“Letting it hang free will hide it better. Wisdom’s a beanpole. A nice deep hem will weight the whole robe dramatically, so that part’s simple. But those shoulders, and across the back…” Saeldian eyed the heap of scraps left over from its making. “That’s the problem. I hope I have enough.”
Too small all across the back, and they couldn’t use scissors this time. Saeldian found a little two-pronged hook in one of the sewing boxes. They slipped one end into the seam at the shoulder and paused. Kell was bigger across the shoulders, and not because he was getting softer with the years. He had carrying muscle, thekind of strength that came from work, which made sense if he was keeping up with the traveling pace of an orc.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m thinking,” Saeldian said, but started carefully picking the stitches out.
Kell’s looks had always transformed when he needed to dress up, and he’d pulled out all the stops. He’d used soap that smelled like the sweet grasses of Tethyr, and he held very still while Saeldian tried to ignore it.
The seam around the armscye picked out cleanly. Saeldian lifted Kell’s other arm to get at the stitches holding the sleeve, and Kell flinched away like he thought Saeldian was going to tickle him.
“Hold still.”
“I’m trying.”
“No, you’re not.”
Kell laughed at that, and Saeldian didn’t let themself laugh back.
Once they’d unpicked the other sleeve, they measured the gaps. “I’m going to Mend extra pieces in. It’ll do, as long as no one studies it.”
“Do you have enough?”
Saeldian eyed the pile. “I should work the back seam first.”
Once far enough away that Kell’s warm, perfumed skin was overtaken by old wood and beeswax, Saeldian sorted through the scraps from Wisdom’s robe.
“There’s a big one just there,” Bastion said. “What more do you need?”
Saeldian found the largest piece and draped it over their shoulder. “Four more pieces? Each shoulder and under the arm.”
“I’ll find them. You go ahead and fix our man there.”
“I can find them—”
“You need the time to do it right,” Bastion said. “Go on. I’ll find them.”
Banished back to the afternoon light by the window and that shiny-haired, good-smelling lout. Saeldian changed their angle to get the best view and breathed through their mouth.
Unpicking the sleeves had eased the strain of the back seam, but Saeldian would have to open it from the waist to the collar before they could really fit it properly. How was it laying now? Saeldian ran their fingers across the shoulder seams, and Kell jumped.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I’m not scared,” Kell protested. “I wasn’t expecting it.”
“Have it your way, obviously steely-nerved hero,” Saeldian said, snickering. “I’m going to start picking this seam open. Just a little touch—”
But when Saeldian pressed the unpicking hook to Kell’s back, he shivered.
“All right there?”
“Fine,” he said. “Wasn’t expecting it.”
“Even though I told you. Going again.”
Kell tensed just a little before relaxing again. Really, this was too dramatic.
“I’m not going to stab you, Kell.”
