Love Next Door

Chapter twenty four- A dress

Jay walked with Ash's mother a dozen houses down to a quaint looking cottage, also covered in neatly arranged flowers, yet these were all colour designated. There they were greeted with a short, yet sharp looking woman, her features all pointed and severe. Her white hair was pinned back tightly, accentuating her severe expression. She didn't look particularly unusual, except for her bright, scrutinising violet eyes and her long, pointed ears. She was short, only coming up to his chest, but she made up for that with her intimidating gaze which made her seem much taller.

She was introduced as Miriam, and with a firm voice which matched her sharp appearance, she also introduced her daughter. The even shorter woman was her apprentice, and looked almost the same except with a shiny, almost sparkling complexion which made her violet eyes stand out even more in her ivory face.

Unfortunately, Beatrice left his company after she spoke to the dressmaker to the side, the details of his costume still hidden to him. He was left alone with two strangers who proceeded to order him about for half an hour whilst chattering away in a foreign language. He stood in the centre of the small front room as they rushed and glided around him with a tape measure, taking the measurements faster than he could keep up with. He couldn't see any sign of wings, something he assumed fairies would have, but still he could tell they were often not touching the ground as they moved. His body was pushed and prodded over and over before they finally stopped and looked together at their work on the clipboard in front of them.

"I'll show you what it will look like," Miriam told him bluntly, as if reading the curiosity (and perhaps fear) in his face. 

She disappeared into the back room with her daughter and then returned a minute later with an ivory coloured fabric, almost sheer. He wasn't sure how it would function as a shirt- being so thin and...airy? Plus, how would it turn into pants? Surely the fabric would just fall off him...or show everything underneath. Taking two pieces of that same fabric they rushed around him again, pinning it up around him and tying it up in places to make it somewhat fit him. His concern was that they were not separating the fabric, just letting it hang down by his ankles. Surely it wasn't...?

Once they were satisfied they stepped away, the daughter muttering something to her mother. She grabbed a tall, heavy-looking mirror, surprisingly strong for her stature, and placed it in front of him. He gaped. 

It was a dress. A long, straight flowing ivory dress, which shined in the light when it was caught in the direction of the windows. Thankfully it wasn't actually as sheer as he thought it would be, masking the dark blue underwear he was wearing underneath. It was somewhat shaped to his rather narrow waist, thankfully not billowing out at his hips as he might have been afraid of. The short sleeves were also narrow, tapered at his elbow. He felt ridiculous. It did not suit him at all.

"Why am I wearing a dress?" He ventured warily.

"It's tradition," Miriam answered, almost as warily, sensing his misgivings. "The man wears a masculine costume and the woman a feminine- which is always a dress of some kind." She explained matter-of-factly.

"But...I'm not a woman."

Surely he could just wear the same kind of thing as Ash? A different colour, a different style? Something similar, surely he didn't have to wear a dress? The women sighed in unison.

"Yes...but we have never catered to...this situation." The younger woman answered. "Ms Galdur told us to make this. She did not give any other instruction." It was his turn to sigh. He couldn't argue, not when these two weren't the ones forcing him into this.

Tomorrow was definitely going to be the strangest day in his life, yet.

He walked back to the house by himself, trying to calm his mind from all its doubts and misgivings which were threatening to ruin his mood. The dress was supposed to be ready by tomorrow morning, in time for the dance. Why did I agree to this?