Dress like it's 507 (Dex)

[Rosela]

Timestamp: 6th Fall 512 AV

It was about midday when Rosela decided she desperately needed a new wardrobe. She caught sight of herself in a reflecting pool, wearing her same linen dress and for some reason, it was just too much to handle. She’d been in Riverfall nearly a whole week and a half and she still hadn’t made anything of herself. Slipping down onto a bench, she worked hard not to cry. Granted, she got plenty of nice stares when she was out in the street, but she still went to sleep in the same miserable cottage, walked around in the same linen dress, and wore the same cheap makeup. Why had she not made a name for herself yet? Why was she still so…poor? Is this what she’d left Ahnatep for? The fine hairs on her arms raised and she wrapped one pair of arms around herself. Is this what she’d killed for?

No!

Standing up suddenly, she balled all six fists and looked determinedly down the street. She’d just had bad luck is all! What had her mother always said? The first step to high class was to dress like it. That’s why she was taking so long to get rich again - she wasn’t dressing like it!

A few bells of window shopping informed her that dressing richly would cost her richly. But exactly how important was food anyway? She could stand to lose a few pounds, right? She was calculating how many pounds she would lose if she gave up food for a week when she passed by a very small fabric store. She caught the sale price and quickly swept in, without actually looking at the display. Of course, why hadn’t she thought of it earlier? She clearly had the best fashion sense of anyone around, so why not make her own clothing?

Stopping at the first aisle, she looked around for the first time at the wares and her inner seamstress immediately fainted in shock. The fabrics, the trimmings, everything was so…507! Animal print weaves? Cloth flowers? Feather trim? Did the proprietor sell exclusively to the market of people who dressed like it was five years ago? Then again, it was Riverfall. Maybe it took five whole years for fashion to get here?

Rosela passed an entire shelf of reflective, metallic fabrics of varying colors. One hand reached out to lift the corner, which the other five hands cringed in horror. Metallic was for minimal trim at best, so who in their right mind would buy an entire bolt of the stuff?

[Dex]

Dex had found a verifiable fortune. Well, a fortune in his mind. A shiny, metallic, piece of ... Dex didn't care what it was really, except that it was something that would make wonderful wall paper for his new expanded den with Howlwing. It was so shiny, and it squished, and it moved, and it was a fabric. But, the important part, was that it was shiny. As far as himself, he was probably a fashion disaster. His hair was messed, medium and ragged. The only clothes he wore were his typical all white outfit, all cotton, including only a shirt and pants. The rest of him was just lean muscles keeping him fit and active. Or maybe him keeping fit and active about his lean muscles. The material that he'd come for, after bringing his shiny miza things for it, was now in the hands of a girl with 6 arms. Which is not normal. Maybe she was a giant ant. Ant's have 6 legs. "Large Human-Ant, I need that shiny cloth! Mine!" OOCHe get's grabby over shiny things.

[Rosela]

She hadn’t heard the young man come in, but as soon as she turned to him, Rosela wasn’t entirely surprised that someone like him would be shopping here. He looked like a penniless street ruffian, and Rosela was immediately very aware of the few mizas in the pocket of her dress. Despite the fact that he was nearly a head taller than her, he’d snuck up on her too, which was unnerving but not surprising given her state of mind.

At his words, however, Rosela instinctively clenched the bolt of cloth in fury, unsure of which aspect of his insult she was more upset about. ”Human? Ant?! LARGE?! You …you…miscreant!” She snatched up the entire bolt with two hands and brandished it like a club. ”How dare you! Did your mother teach you to speak this way? You should respect those better looking than you!”

Drawing herself up to her full height, going so far as to balance on her toes, she gave him her most furious glare. ”And besides, I don’t see your name on it anywhere? I got it first – what if I want to buy it?” Two hands shuffled the hideous fabric behind her back and the other four stood out defensively.

[Dex]

OOCBwahahaha! I love it! Dex visibly shrank back, surprised by the sudden outburst. She got angry in her voice, and took the material behind her with two of her arms, and her other four were in front of her doing ... something. Howlwing came padding in, after hearing the angry voice. However, she kinda cowered along the sides of the tent, crawling in a low position across the floor. Dex however, was started to feel bad. She had said something about respect ... and better looking ... he didn't know what was going on. But she had his shiny cloth! ... Mine! "It's not my fault you got funky ant arms! And you can't buy it, I got the shiny ... mizas! You don't have the shiny mizas, I have the shiny mizas! I have shiny mizas to get shiny thing!" Was it so hard to get wallpaper for a forest blind? Dex decided to try and wait. He was going to get it, one way or another.

[Rosela]

To his credit, the ruffian didn’t look aggressive, which worked in Rosela’s favor. Six arms were great and all, but no match for brute strength. A small shadow slunk into the tent in her peripheral vision, but she ignored it. No person in the world, short of deities and her mother, had any right to comment on her weight.

”Funky arms? Funky?! You, little boy, are no one to be commenting on anyone else’s appearance! Makutsi’s sake, is your barber blind?”

His strange speech made her wonder if everything was working correctly upstairs, but that seemed like a low blow, even for her. She’d keep such a barb in her arsenal though, just in case.

”Besides, I have the shiny-“ She stopped and pursed her lips. ”I have mizas too. In fact, I think I would like to buy it!” One hand reached in her pocket and brandished her small handful of silver mizas, which apparently would be just enough to pay for the entire bolt. She absolutely did not want to take home this horrid fabric, but she’d be damned if she’d let this scoundrel walk off with it after insulting her. Turning on heel, she shifted the bolt so it was clutched to her front, and strutted towards the checkout counter.

OOCI’m guessing the price will be about 5SM for the entire bolt. The price list says common fabric is about 1SM-1GM per yard. It is technically “unusual fabric”, but it’s also supposed to be cheap and outdated.

[Dex]

Dex grumbled and gave a little gutteral growl. "What the petch is a "barber??" When she mentioned the shiny mizas, he felt a physical pain in his stomach, a growling, churning feeling. She had the shiny fabric, and mizas? Well, he hoped he had more. He'd learned that almost anyone would give up their shinies for some amount of mizas. The significance of mizas he never quite understood, even given how shiny they are. Apparently mizas were ... the shiny that connected all the other shinies. "I mizas. Lotsa mizas. And I want the shiny fabric. For Mizas, I want it. Please?" His voice picked up a short pleading note at the end, even without his control.

[Rosela]

Rosela rolled her eyes and huffed impatiently. "A barber is someone who professionally cuts your hair and styles it. I can't say I'm exactly surprised you've never heard of one."

As she marched determinedly towards the counter, she couldn't believe she was actually about to buy this ugly stuff. What could she possibly do with it? The linen dresses she already had were too clean and pure to have anything to do with this mess. Maybe five years ago she could have gotten away with making an accessory or two out of it, but now?

His plea sounded so earnest, it actually stopped her from continuing down the aisle. Was his common tongue that bad, or was he...handicapped in some way? Pity instantly swelled up, though it was tempered by her cruel side that briefly wondered if she could take advantage of the situation. Pity won out however, and she turned back to him, still holding the fabric away.

"I'll give it back to you, and let you buy it...if you apologize. For calling me large." She blinked and her expression soured a bit. "And an ant. And funky."

[Dex]

Dex felt rebuked. Seriously rebuked. And he had no idea what to do about it. "I ... I sorry." Guilt was not a feeling for a ferret. A ferret had shiny things, and nothing else was there about it. This wei ... he skipped that word in his mind. The 6 armed girl knew things that he didn't. And she was making him feel bad about it. He couldn't even understand some of the words she used, and she still was making him feel ... awkward. "What's style? And why do I need a barber? Does everyone need a barber?"

[Rosela]

The young man's sudden turnabout in attitude was jarring, and Rosela wore her surprise openly. For someone who walking in out of nowhere, called her fat, and demanded the ugly cloth she hadn't even intended to buy...he seemed somewhat ashamed. She blinked in and gave him a quick look-over. He was still the same, tall, young man, just subdued. The remainder of her anger, and even her pity, evaporated and she cleared her throat delicately behind a hand.

"Thank you, I'm-I'm sorry myself. My temper can occasionally get the best of me. Here." The admission tasted bitter in her mouth, but she supposed it needed to be said. Technically, he started it, but she wasn't going to split ends. Holding out the small bolt of fabric, she did her best to maintain a dignified face. "A barber is someone who cuts hair. Professionally, I mean. To make it look nice. I think the world would be a better place if everyone had nice hair, but that's just my opinion. Now style is..." She trailed off and gestured vaguely, searching for the words. "It's...the way you look, and act? Your mannerisms? It's something distinctive about you." She gave him another look-over, more critical. "You already have a rather...unique style.."

Sighing heavily, she crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one hip. "But honey, that fabric is not going to help you out in that department. Metallics are so five years ago, and not nearly chic enough to be retro. Why don't you try something in the blues? Or a nice bottle green? There has to be something better for you in here somewhere..." Pushing her hair back with one hand, she looked about the small shop for something she could suggest.

[Dex]

Dex almost flubbered. "But.... but.... but I like shiny things! They sparkle. I like sparkles. Blues and Greens don't sparkle. And what's wrong with my hair? And what's chic or retro? Isn't a chick a baby chicken? With the tiny fur and no feathers, small enough to almost eat? Is that my style? Like a little chicken?" Dex felt flustered, confused, and suddenly slightly hungry. While a ferret didn't eat chicks to well, he'd been fed something called a chicken when he was a human in bars, but it never did quite look like a chicken. And people kept saying that other stuff that didn't look like chicken tasted just like chicken. It was quite confusing, and he never understood it. Maybe retro was something that tasted like chicken but looked like this shiny stuff. Maybe. Hmm.