fandomtownies | Demon Marcus, Sunday

With a colder season approaching, Breq knew she would have to get clothes better suited to the climate. The money she earned from her job permitted her to do so, and while buying a coat and boots were more urgent, she also wanted to replace what she had been wearing so far; the cheap clothing worn by Radchaai ancillaries, now carefully repaired. She had done some research into local fashion among young people, and while she knew that not everyone here chose to adopt that style, Breq had decided she preferred it.

Making choices like that was still difficult at times.

After her conversation with Tip, Breq had put more effort into imitating human expressions, body language and intonation. Most of the time she slipped back into her flat voice and blank face, but she was getting better. So at least, when she entered the shop, she offered the shop assistant a smile.

Sparkle, meanwhile, was merrily going through stock by the counter when she came in, and it took him a moment to realize she was there. When he did, be though, he offered her a smile and a pleasant wave, a hat with kitty ears on his head.

"Hi, welcome to Demon Marcus! Can I help you with anything?"

Breq stopped just inside the door, still smiling.

"Good morning. I'm looking to buy some clothes."

She glanced around the shop. "I would prefer something in local fashion, simple and practical."

She had seen people wear stranger things than hats with kitty ears, but she would prefer not to have to buy one herself.

"Fortunately, we have all of those things," Sparkle said, still grinning. "Not everything is cutesy and weird, I promise."

He was so wearing the kitty hat for the rest of the day.

"What sort of clothes are you looking for? Shirts? Pants? Winter gear?"

Breq let the smile fade somewhat so as to not overdo it, bur tried to find a pleasant and friendly expression.

"All of it. Most of what I have is worn out and have been repaired enough times. I understand jeans are a popular type of pants here, and perhaps some T-shirts and sweaters, and a coat, of course. Although I will be happy to listen to your advice."

The shop assistant seemed genuinely friendly so Breq suspected that she? he? would be happy to offer that.

"I'm glad to hear not everything is cutesy and weird." She meant to say this jokingly, but forgot so smile.

Sparkle couldn't quite tell if she was being serious or going for a comedic deadpan, so he just sort of settled into an awkward smile in reply.

"Yeah, we try to keep everyone happy here," he said. "T-shirts and jeans are easy, and we've got a good selection of coats and sweaters, too. You even showed up before all the sweaters started to get more and more Christmas themed, so I'd say you lucked out."

Who was he kidding? Sparkle had a fantastic collection of terrible Christmas sweaters at home, too.

Breq noticed that awkward smile and realized she hadn't quite managed to get her expression right, but for now she wasn't too bothered.

"May I browse what you have myself?" She wasn't sure what was the custom here. "When I've selected a few things perhaps you can tell me if it's suitable."

After a brief moment, she added: "I didn't know there were seasonal clothing."

Many places had that, which had amused a lot of her officers and resulted in comments involving 'uncivilized'.

"Feel free to browse, sure," Sparkle said easily, and then he grinned a bit and waved a hand around the store. "And yeah, there's seasonal clothing, holiday clothing, unseasonal clothing... basically, clothes are about as varied as the people who wear them. I try to get a good selection here to cover all the basics, but on an island like this, I'm probably still missing a few, you know?"

Breq replied with a smile she hoped was friendly but not excessively cheerful, and headed towards the shelves and racks.

While browsing she hummed a song, an old favourite she had picked up about a hundred years ago, while trying to pick out things suitable to wear. She had seen fashions change during her two thousand year life, but until now she had never had to be concerned with clothes for herself. In many places people expressed themselves through the clothes they wore. For her that was... not complicated, but just difficult.

Breq knew the measurements of this body quite well, and she was used to making changes to her officer's uniforms, so finding the right size wasn't particularly difficult, especially since she didn't choose anything tight-fitting.

She returned to the counter with a few pairs of jeans, some T-shirts in different colours, a sweater and a hoodie and a dark blue winter coat.

"What do you think about this? Some things have prints, but I didn't know if there was a meaning to them so I avoided those."

"If any of the prints mean anything, it isn't anything I'm familiar with," Sparkle replied, shrugging his shoulders as he leaned down for a better look at the clothes she'd gathered. "Looks to me like you played it pretty safe, actually. It's hard to mess up with jeans and a t-shirt, I think you'll be fine with all of this."

"Good." She added a smile. "I'll have these then, provided I have enough funds."

Trying things on wasn't necessary, although perhaps for boots. Which reminded her: "I need a pair of boots too, I think."

Sparkle smiled faintly. He'd made certain she had enough funds. It was possible he was bad at business, but really, winter was coming, and if she didn't even have boots...

"We have nice warm boots against that wall," he said, pointing that way. "You'll probably want something with a good lining, something waterproof. Winters around here can get pretty sloppy."

Breq turned to look at where he was pointing and walked over to it, picking up a few different pairs, trying to estimate the size. She held up two pairs, both practical and sturdy, and turned to Sparkle:

"Are these waterproof?"

"That pair," Sparkle said, pointing to the one in her left hand, "more than the other one. But those other ones can be treated to be waterproofed, too. We have a spray for that."

Wasn't science wonderful?

"I still take the waterproof pair," Breq decided.

Boots she should better try on. It was harder to determine the size, and she didn't want them to hurt. They did fit though, and she looked at Sparkle. "Good?"

Sparkle considered, and then walked around the counter and crouched down to press down on the boot's toe, to see where her own rested inside of it. He gave a satisfied nod.

"Good," he replied, "in that it fits. Feel free to talk a walk around the store in them to see if they're comfortable, though. Some boots need breaking in, and that can be a painful process."

"I know," she said. "I just want to make sure I make a good choice to start with, and that they will be functional."

She looked down at the boots. "I think I'll be happy with these."

She looked up at Sparkle again, quickly turning her expression into a friendly one.

"Okay, then," Sparkle replied, giving her a quick little grin right back. "And is that everything? Are you going to need winter gloves or a scarf or anything like that, too?"

Breq's face turned blank again, considering the question. "Yes. Of course. I didn't think about it. What do you suggest?"

Advice would save her from making too many decisions.

Huh. There was that blank expression again. Sparkle was starting to suspect that those looks were nothing personal, just that this perdon wasn't exactly used to emoting for other people. He continued to smile, himself, and then made his way toward the other winter gear.

"A pair of water-resistant gloves, a nice warm scarf, and a hat," he shared. "And if you don't want all of your clothes to be solid-colours, the scarf can even have a pattern on it, to kind of break it all up a little."

Accessorizing was his favourite part.

Then Breq could get advice from an expert.

"A pattern might be nice," she said, mostly listening to Sparkle's suggestion. "I'll let you choose. I'm sure you know this better."

And she smiled again.

Well, Sparkle wasn't an expert yet. But he was going to school for it, so...

"Here, then let's find you something that'll go well with the blue." He paused to consder, and then started rummaging through the scarf selection. "There's a pink and grey plaid one that would probably look nice, actually."

Sparkle har someone to practice on, here.

Breq wrapped the scarf around her neck. It did go quite well with her skin and with the blue coat.

"The material is soft."

"That's the best part," Sparkle replied with a grin. "I'm not going to try to sell anybody a scratchy scarf. Then they wouldn't even be able to wear it."

Breq had decided she liked the shop owner, who took his job seriously and seemed to enjoy it.

"You'd be surprised how many places in a universe where you can buy scratchy scarves to people who can't afford better." She almost forgot to add a smile, but she meant it.

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