one thing's universal, life's no dress rehearsal

[stagemanagers]

[Prom night! The greatest night of your young lives if you watch any Western high school media from the past 60 years. The looks, the music, the copious amounts of fancy snacks, the sore feet from dancing heels and then spending the rest of the night in bare feet- it’s all part of the bigger package.

The courtyard and the roof have both been decked out in a special way for tonight, despite no one really seeing Hester or anyone/anything else decorating. There are round tables set-up in both places, covered in yellow-gold tablecloths. Some of them have platters of snacks laid out on them, one has a large punch bowl that never seems to empty no matter how many drinks are taken from it.

On the roof there’s an extra table with pencils, small slips of paper, a box wrapped in gold wrapping paper and a notecard labeled Song Requests. Just write a song, pop it in the box and within a few minutes it starts playing! Weird, there doesn’t seem to be a sound system anywhere...

Red paper lanterns have been strung around the outline of the roof and between stakes in the courtyard, granting soft romantic light for a night to remember. Put on your best costume shop formal wear, get ready to lose your shoes after an hour and sneak in liquor even though most of you are of age.

After all…tonight belongs to you.]

Comments

Late

[whatyouwant]

Peregrin!

[Elle swoops over with two cups of punch.]

Did you see my note under the prom poster? We can still find you something to wear if you want!

[comeandfindme]

[ This is after she knows she's going to be staying, so. She kind of winces awkwardly. Fancy clothes aren't really her thing... ]

Uhh, I- sort of wasn't planning on coming. ...And overslept. A lot.

[whatyouwant]

That's cool! I will totally help you find something more promtastic, it won't take any time at all. Skirt or pants?

[comeandfindme]

I don't have to wear a dress? Oh thank god. Uhhh. I don't...know, um— ...can...I keep my cloak?

[ It's messy. She meant to wash it, but... ]

[whatyouwant]

Of course! It's the statement piece! We can even do a bit of spot cleaning on it. [Nothing fancy, they DO NOT have time to let it dry.]

Maybe a princely look like Maya's got going on? [Elle knows what's going on here.]

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine's face colors, and it's surprisingly not from the fever. ]

Oh, uh— well, then Janis would look a little out of place... [ The girls are no longer fighting!! ]

[whatyouwant]

[Elle considers Janis' amazing sequined look.]

So something more subtle then?

[comeandfindme]

[ She nods. There's the same sort of shy look in her eye when she'd look at Connor, before... Well, before. ]

Maybe just, like...a little.

[whatyouwant]

[Elle takes her hands. She knows the look of a girl in love, and she intends on doing everything in her power to make this work.]

How do you feel about vests?

[comeandfindme]

I could feel okay about 'em. I don't really have much of an opinion. [ She'll follow Elle! ...and try not to track her boots around. ]

[whatyouwant]

[Elle leads her down to the costume room. Luckily she had already sorted everything out to help people earlier.]

Okay, how attached are you to the boots?

[comeandfindme]

Uhhhh, well I don't wanna wear anything I can't walk or move in. You know. Already kinda shaky, so...attached.

[ Literally walking through her own reasoning in the moment. ]

[whatyouwant]

So we'll need to clean them up a bit or find you something equally comfortable to move in...

[Elle mutters to herself as she flips through the rack.]

Check those two boxes over there and see if you find anything you like in your size.

[She points Peregrine to two boxes labeled "FLATS" and "BOOTS" in Elle's own elegant script.]

[comeandfindme]

Oh, um— okay. Okay, sure.

[ It's now that Peregrine remembers other shoes exist; she's been wearing these boots here since she found them on like day two.

She starts looking through them but the only things that seem to catch her attention are...more hiking boots.

Elle I'm sorry. ]

[whatyouwant]

Oh! Try those! [Elle points to a pair of ankle boots (That we are going to pretend are flat.]

So I know you said you want to wear pants, but would you be willing to try on at least one dress? I think you'll really like it.

[comeandfindme]

[ The boots she seems to be amenable toward, but at the mention of a dress, Peregrine grimaces mildly. ]

Elle... I want something I can move around in. Dresses don't really do that.

[whatyouwant]

If you get the wrong one, sure.

[Elle pulls out a simple black dress and holds it out to Peregrine.]

The sleeveless design allows for full range of motion for your arms, and the high slit means you can walk and run just fine as well!

[comeandfindme]

Oh. Oh, uh... [ She looks it over, even touches it. ] ...Doesn't this look, like...a little too...you know...fancy?

[ Despite her previous concerns of practicality— Well, Peregrine is a teenage girl, after all. She hasn't always been the outdoorsy type, but she has always been relatively reserved with clothing, sticking to what's comfy, what's relaxed. ]

Wouldn't it be weird?

[ Elle should have no trouble seeing—her primary concern is that...she's shy. ]

[whatyouwant]

[The shy girl. Elle has seen plenty in her time. She knows the key to helping isn't to make them the center of attention right away, rather ease them into it slowly.]

The only flash on this dress is the little bit of beading around the neckline. Have you seen what Maya and Janis are wearing? Nothing can look "too fancy" next to them.

[Elle holds it up and smiles.]

Just try it on? If you don't like it, we'll find you a nice pair of suit pants or a jumpsuit.

[comeandfindme]

Well— yeah, but...

[ She fiddles with the friendship bracelet Connor made her. Her nails are bitten down, and besides that they've got dirt under them. ]

...I mean like. ...Is it too fancy for me?

[whatyouwant]

It's only too fancy if you don't like it. You get to decide what is good for you to wear and what isn't, and it isn't some arbitrary rule about how 'fancy' someone's allowed to look.

[Elle give Peregrine's shoulder a squeeze.]

You are a beautiful girl, and you've got two beautiful girlfriends up there and a whole bunch of family who want you to have a good time and feel good about yourself. If you try it on and hate it, I promise we will look for something else.

[comeandfindme]

[ Family.

Of all of it, that's what squeezes at her chest the most. She's been thinking about that so much. About how Howl isn't here to see her, how...her mom must be so worried.

Still. Elle's words seem to do the trick, even though she's still fiddling with that bracelet, still looking awkward as hell. She meets Elle's eyes and nods. ]

Okay. Okay, I'll try it. [ give her the dress she'll get changed ]

[whatyouwant]

[Elle grins and hands her the dress.]

Let me know if you need help getting it zipped up.

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine isn't the sort of girl to wear a dress very often. She can actually count on one hand the amount of times she has: To a New Year's Party at her dad's insistence when she was eight, and it had itched the entire time; to Jacob's middle school graduation when she was twelve, and it had been too long and she'd almost tripped over her feet; and to her first high school homecoming when she was fifteen, only because Lexy was nervous about going alone.

It's not that she hates them. They just never appealed to her, and by the time she started thinking, maybe it'd be fun to wear one—

Jacob died.

Everything else stopped seeming important, after that.

So when Peregrine returns to the costume shop, after changing into the simple black dress, her dirty clothes folded in her arms and her cloak draped around her shoulders, she shuffles in, still with that uncharacteristic shyness. ]

Uh, could you...? [ She turns slightly, pulling the cloak back. She most definitely needs some help getting zipped up. ]

[whatyouwant]

[Peregrine comes out and Elle is already grinning. Even unzipped, she can tell the dress fits her perfectly.

She finishes up the zipper, careful not to catch any skin.]

How do you feel? Is it comfortable? Can you move? [Mobility didn't matter to everyone, Elle herself is willing to sacrifice some comfort for fashion, but she knows mobility and comfort are important to Peregrine.]