Lessons in Etiquette (/w clem (open to ER members)

It had been quite some time since the white haired queen had done something with her mentee. She looked around the castle hallway and looked towards Nadaline. “My dear Nadaline… go fetch Clementine~!” She purrs ever so sweetly to the noble turned maid. Nadaline’s long white hair was pushed behind her ear as she nodded. “Yes, your majesty.” She says as she turns to leave the queen. “Bring her to the ballroom!”

What was her angle of wanting one of her members? Simple. While Clementine had provided the queen with a new option of clothing unintentionally, she wanted to return the favor and give her her own new option! And to get her to act like a lady! She looked like a rough and tough kind of girl, but Saraphina wanted to see her walk in nice heels and a dress with makeup on and her hair all done up nicely! Just the sheer thought of seeing how pretty she could be was exciting her.

“Bertrand!” She turned herself around and she pointed to him. He was the taller, male version of Nadaline. “Get a rack of dresses, skirts, and nice blouses down into the ballroom. Make sure there are also shoes and a vanity in there so we can apply makeup. And I want light music playing in the ballroom. Also, tell Nadaline I need tea to be served in the ballroom as well.” “Pardon me for questioning, your majesty. Are we having a party?” The white queen giggles as she shakes her head. “Nope! I’m taking my sweet mentee under my wing and am going to teach her how to be pretty like a lady~!” She giggles to him before she turns around and skips off. She knew Bertrand would be quick.

She throws open the door to the ballroom to see Bertrand fixing the clothes on the one of five racks near the middle of the ballroom. Even though she didn’t say to get it, he also had a screen set up for Clementine to get changed behind for privacy. On the other side of the makeshift changing room was a rather fancy vanity desk with it’s own chair and makeup neatly set up across the surface. A circular table with two chairs occupied one area of the ballroom, waiting for the queen and Clementine to sit down at. A band was set up on the platform stage and was playing light ballroom music for her. Her purplish pink eyes lit up with excitement as she clapped her hands together. This was going to be great!

---

Clementine was spending her weekend the way she had been for many months now: lounging in her room in the Errings Rising castle. After joining the guild, she had somewhat adopted a schedule, something she hadn’t really planned. It just kind of happened. She would work various job postings during the week, then be a couch potato on the weekends. So far it had been working pretty well for her.

Currently she was lounging half-dressed on her bed. Clothing was something she considered optional here. Despite her laziness on these days off, Clem kept a clean room. Her days living in a untidy, trash-filled house with her mother had made the painter a very tidy person. One of the things she hated most in the world was rats, and she had dealt with enough of them back then to keep a staunchly clean living space.

Clem slammed down her bowl of ramen on her bedside table as another round of the video game she was playing started. The furious clicking of the buttons on her controller filled the room. Light from the screen across the room flickered in pinks and blues across her face, which was scrunched up in concentration with her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth. Just one more enemy to kill and her team would win!

A knock on her door interrupted her game. The young woman ignored it, focusing on her game. A teammate managed to kill the last opponent. “Yes!” Clem hissed, raising a clenched fist in victory. Another knock came from the door, much to her annoyance.

“Mistress Clementine?” The painter let out a sigh, facepalming and letting her hand drag down her face in exasperation. It was Nadaline at the door. Was she here for another tutoring lesson? Gods, I hope not, Clem thought. While the learning sessions had made exponential progress in her reading and writing abilities, she hated it. Nadaline was patient, but the whole thing just felt patronizing to her.

Gritting her teeth, Clem stubbornly decided not to respond. Maybe if she just pretended not to be there, Nadaline would go away. Holding her breath, she waited in the prolonged silence.

“Mistress Clementine?”

“Ugh.” Clem groaned and flopped backward dramatically on her bed. There was no point. She may as well see what the queen’s maid wanted. “What?” she replied in a deadpan tone.

“The queen has requested your presence in the ballroom. Please tidy yourself up and accompany me there,” Nadaline stated. There was no part of what she said that made the meeting sound optional. Clem screwed her eyes shut for a moment, then heaved herself out of bed. She knew how intense Saraphina could be, so it was probably in her best interest to show up.

“Fine, gimme a minute,” she said towards the door. Dragging her feet every step of the way, the painter got ready. Donning her usual jacket with a dragon on the back over a plain t-shirt and some sweatpants, she stood in front of her mirror. Quickly she tied her hair into a classic ponytail then placed her hands on her hair. What color of hair did she want today? While a pinkish auburn was her go-to, today she felt like being a bit more bold. With a little pulse of magic, she contorted the pigment in her hair until it was black with several large streaks of blonde.

Opening the door, Clem slipped out quickly into the hallway where Nadaline was. She didn’t want the servant to see how tidy her room was. Though it was petulant, Clem wanted to keep up her badass persona, and having a neat living space certainly wouldn’t help that.

Without a word, she followed the woman through the castle corridors. They passed by a few other guild members, but at the moment the castle seemed pretty quiet. As they approached the ballroom, Clem started to hear music. It was that fancy shit that uppity people liked, full of string instruments. A perturbed expression covered her face.

As they rounded the corner, her concerned look turned horrified. The ballroom had changed. Racks of fancy dresses and clothing had been rolled in. A shelf filled with different types of shoes, mostly high heels, sat next to a rack. Nearby to a changing screen sat a portable vanity, complete with a mirror surrounded by little lights. Different kinds of makeup were set up on its surface. In the corner, a band played the music she had been hearing from the hallway. At a circular table sat the queen herself. An empty chair was set out, probably for Clem, and a steaming teapot accompanied two cups upon the table.

“What the fu-” Clem started to say. What the hell did Saraphina have in store for her?

---

Post WC: 799 ◐ Thread WC: XXX/XXX ◐ Tagged: @Saraphina ◐ Job Info: X ◐ Music: X

Nadaline patiently waited at the door for Clementine to come out of her room. She smiles sweetly as the woman slips out as she does, trying to hide a snicker. "If you wish, I can be sure to clean your room how you wish. Or have Bertrand do so. No one has to know when or who does it." Though what she wouldn't expose was that she's been in there to dust before and loved that they had someone as clean as Clementine was. She made her whole job easier.

As the two walked, Nadaline peeked over her shoulder to the other woman. "I hope you've been liking your writing lessons. I was thinking of trying something new with a lacrima computer and a game I heard about while out recently for the next lesson. Would you prefer that? Or to continue with pencil and paper?" She didn't mind of Clem would answer her or not, as it wouldn't take too long for them to reach the ballroom. When she saw the look on Clementine's face, she grew a little stern herself and cleared her throat. "Mistress Clementine, I would contain my excitement if I were you. Her majesty wishes to show you thanks in her own way. I hope you can appreciate it. She doesn’t get to do things like this often.” She smiles ever so sweetly to the painter, but her eyes really say ‘Don't try me.’

Saraphina shoots up from her seat and is practically shining from excitement. “Clementine! You came! What do you think?! It’s perfect, isn’t it?! Of course it is. Come here! Come here!” She rushed over and grabs her hand as she pulls her over to the racks of clothes. Saraphina’s eyes were shining even more as she looked over all the colorful outfits Bertrand had out for Clementine. Off to the otherside of the room, Bertrand stood with an apologetic smile to the other woman, the tea table in between him and the females. The white queen then gasped before she grabbed the girls shoulders. “Oh! You don’t have any etiquette training, do you?” Her purplish pink eyes wide with worry as she looks at her before she grabs the girls wrist again and drags her with her. “Walk for me! Like a lady!” She claps her hands as she stands off next to Clementine, bitting her bottom lip as she watches with anticipation. She was completely excited for this.

---

Nadaline chastised Clem for the disturbed expression that had overtaken her face. Apparently she was supposed to appease the Queen in her game of dress-up, like she was some sort of doll. Blue eyes glared harshly back at Sara’s servant. This was not Clem’s idea of fun, so she refused to manage her expectations.

“It’s… great.” Clem replied without an ounce of sincerity in her voice. She would entertain the Queen for a while, only out of the fear that something worse would come if she angered her by turning down the activities at hand. Playing along didn’t mean that she wouldn’t make it known how uncomfortable all the girly stuff made her. Clem was a very blunt person, so even if she tried, she couldn’t fake it.

The painter had no choice but to follow behind as Saraphina dragged her over to the many racks of clothes. The frilly and lacy mess of clothing was an eyesore to Clem, though she did appreciate the colors. That was a small silver lining in this situation.

“No, I don’t,” Clem replied shortly. She’d never seen the point of etiquette at all. Why should others be embarrassed by her actions? It was stupid in her eyes.

“Walk like a lady?” she muttered incredulously, raising her eyebrows at Saraphina. What the hell did that mean? Turning on her heel, she began walking away from the Queen at the normal pace she always walked. While facing away from her mentor, Clem gave a huge eyeroll.

“I’m a woman n’ I walk, what else do you need?” she asked, turning around and putting her hands on her hips with an eyebrow raised.

---

Post WC: 277 ◐ Thread WC: 1,913 ◐ Tagged: @Saraphina ◐ Job Info: X ◐ Music: Link

As Clementine replied to the queens question on how the ballroom looked, Saraphina’s eyes lit up with absolute joy! Of course the simple word of the ballroom looking great made her happy. She didn’t even care if there was no sincerity or not, she just wanted the compliment! Clem had also told her she never had any etiquette training, so she pouted. What to do about that little issue? She tapped her chin before she clapped her hands once. Ideas were already swimming in her head! Then the white haired woman told her sweet mentee to walk like a lady for her, and the woman questioned her for a moment before she turned around and walked away from her and turned back around.

Saraphina’s hand rested on her chest as she looked to Clementine. That was a horrific walk to her. A ‘tsk tsk’ escaped her lips. “A woman and a lady can be considered two different things. A lady has dignity and poise. And can be deadly without doing anything.” She giggles as she picked up the skirt of her dress. She demonstrated how to walk like a lady with her chin up just slightly, walking almost in a line with one foot getting close to being in front of the other as her hips swayed from side to side with each step. For someone who was clueless about how the body could entice another fully, she knew how to work her body well. In all honesty, she only knew from observation that some people got distracted or uncomfortable with certain movements of the body, she didn’t understand why, but it was useful.

“Walk like a lady.” The queen says again as she’s next to Clementine. “And hands off your hips. It’s not ladylike!”

“Your highness.” Nadaline cleared her throat as she was a few steps away from Saraphina and Clementine. “If I may? Mistress Clementine can use her hands on her hips as a way to control her walking at first.” She says as she smiles sweetly.

Saraphina’s eyes lit up as she looked back to Clem. “I guess ignore that. Walk like a lady for me again~!” Her voice was singsongy as she waved for the other woman to walk for her again! “I will teach you etiquette for a lady!”

---

Clem watched with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised as Saraphina demonstrated her own ‘ladylike walk’. Her feet were placed nearly one in front of the other with each step and her hips swayed with the motion. The queen’s chin was held up, just enough to command attention and respect but not enough to seem cocky.

The painter squinted doubtfully as she watched. Why did it matter where her feet were placed? And that hip swing really wasn’t her style. Clem preferred to walk quiet and unnoticed. This poise drew attention, especially to areas of the body she would rather not have any attention paid to.

Saraphina demanded she try again without her hands on her hips, but Nadaline interjected with a suggestion that she keep her hands here to help the walk, and the queen agreed. Clem closed her eyes for a second and took a deep, exasperated breath. She reminded herself that this was for her mentor’s entertainment, and that leaving or saying no might incur the guildmaster’s wrath. It was easier just to comply, even if she hated everything about this.

With a spiteful glare at Nadaline, Clem did the walk again with her hands at her sides instead of on her hips. She tried to emulate Saraphina’s footsteps, looking downward to make sure she placed them right. Who would want to walk like this? It would be so easy for someone to come up and push her over since her center of balance was so narrow. The painter swayed her hips a little as she went, but grimaced at how weird the movement felt to her.

Stopping, she turned to the two ladies with an expectant look on her face, hoping her half-assed second attempt was enough to satisfy them.

---

Post WC: 295 ◐ Thread WC: 2,592 ◐ Tagged: @Saraphina ◐ Music: -

Saraphina crossed an arm over her chest while cradling her elbow in her other hand before touching her chin with the hand that wasn’t cradling the elbow. Her purplish-pink eyes were observing every movement that the girl gave. If she were honest, she didn’t like any of the way she moved. Pinching her nose, she hung her head before she walked up next to Clementine and put her hand under the woman's chin and tapped on it to keep her chin up. “You were shaky… but you need to keep the chin up. Up. Up. Up!”

She then turned around and started to make her way towards the table, but paused and looked back to Clem with a smile. “Walk three steps back towards the door, then make your way back to the table for some tea. I’ll show you how to hold the cup properly, like a lady.” She muses before she makes her way towards the table. As the queen approached the table, one of the servants pulled her chair out before she sat herself rather elegantly. She adjusted the skirt of her dress and turned her attention towards her mentee again to watch how she walked, eyeing her the whole way back towards the table.

When Clem made her way towards the table, a servant pulled the other chair out for the mentee, and they waited for her to seat herself once again. Saraphina was observing her the whole way to judge how she acted like a lady.

---

Clem grimaced. She should have known that not complying would only make things worse for her, yet the stubborn and spiteful streak in her wouldn’t relent. Saraphina wasn’t impressed by her walk, instructing her to try again before they moved on to tea etiquette. Clem felt a pang of relief as she turned to walk three steps. At least they were moving on to something else so she wouldn’t have to keep doing this ridiculous walk like some sort of circus animal.

Clem strutted towards Saraphina, her feet placed in a somewhat straight line. Her hips swayed more than the last time. The painter stared defiantly at Sara and Nadaline with her chin held high as she approached. If this was going to be a long torture session, she wouldn’t make it easy for them.

Finishing her walk, she sat in the chair the servant had pulled out for her. Clem wasn’t the type to care about her posture, she sat in any way that was comfortable at the moment. Currently, she was slouched back in the chair, leaning to the side her elbow sat on the armrest. Her legs were splayed out and her feet were tilted on the sides of her shoes, causing her knees to point out even further.

She looked up skeptically at the fancy tea cups and plates, then at the queen. This looked like some sort of set up for dolls that a child would play with. Clem couldn’t imagine any situation where she would use such elegant utensils. She used the same plastic cup for a week straight, she was no tea-time belle.

---

Post WC: 270 ◐ Thread WC: 3,113 ◐ Tagged: @Saraphina ◐ Music: Link

The guild mistress of the dark guild looks on towards the young woman as she walks towards the table that was set up. She clapped her hands as she watched her. “Bravo! That was much better~” She giggled to her as she swayed a little in the seat. Of course the queen was being genuine. The walk was definitely enough to please the queen this time and didn’t require another walk to be sure that Clementine did it right. Nadaline was trying to hide her giggle behind her hand, closing her eyes and tilting her chin down. She was amused by Clem’s glaring. It wasn’t like Nadaline could do anything about this fully.

When Clementine sat herself down on the chair in a rather ‘sloppy’ way, the queen gave a bit of a horrified look. “Clementine! That’s now how a lady sits!” She says as she puts her hand on the table, hard enough to have an audible smack to it. The queen had a pout on her lips as she glares. “Sit up. Back straight. Don’t lean on the armrest on the side. Knees together. Feet on the ground completely.” Sara instructs as she makes herself sit straighter. She was going to get this woman to be a lady, even if it killed her. She then looked towards the tea. “Nadaline made black tea. It is a tea that can have sugar added to it to make it taste much sweeter and nicer.” She tells the woman as she picks up her teacup, pinkie out.

“To grab a teacup, you must put two fingers between the handle loop, then have your thumb touching the two fingers, and a third finger on the handle as a balance. Your pinkie should be out to keep it out of the way and to maintain the balance.” If any of that was true, Saraphina honestly didn’t know, but it’s what seemed plausible to her, and she didn’t want to hear any rejections from Nadaline about why one held the tea cups like so.

---

”Thanks,” Clem replied dryly, her voice rather monotonous. She caught Nadaline’s muffled amusement, and the painter shot her a scathing glare. The queen’s attendant would be lucky if she showed up at any lessons after this mockery. Her pride was already damaged, but her desire to not be smote by the queen kept her rooted to her seat.

Sara’s hands slapped down on the table and Clem nearly jumped out of her chair. “What? But I’m comfy!” she protested, her cool and grumpy demeanor shattered for a second. The look on the queen’s face pressured her into complying with the rapid instructions. With every correction, Clem felt more and more like a stiff robot. She’d never sat in such a correct posture like this with her muscles flexed uncomfortably. “Why do I gotta sit like this? It ain’t comfortable at all,” she retorted, a scowl crossing her face. She wanted to sprawl herself all over the chair again. What was the point of furniture if not to spread over every inch of it?

Sara began explaining the tea etiquette to her and Clem’s brow furrowed with a skeptic expression. “Why’s it matter? It’s a cup,” she questioned, glancing down at the teacup in front of her. It was so delicate and elegant, she felt out of place even being near it. The handle was so tiny that her fingers felt cramped as she gripped it. The teacup wobbled dangerously in her hand, so Clem rushed it to her mouth so her lips could support it.

The painter took one sip and her expression soured. She’d never had tea before. It was vile. No amount of sugar could mask the leafy taste. Clem felt her throat closing and knew she couldn’t bring herself to swallow it. Peering innocently off in the distance, she quietly spit the liquid back into the cup. “The hell is this? Tastes like grass,” she spat, wiping her mouth on her jacket sleeve and looking incredulously at Saraphina.

---

Post WC: 331 ◐ Thread WC: 3,784 ◐ Tagged: @Saraphina ◐ Music: Link

Saraphina was having none of the nonsense that Clementine was giving her about her ‘being comfy’ sitting as she wished. She was happy though as her mentee followed her orders well, and she nodded with approval of the obedience. Though, when she began to complain to her, her purplish pink eyes glared over to her. “You’re sitting like this because you’re a lady, ladies sit properly.” She tells her and nods quickly. “There is a phrase, pain is beauty, and you are beautiful, but you keep on hiding it.” She puffs her cheeks out a bit towards her mentee as they were scowling at her.

After she started explaining how to hold the cup, and Clem questioned her, she raised an eyebrow to her. “Because there is the typical way someone holds a cup, and the proper way to hold a teacup, especially when drinking from it.” She tells her. She took her own sip as she noticed that the unrefined woman shaking her own cup in her grasp. Was it really that hard to hold a teacup? She had closed her eyes enough to miss the spitting of tea back into the cup, but her ears were still opened. As soon as the tea was said to taste like grass, her eyes snapped open as she looked towards Clementine.

The tea cup that the queen was holding was set down on the table with a clatter. “Like what?” She says with a hiss. Nadaline quickly came to the table and was between the two.

“Your highness, I think mistress Clementine didn’t put any sugar into the tea to get it to taste the way it should for most people.” The angelic woman’s blue eyes glanced towards Clementine, and she raised an eyebrow to her. “Allow me to make her new tea, warm tea, with the right amount of sugar in it to be sweet and not taste like grass to her.” She bowed a bit as Saraphina glanced towards her servant.

“Fine.” it was clear that the queen was upset, but she sat herself back in the chair as she pouted some.

As the white queen did this, Nadaline prepared a new cup of warm tea and put in four sugar cubes in it before stirring it quickly to dissolve the sugar. “Mistress Clementine, please try the tea again with the sugar. Trust me that it does taste different with it in. And, if you need to, feel free to hold the saucer under the cup to help hold it up.” She advises the painter.

---

Saraphina gave Clementine reasons to all the things she questioned, but none of it made sense to the painter. So these were the purposes of the mannerisms, but why did it matter? Why was something like the way she held a cup so important? She was still struggling to understand.

It seemed her treatment of the tea and the cup had offended the Queen. Clem winced at the irate hiss directed at her. She was frustrated at this pointless lesson, but rebelling directly against her mentor was turning out to be a death wish. Luckily Nadaline stepped in to smooth the interaction and possibly save Clem’s life. As much as she wanted to protest that yes, it did in fact taste like grass, she clamped her mouth shut. That didn’t stop the painter from redirecting her sour mood towards the servant, who had gotten her into this situation in the first place! She glared as the advisor handed her a new cup and instructed her on how to do it right. Apparently the taste would be better this time, but Clem doubted she would ever get around that leafy, earthy taste.

The painter used the saucer to support the awkward teacup, which helped her hold it steady. Not wanting to incur the wrath of Saraphina, she sat up straight and took a sip from the cup. It was the same flavor as last time, just laced with much more sugar. The delinquent still hated it, but she forced herself to swallow the mouthful instead of spitting it out. “It’s great,” she said monotonously, giving a scathing scowl to Nadaline. Oh how she wished for a nice beer right now, but that probably wasn’t a ‘ladylike’ drink if these two had anything to do with it!

---

Post WC: 295 ◐ Thread WC: 4,505 ◐ Tagged: @Saraphina ◐ Music: Link

Nadaline stood a short distance behind Saraphina, giving the artist an apologetic smile after she stepped away from giving the other tea. She even mouthed ‘My Apologies’ to the girl too. Both her, and Saraphina watched as Clementine sipped at the tea again. As Clem had said the tea was great, Nadaline seemed to smile brighter and reached into her pocket of her dress before pulling out a familiar bottle just enough for the artist to spy it in her grasp. Before the queen could see it, she slipped it back into her pocket and quietly took a step back.

Saraphina had a sweet smile on her face as she listened to the other woman’s comment about the tea. “See? It’s good.” She muses happily. She glanced down to her own tea. It had been spilt a bit from when she partially tossed it down from anger at Clementine. A frown was on her lips as Nadaline was already working on getting a new cup made for her. “Leave it, Nadaline. We need to go to the next lesson on how to be a lady for Clementine.” Her purplish pink eyes seemed to light up now as she looked at the painter.

The angelic maid nervously shifted feet for a brief moment. “W-what would the next lesson be, your highness?” She asked cautiously. She was trying to get ahead of the game for how to save Clementine a bit.

Saraphina turned back to look at the blonde with a bright smile on her face. “Clothing.” She simply said, and Nadaline had a small panicked look on her face for a moment before nodding quickly.

“Shall I pick out some clothes for Mistress Clementine that would suit her rather well then?”

“No. I’ll pick it.” Nadaline shot Clementine another ‘My apologies’ look and nodded to Saraphina as she went to move the tea out of her highnesses way when she stood up. “Come here, Clementine!” The white haired queen giggles as she skips towards the rack of clothing.

---

While glaring at Nadaline, Clem noticed the servant reach into her pocket. From within, she let show the top half of a bottle. The painter’s eyes widened slightly, but she suppressed her reaction as much as she could. The last thing she wanted to do was alert Saraphina to what Nadaline was doing. The bottle was from Clem’s favorite beer brand. Was Nadaline bribing her? If so, it was working. The spite she was directing towards the servant vanished at once.

The Queen suggested they move on to another lesson. Nadaline seemed nervous, and Clem herself felt apprehensive. What kind of hell would she be subjected to now? Her heart sank when Saraphina perkily dictated that they would do clothing now. The painter loved her punk-inspired outfits and almost lived in her purple puffy dragon jacket. Her style was grunge and colorful, not prim and proper. If her mentor was expecting her to agree to wear some giant ball gown, she underestimated how stubborn Clem was.

Saraphina pranced off towards the clothing racks, calling for Clem to follow. In the narrow window of time she had before she had to follow her guildmaster, she turned to Nadaline. “Gimme the beer,” the delinquent hissed urgently as quietly as she could. “I’m gonna need it to deal with this.”

---

Post WC: 217 ◐ Thread WC: 5,059 ◐ Tagged: @Saraphina ◐ Music: Link

Would the white queen notice the look on the painter’s face when she was shown the beer? Absolutely not. She was off in her own world and enjoying herself happily with her tea and thoughts of getting the painter dressed up in a pretty dress. As the white haired queen ran off, Clem talked to the maid, who simply smiled as she nodded her head in a small bow fashion. “I can indeed get you another type of tea to try Mistress Clementine. Please give me a brief moment to get it for you.”

Saraphina turned around to see Clementine talking to Nadaline. “Oh! I knew tea would be your favorite! Nadaline makes the best teas next to Sanguine!” She giggles as Nadaline briefly squatted down behind the cart that had a blanket put over it.

When the angelic maid came back up, she had a tea pot again and filled a new cup of tea, bringing it back towards Clementine. She stood before her with the cup on a saucer on a tray, mostly blocking her front from Saraphina. “I hope you enjoy this tea as well.” She winks as there was a smirk on her lips. When Clementine brought the cup to her lips, she’d taste beer instead of the tea that she drank earlier. “I can hold onto it while you accompany Her Majesty. So it won’t spill and cause issues. And so I can refill it while you’re busy.” She nods.

Saraphina clapped her hands and waited for Clementine to come back to her. “Alright! Lets see what kind of dress would look good on you…” She turns to the clothing rack and pulls off a green, floor length mermaid dress before holding it up towards Clem to see how it’d look at a distance. She put it back before pulling up a yellow trumpet dress that would go to the painter’s knees if she were to wear it.

“Your Majesty, why not let Mistress Clementine take a look at the dresses to see if something catches her eye first? Then we can doll her up better from there.” She nods. “Though, if she needs help, she could ask for your assistance there.”

---

”I’m sure I’ll like this one,” Clem agreed with a slight grin at the maid. It was the perfect ruse, the painter would get the drink she really wanted (and was convinced she needed) and Saraphina would think she liked the tea that was being served. Hopefully that would placate the Queen successfully about Clem’s earlier disdain for tea. Nadaline went to the tea cart to make Clem some special “tea” while Sara browsed the clothing racks.

Nadaline handed Clem a tea cup and the delinquent gave a satisfied sigh as she got a good whiff of the liquid. “I ain’t say this much, but you’re my favorite person right now,” she whispered to Nadaline between large sips of her “tea”. “Don’t let it get to your head, though,” Clem added, putting back up the wall she kept up between her and others. She didn’t want Nadaline to think her moment of friendliness was an invitation to be friends.

Reluctantly Clem handed off the tea cup to Nadaline and walked over to the Queen. She was dreading what would come from this fashion venture, but felt a little more prepared to deal with it now that there was some alcohol in her system. That didn’t stop her from grimacing a little at the dresses Sara was presenting to her. While she liked all colors as an artist and magical manipulator of pigment, there were many colors she wouldn’t don clothing-wise. Yellow was definitely one of them.

At least she would be able to pick out her own torture device, per Nadaline’s suggestion. Clem grit her teeth, but approached the clothing racks anyway. The first thing that caught her eye was a sleek black dress with a high neckline, but when she pulled it out to look at it, the outfit was way too short for her comfort. The painter hurriedly shoved it back on the rack before Sara saw it and got any ideas. She shuffled through all the racks, finding something wrong with every piece besides that fact that it was a dress in the first place. Too short, too revealing, too bold of a color. None of them really suited her, so she picked one of the more acceptable ones just to get it over with.

“This one?” she asked defeatedly, holding it up for Saraphina and Nadaline. The dress was floor length, the skirt falling from the waist in beautiful flared pleats all the way down. The bodice and shoulders were embellished with lace flowers adorned with faux gems and pearls that stuck out from the fabric. The entire thing was a rich magenta color, which was the only reason Clem chose it. Everything about it was very much not her style except for the color.

---

Post WC: 459  ◐  Thread WC: 5,888  ◐  Tagged: @Saraphina  ◐  Music: Link  

Saraphina mused happily as Clem liked the tea, and continued to enjoy her own. As Nadaline was spoken to about being the artists favorite (even if temporary), she smiled sweetly to the artist and nodded. “I understand, Mistress Clementine. I only hope to help you be as comfortable as possible still.” She says softly as she dips a little for a small bow before backing off.

When Nadaline suggested that Clementine pick the dress first, Saraphina took a step back to watch her lovely little mentee to see what she’d pick for herself. She was pouting a little as she was honestly wanting to help dress Clem up, but Nadaline had a point… it would be great to fix up her mess that she creates. As the other woman finally picked a dress, Saraphina clapped her hands and seemed to have literal hearts in her eyes. “It’ll look great on you!” She says as she waves for a female servant to come help her out.

Clementine was led to a screened area where no one was allowed to enter without permission. The servant and Nadaline let the artist undress herself before they helped her in the magenta dress and make sure it fit on her well. “The color and style looks good on you, Mistress Clementine, even if you don’t like it.” Nadaline commented as she was finishing getting the back end of the dress up and made sure it wouldn’t come loose on her.