The Magicians' Realm Chapter 83: Tailor-Made, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 83, everybody, and Happy Labor Day! If you need me, I'll be working on the buffer for this again….Skulduggery quotes Bill Cosby's "Childbirth" routine, by the way.

Lots of movies this week, since I'm off from school for a week and the Labor Day weekend is upon us, but notable mention goes to Law Abiding Citizen—interesting tidbit of trivia knowledge: apparently Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler were supposed to have each other's roles, but Gerard wanted to play the 'bad guy.' Which leads to my next point—apparently, the movie is supposed to be a deconstruction of revenge stories and we're supposed to feel bad about all the people Gerard's character offs….I and my family don't see it like that. :\

Angiembabe, thanks for the review! It might occur to her later….Maybe—"hey! Why are you doing this?" "No time, must be off, important plots to plot!"

Fromtheashtrees, thanks for the review! It could…and this is about the time when we realize that this might be the best idea a bunch of teenagers could come up with by the seat of their pants…they need to sit down and plot better. Maybe it's a parent thing—"Our child is growing up and getting behind the wheel of a two-ton weapon augh!" Yup, that sounds like my Dad. Ah thank you, same to you! :D Sounds like you've been busy—and voting! Voting is a good thing. I did! Hope you did too! Although I am doing what my Mom is doing and have officially decided to stop aging. We'll see how that goes.

FluffyIdiotIsI, thanks for the review! Yes….And yes—"Ooh, the Teana-lookalike liked that! I think I'll do another!" That reminds me—we went to Maine for my birthday, and my first thought upon eating a lobster was "take that Administrators!" I just want to thank you for that thought. XD Yes…as much as we and the media may like to think otherwise, a handful of teens aren't that good at coming up with a kicking plan….Cheers for quick kisses! It might occur to him sometime….Fun fact though—on the first draft, I had intended for Anzu to be wearing Teana's necklace, to further Skellington's confusion; writing it out though, it wasn't meant to be. *shrug*

References:

Original characters, + setting © Kineil D. Wicks (myself, not the girl in the story)

"You seem aggravated. What did I do?"

"I want you to consider what kind of relationship we must have if your first reaction to me being aggravated is to blame yourself," Teana pointed out, sliding out of the car.

"Congratulations, Yami," Skulduggery said, closing his door. "You're ahead of the game."

"I am?" Yami asked blankly. "Wait—if you're not aggravated at me, then what happened? Did Skul do something? Should I have words with him?"

"I'll give you a handicap and let you bring a dictionary."

"Hey…."

"Knock it off, you two," Teana scolded, stepping aside so Yami could close the door.

"I'll have you know I offered her a perfectly respectable job teaching a perfectly unrespectable mathematical subject," Skulduggery said.

"So now you have two jobs. But I thought you liked having—" Yami cut off abruptly upon seeing her expression. "Shutting up now."

"Can I get that in writing?" Teana asked.

"Nice. Very nice. An extra point for you," Skulduggery said, opening the door for them as they crossed the street, prompting a light ding from the bell.

The tailor's was nice on the inside, with warm woods and bolts of fabric all nice and neat, and it smelled nice. Like respectability, maybe, or a guy who actually cleaned house on a regular basis.

"Hello, hello," Skulduggery chimed, ambling for the counter.

"Skul!" she heard someone in the back call. "You don't need another hat! I just made you one!"

"One can never have too many hats," Skulduggery countered as a stack of bolts made their way forward. "Saying that, Idgy needs another one. And we might be getting Jack one finally."

"They grow up so fast," the stack of bolts muttered, the man carrying them evident as he left the cover of the racks. Well, if he was the tailor, at least he was dressed sharply. And big enough that it would take both Hephaestus and Vulcan to match the man's shoulders.

"They do," Skulduggery said, taking his hat off and putting it on his chest, feigning a mournful look. "Why, it feels like only yesterday Idgy was accusing my parents of never being married."

"Maybe you should try having the kid next time," Teana said.

"Which brings us to the reason why we're here," Yami said. "Not that we're…um…."

"The thing, that you said earlier," Teana said, glaring at him. "About not talking—can you do that?"

"It's a physical impossibility," the man carrying the bolts said, putting the bolts on the counter and turning to approach them. "As is getting Skul to do the same, or leave off of hats. Hi, you must be Teana—heard a lot about you. I'm Ghastly."

Teana might have managed a squeak that sounded like hi, and which she sincerely hoped did not sound like what she thought, yes you are. The man Ghastly had scars, as Skulduggery and Yami had warned her, running along his bald head like deep furrows. And while he wasn't as tall as Yami, he could definitely break anyone he wanted to in half if he wanted to.

Ghastly seemed used to this sort of reaction. "You want to stick with something simple first? Like waving?"

She ducked her head quickly and stuck her hand out. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he said, shaking her hand gently. "That's everyone's first reaction. So what can I do for you? Sky's the limit as long as it involves clothes."

"Teana's closet echoes," Yami said.

"We can definitely fix that," Ghastly said, letting go of her hand and pocketing his, looking her up and down. "And I suppose we can make Idgy a hat and pretend that's not really filling Skul's hat fix for the week. So what do you prefer, dresses, pants, shorts, skirts, all of the above, patterns, plain…."

"Economical and practical?" Teana guessed, trying to focus on his tie pin. Staring at his tie pin was probably not rude.

"Now that will be a challenge."

Something clicked just then—she turned to look at Yami, more specifically his tie.

"Now hold it," she said. "Isn't this where you got that tie?"

"Yes," Yami said. "Why?"

"So Yami's tie is the upper limit," Ghastly guessed, rumbling a laugh. "Got it. Why don't you check out the bolts on the counter, and I'll go hunt for some patterns that might flatter you?"

"Something like what I've got on?" Teana asked.

"I can oblige, but I'd rather have something complex so I have a good excuse to not make another hat."

"Are you saying you don't like making hats?" Skulduggery asked.

"I do, but I like variety in my life."

"And you dance," Yami pointed out, tapping Teana on the shoulder. "Let's not forget dancing at the Revue."

"Ooh, now that gives me something to work with."

"Can you stitch his mouth shut?" Teana asked, pointing at Yami.

"Now that will cost extra."

Oi. "I don't—"

"Put it on my tab, Ghastly," Yami said. "Except for the stitching my mouth shut bit."

"I'll pay for that," Skulduggery offered.

Ghastly laughed, winked at Teana as he headed for the back. "I'll get my big needle then."

Teana turned to glare at Yami.

"Don't give me that look," Yami said, rocking back on his heels. "Consider this—I don't know, catching up on all those birthdays and holidays I missed."

"We didn't know each other," Teana said.

"And that is definitely something that needed rectifying."

"And you don't charge me rent or lodgings or anything else—"

"You know, if you married him you'd get half of everything," Skulduggery pointed out.

Teana glared at him.

"Hey, there's an idea!" Yami said. "Why don't we—why don't I quit while I'm ahead?" he guessed, spotting her expression.

"Good idea," she said. "And let's not go there."

"I personally think you're wasting time beating around the bush like this," Skulduggery said, fiddling with a knitting needle and rapping it against the counter. "Honestly, you should get that out of the way sooner rather than later. Like say, middle of next month."

"Are you trying to make it so you win the Revue bet?" Ghastly said, coming back with more bolts.

"Maybe."

"There's actually a bet for—I don't believe you people," Teana said, throwing her hands up.

"I personally am gunning for next August," Ghastly told her, flicking through a nearby rack after depositing the bolts. "It gives you a year and you avoid the cliché of spring weddings. What do you think of the steam-clock cut of clothes?"

"I'm personally aiming for never. And I don't know what that is."

"You're not?" Yami asked, aghast, as Ghastly pulled out a coat to demonstrate the cut.

"Better cancel the caterer," Skulduggery said.

"I don't like the feeling of being pressured into it," Teana informed him. "And that looks more like Miss Weaver's sort of outfit."

"What about a layered skirt?" Ghastly asked, putting the coat up. "Get some different effects that way, and it'd be something else when you danced."

"Maybe. Paisley?"

"Ah, now you're speaking my language."

"I'm being too forward again?" Yami guessed.

"Yes," Teana told him. "And that's a lot of color for one piece of fabric."

"It's fun to work with and keeps some of the smaller pests out of the closet," Ghastly said.

"Like moths?"

"Gnomes, more likely—some magical creatures don't like multicolored thread."

"Does it repel Magicians?"

"Ouch," Yami muttered.

"I haven't found anything that does that yet—unfortunately, they're persistent."

"What do you mean, they?" Skulduggery asked. "Are you a Magician or not?"

"On the practical side," Ghastly countered, putting the bolt on the counter. "And not with sewing—no need to overcomplicate something that doing by hand does better."

"I'm suddenly really liking your style," Teana said.

"Wonderful. Let's talk shirts."

*\*/*

Miss Binder was informed, and other than telling her that she needed to come back later and help with the older books, Anzu was free to go.

"This is bad, isn't it?" she asked Yuki as they left the library, not at quite a full sprint, but close.

"It's not good," Yuki agreed, looking worried.

And slowing down the closer they got to the Administration Building.

"What, what is it?" she asked, returning to his side. "It's not that dead Administrator, is it?"

"N-no," Yuki said, shuffling. "It's just…I ran into Administrator Carter earlier."

"Um…okay…."

Yuki scuffed his foot on the cobbling. "And…we saw him in the old reel…."

"Yeah…."

"I…he saw me this morning."

She blinked. "Okay…."

"And…he was the one who told me where Bakura was…."

"Okay…oh. Oh. You think…he might be trying to get you into trouble."

Yuki nodded.

Anzu tried to think if she had come face-to-face with Administrator Carter. Maybe at the Masquerade Ball, but she wasn't sure. "I…listen. We can bluff our way through this. Don't worry."

Yuki didn't seem convinced, but he let her hold his hand and lead him up the steps and into the Administration Building.

Upon entry into the huge foyer, it occurred to her that she had never actually been in the Administration Building before.

"Where's the library from here?" she asked Yuki quietly.

Yuki pointed ahead and to the left wordlessly, continuously glancing around and behind as though expecting Administrator Carter to just suddenly pop up out of nowhere. Anzu tugged on his arm, prompting him to fall into step next to her as they headed for where he indicated. Just—act like you belonged, right? Or was it act like you were busy? Maybe it was act like you were busy—people were less likely to stop you if you looked busy.

"Hey!"

"Keep walking—it probably isn't us," she said out of the corner of her mouth.

"Hey!"

"I think it's us," Yuki said.

"Not until they say it specifically," she said.

And then some harried guy a few years older than her and wearing some sort of tunic over his suit skidded to a halt in front of her, hands up.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"The library?" she guessed. "I'm here to appeal for a book doctor and help him—" indicate Yuki. "With his school assignment. Now unless you'd like to point us in the right direction or take us there…."

"The only thing I'm showing you is the door," the page said, arms out—like he was somehow barring their way in this huge room. She glanced down at Yuki—who seemed to be having some sort of internal debate.

Which apparently got resolved, if his next statement was any indication.

"Hey, is that Administrator Carter?" he asked.

The page was suddenly gone with such immediacy, Anzu was surprised he didn't leave a dust trail.

"Does he have that much of a reputation?" she asked.

"He scares all the pages," Yuki confirmed. "Can we go now?"

"Yes—come on."

They went down a large side hall, stopped to examine a floor plan, adjusted their trajectory until they were in front of the Administrator Library entrance—

There was a rope in front of the entrance and a page sitting at a podium next to it. Not good.

"Oh," Yuki said quietly. "I forgot about the guard."

"Come on," Anzu said, feeling she had the perfect counter.

Which was why they were in front of the podium moments later.

"The library is closed," the page said.

"Administrator Carter is looking for you," Anzu said.

It was concerning, the way the page's face drained of all color—as was his haste in scrambling away.

"We should feel bad about that, kinda," Yuki said, as Anzu ducked under the rope.

"Maybe," she agreed, lifting it up a little for him. "Now come on—let's start looking."