smash_logs | [Open Log] Life begins after school, that's where we bend all the rules...

Well, that was a start. Anything that wasn't a "no" was progress. Harpuia followed Zero's parting glance over to one of the stores dotting the mall, and... well, why not? Not as though he had any idea what would appeal to Zero. Or himself, honestly, considering how entirely foreign the concept of 21st century civilian fashion was.

"We'll start there," he decided. "One outfit. That's the minimum. We don't have to wear them every day, but we should at least have one outfit." A clear laying-out of mission parameters, he hoped, but still something vague enough to allow room for... fun? Developing tastes? Individuality? Whatever he hoped they would get from this exercise. "I looked up my size beforehand, but you may need to experiment a little."

It did put spending an entire day window shopping out of the question, which may have been a very real possibility for Zero if he didn't have mission parameters to meet. Whether any individuality would develop was up in the air, though.

'Experiment a little...' Ignorant of the fact that not all clothing stores catered to fitted suits that took all of one's measurements into account, Zero furrowed his brows in confusion and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Clothing is categorized into ordinal or interval sizes, Zero," Harpuia explained. "Your armor was built to your specifications, and the suits we wore to prom were sort of similar, but unless you intend to sew your own clothes, you'll be buying items that were already made."

It might have seemed absurd that this even needed explaining, but this was new territory for them both. A reploid really didn't need anything more than the armor they had been designed with, after all, and for humanoid models of reploids, aftermarket upgrades and replacement parts tended to largely stick close to industry standards. ...But only for humanoids. "Consider it like... you could harvest parts from Pantheon units, if it came down to it, but you couldn't use a Mutos reploid's because they wouldn't fit you."

He stopped inside the store and fixed Zero with an appraising look. "In your case... I think it would be safe to start with the smallest size you can find." Harpuia was not necessarily notably tall by this place's standards for male-based units, after all, but he easily stood a head above Zero.

Okay, the explanation was starting to lean towards 'patronizing' territory partway through, and Zero frowned deeply in response. He wasn't a child. And he wasn't--

...Okay, standing next to someone a foot taller than him made it a bit harder to insist that going for the smallest possible sizes first was a bit too extreme. The worst part about all this was that he remembered how it was to be tall, too. If there was any reason to resent his copy body, it was for its vertical deficiencies.

A bit petulantly, Zero could only grumble, "I'm not that small..." There were plenty of people smaller than him. Rock, for instance. And... some girls...?

Harpuia looked down at Zero. Like, literally down. Zero on his tiptoes would still not be eye level to him.

"Small is a relative concept," he volunteered, tactfully. "If it turns out it's too small, you can always try something a size bigger. But all the same... starting from the bottom of the scale would be more efficient than starting from the top, don't you think?"

To cement the point, he moved to a rack of sweaters and pulled one off -- medium, according to the tag -- and held it in front of Zero. Even without trying it on, it ought to have been clear.

Just because it was obvious didn't mean he was going to acknowledge it. It was a sweater. They were designed to look baggy and loose for some reason, if these mannequins were to be believed. So... not a true indicator of size.

With an angry grunt, Zero stormed off deeper into the store, intent on finding something that would somehow fit him without continuing to malign his dignity. But it was... not a fruitful search. Small sizes were rare enough in the men's section that most racks barely had any. Almost everything was oversized, in Zero's world.

Harpuia patiently waited it out while Zero faced the grim inevitability of being a tiny baby shrimp man. Of course, he intended to have more tact than to say "I told you so" out loud, but one could almost taste a growing aura of it around him as he watched Zero's fruitless search.

Finally, delicately, very very tactfully, Harpuia piped up. "Have you got anything you'd like to try on? Or maybe we'd have better luck looking in the... ah... youth sizes?"

If 'youth sizes' was code for 'the children's section in the back of the store that was filled with bright colours and cartoon t-shirts,' then Harpuia could kindly go stuff it.

Glaring in the guardian's direction, Zero petulantly grabbed the closest thing with a size S clothes hanger off the rack - barely even looking at what he was taking - as he grumbled, "Don't you have your own outfit to worry about?"

Honestly, none of these clothes really stood out to him as anything he cared to wear. All the styles seemed completely arbitrary, and Zero himself felt no preference for any of them, so a random pick was as good as any. But perhaps a striped shirt wasn't going to be the best thing for making him look less like a child...

"Of course," Harpuia replied, turning away politely ~~and missing the awakening of Zero's latent PSI powers~~. While he might not have been tall compared to some of the people in FDC, he at least was lucky enough to not be 5'3", and therefore could actually probably fit into clothing straight off the rack. Compared to the sort of crowd he was used to -- reploids like X, Zero, and Leviathan, mostly -- he was downright statuesque.

But... his idea of what was appropriate clothing came from a society full of tiny crop-top vests and titanium undies -- things that did not seem to be as common around here. The only reliable basis for fashion he'd seen in this era was primarily from the school campus -- the student uniforms, and whatever the staff wore.

Well, that was fine. If he used that as a basis, he was bound to come out looking reasonably professional. He looked through the racks until he found a button-up shirt that should be his size, not unlike the one students wore.

Well, now that Harpuia's hawk eyes were off him, Zero went back to perusing the racks on his own. Buying one outfit was the bare minimum, so that meant at the very least, he needed a top and pants of some kind. But looking at the ones on display, he couldn't help but feel like they were all going to restrict his freedom of movement. All this stiff, heavy fabric really didn't appeal to him when he was most comfortable walking around in white undies.

If they weren't full length pants, then at least they wouldn't get bunched at the knees, Zero figured. In that case, shorts were probably the most practical option.

He grabbed the shortest shorts he could find, and headed straight for the changing rooms. Hopefully this would be good enough.

Harpuia was a little slower to head back to the change rooms; it took him more time to reconstruct a near facsimile of the school uniform. (His standards were narrower than "as close to undies as possible," though honestly not by much.) At any rate, Zero would have been able to get a head start on changing.

"Show me once you've got it on," he requested. Or ordered. It's a thin line when you're as bossy as Harpuia. "If it fits, I'll want to know." That, and now that he wasn't shopping alone, he could have someone lend a hand with detaching his jets. Flight: still cool, but also still very inconvenient for shopping purposes.

Thanks to his head start, Zero had stripped himself of armour and put on his clothes with ease. The problem was...

Well, the problem was that he looked like a grade schooler wearing them.

The shirt was designed to be loose fitting and casual, but it managed to hang on Zero's hourglass form like it was just a little too large. Not to mention the stripes had such a child-like quality that it seemed to amplify his small stature, large eyes and youthful face. The shorts were similarly baggy - actually a size too large, but with his wide hips, Zero could only fit into a pair that reached past his knees.

Staring into the mirror at himself, even Zero could've sworn he had just spontaneously shrunk.

Then came Harpuia's bossy-as-ever voice, calling to him from outside. Zero grimaced. "No. I'm taking these off."

How unexpected. Zero was not fond of how he looked in the things he'd picked out? Possibly because the size was all wrong? As Harpuia had predicted? Meaning that he was, once again, completely and irritatingly told-you-so right?

"Show me," Harpuia repeated, no less bossy for having been proven right. "I'll come in there if I have to. The whole point of trying things on is to understand what works, and I can hardly do that if I can't see you." It was more than a little presumptuous to assume it was Harpuia's job to figure out what works, but again: Harpuia. Besides, if Zero had wanted to figure this out on his own, he would have gone clothes shopping on his own. Surely the shared part was supposed to be a factor in this, right?

There was an angry silence.

There was really no winning here. Refuse, and he'd just get nagged at more for being an uncooperative loner who was achieving nothing by rejecting Harpuia's freely given (and obnoxious) help. Agree, and face humiliation. Also, probably more know-it-all lecturing.

Zero stood in sullen petulance for a good, long while, half-wondering if Harpuia was actually going to make good on his threat to barge in. That possibility made resistance near-pointless... Ugh. He knew he needed help with this - that was the worst part. He really clearly didn't know what he was doing...

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself out of the change room looking like the tiny little child he was, fists clenched and glaring daggers all the while.

There were two things that Harpuia had to forcibly keep from getting out of him: a triumphant "see?" and a bit of surprised laughter. It had never actually occurred to him to describe Zero as childlike -- he was short, yes, but the one reploid Harpuia respected more than anyone else for his wisdom and leadership was short too, and Harpuia knew all too well how infuriating it was to be called a kid just because you had been built looking a certain way.

But Zero... did kind of look like a kid, swimming as he was in those clothes. Those clenched fists and the steely impenetrable glare that were so formidable when he was in armour now seemed more like... well, like a child on the verge of a tantrum.

It was exactly because Harpuia knew the frustration of being teased about looking young, however, that he didn't comment on it. Zero was embarrassed enough as is; though Harpuia couldn't quite erase the I-was-right look from his face, he did make some effort to keep his gloating to himself.

"...Are those the smallest size of shorts they offer?" He questioned, looking Zero over. It seemed fairly clear that even a size small hung loose on Zero's frame, but those seemed unusually baggy and long. Was that the style in this century? "Maybe we can still find something that fits."

Okay, that was a long enough look. Whatever Harpuia needed to see, he already got it - so this stuff was coming off.

"They're the smallest size I can fit into," Zero muttered back as as he pulled off the t-shirt. A cascade of hair fell over him as he slipped it over his head and threw the striped tee on the bench. The shorts were next - a bit more awkward to strip off in a fit of aggravation, but he managed to kick them off with the contempt they deserved.

As Harpuia suspected, they were a medium. The waist was loose, but the hips had been perfectly snug, especially around his thigh holsters. There was no way Zero could've squeezed into anything smaller.

With that fit of frustration done with, Zero simmered back down into a state of disgruntled discomfort. At least... at least Harpuia hadn't laughed. It must've been extremely tempting, he was sure of it.

Crossing his arms over his naked chest, Zero grumbled, "Now what?" Since the guardian just had to be so smart about everything and all.

Harpuia picked up the clothing that Zero had tossed off, taking a moment to look at the tags as he neatly returned them to their hangers. No reason to make a mess, after all. Shirts... overall, he would need something smaller. Pants size... that seemed a bit trickier, if he required a medium for one measurement but the others were positively dwarfed.

"Wait here." Another request-slash-command. Obviously this outfit wouldn't do, and neither would having Zero leave empty-handed and dissatisfied. He handed his own clothing, still untried, to Zero to hold onto, then turned and strode out before much time could be allowed for protest.

He knew that Zero likely wouldn't go into the children's section of his own free will, so Harpuia took the plunge himself. No point getting more shorts here, but he grabbed a shirt with a random cartoon character he didn't recognize -- hopefully the "large" on the label would be more soothing than the obvious place the shirt had come from. But... that was only half an outfit at best, wasn't it?

Harpuia paused, looking to the opposite side of the store. It, judging by the presence of mannequins in dresses on one half of the store only, was divided into mens' and womens' clothing. Hm... Well, it was true that women were, on average, shorter than men, and their clothing did have more room around the hips and thighs than menswear did. Would Zero perceive it as an insult if...?

Well, worth a try. Some randomly chosen shorts in a couple different sizes, maybe a shirt or two for good measure (all of the button-up variety that matched the school uniform, naturally). Arms full with this selection, Harpuia made his way back to the change room. He said nothing about which part of the store these had come from, only requested-slash-commanded, "Here, see if any of these fit."

Well, since Zero was left to wait... he returned to the dressing room where the rest of his armour had been left lying around and sat down with a huff. Time to lick his wounds, he supposed - even if the injury was to his pride.

With nothing else to do, he stared sideways into the body length mirror that was in the stall, inspecting his reflection. He did look... younger than he used to, he was pretty sure, though he couldn't quite place why. Maybe it was the eyes. Or something in the shape of his face that didn't quite get transferred over to this copy body.

It was a little strange, missing something that not too long ago, he didn't even remember having. Of all the differences to get hung up over, it was certainly the most superficial. But he did certainly miss being tall. The way he was now, he was probably somewhere around X's height...

Stupidly, that did make him feel a little better. Like it made him a little closer to X, in a way - or at least, X's experiences in being 5'3". It wasn't much to go on, but it was easier to think about that rather than trying to visualize what Zero wanted to look like as a civilian.

A decision that Harpuia had apparently taken care of for him. Zero got up when he heard the other reploid return, and eyed the selection of clothes in his arms. Apart from the few that seemed to have cartoons on them (sigh), they seemed nondescript enough as to not be embarrassing.

With only a minimum of reluctance, he took the clothes and looked through them. The size labels seemed either misleading, wrong, or confusing. But Harpuia had picked them, so... Zero glanced up at him with a silent look of I hope you know what you're doing.

Wordlessly, he began to put on the first button up shirt in the pile, with the guardian as his audience. It seemed... all right. Loose enough that he could move, but fitted enough that he didn't look like he needed to grow into them. And the shorts actually lived up to their name this time - ending at the upper thigh. It all fit pretty decently. Zero's eyes widened a fraction, honestly surprised at the effect.

"...Where did you find these?"

"Much better, aren't they?"

Harpuia was starting to learn the nuances of Zero's expressions, and surprise was easily the most recognizable among them. Thoroughly satisfied that his theory had paid off, he allowed himself to adopt a thoroughly self-satisfied look as he appraised Zero. Right once again, of course, but who's counting?

Anyway, the overall effect was much better this time around. It accommodated both Zero's height and the added holsters at his thighs much better, and despite the smaller clothes, he looked much less like a kid playing dress-up in dad's closet. Harpuia couldn't judge whether this kind of thing was considered fashionable or if it was to Zero's taste, but it fit -- and that was the important point.

More important than where they'd come from, hopefully. The distinction between the sections was arbitrary at best, right? The only part that was of any significance was that ladies' sizes ran smaller. "I took those ones from the women's section," Harpuia explained simply.

...Ah. Zero's expression fell slightly, into a much more ambiguous look of contemplation. Women's or not, they did fit - that much he had to accept as fact. It wasn't the worst fate, once he stopped to consider it. There were enough clothes available to women that were more or less gender neutral, so it was possible to get by without looking overly feminine. Besides, the fashion standards of 23XX were pretty androgynous anyway.

He smoothed down his shirt, opting to undo the top few buttons just so his shoulders weren't so restricted. Maybe roll up the sleeves, too. It may have matched a standard uniform, but uptight grooming wasn't really Zero's style. With that done... well, he didn't look too bad.

The reflection staring back at him wasn't one he could definitively claim, This is me, but it did look like something approaching 'normal'. And that was as much of a success as he could ask for, in one day.

"That works," Zero said finally, an air of acceptance to his voice. "Thanks... Harpuia."

(There was going to be no end to the smugness now.)

"See? I know what I'm doing." Harpuia looked downright pleased with himself, of course. This could be counted as a win all around. Zero was... happy? Or... well, he didn't hate what he had on, at least, and absence of discomfort counted for something. He now knew his own sizes, too, so if things continued to go well and dressing like civilians became a regular thing, he could try on whatever he wanted to.

At any rate, that was done, but Harpuia still had an outfit to try on, too. Even though this was only their second time trying on clothes, and even though he had long since ceased asking Zero to hurt him, there was still almost an air of routine to the way he presented his back. "Since that's settled, would you take my jets?"

Ah. Of course - Harpuia still had his own outfit to try on. It was still a combined venture for the two of them, even if the guardian had managed to pick out a pile of clothes for Zero and all he could offer back was to help take off his armour. It was something, at least.

Zero turned away from the mirror and obediently complied, gripping the jets as gently as he could. There was still a vague sense of unease that hung in the back of his head while holding such a vital part of someone else's body, but it was simple enough to ignore now that he had done this a few times before.

"Ready."

The feeling of hands on his jets still made the back of Harpuia's neck prickle, but the pressure registering on his sensors was surprisingly gentle. Maybe Zero was getting more used to it, too. Just as always, a simple click as Harpuia disconnected them, they fell away in Zero's grasp.

"Thank you." Harpuia was quick to turn around, keeping the exposed ports on his back out of sight. With the smooth efficiency typical to him, he gathered up the clothing he'd picked out for himself and strode into a change room.

"Don't feel like you need to wait for me," he called out. "If there's anything else you want to try on, then go ahead."

Zero laid the jets down and wordlessly stared after Harpuia for a few seconds. Well, he could very well just go with this outfit that had been picked out for him, but on a certain level it felt a bit like cheating. He hadn't really done anything on his own this way. Maybe there wasn't any harm in going out to take another look at what was available...

He wandered out of the changerooms, this time towards the women's section of the store. The clothes were considerably more decorated, but the sheer variety of garments had the men's side beat by a wide margin. There was so much more to look at, it was almost a little overwhelming. Ruling out anything that was too flashy, Zero walked around until a familiar something caught his eye.

Well, it wasn't anything like the shirt Harpuia had picked out, but having something he was a bit more accustomed to was hard to pass up. As for colour, well... he didn't really have an eye for this kind of thing, but going with a deep red was probably safest.

Zero picked a poncho off the rack and headed back to the changeroom to try it on. He actually felt maybe the tiniest optimistic about this one.

By the time Zero'd chosen something and come back, Harpuia had gotten dressed. With his sizes figured out beforehand, the result wasn't quite as off the mark as Zero's had been; the shirt fit reasonably well, albeit a little on the big side -- a little roomy in the shoulders, a little loose in the waist.

The pants... he'd figured on going for the size that matched the largest of his measurements, but he'd run into the same problem as Zero. It fit in the hips, even accommodating for the gold ring at the end of his boots, but the waist was much too loose, and the length... ridiculous. Harpuia felt himself reasonably tall when he was in the presence of reploids like Zero, but the hems of these swallowed half his feet. A tailor could solve that, he understood, but... his eyes drifted thoughtfully back to the pile of things that he had brought for Zero to try.

Before he could think much more on it, though, Zero returned, with something about as red as his armour carried in his hands. "What did you find?" Harpuia asked, equal parts curious and encouraged that Zero had found something that may have suited his tastes.

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