+ [open post]

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh my God," Kade murmurs when Susan shows up at his door, knocking briskly. It's quiet, practically subvocal, but she can still make out the words distinctly. He wipes his hands on his trousers and extends one. "Susan Pevensie. Hi! I'm Kade. Kade West."

"I know," she says, glancing at his hand for a moment and then shaking it. "You're our tailor. I'm afraid I've been delinquent in introducing myself." She's been busy, but in the wake of all of the Mansion's most recent spat of strangeness, she decided it was high time that she conspire to meet him. She needs some sort of change-up to her days, which have become rather routine and increasingly feel uninspiring. Not that she wants more Mansion-driven mischief, just that... it was nice, to have a little adventure, once she set her worry for Lancelot to the side. "But you worked wonders for Lancelot's wardrobe."

A bright grin flashes across Kade's face as he takes in her pointed tone. His teeth are extremely white and, frankly, unsettlingly straight. "You want I should give you a makeover, too?"

Susan glances down at herself. She's back in mourning black, one of her everyday dresses. It feels more comfortable than color, sometimes, but... in truth, she misses being eye-catching. "If you'd be so kind," she says, briskly. "I haven't got a particular look in mind. I'll try whatever you think might be interesting."

Kade's smile broadens. "You're giving me a blank check?"

"I shan't wear it if I don't like it."

"Of course, of course," Kade says, and opens his door wide. "C'mon up. Tell me about your Worlds. I'll get you all sorted out."

---

Three days later, Susan decides she might as well try debuting the first outfit Kade selected. It's all black, so it seems a good gateway to the more colorful options, especially as she's not convinced of trousers - she's ever so used to the skirts and garters and stockings she defaults to day after day. And, she finds, as she checks the outfit in her mirror, it's strange to wear a top with meagre built-in supports but no brassiere. The red heels he chose, though... those, she loves. He'd recommended curls and a bold lip with this look, but she doesn't like the fussiness of curling her hair and instead leaves it loose and smooth down her back.

She can't deny that she looks phenomenal. The trousers, though they feel uncomfortably tight, look flatteringly as if they're painted on. She has, delightfully, gained some weight since arriving here, especially now that she's off her grief diet, and her figure is truly striking. The top is on the verge of indecent, with a low neckline and sleeves that fall off her shoulders, and she considers throwing on the jacket Kade suggested just for some degree of modesty across her decolletage... but that would go against her purpose of trying something exciting and different and new. So she shrugs, leaves the jacket on the edge of the bed, pats the spot where usually she would have her pocket and her notebook, fetches a handbag so she might still carry her notebook along with her (she wants a change, but that's no reason to be unprepared!), and sets out, Regina at her heels.

Susan has no way of knowing this, but anyone who's been to Earth after the late 1970s will recognize that Kade has put her in a perfect recreation of Sandy's greaser outfit at the end of Grease.



People who will find this hot and/or striking and/or familiar in some way are obviously welcome, but also anyone who wants to touch base after the AU days and/or meet Regina are encouraged to tag in too!

Comments

[lanselos_du_lac]

He nods, and goes to retrieve Noo-boh, saying to him, "I think the lady has a point."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I believe SecUnit's room might be this way," adds Susan, who of course knows exactly which rooms every single resident in the Mansion has claimed, and how to reach them expeditiously, as she leads Lancelot and the queer little creature out of the game room and down the hall toward the stairs.

[aflashbastard]

Bye-bye doo? Noo-boh says, sounding a little startled. He's either wondering where they're going or he's worried that they're trying to get rid of him!

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Fear not," Lancelot tells Noo-boh, "You will be safe. We will see if SecUnit can offer assistance, since I'm not well able to understand you."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan pauses with her hand to a door, and glances over at Lancelot. For the briefest moment, she looks startled, and then her expression turns completely inscrutable.

Lancelot is so terribly, terribly good. She's known all along about the gentleness he carries, protectively, at his core. How could she not? It's shone through their every interaction, even in her dim, alcohol-soaked memories of their first meeting. Oh, he was chivalrous, of course, but he was also kind. Gentle. Listening intently, answering thoughtfully. And ever since then, too. She used to protest when she thought he was being too gentle with her, but now -- watching him with this queer, unsettling creature, treating it the same way he treats Sunny, and Gideon, and Sagramore when he was falling-over drunk, and, regularly, Susan herself... well!

For a moment, worry lances through her. He's got such a big heart, and so much care. She already worries about others mistreating him, or taking advantage of it -- after all, that was at the crux of... one of her myriad miscommunications with Sagramore, and it's at the crux of her issues with Magnus, too -- but now another worry emerges.

Carefully, tidily, and with a swiftness, she buries the worry before it has a chance to emerge fully into her consciousness. Then she pushes the door open and gesture Lancelot through. "SecUnit lives just down this hall," she says.

[lanselos_du_lac]

"Very well," he smiles at Susan, "Thou knowest nearly everything. It is impressive."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan hesitates for the briefest of seconds, then admits, tone thoroughly neutral, "That's because of you, you know."

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot makes a sound that's a bit like a scoff, "I think not. How so?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

She waves a hand, like she's ushering his protest aside. "Knowing where everyone lives, at least. Since I never learned where your room was prior to our, ah, visitors... and then I was ever so worried about you after... and after I tracked you down I thought it prudent that someone have a knowledge of where everyone stays, lest such knowledge be needed."

[lanselos_du_lac]

"That was very wise," he clearly means it. "Though I think I only helped by being stuck in my ways, I'm still glad of it. 'Tis good to be prepared."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I do try," she says, throwing another soft look in his direction, and only doesn't reach to squeeze his bicep because she's still wary of coming so close to the creature he carries.

They're at SecUnit's door now, anyway. Surely its delightful little machines must have informed it that they're approaching... but since it's only polite to announce oneself, Susan knocks once, firmly.

please ignore the inherent irony here

[recognizance]

In a couple of seconds it opens the door, unsmiling as always. "Hi," it says, not quite a question.

Re: please ignore the inherent irony here

[lanselos_du_lac]

Lancelot gives a little bow, still holding Noo-boh carefully, but looks to Susan to explain what it is they're doing at SecUnit's door.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"SecUnit," says Susan, warmly, as pleased as she ever is to see it. "I trust you're well?" And then, because she assumes it, too, prefers one to get straight to the point, she says, "We've got a mechanical creature here and haven't the faintest idea what to do with it."