Tailor's Shop

It had been a relatively quiet morning on the Heat. Juliana was up at the crack of dawn and had left the ship before most people were awake. Luke cooked up a relatively simple breakfast when he had woken up, with a few extremely quiet conversations with the ghosts around him and a general effort to ignore Alistair. Garrett's bad mood had seamed to cross over from the other day, though he managed to keep a smile despite evidence of his well earned money flaunted around the ship at every corner.

The time seamed to fly, and before anyone knew it, the clock struck eleven. Garrett followed after the Fairchild brothers casually, fairly used to the rainy weather by this time. If he were in a slightly less spiteful mood he might have even enjoyed a short vacation from his work and might have even been happy to have had a free meal or two. But at the cost of 350 kenetra, it just wasn't worth it.

Luke himself almost left the ship without an umbrella despite the continued downpour of rain. All of this primp nonsense like wearing a hat and being expected to have some manners was making him even more resentful of any gesture he commonly associated with any sort of status. And now, heading back into the tailor shop, he found himself wanting to punch the grinning eelman in the face. Damn creature trying to act like a person, with that suit and almost coy smile and unblinking eyes...

The tailor greeted with a small wave, "Dobryj dyen', sirs! I have your suits done."

The walk to the tailor's was uneventful enough for Alistair's taste, though he still worried about a certain lord that was set to arrive at any time. He was seriously weighing his options even as he whistled, trying to appear as though he had no care in the world. The silver cigarette case had somehow found its way to Garrett's pocket, and there were a few things on the boy's bed for when he returned to the ship.

Now, too, Luke was about to be dressed as he deserved. Alistair smiled at the eel man. "Very good. You work very fast. I admire your promptness."

Dmitri's sleep had been fitful as the morning approached, his dreams plagued by nightmares. The nightmares switched between scenes of people dying in fires and times that he was with Ivanna. Sometimes, the two mingled together into the same scene. Finally, he saw the day that Ivanna died, the white snow all around them, her, his sire, and Dmitri standing in the falling snow. He saw again the gun pointed at Ivanna, and again the gun going off. In his dream, the gunshot sounded almost too real. When he heard the gun go off, Dmitri yelled out Ivanna's name once again, and found himself awake in his room. Breathing heavily, he looked around, for any sign of Ivanna, and remembered that she was long gone. With a sad sigh, he put his head in his hands, his elbows propped on his knees as he stared at the sheets.

~~

Ivanna had been messing around with Dmitri's things, looking through them, but leaving some things alone, like the ring box. For a while, she had been playing with his cigar case, almost absent-mindedly as she watched Dmitri toss and turn in his sleep. She had eventually mishandled the case, and it fell to the floor. Right as it did, Dmitri had called out her name, nearly frightening her. She watched him now, wishing she could comfort him. Instinctively, she found herself by the side of his bed, about to put her arms around him. She only realized at the last minute that he wouldn't be able to feel her, and her attempt at comforting him would be useless, but she climbed in beside him anyway, hugging him. "It's okay, Dmitri..." She whispered, to deaf ears.

~~

Unable to fall back asleep, Dmitri had gotten dressed for the day, waiting for later that morning. Once the time was more appropriate, Dmitri headed into the kitchen, making himself an easy breakfast before heading back to his room to get his umbrella. He headed for the tailor shop he visited the night before, to pick up a suit he had ordered. He was rather looking forward to seeing how it looked, even though he didn't necessarily enjoy suits. Entering the tailor shop, he was almost surprised to see the Fairchild brothers and Garrett there, as well, but didn't show as such. Instead, as he set his umbrella with the others, he said, "Dobroe utro*, gentlemen," possibly because he just managed to hear the eel man speak using non-English words, as far as he knew. He managed to make it look like his greeting included the eel man, as well, since it wouldn't hurt to be nice.

((* = Good morning.))

"Thank you, sir. I do what I can," Replied the eelman, his fins wiggling in joy. "Do you care to make sure they've been properly made? Accidents can happen sometimes." The eelman paused a moment when seeing Dmitri enter, and smiled to him as well. "Dobroe oo-tree, sir! I have your suit finished as well, if you would like to try it on."

Luke glanced at the entrance of Dmitri, a hint of relief spreading across his face with the distraction. He offered the barest hint of a wave to Dmitri then to Ivanna. "'Ey. Didn't expect to see you 'ere," He replied casually.

Alistair ignored the vampire. "I will be happy to try it on. My brother should do so as well."

"You first," Luke grumbled, offering a mock swing of his hand toward the dressing room. "I insist."

Alistair headed for the dressing room. "You too, Luke. I insist."

"No, I'll look like a prude," Luke grumbled in response, getting slightly more defensive in his tone.

Dmitri nodded at the eelman, saying, "I would, thank you." In response to Luke, he answered, "I got tired of wearing this," As he spoke, he gestured to the ill-fitting suit he picked up back in Phiah. Not only was the thing not tailored, it also had to be mended after the dragon incident. While only a close inspection could determine as such, Dmitri didn't necessarily like wearing home-mended clothes.

~~

Ivanna waved back to Luke, saying, "I wanted to see Dmitri's new suit on him before anyone else." She smiled, looking at Dmitri as she imagined the suit on him, going off of the description he gave the eelman the night before.

"No you won't," Alistair answered. "Now come on."

The eelman was quick to hand over the clothes to the three men, his smile remaining in place despite the disputes. "I see you know one another. Will this all be on the same bill?" He asked, moving to retrieve the three packages from under his desk with a fluid movement that swam through the air. When he popped up again, he slid add three to the edge of the desk, deciding it would be rude to throw the packages into their hands.

Luke grumbled under his breath and reached for suit he knew was his. He headed to the back and closed the door to his dressing room. Once he had dressed again, he looked at himself in the mirror and couldn't help but glare. He hardly looked like himself. The image in the mirror looked about ten years younger, a dandy where he had previously been a brute. The suit helped mute the impact of his muscles, and his missing beard was a big factor in his previous, almost bum-like appearance. The change was a good one, but it was still a change.

Luke finally appeared again, trying to sink his neck into his jacket. "There, 'appy now?" He grumbled at Alistair.

Garrett himself remained in the corner, watching the three with interest as he moved his cigarettes from his carton to his new, shiney case.

Alistair shook his head at the eel man. "My brother and I will have our suits on the same bill. This man," he glared at Dmitri, "will buy his own."

He waited a moment with his own suit, and smiled when Luke came out, looking every bit as handsome as Alistair knew he could look. The tailor had done his work well, and Alistair couldn't help but stand back and admire the effect for a few minutes. "I think it suits you quite well," he answered. Looking to the tailor. "My compliments."

"Thank you!" The tailor replied. He really had no idea what humans thought was attractive, but his ability to follow instructions well and guess came to save the day yet again.

A frown appeared on Luke's lips as he searched his mind for complaints. "Collar's too stiff," He grumbled.

Dmitri watched Luke and Alistair, keeping himself from chuckling at Luke. While it did make him look nicer, Dmitri didn't say anything about it, not wanting to cause Luke any more discomfort than he already had to endure. Taking his own suit, Dmitri disappeared into a dressing room, gladly ditching the suit he came in with. After he got the new suit on, he looked at himself in the mirror, smiling at the outfit. The different shades of red went together quite well, and the black finished the look fine. He came out, adjusting his cravat, as he told the eelman, "Very well done."

~~

Ivanna smiled when Dmitri came out, saying, "Oh, he looks very dashing!" She turned toward Luke, still smiling. "You look very nice as well, Mister Fairchild."

"It's just fine Luke," Alistair answered, "and you know it." He took his own package and headed to the dressing room.

Luke grumbled under his breath, waiting for Alistair to finish with a pout.

Alistair came back out in a minute, looking quite dashing in a deep red waistcoat and navy overcoat. The blue, silk cravat brought out his eyes to an almost eerie level. He'd tied back his hair too, though a few stray strands still fell in his face. Overall, the effect was mesmerizing.

Garrett glaned at Alistair, raising his eyebrows in a few seconds of appraise. While he wasn't exactly a fashiona himself, he could appreciate a well dressed man. Even if he'd prefer that man's close on his bedroom floor. He averted his eyes however, trying not to give his intentions away.

Luke, on the other hand, was a bit less impressed. "Can we go now?" He grumbled.

Dmitri went to pay for his suit, telling the eelman, "I think I'll wear it out." He had grabbed his old suit by this time, bundled neatly under his arm. After paying for the suit, he would leave the shop, saying "Do svidaniya," giving a half wave, mostly to the eelman. Opening his umbrella, Dmitri would begin walking, going no where in particular. He didn't know where he was to meet Fairfax, and he didn't feel like holing up in the ship for the day, despite the weather. It was then he remembered that he was supposed to meet up with Katrina today, and began heading toward the bar she told him to go to.

~~

Ivanna followed Dmitri out, waving goodbye to Luke as she said, "It does look good on you, Mister Fairchild."

"Oh yes, this will do nicely," Alistair said to the eel man with a smile. "My compliments. I shall certainly recommend you to all of my friends." Alistair paid the remainder of the bill and led the way out.

As Ivanna and Dmitri left, Luke offered a small wave goodbye to the two, his grumpy look still glued to his face. Even if it looked good, it still didn't feel like... him. More like a monkey in a suit.

Luke and Garrett followed after Alistair, Garrett finding some unusual cracks in the walls and Luke still fuming over being expected to act nice. In fact, Luke was so displeased by this turn of events, he undid his cravat and unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt. With a sigh of relief he continued out, feeling a bit more in his element now that he was a bit more unkempt.

"So, we just going to run around or should I go and get something done with my cart?" Garrett asked.

"We need to fin the captain," Alistair answered vaguely in reply.

"Good luck with that," Garrett responded. "I don't think I can help much there."

"Tracking down the captain's going to be 'ard," Luke responded. "She kind of wanders as far as I see."

Alistair frowned. "Well, we should at least bloody well try. The weather has lightened up a bit. I think we can leave."

"Where do we even start? What the 'ell does she even do when she's not rambling on about 'er brother," Luke grumbled.