Rowboat always woke up on the floor. She had a bed, but she always ended up falling out of it as she slept. It was just one of those things you learned to live with when you were as big as she was. She groaned deeply as she got up, and she swore she could hear her back popping in three different places. “Ah, shut up, will you?” She told the birds who had made their nest in her window. It was fine in the spring, but now the babies were so big their cute peeps turned into awkward squawking. She hoped that Paien wouldn’t get such an unpleasant puberty voice. He didn’t have a beak, so it was probably fine.
After doing the ever-reliable smell test on her pile of laundry, she threw on a dark blue shirt and brown pants. Her clothes were boring, but they were easy to move in, and that was all that mattered. Rowboat never bothered to brush her hair. It was completely impossible to tame. No matter how much she styled it or combed it, it would always stick up in the back. She didn’t know how many times she had told herself to cut it, but she never could get herself to do it.
If this were a regular day, she would go prepare breakfast with Shimri, but today wasn’t a regular day. The boss had bought a storefront in the fancy district, and they were getting everything set up today. The last few weeks had been spent stocking up on products and testing new recipes, and now it was finally time to stock the store. Everyone was already outside, battling varying degrees of sleepiness.
The one who had it the worst was Norman, who always woke up last. Wiseman had to hold his head up while he counted the inventory to keep him from falling asleep standing up. Shimri was almost as tired, but the overly excited kids running circles around him were keeping him relatively awake. Rowboat couldn’t help but wonder why they had to set up the store this early in the morning when the boss couldn’t handle it, but Norman was adamant about getting on the road before the roads got too crowded.
Not wanting to deal with a bunch of tired guys and hyperactive children, Rowboat went to prepare the horses as quietly as possible, afraid that she would be caught up in something if she said something. Quick and Baby were munching on hay and vegetables as they did every morning. The kids absolutely adored them, so they were starting to gain some weight from all the treats they’d been given. They were easy horses who did what they were told, so a few extra pounds weren’t a big deal as long as they stayed motivated.
The company’s flagship store was nestled between a jeweler and a home goods store in the high-class district. Norman had, regretfully, and with much willpower, exchanged his wristwatch for enough money to buy out the whole building. What he thought he bought was the store on the ground floor and the two floors above it. 20,000 Lapis was absolutely outrageous for that price; their home didn’t even cost half that, but it was the only available store space, and he really wanted a store. That was, in fact, not what he bought.
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Norman had bought the building. Not just the small slice of it that was the store, he bought everything. The entire left side of the Trumpeter shopping street was a single long building that had been sectioned off into rental spaces. The Persson Trading Company now owned that building. The contract had only ever mentioned ‘the building’ so Norman only found this out when he was handed 14 keys instead of one.
Norman sat frozen on the floor of what he thought he had bought, deep in contemplation. On one hand, he was glad that he didn’t get scammed into overpaying because of his impatience, on the other hand, though, this was really inconvenient. Being the landlord of half of the high-class shopping district had to come with a lot of tedious work. He could hire people for any eventual repairs and inspections, but he couldn’t hire someone for the social parts. Having to mediate arguments between snooty shop owners sounded like his personal hell.
“Papa, why are you on the floor? Are we playing?” Primrose toddled over in her walking advertisement of a dress and sat down in his lap. The only times her Papa sat down on the floor was when they were playing together or when he lost something under the couch. There wasn’t any couch here, so it must be play time! “What do you wanna play? Government worker again?”
“Papa is regretting his latest purchase right now, we can play later.” He rubbed his temples in frustration, trying to will the inconveniences away. Sure, the extra money would go a long way. He could do a lot with the rent from 13 businesses, but was it really worth it if he had to talk with people? Rowboat was good at understanding people, but she would find some way to offend the upper class within a few seconds. Shimri was another option, but a minor couldn’t handle any contracts that might come into play. Wiseman was… yeah, no.
“You can do it!” Primrose cheered, raising her arms and accidentally hitting Norman in the face with the back of her palm. It didn’t hurt, but Norman reminded himself to teach her about spacial awareness sooner rather than later. “I will help! I’m a big sister, so I can help with lots of things!”
“Ah. I suppose it’s less uncomfortable if you come with me. Like an emotional support dog.” Having her tag along would be good for her social development… probably. Norman didn’t know how normal children were supposed to act, but he felt that getting most of her socializing from someone as stone faced as him would lead to trouble.
And that was how ‘The rose with a silver tongue’ began her journey to gaining her moniker.
