Emme did not manage to drag herself out of the bakery until two days after Annie had told her about the ball.

She saw the posters up everywhere, and that horrid sinking feeling returned in her stomach. Why had she said yes so rashly? The last thing she wanted was to go to this thing, looking foolish among all the finery, galdori staring at her and making snide comments. She only hoped the evening would fly by and she could return home soon.

She squinted at the piece of paper in her hand, then hurriedly hid it lest any busybody galdori were about. More than once she had been harassed about a reading license, and she didn't feel like dealing with anyone, even though she had her papers on hand.

"Dress Shop," she read, and then, "PLEASE KNOCK." Never one to break rules, she obliged, knocking timidly at Fion's door and waiting patiently with her arms folded behind her back.

((I'm sorry, I just wanted to wait for the last thread to resolve so I know how Fion is feeling, I hate to leave this hanging!))

Fion's work room was starting to fill up. She had piles of fabric in every corner and she was running out of dummies to put unfinished work on. She was tired too, she'd not had much sleep last night and her morning had been a little trying. Stride placed his head in her lap and huffed.

"You're right Stride, it's just the time of year. I always get stressed around Clock's eve." She rubbed his thick ears, "You're a good bander."

Stride's ears pricked and Fion heard a knock at the door.

"Isn't that nice, Stride? I may not need to start locking the door after all."

She took a deep breath and gathered herself. She was only open until mid-afternoon, so after this she had time for a nap. She opened the door.

"Hello, how can I help you?" A small, round face looked back up at her, she recognised her instantly, "Oh! You're Emme, from down the bakers. Please come in. What can I do for you?"

Fion smiled gently at the girl. The poor thing, Vita knew she'd been through so much. She'd heard the thump of Stride's tail wagging happily on the floor and she waited for her to answer.

Blinking in surprise, Emme stepped into the shop. "You know me, ma'am?" she said, taking off her large overcoat and scarf - underneath her winter clothes, she seemed even tinier. "Lovely shop...oh, and a nice dog, hello..."



"I...well, I need...a dress," she admitted, her cheeks burning. She was, of course, already wearing one, but it hardly counted; her mother's hand-me-down rag was all she ever wore. "Whatever I can get for this."

In her palm was a handful of coins - a concord and five shills. She had spent a shill paying off the milk boy that morning, feeling guilty all the while.

"I'm sorry, I stop by the bakery all the time, so I know you from there. You probably don't know me though, I'm Fion."



Fion's eyes widened at the amount of coins Emme had her hand. She could get a very nice dress for over a concord but Fion had a feeling, from the look of her patched and fading clothes, that Emme needed the money. Fion could get fabric on the cheap, she'd been a good listener for the merchant she dealt with as longer than she'd been his customer. The work wouldn't be difficult either, depending on what she needed it for.

"I could make you several dresses for that, Emme. Perhaps you could tell me more about the occasion?" Fion patted her hand, "Come on, come take a seat in my work room and we can talk about it."

Fion gave the room a once over. It looked like a hatcher had hit it.

"Actually, why don't we go into my kitchen instead. I was going to make a cup of tea anyway."

Fion waved her hand in the direction of her kitchen. Stride picked himself up and walked down the hall, barking helpfully as he went.

Emme balked when Fion menioned she had been by the bakery. "Oh, goodness, I suppose you're right," she said, apologetically. "I'm sorry. You don't have your outdoor scarf on..."

She followed Fion into the kitchen. "You have a lovely house," she added, in a small voice. "This is a good neighborhood, you know? Not much crime. Peaceful."

Emme was surprised to see Triar. After the day of Willy's hanging and the subsequent murder - she had figured a dark mysterious fellow like himself, having hinted so strongly at being a part of the resistance - would have nothing to do with such a wishy-washy nobody such as herself.

"Mr. Vahl," she said, her shock apparent in her voice. "What brings you to...a dress shop?"

Emme too turned red, not exactly wishing to be reminded of the day she had last seen Triar.

"That was very kind of you," she said, curtsying a little in his direction. "I'm here getting a.. a dress, for the Clock's Eve Ball. I'm helping our mutual friend Annie with her camera, actually. It'll be strange to be surrounded by all those gollies...after..." She gestured uselessly.

"Oh, goodness, couldn't take any money from you," she reassured him, smiling a little. "No, Annie gave me some money for the dress. I've never bought one before."



She shrugged, trying not to seem as jittery as she was. "A bit. I don't much like big crowds...especially big crowds of vroo...things tend to get a little out of hand." Glancing to the kitchen to see Fion preparing the tea, making sure she wasn't keeping her, she sighed. "Will you be at the Caoja? I hear they're bringing in live tigers this year."

Emme balked at the question. The Ball and THEN the Caoja? She'd be exhausted...wait, was he asking her on some sort of...romantic outing? No...of course not, why would she even think that?

"Er..." She stalled for time, pretending to check on Fion. What should she say? She knew what Hania would say - not another human, you silly girl! And Jott would urge her to go out and have a little fun...

"Er," she repeated, "I suppose...I could meet you once I've finished helping Annie...I'm not certain when, but...yes, all right, I will." She was stammering and looked distinctly nervous. What the clock had she just agreed to?

Fion leaned against the kitchen wall. Stride wasn't even bothering to interact anymore, he was just staring at the back door and growling softly. He didn't like people coming in unannounced either.

That was it, she was definitely repainting the sign.

She raised an eyebrow at the two of them and a her mouth quirked into a small, tired smirk. The tall man was as red as a beet and Emme was starting to match. He was probably a little too early to be trying to court the younger girl but chances were he just wanted to look out for her. Fion was fine with that, he didn't look like the type to cause trouble and she'd never seen him before when she worked downtown,so he wasn't a drunk.

Well, she'd forgive him for barging in. She just wasn't going to let him get away with it.

At least she knew what kind of dress to make for Emme now, another in a similar style to Scarlet's. She was going to make it in blue, even if she had to convince Emme forcibly that it was the right choice.

She turned around and pulled some tools, a hand crank drill and a screw driver, out along with an old door bolt. She turned around and cleared her throat.

"Pardon me for interrupting you," She said, voice light and warm, though ironic, "I need some help putting this on my front door.You see, people have just been running in all day without knocking first and I'm worried that someone might just bust in screaming one day while I'm not decent."

She folded her arms loosely over her stomach.

"Help a girl out?"

She turned to Emme, "I know just the dress you're going to need, I can make you one to go with Annie's. You won't look like the galdori but you'll start a trend with them, trust me. Mind if I take your measurements in here? It should only cost about three shills."

"Oh, goodness, I'm sorry," said Emme, gesturing at Triar. "He only came in to see me for a moment. I don't believe he needs a dress. It's my fault entirely."

She listened to Fion talk about her dress, baffled. "Oh, you...you're going to make a dress for me? A new one? I thought..."

Fion raised her hands in supplication.

"Hey, you don't need to be sorry, you didn't do anything wrong." She lowered her hands and placed them proudly on her hips, "Yes, I'm a dressmaker, so I'm going to make a dress for you. I even have one of those pedal sewing machines, so it won't take any time at all. You'll like it and it'll fit you much better than if I sold you a premade one. What do you say?"

"Well, if it's not too much trouble..."

Emme was a little mystified. She'd never owned anything nice before. Perhaps Hania would let her borrow some of her shoes...

Fion felt a little guilty about embarassing the man. Only a little though. He looked so lost and flustered among all the feminine accoutrements. It was kind of cute, in a way.

She held out the drill.

"No worries, you'd just be doing me a favour while you wait for your young miss. Just hold the bolt square so you know where to put the holes, then drill them so you can fit the screws in after. It's easy as lying. I'd do it myself but I can't seem to make the time." Fion gave him a dazzling, toothy smile. It was usually enough to surprise and confuse people.

She turned to Emme.

"Come on, I'll just take your measurements and you can leave the rest to me. I probably won't be able to get the dress done before the morning of the 30th but you'll certainly have it in time for the ball."

Emme looked quietly horrified.



"All right," she said, a quaver in her voice. Am I going to have to take off my clothes? she wondered briefly before following Fion into the dressing room.

Fion fiddled around with her measuring tape. Emme looked a little distressed.

"This won't take long, you don't have to take your dress off or anything." Fion rustled around for a pencil and a notepad. "How have you been holding up?"

Fion smiled reassuringly and put on her best "Mum" face.

((she already took off her coat ))

Emme held her arms out - she had an idea that this is the sort of thing people did when they were measured.

"I'm much better, thanks," she said, coloring at the memory of Triar's invitation. "No point in moping about, eh? Everyone has hard times."

((DOY!))



Fion measured Emme's arms and around her chest.

"There's truth to that but there's nothing wrong with grieving. You need to get those feelings out sometimes." Fion moved to her waist. "I'm glad you're feeling more up."

Fion thought she saw something shining out of the corner of her eye, near Triar's pack.

Triar caught Fion's glance, and gave her an almost guilty look, paired with a half smile. He turned towards the door and rested his hand on the frame.

"Well, maybe I'll see you out at the party, Emme. If you want to, of course. Nice meeting you, miss." he spoke, the last bit directed to Fion, and walked out of the shop, his face flushing with embarrassment.

This whole situation was going to be interesting...