@se-rarepair-day -- check it out my homie and consider partaking!
I wrote this one for mahself and for my tsukid needs ;D fashionable aus are my jam
Nov 2017
Prompt: Tasteful
He was due for another fitting, entering the boutique just on time for his appointment. While Kid’s secretary was always one who urged him to be earlier for any pre-scheduled, that phrase about how being fifteen minutes early meant on-time, he’d much rather be at leisure. He didn’t even see his regular person when he walked in. All the more reason to not be unnecessarily timely.
Sitting by the window, he picked up a magazine that they had spread on the coffee table, reading for another five minutes before he was finally called in by the person at the front desk. But he took the copy of Cosmopolitan in with him, all too knowing that his stylist would take another moment to set up and finish her last client. Setting his suit on the rack on the side, then making himself comfortable on his usual chair, he flipped page after page. It was only when the curtain slid open that he got up from his seat to greet Bella.
It wasn’t her who he saw. Rather, it was another tall woman, dark hair tucked in a bun and pins stuck in her sleeves. She came in first, then Kid’s usual person. They were both in uniform, though one looked newer than the other, so he was unsure of why there was a need for an assistant that day.
His question was immediately answered after Bella greeted him, introducing the new trainee as a promising girl close to his age. Tsubaki extended her hand out for a polite shake, entertaining a “how do you do” before setting down her supplies next to her new manager’s. Moving carefully, orienting herself around her bag, she drew out a couple of more pins and measuring tools as Bella took a moment to talk to Kid privately.
“Tsu is freshly out of school. You’ll be nice to her, won’t you?”
He frowned, “I’ll do no such thing unless it’s warranted.”
“Oh, it will be. She’s skilled. Worked in other shops as an intern before. Using this place as a springboard to make it as a designer.” Bella clucked her tongue. “She’s an ambitious one.”
Eyes trailing after her, Kid said, “You know I don’t like most of your employees.”
“But she’s different,” Bella assured. “Girl’s got a good head on her shoulders, and besides, you only disliked Mels and Betty because they chattered and couldn’t keep a seam straight.”
“And what does that say about their competence?”
“Touche. Still, I’m hoping that Tsu will become your more permanent associate.”
He sighed, resigning to the logic that it was only a matter of time until Bella became too busy to attend to him. As his father’s friend, she made a special exception to Kid and worked on his suits herself. Lately however, she’d been working on new contract deals and campaigns along with another new line of casual slacks, leaving close to no time to meet up with Kid for his appointments.
There’d better be some hope with Tsubaki, especially since both Kid and Bella couldn’t afford to look for another tailor.
At the beginning of the session with Kid dressed up from head to toe, Tsubaki had already caught the looseness of the upper arms, attention trained on the area as she told Kid as such. She waited for his consent before reaching to measure around his bicep, poking at his arm with her fingers and testing out the material of his suit. Expert hands slid new pins into the place of old ones, managing to keep away from ever grazing the dress shirt under his coat. And following some of the most obvious alterations that she could see immediately, she ran through every major point, as if following a comprehensive list from memory, just to see if there were any spots that she’d missed. Kid lifted his arms when directed, holding his hands behind his back, lifting his knees to be on par with his waist, never needing to stay in an uncomfortable position for too long thanks to Tsubaki’s quick judgement.
It was half way through when Kid noticed that Bella had already slipped out of the room, shocked that a trainee was left alone with a customer. But by this time, Kid knew that he already had trust in her skills, and in Bella’s judgment. Tsubaki didn’t seem to need any extra instructions, gliding across the room as she examined a spot in every angle. So Bella was right; Tsubaki was perhaps a little different than the others.
Kid especially thought so when she asked him how his inner knee felt.
If all went well, this would have been the last day that the suit needed before becoming complete. He walked around the room for a moment longer until Bella came back in, drawing a smile from Tsubaki whose expression hadn’t changed much at all through the process. She took only a glance at Kid before praising Tsubaki heavily, beaming and ushering her around Kid, noting particular places that she was most proud of.
“The only thing is the waist. Wouldn’t it look better a tad tighter?”
Tsubaki tapped her chin, “I thought so at first until I considered the nature of the clothes themselves,” briefly going into an explanation.
And in mid sentence, Bella reached to squeeze both of her cheeks, cooing. “Oh, how right you think you are! Tighten it, dear. A couple of more years in this industry and you’ll see that you can’t always rely on textile chemistry to make clothes look good. A good attempt, sugar!”
Kid looked away from Tsubaki’s small pout, getting back onto the platform and lifting his arms until there was enough space for her to fit.
Through the following months, he visited the boutique scarcely. There were very few moments where he found a need for it; a split crotch and favors from his father were his main drive. During each time, he was referred to Tsubaki who had quickly become a mix of both an errand girl and someone who undergo all the sudden and strange tasks that customers walked in for. It was almost like a hazing event, to see if the girl was up to the task and could handle what the store threw in her face.
She was more than eager to complete each task, as a good employee should. Though she stumbled through some rather ineloquently, Kid could see a visible difference between his visits. Day 1 to day 100 showed a stark difference in not only her work but also how open she became to her customers and her team. Tsubaki learned to smile from her heart, to lend a genuine hand and hold meaningful conversation with others. The boutique wasn’t meant to be a mere stop for clothes, but to also be a familiar place that people could come to; that was the sort of world that Bella wanted to share.
Eventually, though some miracle of networking and short notice emergencies, Kid and Tsubaki began to meet up outside of the shop, starting with a rush job in a women’s bathroom stall. After the initial favor, Kid didn’t believe that her good nature and generous attitude should’ve gone unrewarded. All things would come to have an equal exchange, just how the world of business and chemistry worked out, so he wanted to take fate into his own hands and decided that their next interaction wouldn’t be that of a frantic text, but with something else.
Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have time for that until a couple of weeks later, after a series of back luck, or good, pulled Tsubaki back into action and saving his little accidents time and time again. A clumsy lady and spilt wine that required an immediate dress shirt change. A careless assistant during an intermission. An actual intentional cut with angry scissors that ran down his arm during the break of one of the most important meetings of the seasons. Each time Tsubaki was messaged, no matter how cryptic and deadpan the text read, she came through for Kid.
It was customary for him to make thank you calls and to show gratitude through small cards or emails, but it was strange for him to reach out to another person outside of work. Sending Tsubaki a text with a friendly intent was hard enough to draft-- a call would have been too intimate he thought-- and to send it took more courage than he thought was needed. Luckily for him, a mistaken flick of his thumb caused the screen to scroll up, and his brush with the last three instances of shame could be seen on screen.
The most recent was the most strange of the bunch.
“Nor on 5th. 1905. Bk jacket & f aid.”
“Omw,” was her answer.
And how happy was he to see her arrive with bandages, a new suit jacket, and even a fresh tie in 9 and a half minutes flat. She strode over to where Kid was huddled in the empty conference room, clearing the distance in no time at all. Handing off the clothes to a chair, she tended to his bloody arm and listened to his indignant muttering about how he would ruin FrekTel Inc, mark his words. Any company that would hire an associate who got physical after a failed business deal wasn’t going to last.
“She flew right off the handle. Grabbed fucking scissors from god knows where. Ripped a line right through my only Hilburn. Good ol’ Hilburn!”
Tsubaki’s eyes flicked to his. “It might be for the better. Perhaps give Kent Wang a try?”
“You’re not suppose to be promoting other businesses.”
“Bella’s son ordered from them last month, and even she said they were reputable for a reason.”
“Was that before or after she cussed Jeffery out?”
She smiled, “After.”
All of those jokes aside, her presence was a blessing, and her taste for clothes just the same. She deserved more than a hasty thanks and promises to be more careful the next time around. Kid sent along the message after one more bit of hesitation, rereading it for errors and to make sure that his point was conveyed correctly. The worst that could happen was that his invitation could be ignored or declined, he thought.
But luckily for him, her response came as quick as ever.
They set their calendars for the next available time that coincided, formalities dropping once the second invitation was extended. Eventually, they worked their way up to restful coffee breaks during lunch. When an afternoon at one of Tsubaki’s favorite brunch places further revealed her love for breakfast foods, Sundays became their new default meetup times with scattered lunch spots in between the week.
“I’ll get the bill next time” became “who’s turn is it?” And “how was your day” became “you won’t believe what happened yesterday.”
Soon enough, secrets of his trade and hers were revealed. Then came their own, careful and shy. Once that window was open, their trust in one another grew in ways that they hadn’t expected, knowing in their hearts that they’d found a kindred soul to share their stories with.
TBC; Part 2 coming
thank the heckles for liz and rose for brainstorming ideas and titles with me ♥
Send me a ship and I will grade it:- - - - A: I love itB: It’s really cute- - - - ( I always liked TsuKid. It's one of my favorite ones to RP back in the day. I don't see much TsuKid shippers because it's an interesting ship. Ha.Also hiiiii!! )
Bless squad goals psychadelicrose and dollypopup for their eyes and ears ♥
“The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.”
― Joshua Harris
There comes a boy at least once in your lifetime who you love, but could never be with. They call it the most tragic tale of all: the story that would be never written. The timing was never right for them, Tsubaki reasoned, though that was as far as reason went for them both.
Naturally, it had no reason to exist. They rarely talked, and when they did, it was always with the company of others next to them. And yet they would meet each other’s eyes with unspoken words hovering between them, a secret only the both of them shared. Tsubaki would give a knowing smile and Kid would hold a twinkle in his eye, both entertained by their friends as a conversation exchanged between them with a single look.
She felt like darkness without a form, forever in a haze that separated her from any other. But when she was with him, she felt a warmth stir in her chest, gathering her into that very space-- it was unsettling. Truly she thought her heart belonged to another already, but each time she believed the spark was snuffed, it reignited. Love was something uncontrollable, fierce in its nature, running rampant when the strongest of people tried to hold it in place.
Then what about him-- her judgment was never wrong. His face was far too kind and his own heart too soft for her to ignore his own feelings as they just simmered just below the surface. Tsubaki wasn’t blind, and it was certain that he knew of them as well. Still, there was never time for them in this universe nor would there ever be a place.
They were wrong, wrong, wrong.
But.
They had brief moments together where she felt like her dirty fantasies were coming to life. It was the greatest guilt of her day and the temptation of fruit from the garden of Eden. She had BlackStar to thank for the time she could spend with Kid, even if it was never alone. He had a competitive streak that could only be satisfied through battle and a ____ that only Kid would fill. It was her luck that she was caught between a god and his champion.
The rivalry continued even after training, leaking into their daily lives. She could only roll her eyes at the spectacle as she tottered after Angela, swinging every which way in preparation to catch the child in case she fell as she ran in circles around the room, imitating what she saw on TV. Black*Star and Kid happened to be playing videogames in the living room, a friendly game of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm that resulted in a shouting match and button mashing. Tsubaki smiled as Angela plopped down onto the floor, a sure sign that she wanted something as the thought happened to cross her mind. With a little urging, Angela glanced at the kitchen with eyes older than her physical form, asking for a snack and perhaps the leftover spaghetti from lunch.
Before Tsubaki could speak, Black*Star threw down his controller instead, announcing that he had to shake off his “un-victory” with a snack as well. And the two went hand-in-hand, disappearing into the next room. But with their departure came a new arrival, heavy tension filling the air around her.
She turned.
“Another one?” she teased at Kid, amused at the number of wins he’d managed to tally during the afternoon alone.
He scoffed at her, gently placing down the controller beside him. “It’s not difficult when Blue Naruto here is formless. Going ape shit in the middle of a battle gets you nowhere.”
At that, she gave him a withering look. “You’re not wrong, not at all.”
More than once, she wondered how it would be to be with a meister that did more than cut through his enemies with brute strength, wondered how it felt to be in the hands of another. In the back of her mind, those capable hands always looked large, but gentle. Rough, but kind. Destructive, but soft. Kid picked up BlackStar’s custom electric blue controller, pulling it onto his lap and skipping to the character selection menu. Her eyes followed the movement and she cleared her throat.
“Still,” she continued. “I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.”
Kid didn’t answer her right away, picking through the choices on the screen. “I hope he does, for his team’s sake. He has good taste at least.”
They fell into a silence too dense to be called comfortable, too aware of each other while they occupied themselves. But it was a moment like this when Tsubaki’s heart wandered the most. She stole glances through the corners of her eyes as she picked up a few toys scattered across the room, and he kept his head too firmly planted towards the screen in fascination while he tapped on the up and down buttons, back and forth.
And just as he parted his lips, Black*Star and Angela waddled back into the room with two plates of reheated spaghetti and two bowls of apple slices. Angela promptly gushed about her bunny slices and Black*Star shoved Kid to the side, reclaimed his controller and breaking the spell between the other two.
It was for the best really.
Her brother once told her, there were many people who came and gone in life. They may stay, or they would leave once their time was over. And then there were those who absolutely crushed you with their mere presence. Try as you may, you could never move on-- especially since there was never a beginning anyway.
It would be more difficult if love still found a way to occupy space, even if time was absent. But what they loved about each other was never enough to leave who they were with. And that was what they were: doomed to always love another.
“Sometimes the best and worst times of your life can coincide. It is a talent of the soul to discover the joy in pain— thinking of moments you long for, and knowing you’ll never have them again. The beautiful ghosts of our past haunt us, and yet we still can’t decide if the pain they caused us out weighs the tender moments when they touched our soul. This is the irony of love.”
