Chapter 154 – Measurements
The clothing shop was called Second Skin, which made Siu think that it was either very clever or very... worrying. It sat close to the Companions but off the Public Road, about a five-minute walk, tucked between a beast-harness maker and a shop selling reinforced sandals, tail-guards, claw caps, and other armored equipment for spirit beasts that their owners could put on them. As for the shop itself, the building looked narrow from the outside but was taller than the shops beside it, with three floors of shuttered windows and a signboard showing a silver needle threaded through the outline of a half-man, half-beast figure. Creepy if anything.
“This place knows what it is doing?” Arya asked, sounding very much unsure, looking at Siu with worry, her eyes wandering between the signboard and the windows.
"Of course!" Quillian snorted. “That is why we are here.”
“I do not want ugly clothes...” She continued, wanting to sound brave, but it was all just bravado, and Siu could tell by the way her tail swept the ground low instead of being poised high.
"It will be alright," Siu said as he pushed open the door, going in first while a small bell chimed overhead.
The inside smelled heavily of raw leather, mostly, with bolts of fabric standing along the walls in vertical racks, right next to a hanging sample of color palettes. Sweeping the insides with his eyes, there were mannequins everywhere. Some were human-shaped, some with tails or wings, while most of them had exchangeable horns on their heads. There were a few that also had multiple legs and arms. As for heights, some were even smaller than Arya now, and some that reached the ceiling.
Several servants moved around the shop carrying measuring cords and folded robes, while two clearly inner disciples stood near the back. One of them was adjusting a robe on a mannequin with deer antlers; the other was arguing quietly with a customer whose shoulders kept shifting, making it hard to take his measurements.
After the chime of the bell over the entrance, the workers looked at the group for a moment, but nobody asked why a fox-eared girl had come in, wearing a toga made out of towels. In the end, a woman behind the main counter stood up, hidden until then behind a stack of raw hides. She was not old, clearly not a servant, but another disciple. Her hair was pinned up with measuring needles, and when she walked out from behind the counter, indeed, a silver sash was tied around her waist while a pair of round lenses hung from a cord around her neck.
“New form?” she asked, throwing a look at Arya, understanding her situation at once.
"She has two forms in fact, one for when the sun is out, one for when the moon," Quillian said first, and the woman nodded without flinching.
“Same sizes?”
“No!” Arya answered, stomping on the ground, "My true form is much more beautiful!"
“And stable?” The woman asked, looking down at her.
“Boing-boing!” She answered, thrusting her chest out, hands on her hips, with a smug look.
"Typical fox-type body then." She nodded without issue or taking offense to her words, "Still, we need proper measurements, or it will not change form properly. She needs sect-appropriate robes with proper tail allowance, too, hm..." She began listing, walking around Arya while a servant, appearing from nowhere, was taking notes, "If we add a hood, it needs ear clearance. Go through or stay hidden under it?" She asked, but before Arya could answer, she was already continuing, "Make it go through the fabric, it would block her hearing if not. Also, we will have to use the artificial room to induce a short-term change so we can take her nighttime measurements.”
"You can make her change?"
"You can heal me?!"
Siu and Arya asked at the same time, drawing the woman's gaze to them, her brow raised.
"Naturally. She is not the first beast I work with that undergoes a nocturnal change in appearance. Although most are half-human, meaning they can't fully assume their human form yet. They shift back and forth between their original and human selves, depending on whether they are awake or asleep. Does she have anything like that?"
"No." Siu answered, crossing his arms, looking at Arya, "Although she did change when sleeping."
"That's common." The woman said, making a hand gesture to the servant at the back, “Do you need hidden utility pockets?”
Marly gasped at that, while Arya’s eyes lit up, and before she could run wild with it, Siu immediately said:
“Only a limited amount.”
"I see." The woman nodded, her face staying completely neutral, eyes moving back and forth between Siu and Arya.
"Khm!" Arya crossed her arms, clearing her throat. “I also require gold.”
“No,” Siu said.
“But my eye! Eyes!” She argued, pointing at them one by one, "I need gold AND silver to make it match!"
“Gold trim?” The woman asked suddenly, making Siu snap his head towards her, but it was clear she was taking Arya's side... Of course. It would mean the clothes she gets would be more expensive.
“No,” Siu answered, but then the woman looked at Quillian, going for the clearly senior presence to make the decision.
“Minor gold and silver-thread accent would do fine." He nodded, finally making the shop owner allow herself a smile, while Siu just pinched the ridge of his nose.
“You are impossible,” he muttered, "I just gathered some money..."
"Investment, Master!" Arya said, upon hearing him and smiling happily, "In me!"
“Measuring room two." The woman stepped around the group and clapped twice. "Lysa, bring a transformation disk. Pern, fetch silver-blue inner cloth, dark outer cloth, celestial lining, and two blanks with golden accent. Jao, prepare the adjustment frame.” While they were quickly gathering them, the woman looked at Arya and gestured toward a curtained fitting area with the number two embroidered on the curtains. “Come.”
"..." Arya looked at Siu, clearly not wanting to go alone, “I... walk in?”
"Don't worry," Siu smiled at her, patting her head, "We will wait right here."
"R-right." She nodded, puffing out her chest, and marched in while they watched the curtain close behind her, then open again immediately, and Arya stuck her head out. “Noooo... Master comes too!”
"Arya," Siu began, but then for a moment, he felt the hesitation through their bond. It was not fear, not exactly, but he could sense how, for Arya, the world was looking at her differently, and she was suddenly being asked to step behind a curtain with strangers... In her other form, nobody looked at her like this, at least, no human. It was something she wasn't handling well unless Siu was with her. Because if he was, she was ready to bounce around completely naked, knowing he would protect her from everything. Sensing her thought, he just exhaled and walked over, patting her head, “You can do it. Look, I’ll stand outside here,” he said calmly. “You can speak to me through the bond, okay? They touch you weirdly, just call, and I'll come in. Deal?”
"Um..." Arya’s ears rose again, finally nodding, "Deal."
Throughout it all, the woman did not comment, just waited patiently, not even looking at the two. As for Quillian, he sat on a bench near the wall, his notebook open, scribbling into it, no longer paying attention. Finally, after getting brave again, Arya pulled her head back, and the woman also disappeared after her with the arriving servants. Siu was about to reach out to Arya when another disciple working in the shop stepped up to him, handing over a parchment... with the price on it.
He had forgotten that part. When he saw the price, Siu leaned over despite himself: Five Sun Crystals and eight Flame Crystals. That was five thousand eight hundred CC for... clothes. His mind immediately compared it to rent, meditation rooms, or mission rewards. He was about to reach into his bag on his waist when Quillian dropped six Sun Crystals onto the counter before Siu finished. The disciple didn't hesitate, just took it, and brought back the change.
"Senior..."
"I told you I'm going to finance you, boy," He said without looking at him, "I can't bring money into the afterlife, I need to spend it somewhere. And... You need your companion to be presentable. You need her to be comfortable. It will help your training, too.”
Siu closed his mouth, and he couldn't help but see Quillian, as he always saw his Old Man back when he was a kid... The two of them were way too similar.
"Master, Master, Master!" Arya’s voice came through their bond, sounding frantic. “I'm back to normal! They turned on something, and moonlight was in, and I was like... WooooOOOOoooo, POP! My boing-boings are back, and my butt is back, my tummy is back, and I am tall again, and beautiful, and sexy, and they are touching me, but with those thingies so it's tickles and—”
“Everything's good?” Siu asked, interrupting her.
"Yes, becaaaaauh?! Nooooooooeh! Turn it back on! Turn it back! I want to be big! Noooooo, Maaaasteeeeeer! I shrunk agaaaaaain! Ask for that thing! I can glue it somewhere on me and stay big! Nooooooo! Unfair! I hate this!"
"Master," Marly said with a shrug, "Big-Little Sis became very bitchy since her transformation."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Siu yelped out in his mind, his face going through multiple emotions at once, including surprise and shock. "Marly!"
"Um..." She asked, unsure, looking down from Siu's head, "Isn't that what females are?"
"Where did you learn that?" He asked, holding back a long moan.
"The twins." She answered at once, and that actually explained everything. "They were talking about it once when in the tower. Arya was there too, listening!"
"Um," She spoke up again, "True, true! I am a bitch!"
"Stop." Siu interrutped them with a commanding tone, "Full stop. Both of you. End of discussion. Silence!"
At least they listened to him, and when Arya got back out, twenty minutes later, she was wearing perfectly made sect-robes, fitted to her form and elegantly covering her.
"Whoa!" Marly’s eyes widened. “Big Sis looks like a disciple.”
"Fufuuu, I am one!" Arya’s face lit up, twirling around, letting her clothes flow after her.
"We will see how it goes," the tailor said, stepping behind Arya and adjusting the collar for one last time. “We will call it a temporary fit. If more changes happen to her, do come back, we will refit her, free of charge.”
It was then that the shop bell chimed, and Siu barely glanced toward it at first, looking back at Arya before quickly glancing back at the person walking in.
“Well,” Seloryn said from near the entrance, smiling, “this is not where I expected to find you.” As she spoke, her eyes moved over to Arya, raising a brow in surprise, “Oh! She must be, Arya, yes?”
"Why does everyone recognize me?!" Arya moaned, pouting.
"Your eyes are pretty unique," Seloryn giggled, walking over, “Of course, I can recognize you. Good morning to you, too, Senior Quillian.”
“Mornin'!” Quillian nodded, not looking up from his notes.
"Here," one of the workers came up to them just then and handed a folded bundle to Seloryn, who took it with a smile.
"Thank you," she nodded, then glanced at Siu, explaining it quickly, "Just some refits. I managed to tear some of my robes in my last fight. Are you going to the Companions next?"
"That was the plan," Siu answered, and as they were done, after cupping his hands to the disciples and servants, they began leaving the shop. "Why?"
"I'm thinking of tagging along," She said with a smile, tucking the clothes into her robes, "I'm curious how Arya will fare in their tests."
"What tests?" Arya asked, suddenly going pale, "I don't want to take any stupid tests! Why should I?!"
"To know what you can do?" Seloryn continued, tilting her head, while Siu had to grab a hold of Arya's new robes before she could start walking in the opposite direction. "Just like Siu had to be tested before being given his sash, you are going to do the same. You should be excited!"
"I hate tests..." She grumbled, making Quillian close his notebook, slipping it into a pocket.
"Seloryn is right. It is a must, and it will be interesting, because it can reveal more about your situation. It is a must, especially if you want to help your Master learn more about his own powers in the future."
"Oh?" Seloryn smiled, now glancing at Siu, "Finally working on it? Already spending the money you just earned? Good, good."
"Well..." Siu muttered, slightly blushing, nodding towards Quillian, "I'm being helped out."
"..." Seloryn glanced at Quillian with apparent shock on her face, but then reeled it in very quickly. "Oh. Oh... Well... Sounds interesting, can I join?"
"Yes." Quillian said before anyone else could, "After testing the foxgirl's capabilities, we will have at least three affinities the boy can start copying. Yours," He pointed at Seloryn, then himself and Arya at last, "My fire and hers. We can also test how quickly he can switch or if he can train the switching process, and—"
"Okay, okay!" Seloryn said hurriedly, "I get it. Senior... let's not discuss it openly, where anyone can hear it, hm? We should get to the Companions first."
"If Master can train switching..." Arya muttered in the meanwhile, suddenly no longer afraid of taking a test, "I can too, no? That means... I can learn how to switch back to being the boing-boing queen... Yes! Let's go!"