#I realize the last thing I drew was just 'maybe Melody and Claire like each other' so this kind of skips ahead | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the1rei · 7 years

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Bloomin' Ross pt21

Having a look into Rose’s home life with the addition of a new family member. Longest one yet 2100 words

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Rose eased into the bath with a deep, satisfied sigh that only someone who has undergone a long hard day of work could express fully. She closed her eyes and let her head roll back, bringing up wet hands to scrub the filth from her face. She winced a little at the sting of a deep scratch, but the rest had already faded thanks to the burning salve.

Thoughts of Cass came with the memory, and Rose let herself yearn for her, something she would never do when Cass was around for fear of breaking her sacred promise. Cass worked hard too; she probably enjoyed bath's as well, Rose blushed at the thought of sharing her bath with the other young woman.

The clatter of a kettle taken from the hearth finally brought Rose back to reality. She opened her eyes and looked to see her mother holding the kettle and realized that somehow the water of her bath had cooled.

A bundle within the fire stirred and looked up at Camellia whining and staring up with imploring eyes. "Oh no you don't, you stay right where you are." Pyrepy rose and turned around in the hearth, but didn't venture beyond its threshold settling back down in his bed of ash and charcoal still quietly whining in protest.

Despite having fed the pup, they'd all had a good laugh watching the pup dive nose deep into the bowl and chased it around the room spilling more than he ate his tail never once stopped wagging, his desire to chew and burn things never seemed to ebb. And like all the worst puppies in the world, he seemed to favor whatever item was most loved. Dolls, shoes, brass buttons, it didn't matter to Pyrepy he just wanted to chew it up and burn it to a crisp. So he had been banished to the small hearth for now; as an added benefit his fire burned continuously without fuel.

The hot water her mother added to the bath burned Rose's feet a little, but it was worth it to feel the soothing warmth spread out through the water. "You're going to turn all pruney if you stay in there much longer, I've already washed your clothes. Come on lean forward, and I'll wash your hair."

Rose didn't protest in favor of independence as some of the other girls did. She simply did as asked and pulled the tie from her hair letting it spill over her face. Camellia took up the bucket Rose would later use to empty the tub into the street and dipped it into the water, bringing it up half full and pouring it over Rose's head. The warm water washed the cold from her damp and a few more dips and pours washed the dirt from it as well. Rose gathered her hair up and wrung it out, picking out a loose stick as she did and leaned back relaxing into the tub again.

"Oh no you don't," Camellia tapped Rose's hand that clung to the lip of the tub. Rose rolled her head to one side to meet her mother's gaze, "The little ones need to bath as well."

"What about you mom?" Rose looked up worriedly. Normally her mother would bath first and then paradoxically wash her daughter's clothes while they bathed, Rose first alone and then her younger sister together, right before they would turn in.

"Oh it's fine, I don't get nearly as dirty as you at that forge, or the girls... I don't know how they manage to get so dirty braiding each other's hair most of the day." Camellia frowned and then shook her head and smiled dreamily. She patted Rose's hand again, "Come on out you get, I put your new shirt and a clean pair of trousers out for you. Girl's it's time for your Bath!"

Rose quickly fled the tub as the as the quartet of little sisters, their hair flying free of braids, burst from the room. "Cannon Ball!" Leah cried leading the pack with Ella not too far behind. Leah leaped for the tub only to have Rose snatch her around the waist in mid-air and pull her back, "Oh no you don't!" She countered, a hand holding the silent, but equally mischevious, Ella back. Leah pouted but enjoyed a small splash as Rose dropped her into the tub and the other three climbed in.

The presence of their mother and big sister kept the girls from splashing too much; they flicked water at each other. Claire enjoyed the envy of her sisters, including Rose, by being able to squirt jets of water with her hands.

By the time Rose had pulled on her clothes, brushed out her hair and tied it back in a temporarily tight ponytail the younger ones had finished their bath. They threw on their night gowns and lined up in a surprisingly neat row to have their hair brushed. Youngest to oldest they stood each brushing the hair of the younger sister in front of them. Leah was brushing a dolly in place of a younger sister and their mother brushing Claire's hair.

"Come on Rose you promised," Leah called once they had finished brushing their hair, less Rose had forgotten in the last few hours. The young woman had just finished leaning the empty tub against the wall after bailing most of the water out and dumping the rest on the street outside their front door.

"Just let me get it," Rose starting up the ladder to the loft that was her private bedroom. It was rather a funny thing to give a girl would couldn't come down a ladder without falling once every other day a loft for a bedroom, but she was the eldest and therefore entitled to the winter cold and summer hot room.

"Can Pyrepy sleep with me tonight!" Ella asked and upon hearing his name, the pup bound from the hearth his flames obediently dying as he crossed the threshold.

"Hold on there pup," Camellia caught the puppy up in one of the damp towels rubbing it across his fur wiping the wispy ash that clung to it away. The pup groaned and struggled at the feel of the dampness, but didn't dare fight for real against the one that could banish him back to the hearth.

Rose returned successfully down the ladder with a handsome leather case perfectly oiled and maintained it looked very out of place in the poor family's home. Taking a chair from the kitchen, she sat it in the middle of the room between the foots of the two bunk beads. Claire lay in the top bunk of the bed to Rose's left, and Ella snuggled against the very warm Pyrepy beneath her sister. Leah had the top bunk to Rose's right, Chloe preferred the bottom being afraid of heights.

If the leather case looked out of place, then the lacquered shining beautiful violin she lifted from it was definitely out of place. None commented though save to call out requests as Rose set the case aside and brought up the instrument and its bow.

Rose didn't seem to heed any of their requests as she slowly drew the bow back and forth across the strings and her fingers danced slowly on the string, shifting back and forward up and down coaxing nearly completely different sounds from the same string. The melody she played was slower than what some of her sisters would have liked, but perhaps a little faster than something intended to put them to rest.

Ears not tuned to the perfected playing of the orchestra might have wondered why Rose had never thought to play professionally. While people joked that all her coordination was on her fingers, she knew she wasn't talented enough for such lofty goals. She had fumbled through learning to play at her father's bedside as a distraction for them both and had no training beyond that; she couldn't even read sheet music. She replicated what she could by ear, and the rest was her own to whatever quality that was it pleased her sisters.

As each piece came to an end she peeked an eye open to check how away her sisters were; they knew that if they didn't stir as she finished then the performance would end. Each time she found eyes still watching her she began a new piece slower and lower than the one before until the girls couldn't maintain the struggle of wakefulness and the room fell silent.

Without a sound, Rose put away the violin and took up the chair. Pyrepy, noticing her moving, crept out from under Ella's grasp and clicked after her not quite as quiet, but he didn't rouse the girls.

"Beautiful as ever," Camellia commented from her place in front of the cold hearth having taken up her sewing again by candlelight. Pyrepy moved to sniff the sewing, but Camellia gave him a look, his ears fell, but he obediently crawled back into the hearth and ignited in flames. "Your father would be proud."

"Thanks," Rose spoke wearily and sat the chair down next to her mother's putting the case between them and taking up a block of wood and whittling knife from the hearth. Sitting, Rose stared down at the block, it was almost as long and thick as her forearm, for a moment before shearing off a piece of it with the knife.

"You should go to bed; you look exhausted," Camellia advised her eyes on her sewing.

"Xavier told me I shouldn't come into work tomorrow. I thought I should take Pyrepy to the castle, maybe someone there knows what he is, but..." Rose chewed her lip and sheared off another few pieces.

"And you can see Cass again." Camellia smiled knowingly.

"But it's a days wages," Rose protested as he hands worked now like her mother's seemingly without thought.

"We can do without," Camellia assured, but there was a sigh in her voice that betrayed the fact that she understood Rose's worries. "We've done with less."

"But-"

"Oh I'm tired," Camellia interrupted with a yawn. Rising from her chair, she walked over and laid her sewing out on the table. "I'm going to bed; you should too."

It was an old code between them, 'food and sleep cure all ill thoughts.' Experience told her that her mother was right, but youthful stubbornness wouldn't let her rest. "I'll stay up a bit longer."

"Suit yourself," Camellia yawned and made her way to her bed, tucked into a corner of the living room. She chuckled at her own words, "That would be a disaster."

Rose didn't challenge the teasing and went back to work. At least her hands did, but they seemed to carve into the wooden block of their own volition while Rose's eyes and thoughts grew lost in Pyrepy's flames. It was only when Pyrepy orange pools of eyes rose to meet hers did Rose come out of her thoughts. She didn't know how long it had been, but the block had been whittled half way into a fine new spoon.

Pyrepy stepped from the hearth his flames dying leaving just the nub of a candle to give them light and sniffed at the spoon. Before he could make to take a bite, Rose pulled it away whispering, "Oh no you don't, go gnaw on a long if you want."

Pyrepy looked back at the pile of logs, but stuck his nose up at them and sniffed at the spoon again. "You just want it because I carved it don't you?"

Somewhat to her surprise Pyrepy nodded and sniffed at it again. Rose sighed, "Well you can't have this, go lay in the hearth, and I'll carve a bone, just for you after I'm done, ok."

Pyrepy sat and tilted his head at his mistress as if he didn't quite understand her this time, but Rose didn't allow him to protest and shooed him back into the hearth, after petting him reassuringly. That seemed to please him, and he trotted back to his new bed.

Rose sighed shearing off another strip of wood from the would-be spoon; it would be a long night.

#tangled the series #cassandrose #rose #ross #pyrepy

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