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RESPITE MARKET SQUARE - AFTERNOON
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Mia: Mia was quite happy with how things were going. Business was going well, it turns out just a little bit of visual flair helped a lot, as was actually being proud of her own inventions, and wanting people to see them whole heartedly, rather than being caught with "What if they take me for me being too good". It wasn't much of a difference, but...it was tangible. Mia's stall now felt like a market stall, rather than a loose collection of gadgets on a bench.
Maecy is walking through the market on her way to Strix's alley, having given the kobold plenty of time to finish off the cutting apparatus for the spider silk while she finishes the pattern. Cutting and working the silk itself to sew the outfit is basically all she has left to finish in this whole process!
Mia raises one pay when she sees Maecy "Maecy! Over here! I have your cutter for you!" She knows she'll probably have to explain a minor detail or two. The stand 'Mia's Mechanical Marvels' hopefully does some of that work at least...
Maecy blinks, hearing her name called out. She glances around, eyes settling on the odd cat waving at her. "Err... me?" She walks up to the booth, glancing around, "You... have my cutter? Do you know Strix?"
Mia: "Ah. Yes" She reaches under the counter, and takes out a small switchblade, abet a bladeless one. "I do, and..I suppose you could say I know Strix, because that's me" She pauses "There may have been a minor incident in the meantime. May's your sister. You know how these industrial accidents can be" Trying to play it off casual.
Maecy blinks, jaw dropping in shock. "Oh crap! Are you alright? You're not hurt are you? I mean, you look alright, but you also look... decidedly different. Must have been one heck of an accident... Crap, that sounds really insensitive."
Mia: "Oh, it's fine. It's not every day that a friend turns into a mechanical catgirl. Or maybe it is? I don't really know your day to day life very well. Probably not though. If it was a regular thing in Sarn it would be better documented, and there would be more stringent safety protocols around it...." She's getting side-tracked!
Maecy shakes her head, "Not... not all that common in the fashion industry, no... May said nothing happened in that whole explosion she was in. Gah! Well, I'm glad you're safe, changes not withstanding..." She glances across the Cat. "At least you've got a better eye for fashion than May does."
Mia: "Aha..well, actually, this was mostly May's advice" She coughs a little awkwardly "I've only really made the change to go for wrapped sandels. And that's more out of practicality. If you think you could improve it though, I'm up for it!" She smiles coyly, not even hiding that she's both defending May, and prickling Mae's pride. "Anyway, in the meantime. The cutter!" She twirls the knife in the air, before she clicks a button and and
Mia: flat area extending about six inches from the blade goes pitch dark "I was trying lazers, but they burned the edges, sharp edges were leading to fraying, and everything was super hard to get anything to work but this..well, it just removes a thin line of material seperating the bits you want cut. Straightforward, right?"
Maecy prickles a bit, but hms, watching the blade demonstration with interest. "Well, I don't really know a lazer from a... maybe I would know it from a sharp edge, yeah. Still, yes! Straightforward! Seems perfect!"
Mia: "I'm fairly sure that the silk will still resist it, but it'll get through it. Everything else?" She takes out a small bar of steel she had for just this demonstration, and hold the knife in one hand, and the bar in the other, slices through it like celery "Now, you'll need something to work on you don't mind slicing up, but that shouldn't be an issue, I don't think. Just a big block of wood will do"
Maecy watches the steel slice apart with awe. "Yeah, uh, I can get something for that easy enough. So... what do I owe you for the cutter?"
Mia: "Lemme think" She lays out a price, it's expensive, but probably a bit less than Mia accounted for, and cheap for what it can do "Standard do no evil rules apply"
Maecy nods, gathering her coins. "I got some work with one of the local knitters providing some designs, so here you go." She blinks, glancing down at the other things across Mia's table, "Do no evil rules? Is that... I guess you did say standard?"
Mia passes over a small cue card. It's got a list of rules. All standard 'Do no Harm' stuff, and no exploitation of labour, no making weapons "It's my only condition, and the only reason I would feel the need to repossess" She waves off any worries "Don't be concerned, if I thought you'd break the rules, I'd have never have made it"
Maecy takes the card, reading over it before she cautiously takes the blade. "Well all the labor will be my own, and I don't want to hurt anyone. So, thank you for the trust, Strix!" She glances back at the sign. "Or, Mia, right? I understand rebranding."
Mia: "Ah Yes!" She smiles, and nods "I don't mind too much, but Mia suits what I am now better. Though, speaking of rebranding..would I be able to get a fashion once over?"
Maecy pockets the cue card, but cautiously keeps the blade in hand, unextended of course. "Oh! Well, I wasn't lying when I said you look good. You've got a good eye for color. Or... May does... guess maybe she DOES listen sometimes, after all. I know a lot of cats in Sarn go barefoot, but sandals are a good choice too. I could design you something! Your skin is so amazing looking... and your eye color is lovely. I'd go with more subtle outfits that accentuate the 'You', instead of outfits that overshadow your beauty."
Mia: "Oh! Yeah. It's hard to get research on what would work since my skin catches light differently. It's not really fur, it just sort of feels like it because of static build up" That's her excuse, and she's going with it "If you design me something, I'd be happy to pay some of this gold back"
Maecy places the knife into a pocket at last, pulling out her notebook and making a bit of a sketch of Mia's body shape. "Work clothes, dress clothes? Both? I specialize in more fanciful designs, dresses the like, but I can design you whatever you want!"
Mia: "Oh, everything I've gotten is very practical. Why not go for full showy? I'm also trying to do relationship stuff, and hitting them off personality wise is really nice, buuuut, I want to see what it's like to get them not thinking about that sort of thing, if you understand my meaning"
Mia: "See, I'm also learning how sex stuff is meant to be oblique. How am I doing?"
Maecy raises an eyebrow "Err... good! Until the last part there." She makes a few notes on the sketch. "So you want something showy, something sexy, hm? I can definitely do that~"
Mia: "Yes. Very much so. It's not something I've ever really done before! Back in the kobold days I..well, I was too busy worrying to think about stuff like that"
Maecy hums, continuting to sketch out a few ideas, sticking her tongue out a bit while she works. "Hmm. Almost a shame. I bet I could make a pretty cute outfit for a Kobold too. But it is pretty bold to take a change like this as a chance to reinvent your whole look."
Mia: "Well, it was an accident. I didn't mean to end up like this. I'm just rolling with it"
Maecy smiles, "Exactly! I don't know, just seems brave to me." She holds up the sketch book, showing off a few designs, a few rather revealing dresses, and one that is definitely just lingerie. "There's no fabric or color choices there yet, just a couple quick ideas."
Mia: "Oh. I do like all of them" She hmms "I wonder, I could probably make something that filled out a dress more. Make it look natural too"
Maecy tilts her head, "Fill out? How so? With measurements, a well designed dress should already look natural."
Mia: "One moment. Proof of concept" She picks up something off the desk "This is jut an illusion, but.." Fiddle fiddle, before she attaches it to her chest, and she's got..much more going on there. She presses at button, and it goes up and down, with a little whirring sound, just for fun.
Maecy blinks. "Uhhh... I mean... feels like it would increase the number of bra's you'd need to buy..."
Mia: "Yes, it does have a few practical problems now that you mention it. Maybe just three settings? One for Work, one for off-time, and then a third for special occasions?"
Mia mentally makes a note to ask Nesseth if he's an ass-man
Maecy nods slowly, unsure about that. "Well, I'll uh, refine these designs, and you can figure that out for whenever you need to take measurements and have someone make them. I do suggest Rhask, if you know her!"
Mia: "She got me some shoes!"
Maecy: "Ah! Well perfect then!"
Mia: "I look forward to seeing what you make!"
Maecy grins, "Me too. I've got a few other things lined up, but I can get you some full designs soon enough! Thanks for your hard work, ah, Mia!"
Mia: "You've very welcome! I had fun working out the problems!"
Maecy giggles, "And now you've given me some fun design problems to work out! I'll bring the designs back here when they're done, alright?"
Mia: "Sounds like a great plan! I'll be looking forward to showing them off"
Maecy giggles, slipping the sketchbook away and giving Mia a familiar thumbs up. "See you around then!" She scampers off excitedly, head full of ideas and plans for her work on the spider-silk, and for designing Mia some new outfits!