Mallside 10

[5a Violista]

[Shopping Shifters]

Carlie laughs.

Carlie doesn't really know what a skrull is, but can infer from context that they have to spend a lot of money on clothes.
...
Carlie also had to get a lot of clothes, but she was really good at finding discounts and deals and thrift stores. "I always just kept my proportions fairly similar so that I could reuse most of it," she says, a little quietly.

She shrugs, and answers the question next: "As long as I understand how it works and how it's made, I can do it," she answers.

Anyway,
she laughs again.
"Normally when you window-shop, you don't have to announce your intentions. You just do it."
She follows and looks at the skirt. "Green," she answers. "I especially like emerald greens and sea greens and turquoises."

[Purple Eagle]

[Shopping Shifters]

Annaliese smiles at Carlie laughing. At least, she's happy, and Shuyoru's all about making people happy! As for keeping proportions similar, that's an old shapeshifter trick, isn't it? "Zat's vhy a lot of my forms are on ze young side, being a little person guy and all." She responds, just before it's time to get into character. "And, me too now."

Back to the present, Annaliese counters with: "I believe in announcing my intentions plainly, Miss Hopps!" She admires the skirt, making sure to feel every inch of the surface. "I like red. It is a divine colour. I especially like the red of oxygenated blood."

She points to an emerald green skirt close by. "So if I bought zat for you, you'd like it? I have an associate that wishes to visit HALO sometimes, check up on you for me. He could use zat to recognize you." New form teased! "Can you tell me about HALO, so I can tell him, Miss Hopps?" She raises the skirt up, in case Manja wants a fistful, too.

[Morty]

[Shopping for Trouble]

Electra nods.

"The one I came in is one of the few I have; most of the others are on dresses. Having a few separate might be a good idea." She looks around for a moment, then blushes slightly. "Did you think the stockings I had on were a bit too much? Or did they help?"

Fayyaad rubs his chin.

"I'd say those look better with a shorter skirt. To complement it. When you're wearing a longer one, it's probably better to go without them."

[5a Violista]

[Shopping Shifters]

"Red's fine, but nowhere near as great as green," Carlie asserts.

She looks at the green skirt.
Hm...
She considers it.
"Yeah, I'd wear it on occasion," she says. She pretty much exclusively wears skirts and dresses, so it fits the kind of style she'd go with.
Manja reaches to it to touch it, and then upon realizing that it moves when she touches it, she tries to move it more.

"Sure:" she says. "HALO's pretty nice. Easy to get lost, though. Recently, they've mostly been working on solving some of the relatively recent plagues that have gone around, investigations, and a few other things. Got a bunch of scientists, too."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Shopping for Trouble]

Electra nods.

"I should probably get a few more pairs to go with the skirts, then." She takes a few moments to peruse through the racks, coming up with a couple of mini-skirts, and at least one micro, before looking back to Fayyaad. "Maybe you can see if you can find a couple of pairs of stockings that would go with these while I see if I've got the size right?" If Fayyaad gets a quick look at the tag, he might notice the microskirt she found might be a size too small for her, but it appears to be the only one on the rack, at least, at first glance. She's picked mostly dark colors for the other skirts, though there's a white one, and a bright orange monstrosity as well. The micro is a shade of grey.

[Purple Eagle]

[Shopping Shifters]

"Hmph! Vell, I say zat it's ze opposite!" Annaliese says, turning her nose up a little, in a manner that's equal parts snotty and cute. Look at one corner of her lips, however, and you'll see a small smirk.

"You vould, eh?" She says, also looking at the skirt and leaving Manja to play with the one she's holding up, for the time being. "In zat case, I guess I'd buy one for you, of your choice... one zat's red und green." She replaces the skirt, which robs Manja of her newest plaything (provided she's not bored of it yet, anyway).

HALO sounds to her like some sort of R&D organization, which fits what she's heard so far. One who'd fit Svetlana's new lease on life, provided she ever chooses to return to the Nexus at large. As for her... "I haff an associate zat's alvays vanted to visit HALO. A handyman type vith some chemistry skills. A bunny boy, too... do you haff any relatives in ze Nexus, Miss Hopps?"

It should be rather obvious where this is going!

[5a Violista]

[Shopping Shifters]

Carlie bites her lip to avoid smiling this time. "Greens and reds don't always go together, unfortunately," she says, even though she starts looking for one just in case it does look good.

Manja is, of course, sad that it goes away.

"Huh, I see," she says. Yeah, she can see where this is going. Wants to know if there's any relatives he'd have to deceive or know about. She picks a skirt and pulls it out to look at it, and Manja reaches for it too. "Besides my daughter and my boyfriend...well, I guess boyfriends don't count as relatives," she says. Hm. . ."I do have a sister and a mother," she says, "but they're not in the Nexus. Never even write them, cut off contact with them a while ago. They still try to occasionally reconnect, but..." She puts the skirt back and pulls at another. Then, she shrugs.

[Morty]

[Shopping for Trouble]

Fayyaad does notice the tag. Too small, looks like. But that might not be a problem, exactly. He'll let Electra put it on while he goes to pick some stockings. He selects a few black, white and blue ones.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Shopping for Trouble]

Electra emerges wearing the microskirt she selected first. While it is indeed tight, it does fit....barely. It's quite tight across her hips, and she seems to be moving more slowly for some reason when she emerges so Fayyaad can take a look.

"I wanted something tight, but.....I might have to check elsewhere. Worried I'm going to move suddenly and rip this one," she laments with a frown. "What do you think?"

[Morty]

[Shopping for Trouble]

Fayyaad rubs the back of his head. This did not work the way he hoped. While Electra in a tight skirt is a sight to behold, it's not quite worth the downsides.

"It looks very good. But you're right, it's not going to be comfortable. Showing off isn't quite the same if you have trouble walking."

[Murkus]

[Cafe]

Batu blinks, surprised. His train of thought, normally rambling along freely, is interrupted for a moment. But there's something to this idea...

"You mean we could find a girl to go on a date with him?"

[Cafe]

When Batu puts it in such clear terms, Div blushes, but he doesn't turn aside. "Yeah! Just like that! I bet it would be easy!"

[Purple Eagle]

[Shopping Shifters]

Carlie bites her lip to avoid smiling this time. "Greens and reds don't always go together, unfortunately," she says, even though she starts looking for one just in case it does look good.

Manja is, of course, sad that it goes away.

"Huh, I see," she says. Yeah, she can see where this is going. Wants to know if there's any relatives he'd have to deceive or know about. She picks a skirt and pulls it out to look at it, and Manja reaches for it too. "Besides my daughter and my boyfriend...well, I guess boyfriends don't count as relatives," she says. Hm. . ."I do have a sister and a mother," she says, "but they're not in the Nexus. Never even write them, cut off contact with them a while ago. They still try to occasionally reconnect, but..." She puts the skirt back and pulls at another. Then, she shrugs.

[Shopping Shifters]

Annaliese pauses to eye Carlie up and down, almost like she's looking at her with new eyes. "Hmm... ja, I zink you can make it vork. Besides, 'not always' doesn't mean 'never' after all, Miss Hopps."

The vampire elf looks into Carlie's eyes, searching them once she's done speaking about her family and trying to determine if they're talking about Carlie... or Harley. Either way, she resumes speaking after a short pause, hoping to make things clearer. "I see... perhaps your mother had another child, or maybe your sister. Perhaps zis child is called Marco, looks very much like he could be your cousin, und..." Here, she clears her throat, then does an exaggerated version of a manly voice by lowering her high-pitched voice somewhat. "... wants to meet this 'Carlie', homes!" She returns her voice back to normal, shrugging. "As he vould say, of course. I could go und fetch him for you now, too." She looks straight into Carlie's eyes, willing her to understand where she's truly going with this.

"Oh, how about zat one, it'd look great on you!" It's a plaid skirt with green and red colours. "Ve could buy it for each other." She sounds like a girl trying to remain 'above it all', and failing, for her love of shopping shines through.

[Morty]

[Cafe]

Batu rests his chin on his hand as he considers this.

"I don't know the first thing about talking to girls. But Jim is a pretty great guy. If we tell them about him, I'm sure some will be interested. And Jim helped me out a lot before, when I was trying to get settled around here."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Shopping for Trouble]

Electra nods, frowning slightly.

"I'll have to see if I can find something similar with an elastic hip or something." She eyes the stockings Fayyaad's found. "What did you find?"

[Morty]

[Shopping for Trouble]

Fayyaad takes a look at Electra again.

"It would definitely be worthwhile. You do have great legs." He lifts up the stockings a little bit. "I got a handful of those in a variety of colors. It should work with any skirts you end up choosing. I can't help but think both of us appearing in what we're buying today would make a stunning impression."

[Lord Magtok]

MAGMART!

It's reopening.

"Are you sure that's the best idea, m'lord?" asks a Magbot adjusting the GRAND REOPENING sign outside the storefront, while Magtok himself holds up the other end of the banner, floating above his store instead of using a ladder like that plebeian robot assisting him. The Magbot is a paid employee now, since the cyborg's absolute rule over the machines ended years ago, but most of the Magbot's programming still lingers, so phrases like 'm'lord' still exist in its speech banks, even though it's hardly appropriate now. In fact, the Magbot makes a mental note to speak to someone about that later, have it properly excised. Gods know Magtok doesn't need staff inflating his ego with talk like that.

"What, reopening now? Absolutely. Heck, we should've done this in the fall, when people hadn't already started Thanksmas shopping. We can't just wait until next year either; it'll be too late and I'll have wasted another year's lease on this space."

"I suppose that's all true, m'lord. I just thought, given your withdrawal from center stage, your fading relevance in world politics-"

"Two inches down, I think," Magtok interrupts, sticking a thumbtack into his end of the banner.

"Yes, well, these efforts to maintain a low profile and avoid drawing the kind of spotlight have done well to keep you and your family safe, have they not? Excelsior hasn't come back from the dead to kill you. The cat hasn't raised an army to end the world, and VIGIL is taking care of the daemon incursions. How much money does MagMart actually make? Is this really worth the risk?"

"...hrm," Magtok answers, actually contemplating the question instead of firing back with some snappy comeback, like he might've done long ago. "You really think this is going to warrant that kind of negative attention. I mean, it's just a store. It's just MagMart is back and open for business!" Magtok proclaims, in his best approximation of the kind of voice you'd hear in a television ad ten years ago, when Magtok was forcibly dragging these backwater primitives into the modern era by selling them phones and televisions and refrigerators and every other modern appliance imaginable.

"And with it, the owner and proprietor. You're signaling to people that you're ready to make a comeback with this, m'lord. Don't be surprised when adversity follows. Someone is going to find a reason to want you dead."

"Someone is welcome to try, TR-67809," our cyborg scoffs, floating down from the banner, and throwing open the doors to his resurrected realm of ruthless retail. "I'm not going to let fear of potential enemies stop me from being me anymore. It's time to stage that comeback tour, to be the rascally rapscallion they've all forgotten. It's time to be Magtok again."

Yes that's right, MagMart is once again open for business! An absurd mash-up of K-Mart, Wall-Mart, Target, and every other vile retail chain, MagMart is staffed by an unswervingly loyal crew of minimum wage Magbots, a small army of talking roombas, several voodoo spirits, three dead gods, a step-daughter here against her will, and a pickle jar that everyone insists is a sentient being that only communes with those who truly believe in it!

Here you can find everything from yuletide trees to machetes, macaroni to monkeys on motorcycles, groceries to garlands. The staff is always happy to help (or else), and if you aren't entirely satisfied with your shopping experience, you can pay a small fee to watch the MagMart employee of your choosing get fired out the MagMart complimentary employee morale cannon get the hell out and never shop here again, you lousy ingrate! MagMart only hires the best of the best, and attempts to besmirch the staff's dedication to their duties will be met with being fired out of the employee morale cannon and into the parking lot! As Magtok's research has discovered, happy employees inexplicably result in better sales, fewer staffing issues, and less theft, so store policy has shifted accordingly. This Thanksmas season, while you're looking for something to buy for friends and family in these trying times, look no further than MagMart, once again the grandest and greatest retail experience in the Nexus!

[5a Violista]

[Shopping Shifters]

Does it really matter whether she's talking about her or her?

"I can't really see my mother ever having a son," Carlie says, but after thinking for a bit, she adds, "but my sister liked toying with lots of guys. Probably my nephew, then."

Carlie looks back at the skirt, making sure it's long enough for her to feel comfortable wearing it. "If he's nearby and you know where he is, yeah! I'd love to meet more family." She turns the skirt around and makes sure it's out of reach of Manja. "Do they have one just like this in your size?" she asks, since she doesn't know Annaliese's waist size.

[Murkus]

[Cafe]

Batu rests his chin on his hand as he considers this.

"I don't know the first thing about talking to girls. But Jim is a pretty great guy. If we tell them about him, I'm sure some will be interested. And Jim helped me out a lot before, when I was trying to get settled around here."

[Cafe]

"I know a l-little. And yeah, that's right! We'll just slip it right in! 'You should really meet our friend, Jim, I think you'd really-- really hit it off!'" Div pauses. "That's something people say here, right? Hit it off? Auuuh, I feel so much more confident speaking my own language."

[Morty]

[Cafe]

"I think that's how they say it." Batu forgets sometimes that Div has trouble expressing himself. "How do you say this in your language?" And now he got sidetracked again.

[Purple Eagle]

[Shopping Shifters]

"Probably." Annaliese simply says as she feels up another skirt, a black one this time. It's rather expensive, too, so she's more than content just feeling the deluxe material between her fingers. "I hope you both get along. He can be rather... excitable."

The skirt is quite long, so it should be long enough for Carlie.

Annaliese makes a show of pressing something inside her skirt pocket. "Perhaps by the time ve're done here, he should be close enough for me to go and fetch. I vill not return vith him, it is best if you have time to catch up together, alone." She glances at Manja and kisses the baby's cheeks. "Vell, except you, cute baby! You'd like to meet your cousin, ja?"

As for whether they have one Annaliese's size, she quickly checks, and indeed they do! Much to the vampire elf's glee, of course. "You vant to buy for me?" She asks, smirking a little to show she's half-joking.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Shopping for Trouble]

"Oh yes, those should work nicely!" Electra says, as she takes them from him, and gives a seductive grin. "We might have to fight some people off, but it's good to be wanted, yeah?"

Her smile changes slightly. Some of the worry has left her eyes, at least, for the time being.

"I want to try these with the other skirts I found. Back in a flash!"

[Morty]

[Shopping for Trouble]

"Oh, I don't know about fighting people off. Not all of them, anyway." Fayyaad is glad that his method of cheering Electra up seems to be working. He settles in to wait for Electra to come back.

[5a Violista]

[Shopping Shifters]

Manja, realizing that she's now being attacked by lips and is in danger of being eaten, starts fighting back by making a fearsome giggle and swatting with her hands.


Carlie agrees: "If I'm meeting family, it probably is best if other people aren't around," she says.
Carlie shifts the baby into a different position to make it easier to hold her, holds the already-picked skirt up to see how it'd fit with her tail, and then folds it over her arm. "Pick one out in your size," she instructs. "You've got to wear it, though. Got no choice but to do that."

[Purple Eagle]

[Shopping Shifters]

Annaliese giggles back at her and pokes her cheek, before withdrawing to focus on Carlie once more. "Hmm... must be a rough family. He seems happy to see you, so zat might be somezing to look forward to."

Ah, so if Carlie has to wear such a skirt, then so does Annaliese? She can do that. Thus, she gives a brisk salute in response. "Ja, I see. No problem! Zen, ve can have matching skirts." She picks out one in her size and presents it to Carlie, while making sure Manja can't reach it.

"Shall ve?" She says, gesturing to the changing area.

[5a Violista]

[Shopping Shifters]

Sometimes family matters are better handled with just family.

Carlie grabs the skirt that fits her, and makes sure Annaliese has the one that fits her. She nods and takes it over to the changing area.

...
It's a little hard to try on clothes while holding a baby.
But she manages.

[Purple Eagle]

[Shopping Shifters]

Annaliese isn't hampered by having to carry a baby while changing, and gets dressed relatively quickly. Inwardly, she's already planning her next course of action for when she shapeshifts into 'Marco'. Shuyoru can't wait to debut that personality!

They're probably not changing in the same place, but if they are, she'd offer to carry Manja. Regardless, soon they're done changing, and Annaliese will spin once to show off what she's wearing. "You vear it vell, Carlie. I suppose ve'll buy zis, zen?"

[5a Violista]

[Shopping Shifters]

They're changing in separate changing stalls.
Carlie leaves once it's on.

"Yup!" she says, turning Manja to get a better look at the spinning Annaliese. "I'll buy yours, you buy mine. Looks pretty good no you."

Carlie doesn't spin around, but she does swish her hips a little and twists her back to get a better look of how it works with her tail in the mirror.

She goes back into the changing room stall and changes out of it.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Shopping for Trouble]

True to her word, Electra changes quickly, emerging in the tube top Fayyaad found earlier, the bright orange monstrosity miniskirt, and the blue stockings. It's....a palette that's not exactly easy on the eyes, but somehow, she seems to be making it work. She looks conflicted when she steps out of the changing room, though.

"I think this might be a bit too eye-catching for the wrong reasons, but I saw some pictures once of people who dressed in colors like this a long time ago. At least, it was a long time ago at home..."

[Purple Eagle]

[Shopping Shifters]

"Danke." Annaliese offers a rare big smile to Carlie, nodding once. "Much obliged. I shall vear it alvays." She also checks to see it'll fit a tail, if she ever decides to have one.

She also returns to her changing room to change out of it, then carries it out with Carlie. "Perhaps ve should buy one for your 'cousin'. A scarf, perhaps. He prefers blue, but he vill have to deal with it." She doesn't make air-quotes, but says it in a way that implies such.

Just in case Carlie expects an actual cousin, and not Shuyoru/Annaliese in disguise.

"Shall ve?" As they leave to either look for a scarf version, window-shop more, or pay for their skirts, Annaliese starts talking about something else. "Ze Nexus is full of people like I who are older zan zey look. I am hundreds of years old, but I look like a teenager."

If Carlie has her phone, she'll get a text message.

((I think they exchanged contact details once? Let's say they did.))

"Ofc I'm still actually in my late 20s... wonder what it must be like to be 400 and still look this age. With my new status, I guess I'll get to find out for myself! In 380-something years."

Of course, he still assumes Harley to be in her late 20s to mid 30s.

[5a Violista]

[Shopping Shifters]

"Might actually be better to see what he likes," Carlie says, "'cause boys can be picky when they get something they don't like."

She walks up to go pay for Annaliese's skirt.

She does have her phone, so it goes off. She obviously doesn't look at her phone; it'd be rude to check it while talking with someone else. "Oh, really? That's got to be hard," she says, "looking like a teenager all that time. Seems like it could cause all sorts of problems."