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Despite his initial protest, Cloud did not bargain, offer an alternate or try and wheedle his way out of the plan to gain entry to Don Corneo’s mansion. Aeris accepted both of them working together made more sense than her plunging into the unknown alone. Not like she knew Tifa in any capacity; not essential but helpful to have Cloud with her.
After Aeris promised the guard she would return with a friend and they approached the bustling main street of Wall Market, Cloud took the lead. “There was a dress shop back the way we came.”
She followed, curious now. Tifa had a devoted friend; a devotion calling into question his absolute dismissal of her standing as a romantic partner the previous day. Books and television never gave the impression of so strong and devoted a friendship. Might there come a time he would do the same for Aeris?
Getting ahead of matters; Cloud was a repeated acquaintance across two days. He was a SOLDIER; he was attractive; she could fluster him with mild flirting. But some more interesting details leaked out of him in their sparse time together; his determination and continued striving for strength. To lead. To protect. And despite all his protests, he did not object to spending time with her.
The dress-shop Cloud noted contained no one beyond a single-bored looking teenager who perked up at the sight of customers and lost interest when Cloud was the one to approach her. Yes, the shop could do custom work. No, she could not provide a time-frame, and no, her father – the designer – was not here. Was not exactly producing anything inspired these days. She gestured to the racks.
Perhaps the dresses in question did not inspire the teenager, but Aeris found some lovely dresses hung on the racks. Like the the backless red dress with the plunging neckline and the ruffled skirt. Easily overlooked; it was swamped by a huge number of dresses boasting dated styles. Aeris sifted through the racks, pushing past so many poor options. The blue and white summer dress got an eye roll. The pink and white one beside it made her wince. Distracted; a few dresses here would potentially fit Cloud, but clothing for him was far from her area of expertise. She murmured her assessment of the stock in his ear, but instead of conceding defeat Cloud pressed the teenager for the location of the tailor.
“He’ll be in the bar down the street.” The shop assistant glanced at her watch. “And if you’re lucky he’ll be sober enough to listen to you.” She stood, leaning closer to Cloud staring into his eyes, her expression stern. “But seriously, just leave it. If you want something decent, you’re best off going over to Sector Four. Like, this is Wall Market, you know?”
“Don’t have time for that. The bar right?” The teenager slumped back on her chair and nodded at Cloud's question. “Going to try anyway.” The shop assistant shook her head and went back to her magazine.
Down the street was a sparsely populated bar with a sticky floor and a haze of smoke in the air. The lack of patrons helped locate the tailor, though lead to a succession of strange conversations until they tapped the guy in the flat cap on the shoulder. Cloud cut to the point. “I want you to make a dress for me.”
“What?”
“You run the dress shop don’t you?” The tailor sighed at him and nodded. “I want to commission a dress.”
The tailor glanced from Cloud to Aeris, appraised her, waved a hand and focused back on his drink. “For her? Gotta be something in her size back in my shop. Buzz off.”
“No, I meant-“
Cloud broke off when Aeris touched his arm. She shuffled him to one side and sidled up to the tailor. “Let’s start over.” The tailor grunted in acknowledgement but continued to direct his gaze down onto the bar. At least he did not seem inebriated. “The dress isn’t for me. We’ve already been to your shop and there’s a few dresses I really like. You’re a great designer.”
The tailor grunted again. “Flattery ain’t going to get you anywhere.”
“I’m telling the truth,” Aeris fibbed. Sort of; the red dress, at least, was fantastic. “But we’re not sure any of them would fit my friend.” She gestured at Cloud and the pieces fell into place. “He, I mean, she wants to finally wear a dress – a really cute one. And between us we were hoping you could help her out. We have an event to go to today and I know we’ve left it far too late, but like I said, you really do have wonderful dresses.”
The tailor frowned and, at last, met her gaze. He gestured to her dress. “Got your own unique style there; not exactly in with the latest fashion.”
“Too expensive, and I am naught but a simple flower girl.” She winked at him.
The tailor frowned. “And me, I can’t keep up with the fashions. But if that’s not what either of you are into.” He trailed off and leant back on his stool. “She wants a dress does she?” He hopped up from his bar stool and pulled a tape measure from his pocket. Holding it up against Cloud, he made a succession of quick notes into a notebook with a worn stub of a pencil. The tailor chewed on the blunt end as he studied the page. “I think I can help you out. Any preference on the material?”
Cloud interrupted before Aeris could respond. “Something soft. And shimmery.” She had put some thought into this.
“Colour?”
“I was thinking purple?” Cloud scratched at her head; Aeris shot her a grin.
The tailor scribbled a few more notes, nodding as he did so. “And how soon do you want this? When is your event?”
“We need it as soon as possible.” Aeris broke in. “Can’t give you anything more precise sorry. I know that’s awkward.“
The tailor was sketching in his book and interrupted without looking up. “Not an issue. Have a few items in stock I reckon I can alter as a starting point. Come back to the shop in about, let’s say, an hour; I’ll have something for you to try on.” He clapped Cloud on the shoulder. “I’ll make you as cute as I can.
He hurried out of the bar and Cloud peered after him through the door. “We’re going to need more though. I’d like longer hair if nothing else.”
“And coloured contacts.” Cloud frowned at her and Aeris tapped her cheek bone. “SOLDIER eyes are going to be very noticeable and there's no female recruits to my knowledge.”
Cloud nodded. “Yeah. Might give me away.”
The contact lenses were easy to find in a run-down costume shop a few streets away. Perhaps here would have been a better first port of call; the costumes might have fit Cloud. Maybe not; the costumes here would render Cloud a caricature and blatant. Not the idea.
Aeris could do little but watch as Cloud fought her body’s aversion to anything touching her eye as she got the contacts into place. Cloud’s eyes watered and she rubbed her fingernails across the skin below her eyelids. “Have to live with it,” Cloud concluded through clenched teeth, electing to leave the lenses in place and not fight to extract them.
No blond wigs of the type Cloud wanted in the store; a slight shift to the shop assistant’s stance when they made it clear the wig was for Cloud. An understanding and with it came a recommendation to seek out a gym nearby. Cloud paused at each reflective surface they passed on the way. “Do they look okay?” She asked after the fourth stop.
“Look this way?” Aeris stared deep into her eyes. There was a faint trace of a glow behind each, though barely visible under the Sector’s Mako lamps. Without knowing the cause, most should assume her eyes were a curiously lighter shade of green. “They look great.” Cloud smiled.
The blond wig at the gym was perfect, but not given for free; Cloud competed for and won the wig with ease. She elected to wear it immediately and fussed with it as they headed back for the dress shop. She ran his fingers through the wig and curled the short pony-tail over her shoulder.
The tailor’s first attempt at the dress was almost complete when they arrived; he and his daughter greeted them warmly. Both were newly motivated and energised. Cloud continued to fuss with the wig, twisting his head back and forth in front of the mirror. Aeris gestured at her to stop and readjusted the wig, managing to settle it correctly. “There.”
Cloud still fussed with it; a few more readjustments from them both before the tailor announced the dress was ready. Despite a seeming great fit, the tailor immediately started re-pining sections and marking lines across the fabric with chalk. More measuring, pinning, re-cutting and getting Cloud to slip the dress on and off followed.
After, with her wig and dress in place, Cloud was nothing short of stunning. She gazed into the mirror, expression oddly blank, gaze flitting up and down her new look.
“So cute, Miss Cloud,” Aeris said stood beside the mirror. She repeated her words and Cloud glanced at her, flushed pink and fought back a smile. Aeris sighed and picked at her faded sun-dress. “Now I think I need a new dress too.”
“Thought you had one all picked out?” The tailor called from the counter.
“Oh, well. Yes.” She marched over to the rack and extracted the red dress. “I do like this one. If I may?” The tailor nodded and she swept into the changing room. The dress fit wonderfully and she exited the changing room expecting nothing but praise. To her surprise, the designer insisted she too endure a succession of alterations to her dress. All the effort and work made sense after the last adjustment and now the dress fit her perfectly. She stepped out of the changing room a final time and approached Cloud. “Think this will work?”
Cloud gulped, trying hard to keep her gaze on her face and not glance down to the bodice. “You look very pretty.”
Aeris marched to the counter. “I’ll take it.”
To her immense surprise she received it gratis along with the work for Cloud. “A thanks for giving me a whole new creative direction. Should have thought of it earlier.” Both father and daughter immediately lost interest in them, already sketching, discussing and arguing about new designs.
Cloud stared into the mirror again. “Not sure the boots go with this.”
Aeris peered over her shoulder at his reflection. Thick SOLDIER boots coated with mud and dust. Not in keeping with the style above them. “Point. Okay. Shoes next.”
Almost did not seem worth it outside; the uncomfortable humidity and dingy light of Wall Market was tiresome after all their traipsing. Better shoes would help sell the image, but ran the risk of continuing to lose sight of the goal of this whole escapade. But Cloud kept looking at her boots, pulling her skirts out of the way and frowning. Up to Cloud in this case; this was to rescue her friend.
Actually finding a decent and right looking pair of red high heels for Aeris took some time; shoes for Cloud took longer still. While she could technically fit into some of the heeled shoes, none of them the right look. Cloud conceded and took a pair black flats Aeris found amongst the offerings. “Do you think we need makeup?” Cloud shifted back and forth once again to appraise her current look in the mirror of the shoe-shop, hiking her skirts to check her shoes.
Aeris met her reflected gaze. Makeup. She had hurried so fast to pursue Cloud she had not thought to apply anything; not the point this morning. “I suppose a little extra oomph never hurt.” Cloud caught her frown in the mirror and mirrored her expression. Deep breath. “It’s nothing. C’mon.”
Cloud’s presence before seemingly made many think twice before voicing any comment on their appearance. Now the SOLDIER was no longer around, one man leered and made a skin-crawling offer; Aeris elected not to hear and hurried past, hoping Cloud would follow suit. She could use magic or a nominal physical attack would sort the issue but not so much when dressed like this. “Torn on it.” Cloud muttered, a little shell-shocked as they stood in the air-conditioned chemist.
“That man?” She caught her own gaze in a mirror beside a sample set and grimaced. Visible veins in her eyes and dark skin beneath. Too little water and sleep; both far too often. They would need concealing. She moved away from the set she considered for another and grabbed it before anything put her off.
“Yeah.” Cloud’s gaze darted from side to side as they walked to the counter. “Hate the way it makes me feel, but I guess it means this is all working. Just.” She broke off.
“Sorry to say, it comes with the territory.” Aeris kept her expression neutral as she paid.
Finding a convenient place to apply the makeup was tricky; they could not linger in the street without attracting more attention from the milling inhabitants. A better plan would have to not follow Cloud’s lead and changed clothes later. But by the same token, Aeris would not have wanted to miss Cloud’s transformation, to say nothing if her assurances along the way kept her from conceding.
The run-down hotel was an obvious solution, though Aeris hunted for any other possibility first. She and Cloud both drew knowing looks from the guy behind the bullet-proof glass at the entrance counter. Two attractive women checking into a hotel charging rooms by the hour. No prizes for guessing what they would be doing once alone. Cloud followed Aeris’s lead and both pretended they did not hear anything, taking pains not to appear flustered or hurried.
Their room was a cramped, squalid place. Stank of tobacco. Outdated, faded wallpaper; too thin walls. Tiny barred window with frosted glass. Bathroom with chipped and stained pink tiling. The torn lampshade cast a dim cone of light onto the bed leaving the ceiling in near complete darkness. Might not want to see the stains up there. Gloom hid the state of the carpet. Like wandering across a squishy, sticky void.
“Okay. Bit awkward. I would suggest we find somewhere else but needs must.” She ushered Cloud to sit on the edge of the bed and started on her eye-shadow. “Head back a bit.” The shadows from her spiky hair fell across her face, the dim light unhelpful. She blinked and peered closer. Was she applying it right?
“Not going to work is it?” Cloud fidgeted on the bed.
“It will.” The light was better towards the centre of the bed, right under the light. “Try laying back.” Cloud shuffled up and onto the bed. Better. Aeris knelt beside him, the springs protesting the movement with a loud screech.
She rolled her eyes, shuffled closer and winced. Uncomfortable to kneel on this bed; her knees pressed down into the springs against the slats below. She was going to be too numb to walk. She huffed, shuffled back and stood, stretching her legs with a groan. “Okay. Just bear with this next idea.”
“Aeris?”
Aeris knelt on the bed, hiked up her skirts and straddled Cloud. As Aeris sat back, Cloud flushed. No way to shy away from implied intimacy of their position.
Cloud focused on the wall until Aeris palmed her cheek. “Come on. You need to look at me while I’m doing this.” She went to work. Cloud’s gaze was off above her head and she swallowed a few times in rapid succession. “You know,” she added with a grin as she worked. “You are gorgeous.” She leant forward, applying the makeup, her words putting Cloud at ease. Cloud stared into her eyes while she worked; she met her gaze and winked. Cloud waited with absolute patience, gazing up at her until she sat back, the makeup complete. “So beautiful.”
“And you.” She murmured, hands clasped on her chest.
“Flatterer. But my turn I think.” She braced both hands against Cloud’s chest and dismounted. One further survey of her handiwork and she retreated to the bathroom. Too small mirror and not much better light but it would be enough.
She re-opened the kit; bags under her eyes needing fixing. Her pores. Lips needed moistening. No thought to her eyebrows or eyelashes. “Do you want any help?” Cloud interrupted her train of thought; she lurked in the bathroom doorway meeting Aeris's gaze in the mirror.
Focus. “Some other time maybe. I suspect you’ve not had the chance to put makeup on someone else before?” Cloud shook her head. “Practice makes perfect. But thanks for the offer. Let’s get through this and maybe another time I’ll ask for your help.”
“Okay. But, is something wrong?”
“Oh.” Wallpapering over the cracks. Wearing an absurd dress with no back designed for some glamorous event with a too low bodice and a too high slit on the leg. Striving for an appeal at odds with her own face in the mirror. All this not enough or perhaps too much, no matter what the shady guy at the door to Don Corneo’s mansion said. The makeup not enough – not close to enough – to disguise her flaws. The makeup she normally applied too sparing to allow her to pass compared to Cloud. “Nothing.”
She dabbed on the makeup, focusing on the mechanical action to push the other thoughts out of her head. She was ruining the plan. “Aeris?” Cloud dithered at the threshold to the bathroom.
“Yeah?” Reluctantly shifted her gaze from her own reflection to meet Cloud's.
“You. You look really gorgeous. Too.” Cloud swallowed.
A blink. Another blink. Her face warmed and she could not help but smile. “Flatterer.” She kept glancing from her reflection to Cloud as she continued with the makeup. As good as she could manage. “Still think I look okay?”
“I do.”
Aeris caught a ringlet and twisted it around her finger. “How about my hair? Do you think I should change it?”
“Maybe. I mean, I got a new hair-style?”
“True. And it really suits you.” Aeris winked and undid her ribbon, palming the white materia into one hand. She slid her hair bobble off and undid the end of her braid. No hairbrush and no desire to buy one; she brushed her hair using her fingers alone. Not perfect by any measure; she redid the bow to form a loose pony-tail. Backing up as far as she could in the bathroom she surveyed the new look. Her braided hair cascaded down her back in messy waves. Her heart sank; should have left it in the braid. Or gotten the hairbrush. “What do you think?”
“Amazing.” She blinked at Cloud in the doorway. “I mean. The guard already thought you were good enough. He’d be mad to turn you away now.”
She padded towards him. More kind words. And more for him too. “And you are stunning yourself.” She winked again.
Cloud’s dress worked beautifully, the contacts all but completely hid the glow in her eyes, and the makeup complimented her perfectly. Aeris moved closer; Cloud tried to shift out of her way becoming confused when Aeris veered to face her. “I would kiss you but-“ Aeris put her hand before her mouth, not risking smudging her lipstick. Her heart hammered in her chest.
“Oh. I mean, I’d like to too but. Yeah.” Cloud nodded, her hand coming up to scratch her wig.
“But after maybe.”
“After.” Cloud cleared her throat.
Aeris linked arms their arms; Cloud tensed until Aeris patted her arm. “This will be fine. So; what do you say, Miss Cloud? Ready to face the music?”
“Perfectly,” she said.