The Suffering Begins Anew

It was a pleasant day, rather warm for the attire that Vonius had chosen to wear. It was fine though, making his way to the Seven Sisters Finery as he did ever so often. It was always nice to see the owner and main worker, always in good spirits and ready to be that little extra friendly with customers. Vonius himself wasn't interested, but it was nice to be so welcomed and see others think the ruse was always true. She had also at some point gotten an apprentice, another rider who seemed quite outside his element as he worked at first.

"Where are we going?" Monty asked, thinking they were just going to get the shoes and return home, but Vonius had gotten a cab elsewhere as he napped and now was heading down a street that was familiar but not as the small dragon woke up.

"To see Miss Maristela and Mr. Rory. I need them to alter the boots a bit. The stitches aren't the right color and don't have the right colored heel." Shoe laces were also the wrong color, not that that was the end of the world but he wanted perfection to impress people. The shoe he bought matched the deeper blue on the inside of his future coat, plain in appearance but did have the right gold color that was on his future outfit. He also debated asking if they could add some decor on the shoes, coming with many pictures forwarded from Curt after he snapped a few. He hoped he came prepared enough, not having the actual outfit on hand today as he didn't want to carry it with him.

Cloud was on his best behavior for a certain Araceli. Rory still hadn't quite accepted his little crush, but for now, it was harmless and kept him out of trouble. The dragon was waiting outside of the store, happily greeting any passersby, doing his best to get people into the store to see the lovely Araceli and the goods her Rider made. It was debatable whether he was doing good or driving away customers, but no one had stopped him yet. Rory just busied himself with weaving and let the bat do his thing. There were less things to destroy out there, anyways.

The wyvern wiggled his tail happily when he saw someone approaching with purpose, strong enough for his butt to wiggle with it. "Right this way, sirs! We have the pretty and sparkly things, good for pretty and sparkling people." He even leaned down on his wings so that he looked smaller and less imposing for the little rat dragon. "And small pretty and sparkly things for the handsome little one." He glanced sideways at Araceli. See, wasn't he good at attracting people? Rory just sighed and debated whether to work in the backroom today or not.

"We shall, thank you kindly." Reaching out a hand to pet the light colored dragon, Monty gave a squeak as Von went in. Taking his coat off and handing it over to one of the enchanted mannequins who took it. "Hello Rory, how are you today?" Von asked, knowing the other male even if he didn't know him.

Hearing that cheery voice, Stela popped her head out. "Is that a Vonius I hear? My favorite little blue boy and his furry companion?"

"Hello Miss Maristela! I needed someone to fix these boots up and thought of you~" With how much Rory was improving, he did trust the other to do it as well. As long as he knew what he was doing, this was not a time for experiments, he was on a more strict time limit.

"Of course dear, have a seat. Why don't you take a break for now, Rory dear?"

Rory hung the thread to the side of the loom and stepped away. He cocked an eyebrow at the fellow who walked in and called to him; He might have been his age, but Rory didn't recognize him in the least. Maybe he had visited a few times, but certainly never to chat with him. He should have worked in the backroom today, after all. Still, if he was recognized, then perhaps it was due to his family. He would have to act befitting of the title for now. "Welcome, Sir Vonius. I think this is our first time meeting, though...?"

Cloud had scampered in behind his 'attracted customer,' eager to make sure his time in the store was the best it could be. He chastised his own Rider. "No, Rory, he comes here always. You just stay in the grumpy corner and ignore, but he's a friend. I even got pets." He wagged his tail and managed to whip at some of the clothes stands, but they withstood the test of strength.

Settle down, Cloud.

But he's a good friend.

He pet you once.

Very good!

"Don't knock anything over, Cloud. It'll cost more if you break things now." Maristela tsked, but as Cloud came in he did get some more pats and pets for being ever so cute. Even if he was misbehaving, he was just here for needs and to pet the dragons, he would leave at any moment and no longer deal with it. "Cloud is right, though. Vonius comes in often, but you always seem busy at work. One of my blue blood guests~ Has been coming ever since he was a small thing." Sighing as Stela reminisced, she did need to go get her booklet that had tasks to do. So off she went for a moment, wondering where it had gone off to.

Von, however, thought he'd actually introduce himself all the same. It would be rude not to otherwise. "Sorry about that, Rory. I'm Vonius Argyris, I heard about you from Miss Maristela. This is my dragon, Monty. She does tell me very nice things about you, but we never formally spoke." He held out his hand to shake as he shifted the bag from his main hand, smiling sweetly even if Cloud was still seeking pets and attention.

Rory shook his hand lightly, putting on his best social persona. "Good to meet you, Vonius Argyris. I'm glad to hear Maristella speaks well of me." Hopefully she did the same for Cloud. The dragon was busy bobbing his head and begging for pets now. Without attention from Araceli, he was going for attention from the next best thing--the little rat dragon. It wasn't as beautiful or charming as Araceli, but it was still cute, and might be able to do very small and comfy pets. Rory did his best to ignore the strange dragon doing strange things and inspected the boots Argyris brought. They were a stylish make--not quite like the intricate things Maristella made, but still nice nonetheless. Stella hadn't said anything about fixing them, so was she expecting him to? But she just said he should take a break. He sighed. "So, how do you want these fixed up? What's the deadline?"

"You may be less formal if that puts you are ease, I don't plan to speak ill of you or tell your secrets of why you're here." He knew Rory's last name, but once it was explained why he was there it was a secret well kept. He didn't interact often with the St James family either, though knew of them from passing conversations. He couldn't say he ever met one in person aside from Rory.

Squeaking at Cloud, Monty did sloooowly descend to sniff at the much larger dragon, patting him as well with his smaller hands while Von unwrapped the boots fully to show Rory. Hopping onto the larger dragon's head, Monty figured he could find entertainment with this one, over boring conversation with the riders. "Hello Cloud, where is your girlfriend?" He asked, making a nest in his fur. Soft, but not as soft as Vonius's clothes.

"These boots need some alterations. I need the soles to be changed to gold, the two inch heel is something I'd like to keep. I also need the stitching changed out to gold. On minor edits, laces need to be the same gold, though a different silver or white color is acceptable." Pulling out his phone, he showed Rory the outfit they were going with. "I need it by tonight, it's for an event I was invited to."

"With that strange rider you find attractive." Monty huffed, though was gently preening Cloud.

"He is a very handsome rider, and I'm allowed to have interests. We already spoke about this with father." He couldn't blame Monty, his poor laptop destroyed by Kaiser and they had to switch hotels. A slight pain he didn't mind but Monty disliked moving from place to place if it could be helped. He still thought Curt was nice and wanted to know him more.

Rory looked annoyed. "Secret of why I'm here...?" He glared at Maristella. Was she gossiping to just any of her regulars? While Cloud ferried around this very cute dragon, he focused on the boots. That was a lot of gold, but hey, it was coming out of his pocket. "Just to be sure, do you mean gold-colored, or literal gold?" He had come to expect either in this place. Metal might conduct enchantments better, or have some other properties that a person might want, but fashion was also a priority. He had learned never to assume. On top of that, it seemed this was more of a date, and perhaps he wanted to show off his wealth. Some people were like that.

Not the good ones, Cloud said from his perch at the bottom of the stairs. He was wiggling impatiently, waiting for Araceli to arrive with her Rider so he could introduce his small new friend.

Yes, I know, don't worry.

I'm not worried, you're not dating. But don't worry, I'll show you how good it is to date.

For some reason, it all annoyed Rory more than usual. I told you not to get attached to her.

Cloud went back to ignoring him, choosing to chatter nicely to the rat about how pretty his girlfriend was. They weren't dating, but Cloud was more than happy to call her that. Rory sighed and started measuring the soles, since he needed that in either case. "Out of curiosity, where's the date?"

"Just gold coloring is fine, they don't need to look extravagant. I just need then to match the outfit made for the event." Thankfully, Vonius was looking down and didn't see those annoyed expressions. "I think is nice for you to keep Maristela company at least, though how your work has improved I also find quite wonderful!"

"You don't need to butter him up, dear. He'll work regardless." Stela had returned, Araceli close behind and now a bunch of bat chatters could be heard as morning dragon kisses were had. "But I too am curious where you are going, there's nothing too fancy going on to my knowledge?"

"Oh, it's an award ceremony and not a date. Just one of my acquaintances I find cute invited me and made me the outfit for it. Monty just doesn't seem to like him and is trying to get me in trouble. I'm sure I have a message about it from them." Scrolling through his phone, Kaiser took over and went to the conversation that had. Short at least. "Oh, it's being hosted by the St. James..." As that tidbit came up, he wondered if Rory recalled it.

"My, that is a familiar name. I would just adore attending." Wrapping her arm around Rory, she too was wondering the same. Was he trying to avoid it? Did he not want to invite her, she would be heartbroken if it was the latter option.

With their totally secret smooches done, Araceli was snuggling under Cloud's fluffy neck, pleased and was happy to show how she adored the other so. Her rider said she could try and seduce Cloud if she so liked, and she very much liked the idea.

Ah, of course. You just think they're cute, and they just made you a very fancy outfit. Ah, but wait...hosted by the St. James family? Rory looked nervous as the sudden realization hit him. Cloud, is it really...?

It's our event tomorrow. Remember, Dad told you to go with a guest? I choose Araceli. Cloud nuzzled at the other bat fervently while Rory stood straight up. The clever dragon had avoided reminding him so that he could invite Maristela--and by extension, Araceli--last minute. It worked. Poor Monty was stuck holding on to the top of Cloud's nuzzling head.

As Maristela wrapped her arm around him teasingly, he blurted out, "Uh, Maristela, I forgot about it. Could you go with me? It's tomorrow." Yet another formal event where he needed to bring someone. Couldn't they just have some other rich family do it? It was better that his guest was Maristela, though, instead of someone who might actually be making googly eyes at him. His brother had teased him and said his gaydar went off, so it wouldn't lead to misinterpretations on that end. Yet, somehow, he felt like there would still be teasing in his future...

Squeaking away, Vonius went to retrieve his dragon to leave the dragons to be cute. They were very cute storm dragons who seemed to be absolutely in love even if from the sounds of it Rory didn't approve. The reminder was apparently needed, as Rory suddenly asked Stela to join him. Getting a smooch, she seemed pleased even if it was sudden.

"You know how I adore going to events with you~ I'll of course go. I can use some of the dresses I held back for the event, you have your own clothes prepared, right darling?" Taking Von's boots, she started ringing up the transaction and had him pay. Worse case it was a busy night ahead of her, so everything would be perfect. "Come by in a few hours and I'll have it done by then."

Waving the younger male off, Stela was still amused by Rory, but she was used to it as well. "You should really stop putting things off till the last minute, darling." She teased.