[closed] i want to be the one to walk in the sun.

[whatagoodgirl]

Who: Nakama (whatagoodgirl) and Yukari (takebow)
What: Extreme Makeover: Nakama Edition.
When: Day 34, midday
Where: Freyr's shopping district.
Rating: Solid G.


[Nakama has given directions to her tailor shop, since there's a pretty fair fashion district in that area and it seems like the best place to start. She's worn her one dress and combed her hair out loose around her shoulders to show Yukari that she can be feminine when she wants to, but she's still not entirely comfortable in dresses, so she stands out like a sore thumb with her awkward posture. Around her shoulders hangs her luxurious cloak, clasped at her chest and hanging well past her feet.

Which she shuffles a little as she waits, hoping Yukari will arrive soon. Best to get this over with as quickly as possible.]

Comments

[takebow]

[Yukari will in fact arrive pretty soon, dressed in an approximation of her usual pink winter outfit (namely, first row, far right, impractical as it may be). She hasn't been able to get the whole thing back here, but she scrounged up equivalents.

She cheerily waves to the other girl, while mentally tabulating the awkward posture and the ... just generally uncomfortable look. She's the kind of girl that needs simple but well-fitting dresses, Yukari's decided.]

Hey, Nakama-chan... Ready!?

[whatagoodgirl]

[Oh gosh, she looks so cute. Nakama would look absurd in an outfit like that, like a little girl playing dress-up. Those aren't the kinds of things she'll have to try on, are they?]

As I'll ever be. [A rare joke, delivered with a nervous sort of smile.] The store right next door isn't too expensive, we may as well start there.

[takebow]

[She'll try to split the difference...]

Well, don't think about the cost at first... Think about what you wanna get, and then we can worry about finding things that are close enough in your price range later. But we can still start there, sure.

[whatagoodgirl]

I'm kind of saving for something important, though. I don't want to spend too much money on things I don't need. [Wondering if that'll earn her a rebuke about needing nice clothes, but taking the chance.]

[Since they've agreed on the store, at least, she opens the door and holds it for Yukari. Maybe this won't be so bad. Maybe...]

[takebow]

For a sewing machine, didn't you say...? Well, the only thing you can make with that is clothes anyway, right? So what's the difference? That stuff can wait...

So can this, of course, but don't worry about it too much.

[She walks in, appraising the things around her immediately. Most of it won't do, she thinks gloomily, Nakama will take a specific style -- but may as well give it a shot.]

[whatagoodgirl]

Sewing is more than just what you make, though... it's a hobby. It's a way to relax. And I can make things for friends if I've got my own.

[Yukari already seems to have moved on, though, so she gives up on her defense and starts browsing the racks. It's mostly dresses and skirts, so she's immediately lost.]

[takebow]

Right, that's nice too. But your clothes are more than what you wear, too.

[She's going to start out with what she hopes is well within Nakama's sensibilities -- a simple, longish light blue skirt. By longish she means it goes down juuust about to her knees.]

[whatagoodgirl]

[That skirt's not so bad. She pulls out a plain white blouse, long-sleeved, with a Peter Pan collar and looks it over. It's very young for her, childish, and probably won't pass inspection.]

[takebow]

[She glances over. A plain white blouse is what she was thinking of, actually -- just to ease the girl in -- but no, not that one. She decides to sound her out, though.]

Oh, what do you think of that? With this.

[She holds the skirt up. Although she's already eyeing, mentally if not physically, the miniskirts on another rack.]

[whatagoodgirl]

I don't mind that skirt. I like blue a lot. [It was a good guess on her part.] This blouse isn't very good, though, is it? It doesn't look like something Chizu or Komo would wear.

[They're her touchstones for fashion - Anko was too flashy, Machi too revealing, and none of the others really came close.]

[takebow]

Okay, great! I agree.

[She plucks out a slightly more, well, feminine blouse of the same nondescript color. It's probably a bit looser and a bit more revealing; it's how she rolls, even with blouses. Maybe this won't be so hard after all.]

Try this on.

[She hands the skirt over to Nakama, too.]

Are those your friends from home, or people here?

[whatagoodgirl]

They're from home. All the other girls were really pretty, but those two were kind of... classy, you know? They seemed more mature than the rest of us. And they dressed like it, too.

[She blanches at the neckline of the blouse, waving a hand vaguely across her chest area.]

Will that really work for someone with... no... [Well, you know.]

[takebow]

I gotcha.

[Yukari laughs a little.]

C'mon, Nakama-chan, we were all like that once, ya know?

...Give it a shot. That one isn't really about that, anyway... Just cuz it's a little more than before doesn't mean it's all about the cleavage.

[whatagoodgirl]

Yeah, but I'm taking longer than most... [It's an embarrassed, annoyed little mutter, but she accepts the blouse sheepishly and slings it across her arm with the skirt. Back to searching.]

[takebow]

We all run the race at different speeds! Or whatever.

[Okay, great. She's going to start pushing the boundaries back now. Because stickish and boylike Nakama may be, but that can be solved with the right outfit and probably some exercise plan or something...

Yeah, she's going to start looking for a dress now, and a shorter one.]

[whatagoodgirl]

All the girls at the Nature School except Machi were more... and, well, Kana, but she's 10... and Machi was pretty enough to pull it off...

[Now she's just muttering to herself as she flips though the dresses herself. She pulls out this one, eyeing it curiously. A knit dress would be good for the rest of winter...]

[takebow]

Oh, come on, Nakama-chan. Don't worry about that kind of thing. You're perfectly able to be cute yourself.

[whatagoodgirl]

You think so? [A genuinely surprised look. She just doesn't think of herself as the type who can be made to be good-looking.]

[takebow]

Yeah, I do. And I'm pretty sure I'm right. There's nothing wrong with you... But, anyone who's normal looks prettier with the right clothes and makeup and stuff.

[whatagoodgirl]

[There's nothing wrong with you - it's a bit harsh, and most people would take it as faint praise, but it's something Nakama's barely ever considered before (except, maybe, when Jr. said nearly the same thing). There's nothing wrong with her appearance? Her thin hair, drooping eyes, shapeless body? Nothing wrong?]

Then... I guess I'll trust you. [With a weak smile - weak because of the emotion she's feeling, not because she isn't genuinely happy.]

[takebow]

[Yukari may not be the most sensitive person all the time, but she had a feeling a statement like that might actually mean more than the endless platitudes of girls, you're so pretty and all that. She grins back.]

You can count on me, Nakama-chan.

[Wandering around a little more, she's starting to enter the realm of miniskirts.]

[whatagoodgirl]

[Actually, Nakama's a bit reminded of Anko, whose greatest compliment to her was a backhanded one at best. But Anko was a source of comfort near the end, and so the reminder of her nature is comforting.

Not the reminder of her fashion, though, and Nakama does not follow toward those tiny skirts. She stays in the dresses, amassing a collection that she'll run past Yukari when they meet up again.]

[takebow]

[Well, Yukari won't think of herself as quite that mean, but in any case, she notes with a little amusement that Nakama isn't accompanying her. She'll just have to bring them back to Nakama. Probably faint hope to make her buy them, but she can at least try them.

She'll come back in a little while bearing a selection of her own. Some along the lines of sweaters and other things that are probably acceptable, but more things like miniskirts and so on.]

[whatagoodgirl]

I've, um... I've got a few dresses. Should I try them on, or just show them to you here?

[Eyeing that selection warily.]

Aren't some of those sort of... small?

[takebow]

Well, let's see them first, if there's a bunch of 'em...

They're not that small, really. If they don't fit well, we can get you different sizes... Anyway, one or two of these are things I was looking at for myself.

[But not all of them, Nakama. Not all of them by any means.]