“I'm sorry, what?” Petalsoft asked, certain that she had misheard.

“You heard me.” Kliona said blithly.

A beat of silence, then-

“You're serious.” Petalsoft said, incredulous.

“Yup.”

She struggled for words.

Behind her the others, who had all since found some place to sit, wondered when the pair had met. The guy in the brocade, though, was more concerned about Kliona's lack of... Well... Concern for the newcomer's wellbing. She hadn't voiced so much as a 'How have you been?'. It was just straight to business.

Not friends, He realized as he watched the 2 interact, But colleagues.

Kliona waited.

“Oh, gods..." Petalsoft sighed, "Alright. Lets see what you've got.”

Pleased, Kliona turned around and brought up the designs, explaining, “I took elements from everyone's suits and tried to incorporate them.”

Petalsoft scrutinized the illustrations.

Closed-back dresses with high collars and made of materials that would serve as soft armour. The skirts were about mid-thigh, tri-layered and very loose. A belt overtop of a sash, both secured at the back, sitting either around their waists or hips. The belt and sash held their weapons. They had gloves, loose sleeves, tall boots that wrapped around themselves for adjustment and tied, or buckled at the top. A diadem would hold their nanite-laced hair out of their faces. Out of the back of the diadem would be material that held the hair in a 'bag' that would harden on impact, serving in place of a helmet.

“What are the materials?” She asked Kliona.

“The outer dress is leather, the underdress against the skin is fine cotton and the middle layer is satin silk. The gloves are also cotton-lined leather. Actually, anything against the skin is cotton.”

Petalsoft pointed over her shoulder, palm facing up and said, “And him...?”

Kliona knew who she was talking about and what she meant.

“Oh, him? He's fine. He likes dressing like that and will use any excuse, so he made the clothes out of some pretty tough materials. Plus he had a waterproof leather cloak that was apparently pretty expensive. It's now a part of his suit.”

“Never underestimate properly made clothes!” He said, “Now, Kliona, can we please get some answers about who this arresting woman is?”

It took Petalsoft a moment to remember what 'arresting' meant in this context and felt her cheeks burn with a blush as soon as she did.