Who: Jefferson and Lara What: Lara needs a dress. Where: Jefferson's shop When: 9/12 Warnings/Rating: PG Status: Complete
Lara didn't generally go into stores like this. Never at all, in matter of fact. She tried to avoid that portion of her past like the plague. Tailored clothing was the purview of her parents.
But there was a fundraiser she had to go to, because there would be a man there she could talk to about her expedition.
So she needed a dress. Now, Lara Croft actually owned a grand total of three dresses. A little black dress Sam bought her that she'd worn exactly twice, a longer summer dress she'd never, ever worn, and a really stuffy dress she hadn't worn since a rather disastrous party that she refused to talk about.
Lara walked into Jefferson's store like a woman walking to her own funeral.
Jefferson was in a rather good mood, given his extra powers. They’d made things much easier in working on a commission - he’d simply floated things over to him. So he was maybe a bit extra smiley that morning. When the woman came in looking like a doomed convict, his concern meter peaked. “Hello, ma’am; welcome to The Mirror. Are you ... all right?” Awkward, maybe, but she didn’t look all right.
Lara started, glancing over at him. Her hair was pulled back in a messy braid, and she looked out of place in jeans, boots and a short-sleeved shirt that said Take me Bach with a picture of Bach's face on it.
"Uhm. Yes. I need a dress. It's for a function, and I haven't had anything tailored in years."
Oh, dear. Jefferson smiled a little. “That’s quite all right, I think. We should be able to help you out here.” He put down what he was working on, going over to her. “My name is Jefferson; I’m the owner here. Could you tell me what kind of function you’re going to?” If it was black tie, it would be different than something more casual, obviously.
"It's a fundraiser, supposed to be really dress up. It's for the museum." She rubbed the back of her neck, nervously. The whole thing made her nervous. Her father's name was known among that set, and their money was probably known among people with money.
“Okay. Do you know if it’s black tie? That is, do you know if the men need to wear tuxedoes? Or are suits all right?” Jefferson could see the nerves, and he tried to be at his most calming without patronizing the woman.
"Suits, I think." Lara thought about it, then pulled out her phone and quickly tabbed to the invitation. "No, black tie. Shit." The Brit wrinkled her nose. "I haven't been to one of those since I was fourteen. I always rather preferred digging around in the dirt, to dresses." She smiled at him. "So I really hope you can turn me into a swan."
She didn't consider herself ugly, just ordinary.
Jefferson chuckled. “I think I can find something, or make something. The thing people don’t get about black tie is that you don’t actually have to be horribly uncomfortable in it.” He went and grabbed his tape measure the old fashioned way, just because it was probably less jarring. “First, I’ll need to know your size, though. If you don’t know what dress size you wear, I can take some measurements and find out.”
Lara flushed a bit. "You're go to have to measure me, I'm afraid. My last dress was one of those little black ones and that was a couple of years ago. Plus I'm pretty sure American and European measurements are completely different anyway."
“That’s true, they are. Okay.” Jefferson beckoned her toward one of the measuring daises, which were set behind a curtain, for privacy’s sake. “It won’t take long, and once I know that information, we can find you something nice. What I would like to do is make up a dress in a kind of khaki green, but with formal touches.” If she was used to digging in dirt, she was likely some kind of archaeologist or anthropologist. It would be a nod to Dr. Livingston and all that.
"Khaki green on a dress?" She sounded skeptical, but stepped behind a curtain anyway. She supposed it could work. Might even flatter her.
Jefferson made quick work of the measurements, noting her size. “All right, miss. We have those three racks there” - he pointed toward the back wall of the shop - “that would all fit you. Or if you don’t see anything you like, I can do something custom in about a week. If you wouldn’t mind taking a look, I’m going to draw up a little sketch to show you what I had in mind, and then you can choose what you’d like. If anything.” He smiled a little.
"Okay." She nodded at him. "I'm Lara Croft, by the way. It's nice to meet you." She walked over to the racks and started looking through them. There were a few racy ones that part of her was tempted to get for ... for who exactly? She blocked that thought out immediately. Of course, for Lara, her 'racy' is another person's 'modestly sexy'. But she didn't want to be an old frump, either. So she picked out a silver one-shoulder, and then moved onto another rack for something just as classy, but more modest, for the function. Green. green...Green...
“Likewise, miss.” Jefferson worked up a quick sketch - if this lady didn’t go for it, he could have it made for someone else. He preferred to multitask.
He did see her pick out a couple of options, though, and smiled. “You have a good eye, if I can say so.” It told him more about her personality, as well.
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not the fashionista my friend is. But I think she’d say I’d look good in this.” She flushed, and continued trying to find a green one. Nothing really jumped out at her.
“I think you would, too. Why don’t we just try this on?” Jefferson figured silver might work for a fundraiser; the only colors to really avoid were bright reds and yellows.
“Uhm.” She looked down at it. “I don’t even know why I picked it up, except I thought it would be good for us to go out in when she comes to the states. I just know she’ll want to party to celebrate and I might as well accept I won’t be getting out of that now.”
Jefferson couldn’t help but chuckle. “I really think it might look nice, Miss Croft. Silver works very well with your skin tone. And it’s classy and tasteful enough that I think you could wear it to your function; it doesn’t show an inappropriate amount of leg.”
"Thanks." She flushed again and lifted it up. "Where's your changing room? And do you think you could take a picture of me in it with my phone?"
“Yes, of course. And it’s right over there, in the corner, through the doorway.” There was a red-bordered cut-out doorway with a sign that said FITTING ROOMS.
"...I do know how to read," Lara replied. "Even if I need to remind myself of that fact. Thank you." She took the dress and made her way into the fitting room.
Jefferson just chuckled, following her from a safe distance. He waited outside, figuring she would say something when she was ready or wanted her picture taken.
She spent a minute fixing her braid, and then pulled the dress on. She had some difficulty with the zipper but after some acrobatics she was able to get it zipped up. She looked at herself in the mirror, and pulled the pendant out so that it was visible. "Okay, I think this is good..."
She came out of the fitting room.
Jefferson raised an eyebrow. “I think it actually fits you very well without much tailoring.” He looked over at the drape of the skirt, the way the sleeves hung. “Lift your arms for a minute, please?” She did so and he nodded. “If you like that one, Miss Croft, it wouldn’t take very long at all to fix it up.”
"Then lets do this. It's a very nice dress. I hardly look like myself in it!" She grinned at him, relaxing and only feeling a little uncomfortable.
“My job is to make you look like you, but shinier.” Jefferson wanted her to smile. “If you don’t mind coming back to the measurement area, I can mark it up now and have it all ready for you by probably the end of tomorrow.”
"Sure thing." She took a breath and headed in the direction he'd gestured.
Jefferson led her back to where they’d been, taking out his measuring tape and reaching for a pen. In haste, he accidentally reached for one that wasn’t immediately to hand, which meant it flew through the air and nestled between his fingers. He blinked, inwardly cursing, hoping the woman hadn’t noticed.
Lara had noticed, and she was staring at him like he'd just shat a rainbow. "Wow...That's really ... wow." It was the first open display of power outside of the cats that she'd actually witnessed.
“I’m, uh. Sorry.” Jefferson blushed. “It just sort of started happening. I didn’t think when I reached for a pen.” He hoped that she wouldn’t start screaming and run.
“It’s something I’ve read about but…” Lara shook her head, still staring. “I’ve never seen it before. I can’t...pretend I didn’t see that.”
“I didn’t mean to frighten you. I mean. I’ve only had it for ... three days. I would never harm anyone.” Jefferson felt awful, and he looked down.
“No..no..” She put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m not scared. It’s really interesting. Is it from your...dreams?”
“Not as such, no.” Jefferson shook his head. “I could do magic in my dreams, but not that.”
“What kind of magic?” She leaned forward, curious. “In my dreams we were researching a sort of shaman queen.”
“Well, I’m no shaman queen.” Jefferson laughed. “In my dreams, I could jump between worlds via a ... portal.” Saying it was through a top hat would sound a little ridiculous.
“Really?” She looked at him skeptically. “Like a portal? Like those video games?”
“I don’t know what you mean, I’m not familiar with video games,” Jefferson said. “It was via a piece of clothing.” Hopefully that didn’t sound insane.
“That sounds insane,” She replied, grinning at him. “But no more insane than the flying cats at my house.”
“Flying cats?” Jefferson had to laugh. “That does sound rather unique. Unfortunately, these things seem to happen here.” He began to measure at the sleeve, where he’d want to take it in.
“That’s what I’ve been learning. It’s hard for me to fathom. All this..magic and these dreams. I can’t believe I’m even talking so casually about it.” Lara turned her head to watch him work.
“It’s mad.” Jefferson shook his head as he noted down the right sleeve length. “And yet, I can’t imagine leaving. My daughter is happy here, and she’s in school, and my girlfriend is here, and I don’t know. We can manage.”
"That's a good enough reason." Lara smiled, feeling a surge of sadness, and a little bitterness. She loved the museum, but she also would have loved to explore the world like she had in her dreams. To see her father at digs. It would have been nice. And she missed him. Even if he had some odd ideas about how true some myths were.
She wondered if he'd been right.
“I think so, unless the world really goes mad.” He didn’t mention Las Vegas to her; if she hadn’t heard, he didn’t want to frighten her. “So, what is this function for, that you have to attend?” He wrapped the tape measure around her middle, getting a quick number before pinning some of the fabric back.
“It’s a fundraiser for the museum. There are men there who fund the sort of expeditions I’d like to go on. I’m an archaeologist.” She kept her arms out to her side and tried to breathe normally and not suck her gut in.
“That must be absolutely fascinating, actually.” He finished pinning one side, going to the other. “You can lay that arm down. I just want to take it in a little more here.” He pulled the fabric back just a trifle. “You see? Just by taking it in that much, the line is much cleaner. Without, I might add, drawing any attention anywhere you don’t want. Just making it look smooth.”
"Thanks." Lara dropped the arm in question. "I see that. You're really very good. How did you get into this?"
“I’ve made my own clothes from the time I was in high school. It was a teacher who suggested I do it for a living.” Jefferson pinned back one more bit of fabric. “I worked as a costumer for a while, but then got into actual designing a bit later. It was good experience.”
"Smart teacher. The ones that recognize talent and encourage it are the best. I had one who did. Well he wasn't really a teacher, but he was my mentor. Raised me after my parents disappeared." There was always a fondness in her heart for Roth.
“I’m glad you had someone. My parents were very ordinary, but they never shamed me for preferring a needle and thread to a football. American football,” he corrected, having heard her accent. “Just one more pin, Miss Croft; could you turn around, please?”
Turning around, Lara nodded her head. "He took me hiking and climbing. Taught me basic survival. I actually dreamed about him, he was a lot more...of a hard ass, really in those dreams. Tougher survival, harder hikes, really taught me to hit the center of a target with a bow. Even how to clean a deer."
“Wow.” Jefferson raised an eyebrow. “So quite the outdoorsman. That’s rather impressive. I mean, obviously you would have to be in tune with nature to do what you do, but that almost sounds more sportsmanlike.”
"It's a lot of fun. Of course I stop every chance I get in order to look at something of interest. Drove Sam crazy when we went back packing." Lara grinned at him. "Revenge for her taking me out to clubs."
Jefferson chuckled. “Not that sort?” He didn’t know who Sam was, but he could imagine two different personalities.
He stood up. “All right, miss. I’ll make the alterations and I should have this ready for you by the end of tomorrow. Is that going to be sufficient time?”
“More than sufficient, thanks.” She wanted to get out of the dress, though she did look good in it. “I didn’t mind the clubbing, I actually have fun once I start to dance. I’d just never get out of people didn’t drag me.”
“Honestly, I’m not that different. There’s nothing wrong with being a homebody, but occasionally we do have to show our faces to the world.” He smiled a little, making his notes. “Feel free to go back into the fitting rooms and put your regular clothes back on. I’ll just draw up the bill and you can pay when you pick it up, if that works.”
“That will work fine.” She smiled, no longer nervous, and returned to the fitting room to change. She felt immeasurably more like herself once she was dressed, and patted Bach’s face. “Well Lara, you could pretend to be the upper class woman you’re supposed to be for one night, right?”
She came out a few moments later with the dress draped around her arm.
Jefferson smiled, taking the dress from her. “I’ll do my best to help you fit in, without drawing attention to yourself.” Somehow, he thought, that would be her worst nightmare. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you, though, Miss Croft.” And hopefully she’d keep his little secret. Best not to have gawkers in here watching the Jedi tailor!
“The pleasure is mine. Thanks.” She exhaled, as though she’d just undergone a great ordeal. She was grateful he was a very friendly man.