Style Quest: Avangard: First Portal

Chapter 5: Avangard: First Portal

The day Varick had waited for had finally come. It was time to venture into the portal network to try his luck selling his fashion. Avangard was first on the list alphabetically and felt the least dangerous, so that’s the one he went with. Surely someone would want to pay him to make a race day dress or clothing for their constructed servants. The Clydesdale was happy to get out of Drakethrope and finally start his career as a traveling tailor. With his talisman sewing kit strapped to his arm, bag packed full of supplies and sample material, and goodbyes said, the horse set off into the portal.

 

    In the void between worlds, it was strangely cold and empty. Stars appeared off in the distance to provide stark illumination. Varick couldn’t shake the feeling that something dark and terrible was in the darkness as he fell through the void. Guild officials warned that even with guild-certified portals, they sometimes acted weird. The blond Clydesdale emerged from the portal, slightly nauseous but all in one piece. That would take a little getting used to, but it wasn’t a bad experience for his first portal trip.

 

    After checking in with guild reception, Varick read over the notices on the bulletin board. People were looking for armor, but no one was specifically looking for clothing. He was going to have to find a client the hard way. Soujel had a large marketplace where he could set up a stall to sell some of the premade clothing Varick brought with him. A quick air taxi ride from the Adventurers’ Guild ship brought the horse to the red and gold capital ship. Colorful lights illuminated the massive airship’s hull, to Varick’s delight. He had seen spaceships in the skies over Drakethorpe before, but these airships were like works of art.

 

    On board Soujel, an automaton pointed the mahogany Clydesdale towards the marketplace and informed him that he’d need a stall permit if he wished to sell. Mechanical constructs were everywhere on the capital ship. They performed a variety of jobs, from acting as guides to carrying bags for shoppers. At the market office, Varick found that he didn’t have enough money for a stall permit and to buy food. Dismayed, Varick left the office upset about this setback. The horse tailor accidentally tripped over a stall sign as he walked away, causing his bag of clothes when flying all over the ground.

 

    “Here, let me help you with that,” a voice offered as Varick scrambled to pick up his wares. He looked up to see a light brown otter quickly gathering up clothes. The slender otter wore a brown vest over a puffy white shirt with black jacquard pants.

 

    “Thank you,” Varick blushed slightly at the sight of the cute otter. “You don’t need to help. It was me that was being clumsy.” The Clydesdale was embarrassed at tripping as it was. He didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.

 

    “Did you make these,” the otter asked as he held a jacket up to his body. “The craftsmanship is amazing. I want to buy it if you are selling it. Uh, sorry I didn’t catch your name.” That statement made Varick blush even harder. He was talking to a cute otter and wanted to buy the horse’s clothes.

 

    “It’s Varick, and I’m sorry I can’t sell here. I don’t have a permit,” the horse apologized as he lamented. Selling even that one jacket could get him enough word of mouth to sell out his wares. Maybe even get a commission for some custom jobs.

 

    “Garrett,” the Lutrinae introduced himself with a slight bow. “You don’t need a permit if you come to my apartment for a private fitting.” Varick froze for a moment, entirely flustered by Garrett’s suggestion. The Clydesdale had always been interested in guys along with gals, but this was a first for him. Eventually, Varick managed a nod in acceptance of the otter’s offer.

 

Garrett led Varick through the busy streets of Soujel toward his apartment. Halfway there, they stopped for a quick bite to eat. The otter explained that he was an airship racer that needed something to keep him warm at high speeds while still looking nice. Varick showed him a sketch of a long jacket, a modified trenchcoat with a sewn-in vest. Large silver buttons decorated the coat, along with decorative buckles. If made from dyed leather, it would protect from the wind as it was, but the horse could add spell threads to provide additional heat.

 

“This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for,” Garrett declared as he took the sketchbook from Varick. “Can you make it from multiple colors or just one at a time?” The Clydesdales heart was now pumping in his throat. He was about to sell his first custom job and met a cute boy.

 

“I can put glamor threads in it so you can change the color to whatever you want,” Varick excitedly explained as he changed his shirt from blue to red. “I can do solid colors like this, or if I crisscross them, I make it so you would have any multicolored pattern you want.” The mahogany horse had to keep reminding himself that this was happening for real. “It would cost extra, though, if you wanted that.”

 

“I will pay for whatever you need to make it happen, plus whatever you think is a fair price for your time,” Garrett assured the horse as they stood up to leave. Together they finished walking to the otter’s apartment. Varick took the measurements he needed from Garrett. There was a kiss, and the following day, the horse left the otter’s apartment to buy the necessary supplies.

    

    Leather was expensive, but Garrett had provided Varick with a down payment for supplies. With the help of his fire magic, the needles from the horse’s sewing kit easily pierced through the leather, making the work easier. Superheating the scissors from his talisman made cutting the materials quite a bit easier. Unfortunately, all the sewing Clydesdale could find were plain silver buttons, so he used his hot needles to melt a “VT” for Varick’s Tailoring. Putting the spell threads into the jacket was easy, but the glamor threads needed resewing several times before they were perfect. Everything was ready just in time for Garrett’s next big race.

 

    “Everything is precise as you wanted it,” Varick assured the otter as he watched him try on the black leather jacket. “Just say ‘What I seek is’ followed by the color, and it’ll change to match your desire.”

 

    “What I seek is rainbow stars on a purple background,” Garrett tried as he buttoned up the vest in the jacket. Much to his surprise, the black jacket changed to purple and was spotted with rainbow stars. “Damn, you are good! What I seek is red.”

 

    “I’m a little insulted that you didn’t believe me,” Varick over dramatically feigned insult before he recovered with a smile. “Insults aside, I did hide something extra in the buckles on the sleeves. When you win, aim your arms at the sky and tell it you seek celebration.”

 

    “You are going to watch my race,” the otter asked with a sly smile.

 

    “I’ll be on the observation deck of the Soujel,” the Clydesdale answered as he bent down to kiss Garrett. “And that’s for good luck.”

 

    Varick could easily watch the airship race with the other race fans from the observation deck on the capital ship. Garrett didn’t have a good starting position, but his ship was small and fast. He quickly maneuvered his ship through the clouds and around the mountain peaks that dotted the lower parts of the race course. In the end, it was pretty neck and neck, but with a last-second drift boost, the otter won the day. As he was declared the winner, Garrett brought his airship close to the observation deck with his arms held high.

 

    “What I seek is celebration,” the brown otter shouted as loud as he could. Blue and purple fireworks erupted from his arms. The crowd inside the observation deck went crazy at the firework display, along with Garrett rapidly changing the color of his jacket. Varick promptly took the opportunity to start taking orders for jackets from the other audience members. Soon he had more orders to get a license to sell in the market.

 

    Over the next month, Varick spent day and night working on the jackets for his orders. He and Garrett kept a casual relationship should the horse ever need to unwind. By the time Varick was through all the commissions, his market stall sold out of all the premade clothes he had brought with him. Avangard was fun, but it was time to see what else was out there for him to discover.

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