The next morning she was hurried awake by Hertha, who ran into the room with such a loud panic. She had run in screaming, "Venus the coronation is today we need dresses!" Which woke up the girl. She jolted awake with such a force that for a second (make it three), her heart had genuinely stopped beating. "Venus!?" Hertha exclaimed and ran over to the pale girl who gasped with air as her heart started up again, "are you okay?" She asked in a more quiet tone.
"Sorry... you scared me a little. I'm trying on Technoblade's mother's dress. It's the only appropriate dress for a coronation. Traditional to the kingdom." Venus croaked out slightly and sat up.
"I need a dress!" She exclaimed, panicking. "Also there are some people over... one is called Tommy? I've never met them." Hertha added, watching Venus shoot up from her previously weak state and rush behind the painting in her room.
She came out in a simple pink dress with a sheep-fleece cardigan. Hertha looked at her confused but watched as she led both of them out of the room and down into the dining hall. That was where all of the chatter was. Venus opened the door and looked at the family which had arrived, they all cheered and waved.
"Venus! Wow, it's been a few weeks!" Kristen ambled over with a content smile. She held her hands. "I see Tubbo's potions have done you well... and wow! Is that my dress?" She asked and picked up the hem of Venus's dress.
"You're the only one who made dresses with Venus, mum. No one else knows how to. Let me see my handiwork!" Tubbo cheered boastfully and sauntered over himself, looking at her hands. "That's a cruel scar; should we get rid of it?" He asked.
"No, no it's fine. Hertha! These are who I stayed with to heal; did you never meet them?" Venus turned to her maid, who was accidentally pushed to the side.
"No? It's a pleasure meeting you all." Hertha bowed and kept her distance. It didn't last long as Kristen had taken a great liking for her.
"You're the cutest! Are you the one I'm here to make a dress for!? Quick, go eat, then we can have a girl talk!" Kristen pushed both Venus and Hertha to their seats and watched them eat. Venus had a glass of milk and some bread. Her maid (who was beginning to feel more and more like a sister) had eggs and an apple. After that, Venus hadn't the time to talk to the other boys, who only just arrived to see Venus and Hertha get scooped away by their mother.
The three spoke in a room quickly about colours appropriate and a style Hertha wanted. Venus was always ready to tailor for someone she loved. They settled on a purple, and a long, light blue dress which matched her eyes. Kristen went through the process of pulling out a range of fabrics and laces. It surprised Venus especially, she assumed they were going to have a few dresses and modify them. But Kristen was ready to make a whole dress in under a day; all she had to know was the sizing and the colour. There were a range of colours to choose from - and all of them were blue. Some were murkier than others, some were softer to touch and others were more saturated than the dye itself. Venus played around with some designs for Hertha, which would fit her form. She was an alright height; coming to around 5'6. She was quite slender and petite. She had a somewhat higher waist - relatively long limbs. It was just about above average, by half an inch. That made Venus frown. Had her waist been higher, a mermaid cut would have made her swell. She could do a pencil cut; a knife pleated skirt with a slit. But she would look childish. Then a thought came to Venus, and she quickly drew it out. A humble, shoulderless dress, with a waistband so that the originally flat dress could have some volume given to it once tied. Venus gave it a fishtail and cut it by her knees so her trail could fall by her ankles. It was her favourite one, but she showed all of the theoretical designs to Kristen and Hertha to assess while she looked through the fabrics. Hertha had chosen a dusty blue, only slightly more dull than her eyes. All that was left were the fabric types. Venus was thinking of satin, maybe some silk. As she was going to decide, Technoblade knocked and stuck his head in.
"Venus! We found the dress. You're slightly taller than my mother, but hopefully it's not that big of an issue." Technoblade motioned for Venus to leave the girls and join him. She excused herself and followed him down the series of halls, "I know it's a little fast, but this dress was just something I couldn't wait to see you in." He confessed and broke the silence, yet Venus could tell he regretted his choice of words, as he choked up straight after.
"It's appreciated; is there something traditional for you to wear?" She quickly changed the subject and sped up to walk beside him.
"My father's old suit for the coronation. He had it passed down, as had my mother's through our family. You know, since my great-great-grandmother was the inherent ruler of our nation, and there have been multiple before her; we ended up making coupled variants." He rambled with the pleasure of not humiliating himself.
"Didn't you have same-sex and... I suppose "varied" relationships in your family?" She asked with interest, finding it slightly odd that throughout all the generations they had been running for, Technoblade was still related to the original seed of the family tree.
"Oh of course we did! But they had siblings to carry on the bloodline; or a surrogate. And what do you mean "varied" relationships, why not say queer?" He inquired, looking at her.
"I feel it may be rude or offensive for those who are: it feels like a word exclusive to them. That's, of course, my opinion; yet it can't be helped." She let a strand of hair get pushed out of the way and behind her ear.
The pair entered a room where Philza and Wilbur sat. That as well as Minerva and Mercury. Venus wasn't aware they had arrived but it was a pleasure to see them nonetheless. Wilbur pulled at a curtain and revealed the mannequin, the dress was gorgeous.
Shoulderless, with the larger sleeves reaching the wearer's elbows at the lowest. The bodice was slightly tubular and basque-waisted, strapped due to the sleeves; the skirt was a charm-circular skirt which reached the foot of the wearer. The whole dress was the deep, blood red of the kingdom and was decorated with black sequins and a slightly lighter red lace, it showed patterns of leaves and vines. The skirt was amazingly voluminous due to the layers and layers of petticoats. Venus stared in awe, red was always a fond colour.
"Now put it on! We're waiting!" Mercury smiled happily and ushered Venus behind the curtain. She hid behind the mannequin so her silhouette didn't show - stripping from her pink dress and carefully taking off, then wearing the grand, gorgeous dress. She tied off the back and tucked the excess string into the bodice where it comfortably rested. She stepped out, feeling her shoes, which were just some normal slippers, to be unfitting. Everyone stared for a second.
"I think she looks swell!" Phil smiled and stood up, breaking the suspended silence.
"Yeah! She looks great! The dress is pretty short proportion-wise though. The skirt is barely on the floor and her waistline is slightly lower. Not to mention the sleeves are a little off." Wilbur also stood up, pointing out the little things. Venus didn't realise that the waistline was ebbed with velvet to show a clear partition between the bodice and skirt, but she played with it as it was noticed.
"We could extend the skirt, it'll be hard with the petticoat. What we can do actually, we can add a longer layer of lace under the red, this can add onto the petticoat, and we can get an overskirt of the same colour so it looks like it's a part of the design." Venus suggested, peering over to the floor in front of her.
"Would that ruin the tradition?" Minerva asked, looking at her oldest brother. Technoblade was busy with something at the desk close by, but he looked over quickly, "I said, would it ruin the tradition?" She asked again.
"No... as long as it's red and no one really notices; I don't see an issue." He shrugged and went back to whatever was happening on the table. "Sorry! Just seeing if we have gloves and shoes for her to wear." He pulled out a pair of black, lacy gloves, they reached only past her wrist due to the ruffles. He also offered sandals, heeled. They were golden and strapped by the ankle subtly. "Those might fit you, otherwise we could just get some done for you. Now let's see how far off the skirt is." Techno crouched down and checked the hem, squinting slightly then shrugging. Venus pushed away to put on the shoes, at least one article of clothing fit her, as she comfortably walked around.
"Maybe we shouldn't have the petticoat, but the over-skirt doesn't sound too bad." Wilbur contemplated while seeing the new, slightly larger gap.
"The added lace would make the dress look unfinished. Let's just keep it as an over-skirt." Minerva agreed and stood up. "Let me help you out of that, it's lunch time." She added and joined Venus behind the curtain as everyone else filed out.
Minerva was monotone, like her brother, but friendly. She was a very sweet girl who wasn't good at everything, but her sheer intellect gave her the capacity to hold up a conversation about whatever topic anyone desired. She was better with objectivity than she was subjectivity.
They both walked down the hallway, having a modest conversation when Tubbo slid into the conversation from behind. Venus could see Tubbo and Minerva having a relationship, and guiltily, both Venus and Dream had tried the love potion on Minerva; to no avail. She was immune to it somehow. Venus knew she didn't have a right to dictate who the girl should or needn't love - yet it was such a curious wonder. When pouring the potion onto her - no reaction; just slight disappointment for the sheen on her clothes. When she drank the potion - no reaction; she described the taste to be rosy and sweet - with some sour. Venus was curious to how it tasted, but knew better than to let all of her human curiosities get to her. Looking at the two, Tubbo acted more and more like Wilbur to Venus - a mix between a very good friend and a brother. The two were very fond of not each other; just the conversations, interests - everything that wasn't love.
Venus sat to the left of Technoblade, just between Minerva and Wilbur, who sat next to Tommy. Dream sat next to Tommy, while on Technoblade's right was Mercury, Phil, Kristen, Hertha, Ranboo and Tubbo. On the table was Kristen's wonderful cooking, which was lighter than usual, and more colourful. Salads; French toast for whatever reason; proteins consisting of pulses, meat and eggs. She wondered (Venus) where the foods could have come from, but it made sense; it must have come from Kristen's land.
There wasn't an attempt to make conversation with anyone while she ate, creeping closer to the coronation by a minute every 60 seconds was beginning to stress her out. The woman felt she would rather melt into the floor, or die to the hands of Dream before being crowned Technoblade's life partner by title - married or not.