NOVEL NEXT Ch 2.56: ❤ Distraction
Flora realized she was on the sawbench again, wrinkling her nose at her own carelessness as she got down. She didn’t mean to do it, but she didn’t really care for silly rules like that either, so it was hard to notice. Still, she knew it bothered Elaina, so she’d do her best to keep off the dangerous things. “You’re sure you’re up for playing?” she asked.
“Not really,” Elaina said, frowning as she moved the piece of fabric around on the sewing machine. “But I’ll do my best. Only one of us needs to win, so really I’m just there to support Carly.”
“Alright.” Flora was happy enough with that. She’d thought she’d be one of the two actually playing, but she didn’t mind playing a supporting role every now and then, contrary to popular belief. She wasn’t exactly sure she understood whatever revelations Carly had brought in with her textbook earlier, but Carly sure thought it warranted having Elaina being the second participant, and Elaina herself seemed to understand it, which is what really mattered.
“I think I’m done,” Elaina said, pulling the dress off of the bench. Dress is a pretty strong word, Flora thought to herself with a grin. “Are you… sure this is going to be okay?”
“As long as it fits,” Flora said, walking over and taking a look. Truth be told, it didn’t even look like clothes, just a few strips of green fabric and some connecting straps. Flora owned underwear that covered more—not that she ever actually wore it.
“I think so,” Elaina said, biting her lip. “But ‘fits’ is a strong word for something like this.”
“Only one way to find out,” Flora said as she started humming, relishing in the look of amazement that grew on Elaina’s face. Of all the things that came with her class, the instant “outfit” change was definitely the best one. She normally liked to make more of a show of things, but tight quarters limited her movement, so she settled for one quick spin instead.
And then she focused on that “pocket” that she had, the best way for her to visualize it. It was strange, cause she was definitely pulling her outfit from the pocket instead of storing her current clothes into it, but the results didn’t look that way. Still, that was how it worked as she felt herself bathed in the shimmering crystal light, felt herself become bare to the world.
She wanted to focus entirely on that feeling, but that wasn’t possible of course. She had to use her aspect to increase here sense of hearing, her general awareness. The idea of danger was definitely part of the thrill for Flora, but getting caught was really only good as a fantasy, not an actuality. Still, she felt the rush over her body as the wind started to caress her bare skin, as the sheet of crystal dust fell away and left her nude form standing in the middle of the outside workshop.
Being caught might not have been realistically pleasant, but an audience always was, especially one as eager to take in her show as Elaina. She wasn’t quite as enraptured as Carly usually was, but her puppy dog-eyed stare, complete with panting breath was certainly a bonus for her. “Mind handing that here?” Flora said as she extended an arm, thrusting her chest forward as well.
“Huh? Oh, sure,” Elaina said, handing over the bundle of fabric.
It took Flora a second to actually right the garment into a way she could pull it over her head, but once she did it went on surprisingly easily. She could feel herself grinning right away as she saw how it settled on her frame, doing her best to crane her neck and see how it fit.
“I’m sorry,” Elaina said almost right away, “I can fix that, raise it up to—”
“No, it’s perfect.” Flora knew what Elaina was talking about, and she knew Elaina was probably right that it needed to be fixed, but she didn’t care. “Come on, I think I saw something I can use as a mirror over here.”
Flora ran through the workspace as Elaina followed. She could feel the sway of the fabric on her backside, the flapping in the wind as she made her way through the rows of benches and tools, stopping in front of a large sheet of steel near the forge. It wasn’t a perfect mirror by any means, but it was good enough for Flora to get a general look.
And she loved what she saw. It was barely anything, but that was what was best about it. Two connected triangles up top, surprisingly tight fitting across her chest as they were pulled back with thin straps, the same type of straps that crossed over her stomach, holding up two rectangle just under her waist, one in the front, one in the back. The back one was fine, she saw as she turned around in the mirror, longer and wider than the front one to accommodate the rear Flora counted herself blessed to have. It was the front one that she was sure Elaina thought needed to be fixed. The size wasn’t really a problem, technically covering everything, but it did hang far lower than she’d expected it too, just barely above the area she’d need to have covered and not worry about being arrested.
Might be risking arrest anyway. She’d need to wear something over the dress to leave the school for sure, probably even to walk around town, but she was sure she’d be fine once she got to Mirage. She’d heard tale of the wild things that sometimes happened there, after all.
“I love it!” she said, grinning as she spun around, feeling the flaps on her hips rise and fall.
“Flora, it’s too low! Let me fix it for you.”
“I said I love it the way it is,” Flora said as she stopped, blushing as the fabric settled. “I’ve wanted to wear something like this my whole life, but I’ve never been able to. I can’t just go into a store and buy something like this, or even commission it without it getting back to my parents. And Mirage is made for this type of stuff! Come on, I know you understand.”
Flora did her best to turn on her own puppy dog eyes, clasping her hands together and leaning forward. She could tell she’d won as soon as Elaina’s eyes started drifting, guiding themselves down the strap of the dress. She had a mixture of looks on her face, somehow a little bit of both Carly in the way she was taking Flora in, and Flora herself, a hint of jealousy, admiration as well.
“Fine,” Elaina said with a sigh. “I don’t really have time for alterations anyway. But get dressed! I’m gonna go at least pick out fabrics or my own.”
“Thanks!” Flora said, jumping and clapping. She started sliding out of the dress, was about to reapply her uniform when her mind started to wander. She’d barely been able to control it when she had the dress on, but with it off, standing naked only a few feet away from the school, she could feel her body heating, blood rushing through it, heart pounding.
“Elaina, do you want to go up to your room for a bit?”