The magic of Teamwork

It was a rather pleasant journey to the capital city of Fiore as the Lamia Scale duo rode on the back of a rather oversized turtle. Samira's last ride on the back of an animal mount was rather chaotic and swift in comparison, and made her queasy afterwards. With the turtle's pace she came to enjoy herself as she took in the sights of the journey. The owner of the mount, Aino, was a new member of her guild. Their meeting each other had been delayed due to Samira having been elsewhere on the other woman's first day but eventually the two had crossed paths and somehow ended up taking a job together. It was a simple one; be a waitress for a day. However, simplicity was often varied from person to person. Samira knew she likely would have little effort remaining calm and patient, but her companion was likely to have some issues. She seemed to be a shy girl that had little experience dealing with people. There were even rumors concerning her having had some sort of panic attack the moment she stepped within the entrance to the guild hall.

"You will do fine," Samira said reassuringly as she hopped off the turtle and gave it a pat as if to say thank you for the ride. "Yes, costumes. What type of costumes are they exactly?" Truthfully, Samira was in over her head. The thought that it was a cafe that may of had cute and skimpy maid outfits and the like never dawned on her beforehand. Paying attention to such businesses never made it onto her agenda. Regardless of the answer, the summoner reached for the knob of the door to open it but as she did the door opened from the other side and before them appeared a middle aged woman in a type of business suit. "Oh! You're here! Come come! We have to get you two dressed before the owner arrives. He had to go get a replacement chef for the day." The woman was cheerful and rather excited to have two new employees to dress. She did not allow them time for much of a response and just went behind them and began to push the two women to the back of the cafe where the costume dressing room was located.

The room was rather large and contained several racks of different costumes, as well as alternate coloration of each. The woman took a deep breath and turned towards the girls. "Oh, you both are so lovely. Any of these will likely work. I will make some suggestions though." The woman went towards a rack along the back wall and pulled out a costume that made Samira almost fall over. The dress was rather skimpy and would show way too much leg if worn. Its style was that of what would typically be found on a princess that came from ancient desert civilizations. "You, my dear, have an exotic look about you. I think dressing as a bold and desirable princess from a land in the desert country would suit you." She handed the outfit to Samira, who had a look of absolute horror on her face.

The woman then turned to Aino and placed a gentle hand on her cheek. "You, sweetie, I get the impression that you are the timid sort of person. Very attractive for our customers. I think after today we will have many returning just to see you. A shame you will only be here for one day." She turned and then went for a costume rack at left side of the room. "I have two suggestions for you." Two outfits were then pulled out. "I suggest a fairy type of outfit. Just imagine it. You walking to a customer that is ready to order and them falling out of their seats when you act all timid and want to hide. Or the classic maid outfit. It may be a bit overdone but I think you will pull it off very nicely. The customers will so thrilled when you shyly call them master. Or or!"

"That is enough...suggestions. We ask to be left alone to decide and change," Samira interrupted the woman, not so much as being rude as she was wanting to save Aino's life. Too much suggestion and imagery could probably lead the girl to run out the door at any moment. Not to mention she didn't want the woman to get any more ideas for her own costumes.

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Samira had let out a sigh of relief as soon as the dressing lady had left the room. No more silly suggestions that would be considered embarrassing. Her fellow guild member seemed to not be able to handle it though as she fell to the floor, having one of her infamous panic attacks she had heard about. Putting the awful choice of clothing back on the rack, Samira turned and walked over to Aino before kneeling down. She wasn't used to giving someone comfort, but she understood having a fear and the results that came from it. Aino's just happened to be the fear of being in such social environments where strangers existed as well as unexpected outcomes. Luckily for the other woman Samira was the patient sort and allowed her time to recover herself as she began to gently run her hand along Aino's back in a soothing manner. "You are doing well," Samira said honestly, somewhat impressed that Aino had made it that far without running away. "Take your time. There is no need to rush yourself. If I must, I will cover for you if any problems transpire while we are here."

As soon as she spoke those words the summoner stood and walked over to a rack in search of a main outfit for her companion. It was an easy pick since it was suggested earlier but Samira had her doubts on it being the best choice. Would Aino be able to get through the day calling everyone master whenever she spoke to them? Who really knew. She didn't particularly know her well but perhaps after the first customer the girl would find it easier. Her hands skimmed through the many costume outfits, moving each one over along the rack so she could see what was behind it. Eventually she found a more traditional black and white maid outfit that looked to be Aino's size. It was a much safer choice than some of the more...creative maid outfits. She was uncertain if some of them were even supposed to be there for they seemed more appropriate for the bedroom. "How is this one?" Samira pulled the outfit off the rack and held it up Aino to see. "It is not a very creative design, but trust me when I say that you do not want to see the other choices."

(Word Count: 394
Total So Far: 1147)

"They certainly were a bit questionable," Samira replied with a nervous smile after she had handed the costume over to Aino. Considering there was already one Lamia Scale mage on the brink of breaking down, Samira really did not want to state that she also had some major concerns. If the costumes were stylized in such a way there was no telling what sorts of costumers the two of them were going to have to deal with. It was probably best not to bring that up for the moment. When Aino said she would go change in a different part of the room Samira gave a nod of her head to acknowledge the statement. "I will be doing the same shortly. My own costume is still undecided." She then turned and went back to focusing on the clothing racks to pick an outfit of her own.

'Hey! Turn back around! I can't see anything!'

"What could there possibly be to see? I am in a changing room, not a battlefield." Although the connection with her spirits allowed them to communicate mentally with Samira, her own replies came out vocally and could be heard by whoever was near her, making it seem as if she were talking to herself or an imaginary friend she was too old to have. She could have used mental communication as well, but using her actual voice came more natural to her and was a hard habit to kill. The consequence was looking as if she were some sort of crazy lady.

'Exactly! I want to see how hot she is under all of those clothes!'

Samira's eyebrows twitched at hearing the perverted words. Naturally she ignored the demand to turn around. Aino wouldn't have known such a spirit would have been able to see what Samira saw so there was little worry of that sort of freak out, but it was a rather sneaky thing to do and certainly not appropriate. Not to mention she doubted her current companion wanted to be stared at even by another woman. The desert princess idea was decided on since Samira did like the theme, she was just surprised at the lack of covering the costume that was originally pointed out had. One that was less horribly designed was found hidden deep within the racks, although it was still a bit skimpier than she normally would wear. At the very least it would not be as if she were wearing nothing but a bikini, and her outfit being a bit more...obvious would help Aino stand out a bit less and therefore draw less unwanted attention. The green haired woman sighed at making herself the sacrifice. She found her own corner and began to change into the costume and even added on its accessories.

Once both women were changed, the woman from before flew the door open right on queue. It was time to get the job started!

Costume

(Word Count: 488)