Ch 2.56:  Distraction


    <span style="font-weight:400">Flora realized she was on the sawbench again, wrinkling her nose at her own carelessness as she got down. She didn’t mean to do it, but she didn’t really care for silly rules like that either, so it was hard to notice. Still, she knew it bothered ina, so she’d do her best to keep off the dangerous things. “You’re sure you’re up for ying?” she asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Not really,” ina said, frowning as she moved the piece of fabric around on the sewing machine. “But I’ll do my best. Only one of us needs to win, so really I’m just there to support Carly.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Alright.” Flora was happy enough with that. She’d thought she’d be one of the two actually ying, but she didn’t mind ying a supporting role every now and then, contrary to popr belief. She wasn’t exactly sure she understood whatever revtions Carly had brought in with her textbook earlier, but Carly sure thought it warranted having ina being the second participant, and ina herself seemed to understand it, which is what really mattered.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I think I’m done,” ina said, pulling the dress off of the bench. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Dress is a pretty strong word,</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Flora thought to herself with a grin. “Are you… sure this is going to be okay?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“As long as it fits,” Flora said, walking over and taking a look. Truth be told, it didn’t even look like clothes, just a few strips of green fabric and some connecting straps. Flora owned underwear that covered more—not that she ever actually wore it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I think so,” ina said, biting her lip. “But ‘fits’ is a strong word for something like this.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Only one way to find out,” Flora said as she started humming, relishing in the look of amazement that grew on ina’s face. Of all the things that came with her ss, the instant “outfit” change was definitely the best one. She normally liked to make more of a show of things, but tight quarters limited her movement, so she settled for one quick spin instead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And then she focused on that “pocket” that she had, the best way for her to visualize it. It was strange, cause she was definitely pulling her outfit <i><span style="font-weight:400">from </i><span style="font-weight:400">the pocket instead of storing her current clothes into it, but the results didn’t look that way. Still, that was how it worked as she felt herself bathed in the shimmering crystal light, felt herself be bare to the world.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She wanted to focus entirely on that feeling, but that wasn’t possible of course. She had to use her aspect to increase here sense of hearing, her general awareness. The idea of danger was definitely part of the thrill for Flora, but getting caught was really only good as a fantasy, not an actuality. Still, she felt the rush over her body as the wind started to caress her bare skin, as the sheet of crystal dust fell away and left her nude form standing in the middle of the outside workshop.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Being caught might not have been realistically pleasant, but an audience always was, especially one as eager to take in her show as ina. She wasn’t quite as enraptured as Carly usually was, but her puppy dog-eyed stare,plete with panting breath was certainly a bonus for her. “Mind handing that here?” Flora said as she extended an arm, thrusting her chest forward as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Huh? Oh, sure,” ina said, handing over the bundle of fabric.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took Flora a second to actually right the garment into a way she could pull it over her head, but once she did it went on surprisingly easily. She could feel herself grinning right away as she saw how it settled on her frame, doing her best to crane her neck and see how it fit.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’m sorry,” ina said almost right away, “I can fix that, raise it up to—”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“No, it’s perfect.” Flora knew what ina was talking about, and she knew ina was probably right that it needed to be fixed, but she didn’t care. “Come on, I think I saw something I can use as a mirror over here.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Flora ran through the workspace as ina followed. She could feel the sway of the fabric on her backside, the pping in the wind as she made her way through the rows of benches and tools, stopping in front of arge sheet of steel near the forge. It wasn’t a perfect mirror by any means, but it was good enough for Flora to get a general look.


    <span style="font-weight:400">And she loved what she saw. It was barely anything, but that was what was best about it. Two connected triangles up top, surprisingly tight fitting across her chest as they were pulled back with thin straps, the same type of straps that crossed over her stomach, holding up two rectangle just under her waist, one in the front, one in the back. The back one was fine, she saw as she turned around in the mirror, longer and wider than the front one to amodate the rear Flora counted herself blessed to have. It was the front one that she was sure ina thought needed to be fixed. The size wasn’t really a problem, technically covering everything, but it did hang far lower than she’d expected it too, just barely above the area she’d need to have covered and not worry about being arrested.


    <i><span style="font-weight:400">Might be risking arrest anyway.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She’d need to wear something over the dress to leave the school for sure, probably even to walk around town, but she was sure she’d be fine once she got to Mirage. She’d heard tale of the wild things that sometimes happened there, after all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I love it!” she said, grinning as she spun around, feeling the ps on her hips rise and fall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Flora, it’s too low! Let me fix it for you.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I said I love it the way it is,” Flora said as she stopped, blushing as the fabric settled. “I’ve wanted to wear something like this my <i><span style="font-weight:400">whole</i> <i><span style="font-weight:400">life,</i><span style="font-weight:400"> but I’ve never been able to. I can’t just go into a store and buy something like this, or evenmission it without it getting back to my parents. And Mirage is made for this type of stuff! Come on, I know you understand.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Flora did her best to turn on her own puppy dog eyes, sping her hands together and leaning forward. She could tell she’d won as soon as ina’s eyes started drifting, guiding themselves down the strap of the dress. She had a mixture of looks on her face, somehow a little bit of both Carly in the way she was taking Flora in, and Flora herself, a hint of jealousy, admiration as well.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Fine,” ina said with a sigh. “I don’t really have time for alterations anyway. But get dressed! I’m gonna go at least pick out fabrics or my own.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Thanks!” Flora said, jumping and pping. She started sliding out of the dress, was about to reapply her uniform when her mind started to wander. She’d barely been able to control it when she had the dress on, but with it off, standing naked only a few feet away from the school, she could feel her body heating, blood rushing through it, heart pounding.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“ina, do you want to go up to your room for a bit?”