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

[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.]

[comeandfindme]

[ She twists a leg around, suddenly very self-conscious that she hadn't shaved it. ]

Yeah. Like, pretty easily actually. [ And then pulls her leg back in. ] It...feels a lot more comfortable than I thought it would.

[whatyouwant]

Good! This is what I meant by finding one that fits you.

[Elle leads her over to the mirror.]

Now, how do you feel in it?

[comeandfindme]

I mean— comfortable, I just…

[ No, she trails off as she realizes what Elle’s getting at. ]

Like…kinda weird? But. I don’t know, like… It doesn’t feel bad.

[whatyouwant]

Anything outside your normal style will take some getting use to.

But here's the best part
The outside is new,
Just now it reflects what's already in view.
No one could change that if they wanted to,
And I sure don't.

[comeandfindme]

[ For a moment, Peregrine tries to hide her bashful smile. Then she turns, to feel the way the dress wraps around her legs, twirling, twirling. ]

...Thanks.

[whatyouwant]

[Elle gives her a one armed hug.]

No problem. Do you want a little makeup, or is that too much right now?

[comeandfindme]

No makeup. [ Immediately. ] That would…definitely be too much.

[whatyouwant]

[Elle giggles.]

I figured, just wanted to offer though.

[Elle takes Peregrine's old clothes from her and sets them to the side.]

We can take care of these later. For now, go up there and make your girlfriends blush.

[comeandfindme]

[ She looks at the pile of clothes, already having the cape, and pauses. ]

Wait. [ She grabs the jacket she came in wearing. It's Janis's. ] ...This too.

[whatyouwant]

Layering, I like it! [She offers her arm to Peregrine.]

Shall we?

[comeandfindme]

[ After a moment, she takes Elle's arm and nods. Time for her to go to her first (and only) prom. ]