Like, O-M-G! Let's Go to the Mall! (Gina)

Buses, to Gina, were like medieval torture devices. She could use chairs just fine, and was mildly uncomfortable when it came to cars, but buses-- buses were impossible. It was the first time she was ever on a city bus in her life, and she already hated it. If Gina could have comfortably carried Agnes, she would have done so voluntarily, but she was unable to. If she could magically zap away her unwieldy wings and make the rides a little less claustrophobic, she would have done that as well.

Yet, here she sat, looking a trifle uncomfortable. Her tail was maneuvered to the side, resting in the aisle and partially under the seat. Her wings were clasped around her like a cape, parting before the knees, and beginning to go numb, and her hands were clasped in her lap. She sincerely hoped that she wasn't crowding Agnes, and that people were not staring at her.

At that thought, Gina turned her attention outwardly, peering around the bus at the other patrons. Luckily, people weren't staring as often as they usually did. In fact, people were ignoring them all together, spare the occasional wandering gaze of a child. That, and when the bus driver peered back in the mirror to make sure that the bus was still in order.

There was one motivator, however, that had kept her rooted on the bus. Perhaps one of the only things that could lead Gina to face such a daunting task-- shopping. Gina loved shopping, and when Agnes had proposed that they go out and do something, there wasn't much she could do to contain herself. For her, shopping was more of a chore, but when shopping for another, her love of shopping came out in full-bloom. It was like dressing up a full-sized Barbie doll, and didn't entail the same visualizing, planning, and modification required for when Gina made her own clothes. Shopping for others was simple, and fun.

Even now, Gina visualized what sort of clothes she could dress Agnes up in. Though often Gina was concerned with her friend's physique, and often trying to fattern her up to a healthier weight, there was one advantage to Agnes being so insanely thin. She would look great in just about anything, because a lot of clothes were designed for tall, slender people such as herself, and not for short, plump girls like Gina. There were so many possibilities as per what Gina could choose for Agnes, and hoped she'd be open to Gina's fanatic/shopaholic tendencies.

"We'd better get ready to get off the bus. I doubt they're going to give us much time to hop off," Agnes whispered, giving Gina a nudge. She must have gotten dream-eyed for a moment, for it took a moment for Agnes's instructions to register. Boy, was Gina glad she had some city-smart person there to instruct her on bus etiquette, "Thanks for coming up with this brilliant idea."

"No problem," Gina murmured with a grin, lifting her purse out of her lap and looping it over her shoulder. It was a simple thing, sewn out of leather and fashioned much like an old-style messenger bag. Contained the necessities of a shopping excursion, "Nothing like some therapeutic shopping to break up the monotony." She got to her feet, nearly getting flung forward as the bus slowed, but preventing such from grabbing one of the triangles that hung from the cieling.

"I don't know how you city-people put up with these things," she grumbled with a grin, in reference to the bus, as she held onto the triangle for dear life. Though she'd been in the city for a while now, she still hadn't adjusted. It was still too loud, too busy, and not... well... very much like Mendocino at all. It was different, but it had its own unique attraction. It was always alive, and there was always a lot to do.

The doors opened, and the two girls smiled. Agnes stepped out first, holding the back door open for Gina. Gina jumped off of the bus, more-than-ready to be done with that cramped thing, and came to a stop on the cool sidewalk, relishing how it felt beneath her feet. She could feel the adrenaline rushing in, preparing her for the shopping trip. She waited as Agnes seemed to take a moment to compose herself, adjusting her jacket and itching her leg.

“Okay, um, so, I’ve never really shopped for myself before. You…have any suggestions? Then, after a bit I can buy you lunch.”

Gina may have been a small-town girl, but she knew how to shop. Mendocino was, after all, a popular tourist spot, with plenty of little artsy shops, just like the one that her foster mother owned. She was born to shop. She admired Agnes for her boldness, for how she so resolutely asked for Gina's suggestions and confessed she'd never shopped for herself. Gina ignored the "must dress the lifesize Barbie doll" compulsion for a moment, and paused to help her friend work through the daunting task of shopping for yourself.

"Well, the best plan of attack," Gina began tactically, steepling her fingers as she spoke, "Is to go for what you feel comfortable in, and what looks good on you. To not spend your money all in one place, 'cuz you might find something you like better later." Gina was used to methodically shopping. But now came the part that she was looking forward to-- the lifesize Barbie doll part. "However, often when two or more girls go shopping, there is the 'fun' aspect of it, too. This entails trying on outrageous clothes you'd never be caught dead in, clothes that you'd never be able to afford, and the likes." She paused purposefully, to make sure that Agnes was following what she was saying. It was a lot to absorb for a first-time shopper. She concluded the instruction with, "And who knows, that shirt you never would've worn in a million years might just be the greatest find you've made of that year."

Gina, too, had brought some money with her. Her intent was to find a couple of skirts, maybe an open-backed shirt that would accomodate her wings without modification. Or maybe, a swimsuit! And, if that didn't work out, accessories were always an option. One girl could never have enough hairclips or bracelets.

Gina smiled at her pupil, bringing her hands out so that they faced palm-up. With the benevolence of a teacher or a pastor, she inquired, "Questions?"

She'd allow for Agnes to ask questions before dragging her into the mall and commencing the next step of the process-- figuring out what style Agnes gravitated towards, and helping her pick out some cute clothes that weren't too far off from what she was into. And, dress-up time, Gina added on mentally.

Gina had been born and bred a methodical shopper, so it came as no surprise that Agnes, as a first-time shopper, was winded by Gina's introductory speech. Gina was allarmed to find that she was without questions, though.

“Nope. Just, you know, thank you for coming with me," Agnes smirked, shaking her head.

"Hey, no problem," Gina answered. She returned the hug, and watched as Agnes sized-up the mall.

Agnes nodded at it, took a deep breath, and approached it resolutely. Gina couldn't hold back her chuckle-- man, it was like Agnes was going off to war. Perhaps Gina had laid down too many instructions?

Gina trailed slightly behind Agnes as they approached. Gina reached the door first, so she grabbed the handle and pulled it open, holding it open for Agnes and giving her a corny, formal gesture inward.

"Okay-- hey, what does... G-A-P, stand for?" Agnes inquired.

Gina blinked, obviously befuddled by the question, and followed Agnes's gaze. There stood the glaring blue sign, with the stark white letters, that read "GAP". Really? How sparsely had Agnes come shopping, anyways? When she'd said she'd never shopped for herself, Gina had assumed that she meant her mother had chosen her clothes, but she expected that she'd at least heard of the GAP. She smiled patiently. Gina was the ever-patient, all-knowing Shopping Queen. By the day's end, her pupil would be educated-- if Agnes lasted all day. This being her first shopping trip, Gina wasn't sure if she'd be as well-equipped for marathon-shopping as Gina was.

"The Gap is a clothing store," Gina answered simply, following her friend inside. She then admitted, "But I don't know what the letters mean, to be quite honest. Their clothes are pretty simple, kind of preppy, but they've got some cute things-- want to check it out?" She allowed Agnes to go in ahead of her, and then meandered in behind her. If someone were to ask Gina what her style was, the answer would be "yes". It really just depended on the day and her mood. So, she'd been in the Gap once or twice.

"I-I guess," Agnes agreed hesitantly.

Gina shrugged, nodding her head to the side. It wouldn't have hurt her feelings if Agnes had said no, but in the way that Agnes had answered, Gina got the feeling that she really hadn't any much a clue. Okay, they'd experiment. She took the lead, slowly navigating around various clusters of people. Navigating crowds was always easier when she took the lead, as people tended to give her a little bit of distance.

They ventured into the Gap, slipping past a preoccupied woman, and Gina gravitated towards the nearest rack of women's clothes. A bunch of shirts. Normally, Gina avoided the shirts. Halters and tube-tops were usually all she could try on without modifying them, and she wasn't too keen on tube tops. However, Agnes didn't have that problem, and they were here to shop for Agnes, so she gravitated towards. Agnes fished a shirt off of the rack, and held it up for Gina to judge.

Gina gave a shrug. Anything would work for her, really, it was all just a matter of her tastes. She would try to be her sounding board, at first, until she got a better sense of what Agnes liked.

"I don't know, do you like the shirt?" she countered. She smiled encouragingly-- she wasn't just going to dress Agnes up, Agnes had to find clothes that she liked, too, "What size are you, anyways?" Gina allowed for Agnes to answer first, but she'd already begun to size her friend up with her eyes. She was a bit taller, a bit more slender. There was a good chance she was petite, too. Hmm... Gina went back to rifling through the shirts. They were all so simple, but there were a couple cute ones here and there.

"So Gina, how've you been doing at the mansion? Hope you're not breaking too many boy's hearts," Agnes said with a playful wink.

"It's been good," Gina answered, drawing out a halter top and feeling the fabric of the shirt between two fingers, experimentally, "Very... normal." She chuckled, at the "heartbreaking" and replied, "I can't help myself, I'm a heartbreaker."

She replaced the halter top and kept rifling through the rack, turning the question back towards Agnes, "How's the Mansion been treating you?"

“Oh, it’s very…" Agnes paused to survey the shirt, and then burst out in giggles, "Yeah, no." Before surreptitiously sliding it back onto the rack. Gina laughed too, glad that they were on the same page.

"Oh, um, I’m a size 2, I think. My mother used to make all my clothes but that’s what I fit in when I found some shirts at the Salvation Army."

Gina whistled appreciately, and murmured, "Damn, a size 2?" Gina was more like a six or an eight, but she was petite, so sizing was always complicated. Things were either too long, or too tight, or she simply had to find petite clothes. Hence the reason that she tended to make her clothes. At least then she could modify them to her liking, and not risk undoing an entire shirt.

Agnes laughed at the "heartbreaker" comment, and Gina continued to beam. Contrary to popular belief, contrary to her good-natured antics, she'd yet to fall into a relationship. She treated everyone with the same warmth, but there was an untouchableness about her. Mayhap it was her appearance, or maybe it was how well-off she seemed without someone beside her. Or maybe it was her three, older foster brothers. Whatever the reason, she didn't have a guy, so the "heartbreaker" comment had been, for the most part, sarcastic.

Gina gravitated towards slightly more petite sizes, as she assumed that Agnes was either in the "normal" sizing range, or the "tall", because of how slender she was versus how tall she was. She approached wielding a dark green shirt.

The mood changed a little when Gina asked her how things had been at the Mansion, and Agnes confessed, “It’s…it’s been okay-- not too many talk to me, but then again, I really don’t like being talked to by people I don’t know. Thankfully, though, no one has really mentioned the ViewTube thing to me again. So…guess that’s a good thing.”

"Oh," Gina sighed. For someone who didn't like unfamiliar people talking to her, she certainly sounded disheartened by the fact that not to many people talked to her. Gina found it therapeutic to talk to unfamiliar people. Strangers didn't know a single thing about you, so it was like getting a fresh start each time, "Well, it's good to hear that your notoriety wasn't long-lived." Gina commented, bumping Agnes with her hip, "There's your fifteen minutes of fame, now its back to anonimity for you," she smiled warmly. Things like this died down fast, those internet sensations that were popular one week and not the next. On top of that, Agnes was a normal-looking girl, and didn't have any outward mutations, so it would take a stellar memory to remember who she was.

Gina picked up a couple of skirts-- one that was all-black and had two layers, cut evenly, and the other was black and white patterned, and kind of reminded her of a school-girl skirt. The only problem with skirts was that she couldn't go flying in it. The black skirt was cute enough to be worth it, the black and white one wasn't. She held the skirt at her hips, where it would sit, and torqued her body to the side. It was cute, but... not that cute. Gina put it back. She was more in a shirts- and swimsuit sort of mood today.

Gina glanced aside at Agnes, at the shirt that she was carrying, and shifted gears to shopping-conversation once again, "Green is definitely one of your colors."

"You got lucky," Agnes grinned as she bumped Gina back, "I could have let the fame go to my head and demanded you bring me chocolate all the time."

Gina stuck out her tongue and quipped, "If you were that famous, you'd be buying me chocolate, hon."

She continued to rifle through the clothes, making note as Agnes lingered near by expectantly, occasionally bobbing her hear in approval as Gina would fish out something for herself, and then watching as Gina would replace it on the rack. Agnes resurveyed the shirt, patting it softly.

"Yeah? I like it. I've always liked green."

She seemed to be losing steam, with only one shirt, and so Gina intervened. It was time for step two in the process.

"So, when you're shopping, the next thing to do is to try the clothes on in the dressing room," Gina explained, as she continued to look through the clothes on the rack, "The reason being is that all clothes are made differently, so you might need a size bigger or smaller than what you already have."

Her clawed hands found a short, faded red dress. It came down to just above the knees, and the top was loose and billowy, supported by two thin straps which were braided and came together almost like a halter top behind the neck. The back dipped low beneath the arms and had plenty of loose fabric. Concieveably, it might have been able to accomodate Gina's wings with little modification, spare a few cuts on the sides. She particularly liked the v-neck. Gina draped the dress over her arm.

"Do you want to grab anything else, or is that all for the first round of dressing rooms?" Gina inquired, giving Agnes a purposeful glance.

"Sweet!" Gina sang, surveying the dresses which she'd retrieved. Gina hadn't taken Agnes as the dress-type, but shopping revealed all sides of people that one wouldn't have know about before. Gina was too short for long dresses like that, so she generally stuck to ones that were no longer than cocktail length. Gina nodded and said, "Follow me, my pupil."

Gina emerged carefully from the racks, down a wide and well-travelled path towards the back of the store. The dressing rooms were split into two sides, one for women and one for men. As they neared the dressing rooms, a clamor became more apparent, of women comparing certain styles and such, and saying things like, "Ooh, honey, that really doesn't flatter your hips," or "God, that looks great!" or "If only it weren't so expensive."

The dressing room wasn't much to see, two rows of stall facing each other, with slatted doors that showed nothing. Occasionally, to break up the monotony, a trio of mirrors, angled to give a multidimensional view of the person trying on the clothes. Gina spied an open pair of dressing room stalls, which struck her as a bit of a miracle, as the dressing room was quite busy today. The doors of these two stalls faced another, and were directly across the walkway from one another.

"Now, the fun part," Gina explained, coming to a halt before the open stalls and turning to face Agnes, "Trying it on. It's like putting on a fashion show." Gina gestured towards the stall to her right, in a very formal way and said, "My lady, your stall awaits."