The Pointe of Love || Elriel & Nessian

Chapter 13 - Chocolate Mustache

Nesta adjusted her shoulders, letting the costumer work her way across her shoulder blades with the gauzy ivory material. The woman's warm bony hands were surprisingly strong as she draped and relaid the fabric, inserting pins into the gathers in an almost robotic precision. The room under the stage was warm and cozy, practically sound proof with all the fabric and costumes filling up every corner.

"Let's repurpose the Giselle cemetery skirt but add some more sequins and shorten it? Yeah?" Nesta watched in the mirror as the woman spoke through a mouth full of pins, her grey eyes focused on the pleats.

"I want a more angular fit," Cassian responded, leaning back with his hand to his chin, his eyes appraising Nesta's figure. "I want the audience to see her form completely. Sprightly... fresh. What if we repurpose a Sugar Plumb fairy skirt instead? I think the VBC put on a Nutcracker performance last year right?"

The costumer nodded in consideration before heading to the back of the cramped room under the stage.

"Sugar Plumb Fairy?" Nesta raised a brow.

Cassian let out a laugh. "For once, I'm not actually poking fun at you. I solemnly swear." He crossed his fingers over his chest in a religious symbol. "I genuinely think it will fit the performance better."

Nesta let out a small smile, shaking her head. "I didn't know you had such an eye for pretty things." She watched as Cassian plunged his hands into an enormous tufted box full of ribbons and jewels, his focus singular as he rummaged through the feminine collection.

"There is more to me than meets the eye Ms. Archeron." He mumbled without looking at her, his eyes set on his hands.

"I'm realizing that." She whispered the words almost beneath her breath as she turned to the side, appraising the corset of the white swan top.

Cassian's eyes flashed up then, his hand whipping up toward his face, a sparkly object clasped between his rough fingers. "Aha."

She turned, and focused on the object.

It was a tiara.

With a devilish grin, he approached her, coming up behind her in the mirror, still taller, though she was on a lifted podium for the fitting. She felt her throat catch in a gulp as he gently raised the jeweled headpiece and rested it on the crown of her dark hair.

"Beautiful." He whispered before stepping back, appraising her from behind as Nesta felt her entire face flush. She ducked her head, turning to face him.

"Cassian, I–" Nesta began the sentence, her face now eye level with his as she swallowed, struggling to gather her thoughts.

"You know, a tiara is quite fitting for your bone structure." He side-stepped her serious tone, turning away from her heated gaze as the costumer reappeared from the back closet.

The woman ambled toward them, her hands grasping an angular disk of a white tutu, the sparkling sequins dusting and glittering the carpet in her wake.

"And this white looks good too." Cassian surveyed the tutu before crossing his arms and surveying the bodice in the mirror. "Though I'd like to add a little more silver to the look. You look good in silver Nesta."

She sucked in her breath, her gaze locking onto Cassian's as he tossed her an amicable smile in the mirror, the costumer ignoring them as she went back to pleating the back bodice with the tutu now resting against the mirror.

"Silver?" She narrowed her eyes at Cassian who was ignoring her eye contact, turning away to run his fingers across the bolts of fabric resting on a nearby cutting table.