Private A Spicy Dress

[Thelma Goth]

It was lunch time, and the mess hall of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant was crowded with people. Younglings, Padawans, and even a few Knights and Masters congregated together there to eat their meals.

Thelma brought her tray over to an empty table at the far corner of the room. The food the cafeteria served wasn't particularly good, but most regular food didn't taste that great to her anyway. Still, she could obtain some nourishment from it, and she needed to keep up the appearance of being a normal human. She picked up her carton of chocolate milk and gave it a vigorous shake before opening it and taking a sip...

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Silas knew a seamstress.

That was a weird thought, but the fact it was a fellow Jedi was enough for Iris to just pop in. Briana Sal-Soren . Ara Sheridan . Valery Noble . They all had their own tastes when it came to clothing and were pretty adamant about helping Iris find these sorts of clothing. But what was her own style? What kind of clothing spoke to her the most? She had no idea. Who better than a stranger to help her figure it out?

Kind of a stranger. Fellow Jedi was enough for Iris to put some faith in the stranger to not.. Do something she figured.

So Iris plopped down beside her, looking around the cafeteria. Humming at the colors of the Jedi around them. And hers. That was.. Interesting.

"Why are you making yourself drink that?"

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

Suddenly the table wasn't so empty. Still drinking her chocolate milk, Thelma side-eyed the newcomer. A dark-haired woman older than her had sat down beside her.

Oh, please no.

"Why are you making yourself drink that?"

Thelma had set the milk carton down and picked up her fork, stabbing a piece of lettuce dunked in salad dressing and shoveling it into her mouth. She tried to ignore the woman. That usually got them to leave her alone…

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Oh.

The colors were enough to show she didn't want to be bothered. Iris gave a small nod and just got up and walked away. She wasn't going to pester someone who didn't want her meal interrupted anymore than she already had.

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

The woman got up and left. Thelma breathed a sigh of relief.

Once she was finished with her food, Thelma threw away her trash and headed out of the mess hall. The encounter with the stranger, while brief, was puzzling. 'Why are you forcing yourself to drink that?' the woman had said. What was that supposed to mean? How did she know that…?

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Hey! So uh, didn't mean to bother you while you were eating but uh, Silas said you sew stuff and I wanted to talk to you about that?"

Yeah, Iris was there waiting out in the hall. The moment Thelma stepped out? She spoke up. Cut right to the chase to batter away any misconceptions and avoid, hopefully, the same bit of coloring as before. The whole 'leave me alone' colors, anyway.

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

"Wha—huh?"

Thelma came to a halt as she was once again accosted by the same strange woman from before.

"Silas?" Her face flushed momentarily, then her expression brightened. "Sewing? Yeah, I sew. What do you need?"

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris's lips thinned for a moment as she just straight up turned to leave. This was a terrible idea. Thelma was incredibly uncomfortable with her seemingly random approach. And really, Iris didn't like those kinds of colors in the slightest. No, no. she wasn't going to bother someone who literally bled uncomfortableness in the Force. Not about a dress of all things.

"Actually, don't worry about it. Sorry."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

“Hey!” Thelma protested. “But… but I like sewing!”

For the first time in a long time, she actually felt almost offended that someone was walking away from her. This lady was acting even more skittish and avoidant than Thelma herself, and Thelma wasn’t going to stand for it, not when sewing was on the line.

“What do you want me to sew?”

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris practically heaved with relief as she spun back towards Thelma. No, she really didn't want to bother someone who just seemed uncomfortable with the whole social thing about a dress. But also, she really didn't want to have to go out into the city to find someone to sew stuff for her. Rumors could make or break the Jedi at this point. And with one already pregnant Padawan, the idea a Jedi was out trying to get a dress during the wars going on..

She'd already fought on the front lines of several. She didn't want to deal with the war of the press, too.

"A dress I could go out dancing in, really."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

“A dress?” Thelma’s mouth fell open, then her eyes lit up. “For dancing!”

She jumped up and down with excitement. Clearly she really, really liked dresses. The fact that most Jedi had no use for dresses or other clothing deemed "frivolous" meant that she didn't often have the chance to indulge her love of such garments. This was an opportunity she couldn't refuse.

“Okay—let’s go back to my room,” she said, gesturing for Iris to follow her. “I gotta take your measurements, and design the dress, and pick out the fabric…”

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Okay now things seemed to be flipped. She just about laughed as she followed after the girl, nodding her head. "Yeah, that's the idea. Dancing. Um. You really like sewing huh? Guess Silas was right to point me your way, heh."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

“Yup!”

Thelma’s quarters were part of the Padawan dormitories, though it was noticeable that she had a room all to herself rather than sharing it with anyone else. It fit the term ‘organized chaos’ to a T. Every surface was covered, but the floor was clear and the place was clean.

Thelma led Iris inside and immediately began setting things up, pulling out tracing paper, a measuring tape, and a sketchbook.

“A dress for dancing… Do you want it to be flouncy? Or… poofy? Or like the ones that have fringe hanging off them instead of a skirt?” She sat down cross-legged on the floor and opened the sketchbook, pencil in hand. “How low do you want the neckline? And what color is it going to be?”

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris blinked. Slowly. The organized chaos was far more organized than her own chaos had ever been. But the questions? She sat down in a similar stance to Thelma, laughing. Nervously.

"I uh, don't really know. I've only worn a couple dresses but they've always been picked by others? I wanted to try and figure out what my own style is, I guess."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

Iris didn’t know what she wanted, so Thelma just started sketching. She drew mockups of a few different types of dresses ranging from short-skirted and low-cut enough to cause a scandal, to completely covering the body from throat to toe. When she was done, she showed the drawings to Iris.

“Do you like any of these?”

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris blinked. Glanced through the options. And.. Shrugged.

"I.. Don't really know? I mean, I guess they all look nice? Not the long one. Or that really short one. .. Oh, I guess uh.." She tapped a sundress kinda looking thing. "That..?"

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

“A sundress… for dancing?” Thelma shrugged. “Okay.”

She pointed to a shelf (or series of shelves, rather) stacked with bolts of fabric in a variety of colors, designs, and textures. “Pick out the fabric.”

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"I don't know I like sundresses. What would you suggest?" Iris full on pouted at this. Tucked in on herself as she crossed her arms. Clothing had never been something she was good at. Then, fabric? She glanced between them, and just shook her head.

"Ah.. Information overload. I'm not sure."

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma’s face flushed. Technically sundresses weren’t made for dancing in a nightclub or other social event, they were made for being out in the sun. Hence the name. She supposed the design was more or less the same as plenty of dresses for dancing, though.

“Oh no, it’s fine,” she said. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I’ll make a sundress.”

A sundress she could dance in, at least. Turning to a new page, she redrew the dress design Iris had picked, only larger and with more detail.

Thelma scratched her head, looking up at the bolts of fabric. “Well, I can’t really help you there. Maybe just pick whichever feels the most comfortable, since you’re going to be moving around a lot in it?...”

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Which felt the best?

Iris nodded just a bit as she stood up. Walked over to the various materials. Actively looking through them. It wasn't a quick glance through but a full on unspool, feel over it. Eventually she just settled on something soft and airy, whatever that material might be. Handed it over.

"How long have you been doing this?"

Thelma Goth