( semi-open ) though it may hurt today

[gradenine]

WHO: Roland (gradenine) & some of you guys
WHAT: July catchall + event
WHERE: Vaults, then some formalwear shop (get in losers we're going shopping)
WHEN: The rest of July
WARNINGS: Major Ruina and Leviathan spoilers in the first prompt. Death, murder, the usual Project Moon warnings apply, probably. Please refer to his opt-out for more info.




art credit | plotting comment | event log
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Comments

[gradenine]

[ is it really stealing when you plan to wear them at some point... they really need to figure out Intent as a whole when it comes to taking what you need in this city - whether it be food, clothes, or somebody else's life.

but hey, don's back! as expected. and judging from her usual chipper demeanor it looked like nothing much has changed too, at least on the surface. roland will try asking her about that later on. ]

Your allies of a similar paleness...? [ girl you are talking to a white man wdym ] Uhh, they just don't look too good on me. The other colors, that is. I prefer blending in the background even if I sorta stick out with my monochromatic style anyway.

[icanfixer]

[ some are particularly lacking in sunlight............ if they can look good with color so can mr white man. but yes, here she is, chipper as ever, even as she asks: ]

Is it that thee wish to remain in the background, or is it because thou'rt still in mourning?

[ ooh... that one has star-looking jewels in it. how pretty. rolling her cheek on the glass to look better down the line. there's some neat looking green ones too. like little flowers for rings. ]

I daresay some color would look good on thee, but thou simply have yet to find it! Shall I assist thee? I have much experience with the rainbow!

[gradenine]

...Something like that.

[ it's a bit of both. he won't elaborate on it. ]

Much experience with the rainbow, huh? I didn't take you for a fashion expert, Don. [ he smirks, putting down the collection of ties he'd grabbed. ] Sure, gimme your best shot. Why don't we start with... white?

[ roland. ]

1/2

[icanfixer]

[ excuse me, this is most certainly the height of fashion when paired with her trusty rocinante, ever present on her feet. it's most evident when she pops up at the suggestion and throws herself past him into the thick of the clothing almost immediately, undaunted by... the monochromatic challenge.

... ... ... ]

2/2

[icanfixer]

[ ... ... ...

shuffle shuffle. humming. her short form seems to bob and weave through the various racks and stands like a hummingbird looking for flowers to suck off -- even if she isn't miss fashion, she does seem to be having some fun.

don'll pop from behind him though with some pieces in hand, along side a choice of a tie. ]

What say thee?!

[ hopeful... ]

[gradenine]

[ DON DRIP REAL... the way roland didn't even bat an eye at what don's wearing right now. he's not the type to judge about fashion in general, as common as these shirts are in a chaotic place like their city-- ]

What.

[ that being said, the pieces don picked are a little... ummmmmmm. ]

You think I'm a cat person, Don?

[ NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT it's just... huh. ]

[icanfixer]

I confess, I do not know thee well enough to say one way or the other, but I know I would be quite delighted to see thee wearing something such as this!

[ because they're adorable!!!!!!! look at them roland!!!!!! then... they can match cats... 🥺 ]

Do thee prefer dogs? I am certain I could find a tie with adorable black doggies on them instead! Or perhaps birds? Lizards? Fish? Worm? Snail? Frog? What sort of animal doth catch thine interest, Sir Roland?

[ she's a step away from asking what animal resonates with his soul. ]

[gradenine]

Uhhhh.

[ sweats nervously. HE DOES NOT KNOW he doesn't really care about these things? hello??? ]

I mean, it could be worse. I guess cats are okay.

[ help ]

It's about time I wear something that isn't... well. Fixer-casual. You see how other people around here are dressed like they came from the Nests, right? Like they got nothing to worry about as long as they don't cross the fence.

[ how lucky. ]

[icanfixer]

[ how lucky. ]

In that case, do thee trust me?

[ ................ ]

[gradenine]

[ ... ]

With what.

[ this does not bode well um ]

[icanfixer]

[ CRYING THE WAY SHE WOULDNT HAVE CARED ANYWAY ]

To pick thee out a Nest-worthy outfit, of course! I shall be free from the confines of limited color, and will build onto thee fashion I have come to know myself!

[ she's taking the stuff she got him already and setting it on top of the counter, then looping back around to hook her arm into his. ]

We shall not cut a figure here, however. I shall attend to thee elsewhere! Tally ho, let us be off!

[ don't think she won't try and drag him, "trust me" fulfilled or not ]

[gradenine]

[ GETS DRAGGED AWAY??? ]

H-Hey, hey! Don Quixote! I don't wanna dress up like some guy from the Nest! Where are we even going? Hello?

[ HELP... it really do be easy to get caught up to the beat of don's drum. regardless, he lets himself be whisked away to wings know where. ]

[icanfixer]

[ wow, full name!!!! now she's really in trouble!!! she's absolutely ignoring him so they can dip into a less formal, but still higher end boutique, the outside mannequins placing it more chic than business. comfort and aesthetics over function. ]

Young Sinclair's eye is second to none when to comes to appropriateness of design, but I daresay I have acquired some knowledge as well! Remain here, and I shall return momentarily!

[ as she leaves him near to the front of the store, lined with sundae dress wearing mannequins for ladies and silky looking v-necks for men.

then, an additional call from between the various racks-- ]

If I return and find thee gone, I shall be far angrier than about the train!

[gradenine]

[ whaddahell, this shop looks even nest-ier than the previous one! at least that one was just formalwear, but this one is definitely haute-couture or whatever the fuck nestdwellers would describe these outfits. ]

I'm staying, I'm staying! Jeez, you don't got to worry about that.

[ can he like. take a seat though. there's a chair nearby, he'll just park his ass over there-- ]

'Course Sinclair would have a good eye when it comes to fashion. Heard that he's a Nest kid himself.

[icanfixer]

That he is! We had the fortune of visiting his home as well -- I could imagine it a lovely place to live, if it were not for innocents staked on nails throughout the town!!!!

[ but that's neither here nor there... ]

I would not ask him about it, though; it is something of a sore point.

[ ... because of the innocents staked on nails, probably... anyway. she's peeking around a rack to make sure he's still there, then moving to another with flashes of color in her arms. a lot of colors. ]

His way of speaking gives it away more than anything, does it not?

[gradenine]

There's what in which Nest...?!

[ THAT'S REALLY CONCERNING TO HEAR WHAT THE FUCK

but if don is going to move through that rather quickly, then roland's going to follow her lead. he's used to it, she's used to it... everyone from that hellhole's used to it. ]

But yeah, he's a pretty polite guy. Rather naive, too. He's no Fixer, sure, but he gotta get a stronger spine in order to survive where we came from.

[ and yeah, he's not going to ask sinclair for any more personal deets anytime soon... ]

[icanfixer]

[ happy don can say concerning things even to her own city-fellows. ]

And there, thou art mistaken!

[ ... but maybe it's because they're companions she can say so confidently. she's coming over with. a whole mess of colors. each one of these is a different link, setting them down in another chair nearby with a hefty exhale; don quixote turns to him with her hands on her hips. ]

Young Sinclair hath a spine as straight and strong as any others'! In fact, I would say he is merely too reactive -- but that owes to his youth rather than anything else. [ as if she is one to talk. ] But he is strong and courageous, and though naive he may be at times there is no doubt he is a quick learner as well. It is not his fault he was born in circumstances most fortunate, after all!

[ but he does learn quick, and that's good. adaptability is needed. ]

[gradenine]

[ he nods along to don's comment about sinclair, trying not to look at the campy outfits the woman selected from him. ohh man they look so fucking awful. maybe if roland doesn't acknowledge them they'd just be laid forgotten. hahahahaha. ]

Mm, I get it. He's probably at the youngest Fixer cutoff, so I get the naivete. Hopefully this place will help get him up to speed while encountering less of what our City has to offer.

[ if not, well. roland will just have to do all that again -- kidding. kidding. that was so stressful on everyone's parts, okay.

or is he? ]

Just curious, but which District did Sinclair come from?

[icanfixer]

[ no. she's lifting the shirt of the third to hold it up to him, even though she's fairly certain she's got his size right. yeah. just looking. if he pulls something like he did before though, don might not be so grateful ]

The Nest in 11. Though not in the thick of it, his little hometown was surrounded by trees -- 'twas a most quaint sight, for certain.

[ less quaint with the fear on her seatmate's stricken face, the tremble of his body by hers, the smoke rising past the lush green... shirt goes down, laid to the side as she picks through the others. ]

I rather liked it! Seeing the place where he was raised, I could understand how he'd become the person he was. [ in a way. ] Um, that woman is also from there. Though they are not friends now, they were once classmates, from my understanding.

[gradenine]

District K? Now, that's odd. That's usually one of the safer Nests, as far as I know.

[ hahahaha. ha. ]

Now I get the animosity, somewhat. I'd hate it if my classmate turned out to be a complete psycho in the end. Then again, I'm not really one to talk. Never been to a decent school myself.

[ everything he had learned, he got it from his grandma. as far as he knows it's good enough for him, and the other stragglers in the backstreets are a lot more unfortunate than him. but then he's presented with one of those gaudy shirts and now he realizes that he's not made for the nest life at all. ]

Ugh, do I have to, Don? This is gonna make me stick out like a sore thumb. Not even the normie guys from more normal worlds dressed like this.

[icanfixer]

[ hahahaha. ha. anyway, past should remain in the past, so on and so forth-- ]

Thou must! We are here to expand thy horizons, and I shall join thee. I will take...

[ ...

the second. this is going to be so eyebleeding, and also ill-fitting on her. but that's fine, because they're having fun. ]

This one! Consider that I have chosen for thee, Sir Roland, a style that is closer to thy own than the others -- it is dark, only patterned. I could have started thee with something much farther off.

[ like with the last shirt, or the outfit she's choosing now. now come on she's pushing him to the fitting rooms. ]

[gradenine]

[ he's being pushed. girl... help. but the only girl here in this shop at the moment is don, and she sure is helping in her own way! so without further ado he gets hurled into the nearest fitting room and sighs.

fine... fine! he puts on the top as instructed and, after taking a couple of deep breaths, opens the door and steps out. ]

H-How do I look...?

[ why is he so embarrassed now ]

[icanfixer]

[ is it worse that she looks like she's sparkling with applause. it is, isn't it. one of those excited little seal-clapping applauses. ]

Fantástico, Sir Roland! It suits thee most wonderfully! It truly doth give thee a "fun" vibe, just as I had intended! Prithee, do at least keep that if no other today! I swear, none shall jest at thine expense, for if they do I shall smite them myself!

[ it's wrong!!! it's an injustice!!! a man should be able to dress as he pleases!!! also, roland is her................. ally. ]

[gradenine]

You mean I don't already look like a fun guy to you...?!

[ THE APPLAUSE REALLY DIDN'T HELP he's crying on the inside, please know this. ]

But fine, fine. I'll even wear this tomorrow as a change of pace. Dunno how I can get used to wearing something that ain't a suit, though...

[ he'll do it because they're indeed allies. of a sort. pseudo-coworkers, if you will. ]

You have to wear something too, Don. I don't wanna go out there looking like this on my own. If anyone asks, I can just blame you and leave it at that. [ hey... ]

[icanfixer]

I avow to thee, Sir Roland, thy mind is merely meddling itself silly -- the fashions suit thee, and none shall laugh. There will also be no blame to lay, though I shall accept responsibility for it 'twas my idea.

[ wao. she's so happy. hold on, let her go get changed into her eye bleeding fit she decided she'd try on with him. ill fitting but it'll be okay.

... okay. head first, then the rest. beaming. how's she look. give her a good grade. ]

We shall be as two peas in a pod! Kicking the town, as they say! I do not know what one does when they kick the town, however, so I shall leave that in thy more capable hands!