1x1 with it.will.rain

[it.will.rain]

"For now yes, but at some point I would like to explore the possibility of being more if you want to. Right now though, being friends for a while might make things easier on both of us. I will still have balls to keep them off of my back, but I am not going to be actively looking for someone." He said looking at her. He smiled when she blushed and talked about last night. "Really it is okay. I am glad that you seemed to have slept well." He said looking at her.

[~*AsMaDaSaHaTtEr*~]

Lenore looked confused, tilting her head. "Why wouldn't you be looking for someone? This country needs a queen, especially before that war finally catches up with us." Lenore shuddered at the thought. "And you realize the week leading up to the balls I will have very little time to spend with you, with all the dress orders that will need filling. Every woman wants a dress that would stun the prince. I hear that after last night, white and gold will be very popular." She winked.

[it.will.rain]

James looked at her. He thought that she had understood. That is okay though. "Because maybe someday we could be together. But as I said before, I am not sure that rushing it is the best idea... I can handle the war without a queen if I have to. It will all be fine." He said blushing a little as he talked to her. "Then I will have to make the balls a little bit farther apart and come in to tie bows for you." He said chuckling a bit. He laughed when she said that white and gold would be popular. "It was not just the dress that impressed me. It was the attitude of the woman wearing it but they can order all the dresses that they want from you." He said smiling.

[~*AsMaDaSaHaTtEr*~]

Lenore laughed and nodded. "Well you are more than welcome in my store anytime. May the girls can teach you a thing or two about tying bow." She looked around the restaurant, noticing that a few people were starting to recognize James. "Would you like to go back to the castle? Since I've closed up shop I'm done for the day." She wrapped her finger in one of the bows of the dress, feeling rather nervous about the people in the restaurant

[it.will.rain]

James looked around for the first time in a while and saw all the people watching him with her to try to see what was going on. He was not sure how he felt about that since he was not totally sure what was going on at the moment. He looked back over at her. "If that is what you would like to do, that is fine." He said and stood. He got their order to go and the waiter nodded and rushed it. James paid the man leaving a nice tip. He took the bag of food before he walked to the door and held it open for her. He started to wonder what the people thought of them spending more time together so soon. He looked at the guard who was checking around for threats and then walked close to the king to make sure he stayed safe. James walked towards the palace.

[~*AsMaDaSaHaTtEr*~]

Lenore too a deep breath in and walked with him for a little ways up the road. "Um actually I think I'm going to head back to my shop, I have quite a large order to fill for one of the ladies of the court. I probably shouldn't keep them wait." She looked down at her feet, not wanting to make eye contact with the King. Lenore couldn't remember the last time the kingdom had a commoner as their queen, if ever. She really did have stuff to do between the store and her horses.

[it.will.rain]

James looked at her as she started to talk. "Oh...okay. I do not mind sitting with you for a while if you want..." He said and then realized what she was doing. She was pushing away. He sighed almost silently and then nodded. "Never mind. I understand and I have work that I should get done anyway. But it was really nice to see you and I hope that we can do this again soon." He said and pulled her food out of the bag and handed it to her. He then started back towards the castle. He was not mad at her at all. He totally understood that she needed some time and that is what he was going to give her. He knew that relationships with him was hard. He tried to hide how much it stung to get pushed away from and he was doing a really good job. No one seemed to notice. Maybe he did need to consider other women since he was starting to get the feeling that she was not interested in him.

[~*AsMaDaSaHaTtEr*~]

Lenore walked back to the shop, not noticing that Moose had plans of his own and decided to follow James back to castle. Lenore was used to Moose going on adventures during the day, a dress shop isn't the most amusing of places. So once again Lenore started to makes gold and white dresses like the one she had worn the night before. It was bittersweet as while it was what she loved to do, she did have feelings for James and here she was, making dresses for women who wanted to catch his eye. Eventually, after making about 4 of them she turned her attention to a dress for herself, she didn't quite know what she was doing but she wanted it to be colorful,

[it.will.rain]

James had not noticed Moose following him until he was at the palace. He looked at Moose. "I can see what you are trying to do. You have to talk to your mom about it because she doesn't seem interested." He said and picked up the pup and carried him to his office so he could explore before he sent him home. He set him down and ate as he worked. He had an adviser come in and they talked about the matters of the kingdom and then asked them to make sure Moose got back safely. The man agreed an picked up Moose and started back to the dress shop.

[~*AsMaDaSaHaTtEr*~]

Lenore was making a teal dress with a big pink bow on her butt. Lenore was beginning to miss Moose, wondering where he had wondered off to this time. Lenore saw many a woman from the night before and was grateful that none of them recognized her. Every single one of them came with the same description of the dress they wanted, "A dress fitting of a queen." Every time Lenore rolled her eyes, rumor was that it would be a masquerade ball. She sketched hundreds of dresses for the women, they wanted gold, pearls, gems, and beading all over the dresses. Lenore's fingers started to cramp from hand stitching each detail by hand. They all wanted tiaras, or hairpieces to go with the dresses.