Crossing to the Other Side. [LAMBDA/ARTISAN.]

[[*DOC]]

Well... this is... awkward.

Lambda was stood on a rickety chair that they had found in one of the office rooms of the hospital, dressed in only her underwear, arms stretched out so that Artisan could take her measurements for a new dress - a kimono, to be exact - for a social event that very evening that she wanted to attend, for information gathering purposes.

Shifting awkwardly, Lambda made sure never to meet Artisan's gaze, blushing nervously at the fact that she was, effectively, on display for him to see, no clothing hiding any of her flaws. She wore a dark grey silk bra, adorned with velvet floral patterns and black lacing, a small bow settled between the cups, and matching panties, as well as a pair of thigh high black stockings, that had looked quite respectable with her dress earlier than day, but now...

"H-how much longer is this going to take?"

[kiddie]

Artisan squinted at the numbers on the measuring tape, trying to count the millimeters rather than the number of petals on the floral pattern underwear Lambda was sporting. Kneeling down as he wrapped the cold tape around her waist, Artisan sighed. “If you'd gotten Calista to measure you like I told you, then I wouldn't have to do it,” he explained, “Besides...I think we're really getting to know each other!”

He laughed and marked a number on his notepad before wrapping the tape around the last and final “awkward” place...the bust. “Woah...There's no way you can be that huge—I mean, let me measure this one again,” said Artisan. The mechanic had never been very good with numbers, seeing as how everything added up in his head for him. “I counted wrong,” he sighed, “You're just an A~!”

Heinz busied himself by color coding the threads for Artisan, who'd initially strewn them over his work table. Every now and then he'd look up at Lambda and stick out his tongue, mocking her in a way.

[[*DOC]]

"G-gah, you... you... pig!" She blurted out as he commented on her bust, she grabbed the nearest blunt object - a metal ruler that she'd been using when drawing out the design concept for her dress for Artisan - and flailed it at him, her eyes shut from embarrassment, her aim therefore being somewhat off.

"THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING AN A." She wailed, before crossing her arms over her lacking chest defensively, before shivering violently as the cold metal touched her bare skin, letting out a soft, slightly awkward sounding yelp, dropping it quickly.

"A-are you complaining that I asked you to do this task?" She narrowed her eyes, glaring at him with a pout, placing her hands on her hips.

[kiddie]

“Finally! A step up from mongrel!” cheered Artisan. The celebration was short lived however, as Lambda whacked him in the groin with a metal ruler. The poor mechanic doubled over and spoke in short squeaks after that. “I...didn't say there was anything wrong with it!” he pipped, “And yes, I am complaining, I am. I'm measuring my boss in her underwear.”

After clearing his throat, Artisan haphazardly tossed the notebook of measurements on his work table and picked up Lambda's design for the first time. It was a rush order, like always...but unlike a catapult or a revolver, Artisan was going to manufacture a dress. A skimpy little one at that.

“You're really going with a kimono?” Artisan asked thoughtfully, “It's a nice design you made, but the dress is a little...short if you're going for traditional. No place to hide a gun or a sledgehammer, especially with you being so flat...”

[[*DOC]]

"I-I thought you said there was nothing wrong with being flat!" She cried in anguish, hopping down from the chair to stand before Artisan, poking him hard in the chest, eyes blazing. Fists clenched angrily, she glared at him, a tiny hint of hurt in her eyes.

"Be honest with me! Do you like my... m-my... y-you know..." She gestured at her chest area with a blush, trying to keep her tone demanding, despite quaking a little bit now. She had to know. He always sent such mixed messages, telling her that it was fine one moment, and then going on about her being so 'flat' the next.

It was infuriating! "I don't care for traditional... anyway, I believe at one point or another you said I... well... had nice legs..." She trailed off, annoyed at herself for going against her mental pledge to not make it obvious that she cared about his opinion. At all.

Even though, in actuality, she rather did, the dress designed precisely what she'd gathered from his vague compliments over the time they'd known eachother.

[kiddie]

“There isn't anything wrong. I was only teasing you,” Artisan said lightly, “Besides, I'm not a fan of girls who hide guns in their cleavage anyway.” He took step back from Lambda after she poked him, literally blown back by her anger. Why'd she have to be such a sensitive girl...when it came to him?

“Your legs are fine, Lambda,” he said, “Don't worry about it. I mean, you are the designer, right? I'll make the dress.”

Artisan felt his cheeks tingle slightly, trying to place where exactly had he said such a thing. It was true, but...did Lambda actually pay attention to what he said? He thought she'd always skipped over it!

[[*DOC]]

Nodding slowly, the girl huffed, before moving away to find her dress, previously discarded on the floor for the purpose of the measurements, stepping into it before pulling it up over her waist and slipping her arms into the sleeves, before attempting to reach around pull up the zip, having a bit of trouble managing it, having slightly short arms due to being short in general.

"Well, you know I don't do guns... I don't need anywhere to hide an ice lance, after all..." She shot back, somewhat haughtily, getting rather irritated at the zip now, breathing out tiny noises of irritating, just short of flailing at it.

"Hmph... that you will, Artisan." She muttered, as if reinforcing her authority, withdrawing her fingers as they began to hurt from scrabbling at the zip, frowning at the slight red grooves that had appeared on them from digging into metal. "Bah..."

[kiddie]

Wordlessly, Artisan glided behind Lambda and zipped the dress up for her. “How in the world do you get dressed by yourself in the morning?” he laughed, “Alright, go read a magazine or something. I'll have it ready for a fitting in under an hour.” Although fabric didn't mold itself in his hands like metal did, his fingers were quick with intricate work and would stitch together the design in no time at all.

After giving Lambda's pigtails a pull, he walked back over to his worktable and outlined the dress pattern. The pencil was held loosely in his hands and he moved his wrist to make a few swooping strokes. "Are you still here, Lambda?" he asked. "I'm warning you...My work is boring to watch, it is.

[[*DOC]]

Muttering a notion of gratitude, begrudgingly, she nodded, smoothing her skirts and stepping back into her shoes, letting out a tiny, irritated squeak as he pulled on her pigtails, swatting at him with a growl. Sighing lightly, she moved toward the door, pausing and hanging back as he spoke, mouth contorted into a small half-smile.

"I'll be back in an hour... enjoy your boringness, seamstress."
She giggled lightly, wandering out and up to her own personal quarters, using the time to take a shower and do her makeup to match her design, before returning an hour later with a large, suspicious looking box in tow. Now wearing a dark grey robe to avoid having to walk around in her underwear again, she slipped off the shoes she planned to wear with the dress by the door, and plopped herself down on a chair, the box in her lap. Eyeing Artisan with a sly smile, she then proceeded to peer around him, trying to look and see how well he had done with his work.

"So, I'm waiting. What have you got for me?"

[kiddie]

“Yes, my lord,” Artisan said sarcastically. Shaking his head slightly as Lambda walked out, a small smile easing across his lips, Artisan bent over the worktable to finish his boss' project. The mechanic—now promoted to seamstress—swatted Heinz away from the dress several times, wanting no help in creating Lambda's outfit. The monkey growled at him in irritation and pranced along the floors impatiently, finally shutting up when Artisan handed him dried fruit from one of the cupboards.

“Alright, Cinderella,” Artisan said, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice, “One fancy kimono ready for pick up, it is.” Washed from his face was the weary tiredness he carried from previous projects, his expression now replaced with fresh vivacity. The dress was folded neatly as he handed it to Lambda, the elegant sash piled atop of silk.

“Put it on! I want to see how it looks!” Artisan ordered, “I need to make sure it fits properly too, of course...But a little pride is okay here. I didn't know I could sew!”

Like most of Artisan's work, the dress appeared flawless in execution. Stitches were neat and tidy, the dress was elaborately tailored, and it had the feel of coming right off the manufacturing belt. The only real difference was that Artisan had made the dress himself and that Lambda would wear something he'd carefully labored over, scrutinizing every last detail to make her happy.

[[*DOC]]

Now able to see the folded kimono that Artisan had for her, Lambda fought back the urge to squeal happily, putting down the box and leaping up, with an almost out of character grin on her face. Taking it from him, she ducked behind a medical screen over the other side of the room, quickly taking off her robe in favour of the beautifully made kimono, slipping it on to find that it fitted perfectly.

Practically skipping out from behind the screen, she did a twirl, her skirts flying out to show layers of black lace petticoats underneath, the kimono made of black lace, adorned with sapphire embroidery, sculpting dragons, lotus flowers and floral patterns over the delicate material, cinched at the waist by a sash of a similar hue, edged with gold. Grinning broadly, she almost wanted to run at Artisan and hug him... but then again, such a strange action all of a sudden would probably make Artisan think she was ill in the head.

"It's... wonderful." She admitted, having to level with him on this one, smiling broadly at her reflection in a full length mirror attached to one of the walls, turning from one side to the other to admire the handiwork.

Suddenly remembering what she needed to tell him, she turned back to him, suddenly looking somewhat sly and awkward all in one go. "Um... just one more thing... I'll need you to come with me to the function... but..."

She placed her hands on her hips, trying to look stern, exerting her authority to make Artisan know that he couldn't say no. "It's a women only party.... so...."

[kiddie]

Laughing gleefully, Artisan watched as Lambda twirled around in the kimono. The colors looked absolutely breathtaking against her complexion and the sheer joy of the dress made her smile in a way Artisan had never seen before...she didn't looked neither bossy nor irritated, but happy. Artisan liked to see that look on Lambda's face. If he had to design a hundred more outfits to see her with that kind of smile, he'd eagerly oblige.

He was hardly paying attention to what Lambda was saying as she turned to face him, too busy feeling light as a new balloon. Only vaguely registering what she was saying, he nodded dreamily, his mind already in a far off place. What to make for Lambda next? Who knew she liked clothes so much! “She...she actually likes it!” Artisan thought, “That's a first, it is!”

But slowly, it began to dawn on him what Lambda was truly saying.

“HEINZ! HIDE THE SCISSORS,” yelled Artisan, “ARTISAN DOESN'T WANT TO BE NEUTERED.”

[[*DOC]]

Eyes widening slightly, suddenly confused by the thought of why on earth he thought that she would want to go near that particular area at all, let alone with scissors, before she shook her head, kneeling down to open the box that she had brought with her, which held an abundance of make-up, hair accessories, jewellery and other feminine things.

"Stop panicking, idiot, we just need to make you look like a woman, not actually make you a woman!" She shook her head, digging through and peering at various different shades of foundation, trying to find one that matched his skin tone.

"Which means we're gonna have to pluck your eyebrows... and wax you... and... jeez, we've got a lot of work to do." She exhaled, as if preparing herself for a mission, before first of all taking a pair of scissors, walking over to the operating table in the middle of the room, pulling down the lamp to switch it on, before motioning for Artisan to come over, face set in a stony expression of determination.

"Don't worry, I'll make a beautiful woman out of you."

[kiddie]

“Hell no!” argued Artisan, “I'm no cross dresser, Lambda...unless there's really good pay for this. Exactly how much did you have in mind? I'm going to need a big bonus” With crossed arms and a look of skepticism, Artisan stepped forward and peered into the box. How much “beautification” was he going to need? Lambda would pay him extra, right? She knew that he sent money home to his family...or did she? They'd never really talked about his family before. Perhaps they shared a vague understanding of each other's backgrounds, like trying to remember the back story to a book you read in middle school, but no where near as much as they'd like.

“Wax? No wax. No plucking nonsense either! said Artisan, “Just tell everyone I'm from Europe. They don't have to shave there, from my understanding.”

Artisan was quiet for a moment, examining the abundance of makeup Lambda had prepared.

"How...how much of this stuff do women actually use? We aren't using all of it, right?" he asked, "Is that--that lipstick?! No way, Lambda! No! There's no way you're going to convince me to wear lipstick! Why is there glitter in there? Where do you put glitter? Nail polish? Nobody's going to see my nails!"

[[*DOC]]

"I'll double your pay. No tricks, you just need to let me make you into a beautiful woman. That means wax, plucking, lipstick, nail varnish, and anything I deem necessary for the cause. You need to look convincing after all, otherwise we won't gather the necessary information! Do you know how rich these people are? We'll be loaded if we can steal from them!"

Grinning at him, she pulled up a chair under the light, and motioned for him to come and sit, already seeming to be planning out his makeup colour scheme. "Come here, we'll start with your eyebrows, then I'll wax your arms and legs. After that, all the pain's over, it'll just be makeup, hair and nails. You remember that prototype kimono you made before? I'm sure that'll fit!" She smiled happily, obviously enjoying this rather a lot.

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