fandomtownies | Demon Marcus, Sunday

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.

Sparkle's own smile went a little wry.

"I don't think I'd be that surprised," he replied. "A scratchy scarf is better than no scarf at all, after all."

And he'd gone to some pretty scratchy lengths to stay warm with no scarf in the past.

"So it is," Breq agreed. She had seen people freeze to death after annexations, after all.

She tucked the scarf a little tighter around her neck.

And that... was a depressing train of conversation, so Sparkle was quite happy to let it drop.

"Yeah." A pause. "So, how about these gloves, and... that hat? They go with the scarf."

Yay, topic change!

Breq was happy to leave that topic too.

"They look nice," she said, pulling on the gloves and flexing her fingers. It was funny how quickly she had got used to being bare-handed in front of people, and get to wear gloves only to keep her fingers warm.

Hey, she was adaptable! That wasn't a bad thing!

"And do they fit okay?"

"They do." She pulled one off and flexed her fingers again. "And they will keep me warm, I'm sure."

Ignoring propriety was very liberating. Her face went completely blank as she considered this.

Yeah, at this point, Sparkle was pretty sure she wasn't used to emoting with her face at all, and was kind of getting used to it.

"Well, good," he replied, nodding a bit. "And I think that's everything you'll need. I mean, so long as you're good for, like, socks and underwear, I suppose. And if there is anything we've missed, you can always come back. I'll be happy to help."

"You have been very helpful," she said, now smiling. "I'm not used to shopping for clothes. And I believe I do need some socks and underwear."

"Well, then we'll add some of those to the pile and call it good," Sparkle replied, gesturing toward where they kept those, too. "And then we can see about squaring up payment. What does your budget look like?"

Most people asked that sort of thing before the shopping trip around the store, Sparkle.

"I'm not yet sure what prices here are like," Breq replied. "I work at Groovy Tunes and planned to spend most of my earnings so far on this."

By now, she was quite sure Sparkle wouldn't try to cheat her.

"And I would prefer it if you chose some underwear for me too. I don't know what is suitable."

Sparkle nodded thoughtfully, considered the selection that she had come up with, and decided something comfortable but practical would work.

"I mean, unless you're planning on showing them to people, I'd say maybe the ladies' boyshorts. They're cute and comfortable," he suggested, reaching for a package. "And if you are trying to impress someone... that isn't really by business anyway."

"Those will be fine," Breq decided. She didn't plan to show them to anyone.

After a moment of hesitation, she added: "Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between underwear you show and those you don't? There are differences in many places, but they all tend to be different."

Sparkle paused for a moment at that, and then glanced back at Breq with a faintly amused look on his face.

"I guess it depends on the person," he noted, "but around here, the stuff you show to people usually involves revealing cuts and a lot of lace, at least if you're a woman. It's not really practical, it's just... revealing."

So it was an improper question. Breq didn't care.

"Are there no such underwear for men?" she asked. "Gender here is still a little confusing for me. Where I'm from no one pays any attention to it."

"Men's underwear that's considered sexy is a little different," Sparkle noted. "Mostly just 'revealing,' but gender can be a complicated issue anyway. And not everybody finds the same things attractive, either."

He shrugged, still smiling.

"I don't think I'd mind a place where nobody much cared either way. Here, sometimes it feels like they care too much. Mostly about things that aren't anybody else's business."

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