Can It Be Fixed?

Writers: Ames, Miriah
Date Posted: 17th July 2013

Characters: Faldrimme, Bahji
Description: Faldrimme meets the weaver when she seeks help for a torn tunic
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 2, day 6 of Turn 7

Faldrimme

She'd come to the weaver's chambers to see about having someone repair
the damage to the clothes she carried. The work was harder than she'd
anticipated and she'd worn through her clothes faster than expected.
This tear, however, was more than she could manage on her own. She'd
gotten caught when one of the animals panicked and torn the shirt
nearly in two.

"Hello?" Faldrimme asked as she entered the room.

Bahji lifted her head at the greetings, her fingers pausing over the
loom. Her head tilted to the side, towards the voice. "Yes?"

Faldrimme walked in and up to the girl. Holding out the torn tunic she
explained, "my tunic could torn while I was working. Can it be fixed
or do you know if I can get another one?"

Bahji sat straight and her brows arched. "Torn tunic?" She held out a
hand. "I can find out if it can be mended if you hand it to me." She
could mend by touch, but if it was too much of a tear, or if it was
ragged, she'd have to pass it to another.

"Alright," Faldrimme replied, uncertain why she couldn't just tell
from the look of the tear. She handed the tunic over to the other
woman.

Bahji felt the cloth touch her and carefully picked it up, running the
tunic carefully through sensitive fingers to find the tear. Her brow
furrowed in concentration, but she never looked down at the shirt.
Instead, nimble fingers found the tear, paused and spread the tunic
out on her lap to find it's exact location in her mind. "It's a bit
ragged." She tilted her head and frowned. "And it's across the grain
of the fabric. It'll be difficult to mend. It can be done, but it may
not look as nice as it once did."

Faldrimme was fascinated watching the other woman work. She never
_once_ looked at the tunic. She was dying to ask questions, but
settled for the more obvious first. "Well, I don't have many work
tunics, so I'll have to settle for whatever it looks like, I guess. I
don't know how I'd go about getting a new one otherwise."

"You must be new." Bahji's smile was understanding. "You can go to the
Stores and request what you might need. But..." She spread her hands
over the tunic to gauge the size. "We may have some plain tunics here
that some apprentices have sewn for practice that you could have. They
could do for work, I suppose. What sort of work and perhaps I can find
you something?"

"I'm an apprentice beastcrafter. I'm new at it, so I've been making a
rather big mess of most of the clothes I have. I seem to have worn
holes or tears in all the ones they gave me when I arrived. I tried
mending most of them, but at this rate, I'm going to need new tunics
nearly every other day," Faldrimme sighed. She knew it was her lack of
experience with these tasks that kept leading to the ruined clothes.

"Oh." Bahji nodded with an understanding smile, but at the sigh, she
paused and tilted her head. "It happens to everyone, you know,
especially when they're brand new to something. And from what I
understand, beastcraft is hard work." She gestured to herself. "I
couldn't do it, certainly. Don't worry about it." She rose and with
careful counted steps and an outstretched hand, she found a counter
with several boxes beneath it. "If you don't mind apprentice made
items, we should have some here somewhere."

"I'll take whatever you have that will work. Thank you," Faldrimme
replied. Her eyes had watched the other woman and she'd determined the
cause of her cautious steps. "How do you manage the weaving if you
cannot see?" She asked, her voice holding a hint of awe to it. She
knew it was presumptuous of her to ask and then quickly added, "my
apologies, I should not have pried into your life."

Bahji bent, her hand on a storage bin when the woman's awed voice
interrupted her movements. She paused, rose and offered a smile. "It's
quite alright. People are usually curious and it doesn't bother me at
all." She lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers. "I rely on touch. I
wasn?t' born blind, but my hearing and my touch are sensitive. I can
feel my way around pretty well. My flit helps as well, when he's not
sleeping." She pulled out the bin and lifted it to set it on the
counter. "Can you look through here and see if anything is in your
size?"

"Sure," Faldrimme replied, moving over to the bin and starting to sort
through it. "So, how did you lose your sight?"

She stood back to let the woman sort through the bins. Many would have
been uncomfortable approaching that subject, but Bahji couldn't fault
curiosity and she had at least, been polite about it. "It happened
gradually. It started fading when I was around eleven turns, and by
the time I was twelve, it was gone. I can tell the difference between
dark and light, but that's about it." She paused. "Where are you
from?"

"Amber Hills Hold," Faldrimme replied, thinking over what it would be
like to lose her own eyesight. "I'm here for a visit to see if I want
to stay."

Bahji's reply was prompt. "I don't know about you, but I'm glad I came
here." She laid a hand on her stomach for a moment and her face had a
warm glow to it.. "It's been surprising sometimes, but...I have more
friends here than I ever have. I would have been pretty useless at
home."

"You _do_ seem very happy. I'm not so sure this is going to be the
place for me, but I _had_ to come and try. At the end of the month, my
father expects my decision," Faldrimme wasn't sure what she was going
to decide by then. She missed home more with each day. Things here
were so different from the life she was used to. It was hard at times
to adjust.

Bahji nodded. "I understand. Trying is better than always wondering
what it would have been like." Her smile turned a little sad. "But, at
least you can return if things don't work out and you'll know where
you belong."

"Yes," Faldrimme replied, noting the other girl's sadness, but not
wanting to dwell on it overmuch. "I'd best get back to work before I
end up with the worst job for the day. Thank you, um...what was your
name again?" She realized she'd never asked.

"Bahji. "She inclined her head." Come back if you need more shirts. Or
you could talk to the Headwoman. She might be able to help you as
well."

Last updated on the July 31st 2013

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Can It Be Fixed?