There really were no other options. No matter how many times he tabulated, calculated, and triangulated, he kept coming to the same conclusion. Kai was completely out of clothes and needed new ones. He’d had it with picking through the mansion’s “lost and found” box, a pitiful collection of dingy and forgotten articles that could barely be called clothing. He was resigned to his fate: He must brave the mad jungle called “the mall”, a jungle in which his powers would be of no use to him whatsoever.

But who could he trust to aid him on this dangerous quest? His new roommate would just laugh at him the whole time. And while he enjoyed hanging out with him, he really needed a little bit more emotional support and understanding in such a delicate situation.

A thought… One of the nicest mutants that he’d met in all of New York lived just down the hall. Mayhaps he would take pity on the destitute boy and agree to accompany him. Kai whistled as he rummaged through Carrick’s closet for something wearable.

He emerged from their room a few moments later, at least covered, if not coordinated. He walked down the hall and schooled his expression into a strong-yet-showing-a-glimmer-of-weakness type expression, raised his hand and rapt gently on the door.

The figure behind it was greeted with giant pleading puppy dog eyes, “Shin…?”

The door swung open. Shin blinked at Kai. The Asian trianglemancer had bags under his eyes. It looked like he hadn't been sleeping much lately, yet the grogginess indicated... A yawn escaped Shin. He rubbed his eye. "Hey? What's up... I was sleeping." First nap in a while. He'd needed that nap. It was going to help him understand that book he was reading.

He paused. That had come off kind of grumpy, hadn't it? Let's try that again... "Hey, Kai. What's up?" Shin smiled.

Oh… Shin was sleeping. He felt a little crestfallen, but determined not to let it ruin his day. “Sorry to disturb you, man. I was hoping to get out to the store today and, um, get some clothes. I just wanted to know if you were free to come, but I can find someone else if you need the sleep.”

He had no idea what his face was saying at that moment. His mind, however, was racing, trying to think of who else he could ask. Most of the other people he’d met at the mansion so far were girls. While girls had insight into fashion, they weren’t always the best to actually shop with. They liked to make him try on weird things or… well the potential for something bad happening was just too high in such an uncomfortable situation.

He shrugged and began withdrawing from the doorway.

"No, hey!" Shin stopped Kai. That train of thought was wrong. "I can come with you. Sorry if that came off kind of dismissive. Insomnia... kind of makes me a grouch sometimes. I'd love to go shopping with you, man. " Shin paused, and thought for a second. "Though, if you wanted to look good, there are better people to ask... I'm only right on with my fashion tips half the time. The other half, I wear pajama pants with school uniform jackets, and ridiculously shiny battle pants... I'll help if you want me. Just note, you might wind up in leather."

He was just being honest.

“Oh?” he didn’t know that Shin was an insomniac. That was interesting because, while Kai normally slept like a pile of bricks, his nightmares had been getting worse lately. So they were probably both up at 4 am the previous night.

“Actually, you’re the perfect person to go with, I think.” Kai grinned. “I’m not much in to fashion or anything fancy like that.” He indicated his khaki shorts and baggy sweatshirt. “I’ve just been reduced to stealing clothes from Carrick and, well… It’s probably time I got something that actually fit me. And I really don’t know this shopping area very well. Where does one even go to get like, plaid shirts or something?”

Kai seemed surprised that Shin hadn't slept well. Shin nodded. "Yeah. Mutation." He said 'mutation', as if that was the only explanation needed.

Shin offered a small smile when Kai told him he was perfect for the job. Shin gave a light chuckle at the gesture to the boy's current attire. Shin looked back into the room for a mirror, to remind him what he himself was currently wearing. A white hoodie, white shirt, and blue jeans. Ah right. He was dressed okay for the occasion. It was a good thing he'd remembered his pants answering the door this time.

The name Carrick got Shin's attention. He swung his eyes back to Kai, and repeated the name. "Carrick?" Oh boy. "Does Carrick... have enough socks right now?" Shin asked. He bit his lip. "I should pick him up a pair while we're shopping... maybe two pair..."

"I know the perfect place to get them, too... do you have a bus pass?"

Yes, mutations seemed to cause a lot of problems. This was something that was being shown to him recently. And some mutants made their own troubles, but that was another story. His nightmares were often about his mutation or the side effects of it, so he felt like Shin’s was a reasonable explanation.

>>"Does Carrick... have enough socks right now?"

Socks? Hmm… now that he mentioned it, it was hard for Kai to find enough socks to pilfer for his own use. “I think he’s running low, actually.” He winked, letting Shin know that he had, indeed, been regaled with the tragic tale of Shard v. Sock.

“Bus pass? Yep, I do now. Didn’t really need it before, but I’m learning that it is a cheap and effective means of getting around this city. Proof that, even after living here for over a year, you can still learn something about it.” He had to admit that he was extremely happy to know that Shin had a destination in mind. “Let’s go!”

>> “I think he’s running low, actually.”

Shin snapped. "I guess we'll have to meet his sock quota. I owe him."

Now that that was decided...

Kai had a bus pass. Shin gave a 'thumbs up'. Kai was ready, and he... wasn't quite."Hold on while I grab my things," Shin said. He rushed into his room. The sounds of things getting thrown around was audible. If one peeped through the crack in the doorway, they might see a cyclone of clothes flying by. Thirty seconds later, Shin popped back out, turning to lock his door behind him. He smiled at Kai.

"Alright. Ready."

With that, they hit the bus depot. A short while later, the two boys stepped off in front of a Macy's in New York. Shin gestured to the Macy's, then led him right in. The first stop was the aisle of Socks. It was like an island all to itself. Shin picked up a packet of wool socks in one hand, regular ankle-biters in the other. He looked to Kai.

"Got a preference?"

His gaze wandered around the racks of colorful clothing and brightly garbed mannequins. He was in a daze or kind of trance. There were no malls in Saybrook, let alone ones this big. Big department stores weren’t really his thing. Kai was out of place here.

His day-mare was interrupted when Shin rustled some packages at him. They contained socks. Different kinds of socks.

>>"Got a preference?"

Kai examined the plastic-wrapped packages with care for a moment. The wool socks seemed excessive, since it was currently almost summer. “Well I doubt that the wool ones would survive until winter, knowing Carrick’s track record with socks.” Besides, he added silently, those are the kind that I would actually steal from him…

He sighed, knowing what he had to do. “I guess I better get a pack of those, too.”

The shopping trip was going well so far. They had managed to hunt down and procure into their possession one desired item. Kai spotted another necessity just the next aisle over. But… how to keep this from being awkward? He kept his shoulders up, trying to project confidence and nonchalance.

“Would you grab me one?” he asked as he sidled to the section and grabbed some boxers at random.

>>“Well I doubt that the wool ones would survive until winter, knowing Carrick’s track record with socks.”

Shin examined Kai's face for seriousness versus humor. Again, with the sock-jokes. It had been a true mistake destroying Carrick's woolen footwear. Shin laughed it off. "Okay, in that case... two packs?" He looked around, suddenly realizing something. He needed a cart.

Kai directed them to the next aisle, and Shin followed.

"Underwear?" He asked. Shin picked up a package of pink boxers, and added them to the armload of sock packages he already had. "Alright, what's next?"

Where was the pants section, he wondered?

Kai was horrified when Shin followed him to the underwear section and selected a package of BRIGHT pink ones and tucked it under his arm. It was made all the more confusing by the fact that he wasn’t entirely sure whether the underwear were meant for him or for Shin. Or for Carrick for that matter. Shin managed to diffuse the situation by deftly ignoring its awkwardness.

>>"Alright, what's next?"

“Uh, well…” he glanced down at his hobo-ish appearance. “Either shirts or pants next, I guess. Do they have a plaid section?” Or overall section? “Maybe we’d better ask.”

He tried to peer over the shelves around them to see if there were signs indicating such apparel treasures. The only sign in sight was ‘Accessories.’ He was pretty sure that there was nothing he needed in that area of the store. Then he spied a friendly looking girl in a smock. “Excuse me, could you point me in the direction of… pants?”

She nodded, ponytail bouncing. “Menswear is on the third floor.” At Kai’s dumbfounded expression, she added, “The elevator is just down this way. Hang a left at the cosmetics and you should find it right there.”

Plaid section? Plaid?

"Have you considered leather? It's the new plaid." Shin replied.

They'd definitely have to get him some pants first. Shin waited patiently as Kai got directions, then nodded to him. "Pants it is, then? Though maybe first...?" He gestured towards accessories. "Wait. No. Pants, first. Cool hats, later. I'll lead the way?" He'd been here before, after all. Without another word, Shin started leading. They went up the elevator shaft, to the third floor, and straight to pants.

Shin aimed a sweeping gesture at the fine selection, then steered Kai towards the leather. "If you want to look dashing," He added with an over-the-top nod of his head. He held out his upturned palm towards the pants.

((OOC: Hope it was okay to lead the way?))

“Leather? Gee, I don’t know Shin.” Kai chewed on his thumb nervously. “I mean, they’d have to withstand gardening and dirt and…” He ran out of excuses, so he added truthfully, “I guess they just don’t really look like me.”

He raised his head, which was trying to duck in embarrassment or shame. He was very grateful that Shin knew his way around the store and didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but at the same time, leather pants just seemed… wrong. “Maybe just some jeans?” he compromised, having smashed overalls and leather pants together in his head. This was evening those two extremes out.

Kai led the way across the aisle and selected a pair from the stack. He held them in front of himself. It seemed like the appropriate thing to do. “Whadya think?”

Kai made a whole lot of excuses, and tried to dodge the leather pants with jeans. Shin wagged a finger at him.

"How would you know it didn't look like you until you tried them on?" Shin responded. "You need to try! Trying new things is fun." And fun things were fun. Didn't Kai want to have fun?

No. It seemed Kai did not. The boy held up some non-leather pants, and Shin held his chin thoughtfully. "I think you need to take a walk on the wild side," Shin stated. "Though, those are fine, if you want to be boring."

He smiled.

There seemed to be no way out of at least trying on the pants that Shin picked out. Kai had been rather effectively corralled into a corner by Shin’s cunning and the Man’s Code of Conduct. He must not be considered boring. Even at the cost of trying on rather impractical pants.

“Ok,” he resigned, “I’ll try them both on.” He emphasized ‘both’. He really did need something for every day wear.

The next thing he knew, he was being spirited off towards the dressing room with several uber-shiny and completely ridiculous garments piled high in his arms. Once there, he picked his way through the pile, trying to find something that he wouldn’t be totally embarrassed to wear in public. Finding none, he settled for the least flashy of colors and pulled on the leather pants.

He was almost afraid to look. Kai drew the curtain back. “Well, what do you think?”