Open Post: What a yarn

[sporesprouter]

There's still quite a bit of winter yet, according to the calendar, not to mention whatever Dark is, and Tress got an idea for a project fairly recently. It's appropriate and it gives her a chance to stretch out a skill she hasn't really gotten an opportunity to use in a while.

So she's in a cozy parlor, sitting curled up in a big comfy armchair right by the window, a basket of yarn at her feet, and she's knitting. It's still too early to be immediately obvious what it is she's knitting, but she's moving with the easy confidence that indicates it's definitely not a new craft she's just now decided to take up.

Sometimes, after all, it's nice to go back to something old and familiar.

Comments

[sporesprouter]

"It's practical, anyway. The more variety there is, the more ways to solve problems there are."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan regards Tress for a moment and then, carefully, ventures, "I do think there ought to be more collaboration."

[sporesprouter]

"I don't think that's a bad idea. Trying to do things alone can work, but only so far."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"And we ought to have a better sense of each other's abilities, here. Some, I find, are more obvious about their skills than others.

[sporesprouter]

"I agree that it would probably be useful. But I think some people also come from places where their abilities are feared or outright hated, so it may take them some time before they're ready to be obvious about it."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh, I don't mean it that way," Susan says, with a slight shake of her head.

[sporesprouter]

Tress blinks and shakes her head. "Oh, of course. That's what I get for jumping to conclusions."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"No, no, naturally," Susan says. She takes out a delicate paper fan and sets it to the side. "I shouldn't want to make anyone uncomfortable. If it's an ability they rather don't want others to know about, then they mightn't use it in the service of our community. I merely meant that the collaboration would lend itself to having a better sense of how our strengths might be best employed."

[sporesprouter]

"I don't disagree with you on that. It's like my ship back at home. When everyone's working toward the same goal and knows what they're doing and why, things go so smoothly." She frowns thoughtfully. "I'm just not sure if it's quite that simple here. Our necessities are provided, so there's no urgency as far as that goes, and I think there's a variety of goals that the people here have."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan would agree, but she's curious about Tress's assessment. "Such as?"

[sporesprouter]

"Getting back home, for one, or carving out their best life now that they're free of home. Just enjoying themselves, for another..." She smiles a little. "Bringing people together in service of all of us... And that's just larger goals. Obviously different people will have different small goals for themselves whether or not they realize that's what they are."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

In truth, Susan would classify all of those things as smaller goals. "I see," she says. And then she asks the question she's started asking others, too: "Do you suppose the resources here might be finite, and we've just not yet discovered the limit?"

[sporesprouter]

Tress furrows her brow, thinking. "It's possible. This place is unpredictable, so I'm not really eager to rule anything out, anyway."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I've found that when one removes the items from a closet and refills it entirely according to one's preferences, the Mansion seems no longer to have power over its supply," says Susan, who has continued her experiments on this front with a second closet on a different floor, in a different wing of the house. "What do you make of that?"

[sporesprouter]

"Huh. That's actually really interesting. I'll have to remember that." She pauses, thinking. "But I also wouldn't immediately assume the mansion doesn't have power over its supply. It might just be choosing not to use its power if someone clearly has plans for something. Like how after the café got set up, the furniture isn't mysteriously disappearing. Or the welcome table not moving after we put it there."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan sighs. "There mightn't be a link," she agrees. "I suppose I'm just predisposed to anticipate scarcity."

[sporesprouter]

Tress nods. "That makes sense. You can get used to having to make things stretch as best you can. And it's not a bad impulse, because what if something does happen?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan smiles at her, honestly relieved that Tress is mollifying her anxieties. "I suppose it's useless to direct all one's attention on something that mightn't even come to pass," she admits. "But I really can't help but think we ought to be better-prepared for any eventuality."

[sporesprouter]

"I think there's a balance to be struck. It's good to be prepared, but I also think it's the nature of this place that you can't be prepared for any eventuality, because there's always the chance that something happens that nobody could have seen coming. And anyone could drive themselves to exhaustion trying to be prepared for all of it." She shrugs, a little self-consciously. "And as I've been told many times, that's not useful to anyone, least of all yourself. So maybe make a list of basic things that could be useful in a lot of different situations. There are people who'd be happy to help work on those, and then we'd at least be better prepared for some of the more major possibilities."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

This is logical - just what Susan would expect from a self-possessed young woman - and so she nods. "Which people, do you suppose?" she asks. "I know Nina is interested in ensuring we don't fall victim to the boredom, and Lancelot has agreed to organize a... tourney, of sorts." This is said with a small, reflexive smile, partly because Susan herself is, in truth, doing the organizing, and partly because it's so cute how hard Lancelot is thinking about it. "But that's less to do with preparation." She pauses. "Might you be interested?"

[sporesprouter]

Her eyebrows rise. "Oh, I'd be happy to help. It is good to be prepared in case of an emergency."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh, lovely," says Susan, and graces Tress with a slightly larger smile.

[sporesprouter]

Tress smiles back. "If we're compiling resources... well, I more or less have a supply of emergency food. Verdant vines are edible if they're prepared right. They're not the tastiest or even very nutritious for the long-term, but in a pinch if there's nothing else..."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh! How convenient," says Susan, eagerly. "I was rather impressed by your display at the talent show. They're edible?"

[sporesprouter]

She nods. "You have to soak them in water for a day so they reach their growth limit first. For obvious reasons."