goodweather | IC INBOX ( SAIL )

Just a minute!

[ The door opens not long after. Phil looks quite put together; his hair and his feathers are all carefully groomed, and he's got a new suit tailored to fit him just so, plus a stylish lapel pin for a tasteful bit of expensive flair. It's a handsome ensemble that he wears as well as a second skin. One would think he wore a suit every day for 30(??) years in a time loop or something. ]

Hey, Darts. What going on?

[ Darcy, meanwhile, is nowhere near as polished. Her hair is her usual 'straightened so it isn't curly' and loosely combed. She's in a crushed velvet suit that was last seen at the Battle Royale party. Only instead of the turtleneck that went with it, she's buttoned it up and is holding a black tie. She blinks for a moment, because hey Phil looks good and that's a weird feeling, before she holds up the tie. ]

Hey. I sort of. Realized I can't actually tie a tie like... a couple of minutes ago. And I'm not going to be an asshole and not wear one to a fucking wedding, and I know you wear suits a lot so- if you're not busy, I'd really appreciate you teaching me.

[ Oh, wow, that's a cute suit. Aw, Darcy's making the effort. ]

Oh! Yeah, of course, come in.

[ Don't mind stepping over the remains of Rosalind's projects that he's done his best to sort off to the side, but it's not like Darcy hasn't been here before. He shuts the door behind.

Phil undoes his tie, so she can follow and get a feel for it with her own hands. ] Okay, here. Pop your collar and put it on your neck, make sure you have the right side facing out. Every tie is a little different, so you kind of have to get a feel for each one, but generally you want the thin side about halfway up the length of the wide end.

[ Darcy ducks her head in a nod as she enters behind him, balanced and sure on her feet while she avoids stepping on the projects. She does as she instructs, popping her collar and looping the tie over the back of her neck, adjusting it to sit how it's sitting on him.

If she just doesn't look too hard at the fact he's teaching her a milestone boy thing then surely she can dodge the gender and parental feelings that are arising. ]

Alright, cool. Now what?

[ Don't worry, Darcy, Phil isn't going to process any of this until he recalls this moment 18 hours later. ]

Here, you can use the mirror and check how it looks on yourself. [ He nods towards where it hangs on the wall. ] Now, take the wide end, and wrap it around--see, like this--so it ends up at the front, make sure nothing's twisting. Then take that wide end and push it up through the gap at the top by your neck.

You start to see the knot here. [ Phil taps at the loose, half-formed knot on his tie. ] Then duck the wide end through it like this, and you can keep tugging until the knot tightens. Make sure it's all straight. Then you can pull the narrow end and bring it up towards your neck.

[ It's a little tricky for him to work around his talons against the silk fabric of the tie, but the thousands of times he's done this make the motions fluid and clear all the same. The knot he makes is clean. ]

[ Darcy shuffles around to look at herself in the mirror and- oh. It's not just that she looks good, because she does, but the dark tie makes it feel less like the suit is her play-acting. It feels right. The bright blue of the crushed velvet makes her look paler, her eyes darker, and there's something vicious about the curve of her jaw, the severity of her brow. She's always looked boyish, but here she looks... actually masculine.

Right- she's actually doing something here. Darcy dutifully follows his instructions, glancing over to see what he's doing occasionally. And look- the tie's knot isn't perfect, but it's probably passable. It's not like she's the one getting married. ]

How's this? [ She asks, tugging on it a little to get it to sit better. ]

Good! [ Phil beams at her as he tucks his tie back into his waistcoat. ] That's just one way of tying, too. It's called a four in hand knot. You probably don't need more than just that one yet, though.

[ ("Yet," he says, not stopping once to think about it.) He reaches forwards to tug and straighten the knot, folding the collar back over. ]

There. Don't you look handsome.

[ Handsome.

If Darcy were physically able to spontaneously combust she probably would right at that second. It's a one-two-three punch of approval, affirmation of a gender she didn't even know she had, and fixing how her clothes were sitting in an affectionate way. Is this how she dies? Probably, right? She can't go on living after having experienced that. Darcy has no way to process this. Girl help.

She's just sort of deer in headlights-ing for the moment. ]

[ ... Now that is an interesting look she's wearing. It's not a negative one as far as he can tell, but something about what he said there struck deep, and now Darcy's caught in some kind of processing loop. Something about the word "handsome" at least.

He tilts his head, this sort of weird mix of amusement, curiosity, and Knowing on his face. ] You good there, kiddo?

[ NOT AGAIN.

Darcy's eyes widen in the split-second before she straight up shimmers out of sight. ]

Thanks for the- yeah-

[ And she's invisibly making her way to the door. ]

[ Oh, that's so funny. Phil doesn't look up or around, just puts up his hands in an "I concede" gesture. ]

See you at the wedding!

[ Kids. ]

See you-

[ Half strangled, and she only reappears outside his door, bee-lining as far away from his room as she can possibly get. Fucking Christ, what is wrong with her. ]

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