.
For a few moments all Khara could do was watch him go. Watch him and smile breathlessly like a completely blissful idiot. A sigh left her finally but it was Leyla's voice that finally dragged her attention back to the booth and the task at hand.
"If you're done swooning, would you like to start trying some of these on?"
While the comment may have sounded teasing, the smile on her lips was far from harsh. Leyla didn’t pay too much attention to the game scout as she gathered an assortment of clothing options in her size, only glancing back occasionally to peer at a glimpse of her eye color, or to squint at Khara's complexion. A frown creased her brow as she considered one possibility, hesitating for a moment before deciding against such a strappy and revealing item.
"So, where did he take you?" she asked, provoking Khara into idle conversation as she continued to rummage. "I'm guessing he bought those fancy clothes last season to wear them when he took you somewhere?"
Khara watched as the seamstress continued to sort through the clothing, trying to figure out what it was that made Leyla pick one item and put away another. They all just looked like fabric to her, maybe with the occasional embellishment of embroidery or beads, but one vinati looked very much like the next and she had to admit that she was going to be at a complete loss the entire time.
"W-we went to the L-Lakes," she began, trying to ignore the overly warm sensation creeping up her neck as she wrapped one of her arms around herself and clung to her elbow. "He-he did look very nice."
The admission brought even more color to her cheeks and Khara could feel her fingertips idly starting to tighten around her other arm. She knew the conversation wasn't meant to make her feel uncomfortable but suddenly without Zhol she felt entirely too exposed to be talking about such things. They were private moments, after all. Weren't they?
Leyla's expression broadened into a grin. "Yes he did, didn't he?" she enthused, adding one last item to the top of the mound slung over her arm. "The green of that jacket makes it impossible not to notice those vivid eyes of his."
Khara's teeth tugged at her lower lip as her eyes wandered downward, in search of hands that normally would have been twisting on each other but were too busy trying to dig into the skin of her arm. A small nod of her head came anyway, she certainly didn't disagree with the assessment.
"Come on, lets get you out of sight of the passers by," Leyla suggested, gesturing towards a secluded corner of the booth, where strategically placed racks and drapes would screen the two of them from view. The Inarta might have been comfortable enough splashing around in the baths unclothed, but stripping off in plain view in the middle of the market was something else entirely. "If we aren't going to let your horse boy watch you trying these on, we definitely shouldn't let anyone else, either."
Khara took a breath and followed, lingering awkwardly even when she was certain they were out of view. She had done this before, tried clothing on to make sure it fit well enough and normally her current clothing would be shed without thought. Now though? Now her hands finally found each other, fingertips tightening as they knitted together, fingernails clicking nervously against each other.
"S-so what do you want me to try first?" She mustered the courage to finally ask, eyes downcast and tone falling into typical subservient fashion. Making a purchase or not, Leyla was still an Avora and to Khara's mind that meant certain etiquette had to followed.
Leyla pondered the question thoughtfully, flicking through a few options from the pile before settling upon one possibility. "If you're going to be spending a lot of time outdoors, and on horses, and atop mountains" she explained, teasing out something emerald green and dark gold from between the folds of other garments, "It's going to be plenty breezy. Your lover seems like a practical sort of boy; if you wear a normal vinati, he's going to worry you aren't dressed warmly enough. But, you don't want to cover up too much - not if you want him looking at you in a way that makes it hard for him to think straight."
She offered the item to Khara, holding it up so that she could see: it was more like the shirts that Khara had seen Zhol wear in a way, all one piece, with short sleeves, and no straps to worry about at the back. Unlike Zhol's shirts though, the non-quite vinati was short, not even enough to cover all the way down Khara's rib cage.
"Boys think they want to see you naked," Leyla explained, "But they're wrong. They like it much more when they can see you almost naked. Wear something like this, and I assure you, that boy of yours will look for any excuse possible to run his hands across the skin you'd be showing off."
Khara slowly reached out to accept the garment, trying to put all of what Leyla had said out of her mind but keep the sentiment there. It wasn't easy, though. She didn't know if Zhol thought of her like that, it wasn't a bad, and she hoped he did, but not how Leyla said it!
"H-he's not like that," she mumbled softly as she shed the warm vinati she had purchased for herself at the end of Fall and tugged the new garment over her head and down over her as much - or little - of her body as it was ever going to cover. Whatever guilt she felt at possibly talking back to an Avora was banished as she immediately felt the difference between the two. The top was snug, but not constricting, and she liked the small bit of coverage it gave to her arms and the fact her back wasn't so exposed.
"Does it look okay?" She asked while wondering how much such a thing could possibly cost.
"Oh, you sweet thing," Leyla said with a hint of a saddened sigh, appraising the garment from different angles before answering Khara's question. "You don't kiss a girl like he just did if all you're interested in is holding hands. It's nothing to be ashamed of, though. It feels good having a man's hands on your skin - especially one as gentle and doting as yours seems to be."
Khara had been about to object, but the words not always died before ever reaching her lips as Leyla put it into perspective about Zhol. It did feel good when he touched her, after all.
The seamstress frowned for a moment, peering at the garment's neck line. "How do you wear your hair when the two of you are out together? Like it is now?"
"Y-yes?" Khara answered, her hands moving to her hair, wrapping around a portion of it and twisting it off to the side of her shoulder. "Sometimes I put it in a single braid, though. I don't... I don't normally do anything special with it."
That thought suddenly was worrying and Khara quickly looked up to Leyla, ever careful to not make full eye contact. "Do you think I should?"
Leyla seemed to give it more thought before she answered. "If you're wearing this, I would be inclined to wear your hair up." She gently swept her own hair back and bundled it together with one hand, gesturing for Khara to try the same. "You're really lucky; you have a very elegant curve to your neck and shoulder, and because the neckline is a little lower on that top, wearing your hair up will really show that off. Plus, it'll help draw his gaze up from the rest of you to find your eyes - and I think that's where you really want him to be looking, isn't it?"
Khara sheepishly nodded even as she slowly pulled her hair up as she had been shown. She allowed herself a slight smile at the thought of the last thing the seamstress had said; imagined for a moment as Zhol would look her over, not in some hungry animalistic manner but in that way that she had seen him do since they had officially become an item - the one that left him grinning like an idiot but still sweetly self conscious about letting his eyes linger too long until they finally met hers. Even as her thoughts wandered Leyla began sporting a knowing smile that didn't even try to hide the unsaid confirmation of how right she had been.
"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"
