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 Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 2:18 pm
Ume would probably be a draw to many a young man; wide-eyed youths staring at her in fascination and terror both, peering out from behind books or laptops but too afraid to actually approach. In a previous life, that might have been Jude. He dressed well, had a thin veneer of confidence, but underneath he was as jittery and uncertain as any teenaged boy, especially when it came to girls.
Ume was different, though, for one reason above any other: she had a sewing machine.
This wasn't the first time he'd come knocking on her door with a bundle tucked under his arm, fidgety and uncertain and blushing just a little as he did. It wouldn't be the last, either. Once upon a time, Jude's mother had owned a sewing machine as well. When the motor had blown, he'd been about certain that would be the end of everything. Finding one he could borrow had been a miracle.
He'd pay her back with a length of filthy-but-remarkable antique lace.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 2:39 pm
The curtains in the upstairs window moved, fluttering for just a moment in what served as the 'large' sewing room, many of Ume's own projects went between that room and her own bedroom, littered with half finished projects and a few parcels had have brought before, not yet having found homes.
"I've got it!" She called, her voice echoing from behind the closed doors as her sometimes lovely sometimes loud boot heels thundered down the stairs in her rush to get to the door before anyone else did. Her mother, a blond woman with wide blue eyes Peered out from the kitchen for a moment to protest the abuse of the faux oriental rugs but shook her head and let it slide this time. They were all still healing from the realization that their daughter... the one they had not adopted was likely gone for good.
Ume could easily have been imagined to have ripped the door off its hinges in her enthusiasm, to be fair, it probably wouldn't have put up much of a fight being it was standard suburbia 'craftsmanship' and fairly lightweight. Though Jude probably stood little chance either when she launched into an enormous hug.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:08 pm
His response was tense, uncomfortable, and also less than dignified: a sharp squeak as she caught him up, and then all of him freezing in her grasp. Jude didn't exactly know how to hug back, even after the number of times she'd done this to him. It knocked him off balance, drove the breath out of him, and he just stayed where he was until she finally set him down and stepped back.
Then it was a matter of clearing his throat, trying to recover. Tugging his jacket down and adjusting his tie, offering the length of lace out toward her. It had been a very nasty second hand find. Even after four very careful hand washes, it was stained faintly yellow, but -- he thought she could find something to do with it, perhaps.
"...thought you could dye it." Not the most normal greeting, but hopefully it would serve. She wouldn't be offended, at least.
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 3:36 pm
"it's beautiful..." She said tracing her fingers delicately over it. Even yellowed it was a treasure, and if the color wouldn’t wash out he was right, she could dye it or simply pretend it was deliberately left as aged. “Thank you so much!” She beamed at him, her crimson eyes bright with sincerity. “Come on in!” She added stepping out of his way and clicking her boot heels together, a bad habit that left her white ones scuffed black and her black ones scuffed grey at the inside edge of her heels.
She liked the sound though and was unlikely to stop.
“Mama was making Snicker doodles, would you like one? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind…” She offered, the smell of warm butter and cinnamon wafting from the kitchen and matched by the friendly if exasperated wave of the blond haired blue eyed woman with the smudge of flower on her nose. “Hi Jude! Nice to see you again!” She called sounding at least a little tired.
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:08 am
"Ma'am." He waved, quietly, a little awkward and very stiff. Too proper for a teenager, he might have greeted her more properly if it hadn't been for his own bundle of second-hand finds tucked under one arm. A vest with the lining about rotted out, and just barely enough fresh lining in vibrant teal to replace it. A jacket missing four or five buttons and with ruined cuffs that he could maybe patch up or replace with something brighter, crazy. Clothing that most people wouldn't give a second glance but Jude -- he was going to play with it.
By this point, fixing up what he found was a good half of the fun. It was easier and easier to pretend that he shopped low-end because he liked the challenge, as opposed to because he was broke.
"Um. Cookies if you want them, or I can show you what I have...?" He blinked back to Ume, reaching up uncertainly to adjust his collar.
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 4:12 pm
“Cookies can wait!” She said and turned and headed up the stairs with a thunder of boot heels that made enough sound that she could have mocked the cavalry for a low budget film. “I um… I have some spare scraps if you want to play with them too!” She called. Her pieces used the oddest sizes and shapes of cloth and it often left little bits that were enough to embellish pockets or sometimes with enough creative cutting they could be used to create some interesting repairs.
It wasn’t ‘charity’ so much as it was her trying to be practical. Plus she enjoyed the occasional ‘match’.
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 8:12 am
Jude's own shoes weren't exactly quiet: proper loafers, the soles clicked in a more subdued way against the steps, but the sound was satisfying all the same. It was crisp. At work, they made his movements snappy and sharp, the echo punctuating all hsi movements. They gave him rhythm. That was important to Jude.
He set his own fabric down gently beside her scraps, reaching up to swipe the hair back up off his forehead and out of his eyes. "Is, um. Is everything alright? I heard it's been a bit weird..."
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:52 am
She sat down on the edge of her bed and folded her hands demurely in her lap; her expression fell from the boundless joy most were familiar with to reveal something far more personal. "...It’s..." She started and then gave a small shrug.
“…It’s hard, I… she was their daughter… their –real- daughter. Now she’s… missing and the police can’t even find a clue. They even suggested she might have ‘run away’. MY sister…run away.” She shook her head at the ridiculous nature of the idea. “She’d never have… she wouldn’t.”
But that in turn led to worse thoughts, kidnapping, and the Costumed Freaks, even death.
“I just… it’s a more hopeful option that she did, but I just can’t believe it.” She sighed. She wished so much that she could tell him what she really thought. That she thought it was the Negaverse but… what then?
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 8:22 pm
Any such suggestion to Jude would probably have been met with a vacant stare, with a puzzled expression. He'd heard rumors, of course, via Reddit; he knew weird stuff was going on. Something about aliens. Something about vampires that he didn't really believe since none of the victims had puncture marks or missing blood. Something about military outfits and school girl skirts; something about strange weapons that seemed infused with magical abilities.
It was hard to believe any of it without solid evidence -- and sadly, in the days of photoshop, it was very hard to offer solid evidence. Everything was combed through carefully and found wanting.
So for now she could express her worry and he nodded, standing by the door instead of sinking down beside her on the bed, his expression at least open and inviting. He didn't mind listening, so long as she didn't mind him setting down all his stuff on the desk.
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 11:10 am
“How are you doing?” She asked offering up a smile again, anything to cover that ache, the hole that her missing ‘sister’ had left in her chest. They might not have been related by blood but the fact their lives had been so intertwined for so long, for better or worse made as deep a loss as any true blood relation.
If anything she needed the solace of normality. The days of wondering why the sun dared to rise had begun to fade at the edges and the routine was a comfort. Stitching offered a quiet meditation and a tie to what she had lost. Working with Jude helped as well, human company who could enjoy a similar focus.
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Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:20 am
"...I miss school. I work too much in the summer." He cleared his throat and shrugged at her, his eyes flicking back onto Ume in a quick and assessing manner to make sure she was really alright and wasn't going to fall to pieces. Jude could deal if she fell to pieces, probably, but he suspected she'd rather someone else, like that new boyfriend...
Another fidget, and he fingered the edge of his fresh fabric in a somewhat uncomfortable way. "I don't do as much other stuff, you know? I mean, school is terrible but at least I can write in class, and I barely have to go home..."
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 2:07 pm
“If I could help you with the school part…”She said sounding really like she wished she could be somehow of service. “So…”She added carefully trying to make sure he wasn’t left uncomfortable. “What are you making with this?” She offered him a smile that was curious and friendly at the same time.
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 10:36 am
Ume got a brief, skeptical look; how on earth could she help? It wasn't the classes that were the problem but the setting itself. Bright orange uniform. Mocking older boys. Tenured teachers who shouldn't have gotten their positions in the first place, and who hated working at public school on top of that. Gym class changing rooms. He didn't offer all this up to her of course. She didn't need to know. He'd manage. And it was, in fact, better than being home with his mother...
Instead he focused on the clothing, something that served as a more than decent distraction, that drew him in. His own fingers smoothed across the bright lining fabric he'd found in the discount bin, and he made a soft noise. "...well. I found this vintage vest. But it's all moth eaten, and it's a little bit too big. So I was thinking..."
This was the only way to get him talking. He outlined the adjustments to her, showed the little metal accents he'd found, pulled open one pocket to show where it had been torn open, suggested changes. If she didn't stop him, he'd go on.
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 4:08 pm
She went with it though; she nodded in agreement and thought about what he wanted to do. Suggested a small pocket but nothing more, just something practical for him. If she noted the bitter look she didn’t say anything. There was no need to justify her want to help. Yes all she could do was step into another case of high school verbal and physical warfare but she saw nothing wrong with it even if he might. It was just part of who she was even if it didn’t fit into what he might understand with his Home life.
“Here…I’ll set up the sewing machine, the pins are where they always are.” She said with a smile.
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Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:34 pm
"If you want help, I can absolutely do whatever you need, for the..I don't know." He cleared his throat, straightening and standing and gathering up what he needed to start snipping and adjusting. Jude probably should have taken the time to make up a pattern, but -- this was more a patch job than anything else. And he could probably work from the pieces he cut out...
"I can hem, at least. Everyone hates hemming, right?" He offered her a smile, tight-lipped and small. "But I don't mind it."
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