[XOTM : Gift] The Accidentally Perfect Vase

Terra walked into her clay studio. It was a bit of a mess, she couldn't deny it, but she had a big project she was working on for an important client. Today was one of the last days to work on it, and most of the pieces were already shaped, glazed, and fired. Just the final piece: a stunning vase—or, well, it was going to be stunning when she finished creating it, exactly like the picture she had in her mind.

She threw the clay onto the table and started spinning and shaping it into the right form and size. The wet slip on her paws, the smell of clay, and the heat of the kiln calmed her and made her feel perfectly in her element. She was made for this job and she enjoyed every single second of it.

With the general form done, it was ready for some texturing, but when she reached for the tool on her table, she noticed it wasn't in its usual spot. When she looked over, she saw it was completely missing. She got up to look on the floor around the table but nothing there either. She took a deep breath and started looking around. There was no time to clean up after herself, so the tiny mess that was there at the start of the day quickly turned into a big one. Almost all boxes were opened, items were on the floor, drawers still half open with stuff sticking out, and things all over the floor, but still not the tool she needed…

She looked around the room for a solution. What else could she use for the texture she had in her mind?

"Hey, you," Cozmo hugged her from behind with one arm, the other holding a bowl of berries with a small fork in it. She turned around to hug him back, accidentally smearing some of the clay slip on his fur, but when her eyes turned to the bowl of fruit, her eyes widened and stared at the fork. She stayed like that for quite a while.

"Are you okay?" Cozmo asked, pulling her out of the focused trance.

She shook her head and grabbed the fork, holding it in the light. "That's it!"

Cozmo looked confused as she started bending the teeth of the fork to mimic the teeth on her missing tool. He shrugged, smiled, and placed the berries on a table near her. He knew she probably wouldn't eat them, but he couldn't take her out of this flow right now.

It was perfect. After drying, glazing, and firing the piece, it looked just like she had imagined, matching the rest of the set perfectly.

Just as she was admiring the work, her phone rang, and when she looked at the screen, it was the client. He asked if it was possible to come by the studio tomorrow to look at the pieces before taking them to his house to surprise his husband. She looked around the room at the mess. Trying not to stammer, she told him that it was a great idea and she would love him to see these pieces.

Terra was standing in the middle of the chaotic room with the stunning set of ceramics displayed on what was probably the only not messy space in the room, a long white table she used to take pictures of her finished pieces. She took a deep breath and smiled. "I can do this!" she told herself, and started picking up items left and right to put them in their right spot.

But the clock kept ticking. About halfway there, she noticed her eyes getting heavy and she was struggling to think straight. She bent over to pick something off the floor close to the white display table and almost knocked her head getting up. "That was close," she said as her ears brushed the edge of the table. She turned around to continue cleaning and just then, her tail hit the legs of the table and the big vase started wobbling… A hard sound echoed through the workshop as the vase hit the floor, and she turned around to see the stunning vase now shattered into pieces.

She fell to her knees and stared at the shards. With the client arriving in less than a day, Terra was tired and surrounded by a whirlwind of clay splatters, spilled glazes, misplaced tools, and the broken centerpiece. She looked at the mess, and the usual "I can fix it!" optimism finally started sputtering out.

Cozmo walked in, looked at Terra, the broken vase, and the mess surrounding her, and crouched down next to her, putting his arms around her and lightly stroking her arm. "Why don't you go and rest for a little while? I'll start cleaning up." He helped her up and walked her to the couch where she basically fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. He smiled, kissed her forehead, and started cleaning her workspace.

A few hours later, a rested Terra walked into the room as Cozmo was sweeping up the last things, carefully picking out all of the big pieces of the broken vase. It was her turn to hug him now. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

She looked at the shards of the vase. "You know what, while I was asleep, I had a dream of an even prettier vase that uses some of the pieces of this one to create a mosaic effect!" she started cutting off a piece of fresh clay and smiled at Cozmo, ready to create the even more perfect vase for her client.