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Post by Arien on Feb 8, 2009 20:56:32 GMT -5
Arien opened the door of her shop, letting rays of sun entering in. It was early in the morning as usual, and she hadn’t slept one bit the previous night. In fact, she had been working on a dress that one of her customers had asked her for and the lady had given a good prize on it. Of course, being the ambitious girl she was, she couldn’t refuse the offer and started to work on it right away nonstop, unless customers walked in the store, this resulting a sleepless night.
She yawned slightly and rubbed her eyes staring at her achieved goal; she had finished the base and she had only to put some tissue to beautify it. After that, the needed work would be done. She was satisfied with what she had done so far. She was born to be a business woman; she had this in her blood, that’s what her dad had always told her.
Talking about him, she hoped he was fine where he was. She had never really cried over to his death probably to shocked by the news that her brother brought to them. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she looked at the empty street. Of course there would be no one in such an early time. She hadn’t open the shop just yet; she needed a break and probably no one was awake besides the servants and some knights who worked hard so she wasn’t that much in a hurry. She would have to open it only two hours later. She pushed the door open and sat on the front stairs of hers pulling her hair up into some kind of bound with the help of a ribbon.
Once that done, she placed her hands onto her knees, resting her head on the wall and turned her gaze up at the sky wondering about how her family was doing without having her around.
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Gilwen
Man
servant
There are times when silence has the loudest voice.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 593
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Post by Gilwen on Feb 8, 2009 21:16:19 GMT -5
Gilwen had arrived quite early to the palace that sat high on the seventh tier of their blessed white city. Just like every other day, she was prepared to work quietly and whole-heartedly for her Steward and his two sons. However, when her keeper saw her on this particular morning she was stopped.
"Didn't they tell you, girl?"
No, they hadn't. Apparently, Gilwen had been given a day of leave--and the young woman eagerly embraced it. Today was a day that she could spend reclining and relaxing amidst the golden fields of Pelennor. She had quickly retreated to the city once more, and spied a woman reclining on her front steps, which caused Gilwen's face to light up.
She had known the dressmaker for a while---every time her mother needed a new garment, Gilwen was the one to run the errand to the little shop and place the order, and then return when it was time to pick it up. Whether Arien was aware or not, the friendly servant had grown to consider her a friend.
She opened her mouth to speak as she approached, but saw quickly that Arien was trying to rest, probably after staying up all night working. "Good morning, Arien." She murmured softly, as to not truly disturb her. After all, something the working class got very little of was rest. Which was probably why this day was so exciting for the brunette. A full day off from palace chores!
You'll make up for it later, Gilwen. You shouldn't get carried away. She thought to herself as she began to move on down the road. It was true. When she got to the palace the next morning, their would surely be plenty to do.
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Faramir
Man
Captain of Gondor
[Mo0:0]
Posts: 12
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Post by Faramir on Feb 8, 2009 22:06:39 GMT -5
Before the sun had even risen, Faramir had been awake. For the later portion of the night, sleep had eluded him. Although, he didn't consider it unfair. Rising at this hour wasn't unfamiliar, just unnecessary that morning. He spent a couple of those hours with his eyes focused on the pages of a book. When the light of the sun finally started to stream through his window, the book wound up closed.
For some reason, unexplained to him, the city appealed to him even more in the early hours of the day. The quiet night quickly turned into the living day. And it was seeing the people alive with their duties and lives that made it worthwhile. It was far better than the later hours, when everything slowed down. As much as the gentle dusk could appeal, Faramir preferred the dawn. There was more hope in the sunrise than the sunset-- Depending on how you looked at it.
He had left the palace, alone and decided to venture past the shops. There was nothing that his mind was set on having or even seeing. There were no duties of his right now and so he saw no harm in venturing around. Those grey eyes of his were paying close attention to nothing in particular until they skimmed the pair of girls. Gilwen; he recognized from the palace and so, he saw no danger in approaching.
Approaching someone that he didn't know for no purpose at all would probably seem a little strange. But, she was no stranger to him. And wandering around the city was worth more when you ran into someone to speak to.
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Post by Arien on Feb 8, 2009 22:24:25 GMT -5
Arien allowed herself to close her eyes for a few moments, getting lost into her thoughts. She had received a letter from her sister a few days ago, letting her know that she would be getting married soon to a man from the village she had been crushing on since a while now, or at least, that’s what she thought how the situation was.
It has been a while now since she hadn’t visited her family back there, most of the time, they would come one day or two to pay her a visit a month. At least, she got to see them regularly and she was happy about that. She always liked to get news from her old village and stuff, it was always fun to see who had ended up with who and what were the rumours and so on.
She smiled to herself at the thoughts but soon enough was pulled away from them hearing the familiar voice of one of her customers that she did consider as a friend. "Good morning, Arien." The girl didn’t speak loudly, which she was glad off and she opened her eyes to see Gilwen and nodded at her in greeting.
“Morning.” she replied before standing up and dusting off her dress. A good thing in being a clothes maker was that she had variety of clothes that waited for being worn. She didn’t have only one dress like a few peasants like in her natal village.
She watched her continuing her way but also spotted no one but Faramir, she stared at him but didn’t say anything unless he came to her. “Would you like to share a breakfast with me, Gilwen?” she asked to the servant. “Unless, you have something to do…” she then added.
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Gilwen
Man
servant
There are times when silence has the loudest voice.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 593
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Post by Gilwen on Feb 8, 2009 22:41:08 GMT -5
Gilwen smiled, and bashfully tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. I am sorry to have bothered you. She wanted to say it. She felt it was almost necessary. But the woman then asked her to join her for breakfast. It was a great honor to be invited to anybody's house for a meal. It caused her to stop and turn, catching out of the corner of her eye a form.
She shifted her gaze to the oncoming figure and realized quite quickly it was Captain Faramir himself. For a moment she faltered but turned her attention back to her friend on the steps. "I would love to, I have no duties today at the palace." She smiled warmly.
Quietly she stole a glance at the captain's son as he continued her way. Should she adopt her servant's air? Speak only if you are spoken to! She told herself sternly, but held her ground steadfast in the street.
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Faramir
Man
Captain of Gondor
[Mo0:0]
Posts: 12
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Post by Faramir on Feb 8, 2009 22:55:05 GMT -5
When Faramir approached the two, he wasn't out in search of submission. He never was. As a Captain, he never looked out for that. He didn't consider himself really above anyone. He was a leader, that was true. But, it didn't set him above his men or his people. His heart was never in that kind of harsh power. And it never would sway in that direction either, of that he was sure. Of course, he had to recognize that it had to be surprising when he approached someone at random. Especially a servant of the palace.
Once he had made his way over, he stopped and looked at the two. "Enjoying your morning?" His voice was casual, and completely polite to the pair. Faramir's eyes had gone from Arien to Gilwen. There was a softness in his expression. It wasn't wrong, he knew, to interact with the people of the city. If anything it was good. You could read your people better that way and understand them.
Of course, he hoped that he wasn't disturbing them at all. He didn't consider his presence to be at all above whatever plans that they had made with each other. It was all a simple matter of saying hello. And he would respect that they had other obligations.
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Post by Arien on Feb 8, 2009 23:08:57 GMT -5
Arien waited patiently for her friend to reply to her question. She hoped the girl could; she needed to have a chat with someone close to her. She didn’t really have any close friends in this town. A lot of acquaintances yes, but not people she could really consider as being her friends.
"I would love to, I have no duties today at the palace." She nodded, happy that the answer of the girl was positive, she wondered about what was new with her, she was one of the few she really opened up too and she hoped she didn’t mind the sudden invitation though, but it didn’t seem she did, so she guessed that everything would be fine. “Perfect.” she mused, smiling at the girl before turning her attention as Faramir got closer to them.
"Enjoying your morning?" She bowed slightly at him, out of respect and gave him a smile as her eyes met his. “Indeed.” she replied softly before turning her attention back to Gilwen; maybe she should invite him too, it might end up being quite interesting if he accepted. “We were about to have breakfast, would you like to join us?” she asked with a greeting smile. Maybe he had things to do, but she could always see if he wanted, it would be a honour for her to have him for breakfast…
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Gilwen
Man
servant
There are times when silence has the loudest voice.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 593
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Post by Gilwen on Feb 8, 2009 23:25:46 GMT -5
Gilwen glanced with her dark eyes at the fair-haired Faramir, she bowed for respect and smiled at him. She should have known: Faramir was always the friendliest of the three leaders of Gondor. "Yes, Captain." She answered happily. "It is far to beautiful of a day to not be enjoying the morning."
She folded her hands in front of her, absently glancing down at her garb, fleetingly thinking about appearances. She was hardly in attire to be speaking with the Captain of the Guard. She chewed her bottom lip lightly and sighed softly. Don't be ridiculous. She scolded herself.
Faramir, Boromir and Lord Denethor saw her daily around their palace wearing exactly what she was adorning now. Perhaps it was the fact it was out of her formal work setting that she was so self conscious. Either way, she tried to force the thought from her mind, looking to Arien as she extended the invitation to the captain.
It would be interesting if he accepted. She had never once eaten in his presence, though on occasion she had been serving him his meals. Suddenly she felt like her entire world shifted--and all because she had been given the day off.
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Faramir
Man
Captain of Gondor
[Mo0:0]
Posts: 12
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Post by Faramir on Feb 9, 2009 22:05:24 GMT -5
Faramir had to agree with the opinion of the day. It was beautiful and he couldn't help but to admire it. It had never been in his character to be unfriendly with people. No matter what their station was in life, Faramir wasn't a harsh man. There was something admirable in all of the people of Gondor.
However, he was surprised when the pair actually invited him to have breakfast with them. He hadn't eaten yet, since he had left the palace before the first meal of the day. It wouldn't be the first time that he skipped out on a meal to be elsewhere. He had more of an interest in wandering. Though, the invitation was warm and he thought it could be interesting. It would be a change from the normal routine for him.
So, with a friendly smile, he nodded. "If you would have me, I'd gladly accept." It was their decision of course. He didn't consider himself as an honour to be there, he considered himself as their guest and would only come if they wanted him to. He was far too polite to ever even think of being different. In fact, he felt honoured to be offered it.
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Post by Arien on Feb 9, 2009 22:31:17 GMT -5
The smile never left Arien’s lips as she waited patiently for the response of the Captain. The breakfast wasn’t going to be a big and fancy one, since she hadn’t took the time to prepare any but she doubted he would mind; anyways, he was aware that merchant weren’t high class, even if they had more money than peasants.
"If you would have me, I'd gladly accept." She nodded and gave both of them a warm smile before walking up the front stairs of her shop; her house was annexed to it and it was quite useful so she could work days and nights if she wanted to. She knew it wasn’t that good not to sleep during night-time but business was business and she couldn’t help it; she was just like that.
“Come inside.” she said to both of them before opening the door, to let her two guests enter in her shop. Her shop wasn’t smile, it was medium sized, a reasonable one and there had different models pants and sweaters for the boys, as well as there were dresses skirts and tops for the girls. There were even wedding and fancy dresses; she was good in them and many royalties came to visit her shop, which she was proud of. All they had to do was to show her the model they wanted and she’d take note of their measures, then make the piece of clothing.
“The kitchen is in the back of the shop.” she told them. Gilwen already knew, since it wasn’t the first time she came in the shop, it was mostly to Faramir she told that, since she had never seen him there so far.
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Gilwen
Man
servant
There are times when silence has the loudest voice.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 593
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Post by Gilwen on Feb 9, 2009 22:55:36 GMT -5
Gilwen moved forward, taking a few quick steps to try and catch up to her friend, beginning to reach her hands out to catch her arm, but retracted it before contact was made. Her hands were so rough. While it was a way to show how hard she worked, Gilwen was quite self conscious over them.
"Arien," she began softly. "I would like to assist in the preparations," She always felt so useless when she ventured into someone else's house and was served. After all, she had made it a profession to serve, it was where she was comfortable. Her imploring brown eyes caught Arien's own.
Certainly she would want help? Especially if the Captain of Gondor himself was to join them. Perhaps in a way it was selfish. While he was always so gentile and nice to those who were of lower classes, like herself, she had a little apprehension about what precisely she would talk about with him.
To her, it still seemed like she was of a different world. Though she knew in her core that Captain Faramir would never say something of the sort, it felt that she below him---even if only looking at kindness and fairness. She glanced at him then, one of her masters, about to sit next to her as an equal.
Equals. It sounded so foreign. She was a servant: an equal to none. But that didn't change the way she was treated by the Captain. It was so perplexing. She didn't quite understand it---and she mused pleasantly she never would.
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Faramir
Man
Captain of Gondor
[Mo0:0]
Posts: 12
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Post by Faramir on Feb 10, 2009 21:08:38 GMT -5
Faramir didn't expect a lavish, fancy meal prepared as it would be for royalty. It was what he was used to, but he was not under the delusion that the rest of Minas Tirith was accustomed to the same treatment as the Steward and his sons. Merchants weren't known to be of the rich, high class. The class of a person didn't symbolize the heart of a person, however. Faramir viewed them equally. She didn't have to have him as a guest, and therefore, he was honoured to be invited.
"Thank you, it's an honour." Even if he was a Captain of Gondor, he could still be honoured to be allowed into someone's home. He followed the girls up the stairs and into the shop. Once they were inside, he looked around, admiring the selection of the shop. It was an admirable shop. He imagined that she was very proud and she should be.
This had to be different for them as well. Even though he knew that Gilwen worked as a servant in the palace, they weren't really from similar worlds. Their lives were probably so different and yet they were both people and he wouldn't judge her to be beneath him. He would dine with them as an equal, not above.
It wouldn't be right not to offer help. And if they needed it, he would gladly help them. "I can assist too, if you'd like." He offered. Because, he had no intention of entering the home and taking advantage of their hospitality.
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Post by Arien on Feb 12, 2009 10:02:08 GMT -5
"Thank you, it's an honour." Arien smiled as Faramir agreed, happy that he had accepted to join them. After all, it wasn’t everyday she had the occasion to have a talk with both of Gilwen and Faramir. Besides, she was happy to take a break from work, even if she was known to be one of those who worked the most in town. She was aware of the kind of reputation she had with the other merchants as well as she was aware of the kind of reputation she had with high classed people; she received many rich women for one of those fancy dresses she confectioned, which she was rather proud of.
"Arien, I would like to assist in the preparations," She stopped her track for a few seconds and nodded at her friend; it would make things less boring and much more enjoyable than doing such things by herself. She knew, that’s why she wondered about if she should hire an assistant to help her with her dressed; it would give her less work but she knew that before it would happen, she’d have to train whoever wasn’t good with clothes-which might take even more time. Heh, she should debate on that later, not now that she had two wonderful guests to take care off now.
She glanced at Faramir as he looked at her work with a smile. “If anything catches your eyes, tell me.” she said, yes, even with guests she would still think about work. She really need to take care of that detail, being too obsessed with work wasn’t that much of a good idea.
"I can assist too, if you'd like." She blinked at that, of course, it surprised her that he would want to help. The rich men she was used to see were more snob and whenever she had to meet them, she had to dressed more fancy, while Faramir didn’t seem to be bothering about all of this. He was a good man, she had faith in him and knew he would do great things and if he wanted to assist too, she didn’t see any objections in it. “Sure, if you want.” she mused before leading the way towards the kitchen.
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Gilwen
Man
servant
There are times when silence has the loudest voice.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 593
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Post by Gilwen on Feb 12, 2009 19:47:06 GMT -5
With a small sigh of satisfaction, the young servant woman took the words of Arien to heart almost immediately. While she was one who would work about the palace silently, she had never hated working in the kitchen in her spare time, although many of the servants found that strange.
A mere few seconds later, almost everything Gilwen had been taught whilst working the hours away in the palace about the kitchen seemed to shatter as Faramir offered to assist the two ladies with the preparations.
"The kitchen is no place for the courtly." Her superior had said the very first day of being introduced to the workforce. "That's why it's taken care of by people like us."
Truly, it wasn't a place for the nobles: Lord Denethor kept his girth of the kitchen, and to her knowledge neither of his son's had entered its doors either. It was a place to get your hands dirty in woman's work, as she had been told many times. And her hands were a prime example of the toll it took on one's body.
She fidgeted slightly with her skirts, hiding her hands in the folds, while shifting a very bemused and surprised look to the son of the steward. Faramir was the brother that seemed to be so full of surprises.
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Faramir
Man
Captain of Gondor
[Mo0:0]
Posts: 12
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Post by Faramir on Feb 13, 2009 17:40:43 GMT -5
"It's beautiful craftsmanship, you must be proud." From the look that Faramir took as they entered the shop, he could see the high standard of the garments she made. She should be proud of the work, although he wasn't there to purchase anything, the shop would remain in the back of his mind. If there were anything he needed, he was certain that he'd return. As of that very second, however, there wasn't anything he necessarily needed.
The kitchen was not a place that Faramir had a great deal of knowledge in. He did not spend any time at all wandering through the kitchen of the palace. In fact, he could hardly recall a time where he entered the kitchen for any reason at all. The only preparation of meals that he ever took part in or witnessed were those of soldiers and other men when it was a necessity of survival.
The young captain was certain that he would not win any approval from his father by whiling away his time in the kitchen of a merchant and a servant. It didn't bother him though, not when it wasn't his intent from the start. It was a hard thing for him to win as it was and the only time it scalded him in the least was when he was making the effort. It was polite to offer assistance and he thought to be a kind guest and not a rude one. It wasn't ideal in many minds, but it wasn't going to harm anything. Societal rules could rest for the morning.
He did notice the look of surprise, especially the look that he was given from Gilwen, and he smiled despite it. Oh, he was fully aware of how surprising it could be. His mind revolved around that notion quite a bit right now. "I like to help, although, I cannot say I'll be the best helping hand. You two may have to show me a thing or two." It was said kindly, and in a bit of a joking tone. While also allowing them to know that he didn't consider himself above that kind of work or thought little of what they could do. The work in the kitchen was a foreign thing to him, that much was obvious.
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