Aisling Earth Day

The woman had known she was sorely in need of new clothing for some time now. The same garments that had weathered years of abuse on the road had become worn and threadbare in almost every sense. She was loathe to spend her hard earned money on something so frivolous but the time was soon approaching where she would be in little more than strings covering what asset she possessed. It was something put into consideration but she was finally prepared to bite the bullet and buy into something new to move on from her old possessions and begin constructing a new wardrobe to suit her new life on the ranch. Tomorrow, she had decided, would be the day. Earth Day seemed appropriate somehow for this occasion and she even mused at buying second hand clothes to suit the occasion. Waste not, want not, right?

It would be quite a shock the next morning when she awoke considerably more...drafty...than she had retired in. Her sleep pattern had been fickle at best and nonexistent at worst but somehow she'd managed an actually good night's sleep on the eve of the holiday. Had she not woken up to such a chill she might have even been cheerful until the discovery of the unseasonable cold that crawled over her skin. Threadbare yes but at no point did she recall going to bed naked! “What the everloving hell?”

Had her nightgown somehow gotten caught on Alex's quills during the night? She would have felt it rip though, and he would have likely woken her had he gotten out and discovered her risqué white lace hanging off his back. The thought of him walking around with that was embarrassing but also amusing enough to stall her anger at losing her favorite nightgown. It had been time for another anyway, she reasoned, and sought out something from the dresser drawer Alex had let her store her things in. However, much to her horror, it was empty. Everything from the Victreebel Secret underthings to the plain, practical clothing that had lasted her all this time were gone! Panicking a little, she quickly made her way through all the drawers to find the same thing. Even Alex's boxers, shirts, and nicer garments she'd washed and folded just the day before were missing! Dashing to the closet resolved nothing. Even if she had been daring enough to wear Alex's nice kilt it, too, was gone. Every piece of clothing the couple owned between them had vanished.

Only then did the reality dawn on her fully. It was a holiday...on Raccolto...and even she had recently had the spirits play an awful prank on her by turning her male for a week...This had to be their doing. Groaning, she massaged her temples before turning back to the bed. They had taken all the clothes, yes, but the sheets were still quite in tact...for now. She had no intention on cutting them up of course but she was just savvy enough with cloth to make a rough and rather long toga. She would explain herself to Alex later, if he even needed an explanation at all. The man was as sharp as his quills and she had no doubt in her mind that he'd already figured it out and fashioned himself something to cover up while working. Nothing would stop that man from his work, after all. It was something she admired about him, even if it would be difficult to corral the birds in makeshift gear.

She would let him worry about that though. Like it or not she had her own work to do and set out about taking care of the house and her wares to stock up her shop. There was little hurry in what she did today. Somehow she had a feeling that there would be very few customers today and the ones who did come this far...well...she wasn't sure if she wanted to see them as badly as they might need to see her. After all, she didn't run that kind of establishment. Earth Day, for all its good intentions and hers,had turned out to be too threadbare even for her.