#i do like putting ellie in suits...femroes in suits do be handsome

[elliewiltarwyn]

FFXIV Write 2023 | Prompt #12: Dowdy

I'll be real I didn't really have any great ideas for this one so I sort of grabbed for a trope I've seen a lot and decided to do the opposite of the prompt?? oh well it's something ;u;

-860 words

----

“Oh, thank the Fury, you’re back—I was beginning to think you weren't going to make it in time.”

“The hells are you talking about? It’s still like two hours until it starts, isn’t it?”

Mia shook her head and smiled ruefully as she straightened out her billowing sleeves and tightened some of the laces on her corset—her corset. Of all the things… “You’re right, technically, but… because we’re honored guests of House Fortemps, we’re supposed to attend with the rest of Count Edmund’s retinue so he can look all grand and impressive as the doors open. Which means—”

“We have to be there stupid early.” Ellie groaned, and Mia heard a sort of flump sound from the bed behind her, as if someone had just dropped a heavy mass of fabrics upon it. “Gods, I knew I was in trouble the moment somebody mentioned the words ‘Ishgard ball.’”

“You really should have seen it coming, the moment we began to mingle with Ishgardian high society,” Mia chuckled, now adjusting the bands on her cuffs’ straps. “And especially once we defeated Nidhogg—you thought they wouldn’t have celebrated the end of the Dragonsong War with a big stuffy ostentatious ball?”

“I knew they would. I was just hoping we’d get to avoid it.”

“No such luck, I’m afraid,” Mia mused, and as she ran the tips of her fingers under her neckline, ensuring that it wasn’t scratching at her skin or anything, she glanced over her shoulder. “No, I’m afraid you’ll have to suck it up and wear a—” And then she froze in place.

“What?” Ellie said with a sly smirk, running the tips of her fingers under the fringe of her collar. “Coeurl got your tongue? Or Lily, perhaps?”

“N-no, I—” Mia was very uncertain as to why her mouth had suddenly gone dry upon beholding Ellie standing before her dresser at full height, in a smooth, silk tailcoat, a frilly shirt tucked underneath a tightly buttoned vest, and smart slacks tucked into knee-high leather boots. “That’s just not what I was—” She swallowed, her throat suddenly scratchy as well. “...You… look nice.” Really, Mia? That’s the best you could come up with? At least go for handsome, as someone who looks good in a suit is usually referred to…

“I’m glad someone thinks so.” Ellie’s smirk turned wry as she gestured with her hand across the width of her broad shoulders, down the sleeve filled with her thick arm. “They tried to stuff me in a big flowy gown, but… I just don’t have the right build for it.”

“I- I’m sure that’s—come on, that can’t remotely be true. Of course there are dresses that suit your build.” She tamped down the urge to mention that she had been oddly looking forward to see what Ellie looked like in a long flowing ballroom gown, she does not need to know that.

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I’m not going to give Ishgard’s high houses a chance to spend the whole evening sneering at how… dowdy or ungainly I look wearing one of their big flowy dresses.” Ellie chuckled and tugged her glove a little tighter. “No, Artoirel suggested I borrow this, it’s one of his old suits—still had to be tailored somewhat to fit, that’s why I’m nearly late for our very early arrival… but it worked out, I think.”

“It very much did,” Mia had to admit; the more she thought about it, the more a suit did, well…suit Ellie and her long frame and broad shoulders. She glanced down at herself, suddenly self-conscious. It wasn’t like she was familiar with this style of formalwear, certainly no more than Ellie was, and she honestly felt more at home in platemail than anything else… Maybe I should’ve… “You don’t think… I’m going to come off as dowdy or ungainly, do you?”

Ellie blinked in mild surprise. “What? No, why would you think that? You’re gorgeous in that.”

If Mia thought her mouth was dry before, it was parched now. And from the stunned expression on Ellie’s face, as though she couldn’t believe the words that had just tumbled forth unbidden from her mouth, was any indication, the tall roegadyn was just as speechless.

Ellie did recover first, though, clearing her throat and shaking her head as she jerked her head toward the door. “Anyway, uh… are you all set? If we have to leave early, we should probably wait in the foyer or something, for everyone else…”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”

In a most ironic fashion that betrayed how she clearly had no idea what she was doing, Ellie proffered her arm to Mia with that same smirk as before. “Is this how Ishgardian gentlefolk do things? It’s something like this, right?”

With a small giggle and a warm smile, Mia threaded her hand through the crook of her friend’s elbow, resting it upon her forearm. “Something like this, yeah. Don’t worry, though; whether or not you’re doing it wrong, I think you’re going to be the best looking one there.”

“I don’t know,” Ellie said knowingly with a wink, “I think I have some pretty stiff competition.”