Womanly Ways

"I'm going to..." She sucked in a harsh breath, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head. "Kill you... so very slowly, Geoffrey..."

"Stop being so overdramatic, it's only a dress."

Karma grumbled something, wincing as the seamstress Geoffrey hired tightened the ties on the torture device closing off the use of her lungs for a brief moment before she remembered she didn't really need to breathe. She glowered at the man, her gaze furious. From his spot across the room, he looked less than intimidated.

"Why do I even need this dumb thing?" She whined, pouting as the woman moved her hands from the torture chamber - or corset, depending on who you were asking - to the flowing skirt beneath it. "I don't even need it, do I?"

"Stop whining." Geoffrey chided lightly, flipping through the seamstress's book of dress designs. "You've been through more difficult things than this in Nolan's training alone."

Karma sunk into a sulky silence, resisting the urge to kick the poor woman hired to harass her. The dress was built around her, rather than made to fit her, as she would have preferred. She'd been standing here for almost two hours already, and she had almost given up hope of escape. Her eyes darted about once more on principle, but Geoffrey had smartly sat next to the only exit, and even with her vampire speed, he'd move in time to block her. He had twice already. So here she stood, sulking on the stool as the woman added more to the skirt, the dress itself still white, though the fabric that would be placed on last may be a different color.

"Where's dad?" She whined again, her eyes going hopefully to the doorway. Nolan was the only person she knew that could talk Geoffrey off a tangent half the time, and she was desperate for this one to be ended as soon as possible.

"As I said the last thirty times you asked, your father left for business over three hours ago. He'll be back when he gets back." Another pout stole over Karma's face as the woman added more skirt. "You look nice." She followed the butler's gaze to the full length mirror set up in the room, and she had to admit he was right. The dress was... flattering, to say the least.

But she didn't have to like it.

Nolan strolled down the long hallway towards his office, following the sound of familiar voices, his shoes brushing softly against the pattered rug. He finally stopped at the door leading to a room whose purpose he had already forgotten, and carefully opened it. He had to fight back a smirk at the scene in front of him.

"Geoffrey, what is that supposed to be?" he asked, looking over the flowy mess of fabric currently smothering his apprentice. He would have attempted a frown, were he not so amused by the expression on Karma's face.

"Oh stop. You look lovely," he said, in reference to both that and the long string of complaints he'd heard through the door. He wasn't sure whether or not that was true, not being an expert in ladies' style, but he had faith that Geoffrey knew what he was doing.

Karma perked up as Nolan walked into the room, nearly kicking the lady off her before she realized that he really wasn't there to save her, only to poke fun at her predicament. She pouted at him, before looking back at the mirror to act like she didn't like how she looked. She looked... amazing, actually, but it wasn't comfortable, and therefore, she had to hate it on principle. What was the point of kicking and screaming if Geoffrey was just going to prove his point anyway?

As she sank back into her mental hell and the seamstress continued to add fabric, Geoffrey was watching with approval, only half noticing that Nolan was there. The man didn't bother to get to his feet, as any other butler would, and instead shot Nolan a glare.

"It is for her coming of age party, of course." He said, as if Nolan should know this already. "She will be seventeen soon enough, and by then we will need to know who she is going to marry."

"What?!" Karma exclaimed, blinking over at Geoffrey. "You- you can't- DAD!" She whined. "What is he talking about?! He can't-"

"As your guardians, we can. And I will. I will not have any daughter of mine running around with no future, and no plans and no-"

"What are you- DAD!" She turned to Nolan expectantly, as did Geoffrey. They both looked at him, expecting him to take their side, Karma with her wide brown eyes and Geoffrey with his warm chocolate ones.

If Nolan could have his way, he would give a couple of scathing remarks to the both of them and leave. It would be much more fun for him, and be a timesaver, but other than that it would do more harm than good. Instead, he stood by as the two of them bickered.

"That's ridiculous," He said to his butler, his voice calm and even, "I'm fine with the party of course, but I will not allow my ward to be bred like a show dog. She doesn't need some wealthy pureblood to rely on in order to have a future."

Nolan had always had a certain distaste for arranged marriages. His parents had tried to marry him off once. Of course, he poisoned the girl and her family before they had the chance.

Considering the subject closed, though he was almost certain this wasn't true, he attempted to change the topic, "When were you planning on hosting this party, Geoffrey?" He asked, while at the same time carefully observing the dress, "I'd prefer if it didn't interrupt the training schedule I've laid out. Times and dates are particularly important to several factors, and if I have to reschedule one day it means having to completely reconfigure the lesson."

Karma grinned, looking back at her reflection, and allowing herself to look almost... appreciatively at the way she looked. It really wasn't that bad... as long as the fabric overtop didn't turn out to be some ungodly color - namely, any color that was redbased with white added - it would look alright, and she might even wear it.

Behind her, Geoffrey gave Nolan a look that clearly said that the argument was not over before standing and making his way over to her. He stood behind her, frowning at her reflection over her shoulder before tsking. "Spin." The seamstress stepped back, and she did as the man ordered, unable to hide the glee that spread across her face as the skirt flowed around her. Geoffrey had to extend an arm stop her, and by then it was hard to keep the false displeasure on her face.

"Marriage or not, you will look ravishing at this party." He took her chin between his fingers and lifted her gaze to his as he looked her over. "Maybe a nice lilac or powder blue to offset your skintone..." Humming, he nodded to the seamstress, who nodded at him. "Take in the hips. Show her figure more."

"I can barely bre-"

"You'll be fine." he cut her off, turning toward Nolan. "And the party shall be around Christmas, if that's fine?"

Nolan gave Geoffrey a small smirk, knowing that he was right regardless. However, he did enjoy arguments with his butler. They always proved to be especially... riveting.

He watched the movement of the dress, a small smile appearing on his face. It was half because the dress looked fantastic, and half because, frankly, he found Geoffrey and Karma's relationship to be.... well... endearing.

He shook his head, turning to Geoffrey, "No. She would look so much better in something dark. A deep scarlet, perhaps, or navy. We need to complement her coloring, not overpower it. Otherwise it just looks tacky"

Nolan chuckled softly, "My dear, you don't need to breathe." He turned to Geoffrey, a small grin on his face, and nodded "Christmas! Lovely. It'll give me an excuse not to attend one of those infernal Mafia gatherings."