A King Off Balance

[unbreakable_king]

Who;Rhy Maresh, Open
What; Tailor Work, A Minor robbery, A Disney Princess Moment
Where; The Tailor Shop, The Markets, The Park
When; Early August
Warnings; None Yet

1. A Stitch In Time... | A Seamstress's Shop
The young woman who watched the counter was sick this morning. It was something Rhy had been informed of when he had first entered and, of course, the other ladies that worked in the shop had a very reasonable expectation of that. There were dresses to be made, suits to be prepared, shirts and blouses and vests. So many different things hat needed finished or prepared or repaired. All in all it meant that the newest hire who was still working on some of the easier skills was watching the counter. So he sat there behind the counter, working on repairing a vest.

Until, that was, the door opened. He looked up with a bright smile at the individual entering.

"Good morning. How might we serve you? Something new to wear? Repairs? Perhaps some lovely embroidery to enhance what you already own?"


2. Light Fingers Cause Problems | The Open Air Markets
Lunch, or nearly that. Rhy had been given leave a bit early from his job to go collect lunch, given he was intending to bring it back to the small tables near his place of work to have lunch with his husband and their lovely pup. Today it was his turn to buy their lunch, and so he had, a basket of small pastries, sweet and savory, a small wedge of cheese, and a small bunch of grapes. This last item was in the hands of the vendor, about to go into Rhy's basket as he took the small purse with the last of the money for lunch in hand as a child ran by.

One second there was a small pouch in his hand. The next just empty air as the child bolted off through the market, with the vendor cursing as the child ran off. And Rhy stood there, shocked.

"Did... Was I just stolen from?"

What a strange and interesting thing!


3. Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear | The Park
A day off. They were not the most common for Rhy, but he did so enjoy when they came. With Llewellyn busy at work Rhy had set himself into the park, another trip to allow their sweet basset hound pup get used to the plant and animal life. The dog was currently napping at the end of his leash, tuckered out from some vigorous sniffing action. Rhy, meanwhile, had settled on a bench with a book in his lap, enjoying the slow progression of a book he had bought.

He didn't even notice the little song birds growing interested until one landed on the top of his book, tweeting at him in curiosity. The man went very still and stared at the little finch, which seemed to have no problem with his presence.

What did he do now? He didn't want to scare the thing. Oh dear.

Comments

[unbreakable_king]

Another outfit? Well that's a bit showy. Though as a king, he supposed he understood.

"Oh it's not common, but it is pleasing to make," Rhy admitted. "They're mroe common where I'm from."

[faithfulsupport]

"Are they?" Ignis asked. He had to admit that he was intrigued. "How long does it take to create such a garment?" And wouldn't Nida be surprised. This had definitely taken a different approach to what he came for, but to learn new things pleased the scholar in him to absolutely no end.

[unbreakable_king]

How long? Well, he supposed that was quite the question.

"Truly it depends on how much time one can dedicate to it. If the ladies were working on nothing else and working by hand from patterns, hours. They're that talented. For me? It will be maybe a week? There would need to be fittings and LOTS of measurements."

But he can work with that, and the look he gives the man is almost begging him to let him try.

[faithfulsupport]

It was kind of unnerving to hear about ladies working on such a garment though work was work he supposed. And even with Rhy's admission of how long it would take him to create such a thing still made him debate on it.

Why not? It would really surprise Nida and that of course made him smile.

"Well then I suppose if you feel that is something you would like to do, I am at your disposal."

[unbreakable_king]

Oh that made his face light up. He loved the idea of it. Rhy smiled and produced a measuring tape from his pocket. Yes. This was VERY good.

"Alright. Arms out. We're going this!"

[faithfulsupport]

He had no idea why he was agreeing to this on his own personal basis. But it might make a wonderful surprise for his future husband so he nodded, and held his arms out. It was nice too, to see his tailor have an enthusiasm for the project and he nodded.

"This will be quite an adventure."

[unbreakable_king]

The best sort of adventure. A learning one.

Rhy laughed and grabbed a piece of paper and pencil so he could make notes.

"I'll need you to stand with your arms outstretched to your sides."

[faithfulsupport]

"Alright."

That word was accompanied with a nod and Ignis stepped away from the desk so he could completely comply with what he was being told.

[unbreakable_king]

Ah, very good. He gave the man a bit of a look over, because he did sort of enjoy the look of it. He smiled and started to apply the corded rope, writing down quick numbers on a piece of paper whenever he did his measurements.

Once he was done he nodded and smiled.

"You are very lean. That will help this process because we can do the laces and it won't change the shape of the outfit so much as the fit."

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis smiled because Rhy seemed pleased for whatever reason. Who knew? Maybe if he wore it, it would help give the man business. And of course he was more than happy to repay the favour.

The rope was an odd feeling but not unpleasant of course but he remained quiet during the fitting and at the end of it, he looked at the other man. "So how long do you think it will take in order to see your creation come to life?"

He wasn't in a hurry, but it was definitely exciting to think about wearing it.

[unbreakable_king]

"I don't know, but I will absolutely work on it as much as I can to get it done as soon as I might for you."

Oh he didn't know if he was good enough, but he wanted to prove to himself that he was.

[faithfulsupport]

That reply had Ignis smile. "Well the wedding isn't until October the twentieth, so there's plenty of time." It had been a relief in a lot of ways to finally get a date in with Nida and as he watched the days tick by off of the calendar, it made that time get shorter and shorter.

"I assume there shall be fittings and adjustments that will need to be made."

[unbreakable_king]

"Of course. I know a young man who I might be able to have carry a message to you when the first fitting is ready," Rhy thought.

He wouldn't hesitate to throw some coins Mono's way. He just hoped the boy would be willing to run into a man like Ignis. Little did he know indeed.

[faithfulsupport]

"So that's all there is to the project? And if that's so, may I continue to browse the store?" Because Ignis loved fabrics, and wanted to see if there was anything else that he might be able to discover.

When he came here before he had brought Namine but didn't look around, so this was his first time getting that chance.

[unbreakable_king]

"Of course you may browse this area," Rhy answered with a smile and he moved to wrap up the fabric so he could set it aside for cutting. "We have some examples of the work others do here."

[faithfulsupport]

"Thank you." Ignis replied. Really he was just looking and enjoying the feel of the fabrics between his fingers and he looked at Rhy. "Do the others do more dresses or do they do gentleman's wear?"

[unbreakable_king]

"They do both. Mostly Tiana leads the world, and does a lot of custom stuff. I spend time on embroidery or putting together the outfits that are already prepared for people to pick up. I do a lot of shirts for instance."

[faithfulsupport]

"Shirts." Ignis echoed, thinking, bringing a hand up under his chin. Did Nida need shirts? He supposed he could call the man and ask, but that would ruin the surprise. And it might give away his location which would be an issue. Normally he was more than happy to explain where he was and why, but this was wedding stuff and he understood it to be secret.

Finally he nodded. "Would you care to show me?"

[unbreakable_king]

Ah, shirts. Rhy smiled and moved to a rack nearby where there were a number of shirts of different colored fabrics. The sizes aren't consistent, but he's been doing his best to get things spread out for people to purchase.

"Here you go."

[faithfulsupport]

"Thank you quite kindly." Ignis replied with a nod. He started looking through the shirts that were offered and there was one that felt buttery soft. He wasn't quite sure as to what the fabric was, but it felt splendidly beneath his fingertips and he ran it over them a few times to make sure that he wasn't imagining it.

Fortunately it did look to be Nida's size and he smiled. That one was definitely coming home for certain. "These are quite lovely."

[unbreakable_king]

"Thank you," Rhy answered with a smile. "That one you're feeling started as an attempt at doing a different cut for my husband, but... Well, I realized it wouldn't suit him at all. Tiana is very patient with me and my attempts to explore the skills she teaches."

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis smiled. "Well I'm thinking this one would suit my fiancée'. He really wanted to say husband as well here but it wasn't accurate. Still, there wasn't much more time left until that actually happened.

Anyway.

He nodded to Rhy's praise of Tiana and then looked back at the shirt. "This is splendid work, and I do believe I will be taking it home with me today."

[unbreakable_king]

"I hope it would fit," Rhy mused, offering the man a softer, fonder smile. "You look enamored. That's good. That can get one though a lot of things."

Not everything. But enough.

"Alright then, I can tally that up for you. And a small down payment on the waistcoat, yes?"

[faithfulsupport]

Ignis smiled, still picturing the garment on Nida. So he put it down on the counter and nodded. "I can pay the entire amount for the waistcoat if that's permissible." He had been saving up for this and knew something unexpected would come up so he'd definitely set aside the funds.

[unbreakable_king]

The entire...

Rhy stared in shock.

"Uh, I don't... I don't have a full estimate yet. I haven't tried it. I don't want to overcharge you. That would be very wrong."

Actually he was more worried about undercharging. As a noble followed by a resident of the Sphere, Rhy's grasp on the value of currency was not always strong.