Maybe they just don’t want to get it dirty? I’d be worried about that, too… What if I spill some mustard on it?
Vasundhara
B-but, you’re supposed to wear it! All clothes get messed up after a while… so you should enjoy them while you can! Not lock them up in a closet, or a display cabinet…
Vasundhara
I just want to know that the stuff I make is, um, keeping people warm and making them happy… That’s why I make it in the first place! So… you’ll wear it, right?
Truth be told, I’d never owned a piece of designer clothing in my life, and none of what she’d said would make me worry less about messing it up… But how could I say no to such a sweet-tempered request?
Timaeus
I will, I promise!
Vasundhara
Good! So, um… what’s your favorite color?
Timaeus
Oh, it’s… hmmmmmm… I like both red and green… I can’t decide!
Vasundhara
I guess if I used both, it would look a little, um… Christmas-y, uhuhu. I think green would look nice with your eyes…!
Timaeus
That’s what my mum always says, ahaha. Green it is!
Vash nodded and sorted through the stash of yarn stuffed into the wall shelving, pulling out a few skeins in beautiful shades of green. As I looked at each one, she told me all about what the different yarns were made from, which were the softest or sturdiest or easiest to take care of… I had no idea there were so many different kinds!
More importantly to me, though, she had cheered up considerably. Her words were more confident, and she’d even let out a rumbling laugh when I buried my face in the cashmere yarn– look, I couldn’t help myself, it was the softest yarn I’d felt in my life. We ended up settling on an alpaca-merino blend that she said would hold up to machine washing.
Vasundhara
You sure you don’t want the cashmere? Uhuhuhu! You’re just fawning over that stuff!
Timaeus
Y-yeah, I’m sure, it rains a lot back home so I’d better pick something that’ll hold up in water…
That yarn was also really, really expensive and I would still be terrified of ruining it, even after what she’d said earlier…
Vasundhara
Well, alright! I think it’ll be done by… supper? So, um, I’ll bring it to you at the cafeteria…
Timaeus
That fast?!
She grinned at me as she tied off the last row of stitches on Michi’s scarf. She’d finished it already?!
Vasundhara
Uhuhu… Thanks for, um, coming to check on me. I’m still scared, but… I’m glad there’s nice people up here, too!
Vasundhara
Even if that… MONO-9000…
Timaeus
…Yeah. But it seems like if we leave it alone, it’ll leave us alone, at least for now…
Timaeus
A-and you’re right! We’re all pretty nice people! Even the grumpy ones, in their own way, I think. Just need to– to keep our cool and keep looking for a way out, right?
Vasundhara
Y-yeah…
Timaeus
Yeah. If you, um, need to talk to someone, you can always come find me, okay?
Vasundhara
Okay… Thanks, Tim.
She waved a little as I got up to leave, then quickly started casting on the next scarf. That was probably a good stress relief hobby, huh? Maybe I should get her to teach me.
She didn’t talk much about herself either, but that’s okay. Maybe she’ll open up a little more next time… I did wonder how someone with such incredible strength could wind up so fearful and shy. At least she really was as sweet as she seemed to be when I first met her!
