Swiftly - Harry Hook

~Chapter 2~ | Peacock Feathers and Gerbils

"What about peacock feathers?"

The girls stood in their dorm, finishing up their last round of customers for the day, Chad Charming and Doug Forest. Evie had taken the liberty of fitting her boyfriend, while Ryllian, much to her displeasure, had to deal with the overwhelming narcissism and self-absorbance of Cinderella's heir.

Ryllian sewed a faux fur lining into the bottom of his cape, which she could easily say was overdone already. She did her best to work fast, but her temper was on a short fuse, getting shorter.

"Yeah, I bet you nobody's gonna have those at Cotillion," Chad looked in the mirror, twisting around like a maniac. Ryllian grabbed the edge of his cape and gave it a sharp tug. He looked at her, aghast and mildly insulted, and she just glared.

She tied off the line of thread, and gave a chef's kiss to her work.

"How do I look, Princess? Eh?" Chad said, his eyes unmoving from his reflection, his hands running down the soft edge of the cape.

Ryllian plastered a sickly sweet smile to her lips, place her hands on the prince's shoulders, and said, "Chad, when I look at you all I can think of is... 'king.'" She over-exaggerated her hand gestures, easily convincing the prince that he looked fantastic. 

Chad gasped in joy, his wide eyes looking down at her figure, who stood with her arms crossed and her hip jutting out.

"And the fake fur," Evie nodded in approval, looking up from Doug's suit. "Uh-huh. It says it all." She sent an unapologetic glance towards Ryllian.

"Loud and clear," Doug said dryly, making Evie and him chuckle. Ryllian subtly flipped them off before Chad turned his attention back to her.

Just as she was putting her pins away, Jay slammed the door open. She jumped, startling, and pricked her finger on one of the pins she was holding over her case.

"Gah!" she shouted, glaring at the grinning boy in the doorway. "Bloody fucks, Jay. Is it that much of a struggle to walk into a room without breaking the entryway?"

"Language, mini-Mer," he teased. His gaze shifted over to Chad, who looked him up and down slightly disapprovingly. "You. Amphitheater in five."

Chad looked at Ryllian who, without bothering to look at him, extended her hand for the cape. She twitched her fingers in a "hurry up" motion, and he begrudgingly handed it over to her.

"Why did the coach make him instead of me? I'm obviously better." he grumbled. But his face lit up when he saw the girls hanging up and labelling their new attire. "But King Chad, though. I do rather like that. You know who else would like that?"

Ryllian looked at Jay incredulously when the blonde boy answered his own question, "Audrey." His face fell, and he brought a fist to his mouth, seemingly not wanting to cry. Ryllian and Doug looked at each other, stifling a laugh.

Evie nodded convincingly, "She would."

Jay rolled his eyes, having enough, "Chaaaad. Amphitheater. Lets go. Now."

"I'm coming. Yeah," he said.

Jay clapped him on the back leading him out. As soon as the boys were gone, Doug and Evie looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Not a lot of there there."

Ryllian scoffed, "Aye, you don't say? He seems to be having a wee bit of trouble dealing with his breakup with the bitch-queen." She pinched her fingers mockingly.

Evie looked at her with raised eyebrows, and Doug hid a laugh with a hacking fit.

Ryllian looked between the couple and shrugged, "You can't tell me I'm wrong about her without lying, you know."