IC inbox

[slavedbythebell]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, LORNA FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 098.47.164.55 *** SOYLENTGREENSLEEVES has joined 098.47.164.55

Comments

8 / 4 < snakepunhere >

[manuscripture]

Miss,

I had to do a little digging to locate your inbox. However, I am the one who suggested you look at the tailor shop Ebony Threads for employment. The owner has since left, leaving the property gratefully in my name. Since I am the owner now, I am in need of employees.

I offer you a paid apprenticeship should you wish to accept it. You will not be a regular employee but rather someone who will work closely with me for pay that may go up as you improve until you are able to hold your own when I am gone.

The schedule will be light for now consisting of Saturday and Sunday and every other Wednesday evenings. The aim is to teach you as much as I can and to see how quickly you learn.

Should you be interested, reply promptly.

-- Rohan Kishibe

<Soylentgreensleeves>

[slavedbythebell]

Dear Mr. Kishibe,

I am indeed quite interested, to say nothing of thankful. I cannot properly express my gratitude towards you for granting me the chance to work and learn under your guidance. I swear I shall do my utmost to not squander this marvelous opportunity which you have so generously bestowed upon me.

God willing, I shall not disappoint.

[manuscripture]

Extending the offer is the least I can do considering it was my idea in the first place. I need polite, motivated people around here. You sound like you fit the bill.

I am free for the rest of the week in the afternoons or evenings if you cannot go outside in the daylight. Name a date and a time and we can speak privately in person.

Ebony Threads is located at [ BAVAN ADDRESS HERE ]. Just let me know when you would like to show. I can promise you only the most enriching learning environment one can provide.

< nevercrywolf > | I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THIS

[starmark]

hi is this uh

lorna

the girl who works for rohan

with the

um

wimple

< soylentgreensleeves > | APOLOGIZE FOR NOTHING THIS IS BEAUTIFUL

[slavedbythebell]

[...Wimple? Excuse you mystery person, it's a bonnet.]

Aye, I am she. Have you need of me, sir? Have we met? I assume you are acquainted with Mr. Kishibe.

[starmark]

[IT LOOKS LIKE A WIMPLE, OKAY

BE AWED THAT HE EVEN KNOWS WHAT A WIMPLE IS, HE PROBABLY HAD TO LOOK IT UP IN AN ENCYCLOPEDIA

TWENTY MINUTES OF "WHAT'S THAT THING GIRLS WORE ON THEIR HEADS BACK IN YE OLDE DAYS"]

yeah i'm jotaro

his roommate

...i'm the purple gargoyle in the painting at the store

if you've seen that

< snakepunhere >

[manuscripture]

Miss Lorna,

You do not need to reply to this. It is just a note:

Jotaro and I are in the middle of changing living arrangements. You do not need to come back to work until Wednesday afternoon. The shop is also in need of a few repairs that you may have noticed if you have shown up recently. I apologize for my absence and felt you deserved an explanation.

Thank you.

-- Rohan Kishibe

DATED 9/1

[manuscripture]

Miss Lorna,

After some deliberation, I had a proposal for you. Please contact me here or at the shop as soon as possible. I feel it to be high-priority if you are willing to accept it.

-- Rohan Kishibe

[slavedbythebell]

Dear Mr. Kishibe,

I pray you'll forgive me the delay, I've only just gotten your message.

What would you have of me?

-Your humble apprentice, Lorna

[manuscripture]

This may sound out of the blue, but hear me out.

Since you are working under me and I need my days off from heading into town, I wanted to ask if you would mind working closer to me. Walking you back to Sanctuary every night has not been a problem. However, given the circumstances, I believe that you deserve something nicer for how good you have been to me and my business.

If you would like, I can provide you with a room at my castle free of charge. I feel that it would be good for you as a general environment as well as hasten your education. Jotaro and I would be glad to have you stay with us for as long as you would like.

Think of it as a thank you.

<teslacoils>

[terribibble]

s ta ʎ  insidǝ

  sɐɟǝ

<soylentgreensleeves>

[slavedbythebell]

[At first, Lorna has to wonder if maybe she's looking at her thingamajig upside down (it wouldn't be the first time), but the longer she stares at the message the clearer it becomes that the words are simply....wrong.]

[There must be some sort of mistake. Perhaps there's something wrong with her thingamajig - what other reason could there be for the doctor's message to come to her in such a garbled state? Lorna can't even begin to imagine.]

Doctor, what matter is this? Are you well?

[It's not the first time an adult has told her to stay inside for her own safety, so that doesn't alarm her terribly - what concerns her is how the warning itself was delivered.]

<teslacoils>

[terribibble]

nnnN

[starmark]

hey

don't go into bavan alone if you can help it anymore ok

make sure you tell someone where you're going at the very least

[slavedbythebell]

[Oh hey look its just the guy she wanted to see coerce into helping her.]

Would that I were able, dear Jotaro. Alas, my conscience forbids it - I've someone dear to me that desperately needs finding. Unless you or Mr. Kishibe care to join me I fear shall go it alone.

Worry not my dear cousin, I will take care.

DATED 12/24

[manuscripture]

[ In Lorna's room, she will find a box tied up in a jade green ribbon. Inside of it is a set of knitting needles and four skeins of yarn in royal purple, navy blue, magenta, and forest green. Attached is a little note:

Enjoy your Christmas.
I know you always like having projects.
I thought you would enjoy these.
Make something nice and be sure to show me.
Sincerely,
Rohan Kishibe ]

[slavedbythebell]

[Rohan ought to know damn well by now that giving Lorna gifts makes her all teary -which is probably why he didn't give his present to her in person, honestly. The last time he did that he was hugged within an inch of his life and wept upon, so Lorna can't fault him at all for leaving the gift for her to discover on her own.]

[She'll simply have to give him her thanks later on, once she's got something to express it with. Luckily for her, she's just been given some very lovely yarn--and with it, an opportunity to return Rohan's generosity in kind.]

[It takes her all night to finish, but on the morning of the 25th Rohan will find the gift box he had given Lorna sitting outside his bedroom door. Inside, he will not find the knitting supplies nor the card he left. Instead, in their place he will find is a green bolero vest and a sprig of heather.]

Backdated to May 10th

[rediscover]

[When Lorna leaves her room in the morning, she'll find a little scrap of paper taped to her door, which is folded around something delicate and green. When she opens it, she'll find a little message written in neat, even handwriting. The item in question is a single small, perfectly formed pink crocus. The message is as follows:

I grew this and it made me think of you. Hope you like it!

-A ♡ ]

[slavedbythebell]

[Lorna isn't sure which warms her heart more -the thoughtful gift, or the note that accompanies it. The keeps them both, pressing the flower between the pages of one of her books so that it will keep, and tucking the note in her dresser drawer, beneath her clothes.]

[Of course, such a thoughtful gift cannot go reciprocated. Whether Anna knows it or not, she's just initiated a never-ending chain of gift-exchanging.]

[By mid-day, Anna will find a small parcel wrapped in brown paper and tied up with a small green ribbon outside her door. Inside, she'll find Lorna's best attempt at making truffles - she had never heard of the dish before, but the recipe amounted to chocolate covered chocolate, and so she felt confident that it would suit Anna's tastes.]

[The package has no note, or signature - it doesn't need one. The green ribbon is telling enough on its own.]

<10/4> <summerbloom>

[rediscover]

lorna!!!
did you know that rohan's birthday is this month??????????

[slavedbythebell]

Is it truly?

He hasn't said a word of it to me - I haven't done any preparing.

This needs correcting at once!

1/30 - action

[rediscover]

[Anna's kind of flying by the seat of her pants, here. There's a lot at stake, but ever since her conversation with Soeki, she's been antsy. He had a point—why wait, when either of them could vanish any day now? She's been doing a lot of thinking, and the only conclusion she can come to is that she wants to ask Lorna to marry her.

So she goes to Lorna's room in the early evening, her grass-hair pulled up into a braided crown, the black hellebore that came in in December striking against her frosted-white leaves and grass. It's startling, these days, to look into the mirror and realize how much she looks like Elsa. She's just about to knock, when the door opens, and Anna finds herself staring Lorna right in the face. Her hand, curled into a fist, pauses in midair, and then she giggles, letting it fall to her side.]

Hi, honeyhooves...I was just coming to talk to you!

[slavedbythebell]

[She can do this.]

[She can, she knows she can - she just has to do it. She just has to sit Anna down, take a deep breath, look her in her pale, beautiful eyes ---]

[And tell her she loves a monster.]

[Right. Easy as pie. Not at all gut-wrenching or terrifying, no sir.]

[Taking a deep breath, Lorna moves to the door, intent on starting her mission Now before she loses her nerve - well, more of it than she already has.]

[She turns the handle, throwing the door open with a burst of forced confidence, only to have that confidence rapidly deflate at the sight of Anna standing right in front of her.]

[She jumps, startled, her hand flying to her heart as she gathers her wits and lets out an embarrassed chuckle. God, but she had hoped she would have had more time to recite her speech in her head on the way to Anna's room, but it looks like she's going to have to skip that little step entirely.]

[Smiling, Lorna tucks a stray lock of hair behind her left horn before reaching out to frame Anna's face between her hands. She places a quick kiss hello between her brows before pulling back so that she can properly hear what she has to say.]

And I you. It seems we're of the same mind today.

[Alright, play it cool, play it cool. She can do this.]

5/24 - Action

[defyingfrigidity]

[It's one of the rare afternoons where Elsa and Anna don't head home from work at the same time, and Elsa kind of feels a little bad. She knows Anna can handle things at the cafe on her own, especially for such a short amount of time, but still... she likes helping out there, even if dealing with their customers still makes her anxiety spike.

However, this is important! So she can squash that guilt aside for now, and before she starts combing the rest of the castle looking for her future in-law, she first stops at the door to Lorna's room, and taps out a short knock.]

Lorna?

[slavedbythebell]

[Lorna hasn't had much time to herself as of late - between work, her duties at home, and practicing her reading and arithmetic, there's been very little opportunity to simply sit down and catch her breath.]

[Today, she's managed to steal a few moments to work on one of her appliques. She has the perfect picture in her mind - a small grouping of flowers made of lace and shimmering arachne silk, each petal individually layered just so.]

[She realizes quite quickly that she might have been a little overly ambitious in her planning, but there's no turning back now. All she can do is keep trying to bring her vision to life, even if that means setting the project aside for a bit and coming back to it later with a fresh set of eyes.]

[She takes the sudden knock at her door as a sign that the time to do that is now.]

Elsa?

[She sets the applique on her desk before hurrying over to the door. She would have simply given Elsa permission to come inside, but she knows how uncomfortable the poor dear can sometimes feel about little things like this. It speaks volumes of the sort of life she's lived, that even the simplest of exchanges can be wrought with such uncertainty.]

I wasn't expecting you home so soon - is everything alright?