Kaladin froze when he saw her. It wasn't all his fault; his brain sort of short-circuited momentarily. He swallowed and held still, watching her.

At least until her words registered. "Thanks," he muttered, looking doqn quickly. He was not used to this. "You look fabulous."

Whoops. Had he actually said that aloud? That wasn't supposed to happen.

Hazel blinked, and then realized she was still wearing the formal gown.

"Oh," she said, blushing the slightest bit and shaking out the generous taffeta skirts a bit nervously. "Thank you."

The seamstress didn't say anything, just watching the two. She knew what was happening between them, even if they didn't yet. It usually took more than just an evening gown to make sensible young men react that way, and Kaladin seemed like a sensible young man. Miss d'Loncré didn't even have her hair done yet, for goodness sake, and her rather demure jewelry didn't match the gown.

Kaladin swiftly looked off to the side at the seamstress. When in doubt, avoid the subject like the bloody plague.

"Good work." He glanced at Hazel again briefly before looking back at the seamstress. If he'd thought she was pretty in what she normally wore, she looked great now. Half of him didn't even want to see her when she was finished dressing up.

Oh he was in so far over his head...

"Ah, but the vision before you is not all by my hand," the seamstress replied knowingly as she made a few last-minute tucks and darts to the suit. As she did so, she moved behind him, effectively removing herself as a convenient focal point. When she was done, she went back over and started to usher Hazel back into the next room.

"Let's get you out of the gown, lady," she said. "No need to risk any rips or tears before you get to properly show it off this evening."

Hazel nodded and, with one last glance back at Kaladin, went to change back into her day dress.

Kaladin mumbled something about seamstresses but he went into the changing room to get back into his normal clothes and leave the suit for the seamstress to make whatever necessary changes.

Plus it gave him some time to try to regain his objectivity.

While Hazel was getting back into her day dress, the seamstress finished up the suit and tallied the bill. After a moment's consideration, she marked down the cost of the suit and gown--slightly. After all, she had to make money, but she was a hopeless romantic at heart and she had a good feeling about the young lady and her escort. There was just something about the two.

Kaladin waited patiently for Hazel, glancing over at the seamstress as he waited. He'd managed to reign himself in, which was good. So now he could (hopefully) keep from embarrassing himself or Hazel later that night.

Hazel came out a moment later, dressed again and carrying the gown carefully. Even draped over her arms, the gown sparkled and shimmered in the light. She handed it to the seamstress, who fussed over it and eventually got it and the suit wrapped up nicely.

"Don't hesitate to come back," the seamstress said as Hazel paid her. Hazel suspected that it wasn't as expensive as it should have been, but she didn't argue.

"You know I will," she assured the woman. The seamstress nodded with a smile and shooed them out with their formalwear.

Kaladin took the wrapped clothes, carrying them easily and heading back to the carriage.

"Thank you," he said quietly, looking over at Hazel.

"For what?" Hazel asked, puzzled for a moment. Clearly, dropping that much money at once wasn't something she tended to lose sleep over.

"The suit." Kaladin shot her an amused smiled. "And for giving me the time off to come out here."

"Oh," Hazel said. "You're welcome." It wasn't that big a deal, to her; it was a better suit than he had before, and she figured that a few hours off wouldn't hurt anything, since he lived at the ranch.

Kaladin was quiet for the ride back to the ranch, automatically checking to see where people were when they got back.

Brit was standing by the unicorns, keeping track of everything. She glanced over at Kaladin when he got back and she nodded to him before going back to her silent observing.

Hazel left her gown in the carriage for the moment, instead going over to Brit.

"Everything been okay so far?" she asked. She just wanted to make sure that nothing had happened while she and Kaladin had been gone.

Brit nodded, completely unconcerned. Oh yeah. Everything's been fine. My phoenix eggs have little cracks, though. I think they might be hatching sometime today or tonight.

"Take all the time you need to take care of them," Hazel said. While she didn't know much about animals, she knew babies of any species needed care. "I can hang around for a little while this afternoon, maybe a couple of hours, but then I need to leave to get ready for tonight."

Brit waved off her concerns. Don't worry about that. I've got the other four here to help me if I need it, and everyone's been fed and taken care of. Everything will run smoothly. Go do whatever you need to do.

"Alright," Hazel replied. She still didn't like leaving the ranch (although it was more she didn't want to waste time at a formal event that she didn't want to go to), but she would because she had to. The party wouldn't be too bad, really; the other girls wouldn't try to chatter her ear off if she told them not to. With the passing of her grandfather, Hazel was the highest-ranked young woman in the group, at least for the moment. She was sure the others would catch up to her eventually, though.

She hung about the ranch for a few hours, as she said she would. Then it got to be time to get ready for the party. After a moment of thought, she went to find Kaladin.

"I need to head back," she said. "I have to get ready for tonight." She hesitated for a moment. "If it's convenient, you can come with me and change at the manor," she offered. "And we can both leave straight from there."

Kaladin blinked at the offer. He had just finished cleaning up the cage, so he was still kind of sweaty and icky. So her offer surprised him.

"That's alright with me, as long as you don't mind." Kaladin smiled a little, absently pushing some stray hairs back out of his face.

Hazel blushed a little when he gave her that smile.

"I don't mind," she replied. She only just managed to keep herself from stuttering. "As long as you don't mind. After all, it will take me a while to be ready, since I have to get into my gown and have my hair arranged..." She trailed off, aware she was starting to ramble a little.

Kaladin shrugged. He was used to that. Ladies always took a long time to get ready for anything. "It will be easier if I'm there," he agreed. "And you won't be rushed."

Hazel nodded.

"Alright, then," she said. She gestured towards the carriage. "Then maybe we should go, so we'll get to the party on time tonight." And the more time they had, the better. She had to have one of her servant girls tie her into her corset properly, after all, and to arrange her hair. That could take a while.

Kaladin nodded and motioned for her to lead the way. He knew he was fine for the rest of the day, so he had no problems leaving.

Now hopefully the rest of the night would go smoothly.

Hazel nodded and went to the carriage, letting her driver open the door for her and help her in. It was habit, and she didn't think anything of it anymore. Arranging her skirts, she waited for Kaladin to join her.

Kaladin got in and sat across from her, trying to settle in for the ride. He still wasn't used to being in the cab of carriages, damn it all. And he wasn't likely to get used to being in the cab. He'd much rather be the driver or just be riding the horse.