Logs:Cute Costumes

Cute Costumes
Dramatis Personae Kelawini, Marinov, Nessie
In Absentia	2020-10-30 "Cheeeee, we make that Red Riding Hood one happen, easy."
Location <XAV> Art Room - Xs Second Floor
Smells of paints and chalks and turpentine mingle freely in this room, well-used, well-stocked. Natural light flows in, plentiful through the large windows. The long counter-like tables are speckled with spots of color, and half finished projects often stand on easels or propped in corners. The many cupboards lining the walls are crammed full of art supplies. It's all Hallows' eve eve evening, and over a portable bluetooth speaker the sounds of a Halloween music playlist-- currently playing The Time Warp-- resounds through the art room. Marinov's brown jacket is up on a hook, and they are wearing a form-fitting foggy grey top, with a gap cut out on its side, and a similarly coloured skirt with a tassel curtain of tiger orange strings around it. They have been working with an excess of enthusiasm, as if the waxing gibbous moon's near full light is radiating a powerful energy, orange eyes bright with excitement for their current project. They sing along with the music as it plays, having paused for the moment in their labour to do an impromptu performance for their companions in the art room, their tail swinging along in time. For the time being, they seem to lack much in the way of self-consciousness. "It's just a jump to the left! And then a step to the ri-i-i-ight!" Nessie has a sketchpad out in front of her, but she's ignoring it at the moment in favor of watching Marinov perform. All her eyes are riveted, a brightly amused smile on her face. Her feet quietly click against the floor -- she's not exactly following along with the whole of the dance but she is skitter-shuffling a step or so to the left and then to the right in time, pencil bobbing in her hand in time with the music. She's unsurprisingly less stylish than Marinov, just a very faded ancient button-down, too large for her, in vertical striped blue and white. "I haven't actually seen this," she's confiding quietly. Kelawini is wearing a yellow boat-neck crop top with a subtle hand-woven net design and indigo boot-cut jeans with black lace-up boots, her hair wild and wind-tossed from some earlier adventure outside. She is also trying to follow Marinov's dance, with less skill than enthusiasm and seeming utterly unabashed when she preempts an instructions incorrectly. "Seen it?" she repeats. "Like the music video for it?" Her eyes are bright an huge. "So that's the kind of music they're gonna play at the dance?" "Yeah, they'll probably play some stuff like that!" says Marinov, when the performance begins to wind down, "And you haven't? I guess I'm not really surprised, it's a pretty old one!" To Kelawini the add as an afterthought, "It's from a movie, Rocky Horror Picture Show, it's like... a cult classic, people go to midnight showings of it and shit like that and do stuff along with the movie." They nod a couple of times quick, "There's all kinds of great Halloween music out there for dancing to." Now that they are not distracted by the music they lean in to get a better vantage point to spy on Nessie's sketchpad. "What makes a good Halloween song?" Nessie's eyes turn up to the ceiling as if searching for answer there. Her sketchpad is itself looking pretty Halloweeny, very rough sketches of herself with different costumes -- Captain America's uniform (shirt) and shield, a Little Red Riding Hood cape and basket -- both of these crossed out in favor of the only un-scratched out picture which is A Sheet Ghost. "What makes a good Halloween dance?" Kelawini's eyes are huge. "That sound so weird!" Though this doesn't exactly sound like a complaint, either. "So we all dress up, right?" She's peering at the sketchpad, too. "Cheeeee, we make that Red Riding Hood one happen, easy." She throws a hand in the direction of Marinov. "We got one fashion master right here." Though, after brief uncertain hesitation she adds, "Mistress? What's the 'they' version of that?" "A good Halloween song is a little bit spooky, a little bit weird, and a lot of fun. And the dances are just whatever goes with those songs, but usually real cool," says Marinov matter-of-factly. They pause and scrunch their brow, "I was about to say 'matrix' but I think that feels pretty dumb to say. But also I feel like it is maybe overdone to just add 'x's everywhere. Maxtrex?" They quickly forget the linguistic conundrum when the more pressing matter presents itself, and they nod enthusiastically. With a wave of their hand towards some of the fabric they have gathered, "And yeah, we can whip that together, and we can make it look real cute. Or if you want to do a spooky Red Riding Hood? Mashup that ghost, make it look like the wolf got you." "Maven," Nessie says confidently, looking Marinov over, "you definitely seem like a fashion maven. I guess you could be a fashion..." She hesitates, tripping over the pronunciation of, "mavxn, if your'e real attached to the x's." Her tail swishes slow overhead. Her cheeks color just a touch darker as she looks down at the sketches and then up to Marinov's fabric. "I..." She bites her lip, hesitant before she admits, "want to do something real cute, I just -- that always seems -- a little silly, with..." One shoulder lifts. "But if you could do something. That's cute. I think that'd be -- well. Better than a sheet. I'd have to put more than one together to fit on me anyway." "Maven, that's even a real word and everything!" Kelawini slides over and runs her fingers over the fabrics that Marinov brought. "Maven Marinov, that sounds good." She strokes her chin, suddenly unsure. "Is Red Riding Hood cute enough? I mean..." Stepping back, she circles her roommate speculatively. "Maybe we can make it fancier, paint up your tail?" "Oh, no, I am not attached to the 'x's. Maven sounds kind of ominous, which I adore," says Marinov, clasping their hands together with eyes closed and satisfied. "I think that Red Riding Hood would be pretty cute and I am already visualizing the cuteness! But, hmmm... I didn't really think of painting your tail. Is that something you'd be okay with? My tail gets thrashy when people touch it and, uh." They glance up towards the pointy tail, a nervous twitch of their ear. "I'm not sure I want to deal with a thrashy tail, yeah?" "Are you going to be something ominous?" Nessie's tail stills, her head ducking sheepishly. "I think I'm a little ominous just by default. -- Um. Painting it might be awkward but I could probably tie a ribbon on it myself? No stabbing danger to anyone." Though already here it's swaying again. She looks to Kelawini, then back to Marinov. "Do you really think you could make it cute? I'm not good at." Her hand waves toward the others. "I bet you're both great at Halloween." Kelawini gasps. "Ominous how? I don't even know what to do for a costume. I was just gon dress up real fancy and wing it when people ask what I'm supposed to be." She leans closer to Nessie and whispers conspiratorially, "I am not great at Halloween." Then, back to a normal volume, "I'm really into the concept, though! We should get you a big red ribbon, then." She pulls out the richest red fabric in the selection and sort of fails to drape it around Nessie. "You're gonna be so cute." "Not ominous. Umm, I put together my costume, it wasn't like. Much in the way of fabric stuff, so I had to work on it for quite awhile, challenge myself, yeah? Have you ever seen the show, uh, Samurai Pizza Cats? It's this really old dumb cartoon, and-- Okay, so there's a character named Polly Esther-- Anyways, it's funny on a few levels, so..." Marinov shrugs. "Anyways. I thought maybe a cute red ribbon, to go with everything else." Their ears perk up and they hold their hands forward, palms up, towards Nessie, "And yeah, I think we can make your costume so fucking cute! Just bring the cute energy, and we'll take care of the rest!"