big towns suck (open)

[nate]

Alright, so I'm here for one thing and one thing only. I go in, grab Mom a halfway decent birthday present, and go out. Simple as that. I don't need to stop and gawk at the Arch like some inane tourist. I don't need to bother with museums or any of the other inane tourist attractions. I just need to find something that Mom can actually use.

Of course, this was easier said than done. St. Louis, for all its faults, was an extremely large city, full of several other people. People who probably would flip if they saw someone teleport in their midst. Which left Nate with the age old mode of transportation: walking.

So the surly Gifted stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled down the streets of Downtown St. Louis, eying the various shops. Surely there had to be something here he could buy for his mother without breaking his measly bank account. Lately he'd been getting some stipends from his writing, and his blog had actually received donations. He still wasn't rich, but he could certainly afford a decent present.

Nate stopped in front of a shop, staring into the window. Several dresses were on display.

But are dresses really something for Mom? She doesn't dress up all that often. Then again, I don't know if she really has a reason to. She ought to try and dating again...

[∴ Anthony]

It was very out of character for him, certainly, but special people called for special cases. Otherwise, Chris would never have randomly approached someone on the streets and opened with:

"Going to a fancy party? Not sure they have your size, but the pink one would look mah-valous on you."

It had been a long time since he'd last seen Nate Wakeman, hoarding sandwich ingredients in the kitchen at The Academy. Of course, that had a lot to do with the fact that he was purposely avoiding running into the guy again, but the point remained. And he figured he'd given the other boy more than enough time to prove himself, so now seemed as good a time as any to see how he was doing on his 'project'.

"Find any dirt on that Chris kid yet?" he went on, as if he hadn't said anything in the first place. "Seemed to be really eating at you before." If he had a smug grin he probably would have made use of it at that moment, but he didn't and only managed a friendly smile. Which would have given his acting a lot more believability, but he didn't care so much about that.

The way he saw it, it was a win-win-win situation. If Nate found out who he was, his original goal would have been accomplished. If he hadn't found out who he was, and had spent time futilely trying, then Nate had lost at his own game, which he definitely counted as a victory. And if Nate had forgotten all about him, then he had successfully sunk back into obscurity, which was more than fine with him. And really, he didn't even care if he won.

So what reason did he have not to smile?

---

[nate]

OoC: I hate your color, it doesn't show up on this skin ><

Who the hell is that? Some wannabe loser who bothered me for a few minutes and now thinks I know him? Hmm... Chris. I remember. The sandwich guy.

What an a**.

Hmm, if memory serves he was a student. Edengrowth or something like that. I really didn't care all that much, so I didn't look very hard.

"Do I know your or something?" Nate asked. He turned his head slightly to look at Chris out of the corner of his eye. The other guy didn't look all that changed. If memory served, he should have graduated by now. Of course, you could be a graduate and be hanging around the shopping district of St. Louis, Nate supposed.

"I don't suppose you could offer an opinion on dresses?" Nate asked, indicating the display with a wave of his hand. "I'm guessing you're an expert?"

[Ϛ Christopher Nightingale]

Yeah, well, it looks fine in the Light Theme ;P

Since Nate went on to ask him something different entirely, and something scathing at that, Chris decided he didn't really need to answer whether or not Nate knew him. Though he had to admit, he liked the reaction he was getting. It wasn't constructive or sensible or anything, but at least it occupied some time. And if there was anything Chris could afford to waste, it would definitely have been time.

"I sure am an expert," Chris said proudly, "though I must admit I'm used to helping girls pick them out. I'm guessing you want to keep this pretty hush hush?"

He moved until he was beside Nate, and facing the window as well, looking at it much the same was Nate was. He kept his distance, however, and they remained far enough apart that a casual observer would probably assume they didn't even know each other, weren't speaking to each other, and had just randomly stopped at the same window. He figured he owed Nate that, at least. He knew the boy was above associating with lowly people like him, especially since he had become a much higher profile member of society, socializing with all the popular kids.

Wouldn't want to stain his rep. Someone might notice he's hanging out with the uncool kids, and then where would he be?

My my, aren't you considerate?

Always!

[nate]

OoC: Do you really think Nate uses "Light Theme?"

The asinine behavior just keeps on coming, doesn't it? Well, unlike you, Chris, I happen to know to at least act civil when the mood descended. I'm just that impressive.

"Sorry to burst your bubble there," Nate stated, chuckling dryly, "but this happens to be a present for my mother. So it's actually going to go on a female."

Nate frowned, silently studying the store display for a while. He figured that if Chris were truly going to offer something resembling an opinion, he'd have to know something about the person who'd be wearing the dress. Heck, for all Nate knew, the guy was secretly a fashion designer.

Who's poorly dressed and barking up the wrong tree.

"My mother's about a foot shorter then me, and rather thin," he offered. He held his hand out, palm down, indicating about the right height. "Curly black hair, and sharp features, somewhat like me. Almost looks Faelike, but without the overwhelming beauty."

Yeah mom, I love you, but even I draw the line at calling you a beauty.

[Ϛ Christopher Nightingale]

Not my problem

But is this colour any better? I doubt it, but it's worth a try I suppose.

"Burst my bubble? That just means I can help!"

For a minute, he thought maybe Nate was going to ignore him, or maybe tell him to leave. In either case, he would've been sad to see it happen, because dress shopping, as flamboyant as it may seem, was at least something to do. And Nate was probably the closest thing to a friend he was going to find that day.

That's just sad.

I know, right?

However, Nate seemed to be humouring him after all, and so he listened to the description of the boy's mother with interest, especially the last part.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one who insults your mom?" he asked, though he was clearly jesting, and moved on before Nate would have time to reply properly. "But on a more serious note, what colour are her eyes, and what is the dress for? Because if it's just for day-to-day wearing, then we've got some flexibility on what colour it is, and we can try to find a dress that'll really pop her eyes instead of washing them out."

Yeah, he was seriously going to try and help Nate out. He may be a sarcastic git at times, but he's still a nice guy at heart.

[nate]

OoC; actually, yes, I can read that one, and i couldn't the other, unless I highlighted it.

Hmm, he's actually playing along somewhat and being civil though--"Insult my mother and things could get awkward for you," Nate stated. The tone bespoke of promised violence, though Nate was counting on Chris to not know the exact nature of Nate's gift. Make him wonder for a few moments, at least.

Right, next time I go dress shopping, I take a girl with me.

"Brown eyes," Nate answered, his tone falling flat now, "and the dress is for dates. She's single."

Enough information to get what he wanted out of the conversation without appearing friendly.

Pretty much the Wakeman way of communicating. Well, this generation's way, at any rate. Mom would probably chat Chris up.

[Ϛ Christopher Nightingale]

1a1a2a it is, then!

"You mean to tell me this isn't awkward already?" Chris said, eyebrow raised a hint. The threatening undertones of what Nate said went right over his head, as most warning signs did. For a bright kid, he could be extremely unobservant at times.

However, he really did know a thing or two about fashion. He didn't learn it at school, or even in a magazine, but he had a natural eye for what looked good and what didn't, especially on women. But when it came to his own style, he generally just wore whatever was clean and comfortable. It was much easier that way, and it usually looked pretty good regardless of a lack of effort put into it.

"A short female Nate Wakeman, black hair and brown eyes, needs a dress for..." he had been mumbling under his breath, just to himself, for the majority of the sentence, but his eyes went to Nate then.

Dating?

It was immensely tempting to make some sort of joke at his single mother's expense, but Chris came from a single parent family too and knew he wouldn't appreciate anyone making cracks about his mother, so he held his tongue and simply shot Nate a look that would communicate, perhaps, the fact that a joke was just beneath the surface but had been restrained.

"I'd say a purple dress, or a more subdued violet if she's not really that confident in flashy colours. Purple dress and maybe some eye shadow of the same sort of colour should look good on her, but I'd honestly have to see her to be sure."

Are you positive you're into girls?

Shaddup. This is, uh... how you get in their good books.

Uh huh, sure.

"And don't bother asking how I know all that, because I'm not telling you. Trade secrets, or, something..." The last few words in the sentence trailed off and he was again speaking more to himself than anything.

[nate]

Wow, is this guy sure he's into girls? He certainly know far more about fashion than any straight man has a right to. Though that looks says that he probably also gets the single parent thing. I think I'm willing to continue the civil truce for a while longer, anyway.

"What the hell is the difference between purple and violet?" Nate's words sounded like a cross between a demand and a question addressed to the world in general. "Have we grown that asinine about colors that we're now splitting hairs? Makes me glad I don't worry about such things."

He glanced over at Chris, arching an eyebrow.

Trade secrets? That some kind of insider lingo for "I likes the men?" Sorry pal, but you're barking up the wrong tree here. No, wait, truce and all that. Play nice for a few more moments, at least until we know for sure what's going on here.

"So, purple or violet," Nate clapped his hands together. Suddenly he wished he had a picture of his mother on hand, just so he wouldn't screw this up. Though he could always return the dress, if need be. "And please, make a d**m joke about a single mother dating or something, we need to break the tension before it snaps and kills us both."

[Ϛ Christopher Nightingale]

"Trust me, the difference is huge. A deep purple in a dress is confident and sexy, whereas a lighter violet is more subdued and casual." He had no doubt in his mind that what he said had no basis beside his own opinion, but he figured if a fashionista came along and told him he was wrong, he'd be too confused to care anyway.

You're ridiculous. You need to get in a drunken bar brawl or something, preserve what little is left of your manliness.

Har har.

I'm dead serious. Do it.

Yeah, just let me waltz into a bar. They'll believe I'm twenty one, for sure.

You can turn invisible.

"Tension? What tension?" Chris asked. And he was serious, he didn't feel any tension, himself. Was he really getting on Nate's nerves that badly? But he couldn't very well let Nate know he wasn't in control of things, so he added a touch of sarcasm. "I'm just a near stranger helping you pick out a dress so your mom can get back on the dating scene, what's tense about that situation?"

[nate]

Clearly this guy needs a shot of testosterone directly to the source. Man's about as manly as a princess about now.

"Maybe it's just me," Nate muttered. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the window. People always did make him edgy, particularly people who seemed out to get him. Chris and Nate hadn't gotten off on the right foot, and things had only gone downhill from there. Probably all in Nate's mind.

Like approximately 90% of my problems, of course. Again with the self-sabotaging.

"Alright, expert, should we head into the store and look further?" Nate motioned to the building in question, nodding along with the movement.

No, I'm not going first. I still don't trust you that much.

[Ϛ Christopher Nightingale]

"It's probably just you," Chris agreed with a smile. Did Nate really think he was evil?

You have to admit, you two are pretty similar.

Hey! I'm offended by that!

Really, though.

Yeah... I guess. ...Does that mean he thinks he's evil, too?

It could explain an awful lot.

Or we could be totally off base.

...You called us 'we' again.

...damnit! ...Well, you called us 'us'.

Well, I'm you.

Well, we're each othe--- I'm not having this conversation! I refuse to have multiple personalities!

You and you are just facets of your personality, not two different ones.

You mean you and I?

You're doing it again!

Gah!

Halting his amateur psychoanalysis and subsequent mental breakdown as Nate spoke, he mimicked the other's nod. "Yeah, going in sounds like a pretty good idea." He noticed that Nate wasn't making any move to, well, move, and took it totally the wrong way. "Ha ha," he haha-ed, his words double glazed with sarcasm, "ladies first, right?" He wasn't offended, in fact he thought it not a bad joke, considering the situation, but he felt like since he was helping Nate out maybe the guy should lay off a little.

Of course, he wasn't about to speak this opinion, so he simply went along with it and entered the store first.

"This'd be a lot easier with your mom actually here. ...You don't happen to know a shape-shifter, do you?"

Though it was a valid idea, Chris would have used any excuse to meet a shape-shifter. The thought of it was absolutely intriguing to him. He really wanted to see himself in the third person, see how he acted and such, and a shape-shifter with a knack for personality imitation like he'd read about would do a pretty good job of showing him that, he thought.

"I mean, your mom would work too, but I have a feeling you might not want to give away the gift before you've even bought it?" A couple important thoughts occurred to him then. "Wait wait wait, does she know she's dating, or is this you pushing her out there?" Of course, he regretted prying as soon as he'd asked. "Never mind, you don't have to answer that. More importantly, do you know her size and such? Because this won't go over too well otherwise."

I swear, if you don't say something manly in the next five minutes...

That got kinda long... Silly boy and his talking to himself.

[nate]

I'm sure it would be easier if my mother were here, but I couldn't very well surprise her then, could I?

"I'm afraid I don't know any shapeshifters," Nate said.

No, I don't want to give it away.

"Nailed it," Nate said.

Now you're intruding into my relationship with my mother? Is your name Christopher Freud, or are you just an overly nosy gay man?

"A bit of both. I think she's looking, but a push in the right direction would help," Nate said.

At this point, he paused, staring intently at Chris, blinking a few times.

"Are you absolutely certain you're not gay? Or perhaps descended from gay peoples?" Nate raised his eyebrows. "Or perhaps you're, what's the word, meterosexual?"

Nate studied Chris. "I doubt it, with the way you look."

With that, he opened the door and headed into the shop, waiting just by the entrance for Chris to catch up.

[ava]

The shop attendent, Marc, began to shuffle around the cash register when he heard the dinging of the bell when the door opened. He popped his head over the nearest clothes rack and studied the two who now began to enter the shop.

He furrowed one brow and pursed his lips slightly, for it wasn't very often that 2 male customers came in together, without girls. He shrugged slightly and dodged the rack, making his way over to the two entering the store.

Everything about the clerk screamed 'flaming', right down to the hair and the glasses, and the fact that he had a purple pen in his fingers. He adjusted his glasses and stuck the pen behind his ear.

"Can I help you two?" he asked, tilting his head. A smile came across his features as he looked to Nate then Chris. Two fairly good looking boys, but their fashion sense wasn't as keen as say, his own. So they either had to be straight, or they were just cursed with a horrible sense of everything fashion.

[Ϛ Christopher Nightingale]

Chris was just about ready to say, "Of course I'm sure I'm not gay!" when Nate put out a doozy.

"I doubt it, with the way you look."

"Ouch," he said, doing a good job of being mock-hurt. "Now that, was ga--"

He stopped short upon seeing the incredibly flamboyant attendant of the store, deciding that maybe now was not the time for that comment. He honestly had no idea if that comment would or could be taken as offensive, and he was timid enough that he'd really rather not have found out. Long story short, he dropped it.

"Yeah, I think you probably can. We're looking for a dress for his mom---"

Wow that sounds weird.

"---so we need something that'd look good on a female him, basically." He added a small but friendly smile to the comment and shot Nate a look that had no real meaning. "Tell him what she looks like?" he said to Nate, forming the sentence as a question so the touchy guy wouldn't take it as ordering him around.

And then all of the sudden he felt extremely out of place, which he was, but it all hit him at once, and he found himself incredibly anxious standing in a dress store with a guy who hated him and a guy he didn't know at all. He began fidgeting, not very noticeably, but still fidgeting nonetheless, and he found that he really wanted to sit down. Or leave.

Happy thoughts?

Uhhhhh, not having Social Anxiety Disorder?

...