[Canterlot] The Perfect Fit [Open]

[CrossStitch]

Cross-Stitch worked quickly, glancing up at the measurements every now and then, and also measuring the jacket he now worked on. The patterns for his clothes were ingrained into his skull, and he could not forget them. Sherlock commented on him being faster then a unicorn, which brought Cross-Stitch to a halt. He played it off as if he was looking at the measurements again, and simply went back to work. The truth was; the fact that Cross-Stitch wasn't a unicorn was a rough blow to his career. Ponies seemed to think only elegant and sophisticated unicorns should make garments, not lowly Earth-Ponies. Honestly, Cross-Stitch wished every day of his life that he was a unicorn...

His face betrayed his thoughts and retained a look of contentment, whereas his brain was a battleground of emotion. He didn't let it show though, and instead continued working on the garment he so promised to be perfect. And perfect it was. He raised the jacket up and admired it, inspecting every little last detail. He gave it his nod of approval and then held it up for Sherlock to see, "Do you like it?"

[Sherlock Hooves]

Sherlock turned back around to see the finished product. He smiled and picked it up giving it a once over, before slipping it on. "Magnificent Cross-Stitch! It looks and fits perfect; this is exactly what I needed for a replacement..... Well one replacement." He chuckled then slipped on the shirt, a red tie, and the jacket over it. "Well what do you think? ..... Oh almost forgot need the hat to complete it...." He grabbed his old fedora and flipped it in the air and landing it right on his head. "I think this says detective well enough don't you Mr. Stitch?"

[Inkwell]

After five years of living in the grand old city of Canterlot, Rose Madder started to get very, very familiar with a select few districts, especially the shopping zone nearest her house. It was a form of exploration to her, visiting each shop, chatting up the customers and shopkeepers and sometimes buying a souvenir or two. But once she started to run out of shops, she had to be content with repeat visits until new shops went up. She'd known of the Perfect Fit only a day before it actually opened, and since she wanted to get her writing for the day out of the way, she didn't scope it out at all until the actual opening day. But now she just had to come and see what it had to offer, and if it could convince her to buy any new clothing.

Before she opened the door, she peeked inside the window, looking inside with one eye. Immediately she knew her time wasn't wasted when she saw the adorable proprietor. His expertly groomed coat, his dandy mane, his bright blue eyes, all of it made her grin like a little schoolfilly! If she'd known how handsome the storekeeper was, she would have brought a gift basket to welcome him to the neighborhood! As it was, the only thing she could do was sigh, fogging up the window and forcing her to move her head. She knew she couldn't stare at him forever, though. He'd notice and be put off by it. Since he appeared to be wrapping up with this customer, Rose decided she might as well make her entrance.

She pushed the door open and sidled into the shop, doing her best to look like she could light up the place with a smile. "Hellooo!" she said to Cross Stitch. "I heard there was a new shop opening, so I thought I'd drop by and say hello!" Her eyes moved to the various items kept on display, including the odd hat or two. She could certainly use a hat, now that she thought about it. "Looks like you're making a great start so far!"

[CrossStitch]

Cross-Stitch nodded, "Indeed. It looks smashing on you."

Just then, there was a familiar jingle. It was the sound of the bell above his door ringing, signifying the door was opened. He looked to the door, a bit in disbelief that he had yet another customer. He was actually getting a little giddy from all of the attention. But the pony instead came in to seemingly celebrate his shop opening, which was a welcome gesture. Cross-Stitch's legs hurt a bit from all the work he had been putting in, but if this pony wanted something, he'd be more then happy to oblige. Still, she seemed very kind, which was also a warmly welcomed.

"Ah, hello." He said, bowing his head, "My name is Cross-Stitch, owner of 'The Perfect Fit," The introduction rolled off his tongue, and he loved how it sounded, "Business...," He put a hoof to his chin, recalling all of the events of the day, "Has been great." he said with a wide grin. It was true, he had had a total of four customers just on his fourth day, with this new pony possibly making the fifth. "Oh, but where are my manners? And you are...?"

[Gorgutz]

Onyx wings walked twords a rather new looking shop. She was in need of new clothes and looked in through the window, smiling at the clothe she walked in. " Why hello! I was wondering if you have anything for sale ?"

[Inkwell]

"Rose," she said. "Rose Madder." She moved her eyes back and forth from Cross-Stitch to a random piece of clothing on display and back again. "Yeah, this is already looking like one of the best clothes shops in the district."

It was a rare occasion when Rose had to struggle with words, but here she was, looking at the floor, dragging her hoof, and blushing. Thankfully the hue on her cheeks was already red. She had to concentrate on hiding whatever feelings for him that she might be developing deep down, and possibly avoid commenting on how adorable he looked. True, he had a pretty mare-ish figure, but after Rose's last meathead boyfriend, she felt like a rather drastic change was in order.

"So," she finally said. "I don't suppose you're a haberdasher as well? I've been feeling like wearing a hat to go along with a new haircut."

[CrossStitch]

"Rose Madder, is it? Lovely name." He said, smiling his trademark smile. The rose was always his favorite flower. The elegance and beauty of it made it something of envy since he himself was a creator of beautiful and elegant things. It was something that always served as a bit of inspiration to him, and he would often take ideas from them. As he imagined a rose in his mind, many ideas for many lovely outfits blossomed forth. He mentally pushed them to the back of his mind for later use, right now he had more customers to deal with.

She was kind as well, "Thank you Ms Rose, it means a lot to hear such great things about my shop." It was true, he hoped to get some business, but the amount of customers he was getting was a tad overwhelming. But it was all so exciting! His shop was actually becoming popular! To say that Cross-Stitch's joy was hidden would be a lie. He wore a very eager smile on his face, and his coat seemed to glow.

With a small jingle of the bell, he turned to the new customer who asked if anything was for sale. "Anything and everything, sir!" He called out, hoping the stallion was kind enough to be a bit patient.

"A hat?" He tapped a hoof against his chin, "Yes, we might have some laying around here." He said playfully. He began to trot away, instructing Rose to follow him, "What kind of hat are you looking for, dear?"

[Inkwell]

Rose smiled right back at him. "Oh, thank you for saying so," she said, giving him a little flutter of her eyelashes. "I think so too, though I have to admit, it was a bit exasperating for me growing up. I lived in a neighborhood with a dozen other fillies named Rose, and I tell you, when ponies called our names, it was a headache." She laughed, downplaying her past irritation at being confused with her peers. It was a prime reason why she moved out of Trottingham and got a pen name.

"You must have spent a lot of time designing this shop layout, too," she said, looking around the shop. "I bet you'll attract a lot of customers with all this eye candy." Right after she said it, Rose wondered if she was perhaps being too on the nose with that remark. After all, she was looking right at Cross-Stitch when she said it. At least she was looking him in the eye.

"As for hats, well, I was hoping for something with a brim, but other than that I'm pretty open, as long as it looks good on me!"

[CrossStitch]

Her smile was very contagious, and very bright. Cross-Stitch couldn't help but find his own mood elevated. "You're quite welcome." He said as he went to a line of mannequin heads all adorned with hats of various sizes, styles and colors. He looked over them as he listened to Rose's story, finding it to be quite funny, "I couldn't imagine what it would be like. It was quite the opposite with me really, I was always the odd pony out." He remembered his days of foalhood. Other colts had cutie marks such as sports or construction, but he was a designer. Because of that, he was instantly grouped with the fillies. He sighed, but found his foalhood to be quite fun. In all honesty, he wouldn't have had it any other way.

"You and your compliments, do you ever run out of them?" He said, turning to Rose with a chuckle. He found her to be staring right at him though, looking right into his eyes with her own neon green eyes. The green color was contrasted perfectly with her coat and created an almost mesmerizing effect. Cross-Stitch was at a loss for words as he noticed a double-meaning to her sentence of 'eye-candy.' He began to feel a wave of heat roll over his face, but he turned away quickly.

"Hatwithabrim, right." He said, a bit too quickly. He cleared his throat before continuing, "Let's see what we have..."

One hat caught his eye, almost as if it was calling to him. He remembered the hat clearly, and he also remembered the day he made it. It was the day his father passed away, he could remember the rain pounding on the roof as he made the hat. He had to do something though, had to keep his body moving, as it kept his mind moving. He shook away the dark memory and looked at the hat through clearer eyes. Upon a closer look, it seemed to have some of that 'darkness' from that night in it, but yet he couldn't help but feel that it seemed to 'match' Rose.

"How about this?" He said, turning with the hat to show it to Rose. It was simple, yet stylish. It had a very wide brim about it, and a simple crimson ribbon that seemed to match Rose's coat to a tee. In retrospect, it was stunning how well the hat suited the pony, almost as if he had made it for her without knowing.

[Inkwell]

Rose kept smiling and looking into Cross-Stitch's eyes until he looked away from her. She could tell that her comment had indeed gotten through to him, and embarrassed him as well. Maybe she did come on too strong, but at least he knew she was interested now. That was enough. For now she'd just stay friendly with him and get the hat she wanted from him.

She saw him looking at one hat, momentarily freezing as he did when looking at her. This time, though, he seemed to look... sad? Regretful? Longing? Despite Rose's curiosity about the story behind that hat, she kept silent, letting him clear his head and present it to her. She had to admit, it looked pretty swanky, and the ribbon even matched her coat.

With her magic, she took it and placed it on her head, turning it left and right a couple inches to secure it onto her head. It was nice and snug on her head. "I'm loving it so far," she said, looking up to the brim. Now all she needed was to see how it looked. "Do you have a mirror I can use?"

[CrossStitch]

He looked Rose over, admiring the hat on her as he usually would with his own creations. He compared the hat to her, tried to blend the two together, seeing if they worked together. he decided that they did, the two complimented each other perfectly in his eyes. He began to realize how his staring could have been taken the wrong way though, and chose to take the question of a mirror as a chance to break away from the moment. "One moment," He said, turning away from Rose.

He walked through a door and into a separate room where he kept some other supplies. It was mostly a storage closet, but it was a good place to take a second to clear his thoughts. 'OK, calm down,' he thought to himself as he looked around for a mirror, 'She's obviously teasing me though,' he argued, he wasn't paying attention and accidentally moved a broom which bumped into a shelf which caused the shelf to fall which dumped a rather large assortment of things onto Cross-Stitch's head. He let out a small groan as he rose from the pile and found a mirror sitting atop the pile of rubbish. He let out a weak chuckle and took the mirror in his mouth, trotting back out to Rose.

He positioned it to where she could carefully inspect herself and the hat as he made a mental note to order some mirrors to hang on the walls.

[VinylScratch]

Colturnius entered the newly opened tailer shop, escaping most of the noise of the capitol outside. The store wa still buzzing but he didnt have time to wait. Colt was hired to play in Canterlot in a concert and he had to look nice, or atleast he cared to look nice. Yet on the long traveling road, there isn't much time to keep track of clothing. As always, he resorted to fiding the nearest tailer and purchasing something there, make the shop owner's day, where it at the one event, and throw it out. The room Colt was in had different outfits on their usually display dummies about, mostly near the windows for shopgoers to see. 3 other ponies sat in the room, one wearing freshly made garbs, another modeling a hat, and one holding a mirror who looked like he would be the shop owner. He stood over in the side, waiting for the tailor to recongnize him and get his turn.

[CrossStitch]

That familiar jingle again. Already that sound had burnt itself into Cross-Stitch's head. His eyes glanced to the side, spotting the new customer as he entered.

"Un Mummuh lease," Cross-Stitch mumbled before placing the mirror on the ground and raising his head with a nervous smile that was complimented by a bright red on his face. His eyes darted side to side as he laughed nervously, "I mean, one moment please."

Cross-Stitch turned his head to the new colt, fixing whatever the avalanche of junk from earlier may have messed up about his looks. "Ah, there we go..." He said to himself as he straightened his mane up, he cleared his throat and gave the new customer a bright smile, "Welcome to the Perfect Fit! My name is Cross-Stitch, the owner. How may I help you on this lovely evening?" He tilted his head to the side as he finished his question, his mane followed suite and waved lightly as he moved.

[VinylScratch]

The manager walked over. "Welcome to the Perfect Fit! My name is Cross-Stitch, the owner. How may I help you on this lovely evening?" He tilted his head to the side as he finished his question, his mane followed suite and waved lightly as he moved. Colturnius blinked is eyes, trying to remember what he needed. "Yes, I have a show tomorrow night and I was hoping you had these things near ready. I can make adjustments need be." he caught his breath and began to imagine the clothes. "A need a tweed coat. You know, the homespun wool stuff woven together. A chevron pattern would be swell. Brown in color will suffice. And a yellow wastcoat. To go under. Have anything like that? And do you do things like ties and hankerchiefs?" Colturnius blinked, tilting his head and waiting for the pony's reply.

Edited February 2, 2012 by VinylScratch

[CrossStitch]

Cross-Stitch blinked at his new customer with a surprised look plastered on his face. He had never had a pony so specific, so sure of what they wanted, it was almost as if he was ordering his favorite meal at a restaurant. He blinked again, returning his confused look to a warmer one. The outfit that the pony described played through Cross-Stitch's head like a record, he could see it all coming together perfectly. He was sure that this new customer had a very good sense of style.

With a slight nod Cross-Stitch responded to the question, "To not finish such an ensemble with a tie would be an absolute crime against fashion!" He said with a chuckle. He turned from the customer and his mane and tail flared out as he did before settling back into place, "I happen to have a coat that fits your description to a tee!" He said with a wink, that coat was something Cross-Stitch always wanted to try making as he had seen a few ponies in Canterlot wearing them before and the pattern, along with the material, interested him. It wasn't the easiest thing he ever did but he put his heart and soul into it just as he did with every other piece of clothing. On his way to the back of the shop, he also spotted a waistcoat that he had made earlier that would also go perfectly with the coat. "Ah, good thing I'm so prepared," He said to himself with a laugh.

After gathering the coat and waistcoat he trotted back to his new customer with the articles of clothing resting on his back, "Here you are, try these on." Cross-Stitch turned to his side, allowing the pony to retrieve the items, "And what color of tie would you like to go with that ,sir?"

[VinylScratch]

Colturnius began to levitate the waist coat, put the sleeves through his hooves, and began to button it. He perked his head up and said, "I don't know. What color do you think would look good with this?" He looked down. The waist coat seemed to fit him just fine. "Any idea of the cost?"

[Inkwell]

"Oh, you don't need-" Rose said as Cross Stitch moved the mirror to get just the right angle for her to see herself in her new hat. He was really going the extra mile for her.It wasn't often Rose saw that level of professionalism in a shopkeeper.

But then another customer opened the door and got Cross Stitch's attention, making him set the mirror down. Rose used her magic to make it float in front of her face, giving her a good view of the hat. It was beautiful and comfortable, everything she could have wanted out of it. Hopefully it wouldn't be too expensive, but for Cross Stitch, she felt like she could pay any price.

That would have to wait until Cross Stitch was done with this gentleman here, though. Rose just stood to the side and watched them talk. Well, mostly she was watching Cross Stitch.

[CrossStitch]

Cross-Stitch began to giggle, "Well, you never can go wrong wit ha red tie! Or so they say. I have several in many different materials, and patterns. Have a look around and when you're done, I'll meet you at the register." He gave the pony a wink before rushing back to Rose. He felt out of breath, but he retained his relaxed and friendly look.

"Madame Rose! Sorry about that, now, how does the hat feel?" He said with a wide smile.

In the back of his mind he reminded himself to hire some help around here. Never did he think things could get so busy on his first day.

[VinylScratch]

"Well, you never can go wrong with a red tie! Or so they say. I have several in many different materials, and patterns. Have a look around and when you're done, I'll meet you at the register." said the shop owner. The pony walked away to help the other costumer while Colturnius chose his pick. All the different styles and patterns fluttered his mind. Neck or bow? Silk or cotton? Colturnius chose the cotton bow tie and trotted his way over to the register with his chosen apparel.

[Inkwell]

Rose had herself a giggle. Seems the new shop owner wasn't quite used to dealing with multiple customers!

"It's warm, snug, light as a feather," she said, giving it another little twist on her head. "It's perfect! How much do I owe you?" Hopefully the hat wouldn't be too expensive. Rose still had to pay for groceries later that day and the price of grapefruit wasn't getting any lower.

[CrossStitch]

Cross-Stitch beamed another smile at Rose, "For you, I will make you a deal of ten bits." He began to move towards the counter near the front of the shop, noticing that the costumer from before was ready to pay.

He moved behind the counter and re-examined all of the clothing that his other customer had chosen, Cross-Stitch had to admit that he did have a very good taste in style, "Alright sir, since this is the grand opening, I'd feel like a crook if I charged you any more then forty bits." Cross-Stitch gave Colturnius another friendly smile.

[VinylScratch]

The manager gave Colturnius the price. The violist paid it and full and handed him a extra piece of paper with an image and a number on it. "Thank you for your quick service. I would say I'd use your services again, but I'm on tour. I will most certaintly bring this outfit along, or atleast have it shipped to where I plan to be performing. Mail services in Equestria are becoming ever more effecient I hear. Anyway, that there is a ticket to my violin concert tomorrow night. I invite you to come. Backstage passes are a little hard to get. Mostly they fall into the hands of young mares." He chuckled. Colturnius took his straw hat off, showing his messy mane that mares would love, and thanked the proprieter.

[Inkwell]

"Only ten?" Rose asked. "You are generous!" She fished around for ten gold coins and levitated them over to the nearest counter. "Thank you so much for picking this out. I'll be getting a lot of use out of it. Till next time!"

She gave Cross Stitch one last smile and sashayed out of his shop. Sometime soon, she'd have to pay him another visit...