Village in the Mountains

Chapter Nineteen

The fabric between her hands was stiff. Delicate lace bordered the edges and tickled her fingertips, pure white and lovely as anything else in Donna's house. The main fabric was bright yellow and patterned faintly with the same damask pattern on the wallpaper around her, cut in the middle to part and reveal a light green, floral bodice. Ruched, frilly and square, it would make her cleavage look generous as her posture would be presumably pushed straight and her breasts pressed up by the corset ribbing and lacing around the middle, the fabric there the same light green but without the flower pattern. The sleeves were long and looked tight, cinching neatly at the wrist, looking not dissimilar to Donna's own dresses. The bright colors continued to bloom out into a full length skirt, incredibly puffy with extra ruffled fabric underneath, and a satin inner skirt that would whisper against her legs when she walked. The skirt was ruffled and layered, the floral pattern still cutting through prettily in the middle.

It was fancy. And impractical. It was a jarring colour that would make her stick out like a sore thumb, and it was light enough that Neci immediately knew that she had been right when she'd predicted that stains would be a problem.

Her fingers tightened on the fabric, thumbs creasing and creating wrinkles. Her eyes lifted to look at Donna, the lord standing over her and next to the bed.

"Don't you absolutely LOVE it?!"

Neci's gaze slid over to look at the doll sitting propped up on the bed next to her. Angie's porcelain face looked emotionlessly back, the puppet's small body wriggling with an excited energy. A faint smile made its way onto her face.

No.

"Yes! It's beautiful," And it was, it truly was, it just wasn't... hers. Gorgeous and well made, bulky and impractical, it was not meant for her body, no matter the measurements that Donna had taken, "I'll cherish it everyday." But where would she wear it?

Miserably, she thought back to her usual, comfortable clothes, the ones languishing in some locker in the Heisenberg Factory. She thought of the work coveralls that Heisenberg himself provided, that had gotten so torn and messy that she assumed Donna had cut her losses for her and destroyed them. When she'd woken, mostly naked and very anxious, the lord had handed her a floral flannel robe, which was still currently cinched around her waist.

She vaguely thought that the robe suited her more than the dress.

"I'm so glad you like it," Donna's hands pressed together in her lap in muted excitement, the lord almost shaking with the same energy that Angie was, "After we get you cleaned up, you can try it on!"

Smile still in place, Neci nervously eyed the corset strings, her torso aching more at the sight of it than it already was just from sitting up. Neci was unsure what kind of woman was supposed to be wearing a corset, but she was sure it wasn't the type of woman she was. She had wide hips and a torso she would best describe as square. Her stomach hurt often from hunger and the thought of the boning on the corset forcing her into having an actual waistline was already making her want to cry.

She jumped slightly as she felt a weight on her knee, Donna's hand having stretched out comfortingly to rest there. Neci felt herself flush, obviously some of her fears had leached out onto her face. She drew the fabric closer to herself and smiled more.

"Are you in any kind of pain again?" The lord asked quietly, voice mindful of the fact that she might have a headache, "Do you need another painkiller?"

Yes. Very desperately yes.

"No, it's okay," Neci rushed to reassure her, "I feel much better today. I think staying in this bed for so long is really getting to me."