Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

Yestertrial, Faith had started on the chest she was making for Arlo, to store the actual gifts she was giving him in. Today, her and Tina were sitting in the living room, sewing. Faith looked better than she had since Padraig left, not least because she'd slept well the last few nights. Even though, of necessity, she slept on a strange built up array of pillows, with her back against him, his arms around her even as the pillows propped up and supported her front, Faith had slept better than she had for a twenty trial or more. Added to that the fact that he was right about her being more able to keep food down now that he was home and she not only had the physical appearance of being better, but she felt it.

There were still issues they were working through, the two of them. But then, with everything that they'd been through these last few seasons, it was hardly surprising. Faith was content that the issues they had weren't between them; they had never been stronger as a couple and for that she gave thanks to Vri. "So, I'm going to make a light cotton sheet, double bed sized, and make it so that it's always cool. I think that will be useful in Saun for him." Right now, she knew, it was likely to be a talking point and nothing else. But still. "I thought the cool one could be shifting in colours, like the ocean, and the one I make with crochet, I'll make like the night sky. What do you think?" Tina, who was sitting on the armchair opposite her, was feeding her son, the child who had nearly not been born but who, thanks to Famula's grace, was now nearly a ten trial old.

"I think he's going to love it, whatever you do," Tina said and Faith smiled. "How are you feeling?" Faith asked, her hands moving on the fabric, starting with a loose running stitch to just mark out where the seams would be. "Sore. Tired. I don't know how I'm tired when he sleeps so much. But I am." Tina looked down at her son, adoringly."But, Faith, I can't... he's so perfect." Faith grinned and lowered her head to her sewing. "Kind of scrunched up and funny looking, don't you think?" She asked and then said "Ooof" as Tina threw a perfectly aimed cushion at her head.

Once she had the basic shape laid out and the layers held in place by the running stitch, Faith started the slow, careful process of layering the work, in order to allow the colours to shift and change. She used backstitch for this, ensuring that the layers were held in the right place, thereby allowing the colour-changing technique she was after. "He's perfect, not scrunched up or funny looking. I missed you, the last trials." Tina said and Faith smiled at her friend. "You too, but it's tradition on Scalvoris." For a ten-trial after birth, the mother and child did not leave the house and only immediate family saw them. Faith had no doubt that she would count as immediate family, but children, the elderly, pregnant women and those with any illnesses were completely forbidden. Katie had gone and helped Tina, for which Faith was very grateful.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't be there with you. I wanted to be." There was no doubting that, but Faith was more and more aware of the limits of her own abilities, as her own due date approached. She wouldn't be the best medic for the job, she knew that. Galena had delivered the boy and Faith watched Tina's face as her friend looked down at the child in her arms. Moving the fabric so that she could access where she was working more easily, Faith looked down at the cotton sheet and smiled as she started to see the final piece take shape, albeit still in her mind's eye.

The 'careful layering' technique allowed the air to circulate effectively, and Faith had been delighted to work out how to do it. It took longer, but it led to a very useful finished product. She had made a lot of clothes for Padraig using this technique, light cotton shirts which kept him warm another another which kept him cool. Faith had to admit, she liked to be useful and never moreso than with her husband. As though reading her mind, Tina looked up and asked, "So, what's it like being married then?" Faith considered it for a moment and then shrugged slightly. "I am very glad we did it. Very glad. It was important that we did, I think. But it doesn't feel any different." Tina watched her friend with a sappy expression on her face. "Oh, get on, don't you ever just pounce on him and say 'husband' or something?"

Faith looked at Tina with very serious silver eyes. "If I could pounce, which I can not, then I would not. But if I could and would, then I would flatten him and that seems very unromantic to me." Tina chuckled and gave Faith a wicked grin. "Come on, you know what I'm asking. Is it different?"

Lowering the sewing down, Faith looked at Tina and she shook her head. "Nothing is different and everything is. I do not, could not, love him more, but... " Tina chortled and raised an eyebrow. "So when you can pounce?" Faith turned her attention back to the cotton sheet in her hands, not managing to hide the smile on her face. Tina beamed. "I knew it."

The pair of friends sat together, chatting and Tina fussed over the baby, while Faith focused on the cotton blanket she was making. It was important that she followed the careful design she had made. Faith knew that it was vital, especially for the "Trick of the Light" which would make it look like an ocean wave, shifting and changing colour. There was a clear design, showing in her own neat shorthand, what she should do and when. If she pulled it off and did it well, Faith knew, this would look lovely.

As she carefully placed pieces of cotton, she looked at Tina again. "Stop looking at me like that," she smiled at her friend who was teasing her with her glance. "You know, I sleep with a collection of pillows around me." Tina chuckled and nodded her head. It hadn't been very long ago, a matter of trials, that she was in the same situation. "So, have you two thought of names?" Tina asked and Faith shook her head. "What, you don't have a list, organised in order of preference and then, at the back, alphabatically?" Faith pursed her lips and spoke softly.

"We named Rose. It made it harder. We decided not to pick a name this time," she said, her voice soft and as calm as though she was speaking about a cup of tea. Tina's face, however, dropped. "Faith, I'm sorry. I should have thought of that." Faith shook her head, looking up from the neat lines of blue and green which were starting to take shape. She spoke to her friend without any guile, "Tina, you have nothing to apologise for. I would much rather you did not dance on eggshells around me, it is unnecessary. And Famula knows, there are more than enough people doing that at the moment. I would like it if you were not one of them."

Tina grinned and then her expression turned to a frown. "Not Padraig?" She sounded unsure and looked relieved as Faith immediately shook her head. "No, if anything I suppose it is a little the opposite. I wish he would rest more." That was very true. She understood that he felt the same about her and in truth, since he had come back the two of them had caught up on much needed sleep. Together, it was so much easier to sleep, mountains of pillows or not. But still, if she had her way she wouldn't be letting him out of her sight again and, she knew, the same was true in reverse.

"How is he?" Tina asked and Faith smiled. There was a lot in that expression, the two friends knew that Faith was a private woman married to a private man. She wouldn't be sharing details, but then Tina was her friend and as such, she wouldn't be asking. "It was difficult and people died. He'll be fine. He is." It was hard to explain and she would not try. But, focusing on the piece which she had finished, she showed Tina and raised her eyebrows. "What do you think?" Faith asked and Tina nodded her head. "I think you're making something beautiful, and that's a great thing. It's lovely, Faith."

"You're sweet, thank you." Faith said and Tina grinned. "You feed me the best snacks, I have to be nice to you, you might not be my friend any more otherwise." Faith shook her head, Tina was an would always be a dreadful tease she was sure. "I thought I'd edge it with white, but then I thought maybe not. Maybe a dark edging, with a sort of depth of the oceans blue, sparkling. What do you think?" Tina nodded. Yes, the darker colour would offset it more, she said. The baby in her arms started to cry and Tina shushed him. Faith watched and wondered anew.

"I just..." she hadn't even finished the second word when Tina spoke over her. "You'll be great at it. Both of you. You're filled with love and you're both practical people. Especially you." She couldn't entirely call Padraig 'practical', in fairness, Tina worried about him tripping over the baby and wondering how it got there, but that was just a silly image. "You'll find your way. It won't be mine, or even Cyrus and Katie's, it'll be just yours, and that's how it should be."

Please, Famula, Vri and Moseke, Faith prayed. Let her be right. And more than anything? "Well, I just hope that this Bun is the forgiving kind." Faith said, earnestly.