How Green Becomes Wood

"Probably a good choice," Xander agreed. After a bit, he asked, "So. This is your kind of thing?" He didn't want to assume that just because she was a girl meant that she enjoyed clothes shopping.
 
She shrugged, "Sometimes. It's not my favourite thing to do, but I think it's fun every once in awhile. Especially for an event like this, where you get to try on clothes you don't normally get to wear."
 
"Fair." He eyed her sideways for a moment while pretending to look at a frilly thing that looked like a wedding cake but was trying to pass itself off as a dress. "Do you like leather?"

Alec approached Sloan. "I have three picks for you! Only three."
 
Catching the glance, Claire pretended she hadn't, and just thumbed through the dresses casually, "I like how sustainable it is. It lasts forever if you treat it right."

"That's a lot of restraint from you," Sloan chuckled, "Let me see 'em."
 
Xander grunted. "Agreed. It's good stuff. Kept properly, it can be reused into other things, too. You ever wear it?"

Alec grinned. "I do my best. Okay, this first one is pleats, not ruffles, but I understand if that's too similar, and it comes in pink, green, and beige as well, if you don't like the blue." He held up the first dress, which had one wide shoulder strap, a fitted bodice, and three tiers of perfect pleats in increasing length. This one was in a medium blue color, and stopped just above the ankles. "These two only come in blue, sorry," he said, showing her two more dresses, both dark blue but with one a darker shade than the other. The darker one was a halter top with thin opening between the breasts that didn't quite reach down to the navel, a thin belt accent, and a swoosh-worthy skirt, all in a very satiny material. The second, lighter dress was a single-shoulder dress like the first, and it had more gathers and pleats on the bodice with a silver, sparkly accent at the shoulder and waist. This one reached down to the floor and had a thigh-high slit in the skirt.
 
"In belts and shoes," Claire answered, "Maybe in a bag, if I had the right one. I don't think I'm cool enough to pull off a leather jacket."

Sloan looked through the dresses. Of the shorter one she said, "I like the top, but the rest looks more like an accordion to me... I really like this halter though, I want to go try it on."
 
Xander paused and looked her up and down. "It'd clash with your normal style," he agreed. "But I think you could do it. Depending." He turned away and resumed pretending to look for a dress.

"Fair enough on the accordion thing," Alec agreed. "I do admit to being a sucker for the sparkly bits on this other one, but I bet the halter will look fabulous on you."
 
"Depending?" Claire asked curiously, and then said, "I could maybe make a light brown work. Or a white. You have a leather business, don't you?"

"Honestly, I don't hate the sparkly bits, but they kind of remind me of some of my gymnastics uniforms," Sloan admitted.
 
"Depending on the style, the cut, and the color of the jacket," Xander said. "Yeah. I sell mostly smaller stuff. Haven't quite mastered jackets yet. Almost, but not quite." He spotted a dress, smiled, and picked it out for Sloan to try.

Alec winced. "Didn't even think of that. Yes! You should try on the halter. I'll put the other two away, and where's Claire? I bet she has an option for you by now."
 
"Is leather dyed unnatural colours horrendous to you?" Claire asked, truly curious, "But that's really cool. I get to sell some of my pottery at the studio, but I think about starting my own little business. I'm just too scared."

"I'm not sure where she is," Sloan replied, "She can be hard to spot, we need to get a headband with a big arrow on it."
 
Xander shrugged. "It can be cool. I prefer natural colors, myself, but dyed can be cool. I've seen your work, it's pretty good. Do you have any perfectionist tendencies?"

"I thought that was what you all said about me," Alec grinned. He started looking for Claire.
 
"Thank you," Claire replied, and then took some time to think about his answer, "I guess in some ways, sure. I've been doing gymnastics just about since I could walk, and that's not really the kind of thing you can escape without getting a bit of perfectionism into you, but I'm quitting so I guess I probably have less than some."

"You get lost because you wander," Sloan said, "She gets lost because she's short."
 
"Long as you don't let perfectionism get in the way, then you could do alright in business," Xander told her. "Otherwise, you'll get stuck wondering if it's 'good enough' to sell. But if you just love doing it to do it, I wouldn't try to make money. Maybe a farmer's market or something, but not to fully try to support yourself with it."

"Hmm. Good point," Alec agreed. Then he pointed. "Found them! There's my girl! And my brother!" He gave a fake gasp. "Is my brother trying to steal my girl?"
 
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