User blog:Leea/The Tale of Voronwe, Chapter 83

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4th Era 171, 7th of Second Seed, Pyandonea
Curwe stared at the clothes he extended. "What're those for?"

"They're for you, obviously." Balasian replied, arm still extended. He held a purple dress in his hand, and in the other he had a sky blue tunic and hose. He'd been told by Orthendar that there was a stash of clothes here, donated by parishoners for needy peoples. While at first he was a little upset at being considered "needy," he was not the only one to know that their clothes were nearing the end of their lifespan. The shirt he wore now - a forest green one, originally - was so patched and mended, it bordered on being a patchwork quilt. Curwe's dress, including the many more she had at home, were also heavily patched. Orthendar - confirming telepathically through Talgando - said it was perfectly fine for him to take a few clothes for himself and Curwe. It was going to be delivered to many needy peoples anyway - quite a few of who were Liberators - and he knew they wouldn't mind if the leader would take some. Or even all of them. He wasn't totally inclined to take them all (there were some rather outrageous colors in there), but it seemed rude to turn down such a donation, especially when they needed it. Even though it hurt his ego a little bit.

She hesitated, though he noted the admiration in her eyes for the gathered puff of the sleeve around the shoulders and the deep purple color. Not to mention the matching pearl buttons' shape (flowers) and their size (of a gold coin).

"C'mon. I've been told it's okay for us to take some clothes. And it's not like we don't need them." he said, still extending the dress.

"Um...okay," she replied tentatively, her fingers reaching out and feeling the cloth before taking it from him. She glanced over at Orthendar and he nodded in assent, his arms crossed across his chest as he leaned on the wall behind him. "Well," she began, looking back at him. "What about you? Do you have anything?"

"Me? I've got this set of blue clothes here," Balasian said, raising his other hand, showing the sky blue set. "I just hope I don't look dumb in hose. I haven't worn the stuff in ages."

Curwe was running her fingers over the cloth of her own new(ish) dress, feeling the texture. "What's the cloth here made from? It doesn't feel like cotton, linen...or any other yarn or string I've ever felt."

"Remember what I was wearing when I first met you?" he prompted.

She thought back to that day. Remembered the shock of seeing a Maormer...especially a non-hostile one. How fast the relationship progressed, from aquaintances, to friends, to lovers. She mentally shook herself. Remember the clothes! Yes...they were...a greenish color, almost like seaweed. She remembered being puzzled if they were actually seaweed - because they were quite ragged, too - or merely green clothes. She also recalled that they had a particular feel..."Yeah," she responded, looking up at him, beginning to see where he was going with that question.

"There is a special type of seaweed that grows around Pyandonea that we commonly use in making cloth. There's an enitre guild dedicated to making cloth, actually; The Weavers Association. Fibers from that seaweed, the secretions of Bearded Mussels, Sea Serpent skin, and other materials are used to make cloth for clothes. That dress there is made from seaweed."

"How can you tell? Couldn't this be from the mussels?" Curwe asked, curious.

He gave her a slightly reproving look. "I may have not been on Pyandonea for seven decades, but I still can tell the difference between seaweed and mussel cloth. Besides," he added, switching his grip of his clothes to the other hand and pointing at hers, "The cloth from mussels would not be as rich a hue as that. The seaweed fibers are much, much easier to dye any color of the imagination than that of mussels: they can only be dyed light colors. Thus they often work best in their natural golden hue."

"Why is that?"

He shrugged. "It just doesn't dye that well. Pastel, like this blue here, is all you'd get. Rich purple like yours is utterly impossible."

"So...you've got the mussel's cloth?"

"Yes."

"Can...can I touch it?"

Balasian extended his hand, smiling slightly. "Sure you can, but I'm not trading. That would mean that I'd have to have the purple dress. And it wouldn't even fit."

Curwe laughed as she reached out and ran her fingers lightly over the cloth. "It feels like silk!" she exclaimed, surprised.

"There's a reason it is called Sea Silk." He laid a palm gently on the small of her back. "Now, enough talk. Shall we try these on? I'd rather not meet someone I haven't seen in almost a hundred years while I'm wearing a patchwork quilt." and guided her to the room where he found the clothes.