Soon enough, it was the beginning of Summer. The air was quick to swelter, and some days, I hoped Laslow stayed in the house lest he dry up in the summer heat. I mean that; on the hotter days, coming home to see him alive and well was way too much of a relief.
I could easily have picked out my wedding attire the same trip that I'd picked out my Flower Dance dress. I'd bought that dress and was walking out with it, though, before I realized it. My energy had nearly completely depleted at that point, so I'd shrugged and decided I'd come back at a later point.
That later point ended up being two days before I was supposed to board the train to the resort. Indeed, there was a train that stopped in ZuZu, that had a stop less than a mile from the resort, so I knew pretty quickly that would be the best way for me to get there. I mean, my folks could have picked me up, but that would be extra arrangement and gas money that they'd need to spend. Besides, I liked trains.
Trains aside, though, it was Summer the 9th, and I still hadn't picked out my wedding attire.
I'd been waiting at the stop for the bus to the city when Abigail, who was heading toward my house (definitely to see Laslow, at least in part), spotted me there.
Her first words to me then were "Can I watch Laslow while you're gone, too? Pretty please? I know you asked Sam to watch him, but I want to see him, too!"
Accepting that Laslow had stolen her heart, I agreed to her wishes.
And long story short, because she was bored, she and I were now in the women's fitting rooms at that same department store.
At one point, I'd emerged from one of the rooms in a gothic-style dress that I loved, but that didn't love me back. Even in its biggest size, it was cutting into my torso.
"I mean, what do you think?" I asked Abigail, who was acting as a second opinion on all these dresses.
"I'm sorry, that looks like it's cutting into you," she replied. "It's pretty clearly too small."
"Damn," I sighed, actually sad.
I later emerged in a royal blue dress that went down to my knees. It was fun, but not too flashy; the material was something akin to satin, but there wasn't much more to it than the blue.
When I came out with this dress on, I noticed that there was a graphic tee hanging over the top of the door that Abigail was leaning on. It said "Cave Saga X" and depicted several characters pointing weapons in various directions. They also appeared to be in a cave. Fancy that.
"How about this one?" I asked her, moving a little to show the dress off.
"Hmm…" she said, putting her hands on her hips and scanning the dress and how it looked on me. "…It's a little big around the torso area."
I looked down and pulled the torso area of the dress away from my body. She was right.
"I don't think a smaller size will work, either," I said. "This feels like it fits perfectly in every other aspect, like the sleeves and the bust and everything." Then, with a sigh, I went back into the dressing room and locked the door.
The next dress I'd picked out, I knew wasn't going to work. It was a bodycon. What in Yoba's name made me think "Hey, let's try a bodycon dress"? Even if I could remotely zip it up, it clung to my body like… thicker saran wrap, if I'm being honest. I may as well have just gotten a roll of cloth and wrapped myself in it.
Then, there was the second-to-last dress that I'd picked. It was another red one, but this one flared a bit on the bottom and went almost to the floor. The entire thing also had a black lace design that resembled vines.
Looking in the mirror, I felt like some sort of woodland goddess, and I hadn't done anything else to enhance my appearance. With styled hair and a barrette or something, my own jaw was going to drop.
I emerged from the dressing room to show Abigail this masterpiece that was a dress. I was going with it no matter what she said, but she seemed to love it upon first sight, too. Her face immediately lit up.
"That's the one," she told me. "That's the dress. You gotta wear that one."
She now had a bottle of perfume in her left hand. The fragrance was "Sexy Amber," if I was reading the bottle correctly.
"I'm glad you agree," I told her. "I feel like some kind of woodland goddess in this thing."
And so, I had a dress for my cousin's wedding. Mission accomplished.
Author's casual discussion: Anyone else know about Unus Annus? As I'm writing this, there's a bit less than 5 hours left until it all comes to an end. This final livestream is a vibe I've never felt before, one of both joy and sadness. Memento mori.