"Hm.. what's this?" The girl arrived in her small shop one December morning as she glanced at the white envelope in her hand. Written in black calligraphy at the front of it was her address and her own name, [Name], and there was a holiday sticker sealing the flap. She found this particular envelope in her mailbox earlier today and decided to open it before she started working for the day.
Almost bumping into a mannequin on the way to the large wooden workspace, which also functioned as storage cupboards and a sitting area right by the window, she plopped right down and hurriedly tore off the flap, finding a letter inside. [Name] unfolded it and read some of the its contents out loud.
"Dear Ms. [Last Name]... my fiancé and I..." She hummed idly as she scanned through the message. "..will be married... Christmas Day... commissioning.. suit jacket, waistcoat, and dress... payment will reach to you before the party.. finish in four days... Good luck... Sincerely, The Mayor of [Name of City/Town/Village]."
[Name] wasn't sure how she ended up with this kind of attraction, let alone be assigned to this special commission, but she bursted up with a small squeal in excitement.
You see, [Name] [Last Name] was a tailor, sewing up and fixing clothes for the people in the community. Even though clothing stores and shopping malls were increasingly becoming more common nowadays, most of the citizens in [Name of City/Town/Village] actually preferred to have their outfits fixed or created by hand, or from brilliantly talented tailors and dressmakers such as herself. Despite being younger than most people from that trade, her work was rather praised for exceptional quality and unique style, and [Name] enjoyed working at her job.
Anyways, the mayor's new jacket and waistcoat, as well as his bride-to-be's wedding dress might as well be [Name]'s biggest commission yet. From what she heard, the mayor of her [city/town/village] was planning to be married to this lovely woman that he got engaged to, and since the wedding will take place during Christmas Day this year, the mayor will also host this huge Christmas party after the ceremony. There will be a huge feast, dancing, music, gifts, and even a Christmas carol-off... and the whole [city/town/village] will be invited!
...Well, that is, everyone except her.
Strangely enough, it seemed like lots of people got invited to the party that so happened to be the most-talked-about-event-of-the-month, waving around shiny red and green cards from the mail and flaunting them in front of every face they would see. Somehow, she didn't end up with an invitation to there... maybe the mayor couldn't invite every single person around here? Or maybe it was because everyone thought she was too busy?
She hated to say this, but it made her feel really, really lonely. And left out.
She mentally frowned just thinking about it.
Hopefully sewing those outfits would count as contributing to the wedding and the party somehow.
Either way, you'd better get started then. With renewed determination, [Name] hopped off the wooden area and began to collect a few things, already forming an idea. She just hoped the mayor and his eventual wife will love it.
Little did she knew that someone was watching her.
Or rather, a tiny someone. A someone with silver hair and a dark-brown layer underneath, as well as dragonfly-like wings.
That 'someone' also had a name; his name was Pietro.
And Pietro was a fairy.
Now, Pietro just happened to hear the commotion the young woman was making once he heard her reading out loud a letter of some sort. He wasn't entirely sure what was that about, but it was enough to get her up and going to find some fabric, unfurl some strings and ribbons, and gather up her tools. Curiosity increased for the winged speedster so he popped out of his hiding place to investigate.
He flitted around the wooden workspace for a moment, since he felt fidgety from being cooped up so long. Even though the tailor was intensely occupied with the start of her new project to notice anything, the superspeed-powered fairy flew in a flash of silver to sit down on the windowsill and observed from that viewpoint.
[Name] unrolled some newsprint and began drawing out some templates. There seemed to be one pattern for the front, a couple panels for a skirt, a few rectangular shapes for the pockets and cuffs... Pietro wondered what she was planning to make today.
A few feet of wine-red corded silk was cut out, along with some peach-tinted taffeta and what looked like lengths of white. There was also some scritch-scratching of a pencil and clangs of a metal ruler as she kept drawing, measuring, and cutting.
Even though he was typically impatient, flying between intervals in great bursts of speed as he glimpsed at different angles and perspectives, Pietro opted to sit down cross-legged near the window instead as he observed [Name] doing her work. She kept darting back and forth a lot (which to his fast-paced mind, it looked more like small walks), but he just daydreamed for a moment as he waited.
The fairy thought about the time when he and his fraternal twin sister, Wanda, originally occupied a rather cramped and drafty ceiling hole of an apartment building in a city from Sokovia. However, the apartment was destroyed by a bomb and their home got caved in, killing their parents in the process and forcing them to flee to wherever their wings (and Pietro's superspeed) would take them.
They tried living in the woods, inside fairy rings, sharing animal homes, occupying abandoned buildings. and even temporarily staying in a dark, cold laboratory once before they ended up being spotted by a rather malicious scientist. Eventually, the twins ended up in a rather quaint [city/town/village] in [Name of country] that was mostly steeped in tradition and history. They even found a new home for themselves in the process, inside the home and workshop of one of [Name of City/Town/Village]'s best tailors.
And that tailor happened to be [Name].
The human girl tended to have excess pieces of cloth left over from the clothing and accessories she made, no matter how much fabric she used up. Whenever she came home at night from work, worn to a ravelling, she would let the snippets of colourful material float down to the tabletops and floor, as she sang out, "Tippets for fairies and ribbons for mobs! For fairies!", or something along those lines, anyway. Those random scraps ended up in the shop as well, which was why the little Sokovian fairy often swiped them away without a trace in his superspeed.
Hopefully, Pietro will find some good materials for the day.
Now the tailor was pinning up the paper templates and tracing their forms onto the material before retrieving her silver sheers and trimming them into shape. This time, she was quietly singing a song, a Christmas carol, perhaps, to herself as she carefully cut them with smooth, straight lines. Pietro's lips twitched into a smile at this, which seem odd as itself, but it wasn't.
Alright, here's the thing: even though Pietro had never interacted with [Name] in person, let alone said a word to her, he often liked to watch the young tailor working on her wearable creations, which varied from her versions of the latest fashion, whimsical headpieces and accessories, and elegant formal wear, to amazing costumes for Halloween and cosplaying. Hell, she could even whip out delicate doll clothes with barely any sweat. [Name] was quite talented, that's for sure, but Pietro also saw her as beautiful, kind-hearted, and had an irrepressible spirit. If she wanted to, she could've brightened up the gloomiest days and find the positives in a mostly negative situation. There were moments when he would find her singing as she sewed, narrating stories to herself as she read, or even watching over her while she slept. Sometimes, the speedster fairy would be content just from seeing her smile or hearing her laugh. If anything, he liked having her presence.
Long story short, Pietro was in love with her.
He just wished he could be closer to [Name] somehow, even if he'll end up like a human or she'll end up as a fairy. He wouldn't care for either way.
Once [Name] was out of her workspace for a couple minutes, this time to search for some buttons and twist farther away, Pietro quickly flew over to pick up the remaining scraps of fabric scattered on the wooden surface. He found many pieces of red corded silk, a couple strips of that peachy taffeta, and he even found a length of ice-blue lace twice his size (no white cloth yet, but he'll try to wait) before swiftly popping back into his hideaway without a sound or a peep.
The 'hideaway' was as small as a mouse hole, but it was bigger on the inside, and it linked between [Name]'s shop and her house nearby, as well as serving as connections to other buildings in the [city/town/village]. The studio may look dilapidated, just like the tailor's residential counterpart, but it was actually pretty sturdy on the inside. And comfortable, too. A small passageway served as their home and the cracks, the holes, the pipes, the wooden layers, and the passages served as an excellent labyrinth for them and the residing fairy folk nearby without human interference. It was a warm, peaceful haven, and he and his sister wouldn't have it any other way.
Speaking of his sister, where could she-
"Pietro! Did you manage to find some fabric?" His female twin, Wanda, happened to hover out from the wooden framework of the building. She cleared up some sawdust clinging onto her scarlet butterfly wings and black cotton dress with her red-tinted hex magic, now appearing more cleansed than ever.
"Yes, Wanda; I got some red corded silk, bits of peach-coloured taffeta, and ice-blue lace... are those alright for you?" He revealed the bunches of cloth he collected so far. The dark-haired fairy accepted the bundle with a smile on her face, perfectly happy with the new material they received.
"It's perfect! And I'm almost finished with the clothes from yesterday." She told him happily as she flew towards another room in the hideaway, which served as a shared bedroom and a makeshift studio for the clothes the twins created for themselves out of [Name]'s leftover cloth. Peeking out from the smaller door were two fairy-sized mannequins made of peanut shells and mini styrofoam balls. One was adorned with a skirt underlayer created from a piece of white mesh, while another had an elbow-sleeved shirt fashioned from a dyed-black maple leaf with leather cord drawstrings and neon green and blue lightning bolts embroidered on the front. "Pietro, are you not coming? I need some help with measurements." Wanda called out about thirty seconds later.
The silver-haired fairy peered into the outside of the mouse hole once more to see what was [Name] up to now. So far, she was still concentrated onto her task for the commission, this time preparing the white fabric. But he knew she would be alright. For now anyway.
"I'll be right there." He replied back before fluttering away from prying eyes.
Eugene: Hi guys! I know this type of story seems weird to you, but c'mon; fairies are awesome! Admit it. This fanfic is actually a Christmas present for Singer of Water (I love her stories, especially her OCs!) and I wanna write something fluffy yet unique for her. The concept's actually on something I originally wanted to work on last Christmas, but never got the chance to until now. You know those Peter Rabbit books you would see in the library at some point? The ones by Beatrix Potter? Those were some of my favourite stories since I was little and this fanfic was loosely inspired by one of them, which was "The Tailor of Gloucester". As much as I wanna explain what that story was about, I wouldn't want to spoil it for anybody, so you'll have to read the book itself or search it up online.
P.S. I originally thought of doing Bucky, Steve, or Clint, but somehow, neither of them fit, so I chose Pietro instead. Besides, I think Mel (Singer of Water) kinda got this crush on him so yeah... *whistles innocently* That, and I wanna see him in fairy wings for some reason. 'Nuff said. I hope she likes it!