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Daniel Hawthorne: Hawthorne Studios was housed on the second floor of the one of the older brick buildings that dotted the area near Rittenhouse Square, with the entrance located on the first floor with a set of stairs going up. The interior was tastefully decorated, with pale walls accented by warm woods and examples of the styles of clothing - both men's and women's - that were available for purchase and further customization, along with a door in the back that marked off a staff only area and another on the side wall that led to fitting rooms.
The master of the house happened to be in on this particular evening, emerging from the staff area deep in conversation with a young blonde woman similar enough in features to be related in some fashion.
Rosalyn Solfrig: Rosalyn rode up to the studio on Elio, the unicorn/motorcycle loved the historical area of Philly, and pranced his way into a parking spot that he could tolerate for a while. If he was lucky, someone would try to steal him and he'd get to have some fun. Ros patted Elio his shoulder and headed up to Hawthorne Studios. She was rocking the shoes again, and had dressed up a pair of (thriftstore) jeans with her own art deco needlepoint and a suitable blouse. Then again, Ros could have been wearing rags and still looked like a Disney princess with immaculately tousled after her ride. Ros tapped on the doorframe just inside, and smiled. "Evening! I trust I'm in the right place and not just breaking and entering?"
Daniel Hawthorne: The pair looked towards the door at the knock, with the woman perking up into customer service mode and Daniel giving Rosalyn a polite smile. "You're good, come on in." He offered as a greeting, earning a curious look from the woman as he waved her in.
"Welcome to the studio. Rosalyn Solfrig, my sister Victoria." He motioned between the two briefly. "Victoria, Rosalyn."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "Thank you, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Victoria" she said warmly, extending Victoria a hand. "I can certainly see the family resemblance. Daniel and I met the other evening and I promised to pay a visit to see your studio- if you're not too busy tonight?"
Daniel Hawthorne: "Pleasure to meet you as well, ma'am." Victoria replied with a smile, taking the offered hand and giving it a firm shake. "Thanks for coming by."
"Not too, no." Daniel shook his head at the question asked. "Working on a few pieces for Fashion Week along with another commission."
Rosalyn Solfrig: Rosalyn perked up at the mention of something for fashion week. "At the risk of being incredibly nosy, is it anything that I can see? I always loved the process of a gown becoming. It was like magic and science rolled into one that a few moments with a tape measure could result in a some gorgeously fitted confection."
Daniel Hawthorne: The pair exchanged a brief glance, talking wordlessly in that way that only siblings can, before Daniel smirked a touch and gave a nod. "Sure, come on in." He held the door to the staff area for the two ladies before following in himself, revealing short hallway behind it with an office area to one side, what looked like a break room to the back and the workroom proper on the other side filled with the work tables, sewing machines and shelves that housed all of the fabric and other accouterments the staff used to fill orders.
"I'll leave you two to it." Victoria said with a smile, giving Daniel a light elbow nudge before ducking into the office. He chuckled in response, making an 'after you' motion towards the workroom door for Ros to head in.
Rosalyn Solfrig: Her eyes went wide with delight, and she gave Victoria a grin as she ducked out. "Thank you. Do feel free to tell me to take a hike if I'm prying too much. I'm not always completely up to date on the intricacies of social norms in many situations." She inhaled deeply. "It smells like fabric."
Daniel Hawthorne: "Will do. I trust that you won't sneak any pictures or anything to leak out before the show." Daniel said with a smirk, letting her indulge in the workspace's wonders. "My great-grandmother was a seamstress in Boston and I started learning from her at an early age and fell in love with it. It is magic, in a way, being able to take fabric and thread and turn it into something that tells a story on its own."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "Yes, it does, doesn't it." She glanced down at her heels. "There has always been magic in craftsmanship, even back in humanity's earliest myths. Magical weapons, cloaks, shoes... I never made things before. Well, needlepoint was allowed, but I was more an admirer than a maker."
Daniel Hawthorne: Daniel spared a glance at the heels as well, once again admiring the craftsmanship. "You did an excellent job with those, I will say. I've done work with leather before, but shoes are out of my ballpark."
Rosalyn Solfrig: She smiled wryly. "Thank you, though sometimes if you know the story, you don't need to know how to use a needle." Rosalyn explored the workshop, running a delicate hand across a bolt of satin and sighing wistfully. "I think the skill with a needle can take more work and effort."
Daniel Hawthorne: Daniel's eyebrow arched a touch at that little comment. "Color me curious..."
"Maybe. It definitely takes a certain eye, like any other craft. Getting to know the materials and how to make them work together seamlessly, all that."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "How to..." Ros tapped her lips, stopping her exploration to study a gown in progress draped on a dress form. "Have you ever seen Disney's Sleeping Beauty? It's a disgustingly watered down take on the tale, but at one point the fairies raising Aurora make a complete mess trying all day to a cake and sewing a dress... and then use magic to whip up the perfect cake, gown, and scrub the place clean. It's a bit like that."
Daniel Hawthorne: "Gotcha." Daniel nodded, leaning against the wall by the door rather than taking a seat for the moment. "Could see that being handy at times, although putting the physical work into a piece can make it more rewarding in the end."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "More reliable as well. I'll wager you can't guess what I was trying to make when I made these shoes," Ros laughed.
Daniel Hawthorne: "Not off-hand, no, although they do look fantastic." He replied with a smile. "That is a stunning shade of blue."
Rosalyn Solfrig: She blushed faintly. "What are you working on?"
Daniel Hawthorne: "Two dresses and two suits for the show, and another suit for a wedding next month." He motioned her over to one of the worktables where pieces for one of the dresses in question were laid out, the fabric a soft blue-grey and delicate to the touch. "Should get that together in the next day or two."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "Oh that's lovely. Someone's going to be lucky to get that." She had some definite clothing-lust going on. "I don't suppose you work on the barter system between members of the local community?"
Daniel Hawthorne: "I'd be willing, yeah." He nodded with a smile. "What do you have in mind?"
Rosalyn Solfrig: "A party dress in Autumn's colors," she said with a wistful sigh. "I don't really have the chance to dress up much, which is a bit depressing I confess."
Daniel Hawthorne: "That is a shame." He gave a solemn nod, the gears starting to turn in his mind. "That's definitely doable, though. Is there a particular style you'd be looking for?"
Rosalyn Solfrig: "I'm a century out of date on the fashionable silhouettes for such things," she admitted. "I could dress for a costume party but where I don't even know which are the right magazines - or worse, those infernal online influencers that dictate couture fashion these days."
Daniel Hawthorne: His eyebrows went up a touch at the timeframe mentioned, offering another nod and a small smirk as she continued. "Know what you mean; staying on top of what's floating around online can be a headache sometimes, especially with how fast the industry moves."
He turned his attention back to the Fairest, giving her a proper once-over that was appraising rather than leering. "I can come up with something suitably modern with a bit of old-school flair to it easily enough, if you'd be interested in that."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "I'd rather fight a shadow-krait with a butter knife than navigate the mess of the internet." Ros shuddered. "I'll stick to sorcery, thank you. I would be very interested in what you might come up with... if the price is right?"
Daniel Hawthorne: Daniel mulled over that for a moment, smiling a touch as a thought came to mind. "I'd normally ask for a favor in kind, but maybe a trade of trades is in order. How about some riding lessons in exchange?"
Rosalyn Solfrig: "That's preposterous," she put her hands on her hips and glowered at him. "A couture dress doesn't really compare to mere riding lessons unless it was practically every day for a year."
Daniel Hawthorne: "Alright, alright." He held up his hands in a 'I give up' sort of way, still smiling. "What would you see as fitting, in that case?"
Rosalyn Solfrig: Rosalyn threw up her hands. "I don't know! I can offer a year and a day of riding lessons, if you'd really like, though that is an open offer to pretty much everyone in the community. I usually stick to bargaining with fae- and what we want aren't necessarily things that I can offer you? Or at least aren't things that you would find very useful."
Daniel Hawthorne: The mention of the fae brought a brief "ah hah" look to the young Haunt's face, confirming something that he had assumed but wasn't completely sure on. "I don't know much about you and yours, I'll admit, so I'm not sure what I could ask for on that front."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "Well you can ask your heart's desire." Ros's lips twitched upwards. "Getting it is another question, but I am not without knowledge and power. I am one of my people's best trackers, hunter, and oneiromancer. Ideal with creatures both mortal and fae on a regular basis. If you have a question, I can answer it- or find the answer to it. If you want someone's life... well, that will depend on circumstances."
Daniel Hawthorne: "You wouldn't need to go that far." He commented on the last offer with a wry smirk, actually taking a seat at the workbench this time as he pondered. "Oneiromancer...something to do with dreams, I'm guessing?"
Rosalyn Solfrig: Ros inclined her head. "A complex art. The gates of Horn and Ivory are open for all changelings, though not all have the skills to read the shifts and glean secrets from a dream, or to weave new world's entirely."
Daniel Hawthorne: "That sounds fascinating. I can't say if I actually still dream or not anymore, but I'd be curious to learn more about that if you're willing."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "Knowledge then." Rosalyn smiled, and there was a hint of kinship there. She too loved learning secrets and mysteries. "Would you make a Bargain with me then, Daniel Hawthorne?" A dangerous question, so the lore went.
Daniel Hawthorne: Perilous indeed, but as a man who had already undertaken another similar exchange he was willing to chance another. "I would indeed."
Rosalyn Solfrig: She grinned a bit. "Come then, I'll need a door to do this properly, if you please. Is there one you'd prefer I use?"
Daniel Hawthorne: "Hmm...break room?" He tilted his head back towards the hallway, standing from the workbench and moving to lead the way there.
Rosalyn Solfrig: "That will do," she agreed. After a quiet tap on the door, she opened the door into the Hedge and took a cautious look around for anything particularly stupidly deadly that she'd be walking into. She held perfectly still for a long moment, then stepped into the tiny clearing amid a patch of brambles- a 'quiet' place amid the thorns where one could take a short break but not necessarily one that was safe. She changed when she passed the liminal line of the doorway, and became other.
Strikingly beautiful in her mask, the mien beneath was uncannily perfect. Her marble-pale skin was perfectly smooth- no pours and no natural contouring. Her hair was a wave of metallic gold strands that shone in the sun. Roses and thorns grow up around her legs, through her stone skin, and grew tangled in her perfect hair.
Autumn shivered around her, the heady scent of decay and leaves. The drifting of ash around her, and a shimmer of hazy magic in the air, as if she was part of a dream and might vanish just as quickly. Her shoes, of course, sparkled and shown like they were cut from clear crystal but rest of her clothes were practically a crime, like putting thrift store clothing on a statue carved by Bernini.
Daniel Hawthorne: Daniel watched curiously as Rosalyn knocked on the door, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline at the sight beyond it. As she walked through and the Mask slipped away he reached up and pulled the dark sunglasses he had been wearing off to get a proper look at what he was seeing. Doing so revealed that his eyes were a solid jet black, the mark of his clan's curse clear to see. "Wow..." he said quietly, more to himself than to her, watching with no small bit of awe in his features.
Rosalyn Solfrig: "A Bargain I offer you. Each moon I will offer a new portion of knowledge for you, be it training or an answer you seek. This in exchange for an item of clothing from your Atelier- the specifics of which knowledge and which clothing are exchanged to be mutually agreed upon each moon." Rosalyn offered him her hand to shake and seal the bargain.
Daniel Hawthorne: The moment of reverie faded as the time for business came to pass, with Daniel nodding but not taking her hand just yet. "How long will this arrangement last?"
Rosalyn Solfrig: "A wise question," she said with a tiny smile. "I hold you to no lengthy terms. Should we fail to agree upon an exchange each moon, let us go in peace and amity. Be careful to honor your agreement and deliver upon your promises, however."
Daniel Hawthorne: "Of course. I keep to my word." He offered a small smile of his own, taking her offered hand and giving it a firm shake. "I agree to this Bargain and shall uphold its terms henceforth."
Rosalyn Solfrig: Ros stepped back through the Gate into the break room and closed the door behind her, and then rubbed her hands together rather gleefully. "Excellent! And you would like to learn more about oneiromancy this moon, in exchange for a party dress in Autumn's colors?"
Daniel Hawthorne: "I would, yes." He couldn't help but smile at her visible excitement, tapping the sunglasses in his hand before pausing as he realized that he'd taken them off. "Sorry if this was a little off-putting, by the way." He offered, motioning to his eyes briefly before donning the glasses once again. "When do you need the dress by?"
Rosalyn Solfrig: "It's really not," Rosalyn said frankly. "Physical anomalies are less anomalous and more de rigueur for my people. Do what is comfortable for you. I won't judge you by your looks if you don't judge me by mine." Rosalyn followed him and patted his arm in sympathy. "Equnox- ah, September 22nd this year, would be best."
Daniel Hawthorne: "No worries there." He nodded with a small smirk. "Mostly have to be careful with it out and about among the masses."
"Definitely doable. Will just need to get your measurements before you head out, and I can give you a call when I have the initial design worked out."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "I wish. It's still Summer's August though. You've time." She laughed. "By our Bargain you have a moon to complete it. It's the first quarter today so that makes it... " Ros did some swift mental calculations. "The 13th of next month."
Daniel Hawthorne: "Can do, and I look forward to it. Is there a particular motif that you'd want worked into the design, or just the colors?"
Rosalyn Solfrig: "In this, I will leave the artistic decisions in your hands. Ideally, it will be suitable for both fae and mundane events- and flattering whether they see my true mien or my mortal mask."
Daniel Hawthorne: "Alright." He nodded, his mental sketchbook already hard at work pulling potential design ideas together. "Think I should be able to arrange that. That was...stunning to see, by the way. If you don't mind my saying so."
Rosalyn Solfrig: She inclined her head, but seemed a little... disappointed or perhaps tired by the comment. "Many things are, in that realm, and it's seductively dangerous because of it. You cannot trust appearances. I am as I am because that's what a monstrous god decided I should be. Crafting me was no more to Him than it is for you to take a pristine length of fabric, cut it to suit, and then stitch it back together in a new and form. The end result is pleasing, but no one asks the fabric if it wishes to be a dress."
Daniel Hawthorne: "I see, and understand better than you'd think. Those of my blood are reshaped by the experience in various ways, outside of their own design, in a way that most find monstrous. My own mark was much more pronounced, a wound that didn't heal and kept me from speaking above a whisper, until someone here was able to alter it." He motioned again briefly towards his eyes. "Apologies if my comment caused offense."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "Oh no offense taken. The stories want to be told. There are blessings and curses, and I can accept and make use of it now, even if I do regularly wish I could get away with... well." She waved her hand vaguely.
Daniel Hawthorne: "Right." He nodded in understanding. "Better to take advantage of what you've been given, even though how you got them wasn't the most pleasant."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "Exactly!" She beamed. "So what interests you about oneiromancy? Is it more the academic or practical side of things?"
Daniel Hawthorne: "Bit of both, honestly. Like I said before I'm not sure if I actually dream anymore, so finding out if I can would be interesting. That and the concept sounds fascinating."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "I know vampires sleep- or something akin to it- during the day, but can you choose to do so at will also?"
Daniel Hawthorne: "Not really. There may be some more esoteric abilities that can induce it, but it's not a voluntary thing."
Rosalyn Solfrig: Rosalyn nodded, then pulled up a stool and seated herself at a worktable across from him. "Very well. To begin speaking of the oneiros, and what it means to be an oneiropomp, you must understand what Dreams are and how they exist within the universe. If I speak of mortals, I really mean to include every being that dreams on their own. Mages dream, wolves. I suspect your kind do too, and I'm sure we'll discover that together. Dreams are, in essence, a creative expression of the soul. Most people don't remember the vast majority of their dreams and when they do, it's in strange fragments or nonsensical tales. However, every night when a human closes their eyes and sleeps, they Dream. This dream grows out in deep and strange paths of the Hedge like a budding flower. It physically exists there, and then when the dreamer wakes," Rosalyn snapped her fingers, "It releases the remnants of that dream out into the thorns."
Daniel Hawthorne: Daniel nodded along as Rosalyn spoke, an eyebrow arching a touch at the mention of the Hedge. "Interesting. And you're able to interact with them directly while they're happening?"
Rosalyn Solfrig: She grinned, and it was a rather wolfish expression. "There are two ways into a dream. The Gate of Ivory is the simplest and most accessible. It's in the mind, and whenever one of us sleeps, we pass through it. Through this Gate we exist in dreams as lucid and native dream creatures. This is what mortals call it lucid dreaming, if you want to do some extracurricular research. The second way is to tromp out through the Hedge and find the Gate of Horn in the flesh. A slightly more risky proposition, but the rewards can be worth it."
Daniel Hawthorne: "I can imagine, considering what can happen in some dreams." He gave another nod, smiling a touch. "It kind of reminds me of Inception, if you ever saw that movie."
Rosalyn Solfrig: Ros shook her head. "I got a brief summary from a friend who thought I might be interested but the elements struck a bit too close to home for my taste. Mortals are unlikely to die in a dream- they'd merely wake up- but serious mental and emotional damage can be done in dreams. Deeply personal information and secrets can be stolen. Emotional manipulation can have lasting effects in the waking world. Of course the opposite is true as well. Wounds can be healed, minds may be guarded, and so on and so forth."
Daniel Hawthorne: "Right...makes sense." He sat back in his seat, letting that thought percolate. "Would be a handy way of passing on information as well, I imagine, not just taking it."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "Yes, though getting that information to stick isn't always straightforward if the subject isn't also lucid. You can't just go in, tell a subconscious to meet you for coffee and doughnuts in the morning, and have them automatically remember it. Even if they did remember a dream like that, would you act on it?" Rosalyn tilted her head, studying her pupil.
Daniel Hawthorne: "Probably not, no."
Rosalyn Solfrig: She broke into a grin. "Maybe you should next time, save the morning portion of the example. You never know. Or you could learn to unlock the Gate of Ivory in your own mind, be on guard for foreign intruders, and wake yourself if necessary. Waking up is one of the greatest defenses against an assault on your dreams. We changelings are not the only creatures that can do such things. Some other fae creatures can, and worse."
Daniel Hawthorne: "Yeah, that could get dicey. Not much of a morning person anymore these days." Daniel chuckled at that, nodding along as she continued. "Maybe. Being able to hit the on-switch from the inside would be helpful...assuming that works the same for me, anyway."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "A most intriguing question," Rosalyn agreed. "I'd be willing to explore it with you, if you're so inclined."
Daniel Hawthorne: "I am, yeah. Would be an interesting experiment, at the very least."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "Pick a day then, and we'll see what we can do." She grinned like a kid in a candy store. "I think I'll do some research of my own on the topic."
Daniel Hawthorne: "Same. Can't say what I'll find, but it's worth looking."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "Well! I'm delighted that this turned into more than a trip to drool over pretty things," Ros laughed. "I'd better get going though. Elio has got to be getting bored waiting for me by now."
Daniel Hawthorne: "Indeed. It's been a pleasure." He replied with a smile. "If you want to hit the dressing room real quick before you go I can get your measurements and get started on the dress design for you."
Rosalyn Solfrig: "Oh! Of course! Of course. My mind's already galloped off full speed in the opposite direction."
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