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Destiny City mall. It yielded a plethora of boutique shops, chain stores, eateries, and kiosks. It flourished with kids her age and their friends or loved ones. It presented to Sirsce a set of infinite possibilities, infinite combinations of pants and shirts, and infinite choice of accessories. She'd only set one foot indoors, and already this place was a utopia of fashion.

Despite her meager savings, she had to check it out.

The mall itself bore a crisp white paint job, broken up by shocking green swirls and purple squares. The ceiling of the mall was made entirely of glass, tiered and reinforced with steel, so the sun cast a lattice shadow onto the plain marbled tiles below. Each shop had a wall-mounted metal flag next to it with the name of the establishment etched into the purple surface. Each shop had a glass front, unless it was one of the more popular chain stores that opted for a brick wall, or what looked like the front of a beach house. From what she could tell by the directories, the mall was shaped like a giant square. Perfect; she could begin her search moving one direction and encompass the entire mall without missing a shop.

The only question was: where should she begin?

Sirsce darted about the mall, passing knife stores, sports stores, and electronics stores, until she came across an acceptable clothing boutique. Due to the bizarre font, she could barely make out the name, but that didn't deter her. She proudly stepped inside and made a beeline for the clearance rack. A treasure trove of colors, styles and fashions hung before her. She had trouble deciding what to pick up first. On one hand, there was a lovely v-neck sweater with a crocheted rose on the corner, but on the other, there hung a sporty faux leather vest complete with zippers. Which should she even pick?

Sirsce sighed. How am I supposed to know what to pick? Ooh, I know: I''ll check out the mannequins! After weaving her way through the packed clothing racks, she reached the back of the store with several mannequin torsos hanging on a steel grid. Each wore a different and equally appealing set of layered shirts. "Ooh... This is no help." She muttered to herself. Sirsce needed a jumping-off point before she could begin picking outfits. She needed a theme, of sorts.

With a quick sweep of the store, she located a source of inspiration. A young girl, right around her age, stood maybe ten feet away from her. She had blonde hair styled in dramatic curls, and wore a variety of textures. Her short black dress, trimmed in animal print, was offset by the soft stripes in her stockings. She wore the cutest white boots, as well. Sirsce had to get a closer look; it wasn't often in Destiny City that she met a fellow fashionista, and this girl definitely had an eye for the designer look.

She narrowly avoided collision with a rack on her way over, and stumbled toward the girl, breathless. "Ooh, um..." She huffed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude, but... I just love your outfit! Where do you shop at?" The blonde looked simply stunning; she just had to know where to buy a look like that. Then again, she might not be able to match that grace. On second thought, not a chance in hell.

Impeccable fashion sense and articulate? Sirsce could appreciate that. Usually when she approached someone about their outfit, they responded by brushing her off or pretending not to hear her. Sometimes, though, they thanked her and simply moved on without answering her question. Thankfully the blonde answered her, though she was hoping to get a few store names out of her. Oh well; not everyone cares to look at the name of the stores where they shop, right? Or the girl could be blind. They don't exactly post braille for the clothing stores. But if she was blind, how could she color coordinate so well? Unless someone was helping to dress her.

However, her voice sounded a bit unusual... Maybe she was a heavy smoker and her voice got damaged from smoke inhalation? No, that was a silly idea. She could've gotten choked out by someone and her voice permanently changed? No, that didn't make sense either. Oh, it could be that she's secretly a he. That idea sounded every bit as silly as the last two. Maybe it was nothing. In fact, it was probably nothing.

She really needed to stop reading into every minuscule detail.

"Ooh, you shop clearance?" Wow, she really had everything: a sense of style, a sense of bargains, and a sense of outfit coordination. "And thrift stores? Oh, do you make your own clothes? I bet if you like, visited a fabric store or something you could make some awesome clothes super cheap! Like, um..." She bit her lip as she struggled for an example. "Turtlenecks! They're easy and stuff, but um, you know how hard it is to find them in a good fabric. They're usually plain and boring, and they need something to spice them up a bit..." She was rambling now, and probably boring the stranger she just assailed.

Are you trying to make friends or make enemies, Sirsce? She let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I just get so carried away when I see someone dressed nice. Oh, where are my manners? Um, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Sirsce." Yeah, she dug that hole pretty deep. There was no harm in digging further, right? She might hit a water main and flood her own grave... Now she was overanalyzing euphemisms. "And, um, this probably isn't my place to ask, but do you mind if I shop with you? I saw some great outfits and accessories that would look good on you." Not that she had the right to force the girl into modeling.

Paris? Like the capital of France? What a vogue name! She thought excitedly. This girl had all the makings of a fashionista and Sirsce was lucky she met such a classy woman at the mall. Despite her lack of sewing experience, Sirsce still thought she had excellent taste and unique sensibilities when it came to coordinating her outfit. "It's nice to meet you, Paris!" She giggled excitedly. This could be the start of a wonderful friendship, especially if she could get the other girl to try different clothes on and suffer through countless makeovers and model everything Sirsce could possibly fathom.

The girl even asked if Sirsce wanted her to model. "Ooh, you'd do that?" She practically jumped for joy. "You have no idea how many outfits I've thought of that would look amazing on you! Oh, oh, and we could like, get someone to take pictures of you, and I could do your makeup, and then you could like, be discovered as the new modeling star of Destiny City! And then I'd get famous too for my clothes and it'll be... Amazing!" She blurted with unrestrained energy. Her life's dreams were unfolding in front of her without the slightest promise of success.

Once she realized her mistake, she quickly began backpedaling. "But, um, first we need to get to know each other and stuff... And, uh, well..." She trailed off, lost for words. Instead, she changed the subject entirely. "Um, what did you mean by a different stage? Do you sing or something?" That was the only thing Sirsce could come up with where the girl would appear on stage. Either that or talent shows, but she seemed a bit old for that.

If Sirsce was right and Paris was a singer, she certainly needed some exciting new ensembles for her fans. Sirsce secretly made it her mission to acquire the most outlandish and inspiring costumes for Paris to wear, for whatever she might be doing on stage.

"Ooh, a dancer!" She giggled happily. Sirsce never met a dancer before, though it certainly explained Paris's grace. The girl was very elegant in her movements, as if she'd spent a great deal of time practicing proper gestures and composure. Certainly she'd do well on a runway, if she managed to model anything. "So, you'd be totally good at modeling right? Maybe we can find you some outfits and you can pretend like you're on the runway!" Passersby could score her on her outfits or whatnot too, though that might be a little too much attention at once.

"Okay, so I'll get some outfits together, and maybe you'll try them on? I'm guessing you're a size medium?" The girl seemed pretty lithe, but she still had some decent muscle on her. It was a popular size, though; she'd have to hunt through the store to find the mediums they had on hand.

Sirsce figured this was good practice for coordinating outfits and seeing how certain looks matched up on a bona fide human being. Essentially it was a step up from dress forms, which was a welcome change. If it all worked out, and Paris had fun, it might lead into having her first model. On top of that, Paris would garner some fame as well. Why not give it a shot?

The first outfit Sirsce assembled was relatively simple: black leggings, black and tan contemporary high heels, a tan summer dress with a pleated skirt, some cheap gold bangles and a beaded necklace with fake amethysts to provide a pop of color. "What do you think?" She asked, curious for her new acquaintance's answer. It wasn't the best outfit she could come up with, but it was decent considering what they had on hand in the proper size. If she didn't like it, that was fine - they could go elsewhere, and possibly have coffee on the way. Hopefully. Preferably.

Being a good dancer didn't make a good model? Sirsce couldn't wrap her mind around that. Dancers had a lot of grace, and grace was paramount in modeling, right? So why wouldn't it work out? Did dancers get bored or angry if all they had to do was walk around? Oh! She could be referring to the fact that she's short, and being short generally meant one wasn't fit for modeling. Then again, modeling has come a long way and included varying body types, as well as heights. Now she was back where she started; what a conundrum. Maybe she'd better just stick to looking for clothes.

"Oh, um, you've got a point..." She hadn't even considered adding colors into the mix yet. Usually with her tri-colored hair, wearing anything other than monochrome became overbearing, but she wore it regardless. With someone having as muted a hair color as blonde... Color might be more appropriate than than beige or black! "Sorry! I should've thought about that before! I'll try to find something else!" Well, at least hunting through the racks for something more colorful was a bit of a challenge. She was near certain that Paris would leave satisfied with what she'd coordinated for him.

However, as she returned to the racks and parsed through them for teals and purples in their appropriate sizes, she found a marked lack of decent attire. She found one cute shirt, but all they had were in large. She found a teal cloth belt, but nothing appropriate for it to accent. Soon she began wondering if they ever stocked the store, or if they found it acceptable to cater to only one size.

Finally she returned to her new friend empty-handed. "I couldn't find anything in your size," she admitted bashfully. "Um, want to go somewhere else? Or... get lunch." Her stomach began protesting relentlessly to all her activity.

She started to wonder if coordinating pre-made clothing was too much for her. She could imagine outfits that accentuated Paris' figure without becoming an eyesore, but she hadn't spotted anything quite like it here. She might do a better job if she just took her measurements, sat down, and sewed until her fingers fell off. It might not look like excellent craftsmanship, but at least she'd have something in the colors she enjoyed. "Um, how about I make something instead? I mean, I can't really make shoes, but at least I can find fabrics in the colors you like, and... Well, hopefully they'll look good." She wasn't going to lie; her sewing needed work.