Oh the Webs We Weave

[Alysia Weaver]

     Alysia sat back, rubbing her chin softly as she gazed at her latest dress. It was hanging upon a mannequin, and Alysia could not decide if she liked it or not. It just did not look the same upon the mannequin like it would upon a living person who might be able to model it. Alysia groaned, putting her face in her hands and rubbing her eyes. She stood up, and walked over to the stove and grabbed a tea pot. She poured the still hot liquid in to a cup over some leaves and let the tea steep as she walked away and glanced at the dress again. She decided to leave it alone for the time being. She went to the wash room and splashed some cool water upon her face, then gently dried her face.

      She decided to talk a little walk around Sydney, and walked out of the front door. She locked the door, seeing as her home was also her shop while she was spending time here. She had tried to set up shop in America, but it had been pretty expensive and she could not afford the rent there. So she had made her way here to Australia, hoping to attempt the same thing. The rent was no as bad, but she could not seem to find the clientele she had been hoping for. Perhaps her problem was she did not know enough people, or the right kind of people to become well known.

     She walked along the street, her skirt swirling around her ankles and her long sleeved blouse covering her arms from the bright sun outside. She wore large sunglasses shielding her eyes from the bright sun, because of her sensitivity to the sunlight. She walked down the street alone, looking around and enjoying the sights of the town around herself and the smells coming from the stores around her. She contemplated going inside to buy something at one of the stores, maybe something to eat or just to drink.

[Ilyα Cяσw]

Sydney, Australia was seemingly the perfect getaway for a girl that was once drowning in the stress of her own unbecoming nature; the change in weather was graciously accepted by Ilya with a beaming, toothy smile and the garb of a generic shore-dwelling tourist: a sheer, small and body-clinging dress and a bathing suit beneath it, a black, lacy kimono and sun-glasses. With every minute outside, she felt her skin absorbing the sunlight like a thirsting plant. It was like she hadn't been exposed to light for years; Europe was heavily clouded, but not enough so where her lack of vitamin D was noticeable through how she felt beneath a place where the o-zone had likely depleted; this is was she gets for 'tending, and living as a bar-biding night owl. 

She sat outside at a table of one of the many delightfully small cafes of Sydney's streets, legs crossed and fingers twirling the straw of her iced tea as she ogled the passersby. She had no second thought of the strange discomfort than came with staring, as she wasn't doing it rudely; fascination was always the key component of Ilya's operating. She laid her eyes on a curious looking woman, garbed for what seemed like a fall in the Alps rather than spring in Australia, and removed her sunglasses to get a better look. A small smile of pleasantry followed and as moments passed she returned her gaze to her tea. 

[Alysia Weaver]

     Alysia stopped outside of one cafe, noticing the people sitting outside in the sunlight and enjoying the day while chatting to other people or just sitting by themselves and looking at the sky or the world around them. She decided this would be a nice place, and walked past a girl who had been looking at her. Alysia did not mind people looking at her, though she knew that some people would get upset or nervous about it. She could take care of herself she suppose in her own ways. Stepping inside the cafe, she waited in a short line of two other people and eventually ordered an ice tea, unsweetened. They always put in to much sugar for her, and she did not like all that glucose hitting her system so fast. So when she got her tea, she grabbed one single brown packet of those sugar in the raw things and walked back outside. 

     Finding a set alone, she settled in to it and tore open the Sugar in the Raw packet and turned it upside down to empty in to her tea. She then stirred with her straw until it dissolved which happened rather quickly as there was not very much of the substance. She lifted her drink and sipped gently through the straw and smiled, setting her cool beverage down and looking up at the sky. She watched as a bird wheeled over head, a seagull, making a loud racket of calls. She watched it moving this way and that, headed turned down towards them looking and waiting for food to become available to it so it could swoop down and gobble itself full of some morsel or another. 

[Ilyα Cяσw]

Ilya continued to eye-ball Alysia in curiosity; they both ordered iced teas, which clearly indicated they were meant to be friends, right? Not right, not really, but Ilya thought it so, and moved to sit next her with a pleasantly curt and cordial grin. She sipped her tea with an obnoxious slurping noise before adjusting her sunglasses to be placed upon her head.

"Er, hey, you," Ilya starts, awkwardly clearing the pit of her throat and pulling her hair over one shoulder. "I see you, ah -- have iced tea. Iced tea is cool." Okay, so in less than ten words, Ilya had deemed herself (as per usual) socially inept and amateurish with introductions; especially so in a continent she had never been. She had to mend this before she scared away yet another stranger in her blundering endeavors. 

"I mean, I'm Ilya -- and you seem oddly dressed for a ninety-degree day in the middle of hellishly hot Australia. I guess the iced tea helps, though."

[Alysia Weaver]

     Alysia blinked as she was suddenly joined by another female. Of course the blink was hidden behind her exceptionally large and heavily tinted sunglasses, but it was not that she was offended. She just had not been expecting company was all. Her lips quickly parted in to a large smile, though she did not show her teeth. She had to quickly rub her tongue along the backs of her upper teeth to make sure she had shifted properly this time. Occasionally, she ended up not shifting her sharpened upper canines and she was mistaken for a vamprye on more then one occasional. Sure enough, she felt the sharp tips of those teeth and she had to focus slightly upon them to slowly make them change shape inside her mouth to take away those small points.

     Alysia remained smiling as the newcome female began to babble, an awkward attempt to introduce herself and greet Alysia at the same time. Alysia reached out, finally taking pity on the poor female. She laid her own soft hand upon Ilya's, covering her hand with her own pale soft one and patted it softly to let her know it was alright.

     "Hello Ilya, it is a pleasure to meet you. I know you are nervous, there is no need to be. I have been told by my mother, sister, and many others I am an extremely kind hearted being. So have no fear, and let your nervousness fall away. My name is Alysia, by the way, and yes I tend to dress a literal different from most because I tend to make my own clothing. So I enjoy wearing different fashions and styles to show case them and make sure that they are entirely plausible to wear. I would hate to try and sell something that although looks pretty is completely impractical. Yes, the ice tea is pretty cool. It should be approximately thirty four degrees, maybe a little warmer now that the ice is beginning to melt and the sun to warm the drink up."

[Ilyα Cяσw]

Ilya offered a lopsided grin at the hand patting and calm cooing of her company, but she shook her head disagreement. "I'm not nervous, truly. I just don't know how to not be frank; words are hard with new folk since everyone is so different; like, I don't know, sayin' 'hi' to someone a certain way can offend them, know what I mean?" A solid, hearty laugh left her rosy lips and she lifted her glass to take another drink before chewing on the tip of the straw absent-mindedly. 

"You know what, I've never met a tailor before! That's actually really, truly neat; I applaud your outfit. It's not impractical, just simply -- mm, strange. Strange is good, though, in my book." She pauses and takes the once-patting hand to give it an amiable shake. "It's nice to meet you, Alysia. Have you got any work on the runways yet? I've been to a show durin' fashion week in Paris once. It was rad, but I reckon you could do better, huh."

[Alysia Weaver]

     Alysia tilted her head, really confused. Did not 'hi' mean hi every time it was said? There where different means to the word 'hi' based upon the tone that you used? If so, she supposed she had better learn those as well or learn to use something else then the standard greeting used across the world. Earth seemed like such a complicated place to live and fit in properly. She wondered sometimes if she should go back to Nysa, where it was less strange and complicated.

     "Oh, thank you Ilya. I appreciate the compliments but I am not that good. I simply make cloths for people, not show them in fashion shows or anything liked that. I just try to make beautiful pieces of apparel for ladies and gentlemen to feel comfortable wearing whenever they want at a quality that is exemplary but not so expensive only the super rich can afford it."

    She plucked at her own blouse, looking at it critically. "This is very simple, but it breathes and feels almost as if you are not wearing anything which is really nice in hot weather. Also it keeps the sun off delicate flesh with out the need to smother your skin in unnatural chemicals."

[Ilyα Cяσw]

"You don't have to be renown to be good, and by the looks of what you're wearin' miss, you are -- good, that is. Very good. Don't be modest in your craft when you excel, I'd say; I'd buy what you make in a heart beat," Ilya starts, waving a tiny hand in Alysia's direction, gesturing over her cloth creation. She did admire it greatly, as she admired greatly every artistic craft in its beauty; especially so the ones that seemed far too difficult to even attempt. "And creating things with consideration like that? You deserve praise, I insist." 

She raises her tea glass in a lazy, physical praise, a toast, before continuing to gnaw at her straw in an unusual stupor. Discussing art always got her heart-eyed, and she would truly purchase a piece of this woman's work if given the opportunity, without a moment of doubt. "What brings you to the Aussie part of the world, anyway? You don't have the accent, and you don't seem so inclined to the saturated weather. Well, granted, I'm not either and I'm still here -- but I told myself I'd get to every inch of this world before I die, and it seems like you're stationary here." She paused. "Maybe I'm getting my assumptions twisted."

[Alysia Weaver]

     Alysia's cheeks flushed at the compliments, and when the other toasted her suddenly she blinked and hastily raised her glass to imitate the motion and sipping on her semi-sweet tea. She then set the glass down again and gently grasped the straw, twirling it around inside the glass causing the ice to clink against the glass softly and each other. Ilya asked her a question, and she looked up smiling ready to answer. 

     "Oh no, I am definitely not...what is the America description...native to these parts. I definitely live else where, with my Mama Stilia, Papa and dearest sister Atalina. I have been traveling between some major cities recently around the world, attempting to find somewhere to open up a store to sell my clothing. I tried New York City a month or so ago, but it was simply to ludicrously expense to rent a place there, and I knew that I would never sell enough to make ends meet there. So I attempted to come here, where they perhaps might like some lighter clothing, because my cloths are exceptionally light yet amazingly sturdy."

     She held her arm out across the table towards the other female, offer her the sleeve for her to feel for herself. It was like silk linen, cascading and soft yet feather light to the touch. She was proud of her own silk, and make sure to feed herself sufficiently to produce such sufficient material to craft.