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 Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 11:09 am
Winter was delivering its promise as Wasa hopped onto the sidewalk outside of Second Chances. The name of the shop had made the artist smile the first time she heard it. She half expected to see shirts with their sleeves pressed against the glass, tails fluttering as they hoped that the next patron would be the one to take them to their new home. Though now that she recalled that image her smile wilted to a grimace as she remembered that the main purpose of her visit today was to ask Melisande's assistance in finding and chopping up some garments for the arrival of a trunkless frei. Made the whole metaphor quite gruesome, that...
As usual, Wasa had been miserable at making the plan. She had meant to call. Hopefully the muse had an understanding boss. She was there to buy clothes, after all. Clothes and a little bit of chatter.
The door chimed meekly as Wasa opened it just enough to get a proper peek inside. There was no guaranteeing that the Muse was even on duty today. That was probably where that phone call and a plan would have come in handy. Well, if she managed to follow through with her intentions, there would be at least one plan in place before she left the shop today.
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Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 11:44 pm
Melisande twisted as the door chimed, her arms full of blossoms for the vase on the wall. She'd decided to combat the chill with warm tones, and the Sigel's arms overflowed with pink and gold blossoms of every variety. The moment she realized who was entering, her usual customer greeting died on her lips and she stuck the entire mess of flowers into the vase with a fwump.
"Wasa!" She cried the woman's name like a blessing, and darted straight over the top of several clothing racks to pull her in and wrap the human in a hug. Melisande's pale arms gathered the her up without delay, and she breathed in the rich smell of coffee and incense that Wasa seemed to carry with her everywhere. However heartfelt, she kept the squeeze short, knowing how the other felt about prolonged scenes. Pasha straightened Wasa's garments, patted her cheeks gently, and gave the Artist some space.
"I'm very glad to see you! I was just thinking about you! What brings you by?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 7:51 pm
Wasa held her hands in hers for a brief moment as they fell away from her cheeks, squeezing them with a smile before release. "I'm here to take you up on your offer! And I figured this would be our first stop anyway..." She rolled her wrist in the air a few times as she realized that the muse might not have any idea what she was referring to. "Clothes. You mentioned you could help me make some clothes more..." She cut the edge of her palms just under her bust. "I returned the bottle and jar to the Lab!"
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Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:04 pm
Pasha brought her hands together with a gasp, the sound muffled by the cuffs of her too long sleeves. "Already?! You're right, we have to get started!! Oh, this is too exciting!"
Melisande darted over to the desk, grabbing a pencil and using it to twist her hair up with one deft motion. She pushed up the sleeves of her pale striped shirt and swung two baskets free from the stack. "Think it will be a boy or a girl? We can pick some styles for each!" She offered one of the baskets to the Artist as she breezed by, wings fully fluffed.
"Grab whatever catches your eye! So did you bring the bottle to the Lab, or did they come to you?"
Melisande added a basic white dress shirt to the basket, figuring a few unisex pieces wouldn't hurt. The next piece she added was a worn brown leather corset, just to mix it up. "Do you miss it?" She shot a sympathetic look to the other woman over the 'orange' rack, blue eyes full of sweet concern. The Muse was asking a lot of questions, she knew, but this was actually a huge deal for both of them.
It was finally happening! Wasa was going to be a guardian!
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Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:44 pm
Wasa picked her fingers across the clothes. For once, this was shopping that fit her method. No worry for size or cut, just color and pattern and texture. Fate would take care of the rest. "I do..." Seeing the concern on Muse's face gave her the relief she had been so desperately craving since she watched Zeke drive away, leaving her with an empty case. Maybe it wasn't as strange as she assumed everyone would think it to be.
A straight sleeved bolero fell into her basket as she followed Pasha from rack to rack. "I'm not sure... Still not sure what found the jar. Zeke seemed to enjoy guessing though." She spread out the lapel of a coat, trying to imagine it detached from the rest. "That was who came, a man name Zeke. He brought a Frei with him. Anya, I think her name is?" She wriggled her fingers around the back of her head. "Spidery bits... I was really grateful for all your help in cleaning up the parlor for Christmas. I think I made an OK impression"
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Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:55 pm
"I'm sure you did great." Melisande continued to sort through the clothes, the clack of plastic hangers filling the silence as she thought on Wasa's words. She'd heard Zeke mentioned before. Zul had recommended him, after her wing had been injured. And Anya…was the Frei who had been screaming, in the Jungle. The memory still haunted her. Pasha swallowed, and dropped a grey t-shirt with a screen printed logo into the basket.
"Well, don't worry about what was in the bottle, and don't worry about it being at the Lab. I don't really remember, myself, but before you know it…"
Melisande smiled, and tossed a pair of baby socks cheekily at Wasa's basket. "You'll have your hands full! So, have a room ready?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 9:36 pm
Wasa slipped a finger each into the socks and wiggled them back and forth in the air, wondering what a Raevan could want for them. Maybe the spider-frei could have kept her spindly wings warm with a beanie or two stretched over each... She shrugged and let them slide off her hand and back into the basket
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"I have a few ready. One next to the library, another by the kitchen." Watching Anya, even from afar, made Wasa realize that not all Raevan's were created equal. Just because the average Gaian would envy a large room overlooking the sprawling garden didn't mean her new charge would, so she was doing her very best to make as many rooms as possible a viable option. "I'm even taking a look at cleaning up the greenhouse... stranger things have happened." She would have to explain the fireflies in the cupola...
"Have you been to the Lab? Since, you know... the first time?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 7:40 am
"Sounds amazing! You're so thoughtful!" More garments made their way into Meisande's basket as they combed the aisles. A white hooded rain slicker was a particularly good find, and Pasha flashed a smile to the new Guardian as she held it up. "Back to the Lab? Yes. I helped Laz, while Kyou was…indisposed." Her smile turned a little sad, and she draped the slicker over one arm.
"Have you ever been?" It had changed quite a bit since the early days…but after an explosion and a deep freeze, that wasn't too surprising. The Muse was shopping accessories now, and she added a selection of belts and gloves to the basket. It was getting heavy…almost time to call it.
"You might get to meet Alex! She helped me with my wing."
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 9:53 pm
Indisposed. She mouthed the word rather than saying it. She hadn't heard anything of good doctor being held up in anyway, but then it wasn't like she was on any company mailing list either. Indisposed could mean a grehat many things, and Melisande always very generous when it came to helping another in need.
"I haven't yet." She reached out for the heavy basket, offering her own, lighter fare in trade. "That's actually the other thing I wanted to talk to you about" She got the new basket settled on her folded arms, her eyes sorting through the layers and marveling at the wide array of colors, textures, and versatility. The Muse was on the right track, preparing for as many possibilities as she was back at the villa.
"You mentioned, well... asked, back at the zoo that day..." Her thoughts went to the baby socks once more as she cradled the basket a little closer to her side, much as she did with the wooden chest when it still held her charge. "You asked if you had ever been a baby. I was wondering, when the time comes..." She looked up at the sigel, trying to make her invitation a little less awkward by smiling hopefully. "Would you like to be there to see?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:10 pm
Pasha traded baskets with Wasa with a smile, and added a pair of glasses and two pairs of sunglasses to the haul. She was sorting through scarves, one of her own favorite accessories, when the Artist asked her question.
For a moment, Melisande just stared at her. The Muse's eyes were wide behind the fall of her bangs, surprised face framed by her wild curls. What the woman was asking didn't sink in right away. Did she want to see a baby at the zoo? No…did she want to see a baby…
…at the Lab?
"Oh, Wasa!" Shock rippled through her, and she clutched the basket to her chest like it was a bouquet thrown up on stage. "Do you mean, when you meet for the first time?!" Tears filled her eyes, brimming for a moment dramatically before tracing iridescent down her cheeks.
The basket clattered to the floor, spilling scarves and glasses and boleros as Pasha let it fall and streaked forward (for the second time that day) to throw her arms around Wasa.
"Oh, Wasa! I would be so honored!" At least that's what it sounded like she said, with her voice muffled as her face buried against Wasa's shoulder.
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:41 pm
The Artist caught the darting Muse in her arms, her own basket falling into the first with a soft fluff of sound. It seemed the right time to let the moment linger, her hand resting in the bare space between her lattice wings as she rested her cheek against a pale head of hair. Pasha had shown enthusiasm at every bit of news since she first shared the secret of her garden 'prize,' but this felt different somehow. There was something more to the gratitude on display, but asking what that might be was exactly the sort of thing Wasa had no talent for.
"It could be awhile, I don't know how long. Don't know how much warning I will have..." She tried to explain, not wanting to cause disappointment from the very start. "But, as soon as I know, I will find you." She chuckled as she leaned back just enough to look at the Muse's face "I'll even try to call you first!"
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Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 7:03 am
Melisande stayed as she was, buried against her old friend with her arms wrapped around her. This was something significant…for Wasa, and for her. For very different reasons. When Pasha drifted back, a curl was sticking to her wet cheek. "Thank you. You're…you're going to be a wonderful guardian." The Muse didn't need her talent for her words to sing with truth.
With a final squeeze, she settled back into her own space. Melisande wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand and offered Wasa a smile that, for a moment, seemed to brighten the whole shop. "You can call me anytime. Or you can use the text. Between Vi and Rivener I've gotten pretty good at it." Pasha hiccuped a laugh, and bent to retrieve the baskets, putting them up on the counter.
"What do you think? Once we meet them, we can find things more specific to their tastes! Before I came here, I pretty much lived in corsets and ruffles. Not sure how much of that was my aesthetic, or…" She hesitated saying Aki's name. No reason to spoil the mood. "…or not. An early shopping experience might be quite the field trip!"
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Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 10:58 pm
The comment gave the artist pause. Pasha was a vision in everything she wore. She could make a roll of burlap and a few safety pins the latest craze if given cause and she would do it with grace and warmth. It never occurred to her to think she would sing a song that wasn't in her heart. Such a thing would be akin to her painting brightly lit cottages beside flower lined rivers and placing them on show.
"Experience lets us try on many things, doesn't it?" She lifted up a thin strapped chemise "Lets us see what 'fits.'" She thought back to the lavender haired Raevan in her parlor, clearly uncomfortable in her unfamiliar surroundings. She didn't want to have to make excuses some day. That meant she'd need to be willing to stretch out of her warm little spiraled shell and try a few new experiences herself. Melisande was an inspiration as always in her new colors and trims, but in her eyes it seemed less like a reinvention of style and more like... growing up.
Wasa smiled, unable to push away a thought of how proud her guardian would be to see her. "This one is going to be very lucky to have you as an inspiration..."
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Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 1:49 pm
Pasha's smile dimpled, and she set the first basket on the counter, removing and folding the articles neatly one after the other. "I love the feel of a corset, and the way ruffles move, but I like a soft sweater just as much. Things are easier to appreciate when you aren't…forced into them." She knew that would never be a fault of Wasa's. The Artist had a wonderful habit of going with the flow, all things considered.
The kind words brought color back to her cheeks, and she met Wasa's eyes for a moment. It was extraordinary that the human was willing to share this with her, and the Sigel felt a surge of affection for both her old friend and the unborn Frei. "It will take me a while to get these modified. I'll bring them over in batches, if you'd like. I would love to stop by and see the rooms you've been working on!"
A trip to the Villa was always a treat. Wasa always seemed to appreciate her cooking, no matter what she brought, and the woman's selection of tea was unrivaled. "What are your plans for the week?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 8:37 pm
"You are always welcome for any reason. You know that." She opened up her wallet and tucked a plastic card in beside the register. "Clothes, no clothes..." She blinked as she realized what had come out of her mouth. "Ahh..." She fluffed a bit of chiffon that draped over the edge of the basket. Fortunately, Pasha wasn't the sort to jump on such slips.
"No plans. More of the same. I... suppose I should work on some other projects too." She wiggled her lips. "I have been a bit distracted by everything, especially this last month. Everything becoming so... real." She smiled as she looked back up at the muse. "More than just a chest, more than a bottle and a jar, you know?" She smoothed the short collar of a nero jacket. "Next time I see this, there could be a person inside."
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