She shook her head, clinging to his arm a bit, “It’s not you. Years of shopping with my mother just conditioned me into being very, very uncomfortable when it comes to clothes shopping.” She made a slight face, “I also used to have some… severe body issues that made shopping for clothes in general a depressing experience.” She was better now, but those memories still made her squirm and want to hug a pillow and watch movies.
“But you’ve got a cute little petite body,” he said in possibly the least innocent sounding manner from someone who just promised he wasn’t a creep. He was a photographer, he couldn’t help but notice people in a more detailed fashion and he blended people watching into everything he did. Capturing natural human behaviors on film was what he’d specialized in. He’d even managed—with some outside help—to upgrade the quality of the camera on his phone to take pretty clear pictures. He had eyes for these things and she had a really perfect body to work with for this. “What caused you to have issues? I mean, I can’t see anything that could possibly be cause for ‘severe’.”
“N-No, no, no, no.” She shuddered and shook her head, “I’ll tell you how they feel, and that’ll be it.” She gnawed on her lip as Neah pulled her into a store, looking around nervously. Feeling uncomfortable enough about this, she linked her arm with Neah’s to make following him easier and to make herself feel calmer. They were almost done with her part, she reasoned, and then everything else would be easy.
“Don’t you worry, I’m not creeping on you in anyway,” he assured, patting her arm as they headed toward the proper section for her. He was familiar with these stores. He had a lot of free time during the school season and he filled it with so many assorted activities it made him seem like he actually did everything. It was better than sleeping his life away, he thought. “You’re just not….weird enough for me, missy.”
“You can pick.” She answered immediately as she crossed her arms, “And I usually only wear my pajamas around the house, though that isn’t going to cut it when I’m staying at the apartment, so long pants, shirts and sweaters. I’ll wear longer skirts, too, but I hate shorts and short skirts. And I’ll really only need about three outfits. Maybe. Probably less.” She’d be keeping an eye on the prices of things.
“Okay, okay, I can work with that, missy. We’ll take a detour. You’re nice and petite so there are lots of options for you,” he nearly dragged her along, looking too excited for someone who should have started acting his age ten years ago. “How about colors? Dark, light, rainbow, tie-dye, what have you?”
“P-Pretty much the same as for my underwear.” She squeaked and stuttered a bit as she followed him, “Darker colors, no pastels. White shirts can be okay, but no white pants or skirts. No low-riding pants or skinny jeans, though. …You’re not going to make me try things on and show you, are you?” She always hated that part.
“Welll, since women’s sizes are retarded and change depending on the make, I’m going to have to have you at least try on pants, missy. At least so I know a good range. Nothing is comfortable about pants too loose or lord forbid, too tight,” he said easily, knowing she’s be less hissy about just trying on one part. Shirts were easy. Given that they had close to the same chest build—him being a lanky, short person compared to his brother—he could easily make a guess. “And I won’t make you model them. Unless you want to~.”
“You can pick.” She answered immediately as she crossed her arms, “And I usually only wear my pajamas around the house, though that isn’t going to cut it when I’m staying at the apartment, so long pants, shirts and sweaters. I’ll wear longer skirts, too, but I hate shorts and short skirts. And I’ll really only need about three outfits. Maybe. Probably less.” She’d be keeping an eye on the prices of things.
“Okay, okay, I can work with that, missy. We’ll take a detour. You’re nice and petite so there are lots of options for you,” he nearly dragged her along, looking too excited for someone who should have started acting his age ten years ago. “How about colors? Dark, light, rainbow, tyedie, what have you?”
“Real food sounds better.” She shook her head, then glanced down at her bag of silky nightclothes and hummed as she thought, “And it seems kinda pointless to have these nightclothes but not have anything to change into the next day. …Though I’m not sure if I want to risk going clothes shopping with you.” She looked back at him flatly, huffing, “I could just buy clothes on my own time and bring them in. …But that would be awkward.” She twitched and looked down, chewing on her lip as she started to fret.
“I promise I can be good~.” He swore, making a cross-like gesture across his chest. He could actually behave—actually he could almost come off as normal and once was considerably more normal than he acted in the present. Somewhere along the way he ended up being a little bit crazy and never bothered to fix it—or rather just ran with the crazy and even helped it flourish a bit. “I did say you weren’t buying anything~.”
She sighed gave him a sulky look, “Alright… Though I am going to pay you back for this someday.” Someway or another. She wouldn’t feel right until she did. Fortunately, clothes shopping would be easier — it had been a lot harder when she’d still been going to school because her mother had been the one to force things on her, and she just hadn’t felt comfortable with any of it. Now, things were a bit different.
“Excellent, okay, do you wanna pick a store or do you want me to? Because I’m pretty good at this thing and I can’t easily infer that this is not a favored activity of yours.” That didn’t take a genius even if she hadn’t expressed it openly. “On top of that, what things do you enjoy wearing and how much are you going to let me buy before wringing my neck?”
“Real food sounds better.” She shook her head, then glanced down at her bag of silky nightclothes and hummed as she thought, “And it seems kinda pointless to have these nightclothes but not have anything to change into the next day. …Though I’m not sure if I want to risk going clothes shopping with you.” She looked back at him flatly, huffing, “I could just buy clothes on my own time and bring them in. …But that would be awkward.” She twitched and looked down, chewing on her lip as she started to fret.
“I promise I can be good~.” He swore, making a cross-like gesture across his chest. He could actually behave—actually he could almost come off as normal and once was considerably more normal than he acted in the present. Somewhere along the way he ended up being a little bit crazy and never bothered to fix it—or rather just ran with the crazy and even helped it flourish a bit. “I did say you weren’t buying anything~.”
Keeping her mouth covered, she closed her eyes and lowered her head, her shoulders shaking as she tried not to laugh loudly in the middle of the shop. She wanted to say the first one. She really, really did. But she remembered how high school ones, and that one would definitely get Cross in trouble. “The second one, I’m sad to say.” She said between giggles, trying to keep her smile from getting too wide, “The other one will get him in trouble. …Or, y’know, you could get him both.”
“I could make him wear the Hadron one when we go to lunch. Man, he’s gonna be way too amused. Science is pretty great. Puns are a family tradition, I’m sure you can tell. We take pride in our bad senses of humor.” He wasn’t going to mention how they had tendencies to sit in the living room on stale days and look up stupid facts and back jokes. It was bad enough she knew they did laundry while watching action movies. Well, Cross did laundry and Neah cooked to make up for his aversion to do the laundry. Domestic lifestyle of three men in a house. She was in for a treat.
“Something you all share in common with my Gramma.” She cast him a wry look, lips pressing into a line of mock annoyance, “If any of you were on her emailing list, you’d get at least three horrible cat jokes a day. …If I didn’t need to keep in contact with her while she was at work, I would have blocked her a while ago.” When Neah snickered, she couldn’t help but giggle, as well, shaking her head, “Alright, anything else we need from here?”
“Nope, I got what I needed, fortunately, he’s easy and I don’t have to go all over hell and creation,” he smiled and walked it to the counter. The place was clustered with merchandise, some of it being so tasteless it made him laugh. “Unless you need a coffee mug with boobs on it. I’d completely understand if you did,” he teased and turned an amused snort at her while he pulled his card out and paid for this purchases. “Any place you’d like to go? We can take the pet shop and leave out the rear entrance. We’d be done with the mall there. Unless of course you want to lunch in the court. Though I think I prefer real food. And now I’m in the mood to cook.”
Keeping her mouth covered, she closed her eyes and lowered her head, her shoulders shaking as she tried not to laugh loudly in the middle of the shop. She wanted to say the first one. She really, really did. But she remembered how high school ones, and that one would definitely get Cross in trouble. “The second one, I’m sad to say.” She said between giggles, trying to keep her smile from getting too wide, “The other one will get him in trouble. …Or, y’know, you could get him both.”
“I could make him wear the Hadron one when we go to lunch. Man, he’s gonna be way too amused. Science is pretty great. Puns are a family tradition, I’m sure you can tell. We take pride in our bad senses of humor.” He wasn’t going to mention how they had tendencies to sit in the living room on stale days and look up stupid fact and back jokes. It was bad enough she knew they did laundry while watching action movies. Well, Cross did laundry and Neah cooked to make up for his aversion to do the laundry. Domestic lifestyle of three men in a house. She was in for a treat.
