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A young girl in a white homeware gown with long dark red fuzzy hair named Florence, about 8 years old, rummages through her uncle Eleazar and Aunt Miriam's drawers in the guest bedroom, trying on every article of clothing she finds. A variety of clothing lay skewed around the bedroom. She was exploring to see what exactly she would find but was most interested in her uncle’s clothing. She always wondered how it must feel to get the luxury of being able to run around freely without extra layers of fabric limiting the range of motion that men were so inherently given.
So when everyone would be out of the house, except her mother who was taking an afternoon nap in her bedroom upstairs after finishing up her daily chores, she took the opportunity to try some on. Usually, it would be a few hours before anyone came home so she would have enough time to put everything away, making it look like nothing had happened.
It's not because disliked her dresses; she thought they were all pretty but they could be a nuance when she was running around playing outside with the local children doing a handful of activities that required her to get dirty. Her mother would disapprove of her adventurous needs as they would result in some form of damage to her gowns. Thankfully when Miriam or her older sister, Victoria, are around they can use their magic to clean/repair her garments far easier.
Her aunt and sister made wearing ankle-length dresses look easy as they went about their daily life, compared to Florence’s struggle with her knee-length dresses. It made her a tad bit envious of not being able to manage it the same as them.
She would try to see if her two older brothers, Lawrence and Edward, had any spares from when they were younger but to no success. Plus their room would almost always be locked when they were gone, probably to prevent a certain child from doing the same to them as it’s happening to the Figs. She would’ve tried on her father’s but she didn’t want him to mock her for it as he already made her inferior for not having any magical abilities like her older siblings. She is a year overdue for them to appear, she read up on other children in similar situations but only a handful never got their magical gifts.
She was also too afraid to tell her mother, she fears that she might get angry by such an odd desire in a girl her age, another added to the long list of undesirable quirks of Florence Inkwood, the family’s only squib.
She shook off these thoughts as she zipped up the long, black pants, the majority of which gathered at her ankles. Her puffy sleeve-covered arms protruded out from the cuffs that were shoved up her arm, and her hands can barely be seen, in the oversized ash-purple frock coat that covered her dress and that was partially buttoned up.
Miriam just so happened to have left her hat that was made of straw and was a light sand color with a faded blue ribbon tied around it on her nightstand.
After carefully placing the hat on top of her long and fuzzy dark red hair, she finally looked into the mirror to see a mess of clothing on her person. She stared at herself for a good moment before bursting out into laughter at the odd silhouette the amalgamation of clothing made, the shaking of her whole being causing the hat to fall covering her eyes, she tried to stifle her giggles before tilting the hat back to regain her sight.
Her dress was bunched up underneath the Frock coat making her shoulders and torso look broad, the pants covering her feet completely in the excess fabric. She paused to study the frock coat, grazing her nimble fingers across all the repairs and subtle changes that gave it its character. It was one of her favorites that Eleazar owned. When he wears it, it fits him perfectly, and makes him look quite wise and strong, to her it makes him look powerful. From the many stories he told, she’d like to believe him wearing this exact coat during said tales.
Her attention shifts to the straw hat, grazing the rim of it. It was a rather lovely hat with a few stains on the ribbon and parts of the hat were weathered down from her travels as well, but Florence liked it nonetheless. She could imagine it sitting on her long, luscious, wavy black hair riddled with silver strains, which she sometimes wore down or half up in a messy braided bun.
As much as she liked that hat, there was another accessory that Miriam had owned that she liked but wasn’t able to find. These round sun protection eyeglasses with a golden frame. The part of the frame holding the glass lens is extended back touching the face, almost cupping the eyes. An item she has never seen before. Yes, local people wore different types of eyeglasses but none were as unique as hers. They framed Miriam’s semi-round face nicely, the gold working beautifully with her light caramel skin and giving her an air of mystery.
She oh so desired to explore and discover new things, to travel around the world just like her aunt and uncle had seen. Or even more.
As she wore this outfit, the stronger her desire grew. Making her feel closer to it.
Suddenly, she straightens her posture before putting one hand behind her back and the other in a fist on her chest and making a serious face,
“Ah hello!” She does a rather stiff bow towards the mirror, pretending it to be a living being.
“Good weather we’re having?” She attempted in a fake deep voice, trying to impersonate her uncle. “Have you seen my beautiful wife? I must report back to her!” The hand she had on her chest shot up into the air with her index finger up to the sky.
“For I must tell her… er…” her serious face softened while scrunching her brows to find the words. Quite a difficult task for an 8-year-old.
“That um… I have discovered… uh something! Yes!” Her body perked up and her golden hazel eyes twinkle, as if she had indeed discovered something.
Which she just did.
She discovered she was being watched as she heard a soft giggle behind her, immediately she froze and all color left her face. The air in her lungs felt like they were pulled out of her. She glanced around in the mirror to see a set of two eyes peeking in from the doorframe.
Eleazar and Miriam were barely visible from Florence’s view, but she could make out Miriam’s fingertips covering her smirk and her eyes squinting in amusement while Eleazar did nothing to hide his agape mouth and wide eyes.
Fear immediately hit Florence, causing shockwaves of anxiety through her body. She slowly turned towards them, her face failing to hide any of her internal thoughts.
“I-I… please, please don’t be mad-” the words stumbling out of her quivering mouth and she found her lungs malfunctioning, unable to take in air. Her little hands clenched onto the coat.
Miriam and Eleazar’s expressions immediately drop, Miriam rushes to her side, lowering herself to meet the child’s eye level. Eleazar closes the door behind him and tries to tiptoe to the two as Mrs. Inkwood was still napping upstairs, kneeling on one knee.
“My little love, breathe” Miriam's warm and husky voice whispers to Florence as she cautiously takes both of her trembling hands and holds them close to her face, Miriam’s deep hazel eyes looking into the little ones own eyes. “Please breathe with me,” she breathes in deeply, Florence shakily follows suit. Eleazar is doing the same as well.
“Good girl, now slowly out…” she breathed out, all three breathe out in unison, they do this a few more times until Florence’s shaking nearly stops. Eleazar softly places a hand on her upper back, rubbing slow and lazy eights across it.
As soon as her nervous system was soothed, her vision slowly blurred as her eyes filled with tears and little beads fell down her face as she started to choke back a sob. Eleazar felt as if someone was squeezing his heart at the sight of his dear little one in such a state, “Sweetheart, do you want a hug?” His voice is low, trying to keep a calm demeanor. She nodded and immediately both of the adults pulled her into a warm embrace, Miriam quietly shushing her while patting her back gently.
“Love you are not in any trouble, okay?” She spoke into Florence’s hair as she nuzzled it. “I’m not…? You’re *sniffs* not upset…?” She murmured into Miriam’s chest.
Miriam kisses the top of her head before slowly pulling back, looking at her tear-stained face with a soft smile. “Oh, you could never upset us.”
Eleazar quietly spoke, “I mean, how could anyone else get mad at such a dashing child such as yourself?” He leaned back to glance at her outfit,
“Very stylish indeed, young one.” He beamed at her.
She glanced between him and her outfit before wiping her face with the coat sleeve. “You like it? Really like it?”
Miriam and Eleazar quickly glance at each other before nodding in unison, “Yes darling, I think the colors suit you well” Miriam smirks in amusement, “I will say I think it’ll look better if the clothes fit you… perhaps a bit of shopping is in order, what do you say hm?” She tilted her head to the side with her question. Florence's eyes widened and began to sparkle,
“Really?! Are there clothes like this for girls, Aunt Miriam?”
She nodded, even if it wasn’t the entire truth. There aren't clothes tailored for girls in this style but she can surely find something similar in boy clothes. She glanced at her uncle, “Will you be joining us too Uncle El?” Eleazar felt one corner of his mouth tug into a smile at the old nickname.
“Why of course, darling, just know that it’ll be her to style you… I wouldn’t have a clue about fashion. But between you and me, I think the coat looks better on you.” he whispered as he leaned closer with a hand up to hide his mouth from his beloved wife, earning a small smile from Florence.
Miriam chuckles before the couple stands back up, Miriam dusting herself off before scooping up Florence in her arms. “Now, we must ask your mother of course.” Florence’s face grimaced slightly, prompting Miriam to bring her face closer to hers.
“Let's say that we’re just going for a walk, hm?” She raised an eyebrow, making Florence immediately perk up with excitement. Eleazar smiled as he wrapped an arm behind Miriam’s back bringing them into his chest.
“Well firstly, let’s clean up this room before we go. Wouldn’t want to make your mother think some hooligan ransacked our room.” He nuzzles the top of Florence’s head while Miriam leans and pulls in Florence to kiss her on the cheek.
Florence giggles happily, her cheeks blushing from her excitement.
Oh how loved she felt when she was with them, she never felt more at home.