The Park | Saturday Afternoon

[utterly_alone]

Lydia had awoken this morning and found a flowy, brightly-colored dress in her closet, along with a magic wand.

Which only made sense, of course, given that she was a fairy godmother.

She flittered her way out to the park, where she could hopefully find someone pure of heart with wishes to grant. Hopefully clothing-related wishes, since she was sort of best at that.

But for the meantime, she was busying herself with humming nonsense words - magic spells, if you asked her - and waving her wand at a few trees, which spontaneously started growing flowers on them.

They weren't flowering trees. It looked kind of weird, honestly. But Lydia the Fairy Godmother thought they looked magical.

[so, so open for all your wish-granting needs.]

Comments

[sexy_giraffe]

Let's be honest, Tahani was living that Disney Princess life in her own head anyway, but today her hair was especially long and luxurious (all the way to her waist!) and her dresses spun bewitchingly around her ankles.

And her British accent was especially adorable as she danced through the flowers that sprung up as she walked, even though it was January, because it was all about the ~aesthetic~.

"Oh, hello!" she trilled. Which she would honestly do anyway.

[utterly_alone]

"Well, hello, dear child!" Lydia trilled in turn, her tone indulgent even though like, she was still clearly sixteen years old. It didn't matter. She was a godmother, okay?

She waved her wand, a trail of little sparklies following in its wake as more flowers bloomed on the tree. "Are all your dreams coming true today?"

Because she was sort of a one-size-fits-all fairy godmother, here, rather than anyone's specific fairy godmother.

[sexy_giraffe]

"Well, not all," Tahani admitted with a little laugh. "My prince still hasn't come, for instance."

[utterly_alone]

"Oh, your prince!" Lydia laughed and laughed, because of course this amazing young woman deserved nothing short of a prince. "Well, my dear, you'll never find a prince without the right attitude! Or outfit!"

Not that there was anything wrong with either Tahani's attitude or her outfit, but fairy godmothers had to hustle sometimes.

[sexy_giraffe]

"What's wrong with my dress?" Tahani, always worried about the important things, wailed.

[utterly_alone]

"Nothing at all," Lydia reassured her, "but I could certainly add a few sparkles if you're interested."

Playing fast and loose with the word 'few,' here. It would be very sparkly.

[sexy_giraffe]

"I do like sparkles," Tahani admitted, dimpling with dimples she didn't normally have.

[utterly_alone]

"And if you want to catch the prince's attention at the ball," apparently there was a ball? God only knew who this prince might end up being, "you'll just have to sparkle. And your dress will need to outshine all the other lovely young ladies'!"

Which mostly meant there'd need to be a lot of sparkles and a lot of skirt, sorry Tahani.

[sexy_giraffe]

Well if you could walk normally through a door, were you even princessing properly?

"As long as my sister Kamilah isn't here, I have a fighting chance!" Tahani said, laughing merrily but 100 percent meaning it.

[utterly_alone]

"Oh, dear." The fairy godmother shook her head sympathetically. "You must simply believe in yourself, and you will always outshine your sister!"

It helped that Kamilah wasn't going to be here, anyway.

"And I'll help you shine anyway," she added, waving her wand around and trailing little sparkles everywhere. "Now - what color would you like your dress to be, child?"

[sexy_giraffe]

"Well, pink is rather traditional so let's say yellow," Tahani said. "I want to stand out."

Like Belle.

[utterly_alone]

"A beautiful yellow dress," Lydia agreed, waving her wand around with abandon. "Now, you must believe with your whole heart that you deserve this dress! Salagadoola mechicka boola - "

Those were magic words, even if it maybe just sort of sounded like Lydia was having a stroke or something.

[sexy_giraffe]

Tahani had very few problems believing she deserved anything, so the extremely puffy dress that probably just dripped glitter as she walked settled around here as Lydia had her magical stroke thing.

[utterly_alone]

"Bibbidi-bobbidi-beautiful," Lydia declared, flourishing her wand. "And now the prince won't be able to resist you!"

In a totally chaste, maybe-he'd-hold-her-hand kind of way.

Also, who the hell was this prince? Some prince. Somewhere.

[sexy_giraffe]

Tahani would be dragging a random footman back and demanding an upgrade, let's be honest.

"Thank you," she said, curtseying beautifully.

[chef_chocobro]

Yes, the park was proving to be much better for hopeful prospects in finding the young maiden whose foot might fit the shoe left behind at the prince's ball, and Ignis made his way over to the next potential bride-to-be.

"Good afternoon, miss," he bowed deeply, while managing to keep the glass shoe on the fancy pillow in his hand perfectly balanced, as it caught the light of the sun brilliantly. "Might I have a moment of your time?"

[sexy_giraffe]

"Oooh, what a lovely shoe!" Tahani said, curtseying back.

[chef_chocobro]

"I'm glad you think so," said Ignis, who probably should have taken that comment as a sign that if she didn't recognize the shoe, she probably wasn't the owner, but he was very focused on the task at hand, "as I would like you to actually try it on for me, if you could be so kind. You see, I have been sent to this fair island by His Royal Highness, Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum, of the Kingdom of Lucis, to find the maiden whose delicate foot might perchance fit inside this very lovely shoe, which was left abandoned at the stroke of midnight at the palace steps during His Highness's last grand ball..."

[sexy_giraffe]

"Oh, it's definitely mine," Tahani lied immediately.

[chef_chocobro]

"Oh, is it?" asked Ignis, his brows lifting as if surprised, or perhaps grateful, that his search would be over so quickly, and there certainly was a certain amount of class to this young woman that would absolutely fit the bill for a queen, so that was encouraging! There was, however, just one thing...

"Perfect! Then let us have you try the shoe on so we can just know for sure..."

Finding one's prince's One True Love whose name he didn't even know was something you didn't want to just fudge, after all.

[sexy_giraffe]

"Tahani al-Jamil," Tahani said. "It's very royal sounding, isn't it?"

And while she was wonderfully tall and willowy, it meant her feet were rather larger than a standard glass slipper. Details!

[apocalypsehow]

So, Five was used to teleporting around. You know what he wasn't used to? Flying.

Hence a boy in a dumb, green tunic crashing into some bushes near her. And trying his very best to swear, but it all just coming out as, "Sugar! Aw, beans! Razzafrazz!"

But also filled with absolute rage.

[utterly_alone]

"Oh dear, oh me!" Lydia was very worried about the poor boy and his terrible flying. "Are you quite all right, child?"

Again, Lydia was still very much sixteen years old. Calling people 'child' was one of those #justfairygodmotherthings, okay?

[apocalypsehow]

Five's head popped up out of the bush and he gave her a look that promised a painful death that he couldn't even mete out this weekend. Not without her being a parent or something.

"I'm just peachy," he grumbled, pulling himself out of the bush.

[utterly_alone]

Lydia waved her wand, trailing little sparkly dust everywhere as the very bush Five climbed out of started to sprout pink flowers. "Were you on your way to the ball? You seem to be in quite a rush!"

What ball, Lydia?

[apocalypsehow]

"The what?" Yes, Five agreed. But that just meant that somewhere in the park, woodland creatures are now setting it up.

[utterly_alone]

"The ball." Obviously. "I'm sure that you'll have your pick of beautiful young ladies to dance with!"

Although his outfit needed some work. Maybe epaulets.

[apocalypsehow]

But would they be leaf based epaulets? Because that was a must for the aesthetic.

"No," Five replied, pointing at her like it would ward off whatever this was.

[utterly_alone]

"No?" Lydia was puzzled. "You don't want to go to the ball?"

Did he have something better to do? The ball was clearly the social event of the entire season. "You're terribly underdressed, but you might still make it!"

Who even knew what time this ball was. He probably was good.

[apocalypsehow]

"I want this to end," he said like that totally would work. Oh, maybe he meant he was under some sort of terrible curse!

[utterly_alone]

"What to end?" Lydia wondered. "This beautiful day? Why, my dear boy, it's still several hours until nightfall!"

Which, again, meant he probably wasn't going to be late for the ball.

[apocalypsehow]

He just had to be made to go to the ball. That was all. Sullenly attend.

"This," he hissed, gesturing at his ridiculous tunic. "All of this."

His shadow pantomimed a very dramatic sigh at that.

[utterly_alone]

"I could make it another color?" As though that would help.

[apocalypsehow]

"Can you now?" Oh, that was some doubt there.

[utterly_alone]

"You have to believe with all your heart in what color you'd like," Lydia advised him, waving her wand around.

And then she started to sing. "Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo." Sing-slash-sound like she was speaking in tongues, one of the two.

[apocalypsehow]

Black. He wanted black like his soul.

"Are you having a stroke?"

[utterly_alone]

Lydia waved her wand in a twirling motion and - like magic - Five's tunic turned black. Like his soul.

"Perfect!" Though she judged you a little for the black, Five. (Lydia, in her right mind would applaud it, however.)

[apocalypsehow]

Lydia would be right about it too.

Five took a deep, deep, annoyed breath. Somewhere... Belle was being smug about this.

[chef_chocobro]

Ignis was nothing if not diligent in his search, because it was literally the only thing he did do. And so it was to the park next, where his prospects were looking at least slightly more hopeful.

"Good afternoon, miss." He bowed deeply to the brightly clad woman who gave him a slight itch in the back of his mind as though some wires somewhere were crossing, managing to still not disturb the decorative silk pillow perched in his hand, nor the exquisite glass slipper perched on it. "Might I request a moment of your time?"

[utterly_alone]

"Why, of course!" Lydia exclaimed, waving her wand around and getting ambient sparkle dust everywhere. "Whatever are you doing with that beautiful shoe?"

Probably looking for its mate so that someone could wear those practical glass shoes to the ball!

[chef_chocobro]

Surely to lose it again to send him on yet another chase!

"That is what I was actually hoping you might help me with," Ignis explained. "You see, I have been sent to this fair island by His Royal Highness, Prince Noctis Caelum Lucis, of the kingdom of Lucis, to find the owner of this beautiful shoe, abandoned in sudden and unexpected flight. Should I find her, the prince wishes to make her his bride!"

[utterly_alone]

"Oh, my!" Lydia clutched both hands to her mouth at the sheer romance of this proposition. "How are you planning to find the shoe's owner? Everyone I've seen so far has had both their shoes."

And she hadn't made any glass slippers for anyone yet, but it really was quite fetching so now she was all ~inspired.

[chef_chocobro]

They were truly quite captivating! And memorable! And deceptively comfortable, apparently, given the right pair of feet.

"Why, I am having each and every maiden I can find try on the shoe to see if it fits," Ignis explained. "Once I find the foot that matches, I will know with all certainty that I have found our future queen!"

[utterly_alone]

"Well, it surely isn't mine," she assured him, "but you are welcome to see for yourself if you'd like."

Her foot was definitely too big. She had weirdly large feet for a fairy godmother.

[chef_chocobro]

"If you would be so kind," said Ignis, already starting to kneel down so that he might hold the shoe out for them to make sure. "I am determined to leave no foot untested! Our mysterious maiden could be anywhere, and His Highness is determined to find her, no matter how long it takes!"

[utterly_alone]

Lydia slid her foot into the offered shoe - or, at least began to, and then it was very clear that her heel simply was not going to fit. "Alas. However, I promise that any eligible-seeming maidens I encounter, I will send them to you!"

And she might rip off that glass slipper idea for one of them down the line.

[chef_chocobro]

This was clearly about to start a hot trend of glass slippers left behind all over the various kingdoms and sundry!

Ignis released a small sigh of disappointment before he stood again, not at all surprised, but one could not help but feel a certain swell of hope with each fitting. But when he balanced the shoe on the pillow once more, he nodded to Lydia with a small, grateful smile.

"That would be greatly appreciated," he said, "as I intend not to rest until every foot has tried this shoe!"