Ch. 2.4 | Shopping Crisis
Pov: Sanya
Sanya paused. She turned towards Mai. “I-I didn't know you felt that way.”
Sanya had her title for nearly a year and a half. How long had Mai felt this way? Why hadn't Sanya seen the signs? Had Sanya failed?
“It . . . It's fine. It's mostly repressed. It's nothing. I'm just happy to be with you,” Mai's words were almost whispers.
Was Mai lying? She was downplaying it—definitely, or else she wouldn't have burst like that. This whole title thing was hurting her deep, and long.
“No—we should get you a title,” Sanya said.
Mai shook her head. “I'm trying so hard to Fleshweave. I've learned your suite of Spatial spells . . . but you're just . . . too awesome.”
Sanya blinked. Mai was hurting so bad, but she turned it into genuine praise for Sanya. That line didn't have a hint of sarcasm in it.
Mai was right. She was working a lot to Fleshweave, but it proved a difficult class to master—let alone learn.
Sanya almost laughed. Teleporting? Easy. Summoning meteors? Easy. Turning invisible? Easy. Healing wounds, shaping flesh? No, that was too difficult.
Mai smiled, fighting back tears.
“How do we fix this?” Sanya asked. “Am I doing too much?”
“Maybe I need more chances for the spotlight. For publicity. Enough for even a rumor of a title to spread.” In other words—Sanya was indeed carrying too much of the weight.
“Hey,” Aisha said. “You're strong, and very dependable. You'll get a title. I'll do my best to help. Especially once we get back to Calderae.”
Mai nodded. “That'll be a bit—for us, at least . . . Both Esmat and Zahira have their own titles, although lesser known. Why can't I? . . .”
“What would you like? Maybe we can spread it around?”
“I want to earn it.”
“You have,” Sanya said.
“W-whatever, let's go.”
The three of them made it down the switch-back road on the right of the viewing platform and maw of the cave. They soon walked onto the bottom floor of the cavern, where the large, important buildings sat sprawled out between criss-crossing streets.
Tons of pale people walked around, wearing clothes unlike that of Glorestran dress. The women wore more form-fitting dresses, or skirts and blouses and some kind of jacket. The men wore pants and trousers like in Glorestra, but a much different make. Many of them wore more tight and formal looking styles. There were no robes in sight, and neither were there any turbans or scarves. It got decently cold down here, too, so why they seemed light on dress, Sanya did not really know.
The pale skin still seemed so odd to Sanya. It felt like she should see their bones beneath their flesh. She should have been able to see every vein of blood.
Sanya pointed to a building. “That's the city hall. Better get a document for passage.”
Aisha turned towards Sanya. “Are you coming with?”
Sanya glanced at Mai. “No.”
Aisha sighed, she headed for the city hall.
“Is the guildmaster afraid to go alone?” Sanya asked.
“Sanya,” Aisha stopped walking. “Shut up.”
Aisha resumed her walk. She pushed open a grand door and stepped into the building. The door closed behind her, and the structure consumed her.
“Are you hungry?” Sanya asked.
Mai shook her head. “Let's wait for Aisha.”
“Right,” . . . what else? “Shopping? See how cute you can get me?”
Mai paused. “Sure . . . I'll turn you into a snack worthy of being my lunch.”
☆ ☆ ☆
Sanya tried maybe the twenty-fifth item that either she picked out or Mai tossed her way. Indeed, finding good sizes proved to be a challenge.
So, when they liked something, they set it aside for now to hand off to the tailor, and would put in an order for the clothes in Sanya's size.
The tight fit did not stop Mai from examining each outfit on Sanya's with a flushed face. She was enjoying this all too much.
“Yup! It looks great on you! Everything does!” Mai exclaimed.
Mai had forced Sanya to keep wearing the witch hat through it all.
There was a mirror in the shop, but Sanya made sure never to look in its direction.
Sanya . . . didn't know what to think or how to feel about the clothes. She felt like an imposter or a fake, or something far worse. She had a hard time thinking that “yes, these clothes are great and they're me and I like them,” and was dominated with “I feel really silly.” The robes helped to hide Sanya's shape and body. They hugged her warmly in a way these clothes didn't. They begged her features to be seen—and not just because they were small. Even if they didn't show her features, they were still gendered and feminine in a way that mattered . . .
Words!
The tops Sanya tried on were all long-sleeved, hiding the thin wraps on her arms that hid her array of scars. The knee-length skirts revealed Sanya's legs, unshaven and ugly. Pairing them with leggings helped to hide them.
This place did not have any thigh-high socks.
Sometimes, Sanya really wondered just how Mai found beauty in any part of Sanya's body. It was one big abomination, a true ugly mess. Fleshweaving, save me.
Sanya should be smiling. She should be having a great time trying on all these clothes. Being able to express herself in a way that told people who she was.
She only found disappointment and a stranger emptiness.
The door to the shop opened and Aisha stepped in, looking a little winded. “Ah! There you two are.”
“Huh. I'm surprised you found us at all. Did you get your document?” Sanya said.
Aisha paused and took deep breaths. “Turns out people notice the tall girl in the witch's hat and the short girl in bright, eye-bleeding colors.”
Mai frowned.
“Yes. I got approved,” Aisha flashed her document before placing it into her satchel. “Shall we go to lunch?”
“Yup!” Mai said. “Let us wrap things up here.” Mai turned to examine Sanya once more. “This looks great on you too! Go on, take all this off and let's show everything to the tailor!”
Sanya went into the dressing space sectioned off by a movable curtain. She got out of the clothes and put her mage robes back on. She closed her eyes while undressing, not wanting to see her body.
Should she even take any of these clothes? She should just tell Mai to drop all of these and go to lunch. Sanya did not feel the utter jubilation that she should have felt. Her soul did not scream for her to wear these clothes.
The robes were fine. They were safe.
Argh, and submitting these to the tailor would subject Sanya to measurements.
Sanya stood in the dressing room, panicking. Her breathing hastened along with her heartbeat. She felt a heat and sweat coming. Why did she feel this way? Why did she have to be like this? She wanted to throw up.
Maybe she would.
“Sanya,” Mai sang from outside. “You didn't die in there, did you?”
Sanya pushed away the curtain, scowling at Mai.
“Are you okay?”
Sanya handed the clothes to Mai without a word.
“H-hey. What's wrong? Words?”
“It's nothing. I'm fine.”
Mai probably would have crossed her arms if her hands weren't full of clothes. “You don't seem fine to me. We don't have to go through with this if you don't want to.”
For some reason, Sanya found herself shaking her head. “No. This is fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“. . . Yes.”
Mai shrugged. “Alright, then.”
She stepped up to the counter. The tailor was off in a back room somewhere. Did she trust her shoppers enough to not be present? What about theft?
Mai waited for like, a minute. There was a bell on the counter, she tapped it. The noise rung throughout the shop.
A minute passed. Mai hovered a finger over the bell, about to press it again.
The tailor rushed out. “Sorry! Here! I'm here!” She wore colorful clothes, much like Mai. Her skin was the odd pale of cavern folk. She wore a skirt down to her ankles, and some sort of blazer over a blouse. She had a funky little hat, the seams clung to her head, the cloth slightly bulbous. Its top converged into a button of cloth. A hat like that might look cute on Mai—
Mai dumped her pile onto the counter. “Can we get all of these in a size for Sanya?” Mai pointed off to where Sanya awkwardly stood, half a dozen paces from the counter.
“Uhhhh,” the tailor looked down at the pile, then at Sanya. “I can do that. I'll need to take her measurements.”
Oh Heliux! She uses “her” for Sanya upon seeing her! Joy!
Sanya did not look nearly as tall when standing close by to Aisha, perhaps that was it.
Sanya needed her boss to be next to her, always!
The tailor produced a measuring tape from under the counter and a clipboard with a piece of paper. “Well, come on.” She beckoned Sanya over, stepping around the counter and into the shop.
Sanya took a hesitant step, then stopped.
What if she noticed my lack of chest? What if she discovers my very much not feminine body? Aaarghrggrhghh.
After some thought, she obliged.
Sanya did as the tailor asked, turning all sorts of ways and keeping her arms up. After what felt like way too long, the tailor finished.
She went back behind the counter and sighed. “This is . . . a lot. You're here temporarily, I assume?”
Mai nodded. “We can be here instantly, though.”
“I . . . see. Um, I can do maybe six gold coins for all of this—I won't be adjusting these, I'll make entirely new ones in her size.”
Six gold coins . . . Sanya paled. Six gold coins for clothes that she might not even wear—no! She would, and she would like it! These were hers—for her! Mai found her cute in them. They made Sanya more feminine and affirming. She just looked a bit awkward in them right now.
Fleshweaving! She needed Mai to learn Fleshweaving.
Um, wait, would that change Sanya's size and make her need new clothes again? Maybe just the tops—because she would have a bust? Although Sanya really wanted to be shorter . . .
Who knew when Mai would learn those spells, though?
Mai's mouth gaped.
“U-um,” the tailor said, noticing their reactions. “Five gold and five silver.”
Mai blinked.
“Mai?” Sanya asked. “A word?”
She nodded and stepped up to Sanya.
“When do you think you'll learn the Fleshweaving spells? Should we spend this much on clothes if they're temporary?” Sanya whispered.
“Ohhhh,” Mai said. “Ah . . . “ She glanced back at the counter.
“Let's go with four sets worth of clothes, maybe just two cardigans? Downsize it.”
Mai nodded. “That's fine.” Mai returned to the counter. “Sorry! This is a more complicated decision than we thought. We'll get back to you in a minute.” Mai took the pile and brought it over to Sanya.
Sanya and Mai spent some time looking over their stack, figuring out the best options.
“Sorry,” Sanya heard the tailor ask someone. “Are you sick? Is it contagious?”
Oh. She was talking with Aisha. Aisha stood off to the side, out of the way from the entrance, hiding amongst the shelves and racks. People came and went into the store, mostly browsing.
“Oh! No. Not at all.”
“She's dead!” Mai called out to the tailor.
She stopped, tilting her head. “W-what?”
Aisha laughed. “Don't worry about her—or me.”
Sanya shook her head. Aisha was lying, in a way, by brushing it off.
“O . . . kay?” The tailor said. “I'll take your word for it.”
The bell rang, and someone stood at the counter. The tailor rushed over to serve.
After much deliberation, Sanya picked out the clothes and the two of them returned to the counter. Some of these clothes were made with plant fibers and not just basaltic cloth. They felt much softer, no wonder Mai had taken a liking to cavern folk clothing.
The total became a much more manageable two gold, and the timeframe for the clothes to be ready became a few days. Mai made the payment and the two hurried back to Aisha after thanking the tailor. The tailor gasped upon watching Mai open a tear in reality to retrieve her money.
Opening up [Pocket Repositories] in front of people would never get old. After the portal incident at the academy and three months of monsters and inter-human conflict, the number of Spatial mages was probably thirty-five or less. Fewer knew even [Pocket Space].
“Finally,” Aisha grumbled. Oh, right. It must have been boring for Aisha, standing around in a tailor's shop. Aisha did not seem like the clothing type of person.
“Sorry,” Mai apologized.
“I hope you didn't use the mission funds for that.”
Mai shook her head. “Sanya has those. I paid.”
“I see,” Aisha said. “Also, that was a joke. Use the money how you see fit as long as the mission gets done.”
“Got it!”
Then, Aisha's stomach roared.
Sanya paused.
Mai blinked. “I didn't realize corpses could get hungry. Huh.”
Aisha just smiled weakly.
“Food!” Mai cheered.