Abby and Violet (Yuri Light Novel)

I was a bit surprised when Violet told me that Josephine asked for my measurements. Violet was her muse while I, undoubtedly cute and all, was just her girlfriend. We didn’t get a straight answer as to why my measurements were required, but since we were told that this time Josephine went with a seasonal theme, we figured it was likely for some summer-themed pictures she wanted taken.

“Should we start with the Autumn and Winter months first?” she asked once we were inside her apartment. “So that you don’t boil inside the clothes after having the AC on for the Summer ones?”

Her place looked neater this time, still lived in and “artistic”, but someone definitely put in the effort of fixing some of the mess. The fabrics were mostly in drawers with tags, sketches were haphazardly strewn across a single desk this time, and there were only a couple of mugs of coffee scattered about. She had also lit some incense, so the space smelled of lavender together with the cottons, silks and linens.

“So,” I began, while Violet changed into the first outfit of the day, this one meant to represent the first month of Autumn. “What has been up in your life lately?”

“I’ve gotten myself a new girlfriend!” she giggled, finally letting it out. She had been acting so giddy ever since we got here, more so than just her excitement for seeing her designs worn could justify. “And she-s so cute and sweet! I absolutely love her!”

“Oh! That’s super nice!”

What followed was Josephine gushing over her new girlfriend while we worked. Rachel, Josephine’s girlfriend, was a short-stack goth cutey from her class, with bright red hair. By the sound of it, she was a “light goth” in terms of make-up, but everything else was on point.

“Well, except in terms of piercings and tattoos too,” Josephine chuckled. “She’s deadly afraid of needles. Kinda makes me wonder what exactly she’s doing in Fashion Design. I always have to be the one doing anything related to sewing needles. Not that I mind, she’s even better than me at working with the sewing machine.”

Apart from that aversion to needles and piercings, Rachel was not what Josephine’s type was at all, that having been Violet, but with how charming Josephine was describing Rachel to be, types didn’t matter one bit at the end.

“Sounds like you two make a great team,” I laughed while giving Violet a hand at changing clothes. This shoot was looking like it would be a long one. It wasn’t just seasonal, it was the seasons as the months went by. At this point, we had taken care of September, October, and November, and we were now going to take care of December. I still hadn’t had to put on any clothes, though, that being part of the reason why I was giving Violet a hand. “Is she coming over?”

“She was meant to, but her granny had to be taken to the hospital yesterday, so she’s staying with her. Everything seems ok, thankfully, the doctors are just making sure it is as it appears to be before sending her home. Her granny is… I think seventy-two? I’m not sure why, but she took a liking to me as soon as we met. Stuffed me full of homemade cookies, too, saying that Rachel and I are too thin.”

That reminded me of my own grandma, the one from my father’s side of the family. It’s been almost three years since I last saw her, or even talked with her. I’d have to ask Dad if she was even aware that I had married another girl, and if she were told, what her reaction to that was.

“You doing ok, babe?” I asked said girl as I adjusted the buckle of the coatdress she had on. This one was inspired by Christmas and Santa, so it was red with white fur at the hems of the sleeves, collar and bottom. It was double-breasted, and I liked how it cinched her waist, but then flared out into a bell shape as it hung towards her knees. Two V-shaped rows of black buttons hold it closed at the front.

“Yup, I’m doing fine,” she said, sounding honest enough for me to stay calm. “I must say, this coat is quite cosy without being all that heavy.”

“Because it is a princess-line coat,” Josephine chimed in from the other side of the partition. “Since it is made to be form-fitting, it ends up using less fabric, so it becomes lighter even though it uses a heavier fabric. I got the idea from one of Rachel’s coats, and she told me that I absolutely should go with it.”

“Hear that, babe? You’re a princess now,” I teased her, giving the wide black belt a final playful tug.

As payback, while blushing slightly, I might add, she wiggled my cheeks between her fingers, letting my skin slip away between them.

As Violet went back to standing on the set and posing, I resumed my talk with Josephine, asking her how her relationship with Rachel started.

“Ah, that…” Josephine chuckled rather heartlessly. “I always feel bad thinking about that.”

Like she had told us, the two are classmates. What she hadn’t told us was that they chatted quite a lot with one another, and, now that she has the hindsight, it was somewhat obvious that Rachel had some infatuation towards her. But then, that other girl came in and snatched Josephine away. At first, Rachel tried to put some distance between herself and Josephine, but she could see how Josephine seemed to be withering away as time went by, so she started approaching her again. Eventually, Josephine broke up with her ex but was in no state to get into another relationship, so they remained friends for a while and grew closer as the two spent more and more time together.

“In the end, what made me realise it was how fussy and jealous she got when I told her about Violet,” Josephine chuckled. “Took me a while to really accept that Rachel was indeed in love with me, but it became more and more undeniable as time went by. She has a way of staring at me when I’m threading a needle for her or when I’m focused on my sketches that really makes my heart ache, you know?”

“Hehe, yeah… I know exactly what you mean,” I giggle, glancing at my blushing wife, now the same colour as her coatdress.

The conversation calmed down after that, and the photo shoot carried on. Violet was doing a lot better this time, making me tease her that she was turning out to be a natural. She denied it, of course, so I joked that she should just become Josephine’s full-time model and how that’d allow me to brag about being married to a model. She threatened to plate up extra bell peppers for my dinner tonight, even though she should know better, as hers are the only ones I can actually eat without feeling like hurling up.

“All right, Miss Not-Even-a-Metre-and-a-Half,” Josephine clapped once we were done with May. “It’s time for you to also get dressed for the camera.”

“I’ll let you know that I grew two-and-a-half centimetres ever since I started high school!” I huffed at her.

“You’re still barely past a metre-forty,” Violet snickered.

“I’m a metre and forty-one and a half tall now!” I huffed again. “And I’d be taller if I had met and been fed by you sooner!”

“Fufufu! So, it’s my food responsible for your growth spurt, huh?” she laughed as she pulled me behind the partition. “Maybe I should cut back a bit, hmm? I don’t want to risk having you grow out of being a shortcake.”

Our playful bickering continued until Josephine presented us with what we were supposed to put on.

“Those are wedding dresses,” Violet said after a moment of us staring at the fabrics.

“Exactly!” Josephine proclaimed. “June is the month for weddings, starting all the way back to ancient Rome! June is the month of Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage, fertility and childbirth, and as such, getting married in June was said to bring good luck and protection!”

Violet and I stared at each other for a bit before any of us talked.

“Looks like we actually married a month late, didn’t we?” I joked as I took what was supposed to be my dress.

“…We don’t need some Roman Goddess’ protection or blessing,” I heard Violet mumble as she grabbed hers.

I never expected I’d be putting on a wedding dress, much less after having actually gotten married, but life sure is full of surprises.

For Violet, she had gone with a tight, short dress in white satin, completely strapless. Over it, she wore a transparent gown that almost reached the floor once Violet got into her assigned white high-heels. That gown had a slit that started not at her thigh, but all the way up from her waist, right under the thin strip holding the gown around her waist. It had no shoulders, just a panel connected to a lace collar around her neck, just under her choker.

For me, she went with a floral lace ribbed bodice, also completely strapless. The skirt was frilled, reaching my mid-thigh at the front, but dragging behind me at the back, showing my bare legs and the heeled white sandals she had picked for me.

Seeing us like this made me feel pity for having insisted so much that I didn’t need a wedding dress for when I got married. I fully meant it, and I was more than happy having used the summer dresses we had given each other, but… There is something really special about a dress like this, you know?

“What do you think?” I asked Violet, my voice coming shier than I had expected.

She looked at me, twisting her lips as she thought about what to say, even though her eyes said all that I needed to know.

Then, she gently grabbed my hand and guided me out of the partition.

“Josephine? Could you send us a photo of us like this without our faces covered?” Violet asked her, catching me off guard.

“Sure thing, Violet!” Jo told her with a thumbs-up. “We can take as many photos as you want.”

“Just one will do,” Violet told her bashfully as she placed her arms around me. I was having one of my giggling fits from the surprise of having Violet step up and make such a request, so my face was firmly planted around her armpit to muffle the sounds I was making. I was even crying a little too, if I’m to be honest. “Sorry, but could we give Abby a minute? She gets like this when she’s overjoyed with something.”

Going home after the shoot was done was… a bit strange. I felt—we felt, awfully light on our feet, Violet seemingly not even registering the cold. We were clinging to one another, completely silent, walking towards my favourite bakery so we could have a snack before going home. Violet, this time, took no payment, especially because Josephine ended up giving us the wedding dresses, that red coatdress, and a high-waisted skater skirt Violet had worn for the photo representing the month of July.

“You looked really beautiful in that dress,” she told me in a whisper.

“…Gee, took you long enough,” I told her as I fluffed myself against her.

“You didn’t say anything about me either,” she laughed quietly.

“…You always look beautiful. This time was no exception, but… You looked extra beautiful in it.”

“…”

There was something still in that complicated head of hers. I could just tell that it was likely something absurd.

“…What?”

“…Didn’t it feel a bit odd that we were wearing white?”

I began laughing at her question. Of course, my properly raised wife would be thinking about that. It was even funnier that she didn’t have a problem with us wearing white to our wedding.

She told me that it was different then, we were using our summer dresses, not wedding ones, so it didn’t really register in her mind whether or not it was appropriate for us to wear white.

“It’s fine, babe,” I told her while catching my breath. “Nobody cares about that nowadays. In fact, I’ve been to a couple of weddings where the bride was very much pregnant and still wearing white, and I seriously doubt that the child was miraculously conceived.”

She hummed that her grandma would have a fit if she ever saw that in person. That reminded me again of my own grandmother, so I asked Violet if she’d like to meet her one day.

“Didn’t you tell me that she’s in a nursing home and that she’s… mentally unwell?”

I told her that I meant the grandma—and for that matter, also my grandmother, from my father’s side of the family. I told her the truth that I didn’t know if she knew about us, and what her reaction to it would be like.

She told me that, regardless of the latter, she should at least introduce herself to my grandma once.

“Always the dutiful wife,” I teased with a little squeeze to her arm.

“I can’t just reap the benefits and leave the rest out, can I?”

“Are you implying that meeting my family is a bother?” I asked with fake shock and outrage.

“N-no, erm… sorry, that came out wrong, didn’t it?”

I laughed and told her that it was fine. I knew she didn’t like meeting new people, but I also knew she’d do her best to meet them with her best foot forward, and that was all I could ask of her.