mysticeclipses

[mysticeclipses]

Inky Threads

Chapter 3: A Friendly Talk

Real World AU by @chez-cinnamon Welcome Home by @partycoffin

“Hello? It’s just me Rei, is it alright if I come back in?” The shop owner’s voice broke through the silence, bringing Poppy out of any thoughts that could’ve covered her mind, turning around to face the door before finally speaking up. “Yes, yes, it’s alright to come back in. I’ve finished my phone call.” The door opened with a slight creek, and Rei’s head popped through the opening before she stepped the rest of the way in, black and white curls shifting across her face as she closed the door once more and picked up the slightly steaming cup to take another sip. “I’m assuming your...whoever is on their way to come get you?” Rei asked with a raised eyebrow, receiving a small nod in return, another smile appearing on her face as she slipped into one of the chairs surrounding the table in the middle of the room. She seemed to gesture to the other chairs around the table as she continued sipping on her drink, green eyes staring gently back at Poppy’s own dark brown orbs. “Please, please, take a seat. I don’t want you standing around like this until you’re taken back home. If nothing else, you could spare me a short conversation during your wait. I’d like to try and get to know the partridge that suddenly wandered into my shop on a random Thursday.” There was a clear expression of intrigue on Rei’s face as she waited to see if Poppy would take up her offer for a simple conversation, and for some reason, Poppy found herself drawn to talk with this woman. If nothing else, it was to try and repay Rei for the kindness that had been offered with no hesitation, so Poppy took a seat opposite of her after a bit of standing around once again.

“So...what exactly do you do here, Rei?” Poppy asked after a moment of silence, which seemed to catch Rei off guard, the woman blinking a few times before she seemed to shake off the shock and cleared her throat. “Well, I’m the main owner of Devilish Designs, and I’m also the seamstress. So I do the majority of the day-to-day business, but I’m also the one responsible for all of the garments you saw in the main room, and I do personal commissions for clothing as well. What you see on the floor is often replicated and occasionally altered based on client comments, but most everything I commission is a one of a kind design, even though I do keep all the drawings and measurements on file just in case.” Poppy was definitely surprised by this. Every piece of clothing she had seen out there was made by Rei? All by herself? The young woman was very talented, she had such sewing skills that Poppy couldn’t compete with her, and that was saying something considering how torn up her neighbors clothes could get. Maybe she could ask for some tips, but would Rei even be keen to share her knowledge with someone she had just met, much less Poppy herself? Well, it wouldn't hurt to ask, and Poppy didn’t know if she would ever get to see Rei again once Fionn came to grab her.

“I know...I know this is coming out of the blue Rei, but...do you think you could maybe teach me...some sewing techniques while I’m here?” Poppy asked after talking a moment to muster up the courage to do so, a few drops of ink slipping from her wings as she waited for some sort of a response. Rei seemed to just be staring at Poppy in silence before bringing the cup to her lips and quickly finishing the drink inside, tapping her nails against the porcelain before she finally broke the silence. “I don’t see why not. We have quite a lot of time on our hands. Grab whatever fabric catches your eye while I grab my needles and thread.” A small smile found its way onto Poppy’s beak from hearing Rei accept the offer, getting up from the table as she surveyed the vast array of fabrics all across the room, soon deciding on a simple roll of white cotton fabric so the stitch patterns would be easier for her to see. The table was set with a section of the fabric, a pin cushion full of needles of various lengths, some thick black thread, and a book titled ‘Basic and Complex Stitches for Beginners and Experienced Sewers’ for some good old-fashioned sewing lessons. They started with the basics, such as Rei giving Poppy a few tips on how to perfect her running stitch, basting stitch, and cross stitch, before moving on to stitches that Poppy had only ever heard of. There was the backstitch, the slip stitch, and even the blanket stitch; techniques Poppy had never gotten the chance to learn since there weren’t any books on how to do them in the neighborhood.

Thank goodness the book had pictures to describe each step in the sewing process, as Poppy wouldn’t have stood a chance without them, and that’s with Rei’s help. Sure, her stitches weren’t perfect on her first few attempts, not by a long shot, but Poppy found herself enjoying Rei’s guidance throughout it all. In fact, Poppy was so caught up in what she was doing that she didn’t realize how much time had passed until the door was thrown open, Fionn’s voice breaking the peaceful silence that had filled the back room. “Poppy! Poppy! Where are you?! We’re going home before something else happens and I lose track of you for the second time today!” Fionn was loud, very loud, and it didn’t seem like Rei enjoyed that very much seeing as her face contorted into something that could only be described as a mix of annoyance and irritation. “Well, it seems as if you’re being beckoned home by a...rather abrasive voice. Strangely good timing too, as I need to get ready to open up shop in a bit. I’ll clean up while you get all your coverings back on.” Rei brushed a few strands of hair out of her face as she got to work putting all of her sewing supplies away, allowing Poppy to finish the last slip stitch she was working on. Poppy made quick work of getting Fionn’s disguise back on, just in time too, as Rei had finished putting the fabric roll back on the shelf before heading to the door. “Come, I’ll see you out Poppy. I do need to discuss a few things with the...lovely individual that just shouted in my store, but don’t worry, it’s nothing you need to fret about.” Rei said with a bit of a strained tone towards the end of her sentence, but it was barely detected by Poppy as she left the back room, watching as Fionn searched the store before finally spotting Poppy and Rei.

“Poppy! God damn it, there you are! I was about to start turning this place upside down if I didn’t find you in the next minute!” “I certainly hope you’re being sarcastic about such a thing, otherwise we would have a much bigger problem on our hands.” Rei piped up as she moved to check the time on the grandfather clock behind the counter, her eyes occasionally flicking towards Fionn as he fussed over Poppy for a bit, soon letting out a sigh as he ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair and turned to face Rei. “Listen, thanks for taking care of Poppy while I got here, lemme give you some cash to make up for the hassle and to deter you from calling the police.” Fionn didn’t even wait half a second before pulling out his wallet and rifling around for some bills before Rei put her hand up to stop the man, leaning against the counter as she eyed him up and down a few times. “There’s no need for any monetary compensation, though we do need to discuss the subject of payment for some of my merchandise being broken.”

[mysticeclipses]

Inky Threads

Chapter 2: The Stranger's Help

Real World AU by @chez-cinnamon Welcome Home by @partycoffin

Poppy couldn’t believe what she had just heard. How did this stranger know who she was underneath her disguise? Was she not being careful enough? Would Fionn be angry that she had been found out? Had other people figured out who she was? Poppy was snapped out of her panicked thoughts by a quiet laughter, watching as the woman behind the counter covered her mouth for a few seconds before the laughter died down, a smile appearing on her face now. “You’re wondering how I found out who you are, aren’t you?” The woman asked, to which Poppy nodded slowly, unable to look away from the stranger that seemed to know who she was after meeting her just a few moments ago. The woman made her way out from behind the counter and stood next to Poppy, silently looking her up and down for a moment before speaking again. “Number one, I have never had a customer that was around seven or eight feet tall come into my store. Number two, I have never had a customer that smelled of ink and even dripped it on my floor. Number three, it was just a hunch honestly. Call it a lucky guess if nothing else, but clearly my hunch was correct.” The woman smiled as she moved to the door, looking up and down the street a few times before turning around to face Poppy once again. “Please, come into my storage room, we will have much more privacy to speak without risking someone walking in and seeing you as well.” The woman beckoned Poppy to the door she had appeared from earlier, and all things considered, it wasn’t like Poppy had much of a choice.

Stepping through the door, Poppy was in awe at what she saw in front of her. Shelves upon shelves of fabrics lines the walls, there were several sewing machines on tables, mannequins had various amounts of fabric covering them in different styles, these was a desk with multiple notebooks and pencils strewn about, and there was even a mini fridge hiding in a corner with a kettle on top. There was steam coming from the spout of the kettle, so there was likely water being heated inside, Poppy’s suspicions being confirmed as she watched the woman pour some hot water into a cup with some sort of string hanging over the edge. “You know, I never told you my name, have I?” The woman questioned as she took a sip from her cup, a strong floral scent slowly wafting around the room as Poppy shook her head no. “Well, my name is Reinassa Zakino, but most people just call me Rei. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Poppy.” The woman, or rather Rei, held out a hand for a handshake, getting a clothed feather in response which caused a barely noticeable lip twitch on Rei’s face. “Why don’t you make that phone call back here? I have some things to finish taking care of in the store, so you’ll have all the privacy you need to speak of whatever you need. I’ll knock before coming in, and I’ll wait for a response before coming in, alright?” Rei said with a smile before setting her cup down on the main table and gesturing to another rotary phone on the wall this time, heading to the door to leave only to stop halfway through. “And you can take all that...extra coverage off if you’d like as well, no one other than me will be entering this room.” She hummed before leaving and closing the door behind her, leaving Poppy in the privacy in the back room of the shop to take care of that phone call.

After standing around and taking in everything once more, Poppy slowly took off all the extra scarves and robes and whatnot Fionn had bought at the thrift shop for her to wear as a disguise, placing the pile of clothing on the table before making her way to the rotary phone that had been offered. It was a good thing that this mysterious Rei had rotary phones rather than the flip phones or weird flat landlines that Fionn had in his bungalow, as Poppy still hadn’t managed to get used to the new fangled things in this world, so anything that was reminiscent of home was a small comfort to the partridge. Slowly taking the handle into her inky wing, Poppy managed to calm her nerves enough to where she could turn the dial and correctly call Fionn’s number, hearing the normal ringing tones before that all too familiar voice came through on the other side, though it sounded significantly more frantic than usual for obvious reasons. “Hello?! Who is this?! Whoever you are, you’ll have to call back later, I’m kind of in the middle of-” “Fionn, calm down, it’s Poppy. I’m just calling from a store whose owner was kind enough to let me use their phone to contact you.” It took quite a bit of effort for Poppy to not sound nearly as panicked as Fionn was, but she managed to keep calm, if only by a few feathers that is. “Poppy?! Oh thank fuck you’ve managed to contact me! Where even are you? I turn around for five minutes in the grocery store and suddenly you’re gone? What happened?”

Oh geez, Fionn was really worked up now, and who could blame him? Trying to keep track of eight confused, inky puppets who were struggling to understand this new world that they found themselves in was no easy task, and Poppy could only imagine the stress Fionn felt anytime something bad happened, even if he rarely showed it around them. “Listen Fionn, I’m alright, I found a corner shop called Devilish Designs on Auburn Street. The shop owner let me borrow one of her phones, that’s how I’m able to talk to you right now. How soon do you think you could be here?” There was quite the long pause on the other side, only broken by the occasional muffled shouts of Fionn, likely directed towards Sally or Julie. Those two were still as energetic as ever, even in this strange world. Poppy wondered how they could stay so joyous despite everything that had befallen them. “Yeah, yeah, Auburn Street you said? I know where that is, it won’t take me long to get there, just sit tight and I’ll grab you.” And then Poppy heard a ding as the phone was hung up, leaving her in the silence of the room once more before she heard a quiet knocking at the door.

[mysticeclipses]

Inky Threads

Chapter 1: First Encounters

Real World AU by @chez-cinnamon Welcome Home by @partycoffin

“Oh feathers, how did I end up in a situation like this?” Poppy muttered as she walked through the empty streets, trying to keep the various garbs Fionn had chosen as her disguise around her body. There was a mild heat wave going on in this small Idaho town, temperatures were getting closer to 85°F these days, making Poppy stand out like a sore thumb in all her layers while others were wearing tank tops and shorts. Just a moment ago, Poppy had been in the grocery with Fionn and all her neighbors when she spotted some oranges falling from a nearby stand, moving to place the fruit back where it belonged when everyone had suddenly disappeared, leaving her standing in the middle of the store in confusion. How could they have left so suddenly, and how could they have left without her? Dozens of thoughts were running through Poppy’s mind as she searched the shops lining the streets, trying to find one that was empty or mostly empty, which wasn’t turning out well in her favor currently. Every shop window Poppy looked through was rather full of people, and she wasn’t in the mood to have even more eyes on her after everything that had happened, so she decided to keep looking.

After what felt like hours, Poppy came across a small corner shop that looked to be completely empty of people inside, noticing the interesting name as well, ‘Devilish Designs’, how different. Stepping inside, the environment was nothing like Poppy had ever seen before, the store being just as different as the name was. The ceiling lights were turned down low, the ambiance being carried by a variety of softer string lights hung around, noticing that the bulbs were in the shapes of stars. A polished oak wood floor creaked gently under Poppy’s feet as she stepped farther into the shop, a small bell ringing above the door as it opened and closed, clearly a sign to notify the owner whenever someone entered or exited. Poppy couldn’t help but find herself walking around the store, forgetting why she had come inside in the first place, more interested in what was on display. The floor had many mannequins set up and dressed in what Poppy could only assume was hand-made clothing, a variety of designs and styles being shown, several of which she could see her neighbors in. Several shelves were spread along the walls, each having some sort of accessory as its main focus, the metal and jewels glimmering faintly in the gentle lighting. There were also some tables as well, sporting a variety of candles, incense sticks, sage, crystals, and many other things that Poppy had never seen until now.

Poppy was so caught up in taking in the shop around her that she didn’t notice some of her tail feathers slipping out from under her disguise, only realizing what was happening when she turned to take a closer look at some crystals and a loud crashing sound came from behind. When looking over her shoulder, Poppy realized her tail feathers had caught the leg of a table in the corner and had knocked it over, broken ceramic and wax now scattered across the floor. “Oh feathers, oh feathers, I didn’t mean for this to happen!” Poppy began to panic as she tried to clean up the mess, feeling that panic grow as she heard the faint sound of footsteps.

“Is everything alright out here? I heard something break” A voice spoke up as another door creaked open, a young woman appearing from elsewhere in the store. Poppy was too caught up in trying to clean up the broken candles, not realizing the store owner was in the room until a hand fell upon her wing, pulling her attention to the newcomer. She seemed to be shorter than Fionn, but not by much, especially taking into account the heels she was wearing. A head of curly black hair with several white streaks sat upon her head, accompanied by piercing green eyes and fair skin. A long black dress with sheer shoulders and flared sleeves covered her body, several chains adorned her waist that complimented her other accessories, and a wide brim hat sat upon those curls. Poppy had never seen anyone dressed in such a way, it was definitely unique and fit the aesthetic of the shop, her presence having a rather calming effect after what had just happened with the table of candles.

The woman seemed to take note of the broken candles and Poppy’s minor panic, stepping away for a moment just to come back with a broom and an empty container, guiding the broken pieces in Poppy’s wings to the container. “Just drop those into the container, I’ll clean up the rest of what’s on the floor, I wouldn’t want to see you hurt.” Her voice was gentle and understanding as she got to work on sweeping up the rest of the broken candles, glancing up at Poppy every now and then while she worked. Poppy didn’t expect the woman to be so gentle with her, carefully putting what was in her wings into the container, taking a step back so she wasn’t in the woman’s way while she cleaned up the mess. It didn’t take long for the broken candles to be swept up and carefully disposed of in the container, the woman brushing any remnants of ceramic and wax off the broom bristles before putting it away, cleaning her hands before she turned to face Poppy. “Well, now that we have that taken care of, may I ask what you’re doing in my shop? I thought I had turned the open sign around, but perhaps I didn’t.”

Her tone was still gentle as she headed over to the door, checking the wooden sign hanging from the door only to see that it had been turned to say closed, but she wasn’t going to kick out her guest for intruding with how nervous they seemed. “Ah, well, I came in to see if you have a phone I could use? I need to make a rather urgent phone call.” Poppy spoke up after a moment, her gaze continuing to follow the woman as she made small adjustments to the merchandise on display. “Oh, yes I do have a phone. It’s a rotary phone, but it should work just as well as any flip phone people carry in their pockets these days.” The woman stepped behind the counter and gestured to the ivory rotary phone sitting on the end of the countertop, her thumb pulling at the dial a few times before looking back at Poppy. “Hopefully you’ll be able to reach your desired person, Poppy Partridge.”

[mysticeclipses]

Intro? Maybe?

I'm still trying to figure out how to work Tumblr, so I guess I'll just introduce myself for now. Hello! I'm mysticeclipses! You can call me Mystic, Neo, Xeno, or Rei! I'm here to share my fan writings and paintings, among other things. Right now, I'm working on a Welcome Home fan writing, but I have plenty more things in mind to write about. Um...that's all for now I guess? See you all next time.