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[excaliburden]

USERNAME: caster Altria Caster Fate/Grand Order TEXT • AUDIO • VIDEO • ACTION • OVERFLOW

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[excaliburden]

Ah...! I want to try them!

[Pretty things! Sparkly pretty things! She wants to try on a little bit of everything, even if maybe they won't suit her at all.

... Ah. Right. She's staring at the display again.]

Let's go in!

[featheradrift]

[ So her desire for pretty accessories won over her shyness. Good to know.

He motions her towards the necklaces first. ]

Any of these catch your eye?

[excaliburden]

[She's in awe the moment they step into the store, flitting from display case to display case.

Really, it'd probably be more accurate to say that all of them catch her eye; for a girl who's grown up with nothing, suddenly seeing so many beautiful pieces of jewelry is a little breathtaking.]

I... I like them all...! [HELP]

[featheradrift]

[ ...of course that would be the answer. He just sighs and looks over the necklaces himself. Something that would suit her... not too dainty, but not too loud. He goes around to the other side of the displays to pull out quite a few necklaces and sets them on top of the display counter. ]

What about these ones?

[excaliburden]

[Bless him. He isn't bothered by her fussing and useless meandering, instead pulling out a few necklaces himself. She immediately comes closer, eyes wide as she admires the necklaces he's pulled out.

She loves all of these too, of course. The green is so stunning. She loves the bombasticness of the pearls. The last necklace looks like branches, stunning and bright.]

I really... really like all of them...

[But ultimately, she reaches for this one, and carefully lifts it up to her neck, looking at him with wide eyes.]

... Do you really think... it suits me okay?

[featheradrift]

[ He leans back on his heels, observing her and imagining both the necklace and the dress on her. It's a good look, he thinks. With the right updo and makeup, she would be quite beautiful. But hairstyles aren't his specialty, so he can't help her with her hair. He could only make suggestions. ]

If you're not sure, no one's going to stop you from taking everything in this store back home so you can try it one by one with the dress.

[ Everything here was free, after all. But she needs reassurance. ]

It looks good on you.

[excaliburden]

[He's right, and she knows he is. There's no price on anything. Nobody is restricting what they take.

And yet, immediately, she shakes her head, and her tone is matter-of-fact.]

I couldn't do that.

[Only the one. Even that, she thinks, is probably too much, but she's not strong enough to refuse.

... He thinks this one looks nice on her, and she carefully lowers it from her neck and looks down at it adoringly.]

... So this one's plenty! It has to be this one.

[featheradrift]

[ Her hesitance must stem from something in her past. She limits herself too much. She's afraid of something. There's a part of him that wishes she wasn't. But he doesn't push it. These things cannot be forced. He would know. ]

Alright. Let's look for earrings now.

[ She'd been excited about that, at least. He goes over to the store counter to look for clip-on backings. ]

[excaliburden]

[Earrings!! She perks right up again, carefully resting the necklace down on the display counter so that she can go snoop on the earrings too.]

Wowwww... they're all so delicate! These are what you mean by the clip-on ones, right?

[She holds a pair of dangly ones up, clearly fascinated by the thought.]

That's so clever!

[featheradrift]

[ He finds the extra backings and pulls them out. Hm, it shouldn't be too hard to swap them if needed.

But Altria's already found something, and he looks at what she has. Simple, and they match the necklace she's picked out. He nods approvingly. ]

That's a good choice. It'll work with what we have.

[excaliburden]

You think so?

[YAYYY she picked out something that matches! She's not totally hopeless at this!

Carefully, she clips them onto her ears, and then whips her head around to look for a mirror to peer into.]

... !! I really like them! [You've liked everything, Altria.]

[featheradrift]

[ He has a feeling she won't want to search for more, so he doesn't bother looking. Instead, he watches her peer into the mirror with excitement, tilting her head this way and that to get a better look at the earrings clipped onto her ears. ]

Do the clips bother you?

[ He knows the clips have to apply a good amount of force to stay on, so they can be irritating to some. ]

[excaliburden]

They feel a little strange...

[She's never had anything clipped onto her ears, after all. But really, compared to what she's been through--]

But I feel fine! Honestly, I barely feel anything at all, so I think these should be great!

[featheradrift]

[ He knows she won't want to look more, but— ]

Anything else catch your eye?

[excaliburden]

[He's right, of course. She looks around the store, a brief glimpse, and then shakes her head quickly. Hasn't she already gotten to have enough of a wonderful day, with wonderful things?]

I think I'm okay. I'm really excited...! Now I have a whole outfit for the gala... [Heheheh.] Maybe I won't stick out after all!

[featheradrift]

[ He raises an amused eyebrow at her. ]

You plan on going in with no makeup?

[excaliburden]

[Oh god.

Makeup.]

M-maybe that would be for the better...! I really wouldn't even know where to start with that sort of thing! [And surely he doesn't know? Why would he know?

So maybe they should just leave that alone and settle on this...!]

[featheradrift]

[ Though one might suspect the red eyeliner on his face to be makeup, they are in fact a part of his natural appearance, because he is a puppet and his appearance was intentional design. So she's right in that he doesn't know anything about makeup. But it doesn't look too hard to learn, really, so he was willing to try if she wanted to try.

He peers at her again, staring especially at her face. Hm... well, she's more than pretty enough to go without makeup. ]

Alright. Guess I can leave the rest to you then.

[ He's done his job. More than done his job, really, now that he thinks about it, and so he tilts his hat over his face, realizing he's been far too enthusiastic about this whole thing. ]

We don't need to be here any longer. Let's go.

[excaliburden]

[She can feel the way that his stare lingers on her face. She wants to play this off as cool and suave and in control (things she has not been this whole montage), but, well--

She can't. She can feel the way her cheeks heat up the longer he inspects her.

... But in the end, he just agrees, and she breathes out a slow, quiet sigh of relief. Whew.

Maybe someday she could tackle makeup, but today she's already been overwhelmed by so many wonderful things with him--so this seems like plenty.]

Okayyyyy! [Brightly and cheerfully, relaxing as they turn away from the shops.]

--Oh! You've been so busy helping me, I forgot to ask. Does that mean you're already all set for the gala?

[featheradrift]

[ It's at this question that he pauses for a moment—and then continues on. ]

I wasn't planning on dressing up.

[ This sort of stuff wasn't his thing. He figured he'd just show up, handle food like Kaveh asked, and then leave the moment his duties were over. ]

[excaliburden]

[...?

She tilts her head, expression curious.]

Really? But you're going through all of this work to help me! And you're cooking, too, right? [She saw it on Ghost's sticky notes!!]

So, um... I thought you were going to be there for a little while.

[featheradrift]

That's the only reason I'm going. I have no intention of joining the festivities, so what reason do I have to dress for it?

[ There's something odd in her tone of voice, so he stops walking and turns to get a better look at her. ]

...You wanted to see me all dressed up and fancy?

[excaliburden]

Well, yeah, of course!

[Duh!!]

Isn't it more fun if we get to go together and enjoy it? Besides... I want you to have fun there too!

[featheradrift]

[ Fun. A party full of people isn't exactly his idea of fun, but—what is? He has fun fighting, but that was it, wasn't it? He begrudgingly put up with many other things, and did more out of curiosity or some compelling motivation, but it wasn't fun for the sake of fun. He always had a goal in mind when he acted.

He's never really done anything just for the fun of it, now that he thinks about it. ]

...I don't like crowds and loud environments.

[ He's not trying to get out of it—he can already tell he'll acquiesce to Altria's desires, but... this is true about him too. He doesn't like crowds, and he's never liked any parties he's attended before. ]

[excaliburden]

I don't either.

[She admits that much easily, arms linked behind herself quietly as she faces him. Parties, crowds, loud places--they've always been places where she felt like everyone was watching her and judging her.

But...]

You still helped me pick out things so that I can go, though. And... I want to go, even if it's a little scary and daunting to think about. I don't really know what it's going to be like, but I'm sure... I'm sure it would be a lot more fun if you came too.

[She won't push too hard if he really refuses; she gets it, and doesn't want to force her own preferences on him. But... she'll at least be honest with him first.]