Girl Time [Arien]

[Gilwen]

It had been quite a time since Gilwen had found her way here. What with the extra hours she had been pulling to supplement her pay, and the sheer exhaustion she felt when she had gotten home she had not been able to actively go visit her friend like she should have or she would have wanted to.

But there she was; outside of Arien’s lovely dress shop. She had often sought for her in Arien’s own home---but often found she was not there. So now, she simply checked the shop first. Besides. She liked to look at all the lovely dresses that Arien had made and worked so hard on. Someday, she would raise enough funds to buy her own from her. And she would wear it with such pride!

She opened the door and stepped lightly inside, taking a look about the front room, her eyes being pleased by the great array of colors and lovely dresses that her friend seemed to work hard on all of the time.

There she was, sitting on a chair quietly and diligently at work. Oh, she was ever sewing! “Good afternoon, Arien!” Gilwen exclaimed cheerily, smiling as she stepped fully into the shop and let the door close behind her. “I am sorry I have not gotten to see you sooner, I have been so busy!”

And from the look of the new dresses that filled her shop, it was clear Arien had been, too.

[Arien]

Ah work, what a lovely thing to do right? Well, Arien had managed to convince them that she had to finish that wedding dress to one of her friend; it was due for the rest of the day, and she was finishing it up, a smile playing on her lips. Her right wrist was still painful, but she didn’t care, she could ignore the pain, it wasn’t that much of a big deal for the hard worker she was.

She finished pacing the tissue, making sure to take all of the dirt off the dress and looked at it satisfied with her own work; it was done finally. Now she could think to relax. Surprisingly, she hadn’t have much customers for the day and it was quite boring. It was a good thing that Gilwen had told her she would come to pay her a visit.

She placed her left hand onto her wrist, checking it out…still hurting. She sighed, maybe she could really take a vacation like they had proposed her but she just couldn’t leave her shop like that, alone with no one to take care of it! It was like her baby.

She stood up and smiled, hearing the door opening to reveal her best friend. “Good afternoon! It is quite alright Gilwen dear.” She smiled and showed her friend the wedding dress she had just finished to work on. “What do you think? Pretty eh? I’ll make sure that on your wedding, I’ll be the one creating your dress.” She mused proudly.

[Gilwen]

Arien certainly had been busy! Gilwen's wide eyes gazed upon the white garment the young woman held up, seemingly quite fixed on the little intricacies that the seamstress had gifted it; light beading, lovely stitching. A work of art, it seemed, had been produced yet again by young Arien. A woman who was quite some years younger than her friend, an well talented beyond her years.

“What do you think? Pretty eh?”

"It is absolutely wonderful, Arien. You have certainly worked hard." She paused a moment, stepping forward to look at it more closely. It was positively divine! Gilwen had often secretly wished to take up the craft---it was such a womanly thing to do, after all---and create her own works. Sadly, the servant's hands were not near delicate enough to perform such small and equally as delicate movements, and would never be capable of handling things so carefully.

"I’ll make sure that on your wedding, I’ll be the one creating your dress."

Gilwen blushed, and laughed slightly. "I would have it no other way." Her voice was soft, and for a moment she had thought to tell Arien that she should not wait for such an occurrence so eagerly; it was likely not to happen anytime soon. Though, now the woman could not bring herself to say such things. Fleetingly her mind turned to Faeldor, and her blush deepened for a moment before she quickly looked up at her friend and changed the subject.

"How is your wrist faring?" She asked, once more adopting a mothering tone. If she had finished the dress, it was probably not too terrible. Miriel had a way of ruining things, though. Gilwen's own bruised cheek was evidence of that. Now that the garment was done, though, perhaps Gilwen could help convince Arien of taking a well deserved break to see her family. It had been quite a long time, from what Gilwen understood. Surely she missed them, as they surely missed her.

Gingerly she reached out her hand to examine it. Of course, she would not grasp Arien's hand without her consent. For if it was bothering her, she would hate to cause her pain.

[Arien]

"It is absolutely wonderful, Arien. You have certainly worked hard." Arien grinned at Gilwen letting the girl took a good gaze of the dress. It wasn’t one of her fancier dresses but it still looked good to her; she was certainly proud of it. In fact, she was proud of anything she could do in this shop. Unlike this Miriel girl had said the other day, she was quite wealthy for a girl who managed a shop by herself. She could surprise a lot of rich customers with that as well and it raised the popularity of her shop greatly.

Who cared about if one person disliked her work, as long as she pleased most of the people in this town, she would be greatly satisfied with it, that’s for sure. She already had many ideas for Gilwen’s future dress. She was dying to make the girl’s dress and planned to start working on it, starting to draw the model, special only for her, that no one would wear after it; it would be her wedding gift in some way.

"I would have it no other way."

Arien laughed lightly seeing Gilwen’s blush and looked at her friend amused. “Is there a man who captured your heart already?” she asked, a smirk soon played onto her lips at the question she had asked. What? It was your average girl topic to talk about boys. Sure it wasn’t like Arien to talk about girly stuff but hey, she still was a female after all.

"How is your wrist faring?"

She glanced down at her wrist and tried moving it a little but it still hurt like hell. Looks like she really had to consider those vacations they had proposed her to take. She showed her wrist to Gilwen so she could examine it herself. “I have to admit that it still hurts…” she said with a small sigh.

[Gilwen]

Gilwen startled a moment, and her blush deepened momentarily as Arien asked her, “Is there a man who captured your heart already?” It was quite unlike Arien to fall to such girlish topics, and the young woman was not quite sure how to respond. Of course, she did not want to draw too much emphasis on Faeldor; they had not known each other long. She was supposed to go to his house for supper the next night.

"Perhaps," she mused shyly. She chewed her lip a moment. "You have already made his acquaintance." She offered playfully, stepping forward to grasp Arien's arm lightly and begin to examine her wrist quietly. It looked better than it had the day it had been injured, but it needed rest to fully recover.

"If it still hurts," Gilwen began in a motherly tone, releasing the woman's arm and raising her brown eyes to catch Arien's, "then you really should take a break and visit home." The servant knew this would hardly sound enticing to the seamstress who all but lived from her little dress shop. She grinned girlishly and added, "Perhaps you can take Lord Keann with you. A woman should not travel alone."

While she had hardly spoken to the jeweler for long amounts of time--both off them were quite reserved--Arien did seem to carry on about him when she was with her. It was sweet, and Gilwen adored such topics of conversation. They seemed to make a fine pair; from what Gilwen understood anyway, from the way Arien spoke. The young man was certainly shy, but Arien was hardly at all. Perhaps they both needed some prodding; though Gilwen would never press a matter that Arien was not comfortable with, and she would never utter such things around any other person. The servant was far too quiet for such things!

[Arien]

A smirk came across Arien’s lips seeing her friend’s blush deepening. It was fun to deal with shy people like her and Keann. They were just so cute when they acted all shy and blushed, of course, she would never tell them that, they would be even shyer if she did. She was curious to see what would Gilwen answer to her, to that particular question. She did suspect her friend on having an eye on a certain man but she never really asked her, having more important business like her work to do.

"You have already made his acquaintance." She gave to Gilwen an odd look, wondering about who she had made an acquaintance with lately. She hadn’t seen many men…scratch that, she had seen quite a few in her shop buying things for her but none of them had really been acquaintances, at least not to her. “Oh I did?” she asked, pausing for a few moments trying to figure out who was the one in question, was it perhaps that Faeldor? She smirked at the thought, well they did seem to be close…so he would be the number one suspect. “Is that the one with the ‘evil’ sister?” she asked smirking as she talked about Miriel. She didn’t mind the girl, sure her wrist was hurt because of her but she could deal with that easily.

"If it still hurts, then you really should take a break and visit home." She paused thinking about that proposition; she guessed she could go pay a visit to her mother and siblings, they would sure love to see her back to town for a few days but she wasn’t sure about if it was an idea to let her shop off…."Perhaps you can take Lord Keann with you. A woman should not travel alone." She drifted off and blushed lightly as she mentioned Keann’s name. No she couldn’t ask him to come…he own a shop himself and she would have to make him stop his business for a few days.

She couldn’t do that right? But then again, it seemed to be the best thing to do, even if she knew how to fight because her father had taught her so. “I will consider that option…” she said softly, managing to chase that annoying blush away.

[Gilwen]

Arien instantly seemed to become intrigued by the prospect of Gilwen's romantic interest having been to her shop. Immediately, the young woman regretted sharing such information. In Arien's line of work, she was certain that very few men came through her shop. “Is that the one with the ‘evil’ sister?”

It took all of a second for Gilwen's blush to deepen even more and for her to begin chewing her lip. Apparently, that had been easier to figure out than what she had assumed. As if her blush wasn't enough of an answer, the servant replied. "You think so? Him?" Her attempt to play it off and evade the answer was fruitless, so she finally smiled girlishly and nodded. "Yes," her voice was quiet, but light. She would say no more now, though. For she was certain Arien would tire of the topic shortly.

"You should consider it. More than consider it, Arien. You should do it." She paused a moment to look at her pointedly in the eye before continuing. "Keann would be happy to take you, I am sure. Any gentleman would hate to have a lovely lady travel so far." She grinned at her, and then released her wrist and stepped back once more, just in time to catch the color finally leave Arien's cheek. She smiled a bit more.

It was uncommon, really, for Gilwen to speak this much. Arien was really the only person that she opened up around like that; and even then, it was always accompanied by long bouts of silence. Unless the seamstress initiated the conversing, of course. Arien was quite a woman. She took initiative in almost everything. Still, she would not do so with Keann. And from the way she spoke of him, it confused Gilwen as to why.

"How is Lord Keann faring, by the way?" She inquired non-chalantly. She always loved to see the glint in Arien's eye when she spoke on him.

[Arien]

Arien noticed the servant’s blush; it was too obvious for anyone not to notice such a color gracing on the girl’s cheeks at the right moment and it made Arien’s smirk grew only wilder than it was. Ah, it was fun teasing her friend but of course, it wasn’t in a mean way and a little of a tease wouldn’t hurt the girl.

Now that she thought about it, Gilwen reminded her of Keann; both were on the shy side, carrying as hell though and working hard. Although, Gilwen wasn’t as shy as Keann and she wished he could stop stuttering, especially in front of her now that they knew each other since a rather long time now. She thought it was odd of him to still be doing such things. Besides, wasn’t he used by her company by now? Ah, she didn’t think she would ever understand one day.

"You think so? Him?" The dressmaker still smirked at her dear friend. “I don’t see who else it could be.” she mused. "Yes," She smiled brightly at that, happy for her friend to have found someone she liked. “Aw! That’s so cute, are you together yet?” she asked curiously. Who knows, maybe she would do that wedding dress earlier than she thought; it would be great.

"You should consider it. More than consider it, Arien. You should do it." An other point that Gilwen had in common was with Keann was that they worried almost to death about how hard she worked and didn’t care much about herself if I can put it that way. She didn’t mind it though, made her feel special in some ways. “I think I might…” she said considering about it. She surely missed her family and might end up doing it…

"Keann would be happy to take you, I am sure. Any gentleman would hate to have a lovely lady travel so far." She nodded drifting off a little as she mentioned Keann’s name again, wanting him to keep her company to travel. To be honest, she would’ve gone there by her self but she knew it was too dangerous for her to do so and would have no choices but to ask Keann. She hoped he wouldn’t mind.

"How is Lord Keann faring, by the way?" She smiled at the question. “Oh pretty good, as shy as usual, which makes me wonder about why he keeps stuttering when he’s around me but I’m sure he’ll get over it…some days.” she chuckled at the thought. “Besides that, work, work and work, nothing much is new with either one of us actually.”

[Gilwen]

“Aw! That’s so cute, are you together yet?”

Gilwen’s blush deepened a slight bit; and for a moment, the young woman wrung her hands nervously. Were they together? She was truly at a loss for what to say; they never had stated that they were courting each other, and she did not know if he was simply seeking her friendship. How was she to answer then? “I…” The woman fell silent once more. My what a perplexing question!

He had kissed her cheeks, he had kissed her forehead, and her hands. He had come to rescue her from a vat of lye water after that fretful meeting between she and his sister. Still, there was nothing to suggest to the woman that he had not done so simply out of courtesy and an effort to befriend her. Perhaps she was not the only lady he gave such attentions to; he was ever so caring and kind. He would surely comfort others in that way. “We are friends.” Gilwen murmured aloud, as if in quiet answer to her own raging questions. My, how that did seem to complicate things. Perhaps more of an answer would be given tomorrow night, when she joined he and his family for the dinner party he had invited her to.

She turned her attentions back to her friend though, and Arien began to prattle on about Keann. It seemed curious to the serving woman that she had not realized that the reason for the jeweler’s excessive stutters and blushes was because he adored her. Arien was normally so perceptive! Well, at least from the recounts of stories Gilwen had heard this seemed to be the case.

“Work seems to be a common language for us all.” Gilwen stated with a wry smile. Everybody in Gondor had some form of task that they saw to, even if it was simply to care for the home, or for the family. Those, especially on the lowers tiers like herself, seemed to toil away with endless hours to make ends meet. For a fleeting moment, Gilwen wondered if Arien worked so hard because she wanted to keep herself busy, or because she wished to make ends meet. “I am, though, glad to hear he is well.”

She fell to silence once more. Perhaps, if she stayed that way, Arien would offer some more information. She did love to hear of the happenings in her friend’s life. It was quite an escape from the dreadful gossiping of the palace maids. At least this information would not be stretched, warped and shared without consent.

[Arien]

Arien stared at her friend curiously, wondering about why she seemed to be hesitating like she was doing at the right moment. Had she asked an inappropriate question? She hoped not. She didn’t want to make her friend be uneasy and all. “We are friends.” She blinked a couple of times at the way her friend an answer; she almost seemed to be disappointed and began wondering about what was the kind of relation together.

Last time she had seen the man, he had seem to be carrying about dear Gilwen. She wouldn’t be surprised if in one week or month, they would end up telling her that they would be together and such. Yeah, she had to wait and see the development that it would end up in. She gave a warm smile to the girl, assuring her that things would be alright. “I still have faith in you two.” she mused teasingly wanting to appease the atmosphere that was now surrounding her and her friend, along with winking at the girl playfully.

“Work seems to be a common language for us all.” She smiled at what the girl told her and nodded. “Indeed, talking about work, how had it been for you? They don’t make you work too hard?” she asked. She had learnt that this Miriel had spread some kind of rumour she hadn’t heard about Gilwen, it was cruel to do such things but she hoped it hadn’t affect the girl too much.

“I am, though, glad to hear he is well.” She smiled and almost giggled lightly at Gilwen’s words. It made her day now that the girl would be there with her to spend the entire day doing whatever they felt like doing. “Say, what do you feel like doing today?” she asked changing the subject of their conversation for now.

[Gilwen]

Her dear friend was truly studying her, and for a moment Gilwen mused if the seamstress had thought her to tell a lie. Maybe, though, it was something different. Did Arien seem a bit disappointed in the answer? The young woman almost frowned, though did well to control her facial expressions. Arien knew well her age; at five and twenty most young women were married already and starting their families. Perhaps her mother's constant hinting and muted worries had taken a toll on her best friend as well.

Or was it different from that, even? Did Arien perhaps see something that the serving woman did not? Arien's lovely face broke out into a smile, and spoke quite jokingly, “I still have faith in you two.” Gilwen blushed ever so slightly at the comment, and a bit more when she winked at her. Inwardly, though, she was quite pleased with herself and her heart was full of joy. If someone else thought there was hope, and it wasn't simply Gilwen's girlish imaginations getting carried away, then perhaps she wasn't being so whimsical, after all.

Then, the subject changed, and the pink tinge in her cheeks vanished completely. “Indeed, talking about work, how had it been for you? They don’t make you work too hard?” For a moment Gilwen wished to avoid the question. "Nothing I cannot handle," she replied flatly, smiling wryly. And it was true. Her workload had increased a lot since Miriel's attack on her; but while she was so small, she was hardy and could take the hard work. Even if she couldn't, Gilwen's pride would have prevented her from admitting it.

It pleased her that Arien seemed to change the subject though. Arien knew well that Gilwen, along with her family, were quite mindful of their self image. They would not take help, and they would not take pity. Trying to force it on them was a losing battle; but thus was the way of most of the lower tiered families. “Say, what do you feel like doing today?” Gilwen's face morphed into a large smile and she sighed and shook her head.

"To tell you the truth, I have not had a day off in so long, that I cannot think of anything to do with myself!" She laughed slightly here but set her lips together to think. It was a lovely day. They could walk out among the Pelennor! Or, they could simply go to the market to browse the lovely little stands, even though Gilwen knew she would buy nothing. When it got late enough, they could climb to the seventh tier, and stand at the precipice and look out over the city as the sun set. But really, it should depend on Arien. "Whatever are you in the mood for?" She asked finally. More than likely, Arien would say something that Gilwen found absolutely lovely anyway, even if it was not one of the aforethought activities.

[Arien]

Arien giggled once again, seeing her friend’s cheeks changing that much of color. It was so sweet that it reminded her of her friend Keann. She just knew that they would get along well and that’s what had happened. Or at least, she thought they got along well, Keann and Gilwen hadn’t talk much together but they seemed to sort of have the same shy and sweat heart personality, worrying both about her.

Talking about her and Faeldor, she wanted to see them together, they seemed to get along well as well, and more than that too. She did notice that the man had a certain special attention for the girl. She didn’t know if it was love yet. Sure she was normally an observant person but she couldn’t just tell yet. Maybe she could push the two to hook up or something. It would make her terribly happy it her best friend announced her that she was getting married; not to mention that she was 25 and an unmarried woman at 25 was almost a shame, although, it wasn’t for someone as lovely as Gilwen.

"Nothing I cannot handle," She nodded, it was good to see that nothing could take the woman down. She had always seen this girl as being a hard worker, just as she was herself. That would be one of the reasons of why the two got along so well together.

"To tell you the truth, I have not had a day off in so long, that I cannot think of anything to do with myself!" Arien giggled once again at her friend’s comment. What the girl had said was true, it was hard to find something interesting to do while you had barely never took a break from work. She knew that herself and found it terribly boring when she was alone, with no order to make that she decided to just create an other dress for either her sister or mother or just like that, for people to buy if they wanted.

She paused, trying to think of what the two should do. Shopping? That seemed to be like a good idea and girly like to do so people won’t look at them oddly… “Hum, how about we go shopping a little?” she proposed, by shopping, she didn’t necessarily talked about buying things, she could always be content by just looking to what they were selling so she could plan on her next visit, what she would by or not.

[Gilwen]

If there were ever two people in Minas Tirith that could understand each other, it was certainly Arien and Gilwen. They both threw themselves endlessly, though perhaps not so tirelessly, into their work. In fact, it defined them. Gilwen, when she thought of herself would think, Gilwen, daughter of Niniel. Servant in the House of Gondor. Yes, perhaps it was this deep understanding of the importance of craft, of labor, that kept these two so close, despite the amount of time they had available to spend with one another.

And they were both laughing at such now! Oh, how little they got to see of their own dear city here! But when both of them were so focused on other things, things to do for fun were lost. It was no surprise that neither of them could come up with a solid idea. It was a seven tiered city. Surely there was something to do!

“Hum, how about we go shopping a little?” For a moment, the woman's laughter subsided. She could not afford to do such things. But, she knew Arien was aware of this. She must intend to simply browse the shops among the marketplace and chat with a few of the vendors. "It sounds like a fun way to pass the time!" Gilwen agreed, smiling once more. Perhaps she could not afford to purchase fancy things, or indeed hardly her own groceries now. But the serving woman did not think that it should stop her from enjoying the company of her dear friend, nor the beautiful day it was outside.

Aside from this, she did like to look at the things. Whether she could buy them or not, it was lovely to see the work someone else was doing. She would, however, not let herself desire anything she saw today. Or, at least not be saddened over desiring something. She had her own gifts; and the woman was well aware how blessed the Valar had made her. There were women that had only one dress. She had two, and a uniform. Yes. She was quite lucky.

"Shall we, then? Or must you wait for the bride to come find her gown?" She asked lightly, motioning to the wedding dress with a nod of her head.

[Arien]

Arien glanced over to her friend, still trying to come out with a better idea if there could have one- after all, she could be creative with her dresses that she was working on but when it came to get ideas of what to do beside working, it was a bit harder for her. Both were drown into their work and she understood Gilwen pretty well not to be able to find something to do herself. Ah well… anyways, two heads were better than one to think right? Or something like that, she had heard her mother told her this proverb when she was younger.

She smirked at the thought; mothers were always right. She missed her mother, again, her thoughts went to her dear family, her twin brother and sister who were both oh so loveable. Now that she thought about what Gilwen had said, she began considering her proposition more and more- maybe it did would be a good idea to go to see her family back to that village. It would be fun and since Keann seemed to be worrying to death about her whenever she was over working better was to bring him with her after all, ladies should never be alone. Her smirk grew only wilder at the thought, wondering about how he would react to her asking him to keep her company. Might be interesting and rather entertaining. She would have to make inner bets to see how long he’d be stuttering or blushing for.

"It sounds like a fun way to pass the time!" She was quickly brought back to reality as the servant gave her agreement on the activity she proposed to do. She smiled and nodded, wouldn’t hurt right to close the shop for a few moments? Sure it worried her a bit to do so but she did want to spend some quality time with her friend. “Alright! This is going to be fun!” she mused happily, clapping her hands together once as she went over to her friend. Though, before going out she would have to fix a few things in her shop.

“Just let me fix a few things before!” she said while grabbing some of her own money, her keys and placed drapes onto her window so the sun rays wouldn’t ruin the fabric.

"Shall we, then? Or must you wait for the bride to come find her gown?" It didn’t take her long before everything was set she grabbed a small purse that she had made herself and stuffed her things in it and returned to Gilwen’s side. “I’m ready!” she mused happily, ready to go spend some girl time with Gilwen. "Don't worry, she said that she would come only this evening, I got plenty of time on my hands." she added sure of herself.

[Gilwen]

Arien flew into a small flurry of action; collecting herself before finally announcing she was in fact ready to go. Gilwen offered her a smile, and as the young woman approached her, Gilwen could hear her speaking of the bride.

"Don't worry, she said that she would come only this evening, I got plenty of time on my hands."

Gilwen’s smile widened at the mention of plenty of time. It was not often that either of them could use those three words—in fact, Gilwen could not seem to recall a time at all where she had used it. Oh, how work kept you busy!

She chased the thoughts from her head and turned and exited the seamstress’ shop with Arien, allowing her time to lock up before they continued on their way.

Gilwen’s mind had turned to the market; mentally walking the streets, seeing the stands and little shops that they would pass. She grinned and looked over to her friend. “Is there anything in particular you would like to see?”

She had been the one to suggest such an outing. Perhaps she needed to pick up her groceries, or any other of the countless items you could find at the market.

“I have no preference,” she added quickly, in case Arien had gotten the impression that the serving woman was seeking something specifically. She, indeed, was not. In fact, even if she had been in need of something in particular, Gilwen could not afford such spending now.

However, her face stayed bright, and did not even show the slight bit of sadness she felt at the thought. Instead, she turned her brown gaze to the people surrounding them. There were suddenly a lot more than there had been on their walk down. They were surely at the market now. She smiled up at Arien. Well, now that they were there, what were they to do? Where to begin? Oh, there were so many lovely things to look at!