#nothalas

I don't 100% remember what spurred me to actually write it, but @oddeyesight @valorousowl @redrowantree and I were probably talking late at night, as you do.

I'm pretty sure it was Odd who had the idea/vision for the core image of the fic: Notha in a stylish black suit, Rem in a dazzling white gown(1), the two of them attending an event of some kind. The story evolved quite a bit from there!

At first I just wanted Rem to cause a minor scandal, but then decided I wanted them to do something chill for once, so the dance scene got moved from the ballroom to the garden, particularly because Remthalas doesn't want to wear shoes(2) but it'd be inappropriate for him to go barefoot at such a formal occasion.

There's more to the title than just the literal obvious "they dance in the garden" bit, though, as we later discussed that perhaps a guest who also went out of the ballroom for a bit might have noticed them, maybe from a balcony or from a different part of the garden, and was so moved by the vision that they painted the scene.

(1) Rem's gown in the current version isn't pure white anymore because I learned that sea silk is a thing but is more of a burnt gold color, and I really wanted him to wear something Abyssal in origin. The IRL mollusc that produces the byssus made for sea silk is tidal, though, so I made the color a lighter, "champagne" color for his gown instead, to suggest that Abyssal sea silk has different qualities. Besides; the pearls are still white.