[Log] Can I Help?
Who: Reighley, Zahava
When: Day 6, Month 1, Turn 9
Where: Inner Caverns, Fort Weyr
What: Reighley runs into Zahava, who's making a belt.
Inner Caverns
Lower than the Living Cavern above, this room is still a large, bustling place. Hearths heat some of the areas here, allowing elderly and ill residents to rest here rather than mount the steps to the Living Cavern above. Rooms open out to the storerooms, the children's areas, the private rooms of staff members and some of the residents. Laundry rooms and bathing areas down one set of stairs draw near-constant traffic throughout the day.
Two long corridors lead off of here, one to the east and one to the south, going to the 'crafter' and 'staff' hallways respectively. Noise drifts out from the curtain to the northeast that leads to the residents dorms, and a small bubble cavern to the north leads to the 'resident hallway'. A short flight of stairs to the west leads back to the Living Caverns.
Contents:
Zahava
Obvious exits:
Central Stores Records Room Hot Spring Candidates' Barracks Residents' Dorm Guest Room Living Cavern
With winter going strong outside, many residents have retreaded to the inner caverns, and Zahava is one of them. Seated near one of the hearths, the woman has a thin board in her lap, and her hands are busy knotting tri-colored strings around one another - cream, tan and brown - in a complex pattern. About two feet of the two-inch-wide work has been completed, and the remaining, unknotted strings are still very long. At the table beside her hand, a goblet holds a steaming red liquid, still half-full.
Reighley exits one of the side corridors off the inner caverns, into the main area. She heads straight to the hearths, rubbing at her arms idly as she comes to stand by the warm fire. This phase lasts a minute or two, before she glances around again and notes Zahava nearby. Eyeing her work curiously, she watches another minute before finally venturing closer to continue observing over her shoulder.
The passage is busy enough that Zahava doesn't really look up when Reighley stops nearby, her attention on the rhythmic turn, tuck, twist, knot patterning. After a few moments, though, the presense filters into her consciousness and she glances up, her fingers going still mid-knot. "Oh, hello," she greets ther girl, recognition in her voice. "Reighley, isn't it?"
Reighley nods at that, offering a brief smile. "Yeah, that's right," she agrees. "You're... Um. I don't know who you are, exactly, sorry. I forget. What are you doing?"
"Zahava, assistant headwoman," she supplies. "I am making a belt," she continues, lifting the knotted portion of the project on the palm of her hand and then glancing up at the girl.
Reighley eyes the beginnings of the belt with unhidden curiousity. "Who's it for?" is her next question, followed closely by, "Can I help?"
Zahava tilts her head to the side slightly. "This one is for me," she says, peering at it thoughtfully. "Hmmm, if you'd like, you could keep the ends from tangling as I work," she offers, showing how the long ends try to knot themselves with each knot she makes at the other end.
Reighley eyes the cords speculatively, glancing back at the belt and then Zahava. "This is just busy work because I asked, isn't it?" she asks. Still, she moves to gather up the trailing ends and sort them out.
"Sort of," Zahava says honestly. "But I have to stop and untangle them every few minutes without someone to do it," she continues. "My sister used to do that for me," she adds with a smile.
For that honesty, Reighley grins, nodding once. "Okay. I don't mind, really. I've never made a belt before. Do you do this a lot?" she asks as she gets everything straightened out properly.
"When I have some free time," Zahava says, her hands picking up their work again, eyes flicking between that and the girl. "Back home, I learned it as a kid, mending fishing nets, then I started making shoulder knots, and then I started learned the decorative knotting. I've done a few belts, some bracelets and necklaces with embroidery thread, and a big hanging I have in my room."
Reighley studies the belt again, leaning closer to stare at it. "Huh. It looks kind of fun. But I don't think I'd have the patience for it," she admits. "Does it take a really long time to make something? What does your hanging look like?"
Zahava's hands continue to work the knots. "It does take a pretty long time," she confirms wryly. "The hanging is a sunburst pattern, about as wide as I am tall, perhaps a little less. That project took me over a turn to finish, and I did it in sections, then sewed them together at the end."
Reighley wrinkles her nose. "I definitely don't have patience for that," she admits, nodding once. "A whole turn? That's like--forever! A whole twelfth of my life." She eyes the belt again, then glances at the cords she holds, sorting them back out again for Zahava. "It sounds nice, though. Pretty. Can you make me something?"
Zahava flashes a quick smile, nodding. "Sure, what would you like? A little bracelet or chocker necklace wouldn't take me very long to do," she offers.
Reighley breaks into a broader grin, nodding. "A necklace? That'd be nice. I don't ever wear stuff like that, but... Well. I'm older now," she says, smiling.
"What are your favorite colors?" Zahava asks the girl, casting a quick glance and a smile at her, before looking down again at the knotting.
"I like..." Reighley pauses, frowning and biting her lip as she thinks. "I like green a lot," she decides. "And blue. I have lots of clothes those colors."
"Well, how about a necklace in green and blue, then?" Zahava suggests. "It'll take me a few sevendays, though," she cautions.
Reighley's bright grin returns at that. "I'd like that, please. I don't mind waiting--no hurry, you know." Pause. "How much will it cost?"
"For you?" Zahava says with a grin. "Just a sixty-fourth," she assures, shaking her head.
"That's all?" Reighley asks skeptically. "Well, okay. If you're suuure? I think I have that much, back in my press. Do you need it now, or when you're done?"
Zahava shakes her head again. "When I'm done, if you like it, you can pay me, then," she says.
Reighley nods. "All right. I'll pay you then," she agrees. "Thanks. Just... Well, it's easy to find me, I think, when you're done, so. I'll have it then for you," promises the girl. "Thanks."
"You can thank me if you like the bracelet," Zahava says with a smile just as a young woman emerges from the living caverns. "Zahava, Ma'am? You're needed in the kitchens," she says. Zahava nods, finishing her current knot, "I'll be right there," she tells the woman before looking back to Reighley. "And that's the main reason these things take so long - interruptions. Thank you for your help."
"You're welcome," Reighley says, grinning again. "I guess I'll see you later. Bye."