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After all the time he'd spent in second hand shops, Jude had gotten the hang of how to make sure he was actually getting a good deal. A few fiascos with remarkably cheap garments that had only fallen to pieces when he'd tried to take the stitched out had taught him fast to check quality as well as price -- and than spending a buck or two more could be worth it, if it meant unstained lining and solid materials.

As such, instead of just grabbing the vest he'd found at the bottom of a pile of 1920s dresses and running with it, he'd paused to check it over more thoroughly. Small fingers along hem and seam would make sure that he found any holes that could come back to bite him later. A shift of the material into the nearest beam of light let him see stains both easily visible and better hidden. A quick check of the pockets came up with something exceptional: extra buttons.

He shoved them back quickly with a furtive look around, like he expected someone to come steal the vest out of his grasp. With it tucked under one arm, he set to digging through the hats. From behind, dressed as he was -- vest, proper pants, even a tie tucked out of the way so he wouldn't make a mess out of it -- he looked older than he was, almost professional, potentially like he worked there. Only when he turned would someone recognize that he was a relatively young sixteen, shy-eyed and nervous.

A filthy newsboy cap tucked under his other arm [it was dirty but would wash, he was certain, and pale enough that he could dye it if it wouldn't come clear], Jude turned in place to step toward the front of store -- and ran almost immediately into the stranger, the breath knocked out of him and his tie gone askew. The precious buttons tumbled out of the pocket of his treasure of a vest and rattled their way up against Darryl's foot.

And Jude froze.

For just a moment, he was torn. An apology was already falling out of his lips, stammering and too quiet, but his eyes followed the path of those buttons. Dive for them or ignore them? Risk the indignity of kneeling at her feet or force himself to ask for them back.

His eyes met hers for a fraction of a second before he dropped down to a crouch and stretched out to grab them from her feet, awkward and uncomfortable and hot in the confines of the little store. At least she hadn't been a girl in a short skirt.

"Ah." He looked up at her from his place on the floor, crouched, buttons curled into one palm -- and then slowly levered himself up to stand. The vest was still clutched under his arm like a lifeline, hat poking out to a dangerous degree. Obviously young, only an inch or two over five feet and a bit babyfaced, his serious expression countered it out some: not laughing along with her just blinking back and bobbing his head in a quick nod.

Put together but quiet. Unsure exactly what to do with himself when talking to a peer. He fidgeted, clearing his throat.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to...step on your toes." It didn't make much sense. He hadn't. For a moment, Jude looked lost. Then he shrugged, tucking the buttons away again and fidgeting to fold the vest more carefully. They wouldn't tumble free again.

"Um." For one moment, his expression flashed toward panic -- hesitating, as he considered how exactly he wanted to answer that. He fumbled and smoothed it out, working to put on a faintly bored expression. Jude mostly succeeded. He looked distracted as he shrugged, at least, but he couldn't undo his briefly honest eyes.

"Sometimes. When I'm bored." He didn't put on the spoiled rich boy tone, at least, just shrugged a little like it didn't matter, his eyes skating across hers as he turned to go. "You can, um. Find interesting things."

"Y-yeah." Not just taller -- she had almost half a foot and probably a few pounds on him. At a glance, someone likely would have thought their ages reversed: fine-featured and small, Jude definitely looked younger than sixteen, only that exaggeratedly serious expression balancing it out some.

"I can see that." He gave her pile a quick look over, tugging his tie back into place and easing back a step. It looked like he might be ready to retreat, and already -- except that his eyes lit on some of the electronics she'd claimed, and that pulled his eyebrows together in puzzlement. "Do those even work?"

"Uh." That caught his interest, at least, made him drop some of the pretense to just consider her squarely, head tipped and eyebrows knitted. Electronics, and she could repair them? Spare parts and fancy things and...

"Are you any good with computers?" It was a bit random, a bit out of left field, perhaps. Jude shrugged, blinking up at her again. "Like putting more memory or whatever in them?"

"I'm..." He hesitated, tone faltering for just a moment before he got it back, nervous but focused. He squared his shoulders and shrugged, his serious expression coming across almost as imperious, his stiff posture almost controlled, instead of uncertain. He was decent at pretending.

"I'm looking to, perhaps, upgrade my current machine." His eyes flitted off her, to the left, and then back. "I'm not sure how to do it, exactly."

With his mind made up, Jude was starting to relax into it: considering her with his head tipped to the side and thick eyebrows knitted together in the middle of his forehead.

"It's a laptop. Um. I don't know enough, I don't think, and it's not with me today..." Reaching up, he smoothed hair back out of his eyes and licked his lips. "Sorry, this is probably kind of weird, some random stranger coming up to you and...and asking you to help out. You don't go to Meadowview, do you?"