Ever since Rham had decided what he was going to do as far as a job went, he’d been running back and forth between vendors and the people of Jauhar trying to find a reliable, source for his fabric purchases that wouldn’t steal him for every coin in his pocket. Rham didn’t have too much, honestly, so a discount was an absolute must.
The thin, lanky boy had stumbled upon an old Oban man one day and just started to talk to him. As luck would have it, the man had agreed to start Rham off with a small array of fabrics to sell him at a very good price.
“I remember what it was like, finding that first connection,” the old man said, stroking his clean shaven face. “So us vendors? We have to stick together.”
They agreed to meet up later in the week when he got back from visiting his daughter and grandchildren.
So with all the impatience of a child, Rham waited for the day to come where he would go pick up his wares. The cart he was going to use was still in the process of being built; he was building it himself after all, and he was no handy man, so he would have to carry all the fabrics back himself and somehow store them to where they would be folded neat and wrinkle free.
Then the day came and Rham took off like a man being chased when noon rolled around and he could go pick up the first of his wares. The excitement made the boy half jittery and he felt like he was actually vibrating, but he knew it was on the inside. The smile on his boyish face just could not be contained as he ran down the winding path, at least until he saw a woman at the vendor’s house he was supposed to meet.
That meant he had a customer, which meant Rham would have to wait. It never occurred to Rham that the old man might have a family. No, he’d never seen him with a family, in all their talkings. The man never talked about a wife or children.
“I hate waiting,” he whispered to himself, crossing his arms over his chest.
Rham watched as this woman customer looked through the fabrics and picked something up that really
wouldn’t flatter her. The old man seemed to be okay with it, but it was bothering him a lot. It clashed with her her skin color and it made him frown hard.
Should I interject? He asked himself, brows knitting harder. The longer she talked to the old man the longer Rham’s stomach turned to a pile of knots.
“But this one is so pretty. It’s soft, it’d make a fine dress, right?” She went on, her tone wistful and happy. She picked up another printed fabric, one with greens and blues that reminded him of a peacock.
Finally he couldn’t keep it in anymore.
“Look, lady,” he said, stepping forward, putting on a smile he
hoped was soft and helpful looking. “This color with your skin? No. Just no. You’d look like a walking Oban clown. Not to mention what you’re wearing now is very unflattering. Honestly, you look like you’re wearing a sack!”
At first the lady was more than happy to let him interject. He was a young thing and clearly learning, but when he opened his mouth and nothing but insults spilled out? The woman’s face grew more and more grim as he went on, insulting her taste in clothing, calling her an Oban clown?
Her hands went to her wide hips, rumbling her bright, flowery dress before she looked straight at Rham, red eyes darker with outright anger. “How
dare you! How dare you come up to me and
insult me. No introduction, and clearly a
Wind Earthling,” the words were said with a sneer on her face, “knows nothing about fashion. Or women.” She looked at the old man and worked her jaw. Maybe if she could ignore this little creature he would go away.
Rham was aghast. He was taken aback and honestly confused over this woman’s reaction. The blond boy was just trying to be helpful. He knit his brows together and swallowed a bit more before taking a deep breath.
“Miss….?”
She whipped around and put a finger in his face, glaring daggers at the kid. “
No. You do not talk.”
“But I was just trying to help you look less tacky!” He panicked and the harsh, harsh truth came out. She looked ugly. He’d been trying to work on his bluntness, but here he was calling her tacky.
“Boy you might not want to keep talking,” the old peddler man warned, his voice having a slight edge to it.
Before Rham could say anything else, she turned to look at him, eyes looking like they were filling with tears. “Oh, so you know him?” She had turned on her heel to look at the old man again. “So you talk to him? Daddy, how could you! You didn’t even say anything!” Rham winced as he saw tears streaking down her face. She had started to cry out of a mixture of being hurt and absolute anger. She sniffled and let out a hurt noise as she turned away in hurt and anger, running back towards the settlement. Her own father didn’t come to aid her! What was wrong with both of them?
Dad… Rham smacked himself in the face and felt his heart and stomach drop completely. He’d insulted the old man’s
daughter? Oi vey. He just blew his first connection wide open. Swallowing thickly, Rham tried to just back away. Running from the situation might prove for the best for all parties.
“Where do you think you’re going?” It wasn’t outraged or yelling, no. It was that quiet sort of calm that boiled just beneath the surface. Rham knew he was in trouble, so much trouble as he looked up at the man. “You’ve got to fix this,” he warned. “That was my only daughter, my only child, and look at what you’ve done.” There was a hard, almost dangerous edge to it. “You’ve caused tension in my family with your stupid, careless words. Unless you fix this, I’m not selling to you. Anything. You’re rude, insulting, and I will
not help that kind of merchant.”
------
It was later that night, when Rham got to the inn he was staying at did he feel the weight of what he did. He laid there in that bed and just draped an arm over his face before letting out a groan. “Me and my big mouth,” he muttered to himself. He felt like the worlds worst person. He inserted his foot so far into his mouth he had choked on it and now he had to figure out how to rectify this and make sure it never happened again. It wasn’t going to be easy. Rham was famous for his blunt honesty back in his hometown. Even his childhood friend, Kyrian had been on the receiving end of one of his thoughtless tongue lashings.
How do you make it up to someone who was literally a complete stranger? His stomach twisted in knots again as he sat up.
Rham really, really wouldn’t be able to sleep. Not because he lost his wares, but because he’d honestly
hurt someone. He hated seeing women cry, he hated seeing anyone crying, but… This made him want to cry.
Rham ran his hands through his hair and just pulled at the blond and brown strands of his bangs. “Stupid mouth.”
He finally got up and headed out of the inn.
The night was cold, the wind tearing through the settlement, whispering between the houses, howling down alleyways, making him even more nervous. What could he do?
Rham headed towards the markets. It wasn’t too late, the sun had
just set. Maybe… He turned toward where he knew more fabric vendors to be. He’d talked to more than one before he’d found the old man.
“I’ll make her a dress,” he whispered, grinning a bit. He could sew a little. His mother had taught him how to sew and repair his own clothing before he took off wandering. While not confident in his sewing, Rham thought it would do the trick.
He picked a bright purple dress with lighter purple swirls going through it and then some just gold color fabric. After a hefty purchase, Rham raced back to the inn.
When the innkeeper’s wife saw him with the fabrics, her eyebrows shot up. She was honestly surprised Rham had come back with that many wares! So, she questioned him about it.
“Er.. It’s not for selling? I went to go meet with the merchant who wanted to sell me some wares, but.. I ended up hurting his daughter, insulting her dress… I called her tacky,” he whispered, dropping his head in shame and embarrassment. “So I thought… if I make her a dress… Something really pretty, she’d forgive me. I didn’t mean to make her cry! I didn’t. I was just..”
She took pity on the kid. He was clearly a people person, he just had to learn tact. It wasn’t an easy thing to learn either. Sighing, the plump woman put her hands on her hips and clicked her tongue.
When Rham finally looked up at her, she smiled, and offered to teach him a few stitches. The kid knew how to hem his holes, she'd seen him do it, but to sew a whole dress was going to be difficult. She wasn’t going to do it for him. No, Rham had to do this himself. He made a mess and he needed to clean it up. But some nudging wasn’t going to hurt. Everyone needed a hand. Luckily, she knew the merchant man and his daughter, so she helped Rham with the measurements as well as taught him what kind of stitching was best for what kind of placement.
To solidify her offer, the innkeepers wife admitted she sewed her own daughter's clothing as well as her own. It wasn't anything super fancy in design, but Rham had to admit, it was really well put together. He took a deep breath and accepted her offer.
After the half hour she spent teaching him, she was on her way to help her husband with her normal duties and left Rham to himself. "Not easy," he whispered to himself as he cut the pattern. At least he knew how to do this much. His mother had him cut out patterns a lot. He just hoped he got the size right... It was difficult without the measurements.
The dress was harder than he thought it would be. Rham didn’t leave his room for close to two full days because he had to make sure it was
perfect.
In the end, the dress was long, going to fit her curvy form beautifully and the colors were bright, but they complimented each other instead of clashed. He honestly thought it would look good with her skin and she’d look like the prettiest woman here.
When he was finished, he let out a shout for joy and carefully packed it into a nice sized package. Rham had borrowed some paper from the innkeeper’s wife, and wrapped it in a pretty bow. Thinking about it, he also ended up writing her a note.
The innkeeper’s wife supplied when he looked a bit lost.
“Thank you…” Rham said, looking a bit hesitant still. Finally he put the quill down on parchment and began to write.
The letter read:
Chae, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I’m very, very sorry I spoke without thinking about how you would feel. Please forgive me. I promise I’ll be more thoughtful about my words to everyone. I didn’t mean to make you cry. Please, take this dress as a token of good faith and forgiveness. I made it myself. I know it can’t match your own beauty, but I hope you like it.
He signed it with his name and then set off to take it to the old merchant’s house.
The walk to that house felt long. It felt like the longest walk he would ever half to take. What if he couldn’t see her? He needed to see Chae’s reaction. He needed to see if she’d like it or not. Would he just further insult her?
“No,” he whispered to himself. “You’re going to keep your mouth shut.”
After what seemed like an hour he stopped at the merchant man’s door. Rham couldn’t possibly ever feel more nervous than he does right now. His hand was shaking as he took a deep breath and reached out to knock on that wooden door. It could very well be the last thing he’d ever do. She could absolutely murder him and Rham would think it would be fair. He wouldn’t stop her.
As luck would have it, Chae herself answered the door. She didn’t look any happier and even less so once those red eyes settled upon the Wind Prentice. “What do
you want?” Her tone could cut skin with how sharp it was.
“To apologize,” he whispered, not able to meet her eyes. “Please, before you slam the door in my face, read this..?” He shuffled the package, holding it to his chest with one hand, the other hand offering her the neatly folded letter. It was promptly snatched up and the door slammed firmly shut.
He stood there at the door for only about ten or so minutes, but it felt like an even longer weight than the walk. His stomach was in knots and he felt tears fill his own eyes. She wasn’t going to come out. She wasn’t going to forgive him.
Why should she? He hurt her. He knew girls were a lot more sensitive about their looks than most boys. His mother had taught him that. He let out a stifled sob and dropped his head. He never meant to hurt her…
The door slowly opened and Chae and her father stood there now. She looked… relieved? Not happy, but she didn’t look as mad anymore. “Hey,” she said, getting Rham’s attention. “Come in. It’s cold…”
The father and his daughter made room for Rham to step into the house. He was immediately surrounded by the warmth of their fireplace and let out a hard shiver. He hadn’t realized how cold he was. Rham’s cheeks felt like ice and the places the tear tracks were hurt something bad. “I’m so sorry,” he said to both of them. He looked from the daughter, to the merchant, and then back to Chae. “I promise… I won’t speak without thinking again. I didn’t mean to insult anyone. I was… trying to be helpful. I just wanted to help..” He dropped his head as he felt the tears sting his eyes again and sniffled hard. His throat hurt from trying to hold them back, but still, Rham offered the package.
It was lifted from his hands and he could hear the rustling around of it being unwrapped. No, he couldn’t look up still.
The dress wasn’t the best made, but it wasn’t the make of the dress she was worried about. Chae sighed and smiled. No, he’d apologized and he honestly meant his words. Otherwise he wouldn’t be standing in the middle of their living room, crying. That showed real heart. He wasn’t a mean boy. He just wasn’t the best at being helpful, apparently.
Chae pulled her dad to the side and the two of them whispered back and forth. Rham heard one person retreat and the other shuffle closer to him. She squatted down into his line of sight and then tipped his head up.
“What did we learn over this?” she asked, resting her arms on her knees, staying there.
“That my words can hurt people… and I should be more thoughtful about how I say them..”
“That’s right.” It wasn’t Chae’s voice this time, but that of the old merchant man’s. “If you’re going to be a vendor, you’ll have to learn how to talk to all sorts of people. And saying what you did isn’t the way. However… Because you came and apologized and poured your heart into a gift as extravagant as a dress…?” He held out his arm full of packages. “I’ll sell to you.”
Rham looked from Chae to her dad and just started laughing through his tears. They went from being miserable, nervous tears to flabbergasted happy tears. He laughed and cried at the same time as he gathered up the numerous packages.
“The dress, by the way,” Chae said, grinning rather openly. “Is beautiful. Thank you.”
With that, the old merchant man ushered Rham to the front door again, opening for it. “Remember these last few days, Rham. Words can hurt just as much as a sword, and sometimes can be as deadly. Speak wisely.”
Rham nodded earnestly. He was so tired from this emotional rollercoaster. “I promise I will,” he whispered. “Thank you…”
The old man just chuckled and gave Rham a push. “Off with you. You’ve got other things to attend to.”
Rham stumbled a bit, but got the hint. He started walking back to the inn, holding his packages to his chest tightly.
Maybe he didn’t completely suck at this relationship building thing like he originally thought. All in All, Rham decided this was just one of those lessons he needed to learn the hard way. You couldn’t get anywhere without taking a few lumps.
Words: 2976
Suhuba
(( Sorry, I edited it so the innkeeper's wife didn't have any dialog...?))
