Players:
NPCs:
* None.
Summary: After the party, Arden and Abigail clean up the hotel, and exchange friendship valentines.
Date: 15 February, 1884
Log Title
Silver Dollar Hotel
It's the wee hours of the morning, and peace has finally descended on the Silver Dollar Hotel. The townsfolks and local residents who came out have all long since departed, taking the laughter and good cheer with them. despite the altercation of earlier in the evening, the event seems to have gone off well, and quite a large sum of money was raised to help the local businesses. And now, only the clean up remains. Arden is currently settled in the greathall, cleaning up the kissing boots and the decorations, placing them into a large sack, pulling and depositing as she walks.
Abigail isn't quite sure how late or early it is, but it's in that defining moment of lacking clarity that the blonde is rather wide awake and alert. It's peaceful and quiet and she enjoys this. She currently stands within the arts and crafts area, cleaning up messes in masse and making sure the tables are left spotless. The supplies that she can salvage are saved and placed aside. They'll benefit at least one person around town and she doesn't mind if it's merely just one. In the process, she's edging deeper into the great hall. "Arden," she calls out. "This turned out to be fun, in the end. Thank you."
"I'm the one who should be thanking you. You put a lot of work in to getting the place ready, and you've been tireless with the children." Arden finishes one half of the hall, having gone through and picked up the trash from between the chairs as well, and heads over towards where the stage once was, but that and the piano were taken back out and returned to the saloon, "I'm just glad that people turned out to celebrate. I couldn't really be sure how conservative the town would be."
Abigail grins a touch at the response but she shakes her head nonetheless. "I'll say we're even then," then, she pauses and turns back to clearing things up. She begins to walk across the hall with the salvageable supplies in order to set them aside at the main entrance. The cleaning will take a time, but at least they can talk throughout. She sets them down and turns, speaking across the distance between the two of them with her hands placed briefly at her hips. "Me too," she answers, "I suppose we'll wait and see what shows up in the papers when they're distributed. I think it was great."
"So do I. And we got the mayor to come out, and the person running against him…if that doesn't show support, I'm not sure what does." Cleaning is a tedious bit of work, but thankfully, with the time of day, they don't need to sift through guests comings and goings to do it. With the trash cleaned up, Arden now turns to putting away the collection of chairs and the few tables, so she can access the floor for damages.
"It was a grand event, in the end," comments the blonde as she begins to pace herself back to gather more of the supplies. These are moved in a moment of quiet between the two of them but she does end up holding a card in her hand. It's nothing big or overtly extravagant, but at least between the two of them it's something over nothing. Holding it behind the small of her back with her right hand, she comes to stand near to Arden. "I do believe you deserve at least this." She holds up the card: Happy Valentine's Day.
Arden's just on her way back from putting away the last of the chairs. The floor's not bad, but it'll need to be mopped. She pauses, though, as she sees the card, a smile answering the offer as she reaches out to accept the card, "Thank you, Abigail. I haven't gotten a Valentine's Day card since my father. I know, it's silly…but we only ever had each other since mother passed." A hand rises, waving the bit of history away, as she accepts the card, though she doesn't read it yet, "I have something for you too."
Abigail stiffens for a moment and then relaxes into a light smile. It's just a small reaction to the bit of history and she tucks it to the back of her mind in the meantime. There's a step taken in returning to cleaning things up but she pivots a bit further in order to return to looking toward Arden, arching an eyebrow questioningly. Well, a gift is a gift and it's even better if it's from a friend. It lets her smile all the more easily.
Arden carries the card over towards the front desk, and once she arrives, she reaches into the box they've been keeping the tallies in, the real money stored in the hotel's safe. She also pulls out a card. It's just as simple, but the wording seems to be in well, not in anything that looks even vaguely romanized, but it's a series of symbols and marks. She also removed a worn, but obviously well-loved book, which she turns and offers to Abigail. "Happy Valentine's Day."
Abigail looks after Arden for a lingering moment in trying to gauge what's happening but that moment passes along as quietly as it had arrived and it leads her into trailing after the other woman, stepping within Arden's wake. The blonde woman lifts hands to the card being offered and she lifts her brows at its sighting as well, obviously curious. She takes it, looking it over with an appreciative smile. Yet, there's also the book and more and more of her attention is being fixed upon it. "Oh, thank you," it's heartfelt, too. "I still don't understand all of this, the language I mean, Cree, but Happy Valentine's Day." Her gaze shifts back to the woman and she's still smiling, just enough to reveal the beginnings of dimples.
"You're very welcome." Arden reaches out a hand, touching the book, "My father purchased it just after it was translated, in '61. My mother kept to the ways of her people, and my father had me raised in the same tradition, but she enjoyed the stories," the tone of Arden's voice is soft, and indicates no disrespect intended towards the book, "And they used to read together. It was one of the books my mother used to teach him to speak our language." A shake of her head, before she continues, "It's a translation of your Holy Bible. I thought, since we're been studying together," and in the evenings after the smithy is closed, Arden has been teaching Abigail Cree, "you might like a book you could work out of, and that might be a comfort to you."
Abigail listens to the history being told and she listens well, turning her gaze back down towards the book and gently slipping the card beneath its front cover in order to safe-keep the both of them together. She holds it to her bosom for a lingering moment and then leans forward with her arms spreading out in order to hug Arden close to her. "I'll like it, definitely," she murmurs in reply, nodding a few times to herself. "I wish I had something this powerful to give in return."
Arden accepts the hug, returning it, before she steps back, "You are willing to learn. To respect and appreciate a culture and a people most in this country consider savage and below contempt." After all, in Arden's home country, the way in which the French view the First Nations people is quite different. "That is as much a gift to me, as that book is to you." Again, that smile, before she looks around, "We had best finish cleaning up, or else we'll still be working when the hotel residents start coming down for breakfast."
"I wouldn't turn down anything good and wholesome from a friend, not ever," readily replies Abigail before taking her own step back and casting her gaze back down towards the book. She listens. Her thumbs rub over its surface while her fingers continue to lightly curl around it, thoughtful. She smiles and then nods decisively with a croaked, "Yes, yes, of course." She'll go to place the book aside with the art supplies near to the front entrance before returning to Arden in order to clean things up and make the hotel proper for business.
