[Open thread to one person!]
It was easy to chew on her nails or worry her lip. Aster stared at the setting sun - sort of, looking at the sun was always bad news, that's how someone went blind once, her papa told her so - but at least the clouds were pretty and the sky was pretty but... The dread that settled in her chest every sunset was not pretty. Aster sucked in a deep breath and got ready for bed, washed her face, brushed her hair. Nighty on, crawl into bed. Luckily, Aster always fell asleep decently. She never woke up tired.
However, she jolted awake, one foot in the pond with a pokey leaf on her face. Aster groaned as she got up, looking at the sky and winced when it was a little brighter than usual. Normally she stayed in her rooms. Woke up leaning on the windowsil because Duck's don't have arms and can't open windows. Guess she accidentally left her window open, which was good for her. Aster shuffled back to her rooms, arms covering what she could of her naked body and let out a happy noise because, indeed, her window was open. Easy to slip inside and get situated into her nightgown again - though muddy foot prints gave her away.
Easy to fall asleep again, Aster didn't wake until morning. Her maid making annoyed clucking noises and looking down at the muddy foot prints. Her maid knew what was going on. A women old enough to be her (very young) mother, she sighed and cleaned the mud up. A part of Aster's curse was that you couldn't speak of it. Ever. Anyone. At least not in any amount of detail.
"Again?" She said, closing the window. Aster looked at her maid from her spot on the bed and gave a small nod.
"Poor dear, should put a lock on the window," She tapped a the glass and went about her business, laying out a dress before she shuffled away. Aster of course, got out of bed and got a loose shirt and a pair of pants from the wardrobe instead. It was an easy day. Market day. Aster fixed her shirt, tucked it in, boots on. She'd read recently that there had been a tea she could brew to help her sleep. Maybe she could make that and finish it and she'd just... Sleep through being a duck.
"Amber, I'm going out!" Aster called, grabbing a small ornate looking pouch of money and empty knapsack and rushing away. Before Amber could reply, Aster was gone.
Then began her day. The sun was high in the sky, she had a few snacks waiting for when she got hungry and she was perusing the dried herbs, chewing on her lower lip and simply... Looking. There was a drawing of what she needed in the money pouch and... Aster tapped at her belt, blood going cold. There hadn't been a tug or a bump and... Was she really so dense?
Aster gave an awkward smile to the stall owner before awkwardly shifting away. Then, "excuse me?" she tapped someone on the arm, "Please, something of mine was stolen. It was blue and had flowers sewn on and---" The person shook their head and Aster's face fell. The next person. Another person.
Surely someone would notice such a pouch?
An arm was tugged on, "Excuse me? Please?" Aster's eyes were wide and she looked like she was about to cry, whether from frustrating or tears of disappointment and sadness, "Please, have you seen a pouch? It's blue and has flowers and someone stole it from me and... I can't find it. Please, have you seen it?" Aster's hand was firmly holding the strangers sleeve and she just.. Gazed. Concerned, sad and disappointed that someone would steal something from someone else.
