(Private) The Coat Factory

[Sonnie Wu]

Sonnie Wu was here at the Tavern, the Emerald Court's official Hollow. She sat at the bar, munching from a box of chicken nuggets. 12-piece, with BBQ sauce! Also, a large soda and fries! As opposed to the recent Equinox celebration where she had been crowned Spring Queen, the Beast was dressed casually in a more mundane outfit: Just faded blue jeans and a Sacramento Kings jersey. Her messenger bag and Hedgespun boots sat on the floor near her bare monkey feet, which dangled from the stool she sat upon. The long toes wiggled and flexed occasionally.

Humming happily as she ate, Sonnie awaited the arrival of Svelte Sven

They had an appointment to spin a coat for the Darkling!

[Svelte Sven]

Sven had been mentally reviewing several possible designs for the Hedgespun Raiment, feeling a mix of excitement and frustration at the sheer number of possibilities. He was wearing his usual tuxedo jacket when he entered the Tavern, following the directions he'd been given to the letter. Even if it was for a personal matter, he didn't feel right dressing down for a meeting with a monarch.

Very different from Seraphina's coffee shop. The Darkling would hardly describe how the Vernal Queen was waiting for him as 'regal', but he wasn't going to judge. Besides, he'd heard (mostly unfounded) rumors of Spring courtiers spending their free time in far less dignified ways. The Whisperwisp cleared his throat to announce his presence, just in case his entrance hadn't alerted the Beast Queen. "Forgive my tardiness, but I believe we had an appointment." He smiled slightly.

[Sonnie Wu]

Less than dignified would be an apt description. Sonnie was often engaging in activities than resulted in her being sweaty and tired. Like martial arts practice, parkour and other... athletic endeavors. Today, however, she was relaxed and taking it easy and participating in her favorite lustful pursuit: Eating.

The Spring crown, however else the Simian Steepscrambler was dressed, remained on her head, as it would for the rest of the season. It was part of her Mantle, now. At least until Summer arrived. The long phoenix feathers bobbed and dangled about, yet somehow never got in her face.

Hearing the door open, Sonnie spun about on her stool and waved. "Hello! Welcome, welcome!" She hopped to her feet and gestured the Darkling further inside. "Yes, we do! Hope you're ready for some spinning of the Hedge!" A remaining french fry in her hand was popped into her mouth. She talked with her mouth full. Beasts were not known for their table manners.

"So, a coat, right? What did you have in mind, exactly?" Her tail looped down to snag her messenger bag by the strap, lifting it to her waiting hands. She opened the flap and started digging through the contents. "Not just to look, but what do you want it to do? Anything special? Give you some protection? Help you with certain tasks?"

[Svelte Sven]

Sven managed to stop himself short of snickering, giving only a thin smile. There was just such a world of difference between this Spring Queen and the last. While Seraphina hadn't struck him as pretentious, she had seemed generally dignified and composed. Hers was a quiet kind of beauty. Sonnie, by contrast, reminded him more of Circe. They were hardly the same person, but it felt like they had a similar kind of rambunctious energy to them. "Well, I'm glad to pitch in however I can." It was an earnest reply, even if the Darkling doubted that he any skill at spinning thread. Or Hedge materials, for that matter.

His expression grew fretful as she asked him for details. "I'm sorry to say that all I'm really set on is that it will be a coat. Past that..." He sighed. "There are a lot of different cuts and designs. But I think I'd like a covert coat." He paused for a moment, searching for words. "It's an overcoat, usually made of tweed... sorry, I should have brought pictures or something. Anyway, I wasn't entirely sure about the color. I have plenty of black outerwear, but I'm worried that having the new one be white would be a bit... much."

He realized that he'd been scattered with his responses, so he tried to end on a firm note. "I'd like it to be breathable. Won't restrict arm movement at all, flexible enough that you can dodge and weave."

Mechanically, this would manifest as a one-dot, +1 to Defense piece of equipment

[Sonnie Wu]

Her eyes, irises yellow, sclera black, watched Sven ramble a bit about his coat. Sonnie seemed both a touch confused and a touch amused. "I... guess it is a big decision. I've always had a theme to work with. Made things easier." Her whole Sun Wukong aesthetic was fairly simple for her to lean into, Hedgespun-wise. "Hmmm," she looked thoughtful as she continued to rummage through her bag, "Okay, so an overcoat, maybe white, plenty of freedom-of-movement, and it will protect you."

The Beast came up with a handful of thread, in various colors, as well as a pack of sewing needles. These she tossed on a table, and resumed her search. "By protect, I take it you don't mean armor. My jacket does that. It's tough stuff. But my Coin Pendant," she gestured at the bronze coin that was tied about her throat by a black leather thong. It had the image of a smiling monkey on it, "protects me in another way. By luck! It makes it so attacks against me juuuuust happen to miss. We can do something like that with a coat."

Sonnie paused as she remembered something, "You know, Sera had a Hedgespun jacket, too. It was super pretty! Made of, like, waterfalls! Because she was part fish!" She was a siren, technically, not a fish, but Sonnie had long held the mistaken belief that the former Spring Queen was some kind of mermaid. "I think it protected her like my pendant. We could do something like that for you."

This time she found some scraps of cloth, and these were also deposited on the table. "Leftovers from my jacket spinning. Figured they might be of use. Do you like waterfalls? Maybe some other kind of theme? The fun thing about Hedgespun is it be made of almost anything!" She nodded excitedly, "Except iron."

[Svelte Sven]

"A theme..." The Darkling echoed, lost in thought for a moment. He looked at the coin and nodded. "Yes, more like that." The brief aside about the previous Spring Queen surprised him momentarily, but an idea seemed to dawn on him afterwards. Sven briefly reached out, as if to feel the waterfalls captured into cloth, before catching himself and resting his hands behind his back. More memories of a person who's left the rest of us behind.

"Would it be possible to freeze the waterfalls?" He had to admit, it sounded like an odd question when he said it out loud, but they were dealing with the Wyrd. There was no use fixating on it. "I know that ice and snow are pretty common with Winter, but I think to try to reuse some of the material..." He opened his mouth for a moment before deciding against saying anything more. He'd already babbled on about the coat at some length, he wasn't going to run his mouth without a purpose. Although...

Before he could catch himself, the Whisperwisp had asked his question aloud, "Why did Queen Sera leave?"

[Sonnie Wu]

"Ice? Oh yeah, we can do ice!" She nodded as she set her messenger bag aside. "Shouldn't be difficult to weave. Just... um... need to get some ice." Sonnie thought a moment, then snapped her fingers. "You know what? The park will have some! I can run upstairs and get some ice from the Funderland concessions!"

The final question caught her off-guard. The Director looked at Sven for a long moment, a distant look in her eyes, before answering. "Sera was married. Her husband is Rhodes, the former Autumn King. He disappeared a couple years ago. Sera's been searching for any sign of him ever since. A few months ago... she got a lead on his whereabouts, and she had to go find him." She let out a breath. "I'd like to think she'll return after she finds him, but I... I don't know."

[Svelte Sven]

Sonnie's expression almost made him regret asking, but the new insight into the former Queen's motivation for leaving helped assuage his guilt. Sven would have never been able to guess that Seraphina had been harboring such feelings. In a way, she was true to her Court... what else but 'desire' could explain leaving your Freehold and friends behind? Nevertheless, Sven was responsible for souring the mood, so he decided to speak up. "There is certainly something... romantic about that. I'm glad to have met her."

Rather than pour any more salt into that wound, the Darkling stood a little straighter and turned back to the subject at hand. "I'd conjure up some ice and snow for you myself, but I haven't quite got the hang of that particular Winter trick." He smiled softly. "But I can also run up and get it for you, since you're handling the more difficult part of this." And because I'll probably end up asking more uncomfortable questions...

[Sonnie Wu]

"Romantic. Right." Not that she disagreed, but this was not her favorite topic right now, and certainly not because of any sense of jealousy she might be harboring. Honestly, the Spring Court could be a regular soap opera.

Sonnie blinked and snapped out of feeling sorry for herself. She could be melodramatic on her own time. "Naw, it's okay. Real ice will do just fine. Be right back!" It was a welcome excuse anyway, to get a moment alone and recollect her thoughts. So, the Steepscrambler scrambled out the door and up the steep Wishing Well.

It was a few minutes before she returned. Okay, more like ten. But she did return, and with a full bag of ice! One of those plastic bags that literally says 'ICE' on it in big blue letters, like you get from those big freezers in front of convenience stores. Funderland obviously kept some in stock. "Coldcoldcoldcoldcoldcoldcold!" Sonnie hurriedly brought the chilly bag to the table and set it there, then rubbed her hands together. "Brrrrrr! Okay, that ought to do the trick!"

Simian eyes shifted towards the Darkling. "Anything else you can think of?"

[Svelte Sven]

"It should have plenty of pockets on the inside." Sven said with a smile. "I'd like places to store everything I can get my filthy mitts on." His tone made it hard to tell if he was joking. The Darkling wandered over to the workspace and set a hand on the bag of ice, holding it there until numbness started to creep into his fingers. There was something oddly amusing in the paradox of making a coat out of something cold.

"I wouldn't mind if the buttons were made of ivory or bone, but I understand if that's a bit difficult. Slash unethical." If it was like the ice, and you needed some kind of material analogue, he'd take a pass. Winter courtiers might get a bad rap for being selfish and uncaring, but at least this Page didn't have it in him to require animal sacrifice for the sake of fashion. A smirk crossed his face as he suggested, "Maybe buttons made of coal, to really feel like a snowman?"

His complexion somehow paled even further as he realized that Sonnie might actually run with the idea. "I'm kidding. Maybe if I were an Elemental, but it doesn't really match..." He gestured vaguely towards his face. "This." The Chatelaine's eyes darted to the side as he searched for another topic. His first thought was also about Sera, but he thought better of it in light of Sonnie's initial reaction.

Instead, he settled on something more tangible and related to their current activities. "So, to be clear, what is this upcoming social event for? And, for that matter, what kind of event? Soiree, tea party, salon...?" Orgy? In all fairness, just as no two Freeholds were exactly alike, rarely were individual Courts. Sure, some Spring Courts were analogous to Lost Greek Life, but even then, the sheer variety of parties they'd throw was surprising.

I tried to be careful with how I phrased the last question since, technically, the Spring Equinox is still open, even if it should be closed before this thread. I know Sonnie said 'pizza party' there, but I figured there's no harm in being cautious with thread timeframes.