Chapter Seven:
Sewing and Slavery and Sonido
It took over an hour for everyone to agree on a design. Mila Rose wanted a large cutout over the chest and on the sides.
Apache wanted to cut the pants into shorts or a skirt.
Sunsun wanted ridiculously long sleeves and a collar.
Seren wanted her boat neck neckline and to keep her pants the way they were.
They finally decided on an off-the shoulder with cutouts on the sleeves at the arm to please Seren. They have VERY small cutouts on the side to please Mila Rose, and a cutout in the back. She liked them. There were long sleeves, gathered at the wrist, where the sleeve edges draped down, for Sunsun. As for Apache… Well, again, Seren liked the pants.
Sunsun then carried the clothes and the drawing away to go cut and sew. Apparently she already had fabric in her rooms for the sleeves. Which was good.
Seren smiled, very satisfied. This way, she wouldn't look anything like Ulquiorra. She liked that idea very much.
She was still a little sore about last night, needless to say.
"I'm going to go take a shower," she said. "I can be your slave tomorrow. That bathroom was enough for today."
Mila made a pouty face. "But I wanted you to go and organize my dresser!" She pointed to the dresser, where assorted bottles, perfumes, makeup, and other things littered the floor and top of the dresser.
"NO!" Seren yelled. But by then she was already in Mila Rose's room. "Fine. I'll do it, but only because I want to learn sonido as fast as possible." She started picking everything up and putting it in the pile.
"Good," Mila Rose said. "Oh, and get the drawers too. I want the skirts in the left drawers, the shirts on the right. Good girl."
She then left the room to go walk around outside, leaving Seren muttering and making faces at her back.
Before Seren knew it, it was nighttime already. She had finished most of her debt to the three fraccion for the sonido. She'd organized Mila Rose's dresser, served Sunsun as a slave (Water! Get my other pillow! Sunsun would order with a clap of her hands) and had cleaned under Apache's bed.
This was how Seren knew she wasn't dead yet. She could still feel pain.
She collapsed in her bed, praying that her outfit would be done tomorrow. She really was very tired. She was asleep before she could think otherwise.
She was walking this time. In the hallways of Las Noches, she thought. The bland, bare white walls told her this. The bad thing was, all the hallways looked the same, so she had no idea where she was. If only she could sonido-
Then she heard a familiar leering voice.
"Hey, honey. What're you doing out so late alone?"
She whipped around, eyes wide.
It was Nnoitra, and he was smiling at her.
"Little girls like you shouldn't be out alone."
"Seren! Get up, get up!" She was being shaken awake by Apache. "Get up!" She yelled.
"Wha, what? Is Las Noches on fire?" She muttered blearily.
"No! Your clothes! They're done!" Apache explained.
"WHAT?!" Seren fell out of bed in her haste to leave. "Damn! Where's my clothes?"
"Right here." Sunsun said, holding them up. She looked very satisfied with herself.
"Thank you, thank you!" Seren grabbed them out of Sunsun's hands. And then her jaw dropped.
It was perfect, she was sure.
There was an off the shoulder neckline with a black border, and a cross formed by two black lines on her jacket, one vertical and the other horizontal. The sleeves were formed by a ring that attacked the sleeves to the neckline. The sleeves were long and baggy, then gathered at the wrist to make a long opening.
"It's… perfect." She smiled. "I've got to go put this on!" She hugged Sunsun, Sunsun was shocked, and then ran out into the bathroom, and was out in less than a minute.
She pranced out joyfully. "Well," she said. "The pants feel… tighter?"
"You didn't think we were just going to let you walk around in man pants, did you?" Drawled Mila Rose.
Seren's eyebrows twitched. They ALWAYS had to throw in a wrench in anything they did for her.
"All right, then." She put her hands on hips. "Oh well. I guess they're not too bad." Mila Rose smiled.
"See? You should trust us more."
"You're kidding, right?"
Once again, Seren found herself doing various chores. She served lemonade to Mila Rose while she laid down on the couch, too lazy to get it herself. She had to run errands for Sunsun, who wanted more materials for her sewing projects. Apache ordered her to organize her closet.
About two hours later, Seren stopped. "All right!" She demanded. By now she was really pissed. "I KNOW that was one whole day of servitude. You have to teach me sonido now!"
Mila started fanning herself. "Hmm… What if I don't want to…"
"Then I will fucking pull out Fuerda and transport you back in time and leave you in the Stone Age with a bunch of cavemen. And you'd need me to come back and get you after that!" Of course they didn't know that she couldn't, not really. The stupid necklace would have stopped that, but what Mila didn't know wouldn't hurt her.
"Oh! Fine, fine! Pushy…" mutter Mila. "All right, Sunsun, Apache, you're coming too. You also owe her."
She then walked out the door, leaving the other three stumbling behind her.
"See? Like that. Now you try it!" Apache pointed. "Go to the end of the hall. Try in one step."
Seren looked unsteadily at her feet. She wasn't clumsy, but she wasn't very graceful either. "Okay… here goes… everything."
She tried a sonido, and for a second everything was a blur-
And then she smashed face first into the wall.
"Owww…" She moaned, before falling backwards on the floor.
"Hmm… you need to learn how to turn," Mila Rose said. "That was very far for one step, but also very stupid."
"I noticed. It's what the large red mark on my forehead is telling me right now," Seren mumbled saracastically from the floor.
She got off her back and got up again.
"Okay, let me try this again. This time I will make it!" She rubbed her hands together, determined.
She gave it another go- and the lurching was less unpleasant this time. She found that it was- exhilarating. She laughed and tried to go faster. She turned to corner and raced down the other hallway, and skidded to a halt.
"Ha!" She shot her fist into the sky. "I did it!"
"Yeah. You're actually pretty good at this," Sunsun observed.
"Yeah. It's the strangest feeling, like I've… done this before…" Seren scratched her head. No, she hadn't. It would have come in handy with Ulquiorra.
WHY DID HE ALWAYS POP UP IN HER HEAD WHENEVER SHE WAS DOING SOMETHING?
She smacked herself. "Oh well."
"Huh. Well, I'm going back now. My work here is done." Mila said, and she disappeared.
"Me too." Apache followed.
"And I'm going to get some sleep," Sunsun turned. "Aren't you coming, Seren?"
"No," Seren said. "I think I'll stay here and practice a little more. It's actually fun!" She smiled.
"Suit yourself," Sunsun said, and then she disappeared after the other two.
