So forget the inner me, observe the outer [Quinn]

Although Lea had feared Quidditch for many years, the German witch maintained a healthy respect for the professional players and her friend, Quinn, was no exception. She was grateful that her brother Elias had given the two ladies the opportunity to meet, and subsequently become friends. The fashion designer was surprised to have received an owl from Quinn a few days prior, asking for Lea’s expertise, ready for a victory ball that would apparently be occurring soon for the Four Nations. Despite keeping a healthy distance from all Quidditch pitches, Lea was well aware how the leagues worked. She liked Quinn’s assumption that her team would win, even when it wasn’t a given at that particular moment in time. The confidence was refreshing, and Lea found herself surprisingly invested in the Irish team, especially since they weren’t even from her home country. The impulsive witch replied immediately, instantly deciding to drop a few other projects in favour of the newly presented one. The other projects were boring her now anyway, and wouldn’t have provided such an emotionally gratifying payoff when they were complete.

It wasn’t often Lea got to see one of her finished designs on a person with as much social standing as Quinn, though it was rare to see any of Lea’s designs actually finished and on a person. The Dörfler enjoyed working for Quinn for many reasons, not least the one above. The last minute, hasty nature of their plan suited Lea’s work ethic (or lack thereof, at times) and style well and it gave Lea the chance to catch up on all the gossip and socialise under the pretence of work. And of course, working for a friend often made Lea much more likely to finish the project. The German liked to think that by now she had a pretty good idea of Quinn’s style, but she was also very aware that social expectations didn’t always match up. Hopefully, together they’d find a happy medium.

Lazily levitating the items she needed into her work bag, Lea started with the original sketches she had drawn up soon after she’d received Quinn’s owl, followed by her tape measure, fabric scissors, various fabrics, gems and threads, and a simple, plain dress created vaguely from her sketch. The fashion designer quickly left her room to invade the kitchen however, and removed a bottle of Merlot from the wine rack, returned to her room and gently placed the bottle snugly inside. Since it was last minute, the fashion designer was keen to do it all in one go to save both witches the strain of travelling back and forth, and she wanted to make the Quidditch player as comfortable as possible during that time, since it was going to take a few hours, at the very least. Lea was hopefully going to have one glass, no doubt, but she wanted to leave the rest of it for Quinn. After all, she was very grateful for the opportunity her friend was giving her to get her designs out into the World.

Lea apparated to the nearest place she could think of that was connected to the floo network, stepped into the fireplace and re-emerged in London. England was certainly not her favourite country in the World, but after spending an increasing amount of time there, the country was certainly growing on her. Though her robes were heavy and thick to keep the warmth in, the strong winter wind had no trouble billowing Lea’s robes around her as she knocked on Quinn’s door and the German couldn’t help but shiver a little as she waited for Quinn to open the door.

“Guten tag, Quinn!” She greeted her friend warmly, gently kissing the air either side of the Irish witch’s cheeks. “How is Talulla?” Lea asked politely, as she stepped inside, smiling to herself as the air around her warmed up again. “I’m very excited to do this, but I know it will take awhile so…” She paused, lifting the bottle of red wine from her bag and holding it out for Quinn to take. “I brought wine!” Lea grinned, taking her cue to follow the Quidditch player through to whatever space Quinn thought was ideal for their business to take place. “Shall we get started?” Lea asked, her German accent thick, while she placed down her bag and flicked her wand up. Her tape measure and sketches immediately sprung out the bag, hovering at her side. “I have some sketches for you to look at while I measure you.”

@Quinn Regan

The apartment -- her brother’s apartment -- was cluttered, even though Alex was at work and Lula was with her father until Monday. Most of her things were in storage considering this was a ‘temporary’ living situation, but Quinn was no closer to finding a new place to live (certainly not because she wasn’t eager to move on with her life), nor was she about to pare down her winter wardrobe (she needed options). She should have used her day off to clean or organize but she knew Alex was much better at those sorts of things, anyway. Besides, she needed a new dress — nevermind the numerous unworn dresses in her borrowed closet — so she had more important things to worry about.

She almost felt bad, considering how last minute this was -- design to dress in a few weeks -- but then she remembered how much she needed something to wear (and how many people would see her wearing it so free advertising for Lea, right?). But last minute or not, Lea had responded to her request immediately, setting up an appointment for the next afternoon. Elias’s sister was a godsend, so much so that Quinn had flip-flopped between which Dörfler she liked the best.

There was a knock at the door and Quinn hastily set her teacup down, pushing herself off the sofa and smoothing out her oversized sweater before throwing the door open. “Lea,” she replied quickly, returning the air kisses and quickly ushering her friend in, not wanting to let too much of the warmth out into the street. “She’s lovely, thank you.” They exchanged daily letters about her so neither parent would worry (too much). “Not joining us today—“ so the wine would be a perfect addition. She didn’t drink during the season, but wine was closer to water than anything else she could pick, wasn’t it?

Quinn took the bottle and made herself useful, popping the cork with her wand and summoning a couple glasses. “You don’t need it to breathe, right?” She had already poured half a glass before finishing her question. “Are you meant to be seeing Elias after this?” That might factor into how heavy handed her pour was.

“Ooh.” She took the offered sketches eagerly, not sacrificing her wine glass for a second hand. “Oh I love this one,” she said convincingly enough, looking to the next sketch to find something she actually liked. “It’s a little long though, don’t you think?” It would be December, sure, but she still thought she looked taller when she showed a bit of leg.

As Quinn replied, Lea smiled to herself. Talulla was cute and everything, but there was no doubt that if she was present she would have gotten in the way for sure, so it was a weight off the fashion designer's shoulders to learn she wouldn't be there. The wine was quickly taken from her which gave Lea the time she needed to set up, though as soon as Quinn began to speak again Lea wished she'd paid more attention to what the Irish witch was doing. She couldn't help but frown. What was it with people living in the UK and their inability to wait for wine? This had happened to Lea twice now, and it was clearly something she'd need to keep an eye on. She did like it to breathe, so she resolved from then on that if any wine drinking was going to happen, she was going to handle it herself. "I don't mind," she sighed in acceptance. It was too late now to make a fuss, she supposed. And besides, wine was wine. It wouldn't last long either way.

"Nein," she quickly replied to Quinn's second question, pouting as she did so. She'd have loved to have stayed and say hello to her brother (she never did see him as much as she'd like), but she was going to be uncharacteristically busy with actual work, so she needed to at least try and stay on top of it. "I must return to Germany for preparing for Festival delle Arti in Italy. I have a whole collection to make."

A ghost of a smile crossed Lea's face, happy that Quinn seemed to like the sketches, though it quickly faded as she concentrated on the tape measure that went swiftly around Quinn's waist. A number soon glowed from the tape, allowing enough time for Lea to note it down, whilst she listened to Quinn's thoughts. A little long? Lea immediately stopped what she was doing to look at the offending sketch. She personally thought it was more than pretty enough, and would certainly suit the Quidditch player but she was well aware that Quinn did like to show her assets, which in this case were her legs. Cutting the length of it would make it chilly to wear, but the fashion designer supposed she could always add a heating charm to it. "Not a problem," she responded, grabbing the floating tape measure as she moved her wand. "Here, I chop!" She added far too enthusiastically, tapping her wand against the sketch gently and watching in satisfaction as the lines faded and rearranged to create a dress that ended just above the knees, complete with a cheeky little slit on the left-hand side.

Without waiting for Quinn's response, Lea sent her tape measure back to work, as it moved around the hips but kept a little wiggle room for the style of skirt... whatever it would be. The number glowed, and Lea wrote it down as she asked Quinn, "Any thoughts on colour? Dark red is in fashion at the moment."