Normalcy

“Peter?” Tsubaki called as she looked around the shop. Normally he was here at this hour…

“Back here!” A voice called from another room. Relieved, Tsubaki headed towards it, where she found Peter measuring out some fabric for a design he was working on.

“Need a hand?” Tsubaki asked as she held the fabric in place.

“Oh, that would be great, thank you.” Peter smiled and, now that his hands were free, he was able to take the scissors and make one quick, long cut through the fabric. It was clear that he had been doing this for a long time, as most people would make many small cuts and probably wouldn’t be able to get it so straight. “Perfect!” He took the fabric and folded it neatly before setting it aside. After all, he had a customer to attend to. “What can I do for you today, Tsubaki? Come to make another dress?”

“Oh no, nothing like that.” Tsubaki coughed nervously and looked down at her feet. She was starting to wish that she was here to make another dress, because the real reason was a bit more embarrassing than that. “Is it true that you um, that you know how to make plush dolls?” She finally gained the courage to look him in the eyes once more.

This time, it was Peter’s turn to be anxious. “Oh, well, um, yes I certainly used to make those.” He laughed nervously and gestured to an old plush in a forgotten corner of the back room. “Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering, well,” Tsubaki bit her lip for a moment. “You take custom orders for clothing, yes? Would you consider taking a custom plush order as well?”

Peter was a bit taken aback. “I certainly could. I’m a bit rusty, but I could brush up on my knowledge this weekend. What sort of plush were you wanting made?” Now that Peter knew that Tsubaki came to order a plush rather than tease him for it, he felt much more relaxed about the question and the situation in general.

“A Furdin plush. A pink one.” Tsubaki didn’t seem to want to elaborate more as her cheeks burned a bright red.

Peter smiled reassuringly at her. “Of course, that won’t be any problem. Wait here one moment.” Peter walked over to a nearby desk, where he rummaged for some paper and a pencil. “Can you give me a few more details? Like how big do you want it to be? I can show you some examples if you aren’t sure. Also I need to know if you want any accessories on it, like ribbons or pins or flowers, that sort of thing.” He scribbled down some notes in anticipation.

Talking about the task at hand rather than the reasoning behind it seemed to calm Tsubaki down. Her cheeks returned to a normal color as she walked over to the desk. “I would like to see some examples, but I would say about medium sized. As for accessories…”