estoria | [closed] winner winner, fancy dinner

[He's not so much dragging his feet as he is digging his heels into the ground. How did she talk him into this? He's asking himself this question over and over and the only answer he can come up with is "You only have yourself to blame." Which is mostly true but it's partially because saying no to Leia often means punishment by sparring time.

Either way he may have agreed but he's definitely going to complain about it.] But did you really need to come with me? I can do this by myself. [He chose all his own clothes back when he was in Fennmont and that turned out okay! Okay well he got a little help from magazines to determine what was considered proper city wear over there... and Alvin had helped him pick his Elympios style clothes... but still! He could've gone alone!

Too late for that now though and he knows that even as he complains.] And so can you, you know. [He doesn't want this!!]

[Rudest. Do-gooder. Ever.

He's lucky she's not the clingy-girlfriend type; that's just not her style. Still, it kind of feels like he's saying he doesn't want to spend time with her, and that hurts! Her expression sours quickly. There's no way he means it that way, of course (she knows) but... nevertheless, she puts her hands on her hips, huffing as she stops to face him.]

Of course I can, and I know you can, too. It's not like I'm here trying to babysit you... I'm here as your friend, Jude Mathis.

[...]

Why is that so terrible for you?

[Oh great this day just started and he already managed to make her angry at him. A new record...

He stops shot when she does to glare at him and he mirrors her expression, although it looks much more exasperated.] Don't say it like that. You know that isn't what I meant. [Ugh... jeez, he didn't say it was terrible. He doesn't think it's terrible either... Okay really he doesn't know what to think about it.... only that she badgered him to go and this types of things aren't really his forte at all.

Neither are girls but Leia has never really been A Girl to him... just Leia his Best Friend. ... This is a strange turn for his thoughts to take.

Jude shakes his head and then scratches the back of his neck.] Nevermind... Forget I said anything. [It's because this feels weird, is the problem here, and Jude being dense makes it so he can't figure out why it feels weird.]

[The puffiness in her cheeks quickly start to deflate. Leia is left with a tired, defeated expression as she lets out a groan under her breath, and ultimately she shakes her head. She hates it when they fight, at least when it's not a big joke; so Jude's request is a pretty easy one.]

Fine. We'll start over.

[Meaning he'll have to forget what she said, too. She steps ahead of him briefly, cutting him off as she meets his eyes. She cracks a smile again...]

I promise this'll be worth it.

['Worth what?' he almost retorts but decides not to shove his foot further into his mouth today.] Yeah, sure... [Well, he still doesn't sound convince but at least he's put a stop to complaining. It isn't that he minds hanging out with Leia (their time here lately is the most they've hung out together since they were kids, honestly) but it's more the why they have to hang out at some fancy winter ball. He didn't even think Leia was into those kinds of things...]

Just don't ditch me this time like you did with the ceremonial train. [Leia, remember that time you badgered him to go with you on that train and then ditched him and he had to get Ludger's help even finding the thing??]

[HE IS MAKING IT VERY HARD TO DO THE FORGETTING THING... wow. Leia actually looks a bit flustered, thinking back to that day when she first met Ludger; but there's plenty of material she could retaliate with, she knows.]

H... Hey! It's not like I did it on purpose...... [There's no sense dwelling on the past, though. What was she even doing then? She remembers the Marksburg pier...] Let's just stick together and neither of us will get lost.

[And even if they do, you know. CereVices. Technology.]

[Sorry Leia he's a genius in many ways... and an idiot in many others.

Honestly he expected some kind of counter but when she doesn't deliver he considers a victory. They should probably just focus on the task at hand anyway so off they go again. He isn't even sure where she plans to take him for this shopping trip. He hasn't exactly bothered to scope out high class clothing stores around here.]

Well by now I think if I got lost I could probably find my way back here. [They've been here long enough... but yeah, CereVices. So handy. And also...] Hey... you don't happen to have your GHS with you too, do you?

...Right now? I think so.

[At that, she starts to reach into her bag as they walk. She hasn't used it in a while, so she doesn't see why it wouldn't be right where she left it.

...ah.]

Yeah, here it is. [She holds it up, looking it over as if to make sure it's still functioning.] Why?

Well... I guess I was just wondering if they worked here. [He hadn't actually tried to use it at all. Sure it was on and he could charge it here just fine but actually getting service to call and text...]

I guess technically it shouldn't, right? [Because Spirius doesn't exist anymore according to powers that be here... so their GHS' shouldn't work at all.] I had thought it could be a backup way to contact each other was why I brought it up but maybe not.

[Only one way to find out would be to try it though... but maybe later.]

... No such luck, I don't think.

[Sucks she has to burst his bubble... but of course Leia's tried it by now. She tucks the GHS back in her bag. She'll have to remember to find a safe place to keep it where it won't just be dead weight.

Especially since--well.]

For a while I kept grabbing that instead of my CereVice. Now I'm getting more used to it.

[Which is not to say it still doesn't happen from time to time.]

Yeah, that's what I thought. [He actually had never bothered to try his because the CereVice had been so fascinating to use and learn. Everyone had kept contact that way anyway.

Still it would be nice to have the GHS working so he could stay in touch with his friends from his world. Okay, well... just Leia and Ludger in that case but still.] I wonder if I can get it to work on whatever service the CereVice runs on. I bet there's a way to network it so it picks up that signal instead...

[Sorry Leia he's off in his own world now.]

[Technical babble, her favorite...

It won't save him, though. She leads him into a store after remembering that they're not here to window shop, and beautiful dresses and suits line the walls. There are changing rooms, and even a section for jewelry and accessories... and cheerful employees to help with measurements and adjustments, if they need it.

The door sounds as they walk through.]

Let's worry about that later.

[Is it even worth reprogramming that thing when the CereVice is perfectly functional...?]

[No, there probably isn't a point to it but... Jude wants to do it. He likes stuff like that. It's a nerd thing, Leia, you wouldn't understand...

Well, he tried... but in they go anyway and he sighs a little. Shopping for clothes, his favorite... He does it out of necessity only (or when he's terrified of looking out of place as was the case when he went to Fennmont and then to live in Elympios) but he never really likes it.]

Right... [So here they are... He glances around a little. He really has no eye for this sort of thing. Any suit here would be fine, right...] So... I'm just getting some formal wear, right? [Aside from knowing this is a formal gathering he knows nothing else about the event.]

[To their credit, they have some nice options for colors. Leia's taken in by everything and effortlessly answers Jude without even really looking at him. She can imagine the face he's making well enough, though.]

Mm. [She nods.] She's calling it a winter ball. I think it's got something to do with this whole Christmas holiday coming up.

[She stops idly to feel out the fabric to one particular dress that's caught her attention, and it's only then that she turns to him.]

I even signed up to be a secret santa.

[Christmas... Yeah, he had read a little bit about it. He'd been curious when he heard it mentioned a few times both on the network and by the robots during that amusement park fiasco.

He meets her gaze and smiles.] Really? That sounds like you. [Although...] I signed up for that too because I was curious about it. [It was a tradition of this mysterious and strange holiday so he wanted to partake in it. For science...

Now he's staring at the suits again.]

In that case... any style or color will do as long as it's formal. [He's bad at this.] Probably just something simple.

[Yeah, it figures he'd sign up for curiosity's sake. Next thing they both know, they'll be back here again, with Leia helping him shop for a complete stranger at the last minute.

...Oh well. Maybe they'll magically get paired up with each other.]

Simple works. I'd just prefer something more cheerful than black...

[Her eyes fall on him as she looks around to try to decide where they should start.]

Hey, maybe we can find something white for you. [Like his lab coat!]

[No way, he can totally figure it out for himself! ... Maybe. .... Hopefully. Okay, he can ask store clerks if he needs to. It depends on the kind of gifts the person he gets wants.

Jude glances around too and observes there are plenty of colors for girl clothes in comparison but hey, so it goes.] Yeah, maybe... Black looks more formal but I'm still not sure how fancy this is suppose to be.

[It sounded somewhere in between super formal and semi-formal from the way both Leia and Vietnam had described it to him.] Well, whatever you think will work. [Seriously, no eye for this at all, this guy.]

[It may be more formal, but it's so dreary...

Jude would probably look decent in anything in the store, though, she's beginning to realize; so she doesn't say anything. She simply leads him to the darker colored suits, making her way to the black ones. She still keeps an eye out for things as they go, just in case there's anything that catches her attention.]

Black is fine too, if that's what you want. I just thought white would be a little more familiar to you.

[jude are you exploring your sexy side again]

[But white makes it feel like a wedding or something...

He follows her, totally lost, but examining everything anyway with a critical eyes. In that case he should probably just get whatever he likes? He's sure Leia will tell him if something looks outrageously terrible or something although Jude doesn't think he's that bad at it.]

I like darker colors. [His old clothes had mostly been dark colors and his normal clothes underneath his lab coat were dark too. He just thought they looked better so... black it'll be, probably. Why are there so many styles though? There are way too many choices.] So maybe black then...

[No!! Maybe... ~~Probably.~~]

[WELL... at least deciding on black narrows things down a bit. Not that it sounds like he's really decided at all, but Leia will focus on it anyway as she searches.

She points out a few that they both hmm and haw about unenthusiastically... until she finally sounds more confident about one in particular.]

Hey, this one looks pretty good. It's not as flashy, but I don't think it needs to be.

[In fact, maybe that's why it caught her attention? The irony...]

[He lets Leia do most of the hmming and hawing though he interjects with his opinion when needed. He isn't entirely passive about this although he isn't entirely sure what he's looking for either. Something that he at least likes first, at least... then he can decide further once he puts it on, right? Right...

Anyway when she seems to settle on something he examines it critically. Not bad...] Sure, I like it. Simple is fine. [Ironic indeed as his hair says otherwise Jude.

But no, this is fine...] Do I have to try it on? [He says that like he already knows the answer.]

[She reaches up a bit and unhooks it from the shelf to get a closer look. At the question, though, she'll answer without thinking.]

Of course. They might have to make some adjustments...

You want it to be comfortable, right?

[She turns to him then and holds it up to his neck like she's measuring it. She can already tell the arms and legs are going to be a bit long, but she's by no means a professional.

She'll leave that to the employees... who come up to them amicably and immediately offer their help.]

[He scratches his neck a little when she holds it up to him. Adjustments would definitely be needed, he knows. Most suits for guys aren't tailored to someone as short as him. Most clothes for guys aren't, actually... (He has to roll up the sleeves of his lab coat, after all.)]

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. [Also if he's gonna buy the thing it should probably fit right...

The employees are a bit too enthusiastic though and after a brief exchange they take the suit and start to usher him away to the changing rooms. Okay well it looks like he has zero choice here either way...]

[Leia laughs a bit, watching the employees, who have clearly taken a page out of the Leia Rolando Guide to Life. They're incredibly cheerful about helping him, and while it's tempting to step in, she figures it'd be best to let them do their job. She has her own mission, anyway.

So while he's... occupied, she'll be looking for a dress for herself.

She's surprisingly picky about it--but at least she's narrowed it down a considerable amount by the time they're done with him.]

[This is really embarrassing! Having a bunch of strange girls, employees or not, enthusiastically want to dress him is weird and uncomfortable and Jude gets flustered at their help. But at least they're knowledgeable and they certainly have a good eye for what does and doesn't look good on him.

Of course they joke that Leia, as his date, should have a final say and that only makes him more embarrassed. It's not like that though...]

Oh, no! No, I... It's not really a--

[FOR ONCE... for once, she's a little flustered too at the insinuation. She nearly drops the dress she's holding, but she grips it tightly, determined to keep her cool, just like all the times they've been teased before.]

[She has to laugh it off when she starts to remember the kiss.]

I mean... I think it looks great. [Her hand scratches at the back of her neck sheepishly.] It's... comfortable, right?

[Jeez Leia... what else were they gonna think?? The enthusiastic denial doesn't convince the nosey store clerks here but they refrain from doing any more prodding about it. They just giggle a lot which does little to steady Jude's nerves. He's blushing to and he tries not to think about that weird first encounter he had with Leia here but given the situation it inevitably pops up in his memory anyway.

He lowers his gaze and scratches the back of his neck, staring very determinedly at the floor.] It's fine. I guess it could stand to be tailored a little but it isn't necessary. [It fits decently enough without that so it doesn't really matter.]

[Whoops.

If it really wasn't necessary, he probably shouldn't have said anything at all. Unfortunately for Jude, they're pretty insistent on getting things right, so at the slight hint of imperfection, they of course won't let it slide.

They start to look him over again, take a couple more measurements, and assure him it won't take long. Meanwhile, some of them finally catch onto Leia's choice in dress and invite her towards the fitting area where they just had Jude.

She... just nods, looking sympathetically at him.]

I'll be right back, okay?

[This is like some form of torture. (So dramatic, Jude.) He doesn't protest, of course, and allows them to fuss over the few inches of the sleeve that make it a tad too long. Well if they're tiny adjustments then maybe it's fine to just let them do it. It seems like it'll make the quite happy.

Leia no don't leave him with these strange girls...]

Yeah, sure. [he sighs. No, that's fair. Leia has to find something to wear too.

Meanwhile he relinquishes the jacket to the clerks for them to adjust, holding out his arm obediently as they measure and pin before they pull it off him to tailor it. He's surprised it'll take that fast--they must be real pros at this--but waits patiently for them and Leia both.]

[The dress is a good fit, in the end. Leia seems pleased, and though the employees are certainly... one of a kind, she's content to make their day. Sometime later, as they walk out of the fitting rooms together, they seem to be showing her a pink corsage that they think would make the perfect finisher to top off her dress.

Never fear, though! They have one for Jude, too--exactly like hers--and they aren't shy about showing him. Both are pinned on at the same time, and... sans make-up, everything looks complete.

The employees actually seem to give them some space now, which is an odd feeling given their experience so far.

...

She looks around and spots a mirror. They're everywhere, really--but she'll step out of the way so Jude can see, too, one final time. Both of them together.]

Hey... I think they did a pretty good job.

[It's in that moment, staring at their reflections side by side in the mirror like this, that Jude finally comes to a strange realization. That realization being that Leia is, in fact, a girl.

... Okay, well. He knew that... but at the same, apparently, had no idea. It was hard to put into words. Leia had always been... Leia. His most important friend, someone he'd certainly do anything for, and always just... Leia. Yet suddenly this realization dawns on him. It'd certainly been building up, he can acknowledge that much. From the first time they found themselves here and subsequently everything that followed after in the wake of that... strange... first encounter. Now it seemed to have accumulated into something very weird for him to be feeling at the moment.

He thinks he should probably say something like how nice she looks but he's way too embarrassed for that. That and, because he suffers from being a male Tales Of protagonist, he's too busy feeling confused because even this strange epiphany isn't a match for his level of density.

So instead he just kind of turns red and averts his gaze, not unlike reactions he often has around Milla Maxwell.]

I guess they have a real eye for this sort of thing. [But, one figures, they would have to... He's still not really sure about the matching corsages because that more or less means this is a date and that makes everything way more confusing but even then he isn't going to protest against it.]

[Leia, on the other hand, is hardly surprised by how handsome he is, though it doesn't make it any easier to take her eyes off him. A year ago, something like this would probably sent her right to cloud nine--she would have been the happiest girl in the world. One year later, somewhere totally different... she's still pretty happy.

As long as he's happy, too.

After catching him staring, then trying not to stare, she nudges him teasingly with a laugh.]

Well, it is their job.

[She thanks them all, then is quick to reach into her purse for her card--aka life, universe and everything.]

...Here. I'll pay.

[Thankfully her offer to pay snaps him out of whatever weird thoughts he was having. So does her playful nudge and now he looks even more embarrassed somehow, although for a totally different reason.

He reaches out quickly to lightly grab her arm.]

What? I can't let you do that. It's way too much. [He's flattered and all but he's also Jude. There's no way he can let Leia do that and not feel guilty about it. Well... that and also it's kind of expensive.]

I'll pay for my own things, it's okay.

[The arm he grabs happens to be the one whose hand is reaching into her purse, alas. She stops to look at him, frowning, and it looks like she might protest when the giggling starts again among the employees. Suddenly they're whispering to themselves, and she doesn't have to be able to hear it to imagine what they might be saying.

That familiar shade of red returns to her cheeks and she gently brushes his hand away as she pulls out her card. Embarrassed (again), she glances away for the moment.]

S-Still a do-gooder, aren't you...

[Then again, so is she. She'll find a way.]

[The moment their giggling starts up again Jude realizes what this probably continues to look like to them and he quickly withdraws his hand, embarrassed. He flushes instantly and looks away too. This is silly...]

Seems that way. [He isn't even trying to this time. Well, not for the most part. He just doesn't want her to spend that much money on him. (Partly true: he never wants anyone to spend money on him ever, usually.)

Okay but if she really wants... He's still a little flustered but he looks back up at her with a sheepish smile.] How about you buy me lunch later instead? [He would flat out refuse otherwise but he feels a little bad so... compromise!

Anyway he'll move to pay for his own things now before he changes back to his regular clothes, trying to ignore the still snickering workers.]

[Some are snickering, others look almost disappointed. Leia ignores them too, finally forcing a bit of a smile as she accepts the compromise. She pulls out her own card to be processed, uninterrupted this time, and it's quickly taken by another worker than the one helping Jude.]

Deal.

[...]

We can even try somewhere new.

[Jude doesn't wanna address the girl that had been flirting with him earlier when she'd been helping him with the suit... largely because he was too dense to notice that's what she had been doing. But now the goal is to just get out of here because this embarrassment is going to give him a heart attack soon.

He'll hand over his card too to the aforementioned disappointed looking girl and smiles.] Sure. Where ever you want.

[Then there's the waiting, and the transaction probably feels twice as long as it actually is. Their cards are returned eventually though, their chosen outfits neatly tucked in protective bags. Leia takes hers thankfully and is already moving towards the door after some polite thank yous.

Outside, she pulls out her CereVice to check the time:]

Phew. Well, that actually didn't take too long.

[Well it felt like an awkward eternity for him... but he wisely keeps his mouth shut. Okay it wasn't that terrible but he doesn't want to do that again any time soon. Preferably ever.]

I'm just glad to be out of there. [Those employees were just a tad too enthusiastic...]

Well... should we get something to eat then?

Sounds good.

[She nods and wastes no time walking forward to take the lead. There's a hint of relief in her smile, cemented by a sigh that follows--but no, it really wasn't so bad after all.

Now it's over, and they have something to look forward to, even if it's as simple as a fancy party ball.

She has to be thankful for that.]

[closed] winner winner, fancy dinner

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