Raphaela sat in the Cloister with her legs tucked daintily under herself. She had an enormous and decorative umbrella opened over her and her papers and rather enjoyed the soft patter of the rain overhead. She wore a stunning outfit of maroon, chocolate brown and golds to offset the grey of the sky. She sat on a soft cream colored blanket and not a stitch was out of place on her entire outfit. Her hair was done up in an elaborate variant of the ever popular twin buns. She fancied herself quite a treat to look at and smiled to herself as she worked.

She couldn't help but marvel at the beauty and quiet of the place and was still surprised it had taken her so long to discover it. Surrounding her in a small semicircle were various sized sheets of parchment with fashion design ideas scrawled over them. None of the pictures were in any sort of finished state and she had decided that it was high time she sort through the lot to figure out which ones were worth keeping and which ones she was going to toss.

Raph picked up one of the more outrageous styles and bit her lower lip. It was a look she quite enjoyed, but she was not entirely sure that it would take off as a trend. She had incorporated the opened shoulders of Hox and while she quite liked the look of them she hesitated.

With a decisive sort of nod she put the picture into the 'keep' pile. It wouldn't do to encourage narrow mindedness in fashion, and besides, something a little exotic would probably go over very well if advertised in the right way.

A little off to Raph's side but still under protection of the enormous umbrella sat her Static homework, virtually untouched. She glanced over to it once but immediately looked away. She would get to it later.

The Cloister was a legacy of an age of pious solitude. To have it littered with students as if on a picnic, filling its air with youthful chatter, often belied its ancient beginnings. It was only now that it seemed returned to its true meditative state, with but a lone girl to lay upon the moist blades of lush, green grass.

To see her with her colorful parasol amidst the ancient stone was a novelty among situations, enough to fully catch the young man's notice as he passed the vaulted passages that bordered the cloister. He took a small detour, laying a single step upon the threshold that set apart the polished stone worked floor from the cropped greenery of the earth.

His stand was stiff, upright, his head up to his full height. His tone was level, and his voice was clear, "Good morning, Madame, might I ask why you are not in Brunnhold colors? I find it strange you see, to find a lady in individual dress beneath the heavy clouds working with paper and ink that could so easily be ruined by the rain. I apologize for the intrusion in advance, but my curiosity took the best of me. The situation is odd."

Raphaela glanced up at the speaker, surprised to have been addressed. There was a very slight pause as she absorbed the man's appearances, as she always does when confronted with new people. Her eyes grazed over the fiery red hair and took in the yellow eyes. She mentally ticked off a number of colors and styles she would want to see him in to find what worked the best.

Realizing she ought not let her pause stretch too long, Raph granted the young man a brilliant smile that threatened to chase the clouds away.

"Oh, I don't mind the rain so much, really. It makes such a lovely sound to work under. I find it very relaxing." She smiled again and shrugged. "As for the lack of uniform, well, I don't wear one when I can avoid it."

She bit her lip and after taking his stature into account felt it best to explain further. "Its not that I don't appreciate the schools colors, or the uniform, I just... prefer my own clothing. I don't feel quite right without it. As for the papers, nothing I have here is of enough importance to worry about the rain. As you see, they are still quite dry for now, and I have some oiled wool to carry them back inside with." She indicated the lump of fabric crammed under her neglected Static homework.

Vinter smiled with what semblance of a smile he could--a slight twitch at both ends of his lips, and then bowed to introduce himself, "My name is Vinter Alphonse Cord, a student of the higher forms. Forgive me if I delayed in offering my name."

He set both feet squarely upon the edges of the stone now, teasing the rain to dampen his uniform. With satchel of canvass clearly in sight and slung to a shoulder, he slightly raised an arm and gestured towards that same stack of papers which Raphaela had previously been ignoring and only now mentioned, "I know homework when I see it, would you like some help?"

It seemed only natural to offer it.

Raphaela smiled once again, though this time with a tinge of embarrassment as she noticed him getting wetter by the minute. "Oh! My name is Raphaela Hildena Welkier. Please do come under the umbrella here. There's no need for you to get so damp. I fear it's not quite as tall as you are, but there is room for both of us if we sit."

She busied her hands by gathering up the various fashion ideas and leaving them piled a little haphazardly at her side. With a reluctance she was not willing to show she grabbed the pile of homework and placed it in front of her.

"Its very kind of you to offer to help, I will gladly take you up on it." Though the last is said with the same politeness as everything before it, it was a tad on the cooler side. She had really been hoping to ignore that homework until it disappeared, but it certainly didn't do to let that on to a new acquaintance.

Vinter had enough time before he'd have to be on his way to his own classes, so the smile quickly left his face as the prospect of work began to turn the gears in his head.

"Don't mind if I do," he nodded to accept the offer of shade from the rain as he sent a palm over his head and quickly trotted towards the younger student. His clothes were darkening from the droplets. The thought of being near enough to be heard made him forget how easily the rain could be swayed by the wind in any direction. He sighed as he realized this, stooping to towards Raphaela when he reached the borders of the blanket she sat on.

"Now, let's see what your work is all about," he said in earnest as he set himself softly next to the girl, careful enough to consider the other pieces of paper she was working on, "I assume those aren't kin to work. Why were you so intent on those instead of this?"

Raph grinned and immediately snatches up her fashion drawings, pleased to have an excuse to discuss them with someone. It was a little as though the light has been rekindled. Careful to avoid the subject of school work she offered the slightly crinkled papers for Vinter to inspect himself, if he chooses.

"They are my designs, actually. I plan to open a shop to sell them some day. I'm told they're quite good, but you know, I love to get other people's opinions."

She was fully prepared to go through each and every drawing and explain her motivations, ideas, and instincts about them to the poor unwitting Vinter.

The sudden brightness in her voice and eyes made a brow of Vinter's twitch higher than the other in reflex. Like a bubble bursting, it almost blew the young man away. Good manners kept him rooted in place and wide eyed in attention however, as he tried to keep his composure, "If that is what you really wish to talk about, so be it. I am open to any topic, for my class is but an hour away."

His eyes never left Raphaela's when he spoke, as he was taught by his parents, and only left them to ascertain these designs she was so enthused to show, "Hmmm. I must warn you though. I am no student of tailoring, so my opinions should matter little."

"Go ahead. I will try to discuss as much as I know about the matter."

Raphaela leaned towards Vinter to better view the drawings as she pointed various things out. It was closer than social norms really dictated, but as always, when it came to fashion she was pretty much oblivious.

"Oh you needn't worry about having technical knowledge. Its all quite simple, really, you can just give your opinion. Whether you like it or not. I'll take care of the rest." She glanced up at him just the once and flashed him another smile unnervingly close to his face before her eyes were glued onto her drawings once again.

"Now, these are just rough ideas, you understand, I haven't colored them in yet." She pointed to the top one, it was the one that depicted the open shoulders. "This one here, well, this style is very popular in Hox right now, you see the open shoulders? Its quite lovely, really, but it would have to be a summer dress, as weather like this would make it most uncomfortable. I lifted the skirt a bit, but not enough to make it immodest...."

She rattled on along that vein quite contentedly, never once realizing that she delved deeper and deeper into technicalities as she went. She even forgot to ask his opinion after a time.

"I may not understand the technicalities madame, but I do understand the basics of design."

Vinter lowered his eyes closer towards the drawing and adjusted the corrective spectacles of red tinted glass he wore, "In truth I have seen lithographs of past and current Hoxian fashion. Purely academic of interest of course. I have tried to determine the differences between Anaxi and Hoxi culture at one point in my studies and fashion is one of the very overt statements of such distinctness."

"First and foremost, consider this. Have you ever asked yourself why those shoulders are open, why those skirts are long, and why that particular kind of fabric was used? If you could answer me this, then maybe I might be able to give you a better opinion."

With a surprised blink Raph eyed Vinter with new interest. He had presented something of a challenge and that was more than she could have hoped for. She sat back a little, finally exiting his personal space to think on it a bit.

"Oh, well, I suppose it is colder in Hox, isn't it? The lack of shoulders is something of a luxury not everyone can afford, least they find themselves shivering all day. It takes warm expensive fabrics to keep a style like that comfortable. While wearing furs to make up for the warmth is all well and good there; I wouldn't fancy getting wet during the rainy season here while wearing such garments."

She bit her lower lip, considering her next words carefully. "That's at least one of the reasons I chose this design to have a bit higher skirt and turn it into something of a summer dress with lighter fabrics. We do have warmer weather and can take advantage of it, can't we? This way we get the benefit of exotic styles while remaining quite comfortable indeed."

"That is the danger in what you are doing," with a shake of his head he looked away from both design and creator, "The word exotic, madame, is not a word to be taken lightly. This is what you should ask yourself next. For how long do I want my work to last?"

Vinter kept his eyes to the distance and continued, "The exotic is word for that which is different, but different for the sake of being different is something that never lasts. Using the word exotic implies trends, curiosities, things which people duly forget once another exotic product reaches their attention."

His body relaxed and he propped his arms on his legs, "Why does it have to be Hoxi? What is it in Hoxi that Anaxi does not have? Why does it have to be exotic? What is it in Hox which you see and desire which cannot be found in Anaxis?"

With both brow's raised Raph regarded Vinter with some curiousity. She situated herself into a more comfortable position as she considered his words.

"Well, isn't that the beauty of fashion right there? It is always changing, new things are exotic and old things are dropped out of use. What is exotic today might very well be bland tomorrow, but I will concern myself with that tomorrow, won't I?"

"I think you misunderstand my use of Hox fashion. I'm not trying to bring Hox itself to me! I am using them as a springboard for the new and different. Fashion is well and good right now, but tomorrow it will be different and if I have a say in the matter, my name will be the one people use when they talk of the latest trends. People will come to me when they want to be the most elegant and fashionable."

Her grey eyes shone with the very idea of such a prestigious position. She really was quite determined to be the ultimate name in high fashion.

"That's why I practice now, you see? One of the best ways to get people interested is to keep things familiar but give it a new twist. That way, with enough twists along the line, you have something completely new and different."

Vinter nodded this time, and truly smiled.

"That is the difference between you in me," he began with a voice soft and calm, one that tried more to understand rather than teach, "Fashion is so much like flowers. They are beautiful, true, but wither quickly. However, there are those--flowers still--that do not wither. These are flowers which bear fruit and seed to spread and move the line forwards."

"Your work can only be one or the other. Although sound, your own words, they still lack something which I think you will need more than anything if you wish to reach what you have set as a goal for yourself."

The young man turned to the aspirant and tried to impart to her in as clear a language as his own mind could muster, "There is a difference between that which is trendy, exciting, new, and that which is truly an influence on all that will follow. That is you. What I have seen so far are things taken from Hox and sown into shapes that wouldn't shock the contemporary. What I have failed to see, however, is you."

"Where are you in this dress?"

Raph watched him with one brow raised, chewing thoughtfully at her bottom lip. She wasn't much of a botanist and his metaphor was losing her a bit.



She was lost, officially. It did not occur to Raph that she could be lacking something and Vinter's words were those that had never been spoken to her before.



The other brow shot up to meet the first. Suddenly she understood the conversation with painful clarity. He was criticizing her work. And quite harshly, from the sound of it.

With a rather prim sniff Raph began collecting the dreaded homework and stuffing her things into the oil-treated bag. She chose to ignore the question entirely and held her hand out, expecting to be handed the drawings currently under scrutiny. She might have been offended quite deeply, but that did not mean she would stoop to snatching things from other people's hands.

"Goodness, look at the time. The morning has just flown by, I do believe I need to be going."

That much Vinter understood, and he did not want to squeeze lime all over the wound. He calmly returned the sketches and smiled a true smile, a sad smile. He did not want to hurt her and trying to comfort her with any words or gestures at all would only serve to aggravate the situation; and so, he stood and said nothing, hoping his questions would be enough to show her that he did not ask them to demean her. He asked them because they were questions which needed be asked of everyone, be they artist or artisan.

He did not presume to hold a share beneath her umbrella anymore. In natural swiftness, he moved away from her shade and the blanket. His soles on grass, his head beneath the rain, he tried to apologize. But an apology would only weaken what he tried to mean, so he was with nothing more than an offer to escort her out of the Cloister, "May I, madame?" with a proffered hand.

Raphaela put the drawings into her bag with a little more care than she had the homework and tied it shut. She then gathered up the blanket, folding it neatly and tucking it under her arm. Last but not least she picked up the umbrella.

She looked from Vinter's offered hand and to his face. Her expression was as bland as she could make it, though her lips were a little white behind her lipstick. She switched the umbrella to her other hand and accepted his in silence. In an attempt to soften the silence at least a little she did swing the umbrella around to cover both of their heads while they walked.

And this was probably it, a gloomy end to the start of the day beneath a gray-canopied sky. Thankfully, she did take his arm and allowed him to escort her off the cloister. It relieved the heaviness on his shoulders somewhat, and it did lighten up his eyes a bit, wiping the sad smile off of his lips. He tried not to speak on their way towards the vaulted corridors that bordered the cropped and level lushness which bowed underneath their steps.

It always made him wonder how the grass could stay so green, despite the number of soles that trample it, crushing it into the dirt. For now for instance, with every step they took, no imprint was left behind them. The blades always calmly stood upright, as if just woken from sleep, pristine and graceful still.

Vinter kept his thoughts on that and his eyes away from Raphaela. He did not want to see the look on her face, but good manners dictated it when he spoke again, turning towards her, "I apologize. It seems I was too free with my words."

As they walked Raph began to relax again. Though easily offended she is a forgetful little thing and by the time Vinter spoke he was interrupting a plot to squeeze her Static homework between classes to avoid doing it even longer. Her expression was thoughtful and distant.



Raph tilted her head to the side and took a very brief second to follow her thought processes back to the conversation he was apologizing for. With another almost halfhearted sniff she turned to face him as she spoke.

"Apology accepted." She smiled, then, a friendly smile because all really was forgiven. "It was a pleasure to meet you. Perhaps some day we will actually get to the homework you promised to help me with, hm?" There was a twinkle in her eye; she was teasing him.

"Of course," Vinter smiled his goodbye as he released Raphaela's hand from his arm and turned to face her up front, "I only hope that next time I would be of actual help."

"And no," he added, "This is not the last we shall see of each other. I am sure of that. The roster may be large here in Brunnhold, but the world is smaller. With thus, I bid you farewell."

Vinter waited for her own goodbye, before he would walk a few steps backwards and eventually turn away.