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 Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:39 am
Natalie sighed, sitting back and smiling. There. One of Gavin's outfits were complete. She'd had to call Remi and ask for measurements, as she'd (somehow) forgotten to take them, but it had all worked out. Now, all she needed to do was dye the fabric for the other one, draft patterns...
A woman's work is never done.
She sat up, placing the outfit on a hanger and putting it up against the wall. It looked good! And the fabric was durable. She'd made sure of them.
Time to take a break. She made her way out of the sewing room and over to the fridge, where she grabbed herself a soda. Thorn's wine was still sitting in the back. She hadn't had the heart to drink it. It brought a small, tight smile to her lips before she closed the door.
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Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:47 am
"Uncle." Haki's voice was quiet, and the way she pronounced the word made it sound like a hiccup gone wrong. Quick, a drawl to the end until it seemed more like unc~ll. than anything else.
"Haki?" he asked, nodding his head as he watched her pick up a doll. She held it with care, as if it was the most expensive thing in the world.
"Why we here?"
"To pick up your mail, remember? Your dad is a coward and refuses to come down when there's a chance he'll bump into a certain mage." Haki grinned ta this. Thorn never spoke this way when Marc was around, so it made her feel like she was a co-conspirator. Plus, he spoke to her as if she was grown up, which she appreciated.
That didn't mean she understood everything he said. She only nodded and pretend she did, to keep up with the pretences. "Okay." she nodded. It was true. Ever since they had moved out of their apartment to the house, Marc used every excuse to not come down.
Except, Haki liked it here. So it was imperative to convince the stupid man otherwise.
Haki patted the doll one more time before moving to the closet. She stopped then, waiting expectantly for Thorn to do the honors.
"And what do we need from this?" he asked. Haki smiled.
"Clothes for Haki and Haki." she said, waving to the doll.
And Thorn arched a brow.
"Daddee bought clothes for Haki, same as clothes for me." she giggled, delighted. It had been a passive sign of peace after he had made the mistake of buying her a barbie.
And Thorn smiled.
"You know." he drawled. "Why don't I buy you a new one? Better yet... why don't we go have it made now?"
Haki was delighted. She had known there was a reason she adored her uncle. "Okay!"
This, was the explanation he would give to Natalie. If she was in. If she wasn't, he'd leave her a message. Either way he carried the young toddler across the compound to the building hidden behind the trees, up the stairs and to the door.
He held her while he knocked on the door, partially to use her as an excuse, and also because he knew she liked being 'taller' than strangers.
And they waited.
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Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:56 am
Natalie blinked, getting up from where she was sprawled, tired out, on her couch. She pushed herself up, setting her soda on the table, and patting down her tank top and jeans for any loose threads of fabric scraps.
Who could be there? Was Remi coming to check up on the clothing? Or was Dacian coming with masquerade news?
Pondering the question, she went and opened the door.
And stared.
There was Thorn, holding... a little girl? At first, her mind reeled. What was he doing? Why? Who was the kid? Did he kidnap her, or something?
But then she remembered. The comments about clothing for Marc's daughter. That had to be it.
"Oh, Thorn!" she managed to get out, once she was able to blink again. "Come in. And you must be..." Name. Name! What was the name? "Haki, right?" Stepping aside and beckoning them in, she smiled, albeit nervously. While she was making a lovely rebound, she still wasn't fully over Thorn. "Feel free to sit down. Can I get you two anything?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:55 pm
Thorn smiled, amused and knowing he had to be in control with the little girl around. "Natalie." he said, nodding his head in greeting as he walked in. Haki paused, staring at the young woman with curiosity.
Well, she was younger than she would have thought. Weren't all dress people supposed to be slightly old and fat? The one Marc took her to was. Old and fat. And mean with the pins.
"Hello." she said, charmingly hopefully, nodding her head and beaming a smile as she held onto Thorn. She looked around the room, beaming as she realized it looked okay. It was like a proper house, how strange!
"Natalie." Thorn began. "We were wondering if you had any spare time on your hands? Haki has a doll she adores, and would like" he suppressed a smile of amusement that shone in his eyes. "to have matching costumes with her."
Haki peered up at the woman again. "This Haki." she said, showing her to small Barbie-esque doll she held in her hand.
"And water will be fine. Juice, Haki?"
Haki nodded.
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Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:00 pm
"Oh! Well, that should be just fine. I used to make doll clothing all the time... not sure how good I'll be now, but I can definitely try my hand at it."
She wandered over to the kitchen, getting the drinks. And there... well, was the wine bottle. She got it out, setting it on the counter, but didn't move to uncork it. Instead, she glanced at Thorn. "You... left this here. I thought you might like it back...?" Her voice was unsure, though her mind was sure - she couldn't drink it, could barely look at it without wincing. If he didn't take it, she'd throw it out. It would go to waste.
A moment later, she was bringing over the glasses - one normal one for Thorn, one cute, smaller one for Haki.
"Is apple juice okay, Haki?" she asked, kneeling to give the girl her cup. Then Natalie got her sketchbook off the table and picked up a pencil, sitting down on the coffee table to face them.
"I was actually just working on some clothing for Gavin," she mentioned, smiling a little. "So I'm in a designing mood. Though... I think I may be sick of orange for now."
Business kept her mind away from Thorn, mostly. She glanced at him periodically, though. "What colors do you like, Haki?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:33 am
Thorn smiled. It was indulgent, accompanied by an arch of a brow. "Keep it." he said, and paused. "You should open it with some friends, over dinner." there was a smirk on his face, the fact that the wine was still in the fridge, that she hadn't thrown it away.
It made him feel like.
Haki nodded at first. Apple juice sounded good! And then she heard a name familiar to her. "Gavin?" she asked, surprised. Wait. Other people knew Gavin too, then? But he belonged to her world! Hmmm. This socializing thing was harder than she had first thought! Who knew some people could know others without her introducing them to one another?
The world was much bigger than she had thought. That was... disturbing.
Thorn set her down on the ground and using this as an excuse, the young girl walked over to stare at the sketchbook. She tried to peer up over the coffee table, and nodded.
"Pink please." she said automatically. She tried to remember all the other colors too. "White. Red?" Hmmm. That was it, probably. None of the other colors mattered as much.
She beamed, eyes sparkling and teeth glinting and nodded her head. "One for Haki too?" she asked, pointing to herself.
"She likes to have her doll match her clothing." Thorn shrugged, watching her. He took his eyes off Natalie occasionally enough to smile at Haki, but his gaze as for the woman. "I don't know. Is that a girl thing?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:42 am
If she hadn't been so distracted by Haki, Natalie would have told him... something. Lied. Said that she hadn't liked it, or something. She wasn't quite sure she could tell the truth, especially in front of Haki.
And so it was Haki upon whom she focused all of her attention. She scribbled a few notes on the paper. "Mmhmm - do you know Gavin?" It sounded like it, but she couldn't be sure.
"Pink, white, red," she parroted back, tapping her pencil against her lip, thoughtful, then smiled at Haki, tilting the paper so that the girl could see. "Any purple, do you think? Or no?" Sketch. Sketch. So far, there was only two vague outlines - one of Haki, and the other of... Haki. The doll one.
"Do you like dresses, skirts? Tell me what you like to wear, and what you wish you had, and I'll see if I can't figure out something you'd like!" This getting along with kids thing was growing on her. It was a natural reaction she couldn't stop... which was likely to be for the best.
Blinking, she turned her attention to Thorn's voice. "Mm? Oh. I wouldn't know. Maybe? I just made cute doll clothing - I never worried about mine. I was one of those frumpy girls, actually, before I got to be... maybe sixteen? Lots of baggy sweatshirts and stuff." Yeah. Baggy sweatshirts, loose pants and shapeless skirts. A massive frizz of brown hair. No, getting to be a teenager, a real, true teenager, had influenced her. It had influenced her almost as much as those fashion magazines she'd discovered.
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 8:04 am
Haki paused, frowning slightly as she considered one of the most important decisions she could have made in her life. Still frowning, she nodded. Purple? "Purple pretty." she said, giving her opinion. It was. And while she couldn't imagine colors so perfectly in her mind (there was a reason why she and Marc had a stylist) she did think maybe this woman was on to something.
"Uh huh!" she brighteed at the mention of Gavin. "Gavin my hero." she said proudly.
HERS, and she stressed this point slightly, watching Natalie with worried eyes. "Gavin your hero too?" she asked, in the same tone a woman might have asked another if they were sharing the same lover.
Kind of.
But clothes confused her, kind of. She knew what she liked and what she thought was pretty, but she dind't like thinking it up. So she looked at Thorn, for guidance.
He was bigger, and he bought her clothing.
"Dresses, usually." he answered for her. "Lace, ribbons. Marc treats her like a doll, and so does his stylist. Her short hair is a bit of a problem though, so I think simple lines would suit her the most. Nothing too over the top- she has a habit of picking at the lace."
At the reprimand, Haki stuck her tongue out.
Thorn smiled, amused, and nodded his head. "Baggy clothing?" he paused, watching her.
Well, he wouldn't have imagined that.
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:07 am
Another scribble. Purple was totally in, but probably just as an accent color.
Gavin, her hero? She pursed her lips. "No," she said after a moment. "But he is a friend. Actually, when he was over the other day, I made him a surprise - something called a rootbeer float. Have you ever had one?"
Great, she'd be getting all the kids addicted to sugar and more sugar. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea - but her grandparents had given those to her when she was growing up.
"Simple dresses, mm...?" Natalie began sketching out very, very basic ideas. She played with lengths and layering and folds, but all the time kept it simple, with small accents of ribbon and lace. She personally didn't like lace, except on occasion as side panels, but if Marc wanted her to have lace...
All this drawing would take a while, though. She was fast, but not that fast. She'd need at least half an hour to get down one or two designs, and even those designs may not be her final ones.
So, in the interest of killing time, she glanced over at Thorn. "... I wasn't the most... put together kid. The other night? That was the polar opposite of what I was. Still am, when I'm feeling down. You wouldn't have liked me."
No. She'd been withdrawn, klutzy (which she still was, but managed to hide, mostly), rude, and while not ugly, obviously uninterested in even trying. Yes, those fashion magazines and the real world had cleaned her up. But she still had her head in the clouds and her mind on dreams of romance.
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:25 pm
Haki tilted her head. "Roobee flo?" she said, trying the words out. Whatever it was, it bought images of dark, sexy food in her mind. Like chocolate. Or caramel. Or chocolate AND caramel. Delighted, she gave a little squeal and watched the woman.
"Have one please?" it was a very, very common phrase in Haki's world, and she was hoping that maybe this woman would be familiar with it too. She relaxed, knowing that Gavin wasn't her hero. She could share her friends with people her own size, but this one was bigger!
That was scary, and too intimidatnig. She was meant to RULE the world, not fight for it. That was too complicated- and she had never signed up for the complicated stuff.
"Really?" he asked, amused. He tried to think of her as younger and only had images of a smaller, fresher Natalie in shorter uniform costumes. Hmm. Wait. Maybe he was a little bit biased.
"I'm sure you were still very attractive." he said, a tilted smile as he said so.
Haki looked over, curious. Attractive? That sounded like a nice word too.
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:31 pm
Natalie blushed, turning her attention back to Haki. "Sit right there, I'll make you one, okay?" Setting the sketch book down on the table, she hurried to the kitchen. A crack of a soda can and some ice cream later, she returned... with a small box.
She gave the cup to Haki, taking her juice and setting it on the table. Then she sat back down next to her sketch book and opened the box. "Just got this from my mom - it's a whole bunch of stuff from when I was little that she just found. There's probably... Ahah!"
Smiling sheepishly, she pulled out an old photo - a candid shot. She was maybe 14, playing with a few of her dolls (mismatched little things, obviously played with for years). Her clothing was a shapeless shirt and baggy, unflattering pants, and her hair was frizzing out in all directions.
Natalie handed it to Thorn. "I looked pretty much like that until maybe two or three years ago, when I got interested in fashion."
Setting the box aside, she took up the sketch book and pencil, going back to work.
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:36 pm
Haki stared, entranced. There was dark liquid, and white ice cream and fizzy, slightly soapy looking stuff. Tentatively she reached out with one finger and licked it, and then brightened.
Hey, this was the new crack!
Taking the spoon by the hand with a look of grim determination, she picked at it- except it was so hard to get to the ice cream properly. And she sipped a little bit on the soda. She recognized the soda... but never had she had it like this! Delighted with the new discovery, she tried to have a little bit of both at the same time.
Which made for slow eating.
Undeterred, she looked up at Natalie and smiled. "Thank you." she said, sweetly. This woman was good! Maybe Haki could forgive her for implying Gavin was her hero too. And the fact that she was talking so much with her uncle person.
When she saw the box, Haki paused her drinking and looked in. What was in it? It looked curious. Anything in a box must surely be a present.
Thorn stared at the photo, bemused. "I'm glad then." he said. "That you discovered fashion." he touched the photo. "Hiding everything behind frizzy hair and shapeless clothing." he smiled wryly.
Ouch. What a waste.
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:47 pm
"You're very welcome, Haki," Natalie said, smiling. This was how she'd get kids to like her!
The box was full of little dolls - none as pretty as Haki's - and old journals and photos. There were a lot of little trinkets from Natalie's childhood, some puzzle pieces she'd kept, a few earrings she'd bought because they were shiny and pretty.
"I'm glad, too," Natalie said, after a moment of thought. "I think I realized, when I saw those women in the magazines, that if I wanted somebody to fall in love with me, I'd have to look better." She laughed, slightly. "I've always had my head up in the clouds. I'm a hopeless romantic." The confession was said with a duck of the head. She couldn't quite look at him when she said that.
Hopeless romantic, yeah? Yeah.
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:51 pm
Haki beamed back, and then stared at the box. Hesitantly, she reached in and touched a photo. Photo! Wait. Why didn't Marc take photos of her? He needed to take photos of her! Deciding that she would raise this with him later, she nodded. Wow.
And... what was this? Reaching over and picking out an earring, she stared at Natalie. "Pretty." she stated, simply. She would get one of these things in the future! Although she didn't understand, really.
Did the holes in your ears magically appear as you grew up?
Maybe.
Startled and a little bit bemused that his friend's daughter was ransacking someone else's stuff, Thorn smiled. "Getting made up to have someone fall in love with you?" That was naive... and a little bit sad. Romantics were always sad, in his mind. So he shook his head. "You don't need that." he said.
Although secretly, he was kind of glad she hadn't remained with her frizzy hair and baggy clothing.
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Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:56 pm
"My mother bought them for me when she had my ears pierced. I don't think I ever wore them, but they are pretty," she said, smiling.
Then a glance back at Thorn. The comment... the way he said it. It stung a little.
"... I know," Natalie said, looking at him. "I know that, now. But it helps. Most people don't look past outer appearances, and some people would never notice me in the first place if I didn't look the way I do.
"Besides. I've... given up on romance for the time being. My little forays into it broke down a lot of the illusions I had about it. I need to... figure out a few things about myself before I try again."
Illusions like that everything worked out, that love conquered all. That people would love her, and not use her or humor her.
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