Aušra Žiburis
07-28-10, 09:34 AM
Set three years after http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=21329. Closed RP: Just between the characters of Aušra and Leski.
Aušra’s pale skin was covered in a thin layer of sweat as she cast her steely grey eyes around the small, but now rather cosy looking room she had set up for her friend. She had been through a fair amount with Leski by now and was quite happy to let her share her home as she had done before, this time however Leski was taking a rather more permanent residence and Aušra had felt that the bare room was devoid of any of the comfort that she believed her friend was entitled to. Aušra may have been easily enough pleased by a plain, cast iron bed and plenty of cheerful decoration but she knew that Leski’s birthright meant that before their adventuring she had been used to a life of luxury. Aušra had done her very best to bring as much comfort as she could to her little home and the oils from her shop downstairs offered a gentle, relaxing aroma to the room.
She had placed fresh beeswax candles around the place and the soft lighting combined with the strain of dragging a brand new hardwood bed up the stairs was making that new bed so much more appealing. She wondered how on earth Leski had managed to study with all the noise and swearing. She sat on the edge of the soft new mattress and took in the full effect of her handiwork. She had taken the previously peeling walls and painted them a gentle shade of cream before pinning deep, chocolate brown chiffon across the wall opposite the bed, it had draped beautifully and just added a touch of elegance to the tiny room. She was pleased with herself and was too tired to do anything else about it anyway. She raked a rough hand through her damp blonde hair and stood again, tired though she may have been she had to get back to work. She fixed her green, round-neck vest and headed downstairs to the shop, walking into the supply room, where she made her products, at the back she smiled, a large wooden half-barrel stood in the middle waiting for ingredients to be added and mixed. She began to work adding a little of each of the essential oils she needed for a louse-repelling shampoo, she sang to herself happily as she worked and grimaced as she added tea-tree oil, the smell of which was somewhat reminiscent to burning tyres.
This had become her daily routine after returning home with Leski, work on the room for a while (It had needed an awful lot of work), make some products and ask Leski to keep shop while she did this, then she would be able to come out of the supply room and help the girl to sell more products. While Leski was beautiful Aušra had the advantage of glamour magic, this was an ability she had learnt as a child from her now dead mother. It was the ability to present an image to the world that was different from reality. She used her magic to make small changes to how she looked, for example she could make her blonde hair change to any colour under the sun, or she could change her eye colour. Of late she had even learnt how to soften her hands that had become rough from being submerged in liquid mixes of soap and other cosmetics. It was not that her products didn’t work, they did, impressively well. It was just that when your hands are constantly damp they tend to crack and this did not bode well for sales. Her favourite little trick was to add an extra sheen to her hair in order to compete with the glory of Leski’s silver locks.
As Aušra worked, the heavy, oaken door creaked open slowly, squeaking on its hinges. She smiled to herself as she heard a snuffling noise and the sound clumsy paws padding towards her, a big, brown, dopey head settled itself on the side of the half-barrel. She looked down and stared into the warm, dark eyes of her dog. Silver hairs had started to fleck his muzzle with age and he let out a low grumble of content as she scratched behind his floppy ears. He had been her companion for years, she had bought him as a pup with the intent of him guarding the store while she slept and while she was away. This he had faithfully done, he had defended her and even put his own life in danger for his mistress. He was a good dog. A very good dog.
Sam hadn’t cost her much, as he was a mongrel, if an exceptionally large, stocky one. However, according to Aušra he was the best investment she had ever made. This was closely followed by her father’s investment in the building that doubled as her house and her shop, it was a beautiful building if slightly small. The outside was made of a now rather worn red brick with a large window in the front on the ground floor, perfect for displaying goods in, also perfect for Aušra to have a view of the nearby park. There was also a smaller window near the till which allowed some light in and allowed her to watch the people go buy when the shop was quiet. The black-tiled roof was a little wonky but Aušra didn’t mind, she thought it added a quirky character to the building which reflected her personality fantastically.
The bottom floor of the building which was dedicated to the shop showed that the small look of the building from the outside was rather deceptive, the entire floor was one open room with wooden beams spaced throughout holding up the ceiling. Around these beams Aušra, with Leski’s help, had placed soaps and potions of various colours and smells. Their purposes all very much varied and Aušra knew it would take Leski sometime to fully come to grips with all of the products, although her speed at learning had greatly surprised her. She guessed that you had to be a fast learner when you studied medicine, she was a little embarrassed as she knew all too well that Leski was learning much faster than she ever had although Leski seemed to lean towards creating mild medicinal poultices with her rather than cosmetics.
The top floor however was quite a bit darker as it lacked the large windows that downstairs possessed. There were two small bedrooms, one her own and one now Leski’s, and also a tiny living area in which there was a simple table, a couple of soft, worn chairs and a little kitchen. Aušra didn’t mind its small dimensions though as she spent most of her time downstairs anyway, it was nice to leave the shop and come upstairs and be enveloped in the dark, warm rooms that seemed to insulate her from the outside world.
Aušra and her father had become much more connected over the past couple of months that she had been back from her travels. Her previous paranoia about some form of plot leading to her mother’s death had all but evaporated and although she still hated her step-siblings nearly as much they hated her, she had formed a slight bond with her step-mother although she did keep her at arms length. This meant that she had received a little help paying for the new decorations for her home, including all the new furniture going into Leski’s room. Her father had even gone so far as to offer her a new dog, but she had strongly declined. Her father had never really understood her purchase of Sam, nor had he ever understood her attachment to him, but she could forgive him for this.
She sighed happily and left the oils to soak in the other ingredients before turning her attention to her dog. “Hey gorgeous boy, you seen Leski by any chance?” She smiled, she had taught him what ‘Leski’ meant and he instantly bounded out the door to reveal to her Leski’s hiding place.
Aušra’s pale skin was covered in a thin layer of sweat as she cast her steely grey eyes around the small, but now rather cosy looking room she had set up for her friend. She had been through a fair amount with Leski by now and was quite happy to let her share her home as she had done before, this time however Leski was taking a rather more permanent residence and Aušra had felt that the bare room was devoid of any of the comfort that she believed her friend was entitled to. Aušra may have been easily enough pleased by a plain, cast iron bed and plenty of cheerful decoration but she knew that Leski’s birthright meant that before their adventuring she had been used to a life of luxury. Aušra had done her very best to bring as much comfort as she could to her little home and the oils from her shop downstairs offered a gentle, relaxing aroma to the room.
She had placed fresh beeswax candles around the place and the soft lighting combined with the strain of dragging a brand new hardwood bed up the stairs was making that new bed so much more appealing. She wondered how on earth Leski had managed to study with all the noise and swearing. She sat on the edge of the soft new mattress and took in the full effect of her handiwork. She had taken the previously peeling walls and painted them a gentle shade of cream before pinning deep, chocolate brown chiffon across the wall opposite the bed, it had draped beautifully and just added a touch of elegance to the tiny room. She was pleased with herself and was too tired to do anything else about it anyway. She raked a rough hand through her damp blonde hair and stood again, tired though she may have been she had to get back to work. She fixed her green, round-neck vest and headed downstairs to the shop, walking into the supply room, where she made her products, at the back she smiled, a large wooden half-barrel stood in the middle waiting for ingredients to be added and mixed. She began to work adding a little of each of the essential oils she needed for a louse-repelling shampoo, she sang to herself happily as she worked and grimaced as she added tea-tree oil, the smell of which was somewhat reminiscent to burning tyres.
This had become her daily routine after returning home with Leski, work on the room for a while (It had needed an awful lot of work), make some products and ask Leski to keep shop while she did this, then she would be able to come out of the supply room and help the girl to sell more products. While Leski was beautiful Aušra had the advantage of glamour magic, this was an ability she had learnt as a child from her now dead mother. It was the ability to present an image to the world that was different from reality. She used her magic to make small changes to how she looked, for example she could make her blonde hair change to any colour under the sun, or she could change her eye colour. Of late she had even learnt how to soften her hands that had become rough from being submerged in liquid mixes of soap and other cosmetics. It was not that her products didn’t work, they did, impressively well. It was just that when your hands are constantly damp they tend to crack and this did not bode well for sales. Her favourite little trick was to add an extra sheen to her hair in order to compete with the glory of Leski’s silver locks.
As Aušra worked, the heavy, oaken door creaked open slowly, squeaking on its hinges. She smiled to herself as she heard a snuffling noise and the sound clumsy paws padding towards her, a big, brown, dopey head settled itself on the side of the half-barrel. She looked down and stared into the warm, dark eyes of her dog. Silver hairs had started to fleck his muzzle with age and he let out a low grumble of content as she scratched behind his floppy ears. He had been her companion for years, she had bought him as a pup with the intent of him guarding the store while she slept and while she was away. This he had faithfully done, he had defended her and even put his own life in danger for his mistress. He was a good dog. A very good dog.
Sam hadn’t cost her much, as he was a mongrel, if an exceptionally large, stocky one. However, according to Aušra he was the best investment she had ever made. This was closely followed by her father’s investment in the building that doubled as her house and her shop, it was a beautiful building if slightly small. The outside was made of a now rather worn red brick with a large window in the front on the ground floor, perfect for displaying goods in, also perfect for Aušra to have a view of the nearby park. There was also a smaller window near the till which allowed some light in and allowed her to watch the people go buy when the shop was quiet. The black-tiled roof was a little wonky but Aušra didn’t mind, she thought it added a quirky character to the building which reflected her personality fantastically.
The bottom floor of the building which was dedicated to the shop showed that the small look of the building from the outside was rather deceptive, the entire floor was one open room with wooden beams spaced throughout holding up the ceiling. Around these beams Aušra, with Leski’s help, had placed soaps and potions of various colours and smells. Their purposes all very much varied and Aušra knew it would take Leski sometime to fully come to grips with all of the products, although her speed at learning had greatly surprised her. She guessed that you had to be a fast learner when you studied medicine, she was a little embarrassed as she knew all too well that Leski was learning much faster than she ever had although Leski seemed to lean towards creating mild medicinal poultices with her rather than cosmetics.
The top floor however was quite a bit darker as it lacked the large windows that downstairs possessed. There were two small bedrooms, one her own and one now Leski’s, and also a tiny living area in which there was a simple table, a couple of soft, worn chairs and a little kitchen. Aušra didn’t mind its small dimensions though as she spent most of her time downstairs anyway, it was nice to leave the shop and come upstairs and be enveloped in the dark, warm rooms that seemed to insulate her from the outside world.
Aušra and her father had become much more connected over the past couple of months that she had been back from her travels. Her previous paranoia about some form of plot leading to her mother’s death had all but evaporated and although she still hated her step-siblings nearly as much they hated her, she had formed a slight bond with her step-mother although she did keep her at arms length. This meant that she had received a little help paying for the new decorations for her home, including all the new furniture going into Leski’s room. Her father had even gone so far as to offer her a new dog, but she had strongly declined. Her father had never really understood her purchase of Sam, nor had he ever understood her attachment to him, but she could forgive him for this.
She sighed happily and left the oils to soak in the other ingredients before turning her attention to her dog. “Hey gorgeous boy, you seen Leski by any chance?” She smiled, she had taught him what ‘Leski’ meant and he instantly bounded out the door to reveal to her Leski’s hiding place.