All that Glitters... {Zodiac}

[Alexandrea]

The blonde was excited to have her friend coming by to see the outfit that Alexandrea had created for her and had a hot pot of tea ready off to the side as she dressed the mannequin and awaited the Mystic's arrival.

The under dress was an iridescent hue, that waxed darker shades of blues and purples as the body moved and the light or shadow struck the silken fabric. It was a simple cut dress with darts that could be taken in to be custom fitted for the wearer. It was lightweight, easy to move in, and a complete outfit all on it's own. It was designed with having to take a last stand in a battle kept in mind and had more than a few literal tricks up it's sleeves. Over the top lay the two layers of skirts, the top, vest and shawl.

The blouse was a light weight and almost sheer white silk with the signs of the zodiac in golden thread hand embroidered around the wide circle cut neckline, the hem of the blouse and the extra wide cuffs of the large bell sleeves that had more hidden pockets cleverly concealed within. Alexandrea had arranged the garment over the skirt layers but with the shawl tied over the top so the details could still be visible should someone happen to look.

Each of the skirts had an uneven hemline that was an exact inch and a half short than the skirt below it and they all had the smallest golden bells stitched along the insides of the hems. The twinkling of the bells was so soft and quiet as the fabric moved, it could almost be missed. The larger bells on the shawl were the more eye catching and musical but they could be silenced or sounded with a whim of the wearer.

The shawl it's self was the centerpiece. Made from several panels of silk, It could be worn over the shoulders as well. But for this display, Alexandrea had placed it artfully off to one side around the waist. The pouch's detachable pocket with the black cat could be removed completely to be used as a small pillow case but was securely fashioned on with buttons camouflaged with dainty satin flowers.

Topping off the entire outfit was a black velvet corset vest that was detailed with tiny stars and moons in silver. The blue kitty socks were hidden off to the side out of sight.

Satisfied at what Zodiac would see as she came in, Alexandrea went to tend to the tea.

Top skirt
Bottom skirt
Front of pouch

Back

More fabric details

[Zodiac]

One thing she had discovered in her time here. If she wanted to be left alone, simply dress plainly. Too many knew and recognized the confusion of colors and sounds she could be most nights when she walked bare footed through the streets of the town. The 'look' was a trademark of sorts, and not many confused Zodiac for another once they had seen her in all her splendor. Once the colors were gone, the flash and the spectacle hidden away, there was not much left to catch the eye in a crowd.

One goth pretty much looked like all the rest.

Her boot heels clicking along the sidewalk as she approached the mall. Just another raven haired chick with a bit too much eye makeup, dark lips. A leather jacket over her Motorhead t-shirt and black jeans. Even her psychedelic shoulder bag replaced with a more demure and subtle black bag. The only thing that might have marked her to the casual observer was the large black cat keeping pace beside her.

So Alex was branching out into gypsy fashion. The Spirit of the Gypsy she called it. Part of her was flattered Alex wanted her opinions on the project, but another part of her was screaming 'Danger, Will Robinson!'.

Every time she walked into a clothing store, most of the staff simply insisted she try things on. She never felt comfortable in anything revealing in public as it was, let alone stripping inside a pretend closet and trying new clothes on. Was that enough? Was it ever enough? Oh no. Then came all the suggestions laced with more insistence. Try this! Oh, doesn't that look CUTE? You need to cut your hair. Less around the eyes. Loose the claws, and so on. Usually she smiled sweetly while hexing them on her way out the door. They wanted to play dress up Barbie, that was fine. Just not with her as the Barbie.

As she entered the mall, she knew Alex was gonna insist she try something on. She could live with that, she supposed. Of course, the first time Alex would suggest she cut her hair she'd have Ginny bite her. She turned left and made her way to Quartermaine Custom Creations. No one noticed her and despite the cat's size, Ginny was adept at being invisible in a crowd. The pair slipped through the mass of shoppers with ease and entered the shop. Zodiac paused and looked around as the door swung shut behind her-muting the noise of shoppers going to and fro. "That's better," she thought as she basked in the calm of the store for a moment. Soft jazz was always a winner for background music. "Just ask anyone in the porn industry," she laughed in silence as she made her way around the main room. Alex had a shop almost as odd as hers. Almost. A quick visual of the bling sections and she ignored the painted shoes. She never had the 'shoe' gene like most women did. Perhaps three pair outside of practical for fancy dress. "If we was a union, I'd be thrown out on my ears." she smirked. Boots, track shoes, a couple pairs of sandals were more her thing when there was no way of avoiding wearing the damn things.

The aroma of sandalwood pulled her to the area of smoking supplies. A critical eye inspected the workings. "I wonder if she can get me new tubing for my hookah." The small ones Alex had on display were very nice, but they would be considered dwarves next to the octopus-like big boy she had. "Eight arms, no waiting." the beads clicked together as she stepped out of the section.

The paintings were a hodge podge to her senses. Some were intense while others seemed more inspired by the contents of a hookah rather than a sense of art. It took all kinds, she guessed. Zodiac never stepped on anyone else's ideas of creativity and encouraged all to express themselves as they saw fit. but there were some things she would not have on the walls of her private places. Some of this stuff was downright hideous. She felt right at home.

"Hey Alex," she finally sent her thoughts to the owner of the shop. "Where you hiding?"

[Alexandrea]

The tea service all ready to go, Alexandrea went into her office and whistled for Penny. The young cat jumped from her bed to Alex's deck and then onto the woman's shoulder before heading back downstairs to the main shop. She didn't get half way down before Penny Valentine spotted Ginny and chirped almost like a bird, calling out a greeting. Zodiac's voice in Alexandrea's head arrived soon after and once all two and four legged females were in the same space, Penny jumped down to touch noses with her dame and then giving her a gentle head butt.

Greeting Zodiac in same fashion for a lark, Alex chuckled and then stepped over to the manikin she had set up already off to one side of the her shop's main room. "Well here it is, the outfit I wanted to show you that was made with you in mind. It's yours if you want it. Any more I create with be in other fabrics and without... all the extra... 'details' that this outfit has built in special just for you. Your fabrics I had woven from my own designs and the cut of the pieces are a bit more unique than I'd use when making several of them for my inventory."

"You can of course wear all the pieces separately or in other combinations but I've set it up for you to see how they will look all put together. I hope you like it but even if you don't I want your feedback so I can improve the appeal of styles I have in mind to create. Don't think of yourself as a Guini Pig though, Zo. Think of yourself as a Beta Tester. There may be some pain involed at times but it will rarely be fatal."

Ginny had snubbed Penny in favour of rubbing around Alex's ankles and then nipping them gently in greeting, as if to say; 'Hey! You forgot about the most important guest in the room down here... hello???' and the blonde reached down to pet the cat's back and rub her chin. Ginny reached up to bat at one of the golden bells that dotted the hem of thee shawl and Alex chuckled.
Still bent over, Alexandrea's head was turned to Zodiac as she spoke. "There's 13 of those, each on has a slightly different pitch to it and they are heavy enough to ring only when you want them to or are moving fast. So long as you aren't running when you have it on, you should be able to get a feel for controlling the sounds."

Alexandrea just went ahead and sat on the floor tailor fashion and directed the rest of her comments directly at the cat. Her left hand holding up layers of cloth as her right pointed out details to a seemingly extra attentive Ginny. Maybe it was just all the bells but the feline's ears seemed to imply that she was actually listening to the blonde.

"See these little silver bells? There are exactly 365 of them. One for every full night of the year. One more bell, just as tiny and soft in it's tone, is in gold to symbolize the extra hours between the years which some of us call Samhain. When I sewed them into the hemlines, I used silver thread blessed with jasmine oil and 13 stitches each. This bottom skirt's fabric was inspired by Día de Muertos. It also symbolizes the earth. Can't get much more grounding than death, now can you?" Alex chuckled and gave Ginny's ears a gentle scratching with both hands after letting go of the first skirt and before lifting up the hem of the other one.

"This fabric is the sky above us, the night sky. It's also symbolic of Nox. Both the Goddess and the stars are watching over the earth, and our Mistress Zodiac." The artist turned seamstress had been honing her craft for a few years now and her skill had passed into expert level when it came the later and was well beyond that with the former, as was evident by the quality workmanship and attention to details. Alexandrea lifted both of the skirts and let the under dress show. "I love this cloth, how it's hues change in shading depending on how the light hits it? Just like Zoey can have different shades and shadows, depending on how much of her real she wants to have seen."

The blonde stood back up and finished talking about the under dress to the Mystic herself, but silently into her friends' mind. She made a regular sweep on her properties for spy cams and other devices but one never could know for sure if there could be someone lurking in the shadows and what secrets had been craftily sewn into the garment were for the Gypsy's ears alone.

*Zo, deep down we both know you are a practical woman and this 'under-dress' reflects that. On the surface it's a classic style, simple but elegant and made to be tailored to be well fitted. Not for style or sex appeal but for combat. Should you ever be in a situation where clothes might be more of an obstacle than an asset, anything over this dress can be removed if you have time. And you'll still be fully covered and quite fashionable even if I do say so myself. And lethal.*

Not wanting to give any visual hints to any one that could be hiding, the Allurist shared the memory of making the garment with her friend so that the Mystic knew all the same secrets that the dress's maker knew. All the secret pockets and all the small weapons, some poisoned, that were securely hidden inside.

*And there's still room to put in anything else you might want within reason. Just watch the weight so the way the clothes move when you move doesn't give anything away.*

Alex took a step back and gestured to the spiral staircase in the middle of the store. "We can use my office upstairs if you like it so I can fit it to you and then finish it up. Or if you don't like it that's fine too. I have tea all set up and ready for us either way."

[Zodiac]

Nuzzles and head boops were not a surprise to her. Ginny woke her up nightly with such things, so she replied automatically to Alex when she decided to imitate the cats at their feet. She chirped into the woman's thoughts for good measure.

When Alex directed her to the outfit in question, she was somewhat surprised. On the surface it resembled one of her own creations, but she doubted it was just a copy. This was Alex: the Mistress of Overkill they were discussing now. Suddenly, she felt like she was in Q's lab in a James Bond film as Alex gave her the breakdown of what the outfit had to offer. Almost expecting her friend to lift a flap and say 'and here is the hidden rocket launcher switch'.

She loved the bells. She had done a similar thing in her own outfits, but never in such numbers or have meanings to them. How perfect it was. All it needed was something to Lilith-her patron goddess. Every part explained she viewed closely. The patience and time that had to take was disturbing to her. Sometimes it took the mystic months, if not more, to manage to make one new outfit, but this?

When Alex finished, Zodiac scratched her head as she considered the entire matter. Penny had been ignored enough and suddenly pounced on Ginny, only to run as the larger cat gave chase after her into the store. "Pain involved, eh? Possibly fatal? You best be kissing me first." she teased as she walked around the dress to see it from all views.

"Might be nice to have a spot besides between the twins to hide something," she admitted as she reached down into her t-shirt and pulled out a straight razor. It looked respectably old till the gypsy rolled her wrist causing it to unfold to reveal a very sharp and well tended edge. "A gift my from my grandfather I never leave home without," she explained as she folded the blade back into the handle. She paused and considered for a few moments.

"Okay, I'll try it all on." She wasn't sure what she was letting herself in for, but to say no would be too much of an insult to Alex and all of her work. "Somewhere private, please. No cams and no other eyes than necessary." The aroma of tea caught her nose from above. "And you made tea? How sweet, but you forget dear, I take one drink and it will be all over your carpets. Mystics can't drink like you damn allurists can." she reminded her gently just as Penny came rocketing by with Ginny gaining on her. "Speaking of carpets, then two are gonna do a number on this one."

[Alexandrea]

With a chuckle, Alexandrea blew Zodiac a kiss before admiring the heirloom knife. The look on the Mystic's face was worth every moment Alex had put into the outfit and the Allurist bounced like a silly school girl and clapped her hands when the Gypsy agreed to take everything on. One by one, the blonde began removing the articles or clothing from the dress form, draping them over Zodiac's arms and shoulders as well as her own.

She paused for a few minutes as she removed the vest and held it up in the light so the silver thread of the quilted patterns of the black velvet sparkled. "The moons and stars need no explanation but you might be interested to know that thread was woven together from three strands of silver thread, all anointed in moonlight and blessed with a lavender and sage smudge."

The two of them piled high with layers of fabrics, Alexandrea reassured her friend of the privacy. "My office has a door and I will leave you alone in there to change. I just checked it for any hidden devices so that's not an issue. I have my pin cushion right there on the desk so you just let me know when I can come it and get you properly fitted, okay?"

Having tea at her shop was a regular event that Alexandrea had been doing since the first days of the Tulipranny Court. As a tongue in cheek tribute to the Queen and as a sign of devotion to her adoptive Sire in part but the tradition had caught on with her staff and patrons. There was almost always a hot pot of something ready to be shared at any given time so long as the shop was open for business. It was enjoyable on more levels than just the experience of the taste.

And one of the things Alex loved most about a good cup of tea was the aroma of the blend. just holding the cup and breathing in the warm steamy fragrance could be an almost meditative experience. the blend she had prepared had been with the Mystic in mind, heavy with the finest Jasmine blossoms it's scent was symbolic of both of the females in the room. At least the two legged ones.

The Allurist mentioned none of that to her guest however, merely grinning at Zodiac when the Gypsy gently reminded the blonde about how they didn't share an ability to commune food or drink. Shifting the garments in her arms to just one arm, she headed up the spiral stairwell to the second floor as she gave her friend a wink. *I have some blood bags warming up in the office as well in case you want something to swallow.*

"And don't worry about those throw rugs, they aren't staying after all the remodeling gets done. They're just there to protect the floor. From cat attacks and Alex mishaps both."

Penny bounded up the steps ahead of Alexandrea, nearly tripping her, and laid in wait at the top for Ginny to arrive on the second floor.

[Zodiac]

The comment about the throw rugs made sense, At first she assumed Alex's place was meant to look like this, which would have fit the artist at large image in ways. She lifted her head up to see over the pile of items Alex was stacking over her arms as she began to follow her up the stairs. Zodiac almost dropped the entire mess as the kitten darted up the stairs to the upper office. "Should have called that one Fireball," she snorted. Penny was watching them approach intently to the point she was ignoring what was behind her.

Ginny pounced on her kitten, and the look on the smaller cat's face was one of total shock and surprise as the two began to wrestle about. The mystic laughed. "Apparently, Ginny didn't give her babies all of her tricks." Despite the size and bulk of the cat, it could move like a ghost when it wanted to and end up in places most would go mad trying to figure out how she did it. The girl carefully stepped over the pair as she entered Alex's office. After unloading her burden, the allurist took her leave and left the girl in private.

"Well, good thing I dressed down this eve," She hung her jacket up and sat down to free her feet from the purgatory of the heeled knee boots. Normally if she wore boots, they were Gipsy Dharma class stuff, but she wanted to match up for a change. She sighed audibly in relief as her toes sunk into the plush carpet of the office. Once down to her underwear, she began to sort out the pile, but paused. Didn't Alex say something about blood packs? She glanced around and found them and quickly prepared herself a cup. She leaned back against the filing cabinet and closed her eyes. In a quite moment surrounded by the sweet scent of jasmine as she sipped, she could almost pretend till a all too familiar taste hit her tongue. She finished the cup with a frown and went back to business.

Selecting the underdress first, the girl loved how it felt in her fingers. The material almost flowing of its own accord. As she lifted it up over her head, it was like water flowing down her body for a moment. She laughed a bit till she looked down. Alex was right, some adjustments would have to be made or else she'd have to rethink the entire design of it.

"Hey!" she called out into Alex's thoughts. "Who was you expecting? Kim Kardashian or something? This isn't cleavage, it's a damn abyss I'm looking down at now!"

[Alexandrea]

Laughing along with Zodiac as the cats tumbled around the floor, Alexandrea darted forward just in the nick of time to catch an easel holding a canvas that was still damp with oil paint. Setting the painting aside in as safe a place as possible, Alex gave a sharp whistle. The younger cat stopped what it was doing to look at her human friend and then proceeded to continue on rough housing with Ginny as if she had never been interrupted. The blonde shook her head and sighed, chuckling. "Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it does't."

After making sure the Mystic had everything she needed, the Allurist had left her friend alone to change and gone back to cat watching. There were several near disasters in the few short minutes it took before Alexandrea heard the Gypsy's voice in her head, and in the end Alex had shooed the felines down the stairs to pester Nimmy. A crashing sound followed by a low moan from the first floor made the blonde chuckle, but if there wasn't any screaming it wasn't an emergency.

As she headed for her office Alex replied to Zodiac mind to mind; *Well, I wanted to leave room for a pair of torpedos.* She followed up with projecting a image she was sure Zo would get a kick out of and then lightly knocked with one knuckle on the door.

"I know you are never descent but can I come in anyway?"

[Zodiac]

When she saw the image in her thoughts, silent laughter escaped her lips. The gypsy was a lot of things, but Tank Girl was not one of them.

"I know you are never descent but can I come in anyway?"

An eyebrow raised as she looked at the door. "Hello pot, just call me kettle." she sent back with her mind as she opened the door. "I must say, Alex, sometimes you can be more ballsy than the ones who come with that feature standard on them." she shook her head as she laughed.

She turned her back and spread her arms to her sides as the allurist began to coax the dress to fit her curves with clips and pins. "I do love the material," she admitted. The length was perfect, pausing just above her ankles. "I got some Dharma's that would just set this all off. Are you a vendor for them? Thought I saw a few pair when I came in. Save me some major shipping cash if you are. I have like five pair now, but the shipping makes it more like I paid for eight pair."

Dimly her hearing picked up the sounds of the battle royal still going on below. "Oh, that's gonna leave some marks, I know it."

[Alexandrea]

The Mystic's words went unremarked on by the Allurist. Although Alexandrea had been about to joke back, the sight of just how much extra fabric the under dress had in the bust completely distracted the blonde. One thin eyebrow arched up but Alex's lips stayed shut. She had know that Zodiac was small but hadn't thought the two of them that far apart in size.

A few distracted "Hmms" and "Ah hahs" were the only things Alexandrea had to say as she had grabbed up her pin cushion from and slipped it onto her wrist. She worked quickly, her technique was flawless and the Mystic never felt a single pin prick as the blonde gave silent instructions with hand gestures on when and where to move her arms for fitting.

The mention of the boots stopped Alex dead in her tracks and two sea blue eyes grew wide as the blonde almost bounced in excitement. "You noticed those? You thought they were Dharmas? Oh my god I love you!" Alexandrea laughed brightly and set down the pins, nodding to her victim that the torture was over for the moment. Alex sat on the edge of the desk as she jotted down a few notes on a scrap of paper and then got down to pin it to the hem. She looked up at her friend, and spoke out loud as she stood.

"I've been trying to recreate that look myself for awhile now but not as a ripoff. I'd love to be a distributor. But I want to be able to make my own too, just so I can. They're awesome. Did you know about the freebie giveaways on the book of faces?" Grabbing the first of the wrap around skirts and carefully tying it around the Gypsy's waist, the blonde took a step back and adjusted the lay of the cloth before getting the second and adding it on to the Mystic's small frame.

"I'll look into seeing what I can do to get them in stock, and you and I get first crack at the inventory." The vest was held out to Zoey just as the commotion below them reached a peak and the blonde had to chuckle.

"That reminds me. Speaking of having some balls and those furry freaks of ours down stairs? I've been meaning to ask you some questions about that cat of yours. My Penny seems to, I don't know... Have some kind of weird talents I have never seen in any other cat before. Does Ginny ever seem... well, indestructible? I swear that cat of mine has bigger balls on her than a lot of men I've met."

[Zodiac]

A almost audible squeal escaped her lips at the thought of fresh Dharma's while she slipped the vest on. "I will need to take a closer look at what you have done yourself below when we finish. It would be nice to have a local place to point to when people ask me about my boots and if they can get them." She was always pointing her clients to other establishments manned by those she felt would not rip them off if what they sought was not within her own stores. Her own claim to clothing fame usually was the bizarre t-shirts she offered for sale. Some of them with 'in jokes' to the more nocturnal crowd upon them.

"That reminds me. Speaking of having some balls and those furry freaks of ours down stairs? I've been meaning to ask you some questions about that cat of yours. My Penny seems to, I don't know... Have some kind of weird talents I have never seen in any other cat before. Does Ginny ever seem... well, indestructible? I swear that cat of mine has bigger balls on her than a lot of men I've met."

"Well," she leaned back against the filing cabinet as she considered her answer to that. "I have only seen two of the kittens since they have left my place to any large degree. That would be yours and Morpheus, which Charlie owns. The others I have not seen much of. Doctor Nilson mentions his when I speak to him but I have not seen the cat in action and I have no real clue on how the others are, but I can say this much. There are parts of Ginny in both yours and Charlie's cats. Morpheus seems to be in tune with Charlie. Sensing her emotions and reacting to them. Also like he is trying to distract her from the bad stuff. Ginny can read my moods like a book and does the same thing."

She picked up her cup and took another sip. "Penny doesn't seem to be afraid of too much, and the big momma herself? I swear. I have seen that damn cat get into a hiss and stare down with a fadebeast once. I am not kidding on this. She would not back down or budge an inch and was ready to fight. I almost felt sorry for the beast. Damn thing just stared at her like it could not quite figure out what was challenging it. 13 pounds of bristling feline fury against that and the dumb **** was confused. I mean, one thumb of those things and squish!" she chuckled softly.

"Besides the balls of steel quality she has, she is an escape artist, and always manages to show up into places I can't even begin to figure out how she got into. She is fast as well. When we was getting ready to come up here was an example of that. Penny took the high ground to ambush her, but Ginny was already upstairs. Did you see her go up those stairs? I didn't and Penny didn't or else she would have been so shocked she got tagged like she did."

Zodiac stood up, ready to continue to be adjusted into Alex's vision. "That cat has been with me for going on seven years now. Almost my shadow, when I think about it. Where I go, she goes, even if I chose not to take her along she manages to find me. A few fanciful notions have crossed my mind about her over time, but at the end of the night when she is curled up on my bed purring away, she's just a cat. Unless you have a better theory on the subject. An escaped Egyptian goddess perhaps?"