I
guess I kind of … um … want a sort of, date-type outfit. Like …
sexy but not too obvious or anything.” I smiled practically from
ear to ear. I’d realised that romance was brewing, but with Stripes
not actually living in The House any more it was harder to keep
track of things.
“I knew it, I
knew you liked him! Ha!” I said, a little too loudly. Stripes
blushed and shushed me quietly.
“Yes, well …
we’re not together or anything, and he’s hasn’t actually asked me
on a date or anything, but I … I don’t know.” She was putting
herself down, typical stripes.
“Oh come on , James is head over heels for you.” I had grabbed her by the
shoulders and was half shaking her before I realised. Why is it
that other people’s romance is so much more interesting than your
own?
Stripes smiled
shyly. She looked so young and so innocent. She’s not but that’s
beside the point; she protects her heart like a mother cat protects
her young. I never have gotten the whole story of her past, but the
parts I did find out were enough to make even me do a double take.
Her life had actually been more screwed up than mine. Not an easy
task.
“Well then,
you don’t need a date outfit you need a … I don’t know what to call
it … pre-date outfit, seduction outfit.” I shrugged and felt
Stripes punch me gently. It had to be gently because if she’d
punched me hard she could have broken my arm. I’d seen shifters
punch clean into someone’s body before; we could shove our hands
into someone’s chest and pull out their heart if we wanted to. I
blocked the visual that came with the thought quickly, but it still
unnerved me.
There were
enough styles of jeans on the rails that if we’d tried them all
we’d have been there all day. Stripes was a very conservative
dresser for a twenty-year-old and I was always desperate to jazz up
her style. Trouble is, she’s so skinny that a lot of clothes make
her look emaciated which she isn’t. She wears knee-length skirts
and florals; jeans just aren’t generally her thing.
“Here, try
these.” I held up a pair of skinny flare jeans in a dark blue with
embroidered details at the hip that spread almost to the knees.
“Trix, they’ll
look ridiculous!” Stripes never whines - not unless I take her
shopping, then she whines at everything I get her to try on.
“Please, trust
me. Just this once and I’ll make you look amazing. He won’t be able
to keep his eyes off you.” I sounded deadly sincere and I was; I
don’t joke about attracting a man. It was something I’d perfected
in a teenage way before I left the Covenant. It just needed a
little bit of adjusting for adulthood. I smiled encouragingly and
Stripes shook her head with a small smile tweaking the corners of
her mouth. “Yes, come on.”
We spent the
next two hours trying on clothes. Nothing takes your mind off
deranged were-lions like a shopping trip. In the end, we each went
with one of the first outfits we’d tried, as per usual. But, I
mean, you’ve got to check that you didn’t miss something better,
right?
The store had
a food court on the top floor so that you could look out the floor-
to-ceiling windows while you ate your whatever they put in the food
nowadays. Most of it seems experimental. I mean, you can get a
burger but since the new food health standards came in you can’t
get a proper burger. Nor can you buy anything fried or dipped in
batter. Shifters just aren’t cut out for salads. Not that I was old
enough to remember when you could buy things like that but Marie
had treated us occasionally.
The best we
could do was bangers and mash, and even that had millions of
vitamins added to it that nobody ever needs. I’m always surprised
when these stupid laws go through, though I suppose I shouldn’t be.
Everyone is too busy trying to get enough money to survive to worry
about the politics. I sighed dramatically as I looked at the mashed
potatoes on my fork. Some bright spark
guess I kind of … um … want a sort of, date-type outfit. Like …
sexy but not too obvious or anything.” I smiled practically from
ear to ear. I’d realised that romance was brewing, but with Stripes
not actually living in The House any more it was harder to keep
track of things.
“I knew it, I
knew you liked him! Ha!” I said, a little too loudly. Stripes
blushed and shushed me quietly.
“Yes, well …
we’re not together or anything, and he’s hasn’t actually asked me
on a date or anything, but I … I don’t know.” She was putting
herself down, typical stripes.
“Oh come on , James is head over heels for you.” I had grabbed her by the
shoulders and was half shaking her before I realised. Why is it
that other people’s romance is so much more interesting than your
own?
Stripes smiled
shyly. She looked so young and so innocent. She’s not but that’s
beside the point; she protects her heart like a mother cat protects
her young. I never have gotten the whole story of her past, but the
parts I did find out were enough to make even me do a double take.
Her life had actually been more screwed up than mine. Not an easy
task.
“Well then,
you don’t need a date outfit you need a … I don’t know what to call
it … pre-date outfit, seduction outfit.” I shrugged and felt
Stripes punch me gently. It had to be gently because if she’d
punched me hard she could have broken my arm. I’d seen shifters
punch clean into someone’s body before; we could shove our hands
into someone’s chest and pull out their heart if we wanted to. I
blocked the visual that came with the thought quickly, but it still
unnerved me.
There were
enough styles of jeans on the rails that if we’d tried them all
we’d have been there all day. Stripes was a very conservative
dresser for a twenty-year-old and I was always desperate to jazz up
her style. Trouble is, she’s so skinny that a lot of clothes make
her look emaciated which she isn’t. She wears knee-length skirts
and florals; jeans just aren’t generally her thing.
“Here, try
these.” I held up a pair of skinny flare jeans in a dark blue with
embroidered details at the hip that spread almost to the knees.
“Trix, they’ll
look ridiculous!” Stripes never whines - not unless I take her
shopping, then she whines at everything I get her to try on.
“Please, trust
me. Just this once and I’ll make you look amazing. He won’t be able
to keep his eyes off you.” I sounded deadly sincere and I was; I
don’t joke about attracting a man. It was something I’d perfected
in a teenage way before I left the Covenant. It just needed a
little bit of adjusting for adulthood. I smiled encouragingly and
Stripes shook her head with a small smile tweaking the corners of
her mouth. “Yes, come on.”
We spent the
next two hours trying on clothes. Nothing takes your mind off
deranged were-lions like a shopping trip. In the end, we each went
with one of the first outfits we’d tried, as per usual. But, I
mean, you’ve got to check that you didn’t miss something better,
right?
The store had
a food court on the top floor so that you could look out the floor-
to-ceiling windows while you ate your whatever they put in the food
nowadays. Most of it seems experimental. I mean, you can get a
burger but since the new food health standards came in you can’t
get a proper burger. Nor can you buy anything fried or dipped in
batter. Shifters just aren’t cut out for salads. Not that I was old
enough to remember when you could buy things like that but Marie
had treated us occasionally.
The best we
could do was bangers and mash, and even that had millions of
vitamins added to it that nobody ever needs. I’m always surprised
when these stupid laws go through, though I suppose I shouldn’t be.
Everyone is too busy trying to get enough money to survive to worry
about the politics. I sighed dramatically as I looked at the mashed
potatoes on my fork. Some bright spark
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