Ridgefield Planetarium (clutch only) Wizards in Winter

Fit

---

A lot had gone on in Arabella's rather calm world; her head being messed with and trying to get back to normal from that and then understandably her brother needed to depart for his own health. She wished him well and all but she stayed, liking the clutch here very much but it still left a bit of a aching hole at having no siblings around anymore.

Embarrassingly; for her at least, she fell into the solitude of being a vampire and rarely was seen for quite some time and wasn't as social as before. It was a change but she didn't even realize it until the first bite of winter made the flowers in the garden frost over. The realization that she'd not left was a bit shocking; a good shocking as it helped snap her out of it but still a shock nonetheless.

Getting dressed and freshening up, she scrunched her curls a little as she picked up her embroidering bag and went to the Planetarium. A pleasant look on her face when the fob still works as she slipped inside the familiar space that she'd not been in for so long. She had missed it and not immediately seeing anyone, she put on the transiberian orchestra music on low as she tucked onto a couch while pulling out one of her hoops.

It was a rectangular hoop (heh) that she dragged the thread in and out of while humming to the music as she worked steadily on the project.

---

Project

Safiya was here! Just very tiny. And very hidden high up on a bookcase. A favorite trick, if ever someone approached the lounge while she was in it. Wouldn’t anyone, if they could turn into a tiny moused sized creature with wings?

She watched the too-pretty lady with wide eyes, recalling her face but not her name. There were so many members of this clutch, but too much distance between them all.

It was time, for her to start making more of an effort. Laziness was an unfortunate side effect to living for an eternity. But what was the point of living this long if she didn’t make sure her clutch was healthy?

Spying was definitely healthy, right?! Only in the name of playing a little prank.

Quiet as a mouse, Safi shuffled her way to the ceiling, watching the woman settle in for what looked like a comfy night. And promptly, as she hung ten feet over her head, disrupted it, “Pretty!”

Arabella should be able to anticipate when others were around at this point but she easily got lost in her work; the tug and pull of thread as she hummed softly to the music playing in the space.

She worked slowly until a voice sounded and the needle jabbed her finger making her squeak and laugh as she stuck it into her mouth and looked around.

"Uh...uhm...thank you...spirit? " she asked, her voice a mix of tentative but also joking as she was sure it was another clutch mate but where?

Oops! She hadn't meant to make her bleed, but at least it wasn't sever enough to send her into bloodlust. She was cute about it, and Safiya giggled behind her folded wings.

"You're welcome. I like to send compliments from beyond the grave."

Stuck her finger in her mouth as a light laugh left her, smiling some as she shook her hand a bit.

"I guess that makes us all like that huh? " Arabella joked as she tilted her head up to look and around the ceiling maybe? It was the only place she hadn't looked yet.

"Any critiques? It's my first go at Chinese lantern plants, " she asked just holding the embroidery out some like a plate because she still was baffled. Bats were not something she was used to looking for.

True, but Safiya didn't count being dead until she was ashes!

Her little lips twisted into a smile at the way the girl; Bella?; continued to play along. Asking for critiques from a disembodied voice. She liked her.

"Well, I thought they were peaches at first. So I'm probably not the one to ask." Safiya laughed, "Want me to get a closer look?"

That made her look at them from another angle, "Oh...you know they sort of do look like tiny peaches right now...huh, " she mused out, having not seen it at all at first.

"Yes please, I promise I won't spook easy again. " she replied to the sweet voice as she simply awaited their arrival.

Anything round and orange was either a peach or a tangerine until proven otherwise.

“Okay. But first, try and spot me.” She challenged.

“I’ll give you a hint.”

Oh, a game of eye spy!

"Alright, Miss Spirit, I'll take my one hint then please, " she asked, proper manners and all as she set the embroidery on the little side table.

She grinned, tiny little teeth in a tiny little smile, a private grin just for herself.

She peered down at the blonde head, debating on the most clever option here.

“I spy with my little eye… something cute, brown, and incredibly charming.” True for her in either form. “I’d tell you more, but I’m afraid it would go right over your head.”

Oh. She tilted her head back to stare up and then smiled.

""I spy with my little eye...a rather sweet looking bat? " how on earth had she missed her right above her head?

Congrats Arabella, she got the self-ditz award for not even looking directly up but everywhere else.

There she was! Ugh, so pretty. Big blue eyes, long blonde hair, cute accent. None of these observations made out of envy, but appreciation for how pretty girls could be.

“Boo!” She called, splaying her tiny little wings out for emphasis.

Oh bless her heart as she saw the small bat.

"Oh my stars your form is stunning! I missed you completely when I came in, " she said with a happy laugh, wholly surprised in the best way possible.

The reaction to her form could range between adoration and outright disgust. Safi was glad that the beautiful girl below tended toward the former. Those who thought bats were disgusting could suck a fat one, frankly. Damn straight, she was stunning!

"Well, I admit I did hide on purpose. It's too tempting, when I can be this little." Safi explained, then with a tiny flutter of movement, swooped down from the beam from which she'd hung, and alighted lightly upon a throw pillow beside the girl.

Arabella couldn't help the soft chuckle that left her as she watched her flutter on down and rest on the pillow next to her, "I too, would be rather tempted to do the same but I've yet to be blessed with an animal form yet- in time I imagine, " she told her as she picked up the embroidery she was working on.

"What do you think Miss? " she asked, brow raised as she had not met her before. She didn't sound like Razi so someone she'd not properly met.

God, this girl was cute as a button. Blessed with an animal form. Safi imagined her as a cute little rabbit. But she didn't think that was possible. Maybe a cat, then.

Now, on to her opinion. The bat giggled, then in the blink of an eye, expanded into the form of Safiya, squishing down the pillow beneath her butt. She drew her knees in to keep from accidentally kicking the other vampire, hugging them close as she adjusted her weight.

Grinning, she said, "It's Safi." Then nodded to the stitching, "And it's beautiful."

---

fit

A giggle coming from a bat was so cute, she'd never though she'd hear it but this one proved her wrong but then in a blink, there was a woman. She looked at her in surprise to the sudden form change but she didn't protest it.

Instead, offering another pillow to help her be comfortable in the chair with her.

"Arabella, its lovely to meet you, " she told her as she looked down at her embroidery, "Thank you...I'm trying a new technique with the thread so that it gives the sense it is still in the whispy husk, " she told her as she held it over to see the very fine shimmering threads over the fruit.

Safiya leaned in to properly admire it. Such intricate, delicate stitching. She was in awe that it was made out of nothing but thread. "May I touch?" She questioned, always tactile.

"How long have you been working on it?" She added, no matter if she was allowed to touch or not.

"Oh, yes go ahead. I make some that are meant to be touched and felt; I've had clients who cant see so I made the pattern wholly felt so they could see it in their own way, so you won't damage it, " she told her with a little smile.

Thinking for a moment, "Embarrassingly...as it shows I've been doing nothing else, four days right now. " she admitted sheepishly. Yea, she had been in a hiding away slump but she was coming out now!

Hello, Arabella was an angel, actually. Safiya smiled, petting the varying textures as she listened to the explanation. Context told her that this was both a hobby and a source of income.

"Okay, but it would take me like four years to do something like this, and it would actually look like orange blobs, so." Safiya laughed, "You should proud of it, even if it does take up all of your time."

"I could show you...if you wanted, something simple to make your own peaches instead, " she offered with a smile.

"I do love it, hand crafts like this have kept me sane over the years and I can sell them, " she told her with a proud little wiggle.

Safiya straightened at the offer, her grin widening as she folded her hands back over her knees. Honestly, why not? She had a handful of hobbies, but not nearly enough. And she was a creature that needed things to fill her time, lest she seek stimulation in ways that were probably not wise. Boredom did not treat her well.

Plus, it was a good way to get to know Arabella more.

"I'd love lessons!"

Arabella smiled as she reached into her bag that held a few hoops with fabric on them already. Humming for a second, she chose a black base and pulled out a piece of fabric chalk.

Very carefully, she outlined a peach on it; not a small peach but a good-sized one to get her used to the stitch.

"I will show you a very easy stitch- you can use it for so many things, let me get you needle and thread- favorite color? "

Oh! Right now! Safiya sat back, elated by the immediacy of it.

She watched the preparation with interest, noting how easily Arabella etched the shape.

"Let's go pink. Do you have to freehand every piece?" She wasn't the worst artist, but she definitely wouldn't be able to achieve something as intricate as Arabella's flowers.

"I love pink, " she said with a happy sigh as she dug into her; essentially a Marry Poppings bag, of embroidery supplies to pull out a Spool for her. She was used to the motion as she pulled out a tiny set of finger scissors and nipped off a length before pulling out a pack of needles from her pocket to thread it.

"I try to but when it comes to my more intricate pieces I have a special washable ink that I print over the fabric. I can free hand some patterns but I like seeing where I'm going. " she told her with a little smile as she tied off the end and held it to her.

Safi settled in, getting more comfortable as she watched the woman's hands work effortlessly to thread the needle. She'd sewn a few things in her time living in her car, finding it necessary to get crafty when she didn't have the money to just get new clothing. But she'd always had to lick the thread and spend a prepubescent amount of time getting it in the hole.

"Amazing. I think I'll stick to letting you do all the hard work for now." She joked, taking the needle. The pink was perfect.

"I don't mind at all, " She told her with an easy smile; she liked threading needles.

Arabella then pulled out her hoop of essentially embroidering doodles that were stitches and random flowers that she did while thinking; she had a simple black thread going in it as she then turned it to her.

"This stitch is called a back stitch thread, so you start anywhere like this and poke it through the back and out. Once you feel the knot at the end, give a gentle tug," she told her as she poked her needle up and through.

"Then, and this will sound silly, put your needle back in right next to that starting point, it'll make sense in a moment. " she promised her.

Okay, lesson time!

Safiya tilted her head closer, watching with interest as Arabella stitched her example. Okay. Up, then in, then…

Biting her lip, Safi turned her attention toward the outline on her own hoop. Best learned by trial and error. Pinching the needle carefully in her fingers, she mimicked the first step, creating the first stitch. But kind of got lost here, and tried to start the next by looping the needle through the front first.

“Wait-“ That didn’t feel right. She glanced at Arabella’s again.

"You're okay, " she said as she helped to guide the needle back out so it was under the fabric.

"Now, poke it up a few centimeters away from where you first poked through, like this " Arabella told her as she pushed the needle through the fabric and then placed just the tip of the needle where they had poked through first.

"Then poke through just behind that first spot to hide that starting stich. " she said, going nice and slow to show her as she covered the starting point up with the thread and pulled the thread through until it rested on the fabric.

In her youth, Safiya had been the type of child to get mad and throw tantrums, out outright give up when things became too difficult. But as she grew older, she began to recognize the hard things as challenges to overcome. Little gold medals to collect along the way. Soon, it became almost addicting to find new things to master, searching for harder and harder obstacles.

In terms of some of the things she'd had to conquer, doing a stitch was among the easiest. Still, she approached it with the same self-competitiveness as she did everything else.

It clicked once Arabella repeated it, and Safi grinned to herself as she mirror the example. "Okay, that's actually easy. Makes sense! Do I just do that along the whole outline?"

Arabella watched, not interfering unless she asked to as she watched her get the hang of the stitch relatively quickly.

"Perfect! Yea, you just follow the outline and keep the stitches about the same length as you go around to make the border; after you can decide to leave the middle open or fill it in, " she said smiling.

It was hard to not find this fun and enjoyable, she'd not shown someone embroidery in a while.

Easy enough!

She set to work, but of course could not do so in silence.

“Is selling embroidery your only job?”

Arabella kept a close eye on her while returning to her original piece she'd been working on.

"Yes, I do a lot of crafts like this or older sewing techniques to sell. I learned about Etsy, so that place has made selling these a lot easier, " she told her with a little smile, "What do you do? "