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Tailored to You

Summary:

When the news reach the Ishtars that Isis's and Mai's wedding dresses won't be done in time, all hell breaks lose. They're recommended a skilled tailor in town, however, said tailor seems to be more interested in Malik than in his sister's dress.
[Thiefshipping as main shipping, Vision and Death as side-shippings, AU setting]
Updates on Thursdays and has lots of illustrations

Notes:

Alright guys, after almost a year of me telling about the story idea, the story is finally there. I have no idea if it's any good or cringy as hell. First time writing something like this all by myself. Could've started slowly but NOPE I jumped right in and dragged myself through smut-writing-bootcamp. Have fun. You have been warned.

Many many thanks to DisposableVillain who worked on the idea together with me and we had really nice discussions about the topic! Also many many thanks to DistractedDream for beta-reading all of this and to Tia-Lewise for helping me out when I got stuck!

As another pre-note, I would like to mention that Bakura in this story is somewhere on the nb or genderfluid spectrum meaning he'll run around in male and female associated clothing attires (but he's still using male pronouns). I haven't really specified anywhere what the hell is up with him and maybe he doesn't even know it himself. So I'd like to leave it open for the reader if they want to interpret it in him being nb or somehow genderfluid or even somewhere on his way to figuring out he's trans or maybe he also just wants to give social rules a big FUCK YOU by not following them or maybe he just likes to wear skirts once in a while.

As one more pre-note, upon DisposableVillain's request, Ryou's trans in this story :)

Also, thiefshipping is the main pairing. The other two pairings are mentioned, but they are not the focus of this story.

Also, Tailor!Kura was partly inspired by Sita's Hairdresser!Kura, so if you spot any parallels that's highest likely why.

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Chapter Text

 

Tailored to You

(Source)

Chapter 1

 

Malik ran a hand through his soft hair, brushing it backwards and making sure it’d look nice. Once more, he checked his appearance in the mirror, hoping no one would see how nervous and stressed out he was. He adjusted the tie around his neck and the cuffs of his sleeves before he offered his arm to his sister to take.

All nervousness washed away and was replaced by joy once he saw his sister. Isis looked beautiful and beamed the brightest smile at her brother. Malik had never seen her happier before and he truly wished that happiness would last for the rest of her life. He mirrored Isis’ smile and squeezed her hand before the big double winged doors opened and he led her down the aisle.

Mai already waited at the altar and her face lit up the moment her eyes fell upon her soon-to-be wife. Malik handed his sister over to Mai, knowing they’d take good care of each other in the future. The past had already shown more than once before that, together, they were able to handle anything.

Malik stepped aside to watch the ceremony take its course; a ceremony no one had been sure could even take place a few weeks ago when all their nice plans had been crashed at once. Malik glanced over the rows of guests and found his brother Rishid, Amir, Bakura, and Ryou and shot them a thumbs-up for making this all possible at the last minute.

 

--

 

Some weeks prior

“I don’t like the idea of involving a stranger.” Isis didn’t even look up as she flipped through a pile of invitation card samples. “We’ve always done everything on our own and I’d like to keep it in the family. Besides…” This time her gaze met the men in front of her. “I really doubt that someone like him knows what I want for my wedding.”

Her brothers had gotten the glorious idea to hire a wedding planner to relieve them all of some stress. The idea itself wouldn’t have been that bad if it wasn’t for the wedding planner himself. The brothers had presented her with some kind of punk who looked more like he’d belong at the next best rock concert than at a wedding with his spiky hair, ripped jeans and rude attitude. No way Isis would let such a person arrange her dream wedding.

Malik pinched the bridge of his nose. “Listen, Amir was recommended to us and I’m sure he will do a great job. Have you even taken a look through his portfolio and references?”

Isis gave him a stern look. “No, Malik. Mai and I, we’re doing this on our own. I don’t want someone who doesn’t know me to prepare my wedding. End of the discussion.” She turned towards Amir who had just watched the siblings argue, hands in his pockets and a bored expression. Isis forced a smile to stay polite. “I’m sorry, but your services are not required here. No offense.”

“No worries, lady. I get it.” Amir snorted and chuckled. He didn’t seem to mind her open dislike towards him, if anything he seemed to be amused about something Isis wasn’t aware of. Maybe he knew something Isis didn’t? It didn’t take long for her to find out that, being the expert, Amir already knew he’d be needed sooner or later anyways.

 

--

 

“This is going to be the worst day of our lives.” Isis buried her head in her hands and tugged at her own hair. “We’re way behind schedule. We’re never going to make it. Oh Gods, what do we do?!”

Mai sighed next to her, her hair wild and unkempt from hours of nervous pacing and troubleshooting with Isis. The blonde rubbed circles on her fiancée’s back in an attempt to calm her down. “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll get everything in place and we’ll have a total blast. I’m going to make sure of that.” She winked at her and tried to lift the mood. “And if everything fails, we’re going to bail and have a nice little Las Vegas wedding, only the two of us. How about that?”

Isis wailed. “This is going to be a disaster.”

Everything had been planned so nicely. Finding the perfect venue hadn’t been a problem at all. Mai was the owner of a spacious, elegant hotel in town with a ballroom meant for social events like this. It’d be big enough to host all of their guests during the party and, if their guests felt like it, they could also visit the nightclub adjacent to it in the later hours. The location was central, offered enough rooms for their guests to stay in and also in-house catering. Aside from the venue itself, the music and entertainment had already been chosen as well. After hours and hours of going through different catalogues, they had also decided on which flowers and decorations they wanted.

One of Mai’s and Malik’s mutual friends, Ryou, would take care of the cake. Some distant relative of the Ishtar clan would take the wedding pictures. The wedding dresses were already in the making as well. Isis’ aunt had offered to take care of them and sew them both with lots of love. They’d been there a few times for fittings already and they should be done in time.

But now it all seemed to crumble. Bad luck just seemed to follow them everywhere. At first they couldn’t find a company to take care of the flowers and decorations. Time was running out, only four weeks left, and most companies were already booked out. When it came hard on hard, Isis was sure she could still find some other relatives to help set everything up nicely. Everything would still be alright. They had the venue already after all.

And that was when the hotel called, telling them one of the water pipes had broken. It caused significant damage and they’d need the ballroom to be closed down for renovation for a prolonged time. It was the busy time for social events and weddings. Finding a new place to hold the wedding within only four weeks seemed like an impossible thing to do. Especially now since Isis had to organize many things on her own as Mai was occupied with sorting out and overseeing the repair work at her hotel.

At least they’d look pretty, they thought. But then the news came in that Isis’ aunt had broken her arm and couldn’t finish the dresses. Her daughter-in-law offered to continue them, but she wasn’t as skilled and messed them up horribly. Isis had politely thanked her for her efforts, but it was clear they couldn’t wear those gowns anymore.

On top of that, Isis’ cousin was denied visa, so they were now lacking a photographer as well. The only things they still had were a DJ and the show acts to entertain the guests.

Isis sniffled as she pointed at the pile of papers and catalogues on the coffee table in front of them. “Nothing’s working out! I wanted our wedding to be beautiful! I wanted us to be beautiful! I wanted it to be the best day of our lives!”

Mai took Isis’ hands in hers and lifted them to her lips. “You’re beautiful no matter what and I’d marry you if you were wearing a potato bag.” 

“But I don’t want to wear a potato bag!”

 

--

 

The call that everything had gone down the gutter and his sister and her fiancée had turned into Bridezillas came in the late afternoon. Malik winced at Mai’s desperate screaming and Isis’ wailing on the phone. He reassured them again that they’d somehow manage to get everything ready in time and then proceeded to contact the wedding planner again. Fortunately Amir could give them an appointment on short notice and a day later they found themselves sitting in the Ishtar’s living room.

They presented him with everything they already had (or, well, had once had), their expectations and budget, as well as the lists of venues and tailors they had already checked out in the meanwhile. Expectantly, the Ishtars and Mai looked at Amir. Maybe he was still able to rescue it.

Amir stuck out the tip of his tongue in thought and ran his hand through his wild spiky mane. This was going to be a tough challenge as he had to reorganize everything in a way too short period of time. “If you’re willing to make some adjustments to your expectations, I can find a venue and florists. No problem. I also know quite a few photographers whom I can ask if they have time.”

“Really? That would be wonderful!” Mai clapped her hands together in joy.

“What about the dresses? All tailors we’ve spoken to said they won’t make it anymore. We were told that it’s near impossible to find, order, and adjust the dresses in time.” Isis frowned, still not completely comfortable with the idea of letting Amir handle their stuff.

“I might know someone who could do the job.” Amir let out a hum and scratched his chin as he tilted his head from one side to the other. “But I must warn you. He’s a bit… difficult.”

“How difficult?”

Amir let out a loud laugh. “He’s a piece of shit, but his work is fantastic. I don’t think you will like him very much.”

 

--

 

Two days later, they split up their tasks. Rishid and Mai would check out some of the venues while Malik and Isis followed Amir to the tailor downtown.

Malik didn’t like the quarter of the city they were currently in and he was happy he had agreed to accompany his sister here. He was just about to voice his concerns when they came to a halt in front of one of the shops. The building itself didn’t look like anything special; however the bright, elegant dress with delicate details sewn to it in laborious work and the dark suit next to it in the display window surely did.

Isis and Malik both stopped to marvel at them for a short moment before Amir reminded them to actually step inside. A jingle from the bell above the door announced their arrival as they entered.

The interior looked a lot better than the outside did. The furnishing was modern and elegant with a few lovely accents and pictures of the tailor’s previous designs here and there. Mannequins wearing the most exquisite dresses decorated the room and a big lounge with dark leather seats invited the relatives and friends of the bride to relax. Amir offered them to take a seat there and flip through the portfolios on display while they waited until it was their turn.

One huge changing stall was to the right-hand side with a white room-divider with a floral pattern blocking the view from the streets and a podium in front of them for the soon to be bride to stand on. Currently, a woman in her late twenties was standing on said podium wearing a beautiful princess style dress with many tulle layers and a big hoop skirt. A second lady was trying to close the gown’s back, but struggling. “I can’t close it anymore!”

“What? But it fit perfectly fine last week!” The woman on the podium complained.

“Well, if you didn’t stuff your face with chocolate every three seconds, your ass would still fit in my dress.” A third person appeared from the backroom, the tailor from the looks of it.

The first thing Malik noticed about him was his stark white hair. Malik had seen people with quite pale hair before, but none so bright that it glowed like the moon. The tailor had his hair tied up in a high ponytail. He was lean and wearing a white button up with a two layered waistcoat, elegant black trousers and high-heeled oxfords that matched to the rest of his outfit in shade.

The tailor adjusted his sleeves and motioned to the woman to lift her arms and started to measure her once again. He frowned at the numbers, clearly displeased. “You’re lucky I calculated enough seam allowance to make it wider. Now get out of my dress, so I can fix it up.”

The bride-to-be looked near tears before she gathered up the skirt and rushed off to hide in the changing stall.

Malik and Isis exchanged glances and then looked over to Amir. The wedding planner just shrugged. “I told you Bakura’s an asshole.”

“I heard that, Amir!” Bakura yelled as he collected the dress from the changing stall. Childishly he stuck out his tongue at Amir and the light reflected on a small metal stud piercing his tongue. He arranged the huge amount of fabric on his arm and turned to Amir. “How about you make yourself useful and offer our guests something to drink?” A typical, fake customer service smile that Malik knew all too well appeared on the tailor’s face as he turned to both Ishtars. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Amir got each of them a coffee from a small bar next to the lounge. His phone buzzed and the event planner had to excuse himself as he had another appointment with Mai and Rishid at one of the venues. He smiled apologetically at the two siblings. “I’m sorry I’ll have to leave you alone with him. Don’t be fooled by his behaviour. He knows what he’s doing even if he’s an asshole.”

Another “I heard that, you prick!” came from the back of the shop.

“I’m not so sure if coming here was such a great idea.” Isis whispered to Malik after Amir left while Bakura brought the dress away and saw the previous clients to the door. The bride to be was still close to tears, but Bakura said something to her at the door that Malik couldn’t understand and a small smile appeared on her face. She dabbed the tears away with a tissue Bakura handed her and in the end she laughed again at something stupid Bakura must’ve said. 

The blond sighed. He had to agree with her, but Bakura was one of their last options. “Let’s give him a chance at first. We can still go if we don’t like what he has to offer.”

Bakura approached and came to a halt in front of them. He placed a hand on his hip and grinned at them. “Hello, name’s Bakura and I specialize in custom-made gowns and suits for all occasions. How can I help you?”

Isis gave him a suspicious look and introduced herself and Malik. “We’re looking for wedding dresses.”

Bakura looked her over. “For you?”

Isis nodded in return.

Bakura snapped his fingers and walked over to a shelf that harboured various ring binders filled with pictures. He pulled out six of them and brought them to the table. “Look through it and tell me which elements you like best. Meanwhile I’ll sort through the dresses I have here so you can try some on to get an idea about what might suit you.”

The variety of dresses offered to them in the binders was huge, yet it was clear to see which dress styles were more popular than others this season. Isis and Malik didn’t even notice how much time had already passed when Bakura approached them again an hour later. “Found anything you like?”

A bit overwhelmed, Isis looked from binder to binder. “There’s so much! I couldn’t possibly decide so fast.”

Bakura let out a laugh. “Yeah, no one can. And all of them always want something that will look utterly horrible on them. Let me just bring something I think might suit you.” He turned towards Malik. “And you better take your leave now. It brings bad luck if the groom sees the bride in her dress before the wedding.”

Isis blinked. “Oh, no, he can stay. He’s my brother, not the groom. I’d like to get his opinion.”

A smirk appeared on Bakura’s face. “I see… Well, if that’s the case, you don’t possibly need a suit too, do you, Mr. Ishtar? I’d love to,” his grin widened, “measure you up as well.”

Malik gaped at him for a moment, not failing to notice the blunt undertone of Bakura’s question. “No, thank you. I don’t need one.”

“A pity, really. Suit yourself then.” Bakura chuckled over his own bad pun and shrugged before he led Isis to the rack with his choice of dresses. “Pick what you like and try it on.”

He had estimated the sizes quite well. Almost all of the dresses fit somehow, even if they’d still need to be adjusted. All dresses were beautiful and unlike any dresses the Ishtars had seen before. They had quite quickly decided that princess style dresses didn’t look so well on Isis, so they went with other styles. It took several hours to go through all dresses the shop currently had to offer. They had found six gowns to take into closer consideration, although unfortunately none of them combined all the elements they would’ve liked.

“Why don’t you like that one? It suits her damn fine. What’s wrong with it?” Bakura asked as he circled around Isis who currently wore a long dress with a mermaid skirt and open back.

Malik nodded as well. “Actually, I think so too. Why not, Isis?”

Isis smiled gentled at Malik. “I don’t know… It just feels wrong to expose my back like this.”

The blond blinked at her, then nodded in silence and cast his eyes downwards, silently thanking her for her consideration.

Isis turned back to Bakura. “Do you have anything that covers a bit… more?”

They found another dress for her that had a similar skirt, but a different cut for the top.

Bakura stood there with one hand on his chin. He tilted his head as he looked at the last dress. Then he shook his head. “It looks good, but it’d look better with a different kind of sleeve I think. I don’t like those on her. They make her arms look fat.”

“My sister’s not fat!”

“I said the sleeves make her arms LOOK fat, not that she’s fat. Listen to what I say, dumbass.”

Malik scowled at Bakura for a moment, but then he remembered the marvellous dress they had already seen from the street. “What’s with the dress in the display window?”

“Not for sale.” Bakura stated without looking at them as he put dresses back on their respective mannequins.

“Can’t you make the same model again?”

“Don’t mock me, Ishtar. All of my dresses are custom-made unique pieces. There’s no such thing as ‘same model’. They’re all different.”

Isis rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Alright guys, you have fun arguing, I’m going to take this dress off now. I’m exhausted.” She sighed and rubbed her temples on her way to the changing stall. This would be a long, long way to get her dress. And her brother’s constant bickering with the tailor didn’t really help matters a lot either.

Once Isis returned from the changing stall, they sat back down on the couch with another round of coffee to make a list of attributes they liked and which ones not. “I’m a bit sad that there’s nothing working among the dresses.” She admitted.

Bakura laughed and sipped on his coffee. “I can just make you something that works with everything you like. That’s not going to be a problem and nothing is impossible. Give me some time and everything can be arranged.”

Malik crossed his legs and folded his hands on his knees. “You have a bit more than three weeks.”

Bakura spluttered out his coffee and coughed. “Excuse me?!”

“Three weeks.” Malik repeated again. “Not for one dress, but for two dresses for two brides.”

“That’s impossible!”

“You just said it yourself: Nothing is impossible. And the second bride needs a dress as well.” Malik gave him an angelic smile. “So are you going to do it or are you just a big mouth with nothing behind it?”

“Are you challenging me, Ishtar?” Bakura growled at how fast Malik had been able to turn his own words against him.

“Well, did it work?”

Bakura pressed his lips to a thin line and leaned back in his armchair. He needed a moment to think and calculate. His tongue piercing clicked against his teeth as he played with it. “That’s going to cost you.”

“Money’s not an issue at all.” This time, it was Isis who replied while Malik leaned back in his seat, obviously pleased with the outcome.

Bakura scanned Malik and Isis to figure out if they truly meant it. He narrowed his eyes at them, but eventually agreed. “Fine. But I’ll need to start right away.” He addressed Isis again. “I hope neither you nor your fiancée have anything planned for the next few days because I’ll need you to come over quite a few times so I can fit the cutting patterns. I’ll need one of you to come over in the morning and the other one in the afternoon. Or afternoon and evening if you’d prefer that.”

 

--

 

“Malik, please come with me. This isn’t going to work out if I go there alone again.” Isis begged as she lay half-sprawled across the breakfast table and clung to her coffee mug.

Malik frowned. “Isis, I have to work.”

Isis groaned and buried her face in the crook of her arm. “Malik, please, he shit-talks non-stop and more than any hairdresser I’ve been to so far. I’m going to murder him if no one restrains me and if I kill the tailor before the dresses are done, we’d need to start searching for one from scratch again. Besides, it’s your office day today, isn’t it? Not the garage?” She asked, referring to Malik’s two part-time jobs. “You can take your laptop and work from there. It’s on the way to one of our business partners anyways, so you can just drop by once you’re done with the meeting.”

The blond sighed, but he couldn’t say no to his sister, not when she seemed so desperate. She had gone to Bakura’s studio alone the day before for the fitting of the cutting patterns and she had been more than furious after she had come home. Malik hadn’t understood all of it, but Bakura’s bold attitude didn’t sit well with Isis at all. Meanwhile, Mai had sent selfies with herself and Bakura holding glasses of sparkling wine with the capture “LMAO I LOVE THIS GUY” to their group chat. It had also been Mai who encouraged Isis to try and visit him again. It was a miracle to Malik that Isis had even agreed.

 

(Source)

 

A few hours later, Malik walked down the street with a coffee in one hand and his laptop bag in the other. The meeting had gone well, so he was in a good mood. The doorbell announced his arrival and he quickly greeted Isis who stood atop the podium with a mock-up dress pinned around her. Bakura buzzed around her doing some adjustments to the dress, his heels clicking loudly on the floor with each step.

“Finally!” Isis exclaimed, already visibly at the end of her nerves. “What took you so long?”

Bakura’s face lit up as well. He stemmed his hands on his hips and grinned proudly. “There you are! What do you say? I think I did a great job with the shape so far.”

“Yeah, looks good.” Malik scanned the dress briefly. The shape suited Isis very nicely indeed, but the final outcome was still somewhat hard to imagine. The edges were still a bit untidy as well, but this was only the mock-up dress anyways. They’d see how it looked like once Bakura started to work with the actual fabric.

More so than Isis’ dress, Malik noticed Bakura’s outfit. Malik had already been warned beforehand by Isis and Mai that Bakura didn’t give a single fuck about ‘the norm’, but he still felt slightly confused when he saw Bakura sporting a quite short, shiny leather skirt and a billowy blouse combined with dark tights and a pair of stilettos.

Bakura’s grin widened when he caught Malik staring. “Like what you see?”

“I’m not so sure if I should like it or not.”

“Well, I surely do like it. Looks good on me, don’t you think?” He ran his hand up his own butt and laughed before he continued to decorate the dress with pins and markings.

Isis gave Malik a look that said ‘see and this is why I’m going to murder him if you leave us alone’.

Malik rolled his eyes and didn’t comment any further. He decided to just sit down, power up his laptop and then get to work. However, he found himself getting a little bit distracted. Bakura had been right. He did look damn good in that.

 

Bonus