individuates

That's the traditional Christmas gift, that's why I thought mittens, but...

[ Okay, traditional Christmas gift for girlfriends to give to their boyfriends..... but Taichi doesn't know what friends normally give each other on holidays like this, it's not normally a big thing in Japan and he thinks Hikaru would probably not be as happy with a bucket of fried chicken as Taichi would. ]

I can do seams! Yuki-chan-- um, our theater's costume designer-- praised my sewing even before I got on this planet, and I've finally stopped having nightmares of the sewing machine trying to eat me!

[ ...Look, he got a nightmare crash course and worked until his fingers bled to make up for something he did, and now he helps out willingly. ]

I'm not really good at design or anything, but I can do most sewing basics at this point enough to assist with making them for the theater so I'm not 100% on gofer duty anymore. I've never worked with leather before, though, Yuki-chan usually handles anything expensive so Sakyo-nii doesn't yell after than the budget fight's already been settled.

[ He'll probably have to buy a pattern though.. hm... it might not be good enough.. He definitely has never been taught how to make his own patterns or anything... ]

If those nightmares have only stopped recently there might be a problem.

[...but Taichi's still going. He takes the moment to pinch between his brows while the other boy explains, and when he replies it comes after a protracted pause.

If the rambling was nerves, he's probably not about to help.]

Look - I'm not trying to frighten you or anything. But if you wanna make something, you need to know we've been raised to have an eye for this stuff - if there's something off or out of place, we can tell. Likewise if we're familiar enough with someone's work, we can recognise it immediately - like, I would know Hikaru's work in a heartbeat even if I never saw him touch it before.

That's why second - you I can't help you too much with this stuff, right? I can steer a little bit with the design choices, I can walk you through putting things together, but I can't design and make it for you. Taste is one thing, but you know if he sees one iota of my hand in your gift there's no point, right?

And you still wanna go ahead with this?

[ It's hard to see the determined nod, but the tone is in his voice too so it's probably pretty clear. He's not shouting or anything when he replies, even if he's loud a lot, but it just shows he's being serious. ]

I know. That's why I came to you for help. If anyone's not going to let it be subpar, it's going to be his twin who's been through the same experiences and loves him enough to want the best for him. I'm not expecting you to do any of the work for me, but I don't want to give him something that's not good enough. I'll do it over a thousand times if you say to until it's good enough.

It may be more than that, even.

[he is definitely not going to promise that it will be less. This is his twin they're talking about.]

And you know that depending on what you want to to you might have to hand-sew, right? There's no way you can work up a decent glove on a machine.

You're sure you're sure, is all I'm saying?

Ten thousand, then.

[ It's probably a good thing he's sticking to something small considering the time period if he's going to have to do ten thousand versions. At least Taichi is typically pretty good with his hands. He can do yo-yo tricks, fold just about any origami at a rapid speed, and he can hand sew. Yuki wouldn't let him near the machine until he could do the basics. It's harder, and he definitely didn't miss the pricked fingers, but he'll do it until his fingers bleed. (...And then he would have to take a break because getting blood on the fabric is bad.)

One day, when he's playing a character that makes a pact with a devil, he's sure he'll remember this moment. ]

I'm sure.

Okay, good. I want all your ideas - patterns, swatches, moodboards, whatever - and we'll figure out where to go from there.

[it's always good to get a snapshot of someone's personal taste]

So about this Firalia - what was it you said? Are you wanting to go religious like in America or romantic like Japan?

[getting a snapshot of someone's personal intentions? Also important.]

Okay! I'll have it for you in.. two days? I want time to do lots of research! Is there anything he really doesn't like? Like I really like hip hop streetwear styles, but I feel like he's more high fashion, but there's gotta be fabrics he doesn't like too, for example...

[ It'll be his first time designing, but he's not without a clue. Hikaru even complimented him on his sense of style so at least he can be confident he won't be horrifyingly off, and he's got tons of magazines for reference. Taichi buys fashion magazines regularly and puts a lot of effort into his personal style, so he can at least know what to do with that. ]

Huh? Oh, it's neither of those. I think it's kind of like a spend it with whoever's important to you sort of thing.

[ Hikaru is important to him, he knows that much at least. Unfortunately, Taichi is next-level dense and hasn't figured out that a desire to literally touch/worship mens' abs and get naked with them means he's maybe bisexual... or that his childhood crush was in fact Yuki, who he knows is a guy now. He literally has not made the connection, even while calling Yuki cute af and getting embarrassed around him sometimes. There's a good chance Kaoru is going to have to spell it out if he wants a straight answer. ]

Well, that will also depend on what you're going for. Textures are good. Just nothing basic, nothing cheap.

[so choose well, Taichi!

Also... huh.]

"Spend it with whoever's important to you"? Arara, Taichi-san - are you and I going to have to come to blows for Hikaru's attentions~?

Huh? Oh, no!

[ A victorious sound comes from his throat, almost like a laughed hum. ]

That's part 2 of my ask! I want to give him my present, but presentation is important too, right? So we should have a Firalia party! I know none of us have a ton of chroma, but we can definitely scrounge something together at the Chroma Tree! It's like Daiso or a mini Jusco! We can invite um... "Tono"? Too? [ He doesn't even know his real name, but Hikaru's mentioned him so.. ] And whoever else is important to you two. I can't fight anyway and you're bigger than me, so you'd win.

[ Taichi is smol. ]

You didn't tell me there were parts.

[...but his arguements are convincing. What has he got into, Hikaru help]

So you want to... "scrounge". From Prisma-hyaku-en?

[that's not... awful. Just not ideal, being that it fulfills the banned criteria of both basic and cheap. But even if he can overlook that...]

You have a venue lined up?

The Golden Muse!

[ At the very least, he's got that worked out. ]

I work there part-time. I already asked, no one's using it on Firialia Eve because I guess a lot of people go down to this special resort town? They said as long as no one ruins any of the sets, we can use the theater. I'll get fired if they do, but apparently the seats can be moved out of the floor-level for concert standing room, so it's a pretty big space. Though if you guys wanted to go to the resort town we'd might have to figure something else out but I think everything's already booked since it's last minute...

[ But!! He got the theater. ]

Or maybe we can figure out transportation back to the resort town after..? Either way, since I'm gonna spend most of my money on fabric, I can't really afford anything but those kinds of stores for decor.

Edited 2020-11-03 03:56 (UTC)

Huh.

[it's not approval yet, but all right - perhaps he's thought it through a little more than Kaoru was giving him credit for.]

Well, you've still gotta show me - I have to make sure it's suitable and get an idea what we're working with. Then we can think about decorations and logistics.

[ Taichi may not be very smart, but he's very dedicated and puts in a ton of work.. which can sometimes result in him putting a lot of work into no one giving a crap, so he's really hoping that Kaoru approves on that one. ]

Are you free at around 5pm tomorrow? People are wrapping up around that time and I'll be there for work already.

Sure. Around 5pm.

[he will make up some excuse - but he doesn't have to be happy about it.]

You better make sure you have your project boards and ideas for the venue ready for me to look over. Like you said - you don't have much time!

[though Kaoru will probably still be fashionably late.]

[ Wait one day!? This is how Taichi Nanao died. ]

Y-Yes sir!

[ But he's not going to complain. Make whiny noises maybe, but he'll get it done. ]

I'm going to get started on it right now! Thank you!

Good luck, Taichi-san~! I won't go easy on you!

Edited 2020-11-07 02:08 (UTC)

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