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 Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:33 pm
Toby's eyes widened and he pointed to his own chest. Him? Why did it matter what he liked? He laughed then and shook his head.
"Don't let others' opinions shape you," he said. Speaking of shape, Dari was looking Maia over. He had a lot of practice with shapes and the fourth dimension helped as well. That didn't mean he wanted to offer Maia purely aesthetic suggestions, though.
"Find something you really like. Try it on. There's no other way to know, really."
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:56 pm
"I won't. But a friend's advice is useful." Toby didn't seem eager to help, so she looked at Dari. "Want to help me find something? I think an outfit or two will be good enough until I get more money." She could save some money, spend some on things she needed.
She spotted a row of skirts and headed towards them. She studied one, held it up against her and shook her head. No, that wouldn't do. It barely covered anything.
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:15 pm
All of a sudden he was imagining Maia in the clothes he liked women in. No. Friends' opinions didn't work unless they were of the same gender or an opposite sexual orientation. He shook his head to clear it and looked around. It was funny how many clothing stores were women-only.
Dari watched Maia investigate the skirts and shake her head. What was wrong with it? He couldn't tell. If it was the length Maia was undoubtedly going to have a bit of trouble. "What about those?" Multicolored skirts hanging on another rack, mid-length and flowy. And thus began the absurd visual notion of two men assisting a young woman in clothes-shopping.
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:32 pm
Maia went over the skirts indicated and selected one. Hm. Nice color, nice length. She studied it, and seeming pleased with the find, held it out to Dari. "Perfect," she said. "What do you think would look good with it? Oh, maybe I should get a swimsuit too. I don't have one."
She looked around, considering. She'd never been clothes shopping outside of small town tourist shops. It was nice! "Should probably get some shoes, too."
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:40 pm
Toby tilted his head and looked at the skirt. Dari had a weird skill for sizing. Apparently it had something to do with the fourth dimension. Toby still couldn't wrap his mind about that one, but Dari said he never could. So be it.
Dari did a circle, catching the confused looks of the cashiers for a moment, and then approached a simple cap-sleeved blouse. "This, maybe."
"Dari, are you secretly gay?"
Dari gave a thoughtful frown and shrugged. Who knew?
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:12 pm
Maia took the blouse. "Oh, I like it." She beamed. Dari had been a good choice. She admired a peasant top for a moment before handing that to Dari as well. She glanced at Toby. She frowned slightly. Was there something wrong with being gay?
She finished up shopping with Dari's help. She paid for her items and exited the store. "Well! Clothes shopping takes longer than I thought it would. You pick one, Toby."
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:18 pm
Dari was glad to act as coat rack until it was time to go. He assisted Maia in picking and choosing but Toby tended to be the last word on whether it actually looked good or not. Dari's opinion was much more subtle, but Toby had no shame. Fortunately, Maia seemed to have good taste by their standards.
With the heavy plastic bag, though, Toby took over. It'd be a bit suspect if Dari's hand started deflating at the concentrated weight. Toby didn't mind carrying bags. In fact that was most of his past experiences at malls.
"Hm? Pick what? A store?" Toby asked, turning to Maia. "I thought you wanted to look at games?" She hadn't spent much already, although he was keeping track of their trip for Maia's benefit. It was difficult at first for some entities to learn how to manage their finances. So far Maia was doing well.
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:54 pm
"Do you know where one is?" Maia asked hopefully. From the inside, the mall seemed like an endless hall of shops. She was reluctant to wander off on her own. "I want to see if there's something we could all play. After, you pick. Then we have to find a shoe store." She couldn't wear flip flops all the time. Not in the rocky terrain.
She noticed a book store. She decided she'd try that next time, when she was more comfortable reading. "What kind of game would you like?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:58 pm
"Yeah, there's one somewhere in here..." Toby trailed to a mall map, found the 'You Are Here' stamp and then the nearest GameStop. Up a floor, over a bit. Alright. "Come on."
He nodded for Maia and Dari to come toward the escalator and stepped on himself. "Oh, well... that depends on if you want to play alone or all of us."
"Local multiplayer can be hard to find," Dari admitted, "That's being able to play with other people in the same house. Game designers generally like to do it over the internet."
"Now that they can," Toby said, stepping off at the next floor and waiting for Maia to help her off so her flipflops wouldn't get sucked in.
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 5:14 pm
Maia followed Toby, but seemed a little nervous about the escalator. She stepped on after a moment's hesitation. Moving stairs? Huh! That was different. "I want to play with both of you," she said. "Games don't seem as fun if you guys aren't playing too." Playing Snake alone, at least, had been less fun than creating a competition.
"We'll find one. And then we can try it tonight!"
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 5:19 pm
"Alright, we'll look," Toby agreed with a smile. Really, most local multiplayer was cooperative, and online it was all combat. He wasn't sure what Maia was looking for, but at the very least they could loose her on the proper section for their console and try things based on cover art.
The shop wasn't far off. Dari made a beeline for the XBox section and pulled a 360 game off the shelf. "We're looking for these symbols. 'X Box three-sixty.'" Numbers were generally easier than letters anyway.
Toby smiled at the cashier as he greeted them and then wandered over to help Maia look.
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 5:35 pm
Maia was making leaps and bounds in learning to read, having known the alphabet already had made things easier. "So anything with those? What do The E, T and M stand for in the boxes?" she pointed to one. She began looking at the used games. Maybe they'd have a good ocean based one.
"What store next?" she asked, as Toby came to join them.
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 5:39 pm
Dari grinned, proud of his student. "E means it's good for everyone, T means it's good for teens, and M means it's good for adults. 'Mature.' It's a rating system so people don't accidentally buy their children an inappropriate game."
"Hm?" Toby's brows shot up as he joined Maia in rooting through the bin. Dari remained at the nearby shelving. "Oh, well... that depends on what you want? Do you have a decent pair of walking shoes?" He'd only ever seen her in flipflops. "We can just walk around, though, and decide to go in where we want to. I don't mind wandering."
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 5:52 pm
"Oh, a rating system," Clever, and she approved of avoiding inapropiate games for children. Maia was glad she had the boys with her. She knew next to nothing about video games except what she'd been shown.
"I'd like a pair, maybe two," she said. "We can do that next." Wandering sounded fun. Like an indoor adventure.
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 5:57 pm
"If we keep the receipt they'll actually reimburse you for a pair of sneakers. They're considered necessary if you don't own any," Toby explained. He pulled out a game will multiple characters in the cover art, checked the back, and saw no multiplayer option. He tossed it back in.
"What about this?" Dari asked, offering a newer game from the rack. It had a multiplayer function and didn't seem to be especially violent. It said something about an expansive sandbox but, best of all, it seemed to be set in a tropical locale and under water.
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