002: Is this a nightmare or not?

[ladyhyperion]

Seira scowled at the racks of dresses and gowns, arms wrapped around herself. She knew she'd have to find one that didn't make her look completely ridiculous, she couldn't wear her usual clothes to a formal affair no matter how good she looked in them. She was a girl and needed to wear a dress for this.

She didn't hate dresses, not really, but they didn't always fit or flatter her and if there was a fight it would very quickly get ripped and ruined.

"Lets get this over with." She grumbled, glancing at the person she'd come in to this potential hellhole with. Two pairs of eyes were better than one, and maybe a second opinion would find something that didn't look like a cross dresser or costume.

[OOC: Feel free to suddenly bring in a dinosaur or seven to interrupt this potential trainwreck.]

Comments

WHOOPS WRONG ICON

[rhapsoidein]

"Oh, stop it," Genesis snorted softly. "I hate dress shopping as much as you do but it only makes it worse when you acted like a child."

Granted, she loved wearing dresses and skirts, anything that was beautiful, really. Shopping for it was just always a nightmare.

"What's this for, if I may ask?"

I SAW NOTHING.

[ladyhyperion]

"Cid's holding a ball for whatever reason, it'll probably get violent despite his best intentions." She sighed, "Should it be black to hide the potential stains?"

Iiii hate going to work ;;

[rhapsoidein]

"Depends if the boys will be in uniform or not. You would blend in and be lost amongst those who are wearing the same exact color as you," Genesis raised a brow. "Pick a color and go with it."

She snorted softly, however, as she combed through the racks. "Only your school would have a ball that will inevitable end in some sort of fight. Your lot may be mercenaries, but you should really learn self-restraint."

[hug]

[ladyhyperion]

"It has nothing to do with us being mercenaries and more to do with the fact that I'm showing my face in public." Seira rolled her eyes, "I don't think red would go over well, or something low cut. Besides, I don't have the chest for something low."

She pulled a dark chocolate gown out and frowned at it, not entierly sure about the beading on it.

[waterfell]

Ami looked at Seira for a moment, then to the piles and racks of dresses. She repeated the gesture only once, though she seemed to be scrutinizing both. She took a few steps closer to the rack... and immediately found a blue dress that suited her perfectly. Guess she wasn't here to help (without being asked) after all.

"Let's go shopping together!" Oh, so she had noticed Seira was there. She beamed that too-cheerful smile at the other girl.

[ladyhyperion]

Seira fixed Ami with a deadpan expression, "Only if you hell me get out of here fast and avoid any sort of make-up sales lady." She sighed, "They always make faces at me like I'm some sort of freak."

[waterfell]

It was kind of funny to see someone so reluctant to do what they were in the middle of, but she supposed she understood. To her credit, her eyes did not linger on the scar as Seira spoke. (Alright, so her first answer might be to make the makeup ladies match her for their attitudes, but even she knew that might be going a bit far.)

"What is this for?" she asked first.

[ladyhyperion]

"Some stupid Ball that Cid's put together. I'd bail but... Fuijin and Raijin want to go and those two would probably make me look bad for not showing up for a little." She shrugged, pulling out a dull gray gown and glancing it over.

"Mind you, it'll probably end in a mess anyway. Everybody hates me."

[waterfell]

She's had experience in that, in being the outsider no one quite wants there. Back then, she'd quietly left. Now? She makes them want her there.

"So go anyway and hold your head high. You're better anyway, aren't you?"

[ladyhyperion]

"Look fabulous, and in the worst case cenario wreck a gown I wasn't ever gonna wear again." She nodded, "I'll probably drink more than I should and threaten to set some uptight woman who made faces at me on fire. It'll be a fabulous night out."

She sighed, raising an eyebrow at a monsterous confection of white with tiny multicolored flowers all over it. "Right, you want to try to find something that's not going to make me look like a freak?"

[waterfell]

It's a very surreal, normal thing to be doing: helping another girl find a dress for a big event. A part of her might even like that. Ami seems to treat the problem as simply, well, a problem to be solved. She eyes Seira again, taking in her figure type and coloring, and eyes the dresses with an eye to what little she knows of the other woman's tastes.

Then she goes into action. One, two, three dresses are soon draped over her arm. They represent a range of style, and they may not work perfectly, but they're not a bad start.

"Take a look at these to begin with."

[ladyhyperion]

Seira sighed, grabbing a few at random herself. "No pink, and I know I look ridiculous in yellow." She reminded her, eyeing the selection the other girl had pulled.

"I'll go try those on." It was a battle she'd long since decided she wouldn't win. "Good thing I have heels on."

[waterfell]

Well, that made these ones useless... Ami raised an eyebrow and let two yellow dresses go back to the racks. It still left a small selection of other possibilities.

"What's all this fuss about anyway?" she asked as they headed towards the fitting rooms. It felt natural, in the dream, to fall into stride with Seira. "Something coming up?"

[ladyhyperion]

"It'll be the first time I'll be seen in public since the stuff with Galbadia." She shrugged, "I have to make a good impression y'know? Can't make amends with people thinking I"m there to hold them hostage."

She let out a breath, looking at the ceiling briefly. "Not that it matters, right? I just wanted to at least try, y'know?"

[waterfell]

She doesn't really know exactly what that means, but she can understand enough. For one, she understands Seira is a better person than she is, by acting from that concern.

"So this is to honor them, you could say." That was different from Ami's own tendencies to dress for public occasions to attract notice. She'd come a long way from the little girl who failed at makeup at sleepovers.

"In that case, you want subdued colors, to show your own wish to make amends." Only moderately fashionable, she did know a lot about symbols and creating an effect.

[nohometown]

He nodded. "The sooner begun, the sooner we'll be done." Severe and monochromatic as he was, he looked somewhat out of place surrounded by so many dresses of different colors.

"You don't seem to be enjoying yourself," Sephiroth observed dryly. He was not, perhaps, the best shopping partner. When not wearing his First Class uniform, he usually wore a suit, or else black pants and a white dress shirt. A varied wardrobe he did not have. "Is this really necessary?"

OMG. I love you.

[ladyhyperion]

"Thanks you capitan obvious." She muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes. While he may not have the most exciting wardrobe in the world, Sephiroth was probably going to help speed this along.

"Yeah, it is. I can't show up where all of society's high rollers are looking like homeless or something, and if I wore a uniform or my usual clothing they'd think I was trying to stage a coup, hold them hostage or kill them all." She sighed, blatantly ignoring a ruffled pink monstrosity.

"You should come with me, there'll be food, drinks, and plenty of people to try to set on fire with the force of your glare. It'll be fantastic." She grinned, only half serious. "It'd give them all heart attacks to see me in a real dress."

Haha, I aim to please

[nohometown]

He decided to politely ignore the Captain Obvious remark. (Technically, it would be General Obvious.)

"There is a middle ground between appearing to be homeless and--" He broke off as he caught sight of a garment of yellow taffeta. "--something along those lines." He didn't know a great deal about women's clothing, but he knew when something was ridiculous. "I doubt you'll be suspected of trying to start a revolution, no matter what you wear. As long as your actions aren't hostile."

The idea of a party didn't interest him, but since she'd managed to convince him to go shopping, she could probably get him to attend. "I myself would rather not set anyone on fire, literally or figuratively." He would prefer that the event be painless for all those involved.

The whole concept here is hilarious, given who they are.

[ladyhyperion]

General Obvious just didn't sound quite right, and Seira honestly didn't care too much about military rank at the moment.

"You obviously missed the part where I took control of an army and unleashed a horde of monsters on the world." She grinned, "I could offer a glass of water to someone and they'd think I was up to something."

She laughed a little, "Really now? Nobody at all? I figured you'd have someone, probably one of those nutters in a lab coat."

Yes, that was my thought as well! :D

[nohometown]

Not that he would make one of his overly literal joking observations out loud, that is, not usually in public, as he puts on his most serious face when those he doesn't know well are watching.

"What I mean is, your garb will not make them any more or less likely to suspect you at this point, as long as you conduct yourself with decorum. And you can look respectable without looking ridiculous."

He did have a great deal of distaste and dislike for the scientists of Science Research Division, but he'd put up with them more or less stoically for this long. "A ballroom is not a battlefield," he said solemnly, "but yes, I suppose a few glares wouldn't hurt."

Re: Yes, that was my thought as well! :D

[ladyhyperion]

"It's not a matter of respectable so much as it's about looking like I haven't lost my edge siting around Fisherman's Horizon. They can't think I've gotten soft."

Even if she had, compared to charging around swinging a gunblade at the first person who deserved it.

"You've obviously never been to a political function, just because people aren't waving around weapons and getting gore everywhere doesn't mean it won't be a battlefield."

[nohometown]

"You need not wear a dress. There are other types of formal wear." How is he involved in a conversation about clothes?

Also, why is he surrounded by so many argumentative people? Not that he isn't one himself, but he isn't arguing at the moment. He replies patiently. She's probably in a poor mood, considering the situation.

"I've been to many political functions, as a matter of fact." More than he can count. "I am not unaware of the subtleties, maneuvering, and conflicts involved, petty and otherwise. My own comment was literal and not entirely serious." In that kind of battle, he remains polite. It's best not to admit that it's a battle in any way. "Glaring is a weak weapon in any such indirect, political skirmish."

[ladyhyperion]

"Yeah, I do have to wear a dress. It's inappropriate for me to wear pants to something this formal unless it's a uniform and I'm not in charge of Galbadia's army anymore. Garden's semi-military and real proper about some stuff." She sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Depends on who you're dealing with really, if it's someone who's got no real experience in a fight getting a glare from someone with a giant scar on their face tends to make them back down. Most of 'em are wusses who can't fight to save their lives anyway."

[nohometown]

"I wouldn't require that any of my subordinates wear skirts." To Sephiroth, this form of propriety seemed old-fashioned, but he hadn't had what would be considered an ordinary upbringing. However, though he himself wasn't subject to military dress code, he wasn't about to argue with it. He shrugged.

"That's hardly diplomatic, but anyone who is intimidated by a scar deserves to be."

[ladyhyperion]

"Which is why I like you. Other than the whole 'big scary SOLDIER with pretty hair' thing." She grinned up at him, "Skirts are seriously restrictive in movement or you're flashing your bits all over the place."

She shrugged a little, gaze drifting again. "Yeah, well, diplomacy was never my strongsuit. People are gonna think what they're gonna think and if it makes them leave me alone then fine. I don't need them getting in my way."