you been doing?" Her voice was soft, the same tone she had used when chatting to the enormowl in the garden after Padraig had abandoned her (or so she would tell it). "Padraig, look." Motioning to what she could see, Faith looked at then moved towards the door to the enormowl cage. "Can we come in and talk to you? Would that be alright?" If it let her then she would go in to the cage and fuss the enormous bird.

It didn't even occur to her that she should have any fear, which was a good job, as she didn't. "Look, there's some fabric or something over there? Hello you. Hello, how are you?" Ruffling the enormowl's feathers, Faith was happy to fuss the beast which towered over her and around her and was generally huge in comparison, whilst Padraig spied what she had. "I think three is good. Ribbons and ropes, I mean. Past, present, future." Standing in a cage with a huge beast and them together? Where else would she say that? "It's what you are to me, what I believe I am to you. Past, present, future." A deep frown settled on her face. "What is that he's hiding? Do you think that you can grab it?"

Off Topic

Deduction from ledger in detail:
20 yds of Linen: 30gn
30 yds of Cotton: 36gn
20x Ball of yarn: 10gn
20 x Packs of Fabric Scraps (10 x pack): 10gn
Total: 86gn. Then 10% deducted cos of her fame level. = Total Paid: 77gn 4sn

Turned into covers, cushions, blankets, quilts, throws etc over the next season and identified as "Finishing Touches" in my ledger and linked to this thread

[Padraig]

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If he'd known she was planning to dive straight into a decorating frenzy as soon as they returned home, Padraig might not have mentioned his grandfather's tendency to act without bothering to inform others in advance.

On the one hand, he admired her dedication and determination and loved her all the more for it. On the other, he'd tell her she needn't go to any great lengths. Cy Augustin was a man of simple tastes and wasn't bothered about that sort of thing.

"Alright. Noon then," he'd agreed, and grinned when she made the suggestion. But of course his mind had gotten round to the what ifs. He was a scientist, and it was what scientists did. "Are you surprised though?" he asked when she teased him about it.

If she thought he'd let her birth trial go past without doing something special...Well, she knew him better than that. Just as he'd known what was on her mind. "If you mean room, by space on the roof for a giant owl, then sure," he admitted. But unless they were to each pour all of their combined income into feeding the thing, soon enough it would turn to their neighbors' cats and dogs for sustenance.

So three ribbons and ropes, past, present, future. Just three? That was easy. Or on the other hand he might have trouble picking just those out of many more. The owl was definitely hiding something in his cage. Or at least he'd been sitting on it when they arrived, and much of his body was now blocking it from their view.

But Padraig didn't have any reservations about slipping into the cage now or having Faith distract the thing. The creature knew them now and seemed to have formed something of an attachment. So he slipped past, walked to the corner and picked up the object. It became obvious then what it was. "It's a hat." And indeed it was. Black felt, and it must have been a fairly expensive one. A top hat, though it was a little worse for wear now, presumably from being handled by an enormowl.

[Faith Augustin]

Was she surprised at his focus on the practical? Faith did not answer with words, but her grin told him everything she thought. His was a mind attuned, after all, to science and problem solving, to seeing something and then considering it from all angles. There was no part of him she would change and so no, she was not surprised any more than she was disappointed.

When he spoke about how much it would cost to feed the Enormowl, though, Faith shook her head. "But now, you have taken a leap, from my most logical and sensible scientist to the wonderfully illogical and emotional man that only I see." Her smile was teasing as she looked at him. "If they cost that much to feed, the military would not function and the wild ones would prey on the town." Faith's eyes watched him and she raised an eyebrow, just slightly. However, "I understand your point, though. I think that Quattro and Cosmo would disapprove." She couldn't torment him for too long, after all.

Three ribbons and ropes. She would collect the ribbons, him the ropes and they'd come together the trial before they were wed to twine them all together, into one long cord in preparation for their wedding. On that trial, the cord made from the ribbons and ropes would hold their hands together in a symbolic gesture. Three didn't seem like anywhere near enough, she thought as she fussed the owl and spoke to him in a soft tone. Yet, it seemed right, too. There was no point to worry about it, though, they'd find their way through.

"I know it's traditional for you to buy or make the boxes, one each for us, but I thought it would be nice if I made one box that has two sections. Two parts, each one functional alone, yet only one whole." That particular suggestion was made casually as she fed the owl some of the treats she'd brought. "We can do it together if you'd like, that would be nice." She'd rather they did everything together, in truth, and not reveal things at the end. But then, Faith understood that she was not good at romantic gestures and that sometimes, she just needed to be still and allow things to take shape.

"A hat? That's odd, isn't it?" Curious silver eyes turned to regard him. "I swear, the group of teenagers we passed on the way here were wearing those." The idea that she was a teenager suddenly struck her and Faith gave a grin. "It's what all us young things are wearing these trials. How old is it?" Her hand was stroking the Enormowl and she looked at it with an expression which could only be described in words like sappy or adoring. "How did you get a hat, beautiful? Hmm?" The owl just hooted, rather sadly. Faith glanced at Padraig, wondering about the details. "Did he only just nab it? Or has it been here a while?"

[Padraig]

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"Logical, illogical, I have to keep you guessing don't I?" Padraig shot back when she teased him about changing tactics. But they could completely agree on one point. Neither Quattro or Cosmo would take kindly to having an enormowl around the house.

It was a wonderful idea though, he told her. A box that was both two and one, both at the same time. A representation of them, that could be filled with the sentiments that meant the world to them both. And of course they could do it together.

She was the carpenter, not him. But he could certainly handle a hammer and his knowledge of physics meant he could certainly manage a workable box. Immortals have mercy on him if it wasn't the case after all of that study.

With the hat in his hand however, he grinned. "So hats are in, victory curls and heels are out?" he teased her. But Faith was right. They'd passed a group of teenagers on their way to the menagerie, the boys had been wearing hats, and now he thought about it, he realized what it was that had struck him as off. "All but one of them," he remembered. "One of them didn't have a hat."

"It's tattered, and yet it doesn't strike me as very old," he said, examining it before trying to hand it to Faith. Of course the enormowl had for some reason come to see the thing as his own and snatched it out of Padraig's hand, waving it up and down in it's beak, just above Faith's head.

[Faith Augustin]

It was rare that Faith bit back saying something to Padraig. Usually, and since they first met, she spoke her mind with him in a way that she did with no one else. Even when she had been Tristan's property, she had been sassy with Padraig ~ literally from the moment they met. However, with a slight smile she decided that the phrase, it'll be just like when I used to make coffins. They were big boxes probably wasn't needed or welcome. So, in a rare case of restraint she kept quiet. He'd probably know what she was thinking anyway, she considered. He had a tendency to do that.

She agreed, though, yes that was what they should do. It appealed to her, she explained, because it was at once both traditional and not, and she liked that, too. Putting their own unique stamp on what they did was important to her, because they were so uniquely themselves. Faith smiled at him and just briefly squeezed his hand, before he went into the cage.

As serious as the moment before had been, Faith could not suppress the laugh which escaped her at his words, standing there holding a hat. "I will have you know that victory curls never go out of fashion." Her eyes danced with amusement at that thought. As she always did, these trials, Faith wore her long hair straight and brushed till it shone, then tied it back in a loose braid. "I hated those things. And those shoes?" She shook her head, wondering what had possessed Tristan, but then of course, she knew. "If we ever have another child," it was the first time she'd mentioned such as a possibility and it was the first time she'd spoken of that whole situation with genuine calmness, rather than the careful control she usually maintained around the topic. "I could very easily become over cautious of the footwear assigned to dolls. I feel it only fair to warn you."

Her hand was on the owl and Faith looked at the hat as Padraig held it out and then chuckled as the owl snatched it. "Oh, you are cheeky, aren't you? May I please?" She held out her hand for the owl to drop the hat and it did, but with a very mournful hoot. "Just one with no hat? Was it the one they were teasing and ribbing?" Faith looked at Padraig and raised an eyebrow. "Do you think that this clever chap has just found something very important?" She tended to think that the coincidence of the Enormowl having a hat, which the teenager was lacking, was far too much of a coincidence to actually be one. "These break outs, nothing gets damaged they say. Just animals let out. Like it might be a prank?"

Faith glanced meaningfully at the exit, where the group of young people were. Or, she thought she did. In truth, she glanced meaningfully in entirely the opposite direction but she didn't know that. "I am unsure what to do with that theory. What do you think?" Did they make it formal, or go and have a chat with the boys in question?

[Padraig]

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Faith was right. Better she didn't mention the coffins. Neither would Padraig tell her that it had crossed his mind as well. There was no question that speaking of it would run wildly counter to the much more romantic aspects of the box that they'd create together. In fact, thoughts of that particular part of her past was sure to take the romance out of just about anything.

He'd grinned though when she mentioned the curls and the heels. The heels in particular had struck him as ridiculous, especially when she'd turned up in a pair of them for a hike out into the forest. On the other hand, it was a memory that Padraig held tight too. As outrageous as her wardrobe had been that trial and as troublesome as the outing has proven to be, he wouldn't trade it for anything.

But another child? It was the first either of them had mentioned it. But if he was honest, it wasn't the first time he'd thought of it. Before then, he wouldn't have thought that he'd ever want children. For all that the circumstances surrounding that pregnancy were unwanted and hard on them both, especially the loss itself, he'd also come to realize that maybe he did want to be father.

It wasn't the time now though to speak of it. They had another frustrating and uncooperative being to deal with. He laughed as the enormowl determined to keep the hat to himself, and Faith's efforts to snatch it from him. "I think if we're going to take it from him, we'll have to leave something with him that he wants just as much." But he thought that it must have been the boy that was being teased, when she asked about the owner of the hat.

"If it was them, I doubt they've got any lock picking experience, which means they must have had a key," he suggested. How they'd gotten it was anyone's guess but he figured she was right. Probably just a prank. His suggestion then, since he wondered if one of the boys or even the girls might be some relation to one of the keepers, was that they told the keepers what they'd discovered so they might handle it internally without a public fuss.

But if there was no relationship between the teens and any of the keepers? Then probably better they took the hat to the guard, and forwarded their suspicions so that the law could handle it from there onward.