Louise was prepared for another fairly quiet day at the shop when he showed up. James walked through the door with eight - eight - people in tow. The already cramped shop felt even smaller as she glared at him. He walked up to her like there was no problem while the rest of his friends (?) chatted away. At least she recognized Courtney among them.
"Mr. Achilles, sir! What can I do for you on this fine day, sir? So nice to see you," Louise said, drawing out the words and giving him her best fake smile, fluttering her eyelashes. He looked nervous at that. Good. He was annoying her even before he'd said anything.
"Uh...Louise? Are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be okay? You said 'a couple' new Legion members. You didn't say you'd bring the whole circus. And is that an actual child I see?" She glared pointedly at the preteen. He was apparently too busy to notice.
Even if Courtney had explained the situation to her, Louise still couldn't condone James taking in a kid and making him fight. Someone Jumper's age was fine. She could handle that. He was at least a legal adult. The thirteen-year-old, on the other hand, wasn't even in high school.
"Okay, maybe I underestimated the number," James said quickly, trying to placate her. "However! This is good business for you, Louise. While we're here, we'll also get outfits for Prime and Light Master. That is seven uniforms, which you will be well compensated for.
"I don't even wanna know where you're getting the money," Louise shot back.
"It's perfectly legit! The Legion has a benefactor who's taking care of us."
"I said I don't wanna know!" She threw one of her pincushions at him, which really seemed to scare Mr. Invincible Achilles. It was pretty comical actually.
"Okay, okay, okay, sorry Scary Tailor Lady. But don't worry about it! We'll be out of your hair by the end of next week when you finish those uniforms."
"The end of next week?" Louise asked, glowering.
"Y-yeah?" James replied, looking like he was confronting a monster.
"Do you have any idea how long it takes to make one of those? And you want me to make seven in less than a week? Are you this stupid on purpose?"
"Um...if it takes longer, that's fine I guess...just...Please make them a priority?"
"Do you think I have nothing better to do? Gimme a month and then maybe, just maybe I'll have half of them done! If I pull a few all-nighters since I still need to keep up with my normal requests. A few people are already putting in requests for Halloween costumes. Now that I appreciate. Give me good time to get them done and I'll have them done well. Rush me and so help me I will sew your limbs together sir!"
"Okay, sorry! Whenever they're done, just let us know!" James hid behind a mannequin as the rest of the Legion looked on.
"Achilles, why are you acting so scared of some sewing lady?" Louise glared at the kid.
"You should be scared of me too, punk," she growled. "If I want, I can rig your costume to burst a seam right when it'd be most embarrassing for you. Plus, have you seen how many sharp objects I have with me?"
"I'm not scared of you! And you can't really rig it like that." He glanced around. "She can't, right?"
Louise just answered him with her evilest grin. In the corner of her eye, she saw Courtney almost doubled over trying to hold back her laughter.
"Stop bothering the tailor!" James quickly said, waving the kid away. "Uh, Prime, can you talk to her about your costume first? After that we'll have Hot Rod, then Light Master, and we'll go from there."
Clever, James. Keep the short one away from her until she'd had time to cool off.
The guy who walked up to the counter looked a few years older than her, and he turned out to be rather pleasant. He wasn't too picky about the costume - sorry, uniform - as long as it did what he wanted. Oh, but he did want a cape for style. It wasn't her place to judge.
Before long, she had a green and grey uniform sketched out. She took him to the back for measurements and a few minutes later everything was done.
The next one was Hot Rod, who looked fairly young. Great. Another one. And he had delusions of grandeur, unlike Jumper. He even demonstrated his power, which caused Louise to scream and demand that he never bring his flames anywhere near her shop again in case something caught fire and all her hard work went up in smoke. After that outburst, he was much meeker.
Still, he wanted something flashy. Red, orange and yellow, with an overly complicated fluttery cape. Louise could already feel a headache coming on.
After that was the kid, who wanted white and yellow with a cape and full face mask. Of course he insisted on all kinds of bells and whistles. Louise mostly nodded and scribbled the ideas down, with the full intention of ignoring them later.
Next was Knight Errant. Like Prime, he was much easier to deal with. He wanted a cape as well - was the whole Legion just going to be a crew of caped nutjobs? At least he wasn't picky about colours. Louise ended up picking silver and blue for him, and volunteered to give him a more intricate mask than the others. She didn't mind doing extra work if the client was polite and nice to talk to.
The fifth costume was for someone who introduced herself as Jo. She basically just wanted a lab coat since she said she wouldn't be leaving Legion HQ much at all. Louise sketched out mask ideas for her anyway just in case.
After Jo she met Barrier Maiden, who opted for a pink and white outfit that showed a lot of skin. Short skirt, crop top, almost like a cheerleader outfit. The mask would be a simple half mask with fake gemstones studded over it. She also got boots and gloves. Thankfully, no cape.
Lastly, a gloomy guy who introduced himself as Rose. Surprisingly, Louise enjoyed talking to him a lot. He had good opinions on every aspect of the costume, and despite the fact that designing his took up more time than anyone else's, she had a ton of fun. A dark green base colour, with a few colourful flowery accents. Instead of a cape, he just wanted a hood and full-face mask. For the heck of it, Louise even designed an emblem for the back of the shirt. She told Rose to keep it their secret, though, since she figured Hot Rod and Light Master, pains in the ass that they were, would demand their own emblems too.
While she was measuring Rose, like with the others, she struck up a small conversation.
"So why'd you want to join the circus?" she asked jokingly. Rose chuckled as he looked at her.
"I got a Miracle. So I'm...I have to use it for good or something."
"You seem like you enjoy this fashion design stuff. Ever thought of pursuing that?"
"No. I mean, it's a fun hobby, but I like other stuff too. Before I...um..."
"Hey, I won't say anything to the idiot out front." Louise grinned at him. "He just doesn't get it, frankly. I've wanted to do this for almost as long as I can remember, and he and all his friends made fun of me for it. I don't know why I hung out with them."
"You've known Achilles for a while then?"
"Too long. I mean, we stopped talking after high school until...gosh, almost a year ago. He just waltzed in the door, made fun of me for a bit and asked me for a costume - sorry, uniform. I've been stuck dealing with him again ever since. At least I get to meet people like you and Co- er - Lightning."
Rose laughed. "You can call me Fiore if you want. Truth is, before I got this Miracle, I wanted to work on the Top. Agriculture."
"Good plan. Then this whole mess threw your life upside down, am I right?" Louise smiled sadly as Fiore seemed to wilt.
"Yeah. But...thanks. Um..."
"Come by anytime, kid. I like your ideas." Louise gave him a pat on the back. "That's the last measurement. And I guess you're the last one, so I can finally get those morons out of my hair."
Fiore giggled. "You really say what you mean, don't you?"
"When it comes to the Legion, I refuse to filter and put on my nice customer service act. If they don't like it, they can take their business elsewhere. In fact, please. Please take their business elsewhere. Achilles can be so unreasonable."
"I don't mind if it takes you half a year to finish," Fiore said. "Actually, if you want help, I might be able to do something. You'd have to show me what to do, of course, but..."
"That would be a huge help, actually," Louise replied with a smile. "See you Monday, kid."
They went back to the front of the shop, where Louise took payment from James and spent the next ten minutes arguing with the shortie and Hot Rod. Finally, she just kicked everyone except Courtney and Fiore out and made coffee for them.
The least James owed her was a bit of calm before the storm of making seven frickin' costumes.
