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RESPITE FALLS - CORNERSTONE SCRAP AND CURIO SHOPPE - AFTERNOON
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Maecy walks through the cute little shop set up at one of the corners of the Market square, a crafting store of sorts, filled with some small scale supplies and a good deal of random brickabrack and oddities, basically anything they can pick up and resell. With the wedding outfits delivered to Louma and her sister, Maecy is now open to a new project, and searching for some materials and a bit of inspiration.
Leana slithers towards the shop, uncertain of how much paint she can afford this time, but knowing she has to get some more to keep her business rolling. Insomuch as she's really had much business so far, but one has to start somewhere. With a soft sigh, the swan-snake opens the door and forces a smile she's not entirely feeling.
Maecy has collected a small basket full of buttons as she browses, and is examining some weird looking old lace, her back to the painting supplies. She looks up at the sound of a bell over the door signalign a newcomer entering the shop, and tilts her head at Leana.
Leana looks around, then pauses and blinks upon seeing a stoat. Given her previous encounter with Maybelline, she almost turns around, but resolves to not for the moment. She gives Maecy a nod: "Fancy seeing you here."
Maecy raises an eyebrow, but manages to smile. "You as well, miss. I would wager you're the sister then. And from that sour expression, you've already met Maybelline."
Leana blinks, opens her mouth before closing it. She takes a breath: "...so I am going to hazard a guess, that you are not her, then. My apologies, then."
Maecy giggles, "Apology accepted. I'm Maecy Frecklemeyer, and I do truly apologize for whatever my Sister said or did, you'll have to forgive her, she tries her best."
Leana gives a wry smile: "I suppose in that case, from your words, you have also met my sister, one Louma soon-to-be Frecklemeyer." She offers a hand: "Suppose that sort of makes sense we would eventually meet, as it were."
Maecy nods, taking Leana's hand to shake it as professionally as she can considering the size difference. "I was in town for some business when my sister and yours decided to get married. But it's not the biggest town, so it only makes sense... though I might have expected to run into you here... you do crafting?"
Leana nods with a smile: "I paint for a living... or did, anyway. Limited amount of business in this town." She gives a wry chuckle: "I was actually down here for a reason entirely unrelated to my Sister, and only recently learned of the marriage."
Maecy ooos, glancing towards the paints along the wall. "Oh! Fun! I'm a designer by trade, and a bit of a seamstress. It's a nice place to do the work, but selling is a little more limited. I've alongside a seamstress in the marketplace to help her with some conventional designs for extra cash, but to survive I'm going to have to find a way to sell to Sarn or Orela through trade which means getting the word out of my name and designs... which means... well, a lot of work."
Leana nods in understanding: "Sounds very familiar. I spent years making my name known in Policaster and Glaushire. Now that I am down here, not sure what I am going to do." She pauses. "Well, besides making sure my Sister doesn't mess up her wedding."
Maecy giggles, "Your sister, hm? Louma doesn't strike me as one to mess things up too badly. Maybelline, though... but ah, I suppose you know how much damage your sister can do as well as I know how much mine can."
Leana shrugs with a bit of a smile: "Probably. Knowing Louma, she'll overprepare to the point of exhaustion, forget to eat, and collapse while in the middle of something important." She sighs: "Honestly this all came to me as such a surprise, I don't know what to think."
Maecy nods, setting her shopping basket down for the moment. "Sheesh, they really are a pair, eh? No wonder they hooked up. May probably did a mathematical analysis of the best candidates in town. Though it must have been Louma who asked for the first date, since May would have screwed that up." She sighs, "I'm happy for them though, even if it was just as much of a surprise to me."
Leana hesitates, going quiet for a second before continuing. "I'm... well, I am probably happy for them. Not like I really knew Maybelline before any of this." She shrugs: "Not that my opinion would change anything, anyway. I am just happy Louma is probably not going to chase me out of town or she would have done that already."
Maecy hums, crossing her arms, "I was taking measurements on my sister when Louma apparently got the news of you in town..." She hesitates, considering what to say. "I only know about that kind of tension second hand... the family tension thing. I'm sorry it's been pushed on you so suddenly, with the wedding and finding your sister here and just everything."
Leana sighs: "It is... well, it is what it is. Up to me how I deal with it." She gives Maecy a curious look: "I guess you have not been estranged from your sister for quite as much as I have from mine, better part of a decade?"
Maecy shakes her head, "More like, a few years? And 'estranged' is kinda harsh. We just went different paths after school. I took an apprenticeship with a big time clothing designer, and she went onto technical school in Sarn Central University. So we just hadn't seen each other cause of life..." She looks up, gazing into space. "I don't even know what I'd do if she and I never talked again."
Leana shrugs: "I just lived my life, not really thinking about her since we parted ways." She hums: "Of course, now fate has put us back in contact, and we have to figure how we are... what we are, to each other."
Maecy listens to Leana, watching her thoughtfully. "I think you're both just... afraid of what this kind of change means. Seems like Louma has worked really hard to make her life here the way she wants it to be, and you've had your life upended on you... neither of you expected to find one another again, and you're both coming back together at points that could be disasterous... the tension is regrettable, but I get it."
Leana frowns at this: "Sadly, you are entirely too accurate in your assessment. We have a lot to... repair, if you will." She looks down for a moment, then shakes her head: "Paints. I need paints, if I am to do something that has not changed about my life."
Maecy nods slowly and watches her turn. She decides not to push line of talk any further, feeling the pain there, "You do landscape or portrait painting? Or something else...? I didn't follow the art scene in Sarn very closely. Only the fashion scene, but there's some tangential ties there."
Leana nods: "Some ties, I reckon. My experience is mostly within the realm of painting portraits, although it is calming to occasionally paint something as nonspecific as a landscape of choice."
Maecy: "I was thinking portrait painting might get you better business in Respite than landscape anyways? But that's just a guess. I haven't done much outside of town... the wilderness and I don't really get along, but there's probably some pretty scenery? I just like to go to the park and people watch for inspiration."
Leana nods again, humming at this: "I imagine people watching is better for clothing inspiration... even if basically everyone down here pretty much goes for the practical and not much else, in terms of looks."
Maecy sighs, "Ugh, tell me about it. Still, there's a few folks who've taken a shine to my designs. Rhask is the other clothier in town I mentioned, and she makes some beautiful Vamas pieces. And if nothing else, I've filled a notebook with ideas that I can sell back in Sarn, even if I have to find a way to set-up some kind of shop here."
Leana smiles: "It's good to hear that a creative type can at least in theory have hope here." She lifts a hand to her beak: "I suppose if nothing else, there are a handful of rich types here... probably won't sustain me in the long run, but it's something."
Maecy sticks her tongue out a little, "Yeah, I mean... yeah. I don't much like to rely on them, but at the same time, the really unique designs I make are basically for those types, good money, but..."
Leana shrugs: "One does what one has to. In the longer run, I do not know what I am doing."
Maecy gives Leana a supportive smile, "Well, I don't know how much I can help you with your art, but if you need any other kinds of help, us creative types do need to stick together, and uh, I guess unexpected as it is, you are family."
Leana lets out a giggle: "True. We have to keep the creative side going, since I sort of doubt either of our Sisters are going to."
Maecy sighs, "I love Maybelline, but she's as creative as a brick of dried mud." She blinks, "Err... don't tell her I said that."
Leana smiles: "Your secret is safe with me." She gives a soft sigh: "It's a mess we find ourselves in, but reckon best we can do is try and not make things worse." Pause. "Well, more so."
Maecy giggles, "That's a good way to tackle things when they feel sorta overwhelming. Just one day at a time."
Leana glances aside: "One day at a time towards a dream. That's how I usually operate." She shifts her wings slightly: "Only now I am unsure what is possible."
Maecy ooo's slightly at the colors on the wings as they shuffle before her, "Well, I say take your time to figure it out. If you have to redefine your life... might as well redefine into something you'll be happy with."
Leana hums: "If nothing else, I am even further away from the dumb conflicts of my family... Louma nonwithstanding. I think I have time."
Maecy grins, and gives Leana a thumbs up. "You'll figure it out. And if you want any kind of dress, let me know. I've already got a bit of practice with designs for snakes with wings."
Leana smiles with a bit of a laugh: "I will keep that in mind once I get a proper income going."
Maecy shrugs, "Income or no, I just meant it as an excuse for us to hang out again. Like I said, you're practically already family, so I may as well treat you as such."
Leana smirks: "Fair enough, though I will feel bad if I do not get you some compensation for your work. You know how it is."
Maecy giggles, "Maybe you can paint a portrait of me in exchange?"
Leana hums, as though sizing Maecy for a portrait: "That could be arranged..." The two continue talking about their artistic passions for quite a while, remembering to get what they each came to buy sometime later, with a promise of meeting again sometime soon.