video;

[whatsupcroc]

So Vanadi's hosting the big Masquerade Ball later this month, and that got me to thinking...

( Collette starts ticking things off on her fingers. )

There's no age limit, everyone's going to be wearing a mask and in costume, there's no supervision, and one of the most common questions out of new people showing up here is "where's the nearest bar," so it'll also have alcohol. Lots of it.

( Collette leans forward, chin resting on her interlaced hands, elbows on the table. She grins. )

This is so much better than Prom would ever be.

Comments

[foolish_seal]

I'm not that good.

Depends, though, when is it?

[whatsupcroc]

( She rattles off the date toward the end of the month, still eying him speculatively. )

[foolish_seal]

Hm...

Well, if I can get a pattern to work off of and someone to help, I might be able to do one or two in that time.

[whatsupcroc]

How do you feel about mermaid tails?

[foolish_seal]

Mer-

[He stops to think. How would that go together? It doesn't seem too hard, but it's often hard to tell by looks alone.]

I haven't made one before, so I'm not sure.

[whatsupcroc]

Would you be up for the challenge?

[foolish_seal]

Can't guarantee anything good, but I guess it's worth a shot if I can find the right fabric.

[whatsupcroc]

Think if I give you a bag full of marques you could go out looking? I admit pretty much anything fashion is way out of my range, unless you'd see it on the sports page.

[foolish_seal]

If you're comfortable with someone like me handling it, then sure. I could give it a shot.

[whatsupcroc]

Why wouldn't I be?

( Strangers are opportunities waiting to be understood, after all. )

Stop by whenever you want to pick up the money! Or else I can pay you back after the fact. Oh, and labor costs. That's a thing, I think.

[foolish_seal]

Sure.

[Welp. He just got himself into the situation. Might as well see it through.]

Where should I go?

[whatsupcroc]

Room 403! When looking for me.

[foolish_seal]

Got it. I'll head over in just a bit.

[whatsupcroc]

( Amused, but pleased. )

See you soonish!

> [Action]

[foolish_seal]

[He nods and turns off the feed.]

[And around an hour later, after looking up a few textile shops, he arrives at the room, giving a knock at the door.]

[whatsupcroc]

( Collette answers the door after calling out that she was coming, peering around the door itself and tossing a wave at Minato when she saw him. )

Hey! You were faster than I expected. Come on in! Isaac's out right now, and I think Lym went down to one of the cafe's.

[foolish_seal]

[He holds a hand up in greeting in return.]

Hope I didn't disturb you too much.

[Regardless, he steps inside. ...Huh, all these rooms are almost the same.]

[whatsupcroc]

Not at all! I like having company.

( Collette far prefers that to being alone. )

What'd you find out so far?

( The uniformity of the apartments is pretty notable. Collette keeps the floors meticulous, for her own mobility reasons, and there's an interesting finger painting of a woman on one of the living room walls, but overall, they haven't gone to great lengths to make the common areas feel deeply lived in.

She closes the door behind him once he's inside. )

I mean, how can I best fund this mermaid effort?

[foolish_seal]

Well, I did a bit of research... I know what fabric I want to use, but I have no idea how much that's gonna cost. It partly depends on what style and color you want. I've found a few pictures if you want to see.

[He's been kidnapped to help fight a future rogue government by traveling through time and fighting monsters, and now he's working on a dress that he's not entirely sure he can do.]

[Well, he can't say his life is boring.]

[whatsupcroc]

You found pictures?

( That's her yes, she wants to see them -- to see what he even found! )

I've got no idea about colors of styles. There's multiple? Maybe something in greens and blues... or reds and yellows? What would even look mermaidish?

( Welp glad she's asking someone because she's got no idea how to wrangle this kind of circus. )

[foolish_seal]

[He brings up a few pictures he took from searches and other things on his tablet and shows it to her. It was a bit limited, given that he was still learning his way around the device, but it was probably enough to give some ideas.]

I think the easiest for me to do is one kind of fabric down to the knees, then use another, lighter one to fan out, so I don't have to worry about as many intricate cuts. As for color...

[He takes a moment to study her. C'mon, all that time spent in Fashion Club, don't fail him now...]

Most would suit you, but I'd say something along the lines of green.

[whatsupcroc]

( She grins at his declaration. )

Good thing green happens to be my favorite color. I look good in green.

( She winks... and thinks she does look pretty good in green. For a crocodile. )

How much is it going to fan out? Also, what about up on top? I don't think we have coconuts or sea-shells around here.

( Unless a few laden African Swallows have flown in recently... )

[foolish_seal]

[Huh. Got lucky. That was half a complete guess.]

Depends on how much you want it. I think the top I can just extend from the tail to make a one-piece dress. You want it strapless or no?

[whatsupcroc]

Uh, straps please.

( Strapless dresses sound like way more of a hassle than she wants to deal with. Considering her upper body is far more active, what if the strapless part doesn't stay in place?

Noooo way Jose! )

I'm not really a strapless kind of girl.

[foolish_seal]

Gotcha. Straps are the easy part, at least.

[Part of him wanted to advocate strapless but his rational side quickly put down that though.]

I'm gonna have to take a few measurements to get this done, if it's alright with you.