Truce - Pandora's Box
Here rise up in four directions mahogany walls plated with ceramic,
colored like the sea, with tapestries cascading down them. Delicate,
silver-hued birch carvings trim the walls and doorway. An orb of swirling
ivory light hangs gracefully from the ceiling by a satin cord. Various
racks, mannequins, and counters crowd the shop interior.

Seren walked through Pandora's Box with the wide eyed fascinated look
of a child who just walked into a toy store. Much of the clothing on
display here was a bit more formal than what she was looking for, but
she couldn't help but be drawn by how pretty everything in here
looked. Seren was a sucker when it came to looking at pretty, fancy
things, though she was not prone to wearing them herself. They were
always just nice to look at.

Aemilia didn't know why she was in this store. She knew she couldn't
afford any of this, and even if she could, she knew she'd just end up
getting it all mud-stained and torn. She sighed, then resumed browsing
the shop's inventory. It never hurt to dream.

After combing through one rack, Seren moved onto the next, quickly
realizing she wasn't the only woman there. She smiled at the girl
sweetly, "Its all really pretty, isn't it?" Her eyes flicked over to
the matango sewing in the corner. "You wouldn't think to find a place
with pretty clothes like these in a town like this, what with most of
the population is adventuring types and all."

Upon hearing another voice in the room, Aemilia turned to the young
woman and gave a small smile in return. "It is," she replied. "It
would be so nice to have clothes like this, even if it was just to
wear around town."

Seren nodded, as her hand ran over a the sleeve of one of the white
silk shirts, "I completely agree! Though I doubt I'd be able to keep
them clean for very long. My father always told me to stay away from
white clothes and expensive attire. Try as I like to avoid it, I
always managed to get it stained or torn.” She giggled, "I like the
plainer stuff myself though. Not only do I feel less paranoid in
normal clothes but they are usually more comfortable. Besides, I think
they suit me better." She reached up and straightened the hat upon
her head, pressing it down as it seemed to begin to lift itself up off
of her head. Seren hoped that it wasn't noticeable, or if it was the
woman would just excuse it as the hat being poor fit.

Aemilia nodded and said "Yeah, I feel the same way. It's nice not
standing out." Sighing again, the girl continued. "Besides, I spend
way too much time outdoors to be able to justify buying anything very
nice." Realizing that she had yet to introduce herself, Aemilia quick
ly added "Oh, my name is Ae..." She paused for a second, noticing the
other woman's hat seemingly moving of its own accord. "Uhm. Aemilia.
Is...something wrong with your hat?"

"I know the feeling. I can't imagine wearing these on the farm. They
wouldn't last a day." Seren looked uncomfortable, cursing herself
internally for not tugging the hat down sooner when she felt it
shifting. "I'm Seren. And no, nothing is wrong with my hat. Nothing at
all. Its just you know..." Her eyes shifted slightly as she tried to
quickly come up with a good lie to tell the girl, " All this hair and
and a funny shaped head I guess. Hats are bound to pop off when you
least expect them to." It was a brilliant lie, or at least Seren had
thought so! She decided would have to use it again in the future.

Scruffy yells 'where the bloody hell is the imp king'

With a confused look on her face, Aemilia shook her head ever so
slightly and decided to move on, though she still didn't totally
believe the other woman's explanation. "you. Nice to meet you."
Ignoring an anguished cry that had something to do with an imp king,
she continued "So, uhm, you live on a farm? Is that in Tonoe?"

Seren's expression seemed to light up at the mention of Tonoe, "Yes!
Well, I guess it was a pretty easy guess. Tonoe does a lot of farming.
My dad and I are up here selling some of our crops to the local
grocer. We always stay for a few days. It’s like a bit of a vacation
for me, you know? Its pretty different seeing so many people all at
once. I mean, Tonoe is small compared to Truce and usually it is just
passed by. Not only that but it is just me and my dad on the farm and
we usually have to do a lot of work, we kind of end up keeping to
ourselves as a result. It gets a little lonely, but I guess that is
just how things are right now." She suddenly stopped, and covered up
her mouth, "I'm rambling a bit, aren't I? I'm sorry."

"No, no," Aemilia quickly replied. "I like listening to people. You're
quite alright. Besides, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to
know." Shifting her weight a bit, she went on. "Anyway, I've been to
Tonoe a few times. It seemed like a nice place to live. I myself have
settled here in Truce for the time being, but I think I'd enjoy
spending some time away from the city. It's too noisy, and far too
crowded. It gets tiring."

"You should come visit us sometime. I'm sure my dad won't mind company
for a little while." Feeling her hat shift, Seren reached up and
ground it down onto her head, "During the summer its pretty easy to
tell which farm, there will me lots of sunflowers. They are kind of my
favorite so I plant them wherever there is extra space. Do you like
sunflowers too?"

Aemilia gave Seren a slightly downcast smile. "I'd love to, but I
never know when I'm going to be needed here. Work's got me pretty
busy." Looking suspiciously at the hat again, Aemilia opened her mouth
to ask about the hat again, but thought better of it and instead said
"If I get some free time, I'll definitely think about visiting. And
yes, I do like sunflowers," she added with a laugh. After a moment of
hesitation, she said a little more quietly "Are you...quite sure
there's nothing under your hat?"

Seren paled a little when the topic of her hat was brought up again,
"N-nope! What a silly thing to think! I would know if there was! Here,
I'll even show you!" She laughed nervously, reaching both hands up and
carefully lifting the item free of her head by only by an inch or so.
"Haha Did you think I had some sort of critter scurrying around on top
of my head?" Though that did give Seren an idea. She bet a hamster
would fit up there and it would make situations like these much easier
to explain. Besides, hamsters loved sunflower seeds too didn’t they?
And she had a lot of those. They would probably be the perfect pet for
her! "It just doesn't fit right, that’s all. Its an old hat and I have
had it for years. I've probably just outgrown it." Seren pushed the
hat back down and smiled lightly, wondering if she should make a hasty
retreat before any other questions about things above her head were
brought up. "Uh, I think I should go check on my dad."

Aemilia shrugged, satisfied. "I'll admit, I wasn't going to rule out
the possibility," she laughed. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you,
Seren. I guess I'll see you around?"

With another nervous laugh Seren was taking a step backwards toward
the door, "Oh yes! It was nice meeting you too Aemilia! Sorry I
couldn't chat more. My dad kind of gets a little forgetful now and
then and tends to neglect to do things, you know what happens when you
get older and such. And we tend to have a lot of errands to run
whenever we are up here." She glanced at the door and back to Aemilia,
looking a bit relieved that she was going to be able to escape without
further inquiry. "And yeah, I'll see you around here for a couple of
days at least. And if I don't see you again by then and if you are
ever in the area, drop on by--even if it is for only an hour or so."
With a small nod, Seren turned towards the door and fled outside.

With a small laugh, Aemilia shook her head and went back to looking
through clothes. "What a character," she muttered to herself, still
smiling. A few minutes later, she too turned and walked out the door
in a better mood than she was when she had came in.