Shopping with the Guys

Cole Sousa (Armageddon)

Leonardo Santana (El Matador)

Marceline Denova (Mirage)

Valentine Bluefoot (Soothsayer)

Kyle Jamieson (Pestilence)

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee

Today Cole had woken up excited. Instead of going through his usual routine of moaning and groaning his way through his morning, he had risen with motivation to start the day. He spent the day working on some homework that was due soon, eating a loaf of bread with various spreads to switch it up, and even showered and washed his hair now that Leo's words were burned into his brain. "The first step to feeling good is looking good" he muttered to himself as he stood in front of a foggy mirror with a brush in his hand trying to detangle his curls. In the end he was forced to desist and let it puff.

In the car it became clear his mother could sense something was off about him: "so who are you meeting? What are you doing?"

"I told you– friends, shopping" Cole answered with a shrug, distracted as they drove by a cotton candy stand
"Are these friends new friends?"

"Not really"
"Are they... safe... people?"

"What are you asking?"

"Are you getting high? Because I'm not giving you my credit card for that and I really hope that's not the plan. We talked about this, anything that doesn't come from nature is simply not supposed to be-"

"Mom, no, relax. I'm going to the mall to get clothes because I need a change" he explained as they pulled up to the curb "I'll text you on my way back, okay? Love you!" The look on Mrs. Sousa's face was somewhere between shock and glee, her worries quieted.

Cole exited the car and shut the door, heading inside towards the ice cream shop they'd set as their meeting spot. No one was there yet and he could've gotten away with grabbing a scoop or two because he appetite called for it, but he knew realistically he wasn't hungry and holding ice cream wasn't going to be comfortable while shopping for clothes.

## Mob Boss Peggy

Leo sped into the slummy block to pick up Kyle with the *quickness.* As soon as the consistently shabby looking man was in his car, he sped off even faster. He didn't even get a look at the guy until they were out of West Pem.

"Ohhhh, *shit*." He said, with a weak laugh to try and not seem *that* surprised by how badly put together Kyle was. "The struggle is real, huh?"
When they arrived at the Promenade in Eaux Claires, Leo looked like he fit in just fine. His clothes were simple, but clean, well-fitted and stylish. Kyle on the other hand looked like a spot of dirt on a clean counter. It wasn't his fault though. Not everybody could look as good as Leo did on just any ordinary day.

"'Sup, *Primo*!" He exclaimed as they came upon Cole standing pitifully at their meeting place. Looking between the two younger men, Leo shook his head. "Oh, boy, we got a lotta' work to do."

## Rose | Rhett | Marci

After seeing the conversation on the rpdex, Marceline had chosen to join the rag-tag group. She had been wanting to do something sociable on her off day and this would be perfect. Plus, she was pleasantly surprised to hear that Kyle would also be joining. Of course, she hadn’t even spoken to the other two who’d been interacting. Oh, well.

Reaching for her purse, the illusionist prepared to get into her car before getting another notification. She smiled at the inquisition of yet another person joining their rag-tag group. If she recalled, this was the same young man from the Valentine’s night when everything had seemed to go awry. Her fingers typed out a response then waited for a couple minutes before heading out onto the road.

It didn’t take long for her to pull up next to HQ in her 2014 Mustang where she was able to shoot the infinitely tall man another message. It wouldn’t take long before he was loaded up into the car; Marci having taken the liberty to put the top down so he wouldn’t be too terribly cramped then made sure to have his hair tied back. Once he was safely loaded and everything was in order they set out to the mall. A new kind of excitement between them even if they didn’t talk too much.

By the time they arrived to the shopping center, Marceline had already questioned Val on the usual things like his powers, how old he was, etc. Just the basics, really. She seemed particularly interested in his ability as to how rarely she’d heard of such a thing.

“Do you need me to hold your hand or something?” She asked upon exiting her car. There wasn’t anything worth stealing inside and if someone did try to hijack her vehicle, the alarm system worked wonders.
When they finally managed to enter the building and ultimately the ice cream shop, Marceline greeted the others with a warm smile. It was clear who and why they had come to the mall from the looks of the other three younger men's clothing choices. She eyed Kyle then Cole with a disapproving shake of her head then turned to look at Leo. The two adults were clearly better off in fashion sense considering their own put together appearances.

## sephet

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, these are my Sunday best.” Kyle drawled with a hint of amusement. He knew what his life was, he honestly appreciated that Leo was blunt enough to say it right out.

He pushed shaggy hair out of his eyes as he looked around the mall, it was generally a higher paygrade than he was in and it showed. He felt a little like he was gonna get kicked out or something. He wouldn’t be surprised if security kept an eye on them the whole time.
He waved at Cole and gave a slight quirk of an eyebrow when Marci approached with a disapproving look. He could tell that today was going to be dramatic, and probably more insulting than it actually needed to be.
“Well you guys got the passion for fashion, lead on I guess?”

## Mob Boss Peggy

When Marci appeared with their blind friend, Leo waved at them with a million-dollar smile. "That's a fine pair right there. The blind man's got an excuse. You two---" He gestured to Cole and Kyle. "Nah."

When the woman turned to look at him, Leo greeted her with a hand to her back and a customary kiss against her cheek. "Buen día, bella?" She was dressed fabulously, though still just a little rough around the edges with her raven-black hair, sharp eyebrows and tattoos visible down her wrists.

"Damn, this is an attractive group! You got me all flustered. Imagine if you weren't all dressed terribly." He thumbed at his scruffy chin. He hadn't shaved for a few days, but as with anything, Leo pulled off the rough look.

"I'm sensing a theme here. I'm guessing none of you actually know what size clothes you're supposed to wear."]

## birdman | Valentine

Valentine had opted for Marci's arm, following along with his cane tucked in the crook of his elbow. "long time no see, eh Leo?" he laughed as they approached, trying to be some form of smooth as they group compiled. "who all is here, anyway? I know we got Marci and Leo, Cole, and... Who's that?" he asked in Kyle's general direction, having to *ask* the guy's goddamn name to receive it. He hated how that worked.

The mall smelled like a lot of things- steamed clothes, mostly- and he'd already been hit by an overwhelming wave of sensory information the moment they walked in the door. Valentine was already bracing for the onslaught of people they'd soon face, and he kept himself in the pocket of Marci's stride as best he could.

"hey," he tilted down to Marci as they all stood in a group, whispering. "d'you mind if I cling to ya for most of this, or would it be easier to pass off?"

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee

Cole had been waiting for the rest to arrive while thumbing through his phone idly, distracting himself on social media as was customary for someone his age. When he spotted Leo and Kyle he smiled in their direction, and as Marci and Val arrived he got even more excited that their group had grown into a nice crew. "Oh, hell yeah" he nodded, looking around and all his hero friends– this was about to be a fun time. "Um, no... not really. It's all too big" he agreed with Leo, pulling at his shirt to show how it tented on him. This was going to be a tough call, he didn't really have the body to wear something tighter like Matador but hiding his small frame only made him look smaller.

"Oh, this is Kyle!" He jumped in, realizing Valentine hadn't been introduced "Pestilence." Cole turned to look at Kyle "we've actually never talked all that much, huh?" Now that everyone was here there was no reason to stand around and the stores were all open and begging to be sorted through. Cole looked around the mall and nodded when Kyle suggested they start "yeah, where to, Santana?"

## sephet

“Yeah, I’m Kyle. Hey.” Kyle shrugged a little when it was pointed out he hadn’t talked a lot with Cole yet. “I haven’t talked a lot with a lot of people, I guess? I’m working on it.” He held out his hands as if to say ‘ta-da.’ “See. I’m socialising.”

“Uh.” His face scrunched up in annoyance and he reached back to pull the back collar of his shirt forward to try and see the tag. “I think this is large. But it’s way too big on me. I think I stole it from my ex. I only really know I guess that I’m smaller than last time I bought clothes and that was a while ago. Like a few years…”

He settled his shirt back into place and pushed his hand through his hair to try and get it at least out of his face. At least he’d shaved, he didn’t pull off facial hair like Leo did, he just ended up looking more homeless. He looked to Leo for guidance through the mall.

## Mob Boss Peggy

Leo watched them all with a cheery disposition. Man, it felt good to hang out with people. Before this, Leo's friend circle consisted of *other teachers* and *the free running community*. Yeeuuch.

Despite how uncool these guys looked, Leo thought they were fucking *awesome.* A guy that can give you the worst breakout of your life at will? A dude who could spit up AKs? A man that could see the future? A woman who could make you see whatever she wanted? One couldn't have asked for a cooler crew.

"I know just the right place for you. Follow me, vatos and vatas!" Leo took the lead as per usual, and led the group into some store with a fancy Italian name with ambient lighting and some kinda chill dance music.

"This place is perfect. It's a store for skinny dudes! I don't personally shop here because I'm too muscular and my *cojones* don't fit in these pants, but you guys are gonna' look damn good in some of this stuff! Let's split up, eh? Marci, take Val, I'll take these two guys. Heh."

January 18, 2019

## birdman | Valentine

Valentine gave a bit of a confused face as he was lead in, but kept close to Marci nonetheless. "Fuck, uh," he started, "Marci, I'm placin' a lot of trust in you right now, I hope you know that," he laughed nervously, before they even started wandering the store. He felt kinda bad that Marci got stuck with him, but he supposed *somebody* would have to have been.

"Listen, though, if you can find me a pair of jeans that fit my legs in *any* store in here, I'd call it a day right then and there and legally make you the sole recipient of my entire inheritance." he stuck his tongue out. "Width usually isn't a big problem, I'm about the size of a twelve year old boy horizontally, but like... these gams require a special amount of pant to be contained." his shoulders shook as he chuckled, following along beside her as they began to browse. He would be lying if he said clothes shopping was fun for him, or didn't make him entirely self conscious and nervous the whole time, but he knew it was necessary... especially if he was committed to these folks long-term.

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee

As Cole stepped in he immediately felt this wasn't his vibe whatsoever but he was willing to give it his all. After all, Leo was taking time out of his day to find them some clothes and he knew if he wanted change he had to accept the help enthusiastically. "Oh this is... a standup man's rack" he mused as he walked past the clothing that was all so neatly folded and hung he felt bad even being near it. Cole wandered a few hangers before he ventured into the options and picked up a white shirt with a small dog sewn into the pocket that amused him greatly. Oh, he was for sure, going to try this on.

His next pick was a pair of very soft pants of some sort of ridged velvety texture he both hated and loved. Then there was a green an blue striped sweater he thought looked cool and somewhat hypnotic. He didn't really know if he was going in the right direction so he decided it was time to consult "Leo, what about these?" He asked, holding up the pants and showing the hero before whispering to Val and extending the garment to him "Val feel these these. It's something else, dude."

## Mob Boss Peggy

The elastic man was elbow deep in a rack of tops in various colors, when Cole came up to him with a small selection of his own. Leo had a few articles hanging over the crook of his arm when he turned to take a look.

The first thing he saw was the striped sweater and he made a face. "Ahhhhh, no. That is... Eh, not good." He remarked, and plucked the sweater away. "Go get one size smaller for both of those other things, and *here*." In one swift movement, the man shoved the pile of articles he was amassing into the younger man's arms.

"Yo, I have to give it to you though, at least you're trying to wear something other than just black." Leo said with a laugh, clearly referring to the other two men.

He turned toward the rack again and started to peruse once more. "The trick is to get a whole bunch of stuff that looks good together. It's like idiot-proofing your own closet."
He pulled out a couple of soft tshirts, a patterned pullover and a blazer in dark blue. While he leaned in to toss them on Kyle, he added, "Not that you guys don't look good in black or nothin'."

## sephet

Kyle looked over the t-shirts Leo handed him without complaint. He mostly wore old band t-shirts, or stupid graphic ts he’d found in his teen years. He didn’t have a problem with t-shirts. He eyed the blazer and the pullover uncertainly. “Patterns? Do I seem even a little bit flamboyant enough to pull off patterns? And when am I going to wear a blazer? I work at a gas station not an office building.”

Despite knowing he’d either get heck, or get the clothing thrown at him anyway he put the sweater and blazer back and tried picking out a pair of jeans. He liked the fashionable tearing in some but it was winter and he needed something without holes pretty desperately. “Do they do short here? I hate when I step the back off the bottoms of my pants…”

## Rose | Rhett | Marci

The group was actually pretty lively, to Marceline's excitement. She was having some doubts about going to the mall with these boys but that melted away with Leo's greeting. They were all in good hands, she decided with a returned grin. "Let's make these boys look good." She stated while turning her crystal blues away to look back at Kyle and Cole. Cole being the youngest clearly showed with his odd, yet functional clothing choices. Kyle, on the other hand, mostly looked to be a college kid with no motivation for life. They would have to fix that. Afterall, they needed him. Recalling Andy's speech from the first day of training, her eyes went over the men in front of her again.

Each one was unique and possessed amazing abilities. They were all necessary in the grand scheme of things. If only they really believed it. The illusionist's thought process was disturbed by Valentine's question about being 'easier to pass off' being whispered against the side of her face. Even with him being unable to see her expression, she smiled up at him. "Don't worry 'bout it, babe. I got you." Patting his arm lightly, she went back to looking at Matador as he took the lead. This was normal, she assumed and wasn't too bothered by it, either.

She stayed behind the other three, making sure not to tug or walk too quickly for Val. When he spoke again, she laughed. "I'm honored! And no worries, I've got you." She listened as he went on about finding a good pair of jeans and then chuckled at his words of him leaving her his inheritance. "You better not die on me, kid." Her words were light though the implication was solemn in some way. Even the prettiest experience pain, after all.

Stepping into the fancy clothing store, Mirage took a moment to study the surroundings with curious eyes. Being split into two groups was probably the best plan hence her agreement for Leo's idea. "Have fun, boys." She shot a grin to Cole and Kyle then redirected her companion and herself toward the nearest clothing wrack with jeans. "If you weren't such a giant, this would be so much easier." She giggled briefly while holding up different jeans trying to find something remotely long enough to cover the man's legs.

She did somehow come across a pair of dark navy jeans with zipper pockets on either side. They looked long enough from where she stood holding them but she was still uncertain. "I might have found something, love. Hey, what size shirt do you wear?"

## birdman | Valentine

Valentine stood still as she let him hold things up to him, trying to provide the most accurate silhouette while simultaneously juggling trying not to feel like a complete bag of shit about this whole ordeal, but as they all continued, the more insecure he became about it all.

"difficult to say, I'm a small in width and an xl in length, so it's a toss up every time." he shrugged. "long shirts are in style, though, so I've heard." he shrugged, shoving his hands into his hoodie before gasping at what he was about to hear. "it's a no to jeans with zipper pockets, sorry Marci." he shrugged with a timid smile, "are there any like, normal but kinda skinny jeans? None of these ripply ones?" he suggested, brushing his knuckles against some pants that attempted to look futuristic, he could only assume.

## Rose | Rhett | Marci

Getting shot down, she stood pouting for a brief moment before putting the pants back and crossing her arms. She needed to think for a second and by the time he'd finished explaining his shirt issue, she'd come up with an idea. "Yeah, yeah." Taking his arm gingerly, she moved them to another wrack where her eyes had caught something looking to be suited for him. "What about cargo shorts?" Did he really have to wear pants all of the time?

Before he could answer her, she'd moved away while browsing quickly through the different articles. "Here we go." She said finally after a handful of time as a pair of jeans without holes or zippers were discovered. In fact it was too good to be true as she held them up and discovered the cuffed bottoms. Choosing to ignore that part, she passed them to Valentine and continued on. "You hold onto those for me." The dark gray material would go well with nearly any t-shirt so she'd made it her goal to find him an entire outfit.

"What're you interested in, Val?" She asked as her eyes spied through the men's clothing. There wasn't exactly anything too outlandish though some of the patterns made her snort in disgust. "Some of this stuff is hideous." Her words were mainly being spoken to herself before suddenly letting out an 'ah-ha!' sound. "This will go good with those jeans." She spoke while handing a long sleeved black button-up with a beautiful rose print on it. "You're going to try this on." Her words gave him no room for argument before moving along to the next bit of clothes. By the time Cole had come over with his weird velvety pants, Marci had accumulated another pair of dark blue jeans that were normal enough, a pair of black slacks that looked to be the perfect length and another button-up with short sleeves this time and a tribal styling to it.

## Mob Boss Peggy

Leo cackled as he watched Kyle put everything back. "You complain *soooo* much, *ese*." Taking the blazer and the shirt back, he tossed them back at Kyle. "It's not *for* work. If we're gonna' be hanging out, you need to be a little more chill. And no rips!" He remarked, going over the jeans display, looking for something specific.

"You're not *that* short. What are you, a thirty-four? You're just skinny as fuck. Man, do you have enough to eat at home?" Picking out a dark shade of blue jeans (with no tears), he placed that on the top of Kyle's pile. "Now go try all that on!"

## sephet

“*When* am I going to wear a blazer?” Kyle grumbled as he took his armload of clothing. He made a noncommittal noise in response to Leo’s questions, in part because he wasn’t entirely sure what his inseam was and in part because he *probably* got enough calories based on the fact that the food he ate was the sort of calorie rich garbage you could buy at gas stations and convenience stores. With the added assistance of frozen vegetables and oranges because scurvy is probably a thing and he’d rather live his life with all his real teeth for as long as is possible.

He fussed a bit in the changing room, the jeans fit okay? They were a little bit on the long side and hung on his hips a bit, but he wasn’t sure if that was in style or not. Were skinny jeans out of style? Was he gay enough to get away with skinny jeans? The name seemed to imply that they’d fit him better than other jeans. The pullover felt like too much. “I feel like I just got gang-banged by the 80’s. Am I supposed to put the blazer *over* this?”

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee

"Oof!" Cole received the pile of clothes, surprised at how much Leo had been able to find in just a few minutes. He eyes the pile and noticed different textures and colors that all stuck to the safe side of things– navy blues, tans, army greens... it was all stuff that could be mixed and matched adequately even if he were to choose at random. "Okay, alright. I'll go try these on then" he agreed, moving towards the fitting room on a mission to get through the pile, forgetting all about his own choices.

A young woman stood by the entrance of the fitting room, dressed in a sharp black uniform complete with a tag stating her name: Alicia. "Alright, lets get you set up" she offered kindly, reaching to take some of the clothes from Cole and taking them from the hanger before leading him towards one of the empty fitting rooms. Cole felt his mouth dry up and his heart hop into a flutter as they walked the short distance to an open curtain. "Here you go, give me a shout if you need anything."

"Y-yeah, okay" he answered hastily, feeling every nerve ending spark as she closed the curtain behind him. Cole exhaled, putting the clothes aside and trying to shake off the thought of her eyes, her big brown eyes. They were so beautiful, *she* was so beautiful and so kind. Her voice so soft, such a sweet smile and- "ugh."

Cole shook his head and grabbed at the first thing he could reach: a pair of midnight blue pants, not totally out of his realm but also not denim. He began to slip the different pieces on one by one, giving them good consideration and looking over himself in the mirror. The first thing he noticed was how *nice* the fabrics felt against this skin and how much taller he looked from wearing a size down alone. He even straightened up as he stood before the mirror in white woolen crew neck sweater and ashy green pants, thoughtfully impressed. Damn, Leo was a wizard. Cole took a couple steps back to gain some distance thoughtlessly pushing the curtain aside until he could see the cuff of the pants and realize the way the cut off right at his ankle really made a difference.

"Oh, that looks nice!"
Cole whipped his head to look at Alicia and could only muster and awkward nervous laugh before disappearing into his fitting room again and shutting the curtain closed. Oh, man. He felt that familiar nauseating feeling rise inside of him but breathed deeply to try to keep it down, a hand covering his mouth. It took a few long tedious moments of mindful breathing but at last it went away. "Hell's bells."

January 19, 2019

## Mob Boss Peggy

Leo placed himself just outside of the dressing rooms, so he could talk to the guys from the outside. He leaned against the wall with his arms folded and looked at his phone while Kyle whined.

"No, you dick, you're supposed to put it over a shirt. You really wanna' wear a fitted jacket over a sweater?" He snorted, thumbing over a name on the screen that he had been itching to message for the past few days. He looked away and slipped the phone back into his pocket when Cole stepped out. "'Eyyyy! Lookin' good man!"

But he didn't notice or hear him. Cole was checking out the cute associate working the fitting rooms. Leo eyed her suspiciously, not wanting her to make the anxious hero nervous. Leo had never seen Cole get too nervous, and he didn't want to. She was dumb enough to look at the dreadlocked man, so he immediately accosted her.

"Hey, whatchu' looking at, *muchacha*? Sorry, but you're too young for me, baby girl. Hey, isn't it time for your lunch break? Give us some privacy over here, yeah?" She didn't stand much of a chance against the very forward man as he shooed her out temporarily.

## sephet

“I’ve only ever worn blazers over button ups. I thought it was a suit thing.” Kyle sighed and turned back into the room to pull on one of the t-shirts and the blazer. There was something to be said for clothes the right size. Somehow it made him less small not to be drowning in shirt. He wasn’t unpleasantly scrawny, thin but not so much that his bones stuck out in unfortunate places. The cut of the jacket and the fit of the t-shirt made him seem something like human shaped, rather than like a small pole draped in a sheet. He smoothed his hands over the shirt and made an approving noise at the softness, cheap t-shirts all felt just a little bit stiff and a little bit rough. He could tell they were quality and they didn’t say anything stupid on them so he could probably get away with wearing them more places.

“I think I need slightly smaller pants. I feel like I’m about to drop the most obnoxious white boy rap album.” He stepped out, trying to hide the slight nerves bubbling up as he stood for Leo’s approval. “Also muted colours but that is for the two reasons of I am too pale for bright colours and also I don’t want to wear them.”

## birdman | Valentine

"I mean," Valentine replied, "what I wanna avoid is lookin' like I stepped out of the mid 2000s, or like someone else dressed me." he laughed, "even though both of those things are effectively true, um... Oh! I wear a size twenty-eight waist, by the way. Some places only go down to thirty, is this one good?" he asked, feeling the texture of certain articles of clothing. "Men's clothing is horrible, all of it. I usually just shopped outta thrift stores with my grandma, but like... I guess its time for an upgrade, eh? What's worse though is like, all the dreamcatchery patterns that girls have to put up with, oh my god. Could you imagine? Dude clothes have less blatant cultural appropriation these days, or so I'm told, so I guess that's a plus." he chuckled, turning around to face her as they walked. He could hear Leo and the fellas in the change room, and part of him wanted to go try everything on. "Anything else to give me before I try things on, Marci?"

## Rose | Rhett | Marci

"I suppose I'll just have to fill her shoes for today," Marci smiled and laughed briefly at Val's words. His grandma must have been infinitely patient to be able to go through so much clothing with the hopes of finding something to fit the man currently towering over the fast moving woman. When she collected another couple t-shirts from another rack, she returned to the waiting Valentine and nodded. "You were told correctly, sadly women's clothing can be quite..tasteless at times. And that has to be bad coming from me." She huffed out a chuckle then took her companion's arm into her own again.

"Let's see how this stuff looks and feels, then." She was crossing her fingers that Val would at least like the shirts. After all, she knew the style would look good on him and even though they may be a bit big around the torso, she could easily get a tailor to fix that up for him.
Walking up to the dressing room space, she paused and glanced up at him curiously. "Uh, you can get dressed on your own, right?" She didn't mean it rude, just trying to make sure she wasn't being thoughtless.

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee

This was terrible and the exact reason why he avoided activities that exposed him to gratuitous interaction. Cole pep-talked himself into trying on the last couple of garments left and then finalized his decision. He compiled all the clothes he felt the most comfortable in, which turned out to be a good amount, and exited the fitting room with caution. To his relief he only found Leo standing at the entrance and breathed easy, making his way towards him with his selection. “I really like these” he said as he showed Matador his selection with a sigh of relief. “You picked them so I guess it’s all approved, right?” He asked looking up at Leo with a smile tinted with discomfort. That had been such a close call.

## Mob Boss Peggy

Leo pumped his fist excitedly when Marci and Valentine appeared at the changing rooms as he waited for the others. A little grin appeared on his face. "I mean, if you need help, I could---"

Then, he heard a curtain slide open and whipped his head to look back at Kyle. A high pitched cackle escaped Leo. "Dioooossss! Look at you!" He exclaimed, placing his hands on Kyle's shoulders to turn him around. Somehow, Kyle's tattoos complimented the look unexpectedly well. "You look kinda' hot actually. But yeah, hah! Smaller pants. Get back in there." He said, pushing him lightly back through the curtain.

Turning around just in time to see Cole emerge, Leo's attention was being pulled in all sorts of different directions. The energetic man seemed to be handling it well. "The day is still young, *mi amigo*, there's still a lotta' work yet. Hmm..." Pausing for a moment, Leo's eyes were drawn to the messy mop atop Cole's head, made messier by pulling clothes on and off. "Yo, Marci! What are we going to do about this, eh?" Leo asked, ruffling the curls further.

## sephet

Kyle huffed, flushing a little at the compliment (sorta compliment?) not really knowing what to do with it. He was pretty used to being… not really worth looking at. He changed back into his old clothes, guessing that if one t-shirt fit the rest would too. Putting the jeans and the sweater in the rejection pile. Leo had been too enthusiastic for him to cast aside the blazer, though he still didn’t know what he’d do with it.

He went back through the shop to find a couple smaller pairs of pants, jeans that might fit him and still not have holes in them, as he had been instructed. Taking them back he changed a little impatiently, he kind of hated having to try clothes on.

“We’re doing hair now too?” He ran a hand through his own mop of shaggy outgrown hair and looked at the others gathered in the changing area.

## birdman | Valentine

Valentine almost laughed, but the worst thing he could do was make someone feel stupid for asking an innocent, honest question. He hated when people did it to him, so he saw no reason for ripping Marci a new one over something like that. "Oh, yeah, don't worry at all about- *LEO*," He barked, cackling as he made his way into the changing stall. "Man, I know we gotta finish that date of ours, but at least lemme buy you a drink first, eh?" he said, waving his hand over the stall. He was tall enough, really, that his head popped out a bit, but it wasn't a breach of his own privacy by any means.

"I like the feel of this shirt, Marci," he said, trying on the nice pair of grey jeans and one of the nicer flannel button downs she'd picked up for him. It took him a minute to fidget with the buttons, but he was able to come out of the stall and give a twirl in front of his older friends. "How d'I look?"

January 20, 2019

## Rose | Rhett | Marci

Marci was biting her lip in anticipation of Valentine's response. There was no doubt in her mind that Val had probably experienced these sorts of questions before though she still didn't want to come across as ignorant or uncaring. When she heard the man's reassuring words, she let a smile slip over her features again. Her head turned to Leo as the two of them joined the rest of the group. He was certainly the most out-spoken and lively of the bunch and it didn't bother her in the least.

Listening to the two heroes conversing, she couldn't help but chuckle at the absurd conversation. Her attention was stolen away, however, by Kyle coming from the dressing room with a small smirk. Leo's enthusiasm was somewhat contagious as she couldn't keep the widening smile from her lips. "He's right, you do look 100% hotter now that we can actually *see* you." She looked him up and down before turning her head to see Cole coming out shortly after.

"My, my, my." She eyed the absolute mess atop the boy's head. "I think a haircut would be beneficial for nearly everyone." Walking over, she placed a hand to Cole's temple and brushed most of his hair back away from the kid's face. "A trim would do wonders..what do you usually do with it?" She removed her hand from Cole's head and waited for a response. Glancing back to Kyle, she nodded. "Our goal today is to make you boys too handsome to ignore."

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee

Cole closed his eyes and laughed as Leo ruffled his curls, which puffed them up into a direction-less mess. He'd grown so accustomed to having his hair hide his face that he wasn't sure how he would feel exposed by a haircut but he knew Leo would pick whatever was best for him. "It's been growing for a while" he admitted as Marci pushed hair back, looking up at her "I usually just... let it happen; it takes its course. I wash but... not much beyond that. I tried brushing it although it's better when I don't so I've stopped doing that" he explained, enjoying her familiar touch. They hadn't known each other for very long but Marceline had a way about her that made him feel easy in her presence.

"Are we chopping it?" He asked, looking between the woman and Matador "my mom had been begging me to for the longest time." By the sound of it him and Kyle were about to get new haircuts– an exciting prospect. "I can go check out while you guys finish up."

## birdman | Valentine

"Nobody touches my hair," Valentine said from behind, struggling in the starchy pair of jeans as he wriggled around a little bit. "The crotch on these is *incredibly* high, is the outline of my *entire* self supposed to be in style?" he coughed, bumping into Leo a little. He was moving around a little too much for his own good. "Oh- hey," he couldn't keep a straight face as he straightened back up, laughing at his own stupidity. He gave him some personal space, to go lean on one of the doors. "Cole, don't let em fool you, man! Long hair reigns supreme."

## Mob Boss Peggy

A curious grin crept upon Leo's face with Valentine's comments, but he didn't say anything about it just yet. It was kinda' cute seeing the taller man drop hints at him. Leo was a fabulous tease, unbeatable as far as their group went. He simply let out a little laugh before turning his attention back to Cole's hair.

"Just a trim. You can't get rid of this! Women *love* guys with curls, man. They always want to touch 'em. Hell, I wanna' touch 'em too." He gave the younger man just one more head ruffle.

"You, on the other hand." He said, turning to poke at Kyle. "*You* need a *serious* cut, brother."

When Valentine emerged again, he drew attention like a giraffe in a narrow hallway. He bumped into Leo, who backed into the wall to give him some space, before the tall man found his own. With an amused laugh, Leo approached the seer, stepping over to stand in front of him while he took a good look at his state of dress.

Both hands came to adjust the man's collar, brushing some of the long, raven hair off of his shoulder. "That's for damn sure, but if you have long hair, it's gotta' be taken care of. Heh, you could always get loc'd like me, Cole. Low maintenance. Always looks neat!" He joked.

"Lookin' good, big boy." He grinned, perhaps a little maliciously. "You can show off whatever you want others to see, *ese*. I don't personally like nut-huggers either. But there's a nice middle ground. Wanna' feel?"

## sephet

“Please don’t feel each other’s junk cozies in public. I have been thrown out of enough places this month I don’t need accomplice to indecent conduct added to things.” Kyle shook his head, trying to figure out the balance of too tight for himself, though he was a little too embarrassed to bring up nut space to anyone else. He high key didn’t want anyone even playfully sac-tapping him. Even if he figured no one would the idea of the possibility gave him some chills.

“I’m not really arguing with a haircut, but I don’t have the money for aggressive upkeep or fancy salon styles. Plus my work’s been really cool about my tattoos I don’t need to give them an excuse to fire me ‘cause one of you decided lime green would suit me or something.” He rubbed his neck idly and considered the next step.

“I think I can afford the jeans and the blazer, I guess…” He mumbled doubling back into the changing room to look through his things. He didn’t really know that the blazer was worth it, but Leo really seemed to like it. “Maybe I can look through their sale rack…”

## Rose | Rhett | Marci

"Maybe not chop it all off, but we do need to tame it a little." She stated simplistically before going back to the archway leading back out onto the sales floor. Taking notice of a young woman with shifty eyes darting to Leo then herself. "Don't worry, hun. Nothing shady happening here." She waved the girl away and, to her surprise, Val was exiting the dressing room shortly after. His somewhat clumsy movements making her slightly nervous though Leo was nearby and she assumed he could handle the other man if need be.

She wasn't expecting the 'handling' to become so physical, though. The Matador's words causing her to burst into a new fit of laughter. These guys had some entertaining conversations, for sure. "I have to agree with Kyle. Let's save that for other, more private places." She glanced at Kyle when he started talking on about getting a haircut. "Nothing too fancy, but if you end up liking a certain style, I wouldn't mind driving ya to the closest salon to have it fixed up every month or so." Her head shook from side to side in disbelief.

"Lime would so not suit you, babe. Maybe a blue or turquoise, though?" She joked while walking to him and grabbing up the clothing items. "No worries, Leo's paying." She moved to Cole soon after and took them as well. "Sorry about the 'nut-huggers', Val. How were the other pants? And the shirt." She lightly tugged at the hem of the button-up he'd ended up putting on before holding out a hand to Leo. "Card, please."

## Mob Boss Peggy

Leo burst into laughter at the others' reactions to his remarks toward Valentine. "What are you guys *talking* about? Y'all are *dirty!* I was talking about getting him a bigger pair. Of pants. Hah!" He threw an arm around Valentine's shoulder and jostled him a bit before letting go.

"Kyle. *Baby.* Do you ever stop complaining? Chill out, *vato*, have some fun! No one's going to make you look like no broke-ass trolls doll, *ese*, I *got* you!"

His jaw dropped when Marceline held out her hand expectedly. "Damn! Whenever I tell myself I'm done giving beautiful women access to the credit card..." The man pulled out his leather wallet (which conveniently matched his shoes) and slipped out a platinum card. He handed it over between his fingers. "Be gentle."

January 21, 2019

## sephet

Kyle scrubbed his face with his hands and pressed on his temples with his thumbs, taking a second to stop feeling so on edge. Had he always been this much of a pain in the ass? He felt so on edge lately, it was even harder to sleep than usual. “Sorry. I’m sorry. Y’all’re doing me a favour and I’m being a pain. I-I didn’t realise you planned to pay. You don’t gotta pay. I can probably make the difference on credit over summer.”

He’d considered getting a second job, but hero work functioned like a second job. Work, school and heroing didn’t allow for more work. Not without cutting even more sleep and he couldn’t really afford that. “You guys can… probably do whatever you want with my hair, if you just keep it professionally acceptable and shit.”

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee

Cole was glad to hear he wouldn't have to wave goodbye to his curls, even if they did make him like like a q-tip, even if no woman in the history of his existence had reached to touch his curls. He laughed as Leo ruffled his hair playfully "I'm glad you have so much faith in them. I think I'll see them through as they are, I do promise to take better care of them though." Washing his hair properly with shampoo for his texture was a routine he'd dropped back in high school, but now that he had decided to turn his appearance around Cole was feeling motivated. This was more than just a shopping trip, this was his first conscious effort to take care of himself since his power began to show.

Cole turned to look at Kyle and nodded at his new outfit, easily spotting the improvement as an onlooker of the makeover process. Even if Pestilence didn't seem to be very excited about all of this.

"I'll go check out and meet you guys up front" he announced as he turned to leave the fitting rooms while Marci and Leo decided on Kyle. He took the pile of clothes up to the cashier and waited idly for a few moments before Alicia came around the counter "did you find everything okay?"

Cole stiffened "uh heh yeah" he sputtered, busying himself with finding him mother's card in his jacket pocket.

"Is that... your brother?" She asked, nodding towards the fitting rooms at Leo standing right outside.(edited)

"No, he's my friend" Cole answered, downcast, eye fixed on the items as she scanned and folded them into a neat pile "he's helping me... with self-esteem." Sure, he was disappointed, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to talk up his buddy to a girl who was clearly interested.

"Aw, that's so sweet of him" Alicia cooed, pausing her bagging to spare Matador a glance before giving Cole the total and taking his card "so what's his uh-"

"You should talk to him. He's really nice" Cole interrupted quietly. He took the card back and wrapped his fingers around the handles of bag.

"Oh, aren't you sweet" she babied him, reaching over the counter committing the worst act of violence Cole could fathom– she ruffled his curls.

There was no time to say something before his body doubled over and heaved, the sound of heavy metal hitting the floor repeatedly ringing through the store. Four V40 fragmentation grenades landed a his feet, covered in spit. "Fuck." Alicia was wide-eyed and speechless as Cole kneeled in a panic and tried to pick up all the grenades into his arms.

January 22, 2019

## Mob Boss Peggy

Leo ignored any and all arguments against him paying, except for Cole who had already gone up to the register, presumably to talk to the cute sales associate. *Vaya!* He was already feeling more confident. Leo was so proud.

"Come on, gather the stuff and let's move on. We're far from being done!" He said, helping out the remainder of the guys while Marci and Cole were out there. He turned once, curious to see the young man's progress with the girl and caught her looking at him from across the room.

*Uh-oh.*

He recognized that look.

God, being so good-looking was such a *curse* sometimes.

Yeah, that happened all the time, but you know what *didn't* happen all the fucking time? A person throwing up fucking goddamn grenades, *Jesus Cristo.* The moment he saw Cole double over, Leo gasped and bolted to the register.

Leo wasn't a fucking crazy person, but he sure felt like one, instinctively picking up what looked to be small balls ~~vaguely resembling~~ that were obviously grenades from the floor. Every time Cole's clumsy ass dropped one, Leo flinched and cursed. Not to mention they were all wet and *gross*.

"Damnit! *Virgen de Guadalupe*, didn't I tell you to stop eating your army toys? Plastic isn't food!" He said, throwing in any excuse for what the attendant - and people standing around, as he would soon see - that he could muster on the spot. Forcibly taking the grenades and placing them in the shopping bag, Leo and the others made sure to check out as quickly as possible so they could vanish from the store.

January 23, 2019

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee

Cole's was panicking. His usual nervous disposition was doing nothing more than worsening the situation as he scrambled to pick up the grenades into his arms with shaking hand and a quivering mind. "Oh God" he whimpered, the grenades falling from grasp as he failed to gather them. The sight of Leo's hands diving in to help him out brought a sense of relief, but not enough to calm him down. "Yes! Yes, I'm sorry" he replied louder than intended, playing along with the utterly unbelievable excuse Santana came up with on the spot.

As soon as the grenades disappeared into the bag Cole took the paper container and hugged it tightly, hurrying towards the door and ducking to the right. The mall was now busier and all the young hero could think of right now was finding a quiet space to hide and rethink his eagerness of spending the day in such a public space. He tucked behind a column with his bag and faced the wall, counting to ten like his mother had taught him. This had been a bad idea, he was utterly unfit for something as innocent as a shopping trip with his friends and he couldn't swallow the embarrassment he felt at putting the others in this position.

## Rose | Rhett | Marci

With the card in hand, she blew a kiss to El Matador before turning on her heel and heading after the curly headed boy to the check out counter. Since he insisted on using his mother's money, she let him be without forcing her hand in putting the expenses on the other man's card. She waited patiently in line behind the boy though wasn't paying much attention to what was happening in front of her. In stead, Mirage was pre-occupied with her cell.

She lifted her head quickly at the sudden movement in front of her. Once her eyes took in Cole doubled over and heaving, everything in her tensed. *What the hell?!* Her head nearly exploded on its own when a handful of grenades began spilling out over the floor. "Holy shit." Mirage threw the clothes onto the counter and grabbed a bag from over the counter, ignoring the equally stunned woman on the other side.

When Leo appeared, she looked to him clearly bewildered. When all four of the grenades were retrieved, Marci shoved the items to the cashier with an impatient smile. "Can we hurry this along, hun? You aren't gettin' paid hourly to stand here and hit on every devilishly handsome man that comes through those doors, after all." She waited until the total came up and she swiped the card before walking over to the flustered Matador. With card in hand, she slid it into his back pocket with a mischievous grin playing on her lips. "Besides, he's taken."(edited)

Taking her hand back, that was about the time she realized that Cole was no longer in sight. "Leo, grab the other two." She said while motioning to Val and Kyle before hurrying out of the fancy store that smelt like rich people.

"Cole? Babe, where'd ya go?" She called while rounding the corner where she found the younger man. He was facing the wall when she found him hence her worry. "Does that happen every time a pretty girl touches your hair?" She joked softly but soon dropped the jokes as she set a hand on his shoulder and turned the boy to face her. "Hey, are you okay?" A much more motherly approach, yet it came easily for Mirage.

January 24, 2019

## sephet

Kyle took his assigned clothing and let it be rung through, feeling a little flustered at the mad panic everyone was going through. He stepped out into the general mall and wandered over to where Cole was hiding. “You know in 8th grade I accidentally gave like… *everyone* warts. Like no one suspected powers or whatever, but no one would touch me for a while. Sometimes this shit is inconvenient as hell, you know?”

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee

Cole was in the midst of typing a panicky text to his mother, begging her to come get him, when Marci's voice startled him. He spun around and exhaled at the sight of the familiar face "I'm fine" he nodded with a nervous smile, clutching the bag of weapons "it's okay, really. It happens all the time" he assured her, "when I get nervous, which is... often." He deflated at the statement and cleared his throat, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve because he couldn't be sure he wasn't drooled like a baby.

His eyes landed on Kyle as he shared a snipped of his own embarrassing power-powered situations, glad he wasn't alone but also sad Pestilence had such a lonely childhood. He couldn't imagine being the kid in class who gave other warts, at least his own power didn't make a first appearance until he was eleven. Not to mention his parents were fully, sometimes overwhelmingly, understanding and supportive. Cole cracked a smile and a sliver of laughter left his lips "inconvenient is putting it lightly." Usually he would take much longer to calm down but having his friends here made the dust settle so much quicker. "Thank you... and sorry. I know it's..." what was the word? "Gross."

## Rose | Rhett | Marci

Marceline’s smile widened greatly at the interaction of Pestilence and Cole. She was glad that they were able to calm the younger hero and once he finished talking, she laughed. “Don’t worry, hun. We’ve all seen worst, I’m sure!” Putting an arm around Cole’s shoulder then another carefully over Kyle’s. “Let’s get you two haircuts then we can end the day with ice cream or something?”

Waiting to see Val and Leo come out of the store, she glanced back down at the bag of grenades. “So, uh, whatcha gonna do with those?”

## Mob Boss Peggy

Leo was so on edge after the shop that he couldn't even make a witty comment about Mirage's fingers slipping into his back pocket, and how he "was taken". The man couldn't even leave successfully, so grateful that Cole had taken the bag of probably *live* grenades away from him. Leo was quick to rush back into the store to retrieve Valentine and Kyle.

"Ay-yayay..." He groaned, as they were leaving the store. "I'm having flashbacks of when I accidentally climbed up to the top of our *casa* and didn't know how to get back down. Having abilities is tough, guys."

Grumbling to himself in Spanish, Leo marched right over to Marceline and Cole all the while dragging Valentine along with his arm linked with the taller man's. "Oh, no you don't - gimme' that." He said, snatching the phone from Cole's hands. "We don't run to our mamás here, yeah?"

Leo wagged a finger at Cole, but he was tryin by to diffuse the situation as much as he knew how. Suffice to say his method of comfort was far tougher than Marceline's.

"Listen, *hermano*, we all had trouble with our powers before we figured out how to use 'em. That's why you train with Fireballs, eh? Now let's put this stuff in the car and grab some lunch!" Tossing the phone back to Cole nonchalantly, he urged everyone on. "You guys like tacos?"

The rest of the day was uneventful as far as weapon-spewing went, but hanging with the guys and Marceline had been a seriously enjoyable event for Leo. He dropped the guys back home that evening, after a full day of making them over, with a lighter bank account and a fuller heart.(edited)

## Jax (Pin King)

A set of steely eyes watched the group from a distance as the gathered around the boy, offering condolences for what had clearly been a rather embarrassing incident for him. The man waited a few moments for the group to move on before standing from the table to follow them. When he saw them enter a barber shop he smiled. A grin of perfect white teeth. They would be there for a little while. Long enough for him to slip back to the clothing store and return before they left. He needed to continue his watch after all. He strode cheerfully back to the store and approached the girl working at the front desk. "Excuse me my dear. I'm Detective Jason Wierr CKPD. I was wondering if I might have a look at your CCTV footage of that last group of people in regards to an ongoing investigation." A slender hand placed a fake police ID down on the counter, and with a practiced smile Maxwell Fletcher continued his lie.

"Its of the utmost importance."