D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Lily ---

Lily stepped through the ornate looking wooden door. It had a bunch of vines and flowers outlining it and Lily couldn't help but feel like she was going somewhere she probably shouldn't as she pushed it open. This was of course, a ridiculous notion because not only was the door unlocked, Thyme had magicked it into existence a few seconds ago.

The permission to used the door could not be more clear… so it really was a strange thought to be having.

As Lily stepped through the door Thyme asked, "So what are you looking for exactly?"

Lily went to answer but she was blown away by the sight before her. Thyme had gone all out. There entire room was stacked from top to bottom with rows and rows of clothing. There was one of those library ladders, to help those who couldn't fly get around… but it still seemed a touch daunting.

The ceiling was easily ten metres high, perhaps a bit more and Lily couldn't see the end of the clothes. Now, granted there wasn't too much variety just from what Lily could see right now. Thyme had apparently decided to collect a bunch of similar clothes with only a few differences. The area Lily was looking at consisted mostly of pink ballgowns.

She could see them transitioning into red further down…

But just close up? There were dresses of all sizes and on top of that? A bunch of different additions. Some had embroidered flowers, some had flames, a few had gems stitched into them. One even looked like it was made of liquid glass. Lily really wanted to ask about what was going on with that one… but it was just too much.

It was a truly overwhelming amount of clothing to look at all packed together… this was all just one ROW of clothing. Lily hadn't even looked at the rest of the room.

Lily's traitorous mind then dredged up a little fact from the earlier conversation with Thyme. This was just ONE of Thyme's closet. Lily fell over at that point. She was fine, Thyme had moved an armchair behind her at some point and she fell into the plush chair with no damage but all she could do is let out a long breath of air.

"Is it a bit much?" asked Thyme.

"I… I don't even know? I mean… it's certainly very impressive and I'm surprised you have some many variations of things… I have no idea how you keep it all clean and in good condition. If this closet is anything other than brand new I'm wondering how you keep everything from getting old and falling apart and just… wow you know what it IS a lot. Just to think about," explained Lily the best she could.

"Ah… yes I suppose it can be a bit much to think about. It's probably worse for you because of your latent affinity. This place is a pocket dimension that I created so the rules of time and space a bit… wonky here. It's probably pressing on your mind. You don't understand it, can't understand it yet… but you're trying to get there. So it's all the worse.

Well, that and I do understand it's a lot of clothes.

"As for how I keep everything in good condition? I just have the time here run ever so slowly backwards. Nothing serious. Most people can't tell the difference. Heck I imagine most space or time mages wouldn't be able to tell either… but I just wind the clock back a little bit. It's only around an hour every century, but that little bit makes upkeep so much better," explained Thyme.

"One hour a century? That seems like… nothing. Why not have time turn back more than that?" asked Lily.

"Two reasons. The first, is that rewinding time is a massive pain in the ass. Even if you're not rewinding something with a soul, it can still cause problems. As a time mage… and as a space mage, but mostly as a time mage… you do so much… manipulate time like the other elements as you do coax it gently into doing what you want.

A bit like… damn I was going to say a pet cat but you and Kat make that analogy really, really weird. Not sure I can think of a better example though…" explained Thyme.

"Ah… alright," agreed Lily.

"Well that and I wouldn't want to rewind any of my clothes out of existence," added Thyme almost as an afterthought.

"Right…" grumbled Lily.

"Hey, look, don't get me started on such interesting topics you know? I love talking about this sort of stuff… but we're here to talk about your looks. So… what are you after?" asked Thyme.

"Well… I mentioned it before that I want to draw Kat's eyes… but I'm not really sure how to do that. I'm shy and not all that confident… and even if I was more confident it's not like flashing my tits at her would garner any reaction other then perhaps confusion," grumbled Lily.

"I admit that does make it harder. I mentioned before you could go for adorable yes?" offered Thyme.

"Right but I countered with not wanting to be seen as a kid. Especially not when Kat grew up in an orphanage. I don't need her to put me in the mental box of 'child to protect' instead of 'girlfriend'" explained Lily.

"I don't think you're likely to have that problem… but alright. Nothing too cute then. What else?" asked Thyme.

"Hmm… I guess I might want to match Kat sometimes? I don't think I'd want that all of the time… but sometimes perhaps?" asked Lily.

"Right… and so are you looking for a style mainly? Or a set of colours to use as a base?" asked Thyme.

"What do you mean?" asked Lily.

"Right well… some people like to wear all sorts of different clothes. I take it a bit further then most… but some people pick a standard set of say… four colours and get a bunch of different clothes that have a unique look while sticking with the main four colours. Other people like a particular style of clothing and then just get the same shirt but in a different colour.

Even when they branch out… they usually don't branch out too much," explained Thyme.

"Oh… um… hmm… I'm not sure I'd want to mix up either of those too much. I tend to think of myself as pretty simple… I mostly just wore a uniform and then whatever my parents picked up," mumbled Lily.

Thyme let out a long suffering sigh and rubbed at their temples. "Lily, I need you to work with me a bit here. I can make you look stunning if that's what you want… but you'll never get your own style if I just dress you in what I think looks best in you. I don't need too much… but I do need something,"

"Ah sorry…" mumbled Lily. "I guess… I guess I'd like to go with a standard set of colours and then branch out into different styles of clothing? Maybe not like… too much, perhaps have a core set of outfits that are mostly the same, but… yeah is that fine?"

"I can work with that… and you said you wanted to match with Kat sometimes… hmm… what about something like this as a base?" Thyme pondered for a moment before dashing off in a whirlwind. Not even a second later Thyme was back and holding a dress. It was around a knee length with a high collar and long sleeves.

There was some slight frills on it, and the whole thing was white with blue flowers lining the bottom of the dress.

"Oh wow that looks lovely," said Lily with a slight tinge of aw.

"It's nothing too fancy. Still, I think this could work as a good centrepiece for your style. White to go with both Kat's black outfit, and your own dark hair and tail. It draws attention to those aspects without being too overt about it or looking bad itself. I chose a dress on the shorter side because you are still an adventurer, sort of.

"I do also imagine this with stockings, because I doubt you want to show off too much leg. If you want to get fancy you can wear a tie of some kind. I wouldn't go with a traditional necktie but you've got options. I'd recommend sticking with blue before thinking about branching out," explained Thyme.

"Yes…" said Lily with a smile. "I can see myself running around in a white dress. Normally I'd be a bit worried about it getting dirty but I imagine there's magic for that… and as a paper mage, white is sort of my colour. I can probably work out a spell to make something 'paper white' if I really had to. Yes… yes this seems like a very good start. What else have you got for me?"

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