A Touch of Magic (attn TatlTails)

Callie tried really hard not to stare at the paddling pool in the middle of the room. Why was there a random body of water in a room? She realised quickly then that she'd never asked what Jacqueline was. Whatever she was though, she was very enthusiastic, and Callie wasn't about to stomp on that. She needed a new wardrobe, and this woman was willing to give her one! A slow burn of excitement started up her chest. Was she going to get a free, personally tailored wardrobe? Callie wasn't too particular about her clothing, as long as she could move in it and it looked half decent, she was up for anything. She was used to being pinned and dressed up for dance, and she'd always enjoyed it a little more than she let on.

What did she like to usually wear? Callie thought back to her cupboard at home, and her mind skittered away from it. "Anything really," she said. "Usually more of a pants and shirt girl, but I like summer dresses as well," she said. She grinned. "I guess I'm a new woman these days though. What do you like to make?"
 
"Oh, just about anything, really." Jacqueline replied, hopefully not too absentmindedly. She didn't want to be rude to her guest, but she was searching her drawers for a tape measure... Ah! There was one, under a bit of scrap cloth. Perfect. Now where was she...? Oh yes, her guest.

"I've mostly been drawn towards what I think is called 'preppy' clothing?" She continued her explanation, approaching Callie with the tape measure but holding back on actually starting for the sake of conversation. And consent. "But I love making all styles of dresses, I'd love to make you some. That one looks absolutely lovely on you, by the way. Now, may I measure you?"
 
Callie marvelled as Jacqueline walked around the room, emerging with a tape measure. "That's amazing! You can really just make clothes from nothing?" It was a pretty amazing skill. Callie was a rough hand at sewing, but she had nothing but time to practice at the moment. Maybe it would be worth trying to learn a thing or two from Jacqueline, especially if her nightwear was anything to go off.
Preppy? Preppy was ok. As long as she didn't have twenty short skirts she couldn't pull off an arabesque in, Callie was more than happy. She was a dancer after all-they got pretty used to all sorts. "Well feel free to experiment!" Callie said. Callie eyed off the tape measure. Amazing. She wouldn't have a clue what to do with the measurements once she got them. She grinned. "Not going to lie, I'm pretty excited about this. Seems like the best thing that's happened since, you know." She tried not to trail off too much.
She nodded at Jacqueline. "Of course, go ahead!" As her measurements started being taken, Callie glanced around the room again. It was all still a bit surreal. Sewing table and paddling pool? "So how'd you get started with seamstressing?" That super wasn't a word. "Do you have a pinterest or etsy something?"
 
"Um... no?" Jacqueline replied, her face flushing red from embarrassment. Luckily she could hide it by ducking her head down to look at the measurements as she took them. . "I'm afraid I'm not much of a social media person. Electronics still aren't very waterproof, even if you try to charm them. And I've been sewing for long before those websites existed, so I haven't felt much of a need to frequent them. Maybe I should check them out, though. Any source of inspiration could be the one you didn't know you needed, after all."

She tried to be quick with each measurement, and made sure to be gentle with Callie. She didn't want to leave even a hint of a mark on this girl. "As for how I got started," She continued speaking, to avoid the dreaded awkward silence. "I've always just been fascinated with clothes. It really is an art form, one that you don't really get to explore in the ocean."

As soon as those words were out of her mouth, she went beet red. She was always like this with refugees, she either said too much or too little! "Oh, here I am assuming you already know everything about the people here." She chuckled ruefully, pausing her work for just a moment before she shook it off and explained "I'm a mermaid, in case no one told you. I grew up in the ocean, with brief excursions on land. I learned how to sew from some humans during the first few of those trips, and now that I'm living here full-time, I've had more time to pursue the craft. I don't really use any magic to make the clothing, I don't have that much magical ability and I like the work involved. But I can lay some enchantments on your clothes as I make them, if you'd like me to. I've done that with a lot of Luke's clothes, made them more durable so they don't rip apart when he transforms. And I can do more than that, although I am limited to simple passive effects. Or I could leave them all mundane, if you'd like to do something yourself or avoid any magical interference. Oh dear, I never asked what you are, either. Would you mind telling me? It may effect what clothes will work best on you, depending on your nature."
 
Callie kind of liked the feeling of being measured. It was weirdly soothing. Not much of a social media person? That was oddly surprising. She seemed so social. Wait, waterproof? Callie glanced around the room again, and this time her mind stuck on the idea rather than jumping away as soon as magic got involved. There was a lot of water in here. What was she?
"Just a way to get your work out there if you ever wanted to go big or even just get a bit of pocket money," Callie shrugged, practically word for word repeating something her dad used to say about multiple income streams. She grinned. "And there are some pretty fun ideas that come up on pinterest."
Ok, ocean? What was going on here? Wait...was Jacqueline-
Callie blushed when Jacqueline did, kicking herself for embarrassing the woman. But then, her eyes lit up. A mermaid? She was talking to a mermaid! Before she could stop herself, her mouth just started moving. "I love mermaids!" Here she was talking to a real one, and she was talking about how she loved them? She'd never met any! "I mean, I loved the idea of them. We did a show inspired by mermaids when I was little and I just got obsessed. How was living in the ocean? Why are you on land now?" She clamped her mouth shut, going an even brighter shade of red. She was very pale-her blushes got impressive. "I'm sorry! I-You don't have to answer that! I just got a bit excited, sorry."
Fighting to change the subject, Callie thought back to what Jacqueline had said. Magic clothes? That had to be useful. Right, made sense. Luke and durability. Guess the werewolf tearing up clothes thing was real then. What had Jacqueline asked. "I'm a fairy!" Callie blurted out. She glanced down, rubbing the back of her neck, the tips of her ears and cheekbones still glowing. "Changeling, actually." Wow, she'd just come out and said it. That had been a whole lot easier than the last few times. She'd just been so desperate to move on from her childish glee at meeting a mermaid. Maybe she needed to force herself into horribly embarrassing situations every time she had to come out. She glanced back up, shrugging and grinning. "You probably know more about what that means than I do."
 
"I'll admit I don't know much about changelings." Jacqueline admitted, her cheeks still tinted pink from the awkward reveals and the sweet compliments. "But I've made some things for fairies before. I'll get you some backless shirts, just in case you grow wings eventually. Nothing too revealing, if you'd like to stay modest. I don't like to make anyone uncomfortable. But I may have a few of those things already in my collection..."

The embarrassment soon made way for her thinking face, as she stepped away to look through some nearby drawers. She had plenty of clothes on back reserve, something had to fit the criteria. "As for your questions," She commented, finding it a bit easier to address them when she was focused on something else. "First of all, thank you. You're very kind, and conscious of perception being different from reality. Living in the ocean... is free. You aren't stuck on the ground like you are on land, that's what I miss most about it. But mostly it was just my life, it's hard to describe it as anything amazing. I'm sure I would find your life just as fascinating as you would mine."

She paused before answering the next question. Just a moment, just enough for her to feel silly for needing said moment. "I'm living here now... for the same reasons as everyone else. I got into a sticky situation, which I apologize but I would actually prefer not to go into detail about it, and these people got me out. I'm doing my part to help them now, at least until I'm sure I can return to the ocean safely. It'll take a bit more time, but I haven't given up yet. For now, I get to meet people like you and give them clothes. And speaking of clothes..."

She finally found what she was looking for, and pulled it out to show Callie. It was a loose sweater in a dark blue shade, with a high neckline that draped down in the back. She'd heard that that loose, pillowy sort of neckline and backline was a trend not too long ago, so she'd tried it out a couple times and this one had turned out the best. "What do you think?" She made sure to ask Callie, holding it up for her to see clearly. "It isn't anything elaborate, but I think the color would look lovely on you. Maybe paired with white jeans?"
 
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Callie was glad the awkwardness didn't seem to last too long. Jacqueline turned away to start going through drawers, and Callie wondered just how many clothes she had in here. If she had fairy clothes in reserve, that meant she'd been here a while right? And that she must have met a fairy. That was a mind-boggling thought. Callie was a fairy, but the idea of meeting one was still shrouded in mystery and danger. She wasn't sure whether this had made her more or less excited by it. Growing wings seemed like it could be pretty exciting though.

Callie saw the picture in her head, and she liked it. Magic was fine, but wings? Would she be able to fly? Part of her started crashing down, worried about how wings would throw off her balance. She'd have to practice to be able to dance with them, but really, there would be little point. She wouldn't ever perform with wings. Who would let a fairy, wings and all, into their company. She blinked back tears that were slowly threatening, shoving back against the rising grief and panic as she had been since she got here.
Jacqueline hadn't said that was definite. She'd said 'in case'. No need to worry about it now. There were far more pressing things that had already definitely gone wrong. "That'd b great," she said instead.
"It would be amazing to be so free," Callie said to Jacqueline's description of the ocean. Well. Maybe she'd get that experience if she ended up being able to fly.
There was a moment as Jacqueline seemed to gather herself up.
Jacqueline looked a little down as she started speaking about what had brought her to land, and Callie's heart reached out to her. There really was something bringing them all together here. She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. How well do you know the others?" Callie asked. It seemed like a safer way of asking how long she'd been around. It sounded like a long time.
Jacqueline finally turned around with a blue sweater, and Callie's face split in a smile. "It looks perfect!" She reached out for it. "White jeans are a good call I'll just make sure not to spill," she laughed.
 
"I could make them spill-proof!" Jacqueline offered, trying and failing not to get excited as she let Callie take the sweater. "I have just the song for that! I've tested it on some of Madi's clothes and she hasn't had any of them ruined by her potion-making in three months!"

That was about when her mind caught up with her mouth, and she blushed yet again as she curbed her enthusiasm. "Here I go again," She chuckled out of embarrassment, reaching up to rub at her neck. "Referencing things without an explanation. I'm sorry. You see, I use magic by singing. It's the only way I can really access magic actively, but if I'm creative with my song choices, I can be creative with the effect it has. I'll sing to my projects as I work, and if I do it right, they'll end up enchanted with whatever spell my song was casting. It's a bit trickier with finished projects, but a quick alteration is enough to put something in and I can have them ready for you before lunch."

Oh, there she went going off on a tangent again! Keep it together, Jacqueline. This girl doesn't need to hear every detail of a process she probably doesn't care much about anyway.

"To answer the question you actually asked," She said, in an attempt to keep the conversation on track. "I'd like to say I know the others pretty well. I've been here a little over six months, which is longer than I've been around most people, so my judgement is a bit skewed there. I wouldn't be able to tell you everything about any one of them, but I like listening to people. I'm always open for a conversation, any time of day, and just about everyone here has taken advantage of that at some point. You're welcome to as well, if you don't mind what conversation we've had so far, that is."
 
So, Madi made potions and Jacqueline sang a lot. Ok. Callie was ever so slowly gathering up information on each of them. Some of it, she felt was pretty basic, but all of it was useful. She was sort of enjoying playing detective and finding out all this new information.
Callie couldn't imagine just sitting all day, surrounded by music and magic, all woven together into something tangible and physical. That was what she did when she danced, but even that, she couldn't keep. She could keep the choreography, the song choice, the performance date, even the shoes, but she couldn't hold the dance. Jacqeuline's art, you could hold. A shimmer of an idea flashed through Callie's mind, but she didn't dare voice it. But for the first time since she'd arrived, Callie had found something she wanted to do. She wanted to dance to one of Jacqueline's songs. It wasn't like they had all that much to do, and that was something Callie suddenly wanted very much. But later. She'd get to that later.
"That sounds beautiful. I'd love to watch you work some time," Callie said. Then she started slightly. It would be beautiful. She didn't know if she'd thought magic could be beautiful before. Maybe...could hers be beautiful? Images of debris and screaming and blank, confused faces crowded her mind and Callie swallowed, hard, banishing the thought from her mind.
Callie smiled. "I think I will. You're really easy to talk to. Not that any of the others aren't, but, it's a good set-up you've got here. Anyway, spill-proof pants sound like a must have for any pastel, for me, anyway."
 
"Aww, thank you!" Jacqueline couldn't help but beam at Callie's compliments, as well as her offer to hang out again. She actually rather liked Callie, at least from the impression the girl had given so far. She was outspoken and funny, certainly pleasant to talk to, andnd she had a gorgeous frame! Perfect for modeling, if she was interested in more than just replacing her wardrobe. Speaking of replacing wardrobes, however, Callie had mentioned being curious about her projects, and wanting those spill-proof pants...

"Would you like to watch me enchant them?" She offered, trying to stay casual and not scare the poor girl off. "If you don't have anything else you'd like to do, I'd be happy to let you stay here and chat while I work. It wouldn't be much of a show, but I would enjoy the company."
 
Callie's eyes widened and she absolutely beamed. Hell yes she would! "Only if it isn't too much of a bother!" she shot back instantly. "I would love to watch you work!" She bit her lip for a second, but decided if she didn't start saying some of this, she was never going to. "I-I've been struggling a bit with the whole, magic thing. I haven't seen much of it before," and what she had seen had been utter destruction, "So I think seeing you work would be pretty educational as well," she laughed. Ok, so not quite what she had meant to say, but she didn't want to put pressure on Jacqueline. And hey, it was a start. Just admitting that she was struggling was a solid start line to go from. She had no intentions of examining any of that, and she didn't think anyone expected her to be cool with this straight away, but still. Baby steps. She glanced around the room for somewhere to sit.
 
Oh. Oh. Okay, Callie was actually opening up to her. She was so new to magic, scared of it even. Jacqueline didn't blame her. She wasn't usually the first person new people opened up to, but she wasn't completely out of her comfort zone in the department. She really did like Callie, she could see herself becoming friends with this girl, and she wanted to help her. If letting her sit in on a sewing project could help her on the road to accepting herself, then Jacqueline was all for it.

"It's no trouble at all." She insisted, pulling an extra stool up to her sewing table before she looked around for that pair of jeans she'd made last week. "I can't promise my magic will work anything like yours, but any type of experience can help when learning something new. I just hope I set a good example- Ah, here we are!"

With jeans in hand, she sat at the table next to Callie, did a couple last mental measurements, and set to breaking the trousers down. "I'm afraid the first part is entirely mundane." She explained as she did so, trying not to sound overly apologetic. "Taking something apart is easy, but putting it back together is where the real magic happens. Both metaphorically and literally."
 
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