rodeo drive, baby.

[tender]

WHO: Chaos shoppers
WHAT: Preparations for fancy party
WHEN: Mid-Kingsway
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: We're here to peer pressure Ellie and acquire some fancy clothes, folks.

The invitation had said Formal attire required.

There is, of course, some question as to what exactly "formal attire" means when it's an Orlesian issuing the invitation, but without a doubt it means a trip to a certain swath of shops in Hightown where formal attire is available in a variety of different options. Does formal attire mean dresses with hip-high slits? Does it mean a silk tunic with an abundance of ruffles? Does it mean velvet or brocade or chiffon?

The shopkeepers will be sure to advise, if given even a breath of opportunity to swoop in with their suggestions. A budget? What's that? Surely it's not applicable to such a momentous occassion. Why, just step this way, look at this garment, one of a kind, isn't the color just divine—

Comments

good luck

[helpinghidinghaunting]

"Uh...."

Cole feels...out of place. He had hidden himself from the shopkeepers on his way in, letting himself appear underneath a rack of dresses amidst the fabric. He's a bit less grimy than he had been - Allumin had seen to him getting a proper scrub-down and he was trying to keep up with it somewhat - but his clothes are still threadbare and torn, and being amongst all the finery is making his head spin.

Still, Astarion had told him he should do as humans do, had told him this would be an opportunity for practice - and so he's here, picking his way around all the beautiful garments with wide, terrified eyes. He looks at the flurry of colors in Derrica's arms, eyebrows furrowing.

"...Luck? I don't know if I have any. How can I tell?"

[tender]

Her expression softens further in response to the look on his face, the uncertainty in his voice. She shifts the fabric in her arms, hitching it neatly up and in, so she can better carry on this conversation.

"In this case, you can tell if you have something new to wear," Derrica tells him. "Have you see anything you like?"

Though Cole might not—

Well, judging from the expression on his face, Cole isn't very interested in shopping. Derrica isn't sure that's something that'll pass in a few minutes.

[helpinghidinghaunting]

"Oh. I...."

He casts a glance around, expression not one of disdain, but plainly one of being deeply, deeply lost. It isn't that he isn't interested in shopping, exactly - it's that he has never done it before, with little to no understanding as to what he should be looking for. What is wrong with what he is wearing?

But he wants to try, and she is being very kind.

"I don't know...what to look at. I've never bought new clothes before."

Mostly he just patched those same ratty leathers over and over again. And even before that, the real Cole didn't exactly have deep closets, either. He reaches out to paw at a nearby dress, testing its texture under his fingertips. Of course, he has no concept of any gender conformity attached to any of this.

"I think I need...help."