Choosing formalwear! THE HORROR

[notallofus]

Go to a club opening, the mission brief said.

Pass codes over and receive a beacon location for the goods they have to transport, the mission brief said.

Buy formalwear for the first time in your life, the brief did not say, but that's Kanan's current assignment, regardless.

He has found dark-colored pants, at least, but are they sophisticated pants? Are they the kind of pants a rich, suave guy would wear to a club opening intended for high rollers and the idle rich?

They're certainly sparkly, when he tilts them in the light, so maybe so. But then, if he chooses these pants, what sort of shirt is he going to need, and will his boots be all right, or is there some kind of shoe he needs to use, too.

And what about make-up?

Which is why instead of choosing several items and making his way to the front of the shop to pay for them, Kanan is standing, stunned and overwhelmed, in the pants aisle. One of several pants aisles, actually.

This is hell.

Comments

[for_everyone]

Hera was expecting to find Kanan outside the store, but when he's not there, and she can't think of anywhere else he'd wander off to, she goes ahead and steps inside. There's a small cloth bag slung over her shoulder (she's glad they were paid well for their last job, as prepping for this one isn't cheap), and she glances between the aisles, begging off a Togrutan salesman who asks if she needs assistance.

Finally, she spots Kanan, and the very sparkly pants in his hands.

"Hey," she calls, though her voice lowers as she glances around and see he... apparently has nothing, besides these sparkling pants.

"What's... going on?"

[notallofus]

He stays staring down at the sparkly pants for a second, then looks up at Hera, eyes wide.

Upon seeing her actually done shopping, he winces, wringing the pants between his hands and then stopping himself by an act of will.

"Uh. I don't really, uh. I don't really know what goes with these?"

[for_everyone]

"Uh-huh."

Hera looks down at the pants in his hands, and then asks, "Are you sure you want those?"

It's not that there's anything wrong with them, exactly. Hera just has a feeling Kanan isn't sure about anything right now.

[notallofus]

Kanan stares down at the pants for another, longer moment, before looking back up at Hera.

The whites of his eyes are showing more than usual.

"They look fancy?" he tries.

He could probably stand to sound more convincing.

[for_everyone]

"All right..."

Slowly, she reaches out, and puts her hand over one of his. "Maybe I shouldn't have... left you alone..."

[notallofus]

"No," he says, halfheartedly moving his hand back and then deciding to leave it right where it is.

"I've got this. I mean, uh. I can figure it out!"







Yeah, no, he totally can't, at least not within the time constraints they have.

"Though, uh. Help might be . . . nice. If you've got any ideas."

[for_everyone]

"Well..."

Hera glances around at the racks. "You want to fit in. But not stand out."

Sometimes sparkly pants can work for that! But Hera has a feeling this isn't one of those times.

[notallofus]

Kanan scrubs his hand through his hair, belatedly realizing that's the hand that's holding the sparkly pants, and the motion stutters to a stop.

"Yeah, uh. I don't really know what that means here? I mean, I could probably figure it out . . . "

[for_everyone]

Hera glances back up to him, and then down to her own bag. Then she lowers it from her arm, and starts to unfold it.

"Something that goes with mine might be a place to start."

The dress she had chosen is black, with a red sheen that glints under the lights. It's long enough to reach her knees, thin straps for her shoulders, and is cut to stay close to her figure.

[notallofus]

"So . . . "

He looks dazed for a second, blinking rapidly to clear his head. That dress is very --

Uh.

"Something red? Or is that too . . . much? Definitely less sparkly pants, though. Uh."

[for_everyone]

"Maybe black with red accents," she says, folding up the dress again.

"Very Empire."

[notallofus]

He makes a face of utter disgust at her phrasing, shaking his head to clear off that expression.

"Did you have to say that?"

But she's not wrong.

"Maybe . . . "

He turns toward the racks of pants, combing through them for a moment and pulling out a pair of black pants that are probably his size, with three very narrow red pinstripes down the side of the legs and along the cuffs.

"Like this?"

[for_everyone]

Hera glances down to the narrow stripes, then nods.

"It doesn't look too plain, but also won't stand out."

She looks back up to him, and offers a small, but encouraging smile. "Want to try a shirt next?"

[notallofus]

His return smile is wry, even if the lines of his face are still a little frozen in dread.

"Uh. Probably? Nothing I've got is gonna match this. Or, uh. Complement it. Or whatever."

He knows the terminology! Sort of.

"As long as it doesn't have ruffles."

[for_everyone]

"Come on," she says, taking his arm to lead him slowly toward a more helpful section of the store. "This isn't that bad."

[notallofus]

"I think it would be less bad if I'd ever done it before," Kanan says slowly, trying not to seem reluctant as he moves in Hera's wake.

First there was the creche, and then running throughout the galaxy means you take whatever the first thing you see is, and get the hell out.

And he's had a lot of other things to worry about since then.

"Usually I just grab the first thing that fits and run out, and that's . . . not gonna work here."

[for_everyone]

"That's usually what I do, too," she points out. "I don't tend spend a lot of time in glamorous parties. I'd never been to anything like it before I left Ryloth."

Maybe she'd seen snippets on the holo, but they hadn't left much of am impression on her.

[notallofus]

Considering their introduction to each other on the mining system of Gorse, there's only one thing he can say here.

"And here I thought you had a long career as a lady of mystery."

His shoulders have relaxed a little, though, and he sways a bit to nudge her shoulder with his own. He'll move farther afield in a moment to search for a useful shirt -- or a set of them, because he's going to want her to weigh in.

Maybe this dark gray shirt with a faintly red pattern woven into it, or this other paler gray shirt maybe with a vest . . .

"Where'd you pick up the knack for what might look good, then?"

[for_everyone]

"I don't think about it as 'what might look good,'" Hera says, as they reach a more appropriate aisle, some shirts hanging in wood display cases, others on mannequins of various species. She does take a step away from him, glancing along the fabrics and colors.

"I think about it as, 'what will others expect from me.'"

[notallofus]

He tries not to wince and mostly succeeds.

"Right. Right. So . . . what story are we telling at this party, is that . . .would that be a more helpful way to think?"

Kanan is definitely listening to her response as he dives into the display, peering first at a tightly-knitted shirt with silk inserts that's currently gracing the body of a Duros mannequin, then at something covered in very fine embroidery on one made to look like a Muun.

Then he seems to take discretion as the better part of valor and starts looking at things in the wooden display cases. If only they grouped them by color . . .

[for_everyone]

"You could try it."

She's not sure she can tell him what would be more helpful to him. "Sometimes it's easier to pretend to be someone else."

Hera's pretty sure he has some experience with that.

[notallofus]

"A lot of the time, really," Kanan mutters, but he doesn't sound displeased about it.

"I guess if I'm squiring around someone that would wear that dress . . . "

He dives into the display and pulls out two different shirts, one a high-collared jacket-and-shirt combination with the shirt in brilliant red to match the stripes of the pants he already chose, and the jacket a deep velvety black edged in that same crimson. The other is a softer, shimmery gray that looks red-tinged if you tilt the shirt in several ways. It will look even more shimmery and red on a person's body.

Probably. Kanan guesses.

"One of these? Depending on . . . the statement we're aiming for. Um. They're aiming for?"

[for_everyone]

Hera glances among them. "Well..."

She touches the high-collared jacket. "I don't think you live in a castle on your own barren moon."

Which is how she imagines anyone who'd wear that.

[notallofus]

"Someone's got to, though, right?" Kanan asks, smirking more than a bit. But he puts it back, because she's definitely not wrong. Maybe if they were holo stars . . .

"Is the gray one too shimmery, maybe? Or too casual for this kind of party?"

[for_everyone]

Hera shrugs. "I think the other might go better with the pants you picked out."

The black and gray do clash a little, even with the shimmery red.