Submission (#6596) Approved
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Prompt
Submitted
29 December 2023, 22:04:10 PST (10 months ago)
Processed
30 December 2023, 17:45:40 PST (10 months ago) by tatter
Comments
Content
Xochitl wasn't really much of a festive person, or rather, perhaps it was more of that she wasn't much of a -charitable- one.
As someone obsessed with profits and pinching pennies, the colorful kittom wasn't one for generosity, because giving things out for free... pro bono... no cost... whatever one might call it, meant that was less money in her pocket. And the less money in her pocket? Well, it didn't have any specific negative effect on her livelihood, because the nature of adult nins meant Xo would always find someone who would be willing to house and feed her as needed (and it wasn't as if the caravans cost anything), but the kittom had big aspirations of one day settling down, setting up a permanent shop in Silveil, where she could 'better serve the people' so to say.
(And by 'serve the people', she obviously meant 'scam the people'.)
Miasma season was closing in soon, and while Xochi normally left all the prep work to the adults (because that was what they were for, wasn't it?), she'd once again found herself stuck with the company of yet another annoying kittom who had attached themselves to her side and wouldn't be easily shaken off... one kittom by the name of Runelucia, that was. Lately, Rune had been talking about the elseworlder tradition of gift giving, something that had adapted into an Eyre tradition as well; the past couple of weeks had been especially annoying, as Rune had been getting on her last nerve, trying to badger the other kittom into disclosing what kinds of things she might like as a gift. It was the thought that counted, perhaps, but didn't it defeat the purpose? Xochitl had heard that part of the tradition utilized the element of surprise, or just leaving it a mystery as to what the gift was, anyway. She didn't really trust Rune to give her anything useful, either way.
Thanks to having Rune as her 'plus one' (or should it be 'plus two', if one counted Xo's pomu?) the duo thus far looked to be spending the miasma season in Bellmoril, though not in the capital city Il'durahn, much to Xochi's dismay. Although the colorful kittom had frequently heard her fellow travelers speak of how the smaller mountain towns weren't the most welcoming to others, -somehow- Rune had managed to find one of the rare ones that didn't simply slam the door in one's face. All dreams of spending the miasma season peddling her wares to a bunch of (presumably) aspiring mages were dashed, as the (unwilling, on Xo's part) duo would be hunkering down in the more rural parts of the region, or, as Xochitl would put it, 'out in the boonies'; certainly, it wouldn't be too terribly difficult to catch a wagon ride from one of the villagers to head down to the capital if needed, but to do that while also managing to shake Rune off her (metaphorical) tail...
Well, at least the weather was more pleasant and tolerable than the time she spent a misama season (or two) in Styrnhalde? The warm colors were a welcome change (and a lot more welcoming) compared to blinding white snow everywhere. The walkways here were easy to navigate, as well, and clearly identifiable, paved in stone and all! None of this, of course, had anything to do with her current predicament, however.
Because of Rune's incessant chattering about giving gifts and wanting to give Xochitl one, the fluffy kittom suspected that she should probably give a gift in return, because she'd heard that part of the tradition also sometimes involved exchanging gifts, thus meaning that her noisy travel companion would be expecting her to have something prepared, yes? Well, perhaps not, because Rune seemed like the type of kittom that Xochi preferred to deal with when doing her business (that was to say, someone who was easily duped), so she could probably get away with the 'promise' of a gift (ie, an 'IOU' except without the actual following up on), but hmm.
Xochitl was stumped, but not stumped for long, for an epiphany came to her- if she could scam her regular customers by making up random nonsense to hype up the junk she called 'rare finds', then what was stopping her from applying the same logic to her hypothetical gift for Rune? And best yet, she thought, glancing over at her pomu...
... She didn't even have to do anything herself!
Was it cheating? Maybe, to some nins, sure. Lazy? Also maybe, yeah. But Xochi didn't like to think of it like that; she liked to think of it as, say, 'outsourcing', perhaps even 'letting her pomu contribute (and feel included)? There were plenty of ways to spin this in a positive light, after all! And nobody had to know...
A newfound spring in her step, Xochitl beckoned her pomu, who had been in the middle of sorting through its' bonded kittom's shop inventory, to come forward, and whispered her plan to the fuzzy familiar. It wasn't clear what sort of conversation was taking place, but whatever was said, her pomu seemed to understand, for soon enough, it set to work with a hearty 'pomu!', gathering up assorted mushrooms (edible or not? she didn't know), orange and red leaves, twigs, etc, from an earlier venture into the nearby forest, and crafting up something that vaguely seemed to resemble... well, whatever the end result would be, Xochi didn't really care, content to leave it to her pomu to do all the hard work, but she already was brainstorming how she'd present this to Rune.
Yes yes, she could tell Rune that this was... a friendship charm! Definitely something people in Bellmoril gave to friends, and not at all some random tacky craft project she foisted upon her pomu at the last minute, no no.
Rewards
| Reward | Amount |
|---|---|
| Elecite Coins | 9 |
Characters
MYO-ELN309: Xochitl
| Reward | Amount |
|---|---|
| AP (Bellmoril) (Currencies) | 1 |
Add-Ons
These items have been removed from the submitter's inventory and will be refunded if the request is rejected or consumed if it is approved.
| Item | Source | Notes | Quantity |
|---|
nyamomask's Bank
| Currency | Quantity |
|---|