tampered | The redheads are taking over the City.

Entry tags:

The redheads are taking over the City.

When; Thursday afternoon(ish)
Rating; The most amusingly PG post ever
Characters; Charlie McGee, Penny and Sophie Hatter
Summary; Sophie needs drawers, Charlie needs date clothes and Penny just needs to be there.
Log;

A girls day out wasn't as frightening as Charlie would have thought ages ago. Truth was she liked Sophie and Penny. They were both good hearted women and Charlie needed more of that in her life. She was glad to be out for the afternoon, even if it was to go shopping. She waited outside the store with a small smile on her face, arms crossed behind her back.

She could do this. Easily and happily and please forgive her for being early. She's just excited.

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This had stemmed from practicality, more than the admittance that she was as stuck here as Howl was, in his infinite panic towards being tied down to any place. One couldn't wash her drawers properly in a house of so many, nor hang them out to dry, although Sophie had tried. Snuck to the bathroom in the middle of the night to was them, hang them to dry, and woke with the crack of dawn to put them back on. It was tiresome, and she had to suffer enough tiresome things as it was.

The idea of taking money from this Welcome Centre's fund to buy herself clothes was, well, embarrassing. As soon as she had an income, she would return every coin spent, because it wouldn't do to have the City sponsor her unmentionables collection. There was just no way.

Practicality and common sense aside, she had to admit that it had been a long time since she'd done this. Going out to stores with other girls; it made her miss Lettie and Martha something fierce again, but she tried to focus on the possitive side of that. For example, the company.

One of which she can spot, so she waves before she even gets near the girl.

Penny, occasionally on time but more frequently slightly late, shows up shortly after Sophie. She's excited about going shopping--more excited than she should be, perhaps, considering she's not out to buy anything for herself (the main problem with working primarily as an unpaid volunteer is always the lack of money). Still, it's an excuse to spend time with... friends? She would certainly consider Charlie and Sophie friends, but she's quick to warm up to people.

No matter. She isn't hideously late and she has a portion of the Welcome Center's money that's earmarked for helping new arrivals with essentials.

"Hey, Sophie! Hey Charlie!"

Charlie had found a wall to lean on as she waited, one leg bent and the bottom of her foot placed against the bricks as she waited. Shopping with female friends. Who'd have thought Charlie'd be doing that ever? Then again, she'd been doing a lot of things here that she didn't have the opportunity to back home. Found a steady job, met people like her, made friends that weren't just superficial and surface and they actually knew her real name. Not some fake one she pulled out of her imagination so when she spotted Sophie and Penny, her grin widened and she waved back excitedly.

"Hey! Apparently we're in luck, the store is having a sale on everything. How are you two?"

Looking at her companions for the day, Sophie knew that she'd be sticking out like a sore thumb during this shopping trick. To begin with, she only had the one dress, frumpy and grey - much like herself, she mused amusedly - which she'd tried to clean and remedy of any signs of the fight that'd taken place moments before she'd been brought here. Now, it wasn't usually a bad dress, it was very practical and simple and not outstanding at all, but apparently in this place no-one wore petticoats and she was rather shocked to see so many women wearing those blue pants.

Shocked, and rather intrigued, as well. How would they sit on the skin, she wondered.

"Hello to both of you. I'm good, thank you - I feel a little out of place."

"No sale's a bad sale," Penny states. Okay, maybe it's not a deeply profound statement, but it's true. "I'm good--how about you, Charlie?"

She gives Sophie's clothes an appraising once-over. They're old-fashioned and maybe not in the best shape, but people have shown up in the City in a worse state... like without clothes at all. "You won't look out of place at all after today. We'll get you all modernized."

"It was a slow day at the Jasmine Dragon, so I'm good," Charlie replies calmly, removing a hair tie from her wrist and working her hair out of her face. "Not that I hate when it's busy, there. I just don't want to be tired or stressed when I'm with Ed later." She can't lie to him about it, either. He'd know, just by scent alone.

She turns to look at Sophie, giving the dress a once over before smiling. "I'm sure we can find something she'll like. Not that I know a thing about fashion at all. I just go for comfort and durability." And she really does. She's not wearing anything exciting, herself. Just jeans and a pale grey t-shirt. And essentially no make up. She points at the store, smiling.

"Ready?"

She resists the need to fiddle with her dress' skirt, feeling less sophisticated by the moment. In comparison to both girls, she's a drab little thing, but this has never been reason to bring Sophie down before; usually, it bounced off her practical thick skin.

"I hope you're not too tired - I feel like I'm already imposing on you both enough, so we don't have to focus on me so much. You have clothes to buy for your...date, right, Charlie? We can buy those first," she says, pushing her hair behind her ear. If she had a hat right now - but no, nevermind.

"Comfort and durability sounds perfectly fine to me. It's quite strange, seeing women in trousers."

"There's definitely no imposing going on, I promise," Penny informs Sophie with all of the sincerity she can muster (which is a good deal). "And you don't need to get jeans or anything. I usually wear skirts."

It's definitely strange for Penny, being the most fashion-savvy person in the group. Usually her mix-and-match Goodwill style works well enough for what she does which, prior to the City, was hanging out with homeless people. Not a hard crowd to please.

She smiles over at Charlie. "What kind of date? Casual dinner-at-home? Going out someplace fancy?"

"None whatsoever. I'm happy to be spending time with you both," Charlie says, also very sincere. She grins at the both of them, nodding in agreement with Penny. "Exactly. This store sells quite a lot. Pants, skirts of varying lengths. Shoes of all--" But then the device goes off and she looks at a message, grinning.

"Oh, gosh," she shakes her head, tucking her device back in her pocket. "Apparently, I'm not to let you buy anything grey." To Penny, she says. "Nothing exciting. Just movies on the roof of our building after the sun goes down."

Her eyes widen at the message; instantly, she knows exactly who instructed her. "That - that arrogant thing of a wizard - he can't control what I choose to wear, what is -"

She can tell by now that she's probably red in the face, and her nails are close to ripping the skirt of her dress to shreds, so she takes a calming breath. Mutters a little to herself. Another calming breath. "We'll see about that. Let's go get your outfits first."

Sophie gets a smile that's equal parts amused and pitying. "Is that wizard one of those headaches you were talking about? You can get gray if you want... as long as you're happy with what you're wearing, who cares what anyone else thinks?" After giving Sophie's clothes another quick look, she adds, "You'd look really, really pretty in light blues, I think. Purples, even."

She has to suppress an "aww" when Charlie describes her future date. "That's so sweet! So casual...?"

Penny's already ducking into the store, holding the door open behind her.

"I told him I'd do my best but there is a lot to look at in the store. I could become very distracted. Get what you want. Whatever you're comfortable in. Though, I will say light blues and purples would look good on you. But, again. Up to you. I'll be elsewhere, darn the luck," she says, grinning at Sophie and heading in after Penny.

"Yeah. Casual. This is...I'm new to dating so I don't really know what I'm doing. Casual is fine by me. Calm works."

She's grateful for the girls' support, and in no small part, she's also grateful for their suggestions of colours, but she silently decides that she won't impose her needs on the emergency account too much. She'll get what's cheap, and practical, and comfortable - and if that comes in grey, then so be it! But just because she's been confined to a grey dress so far, doesn't mean she's going to go back to being a little mouse again. No, rather, she thinks that mouse has roared a long time ago.

Instead of commenting about how and to what extent Howl infuriates her, and why, Sophie focuses on the more interesting part of the conversation. 'Dates'. "Excuse me, but wouldn't casual be a bit confusing? I mean, I understand it would be, a little, if you can't tell the intentions of your intended. Although I'm apparently pre-radio, so I could be outdated."

"You're not outdated," Penny assures Sophie. "You're just misplaced. Dates are super casual, mostly--I mean, there are fancier ones where you dress up and go to dinner, but I think a lot of dating is just hanging out. Enjoying someone else's company."

Charlie's sorting through a stack of t-shirts in various colors, eying a purple one with a pretzel on it, the caption above reading The Best Love Is Twisted. Well, that shirt is hers. And it's cheap, too. She listens to Sophie with a small smile, considering her words before speaking.

"Exactly what Penny said. Plus, I think Ed and I are still trying to figure things out. We've had a few shaky moments and have recovered from them and I'm completely and totally his and he knows it. But this is a new relationship for either of us so I...have no clue how to explain it."

While the concept of dating still sounds modern - or she's misplaced, as Penny put it - to her, the explanation Charlie gives is one that rings familiar.

"I think I understand it," she murmurs, distractedly, and sorts through a rack of blouses up on hangers. She doesn't want to think about it, though, because at this point she's just not certain how he could possibly - well. "So you are taking it slow - that seems wise, I suppose. But couldn't you enjoy someone else's company without it being a date?"

"Sure you can." Penny stoops to look through some modest skirts that might be appropriate for Sophie. "In a lot of ways, there's not much of a difference between being friends hanging out and being on a date."

That's about where things stand with Penny and Wilson. She isn't sure that either of them knows if they're dating or not.

"Well, okay. Sometimes there's kissing on dates. You know when it's a date if the guy pays for you, too." She straightens and holds a modest blue skirt up for Sophie's inspection. "Is this the kind of thing you'd wear?"

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The redheads are taking over the City.

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