>> ● He Loves Me, And I Love Him ● <<
Nyx is asked a matrimonial favor from her soon-to-be-wed cousin.
Nyx is asked a matrimonial favor from her soon-to-be-wed cousin.
Sitting on a thatched roof with legs crossed beneath her, Nyxamora absorbed the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves, happy to be able to focus alone without any distractions. Being in a house where you had to share every space with someone else didn’t often leave time for private endeavors, something that always had and always would eat away at her. But here on the thatched roof of the place she lived, above it all with only her own thoughts and the occasional squawking of birds to keep her company, Nyx felt at ease.
She fished around in the box by her hip, pulling out a thick needle and black string. The piece she was working on was turning out pretty great, all things considered: she was experimenting with a different kind of leather for the first time, one which was stretchier than her usual choice. It had been recommended by her supplier, and in all honesty, she just might be hooked. It was so easy to work with, and would totally improve her mobility. After threading the needle, she put that to the leather as well, adding much needed details to the solid pink surface of the vest.
Working quickly but cautiously, geometric patterns began to emerge along the hem, precise angles brought about from years of practiced experience. But just as she had begun to get her flow figured out, Nyx caught the sound of feet scuffling on wood, and labored breathing. Looking up from her work, she was met with the sight of one of her cousins shimmying around the trunk of a tree, obviously in a hurry to get the relative security of the roof under her feet again.
“Oi, Perth!” Nyx set her unfinished work aside, barking out at the idiot girl, “What are you doing, you’re gonna break your damned ne―” But it didn’t look like she was going to need to help anyone scrape a corpse off the ground today, as the other girl had made it to the roof safely. Her legs did look to be properly shaking beneath her hiked up skirts, chest heaving as she moved in closer away from the edge. Nyxamora scowled, shifting to sit in front of the half finished vest and box by her side. “Are you daft? Why did you climb up here, and in skirts? Do you have a death wish?”
Perth returned the scowl shot her way, puffy pink lips pinching together petulantly, “I’m not an idiot; I know how to climb trees. I haven’t done it in a while is all, I'm just a little rusty…” She gripped the edge of her blouse, shifting everything in her ample bosom back in place, before propping her hands at her hips defiantly. “Besides, cut it with the concerned act; this isn’t the first time you’ve come up here before, so I know it can be done. You like to hide up on the roof when you sew―that way no one can catch you doing it. I can SEE your box of supplies right there!”
Well s**t. Looks like she had lost another place she could escape to: Nyx was gonna have to start the search for somewhere new. But since the cat was out of the bag, there was no use trying to hide it any more. She threw the other Leafling a look dripping in venom, leaning back to recline on the roof with her arms beneath her head. “What do you want, Perth? You gonna try to use this as blackmail or something? Because I’m faster than you and you know it: I’ll be able to think of a good spin to put on this before your feet even touched the ground.”
She’d kept the secret of her unique wardrobe under wraps until now, mostly out of concern that having such useful domestic skills would only weaken her image of being TERRIBLE wife material. Or a side effect that would be just as irritating: if people knew she was so good at sewing, then no doubt they’d be harassing her all the time to make stupid things for them. Which of course would lead to her aunt INSISTING that she make that her career path, which was totally NOT an option. The only pointy objects she had any interest in wielding for the rest of her life were knives, not needles and sheers.
But that did not appear to be the agenda for the day, as Perth simply scoffed, flicking her hand. “Calm your tits, I’m not telling anyone. I don’t know why you’re so hell bent on keeping it a secret that you’re actually a half-decent seamstress, and frankly, I don’t really care. That’s not why I climbed up here today.” Taking a steadying breath, she sat on the thatched roof next to Nyxamora, looking forward in a way that almost made it appear she was actually chewing on the words in her mouth. And like a great autumn wind she sighed, turning to face her cousin. “I came to meet you on your turf, because I need to ask a favor of you.”
Nyx snorted, raising her eyebrows as she rolled her eyes up at the other girl. “You feeling okay? What would put that ridiculous idea into your head?” That…honestly hadn’t been what she was expecting. Perth made it no secret how much she disliked Nyx, and the feeling was mutual. She couldn’t fathom what would make her cousin feel the need to try to approach HER for help. They didn’t DO favors for each other.
Perth frowned, mouth drawing into a line like she was holding something unpleasant inside her cheeks. “I don’t like this any more than you do. Trust me; you’re the LAST person I wanted to ask for help. But I can’t really think of anyone else, since this is something I can’t really go public with…”
At that Nyxamora shot up into a sitting position again, instantly alert as she asked, “Ah hell Perth, you didn’t get knocked up, did’ja?! Tell me you aren’t THAT stupid!”
The other young woman’s tanned cheeks grew flushed, clutching at the skirts in her lap as she barked back, “NO! Of course I’m not pregnant! Gods Nyx, do you think I’m some kinda dolt?!” She glanced around, as if looking for prying eyes, “And keep your bloody voice down; if someone caught just part of that, they might think I really was with child! Good grief!”
With a puff of air through her nose Nyx eased back, honestly more relieved than she would have thought she should be. No way was there a boy in town with his head screwed on straight enough to be having CHILDREN, let alone out of wedlock. But that didn’t answer her question. “Then what do you need to be so secretive about? Stop dancing around the issue and just spit it out already.”
Perth pursed her lips, taking some deep breaths to steady her pulse after that sudden shock. “Well, it’s not about being with child. But, it’s KINDA along those lines. At least, I’d like it to lead to that, someday…” She closed her eyes, clearly hesitant to even have to be saying all this. “As I hope you’ve noticed by now, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time with Karryl Edinore, the carpenter’s eldest son. More than usual, anyways. We’ve known each other for years, but it wasn’t until recently that things…changed.” Her cheeks flushed again, gripping at her skirts. “He told me a month ago that he loved me. That he’s always loved me. And well…I told him I felt the same…”
Nyx sat through it all, listening to her cousin’s spiel. But as she came to a halt, Nyx blinked a few times, waiting for the rest. “Sooo…congratulations, I guess? Not that I really care, but why are you telling me? If you’re looking for my opinion…I guess you could do worse? Karryl’s face isn’t a total mess and he’s not a complete idiot.” She shrugged, reclining back on the roof. “Plus he’s got a great a**, have fun with that.”
Perth practically choked, head whipping so fast to gape at Nyxamora that she’d have sworn it might fly right off her shoulders. “THE HELL NYX??!” She gripped at her auburn hair, tucking her knees up to her chest as she hid her flushed face, “Why would you say that to me, what’s the matter with you?! I don’t need to know that you’ve been checking out his arse, I’d NEVER want to know that!”
The spiky earthling couldn’t find the effort to be bothered by her cousin’s indignation, inspecting her nails even as the other girl fumed. Nyx said it like she saw it: and the way she saw it, Karryl had a nice pair of glutes. No big deal about it. Every other girl in town was probably checking him out as well, maybe even some of the guys too. At least she wasn’t LYING about it. Really, she should be applauded for her honesty. Nyx shrugged, saying nonchalantly, “Well, sorry you don’t wanna hear it, but that’s your prerogative. We done here, oooorr…?”
Whipping her head up from against her knees, Perth hissed in reply, “No, we are NOT done here! I took the time to climb all the way up to this den of torture, I’m not leaving till I’ve said what I came to say!” Rummaging in a small bag at her hip that Nyxammora only just now became aware of, Perth pulled out a folded piece of fabric, shoving it against Nyx’s chest. “I need your help with THAT. Okay, you happy now?!”
Nyx sat up again, casting her cousin a questioning look as she began unfolding the intrusive parcel on her lap, revealing a soft green shirt, clearly large enough to fit a boy that was growing into the body of a man. Perth shoved some of her straight hair behind a pointed ear, stubbornly pushing onward. “It’s a tradition in Karryl’s family for prospective brides-to-be to present the man with a handmade shirt, when he announces that he’d like to marry her in front of his whole family. It’s like a way of saying that even though he is willing to give the shirt off his back for her, she is capable of contributing something to him as well. That she’ll always be there for him, to support him.”
Perth continued speaking as Nyx inspected the article of clothing with a new spark of interest, letting her get everything out of the way. “As you can see, I’ve got the shirt done. And NO, before you ask, I am NOT looking for your opinion on its quality. I’ve spent a really long time on it, and that’s the best I can do. That’s my skill level, that’s what I’m bringing to the table for our marriage.” She sighed, shoulders slumping as she deflated a bit in a defeated manner. “But the problem is, there’s an important part missing. The tradition also includes that the girl stitch her partner’s name somewhere onto the shirt, in a place that no one will be able to see except the two of them: to show she has claimed him as her own, and he has accepted her.”
The girl’s brow furrowed, clenching her fists in frustration. “It’s a really important step, something that makes the shirt special, just for him. But…I just can’t do it right! I can stitch the letters in, but they look awful, so stiff and scratchy. Like some five year old did it! I’ve tried over and over, practicing on scraps of fabric; but no matter what I do, it always turns out so ugly. And well…” She gestured over at Nyx’s own shirt, down at the vest she was working on. “I’ve seen what you can do, how detailed you are with the needle. The designs on your clothes always looked so nice, it always made me wonder how you could afford it…” She laughed humorously, eyes downcast. “I guess now I know the reason: it’s because you’re just better than me, at keeping secrets and stitching, apparently.”
But then her chin was up again, placing a hand at Nyx’s knee, speaking earnestly, “But I know I can get better, and I WILL get better. I just need more time. But I don’t have that at the moment, or else I wouldn’t even be telling you all of this: Karryl was going to be presenting me to his family in three days, and the shirt needs to be done. He thinks it’s all completed, he’s not allowed to see it until I unveil it for him. But it’s not ready yet. I’m not ready yet.”
She bit her lip, pausing for a moment. When she continued, there was pride in her voice, but also something else, something that seemed like desperation. “Nyx, I need you to do it for me. Please. I’ve never asked anything of you, I know you don’t care about what goes on in my life. But I’m asking you just this once: please care. I know you hate the whole idea of getting married, of settling down in this town, with the people we’ve known all our lives, to raise children in peace with nothing exciting ever happening to you ever again. But that’s what I’VE always wanted, what I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl. And I finally have the chance to make that dream come true. I just…I just need your help, just this once.”
Silence fell between them after that, as if nature itself was holding its breath to find out what her answer would be. Nyx rubbed the fabric between her fingers, feeling the texture of the delicate weft and weave, observing the way it caught the light. In all honesty, it was actually pretty well made, the seams were strong and straight, the measurements seemed correct. What it lacked was any decorative embroidery, something to give it that extra pinash. Which was why she was in this spot now. Nyx glanced over at her cousin, who was still leaned in, waiting for her to say something. She began speaking in a tone lacking in all her usual bite, careful in the words she chose. “You said he loved you? He said it first?" She paused, before continuing, "And there was no other context…no reason for him to lie, or cover himself in any way?”
Perth gripped tighter at Nyx’s knee, almost as if she was afraid that if she let go, the horned girl might leave before she got her answer. “He did, he said it first. It was just the two of us, sitting on his front porch, together. There’s no ulterior motive, we aren’t in trouble, he’s not in debt.” Small tears were welled up in her big viridian eyes, catching against her lashes when she blinked. “He just loves me. And I love him.”
Nyxamora’s own peridot eyes assessed her cousin’s face, lips held closed without expression. She turned her gaze back to the shirt in her hands, her answer being clear. “Then I guess I’d better get this done, since you two should be married.”
It took a moment, another breath between them, and then it was like a statue had been brought to like, Perth’s eyes lighting up as she beamed, “Really? You’ll do it?! Oh, thank you Nyx, I swear I’ll never ask you to do anything again!” The girl tipped over to embrace Nyxamora in a tight hug, but that was quickly cut short by her yelping in pain, pulling her arms away.
“Ai ai ai!! You see, this is the reason we don’t do hugs, you flighty little twit!” Nyx scolded, recoiling away from the sudden onslaught of affection. It wasn’t like they hadn’t gone through this before, everyone knew better than to try to hug Nyx without a battle plan in place beforehand: the menacing line of crystallized spikes on her back made the whole task a dangerous and daunting one.
As it stood, Perth had cut herself in her impassioned attempt at appreciation, fresh blood marring the inside of her arm. “Ah hell, hold on, lemme stop the bleeding,” Nyx said, putting the precious shirt out of harm’s way to grab a spare piece of fabric out of her box, tearing a long strip with her teeth as a makeshift bandage. She lashed that around the wound, huffing under her breath, “See, this is what being nice gets ya, just a shite ton of extra trouble…”
The other girl winced, holding her arm steady as she was patched back up. It had been her mistake; she knew you weren’t supposed to try that with Nyx. But she was just so happy, so relieved, and honestly: so surprised that her prickly cousin had agreed to help her at all. Perth sniffed, wiping away the tears out of her eyes, “You know what Nyx? I don’t think you’re as bad as you let on. Maybe you’re not such a massive p***k after all?”
Nyx paused as she tied off the bandage, squinting at her cousin threateningly. “You spread that kinda ridiculous talk around and I will cut so many holes in your stupid shirt, you and your Lover Boy with both be able to wear it at the same time. Got it?”
Perth swallowed, pulling her arm back into the safety of her own personal space. “Yeah yeah, okay. Message received. You’re still a jerk, you happy now?” She gave Nyx’s handiwork on her arm a glance―a job that probably only looked this pristine because the girl had gotten into so many fights―and then stood up, patting off her dusty bum. “So, we were planning on popping the news three days from now. When should I expect it to be done? In two? Two and a half? Should we have a code, or a system, so I can ask how far you’ve gotten on it?”
Rolling her eyes, Nyx collected the aforementioned shirt and put it in her box with the rest of her supplies, waving a hand dismissively. “Okay, first things first, you gotta get off my back. I like to work alone, and I like to work in silence. If you want this dumb thing to get done in time, then you gotta bugger off. It’ll make its way to your hands, don’t worry about it.” She looked back at her cousin, making a shooing motion away from herself. “So yeah, get lost. And try not to fall on your way back down; I don’t want to deal with explaining to Mr. Perfect a** why his honey-bunny has been reduced to a pile of bones and red goo.”
Her cousin huffed, securing her skirts back around her knees as she prepared to attempt the descent back down the main level. But not before she cast a smile over her shoulder at her own complicated, moody little savior. “Thanks Nyx, this really means a lot to me. I’ll make it up to you somehow, I promise.”
As for herself, Nyxamora just laid back down on the thatched roof, shrugging her shoulders as she repeated her dismissive gesture, “Alright ya sap, you’d better. Now go away before I push you and save myself this entire headache.” She didn’t turn to watch her cousin disappear from view, but she did hear her laughing quietly, a soft sound as delicate as the girl it belonged to. And because it was just her and the trees again, Nyx afforded herself a smile, pulling out the green shirt.
Time for her to get started.
[Word Count: 3,271]
