swift as a sickly turtle {kaplan}

The day had been significantly slower than usual, and the one person that was expected to arrive at Gair’s shop, ‘Princess’ they often called her, was late. She’d yet to arrive, so he sat at his desk, sketching ideas in his sketchbook. These ideas often came to life, as he was, after all, a fashion designer. When he had a thought of what would look good as clothing or other fashion choices, he would draw them out, and they’d almost always become reality.

In particular, the sketch he was focusing on that day when his client was late was of a new dress. He was sure people would be wearing it sooner or later. It wouldn’t take long for it to become a reality, be put on the shelves, and soon after flying off of them as customers made their purchases. Gair’s clothing lines were always a hit, so he figured that this would be no different. Perhaps he was a bit too confident in himself, but he didn’t think so.

Moments later, as Gair was only a little ways into his artistic piece, ‘Princess’, or, as her proper name was, Lluvia, came into the shop. She was late, yes, but that immediately slipped his mind with the actions that occurred next. The young woman had entered the shop and dropped her dress, stepping out of it without a care. At first, he didn’t register in his mind what she had said, as, though he surely wouldn’t admit it, he’d gotten a bit distracted with what was revealed when the clothing went away, catching himself briefly staring.

Quickly, he tried to become more professional seeming and averted his gaze away from her. It wasn’t needed for her to discard her clothing. No, not at all. Even though Gair normally wouldn’t have minded a naked woman standing in front of him, he needed to be professional right then. Therefore, he spoke up.

“I don’t believe that’s necessary, Lluvia.” He called her by her proper name, rather than ‘Princess’, as it seemed like the right thing to do. Hopefully, she wouldn’t get mad at him. After all, she had a couple of reasons to be mad at him anyway. First, he’d stared at her when she’d disrobed. Then, he’d called her by a name that he was almost positive she didn’t prefer. Now he just had to see where things would go. He didn’t want to lose a client over this. She was a well known model, after all.

“So sorry, but would you mind putting that back on?” he asked of her. Hopefully she wouldn’t take this as rude, either. It wasn’t like he was displeased with her appearance. No, he wasn’t displeased at all. He just didn’t want to seem impolite. The young woman wasn’t too significantly younger than him, but he still didn’t feel right looking at his client’s naked body at the moment. Perhaps when they got further along and were more acquainted with one another, but not quite yet. No, not yet.