Amariyousities!

[Kurt S.]

*So this is basically my second attempt at a journal like thing, which is basically Nah chiming in with her dad at Amariyousities! Also feel free to step in maybe talk to Nah or her dad, see her at work behind a counter, or maybe listen to how her dad feels about her recent escapades! Yes this works into her canon and I'll just signify whether or not she's in or out!*

 

"Dad?"

 

Nah's voice echoed back to her. In contrast to the bustling Gridanian avenues, the interior of Amariyousities! was strangely calm and quiet. Her father was probably either at the back taking inventory or out on an errand seeing as his apron wasn't where he usually hangs it and he only ever does hang it when he's done working for the day and closing up the shop. 

 

She set her pack leaning against the wall. It clang and cluttered as it was set down on the ground. It was sizable, nondescript backpack easily a third of her size. In it was her armor and her shield as well as the few odds and ends she'd picked up on her journey. She was dressed in signature black and white tabard, signature since it looked very new and pristine, a contrast to its wearer whose face had a layer of dirt and grime. She still wore her sword on her hip though. 

 

Nah made her way pasts the rows and columns of shelves holding all manner of items from baskets of herbs, bottled concoctions, wooden figurines, all manner of baubles. She made her way to the back, hoping her dad was there. As she reached the end of the shelves she turned right, where the stock room was instead of left which was a staircase that led to their house in question on the second floor of the shop.

 

She didn't need to enter the little alley that was stacked and stocked with boxes to know that her father wasn't there. She was just about to step out when her ears perked up and her tail began wagging like a puppy's when she heard a very familiar voice. 

 

"Hello? Is there someone in here? How may I help you?"

 

Nah bolted down the aisles and made a beeline straight for the tense looking miqo'te male standing by the door, holding a rolling pin like a bludgeon. R'vehn dropped his guard as the figure rushed him, he was nearly about to clobber it when he saw a flash of violet in the intruder's eyes. There was only one person he knew who had violet eyes and he was thankfully he didn't have to bludgeon his own daughter. He had barely a second to brace himself as his daughter barreled into him and wrapped her arms around him. He responded in kind. 

 

"So how's my little girl?"

 

Nah continued holding onto her father. It had been a decent while since she was sent to Ul'dah after all. A week to be precise but she missed him a lot.

 

"Well I've been doing fine, dad."

 

"The truth now, little lady."

 

"I can't bring myself to do what mom wants me to do."

 

R'vehn breathed a sigh of relief as he heard that his own daughter failed so much at being an antagonistic entity. He held her closer and ran his hand through her hair like he used to when she was younger and weigh considerably less than she did now.

 

"You don't have to do it, Nah. You know you don't."

 

"But I have to, maybe this might stop mom from always scowling away her every waking moments."

 

"You know your mother was born with scowl on her face right?"

 

"But I want to get rid of it. I think she'd be lovelier without it."

 

"Aye. How could I be blessed with such a kind-hearted daughter?"

 

"Because you raised me, dad."

 

"I know, I'm just that good as a parent. So what brings you back to this part of the Shroud."

 

"Can't I see my dad when I want to?"

 

"Of course, I like that you still visit your old man but you were just here less than a week ago."

 

"Weeeellllll..."

 

"Well?"

 

R'vehn wasn't sure whether he'd frown or keep his smile when she drew out that 'well.' He braced himself for the news that he'd be a grandfather at forty. Nah broke the hug and stood a few steps away from him. He in turn tried to look as stern as possible and crossed his arms to emphasize the effect. Though he would be overjoyed to know that he might actually have a grand kitten soon. Which wasn't the case as Nah finally responded.

 

"Well, you know some people in the Woodwailers right? Think you could ask them if they confiscated a satchel, it's umm as big as small book and brown. It belonged to that guy who lives in the cave by Lifemend Stump."

 

R'vehn knitted his brows at her request. A strange one to be sure.

 

"Alright but why?"

 

"Well I'm just helping him and I think he'd like his satchel back."

 

"I won't question any further, just...just watch yourself around him."

 

"Oh please, he's harmless and if he does something..."

 

Nah's hand that rested on the handle of her sword, gripped the handle and thrust it out of its holster. She began making a few light slashes in the space behind her as she turned around while she drew the blade. 

 

"Alright, little swashbuckler, you've proven you can swing a sword but still be careful. There are some things a sword cannot solve. And so many that sword would just make worse. If you're willing, man the shop for me and I'll go see my Woodwailer friends. One of them should know about this...satchel of yours."

 

Nah nodded to her father as he nodded back and then pulled the apron over his head and handed it over to her. She waved goodbye as he left the building again, nearly knocking her pack over. She quickly rushed over to the entrance and tried to haul the bag away so no one would trip over it or something. 

 

Now...now she just needed to wait for a customer. Her smile still on her face as she took her place behind the counter and shifted her attention toward the door.

[Kurt S.]

Rested her head atop her palms, her arms propped up on the counter. She hummed a tune as her tail lazily swished behind her while she waited for someone to step through the front door. No such luck it seemed. 

 

Nah ended up leaving her post on the counter and began walking past the shelves and taking note of what her father had stocked on and what he was selling in this little corner of Gridania. Of course it was a given that he'd have a shipment of potions lined up in neat rows on the shelves. So many bottled tonics that did a myriad of things for people who needed it. On another shelf were baskets of leaves and herbs, they ranged from cooking ingredients to some fairly common reagents. 

 

Their shop was small so it didn't take her long to return behind the counter, grabbing the book that was resting on top of it. She opened it and flipped through its pages. There were several rows and columns drawn on it, tables and lists, facts and figures. Her eyes scanned the content of each page. It recorded all of her father's placed order, which ones are still sitting on the shelves, how many were sold, which one's he's kept for his own personal use, and by extension, Nah's personal use. 

 

What caught her attention were the recent purchases made over the past fortnight since she had left for Ul'dah. They were all purchases of a particular kind of flower that her mother favors. Her father had to keep replenishing the stocks and every day it would sell out. Maybe those flowers were in season or all the rage but she couldn't remember that particular flower being used as an ingredient for perfumes neither would she understand why so many poisonous flowers were sold for the past few days. Her brows knitted together and her eyes focused on what was written on the book. She was unconsciously gripping the book tightly.

 

She jerked upright and slammed the book shut when her ears perked up at the sound of the tiny bell above the door ringing, signifying the arrival of a guest. Her attention shifted to the door along with the best smile she could muster. It was her father stepping through the door, with him was a satchel. Hopefully it was the one Tajih owned.

 

"Now I don't know what kind of business you have with that man and I can't exactly keep you sheltered forever. Just promise me you'll be careful when you meet him again."

 

"I know, dad. I'll be careful. Did you look at what's inside?"

 

"No, why would I invade the privacy of someone I don't even know. I don't stand to profit from it, Nah."

 

"Fair enough, father."

 

Her father walked over to the counter and deposited the satchel onto the counter top. Nah, for her part, pulled the apron off over her head and handed it to her father. He held his hand up to her, palm open, fingers together as if she was telling her to stop.

 

"You keep manning the counter, Nah, I'll go upstairs and cook a little favorite of yours. I know that look on your face and you want to go grab the satchel and go find this mystery man of yours. Well at least let your old man have some quality time with his own flesh and blood."

 

"I..well...alright then. I'll hold the fort down here just make it delicious yeah?"

 

"I may undercut competitors and never play my cards around them but I won't do the same to my own daughter. You'll have it with extra shroud pepper, the way you like it, Nah."

 

R'vehn fixed his daughter with a smile before to continuing on his way to the back of the shop and up the stairs. Nah went back to being behind the counter, she opened the log book again and reviewed what was written, make sure the numbers all lined up like they should. However that was short-lived when her father called her upstairs and told her to close up shop early. 

 

~~~~~

 

R'vehn looked over the contents of the note sitting on the common room of their house on the second floor of the shop. It was a short and concise note that said something that was all too familiar. His daughter did not need this in her life, she didn't need to be pressured into doing this at all. He crumpled the note in his hand and slipped it into one of his pockets. 

 

He heard the footfalls of Nah as she climbed the staircase and turned to face her just her head was poking up from beneath the steps. 

 

"What's the matter dad?"

 

"Nothing is the matter but maybe I think its time you see how I make your favorite dish. You are eating correctly right?"

 

"Yes dad, Ul'dah has quite the selection if you could afford it at least."

 

"Can you afford it?"

 

"Nope."

 

"Then look closely, young lady, and listen carefully I'm going to walk you through the procedure in making at least the food you like, you little carnivore."

 

He grabbed the skillet and handed it to Nah, the ingredients they needed were already on the tabletop and lined carefully together. R'vehn began instructing Nah on the use of the skillet, the knives, casting the occasional 'cure' spell whenever she grazed her fingers with the knife. He wouldn't allow her to walk out of the house with more scars than she did walking in.

 

A couple of bells, some botched attempts, lots of curing, blood wiping and replacement of ingredients, R'vehn stood back and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Nah had somehow created her peppered aldgoat steak. He hadn't expected how much his daughter never learned to cook, much less use her aether to aid the cooking. He made it a mental note to teach her more in the future. 

 

"I think...I think it's edible...is it edible dad?"

 

"I...I don't know."

 

"What do you mean? You can be honest with me, dad."

 

"It's umm...well...I don't know how it's possible considering you buried it under so much pepper."

 

"What's not possible?"

 

"I can't taste anything. There's...there's no taste at all."

 

"That can't be----twelve above, you're right, dad. How is--"

 

"I don't know...I really don't know. Just...I'll go make some of my own finger sandwiches you can bring with you on your next adventure." 

 

"Sounds like a good idea. Umm, I'll clean this mess up, you can get started on the finger sandwiches, dad."

 

"Aye."

 

R'vehn took the skillet and knives Nah handed over to him. He walked over to the kitchen counter top and, with his forearm, brushed away the debris of their experiment and wiped the spot with his apron. It was at least a clean spot he could put their tools on and somewhere he could work on those sandwiches. He turned and went down the stairs as his daughter began the long and arduous job of trying to clean their mess up. Azeyma light her path indeed. 

 

-One Bell Later-

 

"You have everything you need, Nah?"

 

"Yes, dad."

 

"Are you sure?"

 

"Yes, dad."

 

"What about an extra change of clothes?"

 

"I have a spare set or two."

 

"Ho--"

 

Nah cut her father off by holding her hand up in a 'stop' gesture. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked back at him.

 

"Dad, I can take care of myself. I have the sandwiches. I have the clothes. I even took a few potions off shelves just in case I need them."

 

"Which I totally did not tell you to take."

 

"Which was totally my own idea. My armor is still serviceable, my sword is sharp and my ears are sharper."

 

"are sharper."

 

Her father joined in unison with her. He smiled at her and nodded, before ruffling her hair. To which, Nah tried to swat the hand away but it always seemed to dance out of the way. 

 

"You're still too slow though, Nah."

 

"I'll be faster than you soon, old fart."

 

"Hey, I'm only crawling on forty."

 

"See you're already crawling."

 

"I'll miss you."

 

"Me too."

 

"Come back when you hand that satchel over okay?"

 

"I'll try, I still haven't exactly done what mom asked of me."

 

Nah noticed her father's lips shrink into a thin line when she mentioned her mother and what she wanted her to do. She should have avoided mentioning that, he always seemed opposed to what mom wanted her to do. 

 

"Just be careful out there, Nah, maybe next time you don't spend a week away from home. Unless you don't like having your father's cooking?"

 

"You know I can't say no to your food."

 

"I know you can't, you're my daughter and I've groomed you to have no choice when it comes to food!"

 

Nah gave her father a big hug.

 

"I'll be back before you start growing any more grey hair, old fart."

 

"Keep up the waiting and I'll be silver-haired and still devilishly handsome."

 

"You wish...I'll really be back before you know it, dad."

 

Nah didn't want to leave home. She didn't want to leave all these jabs behind and she wouldn't. As soon as she finds Tajih she'll make a beeline straight to the house and have another round of whatever it was her dad was cooking. Reluctantly she stepped away from her father. Her legs felt like they were loaded with iron and very heavy to lift but she had to get this satchel to the lost cat and find some way to do what was required of her. 

 

"For your sake, I hope you take your sweet time coming home, my little swashbuckling carnivore."

 

R'vehn muttered to himself when he was confident she was out of earshot. He pulled the note out of his pocked and unrolled it, going over the message one more time before tearing it to shreds and returning to taking stock of their inventory.