948/Stitch Witchering

Stitch Witchering
Date of Scene:	03 April 2020
Location:	Van Dyne Fashion House, New York
Synopsis:	Emma approaches Janet to get a new dress made for the upcoming Gala!
Cast of Characters:	Janet van Dyne, Emma Frost

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Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet van Dyne accepts relatively few personal clients. There are a bevy of extremely talented designers and tailors working for her; seamstresses, atelliers, experts in the craft of making clothing. Clients of more modest means get a brush with Janet. Five minutes of meeting, some design notes, and some last-minute personal adjustments on the work she's delegated to others.

For people who don't blink at Janet's exorbitant hourly rate, though, there's always the possibility of working with Janet herself. That is, the hourly rate is secondary to the value of Manhattan's wealthy elites being seen strutting around in a van Dyne custom suit. For those individuals, Janet always handles the work personally.

"Miss van Dyne?" Janet looks up from her desk as her assistant peeks his head in. "Your two o'clock is here. Shall I show Miss Frost in?"

"Oh! Yes, I totally lost track of time. Bring her in," Janet says, and finishes up the work she's doing at her desk.

The assistant moves to fetch Emma and bring her into the office; it gives Janet time to rise and move to meet her client. The look for Janet today is dark blues, which brings out the healthy color of her cheeks and contrasts her eyes; thigh-high grey boots and a dress that'd be a t-shirt if it was being worn by someone a few inches taller. Gold glitters at her wrist and a pendant with a familiar patriotic star in the center dangles under a black choker. With a beaming smile, Janet moves to intercept Emma and offers a squeeze of both hands in embrace. "Emma! So good to see you, darling," she coos.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost is in a fair state. A little over a week until the Hellfire's Spring Gala, and she had found out //this morning// her dress wasn't going to be ready on time. The details as to why were of little consequence to the CEO of Frost International and Board Member of the Hellfire Club itself... she just could //not// be seen at this gala less than her utter best.

So when a wardrobe emergency strikes, there is no better person to see than Janet van Dyne, seamstress and designer of unmatched talent, and Avenger.

Emma herself today is straight from her office, dressed in head to toe white, as is her style. A custom tailored business suit, heels, and a shimmery white blouse with the slightest amount of poof... a white choker and a white banded LexTech watch.

She returns Janet's embrace with a squeeze of her own. "Likewise, Janet! It feels like its been an age. I so hate to do this at the last minute. I love to work with smaller designers, but I think he was simply overwhelmed with work for the gala." Emma brushes back an errant strand of dyed-blonde hair absently. "You may be my only hope of not being a complete mess."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet steps back and gives Emma a critical head-to-toe. She starts nodding slowly, and her eyes narrow with speculative agreement when she meets Emma's blue-eyed gaze. "Yes, yes, I think that might be -absolutely- correct."

A beat, then she laughs and lays an apologetic hand on Emma's arm. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm such a catty bitch. I'm teasing! It's so dull lately, I haven't had anyone to really snark at in /ages/," she clarifies. "I clearly need to come around the Club more."

"I know you're in a rush, so I won't dawdle. You want a drink or something? Cocktails? C'mon over here, let's get some work going." The 'office' side of Janet's workspace is all cool whites and cyans, with gold highlights. The minimalist aesthetic lends itself to focus, to left-brain work, with no distractions so she can focus on crunching numbers and making calculated decisions.

The curtains to the other half of the office are pulled aside, and a riotous explosion of artistic chaos is revealed. Dozens of industrial racks full of fabric samples, mannequins with partially completed attire, and even a short model's runway and complex lighting system. The floor to ceiling windows admit a startling amount of natural light into what was clearly once some kind of industrial shop space in the distant past.

Janet pulls a chair over for Emma and clambers up into a stool at her artist's bench; the green, paint-spattered surface is angled upwards so she can work more comfortably at it. One leg crosses over the other and she hooks a spike heel over the rung on her stool. "Okay. Spring gala. Talk to me. Day or night, formal or social, are we doing something bold or conservative...?" A charcoal pencil is twiddled with eager impatience on her fingertips as she waits for feedback from the leggy blonde.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma laughs lightly. "Yes, you should come by the club. Are you still with Steve? You two should consider a date night at Lily Ann's. It's very romantic..." she grins.

She takes the offered seat. "Just sparkling water... trying to keep a clear head today." She mms, settling back in the chair. "Evening. It's a benefit for Genosha this year, what with the tragedy of the attack and all. Very formal. As for style..." Emma frowns. "I really am not entirely sure. Certainly it's important to be noticed and appreciated, but I don't want to risk stealing the spotlight off Queen Lorna, as truly she should be the centerpiece of the evening."

Emma looks conspiratorially at Janet with a grin. "Whatever we choose, however, I wouldn't mind if it was a bit distracting for my date. An actual date this year, not just an escort of political convenience."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet screws her face up at Emma in a mocking little smile. "Yes, I'm still with -Steve-," she says, and laughs at Emma's ribbing. "He might actually get a kick out of Lily Ann's, that'd be right up his alley. Thanks for the suggestion," she tells Emma. There's a fast silhouette of Emma's proportions on a base layer of paper; it's put into a projector so Janet can trace right over it onto the design notebook.

One hand is already working on a sketch design; she gets a few dozen strokes on paper, frowns at it, and tears it out to toss it aside. A finger presses her call intercom. "Jonathan, be a darling, bring sparkling water for Miss Frost, and I'll have a rum and coke," she bids her aide.

"Okay, nothing too avante garde," Janet mutters to herself. A new design starts to materialize. "Let's see... tell me more about your date. Juicy details later," Janet swiftly clarifies, "and I'm gonna hold you to that, but right now, gimme some ideas about their tastes. Haute couture? Conservative? Are you trying to just remind him you're on the market, or are we going the full-court 'I'm the only woman in the room'?"

Emma Frost has posed:
"Hmm..." Emma looks amused. "Well, he's tall, blonde, handsome, and built... so he could be Steve's younger brother..." that last bit delivered with a heavy dose of teasing. "He is a graduate student at Empire State... geophysics." Emma considers. "I'd think he would lean more conservative, really..." A head tilt. "And I'm torn. He isn't... from a society family. Only woman in the room suits my tastes, be truthful." She has a mildly wicked look as she only half jokes, "I'm not really one for sharing, after all."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Sharing's fine, honey, it's when they get uppity about co-ownership that you've got a problem." Janet glances at Emma and winks once, sidelong. It turns into a florid grin and she cranes her neck over the work at hand. Another idea swiftly emerges in blocky charcoal lines, and she sets that one aside for Emma to look at.

"So you're dating a geologist going to a public university," Janet remarks, and clucks her tongue. "I'd have given you some grief over that a couple years ago, but if he looks anything like Steve, I think that's worth overlooking. There's just... something about that build," she says, and looks out the window with a dreamy sigh. "Like getting tossed around by a farmhand bucking hay bales."

She focuses on the dress concept and another one flies off the desk. "All right, conservative, -not- from money, this is a 'don't stare at me but don't forget I'm here', don't wanna undercut the Queen-- though really that's her problem for not coming to /me/ for a dress," she mutters, "but /what/ever..." The diatribe seems mostly self-contained as Janet's train of thought putters out of the station unattended.

A third design comes off the page and this one perks Janet's interest enough for her to flip it around and show it to Emma. A simple sheathe dress, with a scoop neck that's relatively revealing without being immodest; close fitting through the waist and hip, with an ankle-length hem and a split up to the calf.

"So, we make the dress all about what's unseen," she explains, aiming that remark squarely at Emma. "Close fitting, a little clingy but not tight fitting. I know you usually go in white, but a soft cerulean might be a nice touch here. Brings out your eyes a little. Silver and sapphires for jewlery, and an ivory scarf for an accent piece. Whatcha think?"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma's hand rises to her mouth as she barely stifles a giggle. "Farmhand bucking haybales... that's..." Oh good, the water has arrived! Emma graciously takes it and sips, then mumbles "...not entirely inaccurate..."

She leans forward to peer at Janet's design with interest. "Oh, that's nice. Less form-fitting than the other," she notes, "but I think I like it. Are you sure about the color, though? Color looks awful on me," she says, a mild hint of despairing in her tone.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet leans over impulsively and grips Emma's wrist, then her fingers. "Hey," she says, her tone firm but reassuring. "Stop that. White's a great -look- for you. I told you that. You won't go wrong. And," she says, releasing Emma's fingers to sit back. Her hands spread illustratively. "This is a collaborative process. I'm not going to put you in something you're not comfortable in. Well, not anymore," she says, nose wrinkling. "We're a little too old for me to wrestle you into corsets anymore."

The memory provokes a tittering laugh. "But-- hear me out. You're into him, right?" she surmises. "And this is like, a date, not just a social thing. A little splash of color, the right accents, do your hair a little different--" her shoulders, hands, and head juke in different directions. "He's not escorting the CEO of Frost Industries to a fundraiser. He's on a date with Emma. Some soft colors, a conservative dress-- guys are thick about fashion but he'll recognize you're doing something different for him. If he doesn't, then, y'know, you lean over and say 'psst I am glad you like this dress, I wanted to wear something you'd like'," Janet whispers, sotto voce.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma shifts a bit in her seat, peering at the dress design. "Mmm." Janet's never steered her wrong before, this is true, fashion wise. "Don't tell my father it's a date," Emma replies dryly. "You know he is more concerned with the stock portfolios and good breeding of anyone I'm seen publicly with." And Emma isnt usually prone to disobey-- that is why she controls Frost International and Adrienne does not.

She sighs. "Okay. The blue." She grins a bit at Janet. "And the corsets grew on me, eventually. In the right circumstances."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Right, I'm gonna run off and tattle on you for going on a date," Janet says with a theatrical eyeroll. "You're twenty-four, Emma, at some point he's just going to have to come to grips with the fact that this isn't England and he's not going to sell you off to a baron for fifty head of cattle and some acreage."

More adjustments are made to the sketch, refining it a bit, and Janet pauses again. This time, her expression's a wistful one as it turns out the window. "You know, it's funny," she muses. "I started dating Hank just to piss daddy off. After he passed, I was so afraid of being alone... but getting married was a horrible mistake."

She smiles ruefully at Emma. "Now I wish he was alive so I could introduce him to Steve. He's not as bad as Winston, but they've both got that old world, old blood mentality. I think he would have liked Steve. Then again, everyone likes Steve," she allows.

Janet sits back and looks at her handiwork, then slides the paper over to Emma. It's a crisp image, the front alluringly suggestive without being tawdry, compromised with a backless cut with a vee shape that will emphasize Emma's curves. "Oh-- makeup wise, I'd match to the dress. Blues or whites," she suggests to Emma, and hauls over a digital sketchpad to start rendering the dress in more detail. "I've still got your measurements in here from the November gala, are those going to be OK for me to work off of?" she inquires, and drums the stylus over the tablet's surface.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma laughs lightly. "Well don't tell him that. After all, that's why he disowned Christian." She scowls a bit. "But I don't think Alex is like Hank." She lifts a brow. "For one, he actually seems to notice things that aren't on a lab bench..." she chides. "But I agree. Steve is hard not to like. Are you bringing him to the Gala? He does clean up nicely, after all."

She looks over the new image and nods in agreement. "Mm. Blues and whites. And the November measurements should still be accurate." She is fanatical about hitting the gym at the club daily, unless she physically cannot. "And we should plan a night for drinks or something. I know I've been busy since taking over the company in January, but I can make time."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Let's go hit up Red Circle then," Janet suggests to Emma. "I know you love the Hellfire Club but you gotta let your hair down. Get among the seething masses for a bit. We'll pop in, get some drinks, flirt shamelessly and give out a bunch of fake phone numbers," she suggests.

"As for this--" her nails drum on the tablet. "Give me... oooh... five days," she tells Emma. "I'll rush a few other concept sketches, we'll have you in for a final fitting, and you'll have time to pick out the right shoes to go with it," she promises. "But don't make a habit of these rush jobs. I've still gotta come up with something for me, let alone another tuxedo for Steven. If you'd cut it much closer, I would have been forced to fit you something off the rack."

Janet shudders exquisitely at that notion!

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma laughs lightly. "I suppose this is where you say it serves me right for going to someone else," she points out. "But fair. And The Red Circle sounds great... as long as they serve halfway decent drinks. I went with Alex to this nightclub near his apartment a bit ago and I swear, their top shelf we wouldnt even consider for well." She wrinkles her nose.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Okay." Janet looks around, carefully, as if checking for listening devices. Once she's sure no one's in earshot, she beckons Emma conspiratorially closer. "First date? Our first, real date, me and Steve? He brought me to an Outback Steakhouse."

Brows rise to go along with a slow, sympathetic nod. "It's not all haybales, honey. Take a word of advice from me: always pick the place, make sure they've got a credit card on file, and don't let him get his boxers in a twist about paying for dinner. If he starts making a scene about it-- just suggest he cooks something at home!"

Janet slides off her stool and flicks a finger at the hem of her miniskirt so it settles again. A proper hug's offered Emma, along with air-kisses near her cheekbones. "Okay. Five days. I'll have something perfect for you. He's gonna love it," she says with a beaming smile.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma grins. "Wise advice. I will be sure to take it," she nods sagely. She rises and returns the air kisses. "Five days. Text me if you need me for fittings or anything. And we will have to schedule something-- maybe even the four of us? I think he would get along with Steve quite well, come to think of it." She sniffs imperiously a bit. "Tony called him a GI Joe cosplayer. But you know Stark. Sarcasm and dismissal all in one package." She grins. "Thank you so much, Janet."