fandomtownies | Demon Marcus, Sunday

The door opened, and Anne stepped through, then froze.

"Um. I'm not interrupting anything am I?" She was pretty sure she wasn't, but it was always dangerous to take things for granted on Fandom.

Sparkle froze, and blinked, and then kind of shoved the mannequin to the side and grinned sheepishly at the woman who had just walked into his store.

"Nothing important," he promised. "It just gets boring in here on the slow days. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Anne chuckled and waved a hand at herself. She was dressed in a tshirt that had seen better days and a pair of pants that looked military surplus. "Didn't come out here with much in the way of wardrobe, and I wasn't prepared at all for how hot it's getting."

She shrugged. While the tshirt made it pretty obvious to see that her left arm just ended an inch below her shoulder, the gesture emphasized that fact. She was still getting used to it, but at least she wasn't (that) self-conscious about it anymore?

"Think you might be able to help me out?"

And the look that Sparkle gave her arm was a professional sort of glance only, considering the outfit that she was wearing and ruling out, say, shirts with a neckline that was meant to hang low. No need to cause her any sort of grief by even suggesting something like that.

"You came to a good place for it," he replied, smiling back at her. "I mean, if you have to go anywhere on the island."

The clothing store was a good choice.

"Were you thinking, like, shorts, and more t-shirts? Something with a lighter fabric that breathes? This weather is brutal, having something thin enough to let a breeze through is, like, heaven on the shitty hot days."

"To be honest, I hadn't gotten any farther than 'go to that place they sell clothes'." Anne flashed a helpless sort of grin. "I'm still getting used to the island, and to having to supply my own clothes again, so I feel kind of lucky I made it this far."

"Well, hey, that's a good start too," Sparkle laughed. "Then how about we start with what kind of budget you've got to work with, and play it by ear from there?"

Did that seem kind of forward? Sparkle really didn't mean for it to come out that way, but it seemed more often than not like people who came into his shop for clothes were the sort who didn't have two pennies to rub together, and he didn't want to stuff somebody into the expensive stuff just to tell them a few minutes later that they couldn't afford it.

"That sounds like a pretty good approach."

Anne nodded in approval, then pursed her lips, clearly thinking about how to answer that. "I suppose that I've actually got a decent amount to work with?" Her eyes glanced off to the side as she tried to figure out the right way to explain that. "My retirement package from my previous position was really generous, and it's not like I really spend money on that much?"

"But I guess that cuts both ways?" She grinned suddenly. "No one's ever really accused me of being terribly fashionable, so I don't need anything fancy. Just, you know, comfortable clothes that look good."

Her eyes darted to the left, sliding across the space her arm used to be.

"We can manage that," Sparkle said, shrugging his shoulders a little. "More t-shirts, then? How do you feel about skirts?"

They had so many options here, though he'd make sure he only picked things that were easy to get on and do up with one hand.

Anne chuckled. "Skirts are fine. Wore one as part of a uniform for a while, even. And t-shirts probably aren't a bad idea? Though it might be worth finding one or two things that are a little dressier?"

She shook her head. "Partial to boots, too, but all the pairs I brought with me are definitely not good for wearing in this heat."

A quick wave at her empty sleeve. "I think the big thing is that I'm still getting used to this. So I don't know what wears well, or even easily. So, you know." Mostly sticking with t-shirts and baggy pants.

Edited 2017-06-26 00:56 (UTC)

"Well..." Sparkle gave her a wry smile. "I don't have any experience with that sort of thing," he noted, apologetically, "but we do have dressing rooms for a reason. If there's anything you like that you want to try on, to see how much of a pain in the ass it is, that's what they're for. I'm guessing stuff you can just pull on without having to dick around with buttons will be a good start, anyway."

"I don't have much more, but... yeah." She nodded. "Small buttons, or lots of buttons are trouble. And I don't think I'd realized how much where a zipper is placed matters. And laces are pretty much a non-starter."

She offered a helpless shrug. "I'm sure I'll keep getting better at it all, but," a sigh, "it does restrict my options."

Anne found herself turning slightly, glancing around the shop. "So, any ideas?"

"How about we start with the easy stuff," Sparkle offered. "Get some t-shirts for you, since you'll probably be wearing those the most anyway. Some shorts or skirts or both. Then we can work on the fancy stuff. You're right, having something a little less informal can't hurt around here. You'll never know when someone expects you to dress to impress."

Anne laughed at that, taking his advice and heading over to find shirts in the right size. "I don't know. I'm not sure I know enough people for anyone to have any expectations of me yet." She'd only arrived at the beginning of the summer, and still didn't get out that much, after all.

Anne quickly discovered that she couldn't hold a shirt up for inspection, so she took to carefully unfolding them on the table, spreading them out so she could get a better look. "Oh, these look nice."

Sparkle nodded a little, making a mental note to put more things on hangers if only for accessibility.

"They are, yeah," he agreed, and then grinned faintly. "And hey, the school throws dances a few times a year. Some of those get pretty fancy. Or maybe some night you just feel like going one step farther, and you dress up nice before hitting a bar or something. There are two bars in town. Plenty of opportunity to meet people."

Anne opened her mouth, then closed it, blinking in surprise.

"I was going to say that it had been forever since I last had to get all dressed up and go to an event with dancing, but..." She shook her head, looking a bit bemused. "It wasn't that long ago, after all." Less than a year, actually, back when she'd hoped that her first attempt to retire would pan out.

"Well, then you'll be all set for the next, I don't know, homecoming or whatever," Sparkle teased, smiling at her easily. "And hey, if that's too overwhelming, they're usually pretty good about having quiet corners to retreat to, too."

She let out a laugh and shook her head. "It's not like I hate that kind of thing. I mean, they're annoying when they get political, but there's nothing wrong with drinks and dancing."

"What about you? I mean, it may be a bit of an unwarranted assumption, but I figure anyone who works in fashion doesn't mind getting dressed up on occasion?"

"Oh, pfft," Sparkle laughed. "Assume all you want. It isn't like everyone else doesn't."

Maybe for good reason, granted. But still.

"Anyway, I love parties. I'm, like, not usually the center of attention, but it isn't as though I don't have fun dressing up like maybe I want to be."

"I imagine that being the center of attention is probably a lot less fun than it looks. Bet it's better just doing what you want and having fun."

She tried to sound casual, but Anne spoke from experience. Being the center of attention was incredibly stressful.

"Well, within reason," Sparkle said. And that statement was followed by a blink, and a wrinkling of his nose, and a little laugh. "Which is not something I usually say. Like. About anything ever."

This was a guy who had burned down a house.

And then blown up another one.

He was not really good at moderation.

"Oh no!" Despite her words, Anne did not appear particularly distressed. "Have I driven you to moderation?"

Okay, Sparkle had to laugh at that one.

"It was all you," he agreed, catching himself before the phrase, 'single-handedly' could leave his mouth. "Never before have I been tempted to consider a life of taking it easy and thinking things through before acting, truly."

"Well, I am terribly sorry for ruining you," Anne teased with a grin.

"I guess there's nothing for it now," Sparkle laughed. "I'll have to sell the clothing store and become an accountant or something."

... That would end poorly. Sparkle's strong point wasn't really math.

"You know, I can totally see that. You as an accountant I mean."

She grinned. "Need a pair of nerdy glasses, though."

"Glasses with no lenses in them? I think that just makes me a hipster," Sparkle replied, grinning. "I'll make up for it by slicking my hair back and wearing sweater vests and using pocket protectors, I guess."

Sure, that'd do it.

"Ooooh, sweater vests. Very sexy."

"You figure I can pull 'em off?"

Oh yeah, Sparkle was smirking pretty broadly, now.

"Maybe not in this weather, though. Little hot for anything with 'sweater' right there in the name."

Anne laughed. "Tell me about it! I already half-regret the long pants."

"Though," she tried to look more serious. "Sometimes you have to suffer for fashion, right?"

"Not at the cost of your health, you don't," Sparkle replied, easily. "Maybe not the best business move, me saying something like that, but I'm not that obsessed."

Anyway, she should have seen how he'd dressed himself up until a few months ago.

"Well, if your customers stay alive, hopefully they'll come back, so maybe it's a really smart business move?"

"Oh man," Sparkle laughed. "Alive customers are my favourite kind."

Really, it beat the alternative by a long shot.

"Do you get a lot of the other kind?" Anne asked with a little smirk.

"Like those... zombies?" That was the right term, right? "The ones at the bar?"

"You know, I don't think the Caritas zombies have ever been in here?" There was a pause, and then Sparkle wrinkled his nose. "I'm not entirely certain they ever even change their clothes."

Anne followed suit, pulling a face. "Ew. I did not need to know that."

"Yeeaaaah. Not that I'm going to ask them so I can know for sure. But... I don't know how they would change their clothes, anyway."

You know. Without literally falling apart.

She continued making a 'gross' face, and waved her hand. "New topic, new topic."

It wasn't that she was squeamish, really. Hard to be given what she'd done before Fandom. But that didn't mean she was really into discussing the habits of zombies.

"I'm sorry I brought it up."

"Hey, that sounds like a Fandom Island conversation if ever I heard one," Sparkle replied, waving it off. "We can totally change the subject. How do you feel about floral print?"

"That's a good question. I've never really owned a lot of flowery things?" She shrugged. "I mean, I guess I like the idea of bright colors? Not sure how I actually look in them."

"That," Sparkle said, pulling a handful of light shirts with floral print from the racks and laying them out for her to look at, "is what the dressing room is for."

He was avoiding anything with buttons or zippers, but that wasn't a difficult feat around this time of year.

Anne looked over the couple of shirts she'd found for herself, then scooped up the ones Sparkle had found as well.

"In that case, I should probably go make use of it, huh?"

"Can't hurt," Sparkle laughed. "And don't sweat it if you don't like 'em. I'm mostly just throwing options at you to see if anything clicks."

"Which I could use!" Anne laughed, glancing over her shoulder. "Seriously. I can use all the help I can get."

"Well, then it's a good thing that's literally what I'm here for," Sparkle pointed out with a grin. "If you need something with a better fit, or you like the cut of something but you'd like to try it in a different colour or something, just let me know."

"I think I can manage that." Anne shot him one last grin then stepped into the changing room.

It took her a lot more time than most people to get changed, but she'd had a couple of months to practice now, so she managed it without too much trouble. Just had to take her time and pay attention.

Demon Marcus, Sunday

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