Dani led the group through a number of shortcuts and long-cuts in order to dodge as many people as he could.

“It’s not right to make introductions until you are properly dressed.” He had explained.

Their journey came to an end as they passed through the door to ‘Azure Thread Clothier and Tailor’. A bell jangled merrily to alert the owner to her visitors.

Abigail would describe the dwarven woman that came from the back as “Built like a tank!” Tied with Gem at 5’10” she broke the curve for Dwarven height, and the rest of her physique scaled appropriately. Arms that wouldn’t have been out of place on a bear encircled Dani in a crushing bear hug.

“Dani! So good to see you!” Valerie gushed as she lifted Dani off of his feet and swung him about in a full spin.

“Hi. Val.” Dani wheezed as the woman tried to crush his ribs.

“Your latest won’t be ready for another week, but I wager that’s not what brings you here on this fine morning. I’d say that that honor goes to this lovely lady.”

“Yeah. I’m Gem, and I’m here for some clothes.” Gem greeted, extending a hand for Valerie to shake.

“And I’m Valerie, but most folks call me Val!” Valerie replied as she enthusiastically pumped Gem’s hand.

Gem winced after Valerie released her hand. The woman had a grip like a steel vise.

“Now I hate to pry, but before we begin I do need to know your budget.”

Gem nodded and retrieved her coin pouch.

“This is what I have on me. Sam is keeping the rest of it safe for me right now.” Gem said.

Valerie was a little concerned at the small number of coins in the pouch until she saw the denomination.

“Three crowns.” Valerie whispered to herself.

“I can do a lot with this. Four outfits, at least.” Valerie then enthused.

“Make that five. First one is on me.” Dani injected.

“Dani, always the bleeding heart for the pretty ones in distress.” Valerie smiled.

She always accepted Dani’s coin, after all.

Valerie handed Gem’s coin pouch back to its owner.

“Come come! Up on the platform! Let’s get a proper look at you!”

Gem hesitated for a moment before quickly moving up. She’d rather move under her own power than risk the exuberant woman dislocating her shoulder by accident.

“Now off with the clothes, I can’t get a proper look at you with those dreadful things in the way.”

Gem froze like a deer in headlights.

“If you're worried about being naked in front of the elf, I can kick him out until we get some undergarments on her at a minimum; if you’d like.” Valerie offered.

Gem only managed a nod as her face flushed, her blue blood turning the sky blue of her face into a deep azure. Valerie wasted no time in unceremoniously shoving the elven man out the door, ignoring his protests that he was perfectly capable of leaving on his own. Valerie slid the heavy deadbolts into position, then with a wave of her hand the heavy curtains on the windows all swished shut. The room’s magical lighting flared to life, filling the space with warm light that rivaled daylight in brightness and color.

Gem had set Abigail down on a nearby counter alongside her cloak and was nervously fingering the hem of her shirt when Valerie’s attention returned to her.

“Oh darling, I know I get terribly excited, but take your time, I’ll wait.” Valerie assured her.

“No, I just need to do it.” Gem declared as she pulled the large shirt off over her head. Her boots were already off, so her pants joined the shirt on the floor a moment later.

She stood in only her socks, forcing herself to keep her arms at her sides. She was determined to do what was necessary to be a true battlemage, and this small step on reducing her bodily shame and excessive modesty was a good place to start.

“Oh darling! You are absolutely gorgeous, you know that?” Valerie attested.

“T-thanks.” Gem quavered.

“I love working with unusual skin tones, and yours is so pretty! Your hair compliments it so well too! And your horns! I love them!” Valerie gushed. “Oh I have so many ideas for you! But first. Underwear.”

Valerie gently took a number of measurements, taking care not to molest Gem any more than absolutely necessary.

“I’ll be right back.” Valerie assured as she went to a back room. She returned a few moments later carrying a trio of large boxes. She set them on the counter and opened them to reveal the undergarments inside.

“Bottoms, tops, and matching sets.” Valerie gestured to each box in turn. “Look through them and feel free to try on anything you like. I’ll go set up the mirrors.”

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‘Mirrors? Plural?’ Gem thought as she did as instructed. Rummaging through she started pulling out anything that struck her fancy. As one might expect, the boxes of individual undergarments were skewed towards comfort, while the box of matched sets was skewed in the direction of aesthetics. Of course there was plenty of overlap.

Gem found herself holding up a particularly strange pair. The black bra and panties were missing the nipples and crotch, respectively.

“Ah, you found the fun ones.” Valerie remarked. “I do have some really fun stuff, but I figure that can wait until another day.”

Gem just looked at Valerie, confused. Seeing Gem’s confusion, Valerie explained with a grin:

“They’re for sex darling. Sometimes it’s best to tease at what lies beneath with the barest scraps of fabric, but other times it can be better to put it all on display instead.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for something like that.” Gem said, ears burning blue.

“These kinds of things aren’t for everyone.”

Gem just nodded and put the garments back in the box. She began trying on the garments she’d selected. Once she found a pairing she really liked, she let Valerie know.

“I want these.” Gem stated with a smile.

“Excellent! Just let me check the numbers real quick, and I’ll get right on your custom ones.”

Valerie checked the numbers that were printed on the garments, then grabbed a couple of bolts of fabric and brought them over to a worktable. She traced the tip of her index finger along the fabrics causing them to separate with her magic. She quickly finished cutting the patterns from memory, then continued by joining the pieces, her magic weaving the threads together with no seams. When she finished, she brought them over to Gem.

“Here you go. These are yours.”

Gem changed into the freshly made garments. Her face split into a huge grin when she looked in the mirror. The lilac garments were edged with an orange that complimented her skin nicely. Valerie had even managed to improve the fit.

“I love them.” Gem enthused.

“You’re welcome. If you wear anything low-cut you’ll definitely want a half-cup bra, but otherwise a few pairs of what you’re wearing should do nicely. Any color requests?”

“These are nice.” Gem answered.

“Works for me. I’ll make sure to throw in a black pair as well. Now then, let me get the rest of your measurements and put together a basic outfit so we can let Dani back in. Unless you want to show him your underwear.” Valerie teased.

“Let’s do the outfit.” Gem squeaked, blushing yet again.

Valerie wasted no time in getting the rest of Gem’s measurements. Despite taking over a hundred distinct measurements she wrote not a single one down.

“There’s a nifty technique called aura inscription that lets you record things in your aura. So much more convenient than writing things down, although it is temporary.” Valerie had told Gem when she asked.

Gem settled on a simple tan tunic and deep brown pants. Nothing fancy, but it would be good to work and move in.

With Gem dressed, Valerie finally let Dani back in, although she kept the door locked and curtains drawn.

The pair of fashionistas wasted no time in chatting away about color compliments and contrasts, all while holding various bolts of fabric up to Gem to check how it could look on her.

For her part, Gem was mostly left standing on the podium while the other two worked. She looked at Abigail, but the book sat still and silent on the counter. It was Abigail’s choice whether to introduce herself or not.

Abigail was actually considering it, but was somewhat worried that the dwarven woman would decide to try and dress her up next. She had already spent the better part of a dozen years of her time in suspension working on her appearance, and she was rather pleased at how she looked. Books generally don’t wear clothes, after all.

After several hours of work, it was finally time for Gem to pay.

“Let’s call it two and a half Crowns for today.” Valerie told Gem, then turned to Dani, “I’ll put your portion on your tab.”

Dani laughed. “We really should settle up one of these days.” He joked.

Valerie turned to Gem. “Dani’s the only one here in town to stock enough high-grade booze to get this ol’ mountain of a dwarf even slightly tipsy. An’ that alcohol don’t come cheap. So rather than pass the same dozen crowns back and forth all the time, we just keep tabs for each other.”

“But seriously, we should at least synchronize them, your tab was over 200 crowns when last I checked.”

“Bah! It’ll be fine.” Valerie brushed off.

Gem and Valerie swapped coins, three Gilded Crowns for five Golden Trunks.

“Such a pleasure doing business with you. We have to do this again sometime.” Valerie enthused.

“Thanks Val. I don’t know if you do armor, but I’ll probably need some here soon.” Gem said.

“Oh? I do do armor. What’s your style?” Valerie queried.

Gem furrowed her brow. It took her a few moments to figure out what Val meant by ‘style’.

“Battlemage. I’m going to be a battlemage.” Gem affirmed.

“That’s fantastic! Battlemage armor is such a treat to work on!” Valerie enthused.

“Alright you two, let us wrap things up. I’d love to introduce you to some of the townsfolk.” Dani urged.

“Ok. Bye Val!” Gem bade farewell to the giant dwarf.

“See you later!” Valerie said with a little wave.

After the pair left, Valerie realized that Gem had left her book. She picked up the tome, only for it to sprout tentacles and slap her wrists. Surprised, she dropped the book, which deftly caught itself and skittered out the door like the world’s strangest spider. Valerie just shook her head and popped the cork from a bottle of alcohol so strong it could strip varnish from ten paces away.

Sure a walking book was weird, but Valerie wasn’t sure if it even made the top ten on her long list of strange things she had seen in her years.

‘I’ll just ask about it next time.’ She resolved as she sipped her potent brew.

----------------------------------------

Once she was back in her room at Dani’s, Gem could finally chat with Abigail.

“Isn’t it awesome!?” Gem enthused about her outfit as she twirled.

> It is fabulous. I want to know how Val manages to re-weave the fabric like she does, but I’ll never have half the skill or sense she has.

Gem was wearing a deep azure double breasted coat. A midnight blue layered skirt came down to just below her knees, with a set of black shorts underneath to keep her colorful underwear from being displayed by accident. A matching midnight blue mantle provided a hood for her head. Her feet and legs were covered by a pair of matte black belted boots that almost met her skirt, leaving a thin line of sky-blue flesh visible as she walked. All of the buttons, buckles, and clasps were a vibrant orange. And everything had plenty of pockets; including, oddly enough, her boots.

“Always keep a knife or three on you. Ya never know when you’ll need one.” Valerie had said.

> You know, I wonder how Sam and Rod are getting on.

“That’s a good question.” Gem agreed, pondering on what the two law-persons and their friend were doing.