Clothes maketh the girl

Who: Elle and Maddy
Where: Around town
When: Afternoon

Home didn't seem like an appealing option. Elle knew that she would end up rattling around the apartment, dwelling. Thoughts continued to swirl around in her mind despite her best attempts to quieten the noise. Her visit to the church had been nice, something different, but not the clear cut solace she had been hoping for. There were definitely plenty of things to think about.

Without any real sense of purpose or direction, Elle wandered. She peered at the displays in shop windows to provide distraction. If she’d been asked, she wouldn’t have been able to distinguish one from the other. Everything had a hazy sheen. Her body moved and her eyes made the gesture of looking but she didn’t really see anything. She wasn’t sure if her mind wouldn’t give anything her full attention or if it couldn’t.

It was tiring. The effort of going through the motions was tiring. Spotting a nearby bench, Elle made her way over to it. She sat down with a gentle sigh, resting her chin on her hands. People milled around her going about their daily business and she took to watching them. She imagined lives for the strangers that crossed her path, each one more elaborate and fantastical than the last. A man who had made millions by inventing a stamp licking machine and had revolutionised the postal system. A girl not much older than herself who had given up a lucrative singing career to care for sick and injured racehorses and was being hailed as a real life Dr Dolittle. It was a silly thing to be doing, but it helped. It felt good to feel lost.

After the morning with Roy, Maddy was in a good mood, happily chewing on her apple as she walked the streets, enjoying the beautiful day outside. It was perfect. No other way to describe it at all and Maddy hoped that tomorrow would be like this too. And the day after that, and the day after that, and so on.

She’d gone looking for Dodge, only to be told that the kid had no idea where he was, which Maddy thought was kind of odd, but Dodge did his stuff the way he did it so she figured he could come looking for her if he wanted. She wasn’t going to go chasing after him. Nope. And Pepper wasn’t at her spot, which meant she’d probably gone to the soup kitchen or something so Maddy had nothing else to do, so she started on her way to the park to do some sketching when she saw Elle strolling down the sidewalk. Pleased to see someone she knew, Maddy jogged up to the older girl and gave her a grin. "Hey, what’s up?" The two of them had not hung out often, but Maddy liked her and that was enough.

Elle gave her a small smile back and shrugged. Not a lot, she wrote in a boring blue ink. Just taking a walk. That sounded better than ‘aimlessly drifting around the city for no real reason’. It’s the sort of day for it, she added, looking briefly up at the sky. She should be appreciating such a fine day. Or at least trying to be.

How are you? she asked, keen both to hear about how the girl was doing and for something else to focus on.

Maddy shrugged, pulling out a spare apple from her bag and offering it to Elle. "I’m doing okay. Was thinking of going to the park to do some sketching. Are you working on Peter Pan at the theater?" Elle worked on sets and stuff, but Maddy hadn’t seen her around lately. Then again, she’d had her own messes to deal with.

Taking the apple, Elle rolled it between her hands. She gave Maddy a thank you nod and took a bite. What sort of things do you like to sketch? she wrote with her free hand. That was an interesting tidbit of information. It shouldn’t have surprised her - it wasn’t as though she knew that much about Maddy - but it was unexpected, in some way. As if Maddy was too much of a dynamo to do something as still as sketching.

She nodded again at the question. I’ve been helping with a few props, things like that. Out of the way, mostly. I’ve been trying to get more involved in the costume side of things. The pen paused in mid air for a moment. I think it’s going to be a really good show. Not that they aren’t usually, of course.

“I sketch everything,” Maddy preened a bit after swallowing her bite of apple. "But I’m doing the paintings for the show. They’re auctioning them off for the pediatrics ward, I think is what I heard." Maddy pulled out her own sketchbook, flipping to the final composite for the Darling children. "This one is my favorite so far." It was incredibly realistic -- Maddy had portrait shots of the actors to help -- and not something expected out of a fifteen year old street kid. "Costumes huh?" Maddy glanced down at her own dress from a production last year. It was a little big on her petite frame but at least fit pretty decently, held together with safety pins. "Anything you guys have that could fit me? Majority of my clothes are from the productions so..." She trailed off with a half-hearted shrug and a little smile. "I’m trying to find a style, you know? And sort of try match stuff more. Kind of go for the more grown-up look." So people would stop thinking of her like a little girl, which was hard when your clothes were ill-fitted and mismatched.

Elle was definitely impressed, and it showed. These are really good! She nodded enthusiastically to try and make it clear that the compliment was genuine. You’re really talented. Angelo crossed her mind. He might enjoy seeing someone else’s work and could possibly offer Maddy some tips or something like that.

Looking Maddy up and down, she tapped her chin thoughtfully then smiled. I’m sure I could find something. Is there anything in particular that you’re looking for? Elle wasn’t sure how great her own sense of style was but she was more than willing to help. It was the sort of thing she could get into.

Maddy looked amused, clearly enjoying the compliment. "Of course they are and of course I’m talented. I’m me." She grinned brightly and put the sketchbook away safely in her bag. It was vintage Doll Girl. DG. Ego to the max, who grows like a sunflower under the light of praise and all that jazz. "But thank you," she added, since Elle was offering to help her out and Maddy wasn’t always as self-centered as people liked to think she was. "Stuff that fits, really. I like this dress but it’s kind of loose in some places." Without a consistent three squares, puberty had been difficult going for her. It was taking her a lot longer to fill out in the places that teenage girls tended to do. "Stuff that matches... I like skirts and dresses but I don’t want to look like I’m eleven." Which she tended to look like, a lot of the time, but her work uniform made her look older. This dress helped a bit too. "You know. Dress in my age range."

It went unsaid that Elle admired her confidence. Maddy seemed so sure of herself. Something that Elle lacked. It struck her as sort of funny - Elle had the advantage in years but found herself almost looking up to Maddy. It accentuated her own childish qualities. Her eyes went down to her notebook but she didn’t write anything. It was just somewhere to look.

Listening attentively, she nodded along and finally looked back up at Maddy. She imagined the girl could look stunning in the right attire. In fact, she was sure of it. And she could sympathise with the problem of looking too young. Being treated as such. It was part of the reason she decided to throw an idea out at Maddy. We should go and find you something, she wrote and gestured vaguely in the direction of a couple of stores. Something you love. My treat. Though she was slightly wary that she might take offense at the suggestion.

At first, Maddy was worried that Elle might’ve been annoyed or put off by her comment, but then Elle started putting out ideas. And at first she’d been nervous, because, well, Maddy only had ten dollars to her name. No way would she be able to afford clothes at stores. She’d only been able to get her work uniform because her boss gave her an 'advance' (which, turns out, he was just giving her money to buy her uniform and that no, it wasn’t taken out of her paycheck). And Elle was offering to buy her clothes. "I can’t pay you back," she told Elle honestly, surprising herself by admitting that.

Frowning at her, Elle shook her head. She didn’t expect, or want, Maddy to pay her back. While she had good intentions, the offer wasn’t completely altruistic. She felt that Ava had ruined the previously enjoyable act of shopping for her and she wanted to claim it back. She wasn’t as daft as to think that taking Maddy out would make it like Ava had never happened but it would restore a balance in her own mind.

You can sketch something for me. I want to put lots of art on my walls. It wasn’t just said for Maddy’s benefit. It was indeed something she wanted to do. You can give it to me for free before someone spots how good you are and you’re able to charge a fortune for them. That was topped off with a warm smile.

Now that was a plan that Maddy could get behind. "It is only a matter of time before I become a highly demanded commodity," Maddy agreed seriously before she broke into one of her rare, genuine smiles. She didn’t pull them out for many people, keeping to her grins but she was really damn happy about this. "I’ll do as many as you want," Maddy swore, crossing her heart to illustrate her sincerity. She looked down at her dress and then at Elle. The two of them were relatively the same size, although Maddy was definitely on the ganglier, skinny side because of her circumstances. "So, where do we start?"

Elle nodded in a serious, 'I’ll hold you to that' kind of way. Lots, she told Maddy then broke into a smile. You can surprise me with something. It seemed like a plenty fair trade in her eyes.

Looping an arm around the other girl’s, Elle started to lead her off in the direction of one of her favourite places to shop. It was a small boutique but its modest stature belied the treasures that could often be found inside. Some of it was quite cluttered and required a very thorough search through the rails to find something but it was usually worth it. Elle found its pokiness quaint and charming, like an Aladdin’s Cave.

The bell above the door tinkled as she took Maddy inside and made a sweeping gesture that said 'we start here'. Now we just look until something catches your eye. As she wrote, her gaze was already wandering, scouring out any potential items.

While Maddy was no stranger to shoplifting, she’d really only ever been in one shop for clothes shopping, and that had been the previous week with the Drake Girl (which then sent her thoughts touching on her encounter with Jessie the other day and she had to force them away). So Maddy figured that most shops looked like that, but this... this was definitely more her style. Like, her attic was cluttered and full like this. Stepping into the shop, Maddy’s face literally brightened, blue eyes widening as she took it all in. "I have no idea where to start," she said faintly, trying to take it all in. "I seriously have no idea where to start."

Elle surveyed the merchandise to try and get a feel for where the best place to begin would be. Finding herself spoiled for choice, she wondered if she could brave another idea. You could sketch how you’d like to look and we can see if we can find something to match it. Maddy had stated that she wanted to look older and more co-ordinate but it might give Elle a clearer idea of exactly what she was going for. In an uncommon gesture for her, Elle held out the notebook to Maddy, not for her to read but for her to fill the remainder of the page with a drawing. It was partly symbolic - a sign of friendship - and it would give her the chance to show off an example of Maddy’s work in the occasion ever arose.

Maddy took Elle’s book slowly, already reaching for a pencil. "I don’t know how well this is going to work since I’m still pretty sure I have to develop breasts to pull this off," she joked, hiding that bit of inadequacy as she looked at the page. For once, she had no idea what to do. "I think some of it is gonna have to be make up too..." She really didn’t know where to start on this either. She didn’t know how she’d look in more adult clothes. If they could even find anything in her size. And while her work uniform did the trick pretty well, she didn’t want to walk around like that all the time.

Elle waved a hand, both slightly embarrassed by the comment and dismissing it at the same time. There would be something flattering for Maddy, she was sure of it. The make up... That was a different issue. That was far from an area of expertise. She didn’t often wear it herself, favouring a natural look, and found that she looked less like a sophisticated lady and more like a girl who’d raided her mother’s cosmetics. While she had sometimes been caked in the stuff by Ex Wife Number Three (she couldn’t even think her name right now), she had never really had a female figure in her life to teach her that sort of thing. She assumed the same was true enough for Maddy.

So she smiled and nodded, gesturing from the top of Maddy’s head down to her toes to indicate that they could work on the whole package if she so wished. As she let Maddy work on her sketch, Elle idly flicked through a few items on a nearby rail, figuring something might jump out at her.

"Maybe I should dye my hair,"Maddy mused as she started sketching, an idea coming to her. So maybe skirts and dresses and heels weren’t ideal for hydrant standing and doing cartwheels on precarious edges. That wasn’t really the point of wanting to dress older. "I get tired of being blonde sometimes." She drew the dress, not coloring it in or anything, just getting the style. Cinching at the top, cinching at the waist. She remembered what one costume designer told her about creating silhouettes when Maddy was painting one day. She figured that was probably something she should do. Finished, Maddy came over to Elle and showed her the drawing. "So stuff like this, I guess."

Taking in the drawing, Elle nodded. There was bound to be something that fit the description amongst the myriad of clothes. Attention turning back to Maddy, her lips pursed slightly as she studied the girl. What colour were you thinking? she asked. She couldn’t really picture Maddy as anything other than blonde. Though that was probably because she’d never seen her as anything other than blonde.

She started to scan through the rails with a careful eye. A couple of things caught her attention but she quickly dismissed them. Not quite right.

Maddy shrugged, going through the clothes along with Elle. "Brown, maybe? Black even." Maddy was pale -- incredibly pale -- and a darker hair color would definitely make her appear more ghost-like, waifish, than she already was. "I like bright colors..." she mused, finding a pale yellow sundress. The skirt was a bit gauzy, floaty like some of the costumes she’d seen dancers wear in the ballet. She’d always liked those outfits. She held it up against her, smiling at Elle. "Whatcha think?"

I think you’d look quite dramatic,she wrote, smiling to show she meant it in a positive way. Dramatic sort of tied in with the idea of looking older. Blonde hair and blue eyes was cherubic but those eyes with dark hair had a touch of the exotic about it. She could see where Maddy was coming from.

Elle gently swished the skirt from side to side and nodded approvingly at the movement it made. To her it looked as though it would make you look more like you were gliding along rather than walking. Very good indeed. The colour was warming without being overbearing. I like it. You should go and try it on.You can’t really tell until you try it on.

"Yeah, I will. I just want to find more... and I bet I could find a wig to try it out. You know, test run it first before I go permanently changing my hair color." She’d do a running poll, perhaps. Find someone who could help her with it. "See anything good on your end?"

Elle couldn’t help being amused at the wig comment. There might even be one that would suit me. She smoothed her hair in a mock vain way then smiled. It might be fun to see what she’d look like with a different colour or style. It might be fun just to be different.

She stopped flicking through the clothes and pulled out a light blue dress. As she looked from it to Maddy and back again, she frowned. Something was missing. She gestured for Maddy to hold on a second and went off in search of the missing component. It wasn’t long before she returned with a length of wide ribbon a few shades darker than the dress. She wrapped it around the waist of the garment and tied it in a fancy bow to create a more hourglass shape. Finished with her tinkering, she turned it around to show Maddy.

"You think so?" Maddy asked curiously, eyeing the bow because in her experience, bows came with big, fluffy white dresses and sitting in churches. "I’ll try it out." She smiled gratefully at Elle and took the blue dress, putting it over her arm with the yellow. There was a worry there that they wouldn’t fit, that she wouldn’t fill them out very well. But that’s why there were safety pins and she had plenty of those on her already. "I’ll be right back. You should look for stuff for yourself, alright?" Because there was still some guilt there, having Elle pick out clothes just for her and only getting drawings in return.

Elle nodded and shooed her off. True, she did want to take a look around for herself while they were there but the possibility of seeing a transformation in Maddy was far more interesting. She milled around and resumed looking through the racks. There was a white straw tilt-top hat she liked the look of. It most likely wouldn’t suit her but there was no harm in trying it out. Standing in front of a mirror, she balanced it on her head and studied her reflection. Threw in a couple of poses for good measure.

Maddy slipped into the dressing rooms, trying to decide which dress to try on first. The light blue one looked like it was going to fit better, or at least be easier to take in. She pulled it over her head, not having to undo many buttons to get it over herself. She looked at the dark blue ribbon, running her thumb over the satin-y finish. She still wasn’t sure on it, and while the dress did tighten in up under the bust and at the waist, she was still an underfed street girl and it wasn’t the greatest fit. Stepping out of the dressing room with ribbon in hand, she looked for Elle. Finding her in front of a mirror, trying out poses, Maddy grinned. "I like the hat," she complemented, nodding in approval. "You should get it."

Elle whirled round at the voice, cheeks going pink. She took off the hat and shrugged, although she didn’t put it back. It was a cute hat. Shaking off that momentary bout of embarrassment, she looked Maddy up and down. Hmm. She made a 'so-so' gesture. It wasn’t terrible but wasn’t how she’d pictured it, either. Let’s see what the yellow one looks like.

She nodded in agreement, looking a little sheepish at the ribbon in her hand. She felt childish all of a sudden, even though she knew that Elle didn’t mean anything negative by it. It was still that doubt that was stuck in the back of her mind that she could never get rid of. "Yeah... I’ll go try that one." She smiled a little bit at Elle and went back into the dressing room.

The yellow dress still did not fit as nicely as it could have -- again because of how skinny she was -- but it was surprisingly easier to pin. The skinny straps did nothing to conceal the scar on her shoulder, although that would be easy to cover up with makeup. She twirled for the hell of it, watching the skirt twirl and swish around her knees. With the pinning, it definitely fit better. Simple, with no sashes needed, just the zipper along the back. "I think this might work better," Maddy said, coming back out and twirling again in front of the mirror. "I dunno how well it works with the hair though."

As she twirled, Elle clapped. She really did look lovely, and they were definitely on the right track with it. You could always pin your hair up, she suggested. Not that your hair looks bad. But having it up would accentuate your neck and those little straps and look quite sophisticated. Especially if you had some eye make up on too.

"I think I can pull that off," Maddy nodded, thinking of what she had in the old dressing table in the attic. "Are you going to get the hat?" she asked, still in the dress as she looked at the rails of clothing for anything else that caught her eyes. She did like the yellow. And that blue had been nice but maybe in a different style.

To answer the question, Elle put the hat back on her head with a bit of a flourish. It felt good to feel more like herself. With a renewed sprightliness she hit the rails again, determined to find the perfect outfit for Maddy.