Closed Fit for an Eagle Princess(Azira)

[Drusilla]

57th of Winter 513AV Drusilla had gotten a temporary clearance to use the Gallery for a day. It had taken a large amount of persuasion to permission to be there. It wasn't warmed inside. If she was going to work the gallery, she would be the one to keep it warm and she would be expected to return the building to the way she found. Drusilla stoked the small fire she had be able to start in the fireplace, the kindling was slowly starting to crackle. She added more wood as it started to grow. She had explained that she would need the building heated for her client and had been granted some firewood, just a small amount. But, it would work for today. Dressmaker dummies, bolts of gold fabric, and measurement equipment were gathered close to the fire. Along with the Symenestra's sewing box and an ample supply of sewing pins and everything else she would need to start working on a dress for her client today. Her archery teacher, Azira. They had made a deal, a party dress for lessons on hunting with bows. Drusilla realized it was a monumental task, but she was ready to take it on. Drusilla stoked the fire again, insuring the gallery would be warm enough for Azira to be comfortable.

[Azira]

A message had come to her from Drusilla, carried by a rather surly Dek. The lower caste had been becoming more and more insubordinate as of late though it wasn't the biggest issue on Azira's mind at the moment. However, the message took her attention away from her worries for a short time. The huntress had been giving the Symenestra the odd archery lesson when both women had the time (which wasn't too often) and the seamstress was finally going about repaying her. The message told her where to go and when. She had offered archery lessons in exchange for clothing and now it seemed that the time had come for Azira's fitting.

She arrived at the Gallery at the correct time for her appointment, feeling strangely nervous. She had never been fitted for clothing before. Normally she just bought clothes and adjusted them to suit her if they were too big. She couldn't sew herself so she just made do with belts and such. The young woman didn't go in for buying fancy clothes like the other Avora and the Endal so she rarely had anything that fit her perfectly. The teen had no idea what this fitting would entail. Presumably measurements would have to be taken but she had no idea how that would be done and the idea of the Symenestra putting her hands upon her made her feel uncomfortable. It was nothing personal, she didn't fear the woman or anything, just didn't like anyone touching her.

Moving into the Gallery, she found the place warm. She'd heard that it could become a bit chilly in there in winter but apparently that was false. At least she thought so until she spotted the orange glow of flames. Someone had a fire going and seeing as the Gallery was supposed to be out of use, she assumed that that someone was Drusilla. The teen readied herself before striding purposefully and confidently towards the fire, acting every bit the Avora, calling out as she went. "Drusilla! I'm here now. I take it I'm being fitted for clothes today. It's about time, I'll tell you that and I haven't got all day either, I have work to be doing."

x

[Drusilla]

Drusilla turned from prodding the kindling in the fireplace and with a smile and kind eyes welcomed the young woman, "Sibea-zira, I'm glad to see you looking well given the present situation. I'm relieved Lyerd was able to deliver that message to you. He get's distracted quite easily, but he's a nice guy in general." Standing up from the fire Drusilla made her way over to Azira and all of her materials. "While I will need you to strip down to your undergarments for measurements, we can get to that later. Hopefully the fire will warm the room up just a tad more before we do that. I wouldn't want you to catch a chill." Drusilla moved to the table, "I pulled all the available gold bolts of silk and satin for you to look through. Please take your time and rule out which ones are a maybe or a definite no. If one really sings to you let me know too." She turn and flipped through a book of what appeared to be the Symenestra's notes, all written in beautiful handwriting in of course Symenos. "You mentioned before a gown with straps and a daring skirt-line. Is that still what you want? Now, I've done some sample sketches of different kinds of dresses just in passing time, simple ideas."

[Azira]

The huntress gave a snort at the spider's description of the Dek. A nice guy. He was a Dek and yet the woman was acting as if he was worthy of notice, worth speaking to. Perhaps it was a state of mind that only foreigners who hadn't grown up in the caste system could reach. Turrin seemed to think that the Dek were worth his attention as well and he hadn't been born here either. She remembered that Lavira had ranted about the way Dek were treated so perhaps the woman would have agreed with Turrin and Drusilla. Her perspective would be different though; Lavira had once been a Chiet and understood what being lower in the caste system was like. It all seemed strange to Azira though.

"Yeah. Really great guy. He looked at me as if he wanted to see me dead. He won't be doing that again in a hurry," the girl replied, her voice taking on a certain smugness at the last. She flexed her left hand, the damaged skin stretching painfully from where she'd grazed it against his teeth. She wasn't sure if the Symenestra caught the meaning of her words as she seemed top caught up in smothering Azira in a choice of materials. The huntress regarded the cloths warily as if expecting them to leap up and bite her and gave Drusilla the filthiest look in her arsenal when she talked about her stripping. That wasn't going to happen and when the seamstress asked her to do it, she'd tell her where to go.

Her fingers traced carefully over the fabrics, registering the shine and smoothness of them. Silk and satin were the names of these materials then. Azira wasn't familiar with them, more used to the rougher, more serviceable cloth that she used for her work clothes. Cheap, almost disposable not like these ones which seemed so rich even to the huntress and her lack of clothing knowledge. It certainly seemed dressy, perhaps a fabric that the Endal favoured? The girl could live with that. She'd seen the outfits that Alori and Lavira had worn to Alori's party and she knew what she had worn but they had seemed too like everyday clothes for such an occasion even with such bright colours and fine materials. She had once come across a book that concerned foreign fashions, flicking through the illustrations with fascination. She had also seen the occasional foreign visitor to Wind Reach and they dressed differently to the Inarta. The dresses that women wore seemed more in line with a fancy event to Azira's mind. She might never work up the courage to wear it but it was better to take advantage of the offer.

"If one sings to me?" the teen asked incredulously, looking at the seamstress strangely. It wasn't alive, it wasn't a bird so how could it sing? Drusilla was weird, she already knew that so she let it slide without further comment. She examined the materials, seeing little difference between them and shoved them away from her, exasperated. "Just choose something, it doesn't matter to me. And I don't know. You're the one making it. You know more about this stuff than me. Maybe it'd just be better for to make a fancy vinati and bryda. Maybe a dress isn't very suitable for here." Everything was coming out in a rush, almost beginning to panic as all the strange stuff was pushed upon her. As if she knew anything about this kind of thing.

x

[Drusilla]

Drusilla mentally sighed at the teen's snort. Watching Azira flex her injured hand, Drusilla knew that she'd have to patch the poor dek up later. After all it was her fault that he had gotten hurt... "I take it you slugged him... Right?" She shook her head. When Azira shot her a dirty look she shrugged, "Fine, I'll just use your kept measurements. But if they're off any it's not my fault." Drusilla said in a couldn't care less tone and moved to look through a list of Inarta and their sizes "Ar....At..Av....Azira." She pulled the file out looking it over, she then looked over the teen, then back to the file. With a small "huh" she put the file down. She went about putting back the dressmaker dummies that were too big or too skinny. Moving to the final dummy she looked it over mumbling to herself,"Yes, she'll work." She walked around the human form a few times. "It means let me know if one is nearly perfect to you, if one catches your eye." Drusilla explained only to be met with Azira's panicked rant. She stood there stunned. Shaking herself from her stunned daze she looked at the teen, "Fine, then you may go. Nothing more is needed and as you said you're busy. So sorry to have wasted your time." Drusilla paged through her book of ideas. If the girl wasn't going to help, she'd decide it all own her own. While Drusilla didn't really care if Azira hung around the Gallery, but she'd do her work quietly and on her own. She wasn't sure if the teen would stay or not.... Azira was hard to read. Drusilla took her idea book with her and looked over the fabric. Feeling it, judging it's sheen, and it's durability. She stopped at a cream colored satin, looking it over a few times she nodded to herself. Picking the bolt of fabric up she moved it to her work station. She returned to the table of gold colors, picking out a few more bolts varying in color and moving them to her work area. She made quick work of putting the remaining bolts away. Returning the chosen bolts to the large table along with her book and everything else she'd need.

[Azira]

The Symenestra's question simply made her shrug in response. She didn't know why the woman had bothered asking but judging by the shake of her head she didn't like, or agree with what she had done. She had to be a Dek sympathiser, it was the only conclusion that Azira could come up with, strange as it was to her. It did explain the question though. She'd asked it out of concern for the man. Outsiders were strange.

The young woman scowled at the woman's tone. She'd gone from overly nice to I-can't-give-a-damn very quickly. She didn't like that and wondered if her change in attitude had anything to do with Azira hitting the messenger, or if it was because of her refusal to make Drusilla's life easier. Regardless of the reason behind it, it irked the huntress. The teen set her jaw, watching as the spider checked the measurements that she had on file for her and set about finding what Azira assumed was a dummy that she could use for her work. She blanked her during the process, only acknowledging her when the started talking nonsense.

Drusilla's demeanour changed to one of surprise and perhaps even shock. She resumed her business-like one quickly enough though, dismissing her without a thought as if her presence was of no use, or importance to her. The Avora gaped at her for a moment, too shocked to find the right words to say for a few ticks before a tirade found its way to her lips. [color=white}"Oh, may I? How kind of you. Who died and made you Endal, huh? Thinking you have the right to dismiss me when you feel like it. Maybe you should remember who you're talking to, or did you not want those archery lessons?"[/color] Her tone shifted from one of sarcasm to a snap.

Her feet brought her within close proximity to the Symenestra, perhaps a little too close for the two of them but the huntress hardly noticed, the wound to her pride too much for her to be capable of rational thought. Her fingers twitched, itching to smack the woman across the face but for some reason she just couldn't do it and she had no idea why. A hurt expression showed in her eyes for a moment before switching to confusion at her inability to hit the woman. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply before letting out a quiet sigh, her expression becoming as close to neutrality as it was going to get as she opened her eyes. She took a step back, suddenly all too aware of their closeness.

"It doesn't matter how busy I am. I can't give you free rein to do whatever you like. I might actually have to wear what you make," the huntress explained. She turned away from the woman under the premise of regarding the bolts of fabric. Truthfully, she just couldn't bring herself to look at the seamstress, to catch her eye. It left her thoughtful, wondering why she'd reacted the way that she had. Perhaps it had been something her subconscious had managed to leak into her consciousness, forgetting, or not bothering, to attach an explanation in the process. She didn't know.

The Sym was still strange to her, becoming stranger in her eyes during the course of this meeting. Maybe it was the inability to predict her reaction, the fear of the unknown that had given her pause before she could act out in violence. It's just winter getting to me, she told herself. None of the explanations seemed to quite fit in her mind. Perhaps it would come to her.

x

[Drusilla]

Drusilla's dismissal had angered the teen, "My apologies, you said you were busy and that you wanted me to pick the fabric and such. I just assumed you had better places to be than here." She said tiredly, the winter was getting worse and worse, along with her restricted diet Drusilla was literally starving. Her emotions were getting harder to control. Her fangs were protruding her mouth more and more often and dripped venom. She had been milking her fangs with a jar. She felt Azira move closer to her, turning to face her Drusilla found her much closer than she had expected. The teen was angry, Drusilla closed her eyes anticipating the hit. If the teen hit hard enough...she just might kill her. However if she grazed Drusilla's fangs the poison in them would kill the teen. Maybe they'd both die. Azira spoke and Drusilla felt her move away. Drusilla chuckled at the teens comment, "Yes, who knows what I might create..." She mused. "If you want I can teach you some things of my trade. Not that you need it..." She smiled to herself. "Do you think the dummy is about your size and would you look at your sizes? I think your bust line may have grown some. You look...bigger than your size says. When was your last sizing?" "Now this cream colored fabric will be the inner lining," Drusilla spoke as she worked, cutting two straps then two more. She cut many straps of varying sizes. "It's light and breathable, not too heavy." She handed a scrap to Azira. "Feel, it's perfect for lining a dress. If you would or want to, you can pick out the straps width." Stepping back she looked at the teen, "Now... the neck line... how low do you want?" Drusilla turned to the dummy thinking over a basic idea.

[Azira]

A flicker of her eyes in Drusilla's direction and then a gruff, "You should be careful about making assumptions." The fact that the same principle could apply to herself never entered her thoughts. The Symenestra seemed to have recovered effortlessly from the near threat of violence and was already babbling away happily again as if nothing had happened. The same couldn't be said for Azira who was feeling a little on the shaky side, at least mentally if not physically. Her movements were slow, done without any real thought, her posture somewhat slack. The only animation about her came from her voice, her gaze still filled with confusion.

"I don't think that your work would be of much good to me... not unless I need to sew something," she mumbled, moving closer to the dummy so that she could look at it, her thoughts still elsewhere. She'd overreacted and for once she'd actually realised it. Irrational anger had been allayed by rational thought. The override that her brain had caused had thrown her, the rest of her struggling to catch up with what one part of her mind had decided. Drusilla had meant no harm and for once she'd realised that. The woman was passive, empathetic as well she suspected. The way that she'd closed her eyes in resignation, ready to take a blow without even acting to defend herself had driven Azira's anger's back. She was growing soft it seemed.

The spider's words drew her out of her reverie, parroting some of her words without considering their meaning. "My bust line may have grown some? What... ah!" Understanding came with a flush of colour and an aborted glance in the direction of her own chest. "Well... I, um... That might have happened. I mightn't have used them in awhile, or needed to really. I haven't grown any taller since a year or so after I started my apprenticeship so maybe I got them taken when I was 12, maybe 13," the huntress admitted. It wasn't something that had occurred to her before. She'd usually just gotten clothes that seemed roughly her size and left it at that.

The chance to look at the fabric that the seamstress indicated was a welcome distraction from her embarrassment. A scrap of the material was placed in her unresisting hand, apparently cut in some sort of purposeful shape but she didn't know what it was until Drusilla provided the name for it: strap. Of course she should could have recognised what it was but then one bit of cloth look very much the same to her. Her fingers found a strap about an inch across and handed it to Drusilla, indicating to the seamstress that it was one that she liked. The question of the neckline made her grimace.

"I don't want it too low, not low low but I don't want it round my threat either. My mother gave me a vinati that had a high neckline like that before and I always felt like I was close to choking," the teen told her, watching Drusilla's expression as she regarded the dummy. "Is a dress really the best idea though? I mean, I honestly don't think that I could ever wear it here and well, I doubt that I'll ever go somewhere else where I could wear it either. What do you think? You're the seamstress. You ought to know."

x

[Drusilla]

"Yes, I shall try and remember that. So besides for today, how have you been fairing?" Drusilla smiled weakly from fatigue. "I really know nothing else but sewing and weaving. My father sent me to the weaving school as soon as I could use my motor skills. I'm sure he never thought I'd leave Kalinor, let alone run away." She spoke sheepishly, as she didn't want to anger Azira again. Maybe a bit of friendly chatter would help. "You really need to get your file updated! You may have stopped growing in height, but you've still been growing...Just in other areas... You seem to distrust me taking your measurements, so I really think you should get an Avora to measure you. I understand your hesitance, after all I am a Symenestra. I can work my way up the work ladder, but I can't change what I am no matter how hard I work." Drusilla nodded taking the strap and carefully placed the cloth on the dummy (which Drusilla had switched out) and pinned it carefully making sure it was straight and even. "Ah, I see... So maybe somewhere around here.." She showed the area on the dummy. "Well, what do you want to have made? You could always travel with the Endals on the trade route, I plan to as well. The festivals elsewhere I've heard can be very different from those held here, more elaborate....You might even be able to catch the eye of a more fashionable eagle.. With your looks, fierce attitude, and a striking dress. Endal's heads will turn and so will some of the eagles.." Drusilla fumbled with a book "I did a sketch thing, just an idea I had. Actually I did a few." Dress 1 : Dress 2 : Dress 3 :

[Azira]

"How have I been... faring?" the huntress echoed uncertainly. The question was strange and out of the blue. She wasn't good at small talk and she knew that she was supposed to ask the same in return, even though she couldn't care less about such information. "I'm... fine." She decided to ignore common courtesy and not ask the same question in return, instead focusing on business. This needed to be sorted out and there would be no small talk to slow things down any further. Just because she wasn't running away at the first opportunity didn't mean that she wasn't busy. Some curiosity couldn't be avoided though.

"Sewing and weaving? From the time you could what... do stuff with your hands? What kind of age is that?" Young enough she decided, younger than Yasi age. She hadn't had a chance to explore different skills and find one that she had an interest in but had instead had one forced upon her at a young age. The huntress was glad that she hadn't been in Drusilla's position. The comment on her measurements made her pull a face.

"I don't distrust you taking my measurements. What you are is of little concern to me. I distrust anyone taking my measurements. I don't have a particular fondness for strangers touching me, that's all. I suppose it makes no difference whether you take them or whether someone else does. If they have to be taken then I suppose I'd rather just get it over with," the huntress grumbled. She would await the Symenestra's instructions where the taking of measurements were concerned, pushing onwards rather than lingering on the subject any longer than necessary. The dress she could focus on as it shouldn't be a source of embarrassment.

It was a dress that she'd be having it seemed, the seamstress talking her into it. At least until she talked about catching the eye of an Endal. The fact that an eagle might be interested in her wasn't what she focused on, hardly registering in her mind over the horror and disgust at the idea of attracting an Endal. "I don't want to turn the heads of any Endal," she growled, fingers clenching into tight fists at her sides. "I'm not dressing for anyone's pleasure, except perhaps my own. Understand?"

Her eyes skimmed over the spider's designs, finding fault with each one. None of them appealed to her so the teen glared at them instead, a scowl on her face as she pointed to each one and explained what was wrong with them in her mind. "That one's short and too frilly, or fluffy or something at the end. That one shows too much leg and is an example of what you say would turn heads. It draws to much attention. And this last one looks to frilly as well and it has a bow on it. What use is a bow like that? What does it do? It looks ridiculous! Can't you come up with anything better than that?" the huntress snapped. Her look of displeasure settling on the Symenestra seamstress now, waiting for her to offer some solution.

x