Work Text:
Amelie didn’t mean to panic.
But she did.
The voice on the other end barely had time to reply before she shouted,”Where are you?! Are you ok? You didn’t show up to our usual place and I swear to God if you-”
“Whoa whoa whoaaaa easy luv, relax I’m ok I just...got a little held up at work”
Amelie immediately slowed her pace, she was taking long strides towards the small coffee shop with the intention of turning it upside down if it meant finding Lena but luckily that didn’t need to be the case. Her cheeks burned at her impulsiveness, “....right of course...”
Lena giggled, her playful tone instantly bringing a smile to her face though she fought it, “Aw....you worried about me?”
“Hmph, just making sure you’re not running off with another girl. I just finished burying the last one”
“What can I say? That tip jar needs filling. Besides....I don’t think I’m going to run today”
At this she stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the sidewalk, “...I’m sorry what”
“Ah...yeah I just...it’s stupid but I’m ok I swear, I just don’t want to today”
“Are you SURE you’re alright? Because last time I checked you sprinted while it was hailing” her long strides continued.
“Yeah well...maybe not today, I’m feeling fine I swear I just-”
Lena stopped, realizing the phone had hung up and she was speaking to no one. But before she could question it, the door of the shop opened and there she was.
“...you sure you’re not some ninja assassin or something?” she grinned, hopping over the counter and meeting her lips in the middle for a quick peck.
“I was close by. But what’s wrong?” her voice firm, hands holding her face and playfully pinching at her cheeks. Looking around for some sign of injury or curse that would stop the girl from running.
Lena laughed, waving her hands away, “I’m fine I just...look it’s dumb but-”
She looked down at the bundle of yellow in her grasp and Amelie followed. She opened the hoodie up until her hand came out of the shoulder seam.
“It got caught on something this morning when I was running out in a hurry. It’s the only work out clothes I have and I can’t go out without it”
She paused a moment, rethinking her words,“Well I mean....I can...I mean....look I’m just not comfortable ok?”
Lena normally wore a tank top underneath the classic hoodie, in theory she could go out but the point of the jacket was to cover up the thick scar in between her breasts well within view no matter what tank she donned.
She awaited a response, firm words of encouragement or a teasing nudge but there was nothing. Amelie gently took the jacket and stared at the offending broken seam with furrowed brows, studying the frayed edges in between her fingers before nodding.
“Come with me”
Gabe you home?
It’s my day off and I have no intention of moving. Whats up
Get the machine threaded with yellow. Got you a customer.
Gabriel graduated from High school and was immediately hired on to become an apprentice tailor in Los Angeles. His portfolio was more than impressive, showing a wide range of skill and eagerness to learn and own his profession.
He tailored suits for celebrities and government officials in his time in a small but successful shop in the very place he was trained in. Despite the quiet fame he had, he still lived in a humble apartment with his best friend though he had more than enough to be elsewhere.
Lena couldn’t believe it.
“I pass by that shop all the time on my runs. Why haven’t I seen him?”
“He looks different in a suit and tie, also he’s pretty high up there so he’s usually in the back ordering others around”
Lena still couldn’t believe it.
Not once did she ever ask what he did for a living, it really just never came up, sometimes he was gone for work and sometimes he wasn’t. Being imagining the tall scary Hispanic man at a sewing machine seemed...ridiculous.
She would continue to be skeptical until they arrived at the apartment.
Upon hearing the door open and close, Gabe called out from his room, true to his word and refusing to move on his day off.
”Ay! Speedy what happened?”
Amelie led the way, opening a door Lena had never entered in as it was always closed whether he was in there or not.
Sure enough, his room was nearly twice the size of Amelie’s mostly in part that half of it was full of sewing equipment, a long table and mannequins in the corner. There he was, in his baggy tank top and basketball shorts, sitting in front of a sewing machine threading a spool of yellow thread through it.
“Holy hell she wasn’t kidding”
“I would not joke, Gabe is amazing”
“Sweet talking doesn’t you out of paying rent” he laughed, holding his hand out,”Let’s see the damage”
Too busy looking all over his room, Amelie took the torn hoodie from Lena’s distracted grasp and into Gabe’s awaiting hands.
He found the hole, stared at it for a moment, making a small grunt or affirmation before turning it inside out, placing it in the machine, stepping on the peddle making it roar which immediately snapped Lena back to the work at hand.
She blinked and it was done.
He snipped the access off and quietly handed it back.
“....that’s it?”
“That’s it”
Lena just stared at her jacket for a moment, then back at Gabe before quickly slipping it over her head. Just like that, good as new she couldn’t even tell where the tear was in the first place anymore.
“Gabe you’re a wizard”
“Yeah yeah, now anything else before I start working?”
“I thought you were off?”
He shrugged, pointing to something behind them.
Whipping around, Lena’s jaw dropped, immediately rushing over to a dress form with a red leather jacket draped over the foam form with pins sticking out of where the sleeve would soon connected to the rest. Behind it was a cork board, with fabric samples, notes, measurements and references photos of where it was from.
“What is this?! You’re making this?! This...this is the Thriller jacket isn’t it? Oh my God this looks amazing!”
Of course he was making it and he wasn’t going to grace that question with an answer. The rest however he grinned with pride.
“Jack’s costume for Halloween coming up” he found himself smiling, watching Lena’s eyes sparkle in complete awe in his work,”It’s my favorite time of year, I get to do something other than another waist coat”
There was something nice about someone new looking over his art work per say. Amelie had seen his progress since he first picked up a needle and adored his work. But the small girl was loud about it, looking at every detail and pointing them out with excitement in her voice.
It was nice.
“Hey, want to see Amelie in high school?”
Her face lit up.
Amelie however.
“Gabe NO”
“Gabe PLEASE”
Too late, he shot out of his chair before Amelie could grab him, swiping a small picture frame from his bookcase. There were only two. One of him and Jack from their first date.
The other was a prom photo.
They went together as friends but damn did they look good. Gabe had more hair, slicked back with just a mustache and a fantastic three-piece black and purple suit, glaring at the camera. Next to him was Amelie, still tall thin and gorgeous with much shorter hair about to her shoulders and a beautiful dark purple dress and hung and accentuated every curve. Also glaring at the camera. While most prom photos had the couple in a cute embrace, the two opted for looking like a pair of gangsters but no one questioned it.
Even so, Lena’s ears burned.
“Ohhh my God, Ame you’re so cute” she laughed, smiling like the sun while Amelie buried her face in her hands. Mumbling about her hair and choice of accessories.
“This dress was my first big project, Ame broke a lot of hearts that night with it”
“Oh wow I believe it”
“To be fair I didn’t ask for it”
“None of the dresses you liked matched my vest so I made it and you looked amazing shut up”
He originally had every intention of finishing Jack’s outfit today, but plans changed. Soon he was pulling out his portfolios, old and new ones to show off. He was proud of his work but it wasn’t often he was given the chance to get such a strong reaction from someone.
Lena was floored by some of the things he made, appreciating that most of it was Amelie as his guinea pig but she didn’t seem to mind playing dress up. There was even a beautifully tailored tail coat for a vampire outfit he made for her years ago that made her cheeks burn. This of course, Amelie noticed and made a note of.
At some point she left with a smile on her face, mumbling a promise of pizza that fell on deaf ears as Gabe was beaming. Lena was sincere in her questions and praise, not having a single clue about this world he lived in and seemed to rule.
It wasn’t long before he could practically see the gears in her head moving.
“Oh man....what do I want to be for Halloween?!”