The courier was waiting for Glenn at the boarding house when he got off work for the day. Before Glenn could walk onto the stone steps that led to the doorway, the lad stepped in front of his path, forcing Glenn to stop. Glenn looked at the messenger, and noted his smile, which seemed to radiate complete confidence in his skills.

?Glenn-Glenny?? The boy scanned the name on the outside of the envelope a couple of times before, finally, he couldn't help but double over and laugh. Glenn smacked himself in the forehead, then quickly shushed him before the other workers could hear.

?It's Glenn,? he said testily. ?What do you want?? The messenger almost instantly straightened up, until Glenn thought he was going to salute.

?I have a message for you, sir, from Carley at the Stitch in Time.? He handed the envelope over to Glenn, who quickly opened it and read the message. When he was finished, he fished a silver coin out of his coin purse. He held the coin between his index finger and thumb, like he was about to flip it to the kid, then palmed the coin and brought it back towards his body.

?I have a request of you. You are just about done with work today, right??

?Yes. I'm about to head over there,? the lad jerked his thumb towards a nearby inn, ?and get something to eat. Then I'll be heading home.?

?If you don't mind, I'd like you to deliver another message for me. I know it's after hours, but I'll make it worth your while.? Glenn dug three more silver coins out of his purse and saw the messenger's eyes widen. ?Go eat dinner, and I'll be over in a little bit to give it to you.? The lad nodded, then rushed over to the inn. Glenn turned and entered the boarding house. He sighed. He would have to skip dinner again.

***

Glenn scribbled out his response quickly, yet only the slight rightward slant of the cursive letters betrayed that. Otherwise, the handwriting was perfect. Perhaps a bit too perfect; there were a couple of spots where words had been rewritten, not because they were misspelled, but because the letters were misshapen. The signature was slightly bigger than the rest of the letters, but still written in the same cursive hand.

Carley,

Glad to hear that everything is set for me to start working Saturday morning. Before I start working though, I'd like to drop by the Stitch in a couple of days. I need to take some measurements, discuss what materials you want me to use, and set up a day and time for the lumberyard to deliver them. And of course, we should also negotiate payment before I start. Send me a message if it is inconvenient for me to drop by in two days. Otherwise I will see you then.

I'm looking forward to building shelves for the Stitch.

Glenn

When he was finished, he wrote Carley's name on the front of the envelope. He then took his father's old signet ring out of his steamer trunk and sealed the letter, embossing a large oak tree into the red wax. He immediately went to the inn where the courier had said he would be. He found the boy in a back corner, finishing up a bowl of lentil soup. Glenn quickly handed him the envelope and four silver coins, then gave him instructions.

?I want you to go over to the Stitch in Time and deliver this to Carley. If Carley's not there, deliver it to one of the other employees. If the Stitch in Time is closed, leave it in the mailbox or slip it under the door. Thank you.?

?No need to thank me,? the messenger said, hopping to his feet. ?It's my job.? The lad ran through the restaurant, dodging other patrons and bar maids, before he disappeared out the front door. Only then did Glenn sit down in the now-empty seat and wait to be served..

Glenn left work early that day, claiming he was suffering from a headache so severe he was having trouble paying attention to his assigned task. And since he was helping with the creation of temporary supports to take the place of a load-bearing wall they were knocking down, they decided it was better to send him home than having the ceiling fall on their heads accidentally because of him. Glenn hailed a carriage, giving it directions to pretend like it was heading back to his boarding house before cutting back north to the market area.

He arrived at the Stitch in Time a short while later, in the late afternoon. After paying the driver and grabbing his beat-up canvas knapsack, he stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of the store. Glenn looked at the businesses across the street, then looked both ways down the road. The streets were thinning out a bit at this point in the day, but Glenn still saw a handful of people carrying shopping bags, walking to and from their various shopping destinations. He set his sack down, opened it, and examined the contents: measuring tape, a pen, graphing paper with various designs sketched on it, a straight ruler and a T-square, and a white long-sleeved dress shirt. Glenn grabbed the shirt, which had been balled up at the bottom of the bag, unfurled it, and looked at it. It was all rumpled and wrinkled, and it probably didn't go very well with the white tank top he usually wore to work (or his carpenter pants, for that matter) but it was pretty much the nicest shirt he had. And he wanted to make the most professional impression possible, so he shrugged himself into the sleeves and buttoned it up.

Glenn looked up briefly at the sign, smiling a bit, then smiled a bit more at the mannequins in the window. Who in the world would have green hair? he thought, and how would you even get hair that color? He then scanned the mannequins more closely, blinking. Did two of them have elf ears? He couldn't tell if it was a trick of the light or positioning, so he just shook his head quickly, then examined his reflection in the glass. Maybe the dress shirt was a bad idea; the sleeves seemed a tad too loose on his arms. And he definitely needed a haircut, or a trim at the very least. Glenn adjusted his collar in what felt like a futile attempt to look less disheveled, then turned away from the window and entered the store.

While he waited for Carley to find him in the store, he went to work examining the display shelves and case at the counter. He was running through the possible choices of wood, stains, and varnishes he might use. Dark or light? Oak or cherry? Or were there even more choices of wood here then there had been at home? The possibilities made Glenn smile broadly. He interlocked his fingers and then stretched his arms out, cracking his knuckles. There was work to be done, and he couldn't wait to do it.

Glenn's face went through three stages of blushing: a slight pink at the teenage girls, a more rose colored hue at Carley's pet name, then red at the comment on the wardrobe. He tugged at the sleeves again, desperately hoping maybe it would make the shirt look and feel less ugly.

?Um, I'm not sure I'm the target market for Fire's clothes. I try not to wear dresses.? He tried out his best dry chuckle, but it still sounded forced. ?Besides, I don't think I can afford clothes like this.?

Glenn scanned the rest of the store, noting the blue walls and the rest of the display furniture. He did some quick measurements with his measuring tape, the thwack of the tape retreating oddly soothing to him. When he was done with the measurements, he returned the measuring tape, ruler, and T-square to his knapsack, and pulled out his sketchpad. He set it on the counter and flipped through it, showing Carley some of the designs he had in mind.

?I'm probably going to stain the shelves and display case with a darker stain, regardless of the wood I use. I think it just looks...nicer. A walnut stain, perhaps? Anyways, I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to do basic shelves or shelves with retractable slats, so you can use them for other things. I'm not quite sure how I'd do that though. How many shelves did you need again?? Glenn paused, almost as if to allow her to respond, but he quickly jumped back in. ?Oh, and will it be okay if I have materials sent over tomorrow during the afternoon? And I'll, uh, need some money to pay for them as well.? He smiled faintly, feeling a little awkward at having dominated the conversation with what must have been a boring topic for her.

At Carley's response to his dress comment, Glenn just ducked his head down and covered his eyes with his fingertips. He really needed to start thinking before he spoke. He then looked up, slightly surprised at the idea of making clothing by commission.

?Commission? Why don't you also sell men's clothes?? He scratched his head a little bit, then moved on to further scrutinizing the walls and the display shelves again. Was he thinking the right color? Or was it going to look stupid?

?Well, I can pick out something that's not too light, or too dark, and once everything's built, we can decide if it looks alright, or needs a darker finish. I don't think we want light-colored wood though.? Glenn shifted smoothly into his next topic of conversation. ?Honestly, cost is going to depend on how expensive lumber is here, and how nice you want it. You could have it built out of mahogany or teak, but that's probably going to cost a lot. And besides,? He flipped his hand and down in a dismissive gesture, ?if you really want it to look like teak or mahogany, you can just buy a veneer and paste it over cheap wood.?

Glenn sat the knapsack down and slid the sketchpad into it, with the rest of his tools, taking a chance to think more about the money question. He tried to speak as slowly as he could without sounding stupid; he didn't want to be tactless, but he wanted to get his point across. As soon as he opened his mouth, though, he realized he was going to seem a lot stupider than he really was. His gaze soon turned downwards, towards his feet, as he talked.

?Here's the thing. I've only been here for a few months. I really don't know how much many things are worth here. They take the cost of my room and board out what they pay me, and I really don't buy anything other than the occasional drink.? He smiled wanly; he could feel his negotiating power slip away, but his honesty compelled him more than his desire for profit. ?I really don't know what the going rate for carpenters is here. All I know is that I don't have too much saved up, and that the lumberyard probably won't give me credit. Do you think Eri or Fire would be able to cover that and pay it back later??

Carley rolled her eyes at 'Glenny'. "We do sell men's clothing, just not as much women's, and it's easier for Fire to make men's clothing on a person to person basis. Something like that." She shrugged, then settled back to listen to Glenn, nodding every now and then, looking for all the world she actually understood what he was talking about, resisting the urge to reach out and brush his hair off his face. She had to wonder why guys thought that was attractive. "We don't want cheap wood, so no ven..ven.. whatever you just said." Nodnod.

Bright blues narrowed a touch when he brought up money. Not of anger, but she was in thought here. "I know they would! Because it's not like they're expecting you to do this for free." She grinned and giggled faintly, and stepped back when Ivy stepped in. She'd let them make their own introductions there.

"Actually Glenny, let me run up and talk to Fire. I'll get some money for ya to afford the lumber, and if it's a little much, it can go towards paying for labor, okay? If not enough, we'll give you more. Assuming you're not trying to rip us off or anything." The last sentence said in jest, she turned and hop/skip/ran to the stairs and up, leaving him and Ivy alone for the moment. Cuz' she's just totally polite like that.

"Vee Vee." Ivy said with a small smile. "She is quite a handful, but we wouldn't want her any other way." Ivy took her hand back and folded it with the other in front of herself. She smiled softly, brown eyed taking a moment to look him over.

"It's lovely to meet you. You look like a fine carpenter. May I ask how long you've been in Rhydin city?" It was her first question always, and gently asked. Ivy had turned herself so that she could both watch the door and Glenn. She didn't want to ignore any customers, but lately they had been scarce. She tried not to think about it, so as not to frown at the newcomer.

"I can't say I have..." Ivy says with a gentle smile as she takes a step back to give him some room. "Oh, how did I get here?" There was a touch of a laugh. "Well, actually, I lived in a small town south of London on Earth and one day there was a huge storm, and my entire block ended up here. We're all pretty close, still. I was lucky not to come over by myself."

Ivy offered a gentle nod. Turning her back finally, she moved behind the counter, shuffling some things about as Erin had messed up the order o things. A light shake of her head and she looked up to continue her story.

"And then Miss Erin hired me to take care of her house. And my neighbor George as a coach driver. She was still married at the time, and I took care of the house for the pair of them... when they got divorced, she cut back most of the house staff, and I decided to work here. It's a smaller mess to clean up anyway." She rolled her eyes uncharacteristically as she picked up some yarn that was draped over the counter and tossed it in the giant basket she had placed for such things.

"Were you planning on coming here when you got on the boat, Glenn? I know this is often an accidental destination."

Ivy smiled and nodded her head a touch, her hair moving about her shoulders a little. "I think the best thing about this place is that everyone gets a new start. And no matter who you are, you seem to be on equal footing."

LIfting a piece of clothing off of the floor from where it was knocked from a wrack, she goes about sliding the hanger back into the sleeves as she talks, eyes not leaving Glenn's for the moment.

"I try not to be here on the weekends, but if you think you'd need assistance, Master Glenn, I think I could be around to see to your needs. Unless of course Carley has already offered. Though she may not always be the most efficient at seeing to things, she is more than competent"

She offered him her hand again, dipping it slightly at the wrist. "It was lovely to meet you, though."