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[ Human, yes. It's impossible to forget how tender and soft their hearts are, how easily bruised they can become.She preferred her life to be sunshine and rainbows, not so dissimilar to how she dressed and how she tried to present herself to the rest of the world. A bruised heart didn't exactly align with that. Jealousy also felt more like a cold stain that sat at the base of her throat, ready to cut anything that came too close.

But what she perceived to be her own shortcomings would never stop her from supporting those around her. Jesper's answer, however reluctant, lights up her face. ]

Amazing! Once the inn renovations are all wrapped up, I'll set up some time for you to come and meet the head of the costume department. They'll love you.

[ It's not a promise of a job but rather a foot in the door; Krish had a keen eye for design and was a stickler for details. They adored the drama and the fantasy that costume could bring to an immersive experience and the arts. The Hall was lucky to have them. But Hilda also knew how to get the head of costume wrapped around her little finger like the best of them and had spent more than enough time with them to know that Kirsh would immediately take a liking to Jesper and see just how amazing his work was. ]

Me? [ Her enthusiasm fizzles slightly, replaced with a sheepish look. She's quick to dismiss her own passions. ] I guess I have been making some things but it's slower work. I can't just magic things out of thin air like you. And the enchantments are just pretty embellishments than anything useful.

Well of course they will, everyone loves me.

[ See he can bounce back from his momentary insecurity! Hilda may be able to see though with that switch that a lot of it is him bullshitting. His confidence can be real but it can also be hiding the parts of him that he doesn't want everyone to know about. It's easier to be brave and bold and pretend than be honest about the ways in which he doesn't have the highest opinion of himself. It's a complicated tightrope to walk down.

He is good with people though. That's always been one of his primary skills, honed after years of being fairly isolated from everyone else. Another detail not known to most, it would seem like Jesper's always been popular and surrounded by people. It's not the case, he was isolated as a youth, and only after coming to Ketterdam was he able to become his extroverted and warm self.

But he is excited at the idea, now that he's successfully been persuaded to try it out. His hobby made into something he's passionate about? Is that even possible? Apparently he'll find out.

Because Jesper has just revealed a little of his inner self, he's quick to notice it in Hilda too and he gives her an amused look. ]

How about we both give ourselves some credit and say it's something we both could do ... if we wanted to? If you wanted to. There's a bunch of ways I can see using your enchantments as perfect additions to fashion.

[ Her lips quirk slightly as his confidence returns in full force. Jesper’s bounce back is a familiar technique, one that she’s employed herself on more than one occasion especially as of late. For a moment she can’t help but pause; is she merely projecting onto him what she knows she does? Or had Jesper trusted her enough to show him a little more behind the cheerful ease that he wore and breathed?

Absently she thinks that he doesn’t have to try so hard around her. She’s interacted with enough nobles now to discern when people are being insincere or putting on a front for politeness sake. She’s also interacted with Jesper enough now to know that he’s as genuine as the sun is warm; there is no part of him that is insincere when it comes to how much he cares for those around him.

So perhaps if it is that he’s allowed her to see a little more behind the curtain of the ever bright presence that he is — that means all the more to her than he may ever know. There’s a beat before she admits in that same, sheepish tone - ]

I’ve been helping to make some costume jewelry and crowns for the stage. Everything else has been pretty simple so far. Costume jewelry is so different from something someone would wear every day after all. I wouldn’t even know how to being pricing them or where to begin selling them.

[ Just because she was friends with some of the local jewelry shops in town didn’t mean that they would necessarily sell the things she made. ]

[ Jesper's sunny honesty is a staple of his being but she hasn't seen him when he's at his lowest, and generally he prefers it that way. He can crash very hard and it does come from that place she just saw, the uncertainty and the lack of confidence in a particular part of himself. He's spent most of his life being very, very good at certain things, and he's always put all his energy and confidence into that. This is a more creative outlet, something softer than his guns and his smarts, something his mother would love.

He did let Hilda witness a vulnerability he doesn't often let on, since usually he flashes a smile and covers it all up. And he has that instinct now, which he's doing by trying to move past it, but it's not because he's hiding from her, like he sometimes does. Jesper's gotten to the point of trust in her when she can know that he occasionally doesn't think he's amazing at everything he does. ]

Well I've been selling jewelry for a while, I've got a good idea of it. But if I'm making clothes, I don't have time for both.

[ Jesper shrugs. ]

Have you seen some of the Aquila fashion? They seem to love colorful looks. And while we may not live in the Feywilds, I think it'd be fun to bring some of that style here, wouldn't you say?

[ Better to be able to admit that you're good at some things than deflect and say that you're good at nothing at all though! Not that that's what Hilda is doing. Not in the least.

She can't say for certain if what Jesper says is an offer to help price her creations if she ever got to that point, but she appreciates it all the same. Knowing that someone, a friend specifically, is encouraging it at all gives her some solace. It becomes more clear though as he poses his question to her. Her eyes light up at the mention of Aquila and the city's take on colour, fun and daring and a light slowly seems to grow in her eyes. ]

You mean together? [ Her lips twitch a little at the thought. ] I did always wish that it would be fun to see more variety in how people decide to dress here. Not that it's bad, it just tends to err on the side of neutral colours.

[ There's an argument in there for practicality or something along those lines. Cadens was a military town, one that favoured innovation and science over fashion and the arts. And while that was fine, it certainly wasn't vibrant as it could be. ]

Yeah, together. I'm a big team player, you know.

[ Just seeing Jesper around the Crows should make it obvious, but also the way he works with everyone in the Inn, with her and Sam in the welcoming committee. Jesper doesn't do things solo much of the time, he's always looking for other people to work with. It's probably because he grew up utterly alone and only found companionship when he came to Ketterdam and was brought into the Dregs. He adores Hilda and they already are working so well together with the welcoming committee and as friends. Why not throw another venture? ]

I know Cadens is military and boring, but what if we could brighten it up a bit? My mother's people were extremely colorful, and they were also city folk, pragmatic, just also bright.

[ It explains why Jesper favors so much color. He's never in neutral colors, outside of when he has to do some specific work or on the road. He stands out like a permanent peacock on purpose, but he took it from her and the Zemeni. He grins at her. ]

I think we can do it, why not? We're both brilliant people with great taste.

[ Hilda has no doubt that he is - the entire Sarstina renovation has been a testament to that. That doesn't change the fact that it still surprises her that he would want to do things with her, let alone what sounds suspiciously like a business venture if it ever got to that point. Taking things seriously is something she's never been known to wear well. Her penchant for flightiness and airheaded ways don't align themselves well to that sort of thing. But they've already come this far. And designs and creation don't have to mean a business or anything serious - right?

In fact brightening up a drab, neutral city is the complete opposite of that. And if she were being honest, she missed seeing colour outside of the stage. Jesper's idea combined with his infectious smile is enough to convince her. ]

Why not then?

[ She reaches across the table, grasping his hands in hers. ]

And I think we'd have a host of people that we could probably convince to model for us. Or at least wear them around town. Maybe the locals will want to take after us eventually and you'll have a booming business.

[ Jesper has a very good mind for business and no one was more surprised than him. He didn't intend to become a merchant but he had to make money for himself and others, so he didn't have a choice. Now he has a pretty reputable business, albeit a casual street table, but this would mean something larger level. For both of them. But he doesn't see Hilda as some pretty, frivolous person, he'd laugh at the very idea. He's a good judge of character and he knows she's someone of substance.

Besides, this sounds like a lark more than anything else. (That might become something more.) So they make some colorful fun things and sell it out of his stall for a time. They'll worry about it being a business when it becomes a business. ]

I bet we could get some interest between the colors and the fact that people might want to own things made by Summoned. I swear that's why I get some good sales.

[ Jesper is not at all against using their identity as eternal outsiders to make money. It's his favorite thing to do. He grasps her hands too and lifts one of them to kiss her knuckles sweetly. ]

We'll have a booming business, darling. That's the plan

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so I did actually reply to this and DW ate it lol so I had marked it replied to SORRY

it's okay!!

Maybe wrap here or on yours! Yay it begins!