A Noticeable Change (Mia, Draccy, Rina, This is for you!)

[Anonymous]

He probably should have booked this time off or something. It may have been a whole month but this was a time that was going to endanger perhaps his reputation, if not his career. And how exactly to explain it to everyone anyway? Well, it was probably best not to let everyone know about it, just to let it run the course and if someone asked, he'd...take them aside and explain it. Ugh. It may just be better that way. Besides, you tell one person and then everyone else will no doubt find out as well.

Last time he had gone through this, it had been less than pleasant. He thought it was a by-product of when he turned from Mage to Psychic actually. It wasn't magic that was being stored in his body. It was more of a cosmic energy. Neither psychic nor magical, it existed normally but it stored itself in him. He had to get rid of it, and his body had adapted to do just that. To burn that energy. Of course this resulted in...Er...well an overactive sex drive, not to mention his metabolism increased, and he didn't require sleep. He could go a week now with very little sleep. That was dangerous as well, because his mind would be focused on...very few things. He'd just have to deal with this though.

There wasn't any time for him to turn back now.

Already he had called two of his three Candidates to his office. Tomorrow they would have the day off, and so tonight would be an interesting time. He hadn't actually told any of them his plan for tonight, he had simply told them to dress in civilian clothes and join him at his office.

Dyerlich wasn't even dressed like...his normal self. He looked very different. He wore a smoke jacket for one, the article being tied up a silken belt; the entire thing was red with gold trim. He had a very sleek pair of pants on, they were tuxedo pants actually, done up with a belt. He had a pair of wingtip shoes one that were done up with a buckle. He still wore his cowl, but underneath his smoke jacket. This one was a lot tighter; it was almost a mask really. This was a bit more of his...formal he believed; it wasn't as baggy as his normal cowl.

Dyerlich had the whole evening planned out really. He'd take the girls to do a bit of shopping, let them pick up some stuff; he knew that Phenyo needed more civilian clothes. She really didn't appreciate him; it made him feel bad really. All the good and all the bad he did for them, it was so that they could succeed, so they would be pilots one day. He did it all for them, so they would not die, and they would not be sent to TRIM. He only wished that Phenyo could really see that. Sadly, she probably could not.

It was...harmless really. Sure, he'd have...intentions later but his really...strong week would be happening in one week and six days. He was counting because...things could get weird. He'd never gone through that particular stage of his life with these Pilots. Ugh. They'd ask questions of course. Some would. Roman might. Hopefully some would be sympathetic instead of mean.

Though now, all that he wanted to focus on, was just relaxing in the city with his Angels. Heh. Dyerlich's Angels. He still doesn’t understand why that worked so well, but it did. He reached into the satin coat and removed an object from it. It turned out to be an old smoking pipe. He didn't appear to have anything added to it at this point, but when he put it to his lips and blew into it (Pulling his cowl down of course), bubbles began to pour out. Of course, they seemed to just disappear once they got a foot away from the pipe. They didn't pop, they just seemed to disappear. It was a fake pipe with a holographic image projector inside of it. He had made the mistake of showing Wulf his smoking jacket and that day the boy showed up with the pipe, a big grin on his face.

It could be changed from bubbles to smoke, both of any colour, but for some reason the bubbles just seemed...funny. He'd turn it to smoke at some point but...for now he just felt...different.

More aloof, more goofy really. Not like his regular self, this was a bit more reserved. He was starting to see things differently too. People mostly. Females...in particular.

And perhaps it wasn't good for his candidates, all female, all of them very much female. He began to notice that sort of thing on them. He noticed their curves a bit more, he found himself looking at them when they spoke but not really listening all that much. He kept his mind as focused as possible. He did his job still, but he found himself wandering near to his candidates a bit more. Not that they could think anything of that. He would always just find the right way to go on his way to talk with another Pilot, drop off some reports or some such.

He liked to think it was very smooth on his part.

At first he was just going to leave Phenyo some clothes and a note, asking her nicely to join him but then...this was Phenyo. He was there, waiting for her. He forced her to get dressed in clothes, which no doubt something that surprised her was that they were her old clothes, the ones she had come to the ATC in. He had them recreated.

Yeah, he was that nice. Then he literally had to pick her up and drag her to his office. It was probably the only way to get her to go. That was fine really; he handled it well he hoped. She would no doubt be very...up in arms about the whole thing but he just ignored it really.

He took a seat behind his desk and kicked his feet up onto the table, shaking his head. Phenyo had been put in the chair near the corner, and told not to move. She had been really good so far actually.

"We're all going to have a good time in the city Phenyo. Plain and simple. I know...you don't like it here...but please...just..." He scratched the back of his head, trying to finish the sentence but he couldn't. There was no real way to finish it. She was going to come along; he was going to make her. They'd shop. They'd have dinner. Go for a walk perhaps in an artificial park. Then they'd go home.

[Anonymous]

This was stupid.

He was stupid.

This place was stupid.

She was stupid.

Grumpily she sat in the chair in the corner, leaned back, one leg balanced on the others knee. Arms were crossed over her chest, pushing her breasts together, just for him. Dirty bastard. A sneer in his direction and Phenyo scooted back up the chair, she had been about to fall off. That wouldn’t have looked very graceful.  Another huff and Phenyo glared off to the side. Dyerlich was acting just damn weird, it made her nervous. Where was the rib breaking? Where was the slashes and the gashes and the pain?

So not what she was expecting.

Mismatched green eyes flickered towards Dyerlich and she sat up a little straighter, moving the tails of her shoulder-cover and huffed again and looked away. What a joke. What a jerk. This was stupid! Phenyo was here to become a soldier for something stupid on a planet she didn’t belong to, for a bunch of people she didn’t like. The last thing she wanted to do was prance around with a bunch of people she didn’t want to and… and… Be nice.

Yuch.

“ I don’t understand why I have to be here.” She voiced before pursing her lips and glaring at him, head held high and chin straight.  Phenyo looked down at her leg and played with a bow on her thigh before clearing her throat and leaning backwards in the chair. “ Oh no, I don’t mind it here, the food’s okay, the people are nice- generally- I just don’t like you.” A bright smile, meant to drive in the barb. Only thing that sucked about this place was him.

Maybe if she was bratty enough he’d make her stay ‘home’.

Maybe if she was really nasty he’d send her to her room.

Maybe if she was really bad, he’d kill her.

Phenyo swallowed then the glared off to the side. Mismatched green eyes all the brighter with her clashing clothes, their colours bright and dark alike. It was rather suiting of her. Even though it showed off far too much skin, the red tattoos around her belly button bright against her semi-tanned skin.

Didn’t look a thing like a psychic, or a Pilot Candidate.

This outing idea still sucked though. “Why do I have to go again?” Phenyo huffed quietly before rolling her eyes and glaring away from Dyerlich, those others better get here soon or she’ll be pissed about having to wait alone with the guy.

[Anonymous]

Outside of the door, Devi hesitated once again, glancing down at herself. She had been excited to get to wear street clothes again instead of that stupid uniform. But the message had said nice clothes and Devi was from a poor family, she didn't really own a lot of nice stuff.

She sent up a small prayer hoping that Dyerlich hadn't meant formal wear or anything like that. Because Devi didn't own any formal clothes at home, let alone here. As it was she was dressed in her nicest clothes, actual EGIS brand. Sure, she had gotten them on a discount as they had 'fallen off the truck' so to speak, but they were still the real deal, not cheap knockoffs.

Though there had to be some God on her side at least a little bit as the shirt showed off her shoulders. It was a tight, high colored sleeveless vest, the front held together with small snapped bands. Loose sleeves were attached at the armpit of the vest and hung loose down her arm and mostly covered her hands. The skirt wasn't actually EGIS, it was a cheaper brand, Area 18, but it still looked nice. Devi was a bit worried at the wrap skirt though, it showed a decent amount of leg, with the high slit where the sides came together.

A deep breath and Devi pressed the button to the door, stepping inside. She didn't get very far in before she was blinking at the very....bright girl that seemed to be arguing with Dyerlich. Maybe she was Phenyo? The other candidate that had Dyerlich. Devi smiled brightly at both people in the room, choosing to utterly ignore the heated atmosphere she had walked into, "Hello! The party can start! I have arrived!"

[Anonymous]

“Sorry,” Vyomini called as she narrowly avoided charging into someone.

     She was supposed to meet up with her mentor but since he had asked for ‘nice clothes’ it had taken a little arranging hence why she was running. There was no way she was going be late, Dyerlich wasn’t the kind of person you should piss off.

     Since clothes wise she only owned a baggy hooded sweatshirt and a pair of knee high lace up boots she was just going to wear them with the trousers of her uniform and hope her mentor did berate her for it. Fortunately however, another candidate had come to the rescue and lent her some jeans. The problem was that candidate was Farica, who was really tall, at least in comparison to Vyomini she was. They had trailed on the floor so she had been forced to tuck them into her boots. It wasn’t so bad though, the baggy jeans and baggy hoodie hid the fact she was still unhealthily thin. Since being at the ATC she had started to put on weight but her ribs could still be seen poking out.   

     It wasn’t just that which had caused her lateness, the main reason was her roommate, Demya who rarely ever stopped talking and the fact she wouldn’t let Vyomini leave without doing something with her hair other then brushing it. So here she was, running as if for her life to Dyerlich’s office dressed in much too big clothes with various blue flowered vines tied in her hair.

     As she entered the corridor where Dyerlich’s office was, she saw Devi entering. She wasn’t late, and if she was, at least Devi was as well. As she went inside behind the other girl she noticed Phenyo sat in one corner. Her outfit was rather…bright. It certainly overshadowed her own and Devi’s.

     “Um…hi,” Vyomini said, with some difficulty since she was out of breath.

     Her gaze then drifted to her mentor and the first thought that sprung to mind was….’There is no way I’m awake’…She pinched herself and found it did indeed hurt. So she wasn’t dreaming. What the hell?

[Anonymous]

She was really just so angry wasn't she? He barely paid any attention to the thoughts that she was practically projecting. Lots of things about being stupid. And he still couldn't believe she expected to be tortured. It almost made him believe perhaps she had done something wrong then. He'd have to go looking later and find out what weighed heavy on her conscience. Way later. Like. In a week or something. Maybe. If he remembered of course.

He had a nice chat with her of course about...her attitude. She wasn't from Aedolis. She had just been drafted after she faked her way to get medical treatment. Of all the bad luck. He would try to make it a little easier on her for that, only a little though. He didn't want people to think he was giving her any special treatment. He was just...understandin g of her position, that was all.

"Because you're my candidate." He just rolled his eyes, sighing quietly to himself. She just had to be like this didn't she? "Oh, well at least you're settling in." He wouldn't let her spoil any of it. Maybe she'd end up...no, she'd not enjoy this night no doubt. She'd be a stick in the mud.

But he wouldn't make her stay home, send her to her room, or kill her as she thought. She'd come along and that was the end of it.

"Because you're my candidate, the first female I've had under my tutelage in twenty years." That's all there was to it. She was special to him. Plain and simple. Alright he could hear Devi outside, just sort of standing there. She was worried about the way she looked. Hrm. Well. That was alright. This is why he was taking them all out. So everyone could have new clothes. Good clothes, designer brand and what not, whatever the heck they could really find. He smiled under his cowl as she walked in. Well. The skirt was very nice.

"Well, not start, we must wait for Vyomini, but glad you got here." No doubt Phenyo would be relieved. He didn't have any other chairs in the office however, but he could hear Vyomini not far. They wouldn't have to wait. Dyerlich stood up, putting away his faux pipe in a pocket and making sure everything was still tied up. Then he grinned underneath his cowl as Vyomini entered just after Devi. Well this was good actually.

"Good, all my angels are here then. No, you're awake Vyomini. I decided to choose a different outfit for our little outing." Dyerlich grinned at them as he looked to the three of them. This was most excellent. Two had come, one had to be forced though, but that was alright really. She was here now, and that's all that mattered really. He helped Phenyo up to her feet, shaking his head as he herded them out of his office. "Alright ladies, let's go out shall we?" He asked them as he looked to each of them after having sent a psychic thought to lock the door.

"First, shopping for my Angels, and then some dinner."

[Anonymous]

Depressed? Angry? Angst? Fear? Annoyance? Or just plain bummed out?

Phenyo had had plans for her day off. It had included napping. This Something-To-Do-Everyday thing made her extra sleepy and she knew that if she didn’t sleep sometimes today, tonight excluding bedtime she would be falling asleep in her soup. Or whatever it was that they ate later. Then she sensed it more than heard it, a new ‘taste’. Phenyo watched with interest the new girl who walked in.

Must be another one of Dyerling’s Candidates. Phenyo glared at him for a moment, bah, no introduction? Jerk. Like a good little girl, Phenyo stayed seated, tapping her boot against the ground, feeling very bright and… Underdressed. A blush stained her cheeks and she looked down at her short shorts and the trailing sleeveless waist coat and Phenyo swallowed slightly.

This would be awkward.

A wiggle of her fingers towards the new girl. Devi, Phenyo managed to slide away with, a name. Her name? Phenyo hoped so, she couldn’t remember anyone’s name at the moment. Awkward, awkward, awkward. Another familiar ‘scent’, Vyomini. The cute little candidate who was in the – Did she cut her hair? Phenyo blinked and rose an eyebrow and then pursed her lips. Vyomini looked adorable with her hair cut like that, maybe a tad messy, but adorable.

Looked entertaining with the mini-garden in her hair, too.

But adorable none-the-less.

Then all of a sudden she was being helped up and ushered out of the room. Her heavy boots surprisingly quiet against the ground. Quietly Phenyo watched Dyerlich, her lips pulled to one side and she shifted her weight between her feet, looking between the two girls. They were so… Damn cute.

Phenyo just looked a bit like a slut.

Oh well, she’d… No idea what she would do, but she’d do it!

Eyeing Dyerlich as he went about and spoke about angels and dinner, Phenyo took a breath. “You know you’re more handsome without that silly cowl on, right?” If Vyomini and Devi were going to look classy, Dyerlich wouldn’t let that cowl take away from their image. Phenyo was fine walking in the back with her rainbow coloured clashing clothing. More suiting to her last profession than a night on the town or even going shopping.

Blegh.

Shopping.

Phenyo shuddered at the though, but she’d follow. Even if she didn’t want to go, she wouldn’t ruin the day for the two other candidates, they might even have fun, and as long as someone had fun it was okay, right? Right!

[Anonymous]

Once Dyerlich spoke, Devi actually noticed that he was....wearing...a smoking jacket. The candidate blinked her dark blue eyes rapidly, trying to process what she was seeing and desperately trying not to giggle. He just looked like something out of some porno, in a cite way, "Wow DyerBear, lookin' good."

When she felt Vyo come in behind her, the candidate turned and gave her a brilliant smile, "Hey! Looks like it is a whole party today. You look all cute with pants on." She reached over, ruffling the frail looking girls soft white hair.

Then the bright smile got turned to Phenyo, "Well, I am Devi. It's nice to meet you." The pink haired girl moved closer, holding her hand out to the brightly colored girl, "I like that outfit. Did you make it yourself?" There wasn't a hint of sarcasm in the girls voice, she did honestly think the outfit was pretty cool. She didn't think she could pull it off, but it worked for Phenyo.

"So it sounds like shopping and dinner?" Devi really, really hoped that they got some allowance or something as candidates, because she really didn't have a whole lot of money, "I love shopping! And I think you look just fine with your cowl off Dyerling." The girl gave Dyerlich a wink, still grinning.

Devi wasn't sure what was going on, but she was going to have fun with it. And she hadn't done anything wrong that she was aware of, so she was pretty sure this wasn't some weird mind game. The fact that it was a date hadn't even crossed her mind. Besides, there was nothing Devi liked more then getting to pick out clothes for other people and while she wasn't sure if Pheyno would let her, she would bet money Vyo would let her dress her up.

[Anonymous]

Vyomini was a little put off by Phenyo’s expression, what was wrong? Was it the vines in her hair?...Or maybe it was the fact her hair was shorter now; last time Phenyo had seen her it had been waist length….it didn’t look that bad did it? At the very least it was practical.

     If she hadn’t been mortified already she definitely was when Devi ruffled her hair and said she ‘looked cute with pants on’. She could definitely feel her cheeks heating up. Devi was of course referring to the candidate party. That wasn’t her fault though, she only had her uniform pants and they weren’t clean and she hadn’t known any other the candidates well enough to borrow clothes from. Except Demya but she didn’t wear clothes.

     “Um…thank you,” she managed to mumble to Devi.

     At the mention of shopping Devi seemed excited whereas Phenyo looked less than happy. Vyomini on the other hand didn’t really care either way, it wasn’t as if she had any money but it might be fun to watch Devi enjoying herself. And actually seeing what Haviah was like could be interesting as well. She had glimpsed it briefly when she was first brought to the ATC but other than that she had just seen it through the windows. And since she would probably be living there for the foreseeable future it would be nice to see it properly.

     Overall, Vyomini found she didn’t mind life at the ATC all the much. It was certainly a lot easier than TRIM and stowing away aboard ships just to avoid being captured. And it wouldn’t be too much of stretch to say she was happy for once. Even though she wasn’t Aedolian and didn’t really want to be a tool of the military there were many up sides. Most of the other candidates were nice and her roommate was very friendly even if she rarely stopped talking. Some of the pilots seemed okay as well but what she liked most of all was the stability. She knew when her next meal would be, providing she behaved, when she had free time and when she had to study and she wasn’t terrified that TRIM representatives would come down on her at any minute.

     As suspicious as she was of her mentor, he wasn’t as bad as some of the people at TRIM. And on her first day he had tried to cheer her up. She didn’t like him…but she didn’t hate him either.

[Anonymous]

Well, Phenyo could sleep later. After dinner. Right now though he wanted them all awake. Though they might have had plans, these ones were better anyway. They all would get to go out and enjoy themselves. That's all that really mattered. He wanted them to have a good time, plus he wanted to get to know them all a little better. He already had a serious talk of course with Phenyo, found out about her. That story pulled his heart strings a little bit, she was just a wrong place at the wrong time sort of deal.

"Thanks Devi..." He wasn't sure if she was being nice to him or just mocking him. Her thoughts didn't help all that more. Something about a porno. He didn't want to know. That would just...turn out different.

He thought about introducing all of them but...he honestly expected them all to know who they were. It was apparent that perhaps they didn't. Introductions while they walked and talked would probably work out better, or Devi could take the high road and start introductions. That was good. He wanted cohesion amongst his angels anyway. Still, he had to admit he liked how all of them were dressed, how they had all done their hair, or had someone do it for them. Phenyo though...with new clothes, she'd feel better. He just had these ones made because he believed she'd feel better in them.

He was wrong, and he felt like a jerk.

That couldn't be helped though. Sometimes he managed to be good, and sometimes he didn't. Phenyo's comment made him blink and cough uncomfortably. Alright. So he'd look...better with the cowl. "Uh...hrm. Well...if you sll say so." How would he be able to fight all of them? It wasn't fair, they shouldn't be teaming up on him like this. At least not in this sense. Ahem. Not that he'd think that thought. He reached up and pulled the cowl down completely, adjusting it around his neck to look like part of the shirt he was wearing. This was...he could do this. He just had to be really careful was all. He couldn't make all his little comments and not worry about them seeing if he were grinning or not.

"Now, all of you are getting new clothes, my treat, so go wild with it." Their thoughts alluded that they would be worried about money. And, for a moment, Dyerlich felt kind of...dirty actually. The sheer fact that he had nothing to really spend his own money on, just made it build up in an account. Now he was spending it on three women so very much younger than he. It almost...almost made him feel dirty. Then he remembered that he was treating them to this, as for being so good lately.

Yes. There was nothing...else about it.

Dyerlich had a hover vehicle waiting for them outside the ATC. Dyerlich made sure to let the company know that he was a Pilot. That would make sure that the driver was on the best behaviour. Not that anything could really upset Dyerlich at this point. He felt a lot more...relaxed during his episode. At least on the buildup and the cool down. Hm. He might have to explain that to all of them later.

The vehicle was rather large, and he made sure to sit behind the girls in the second row of seats while they sat in front of him. It was better this way, considering that there wasn't enough room for the four of them to sit together, and they probably wouldn't like it, considering he was kinda...pokey.

"To Haviah, one of the malls if you don't mind." Dyerlich pressed his thumb against a pad, transferring some credits over. The vehicle could accurately gauge how long it would take, so there was no trouble there. He made sure to tip as well, since that was the right thing to do. He wasn't that evil after all. He just sat back and relaxed, staring mostly at the back of his candidate's heads. They did have nice hair didn't they? Vyomini did look rather adorable, he'd agree with the other two candidates on this.

[Anonymous]

“Ah…”

Phenyo shook the other girls hand, Devi, bright pink hair. Looking down at her outfit, Phenyo pulled parts up and dragged parts down, covering as much as she could. Dearly loving the outfit but didn’t like being around nicely dressed people, reminded her of… Things. “I didn’t make it, but I bought each part from a bunch of different places and…” She motioned to the random bows and ties holding parts up, “I did add a bit.” Licking her lips quickly she gave a nod and then bounced once on the balls of her feet, “I’m Phenyo.”

Good, introductions were good.

Winking at Dyerlich was kind of weird though. An eyebrow rose and she shook her head silently, smiling a little. Devi seemed outgoing, that was good, Phenyo didn’t know if she had it in her to try to make someone happy when she herself was plain set on being a Stick-In-the-Mud the entire time of this outing, not a happy camper, but at least she was camping.

Then they were moving and Phenyo was sure to tag behind the rest of them, quiet, the tail of her maroon-red dragged along the ground. A hand went to her neck, playing with the neckline, it covered the scar, his name. Dyerlich didn’t mention, but she shot a semi-defying look to the back of his head and brushed the hair at the nape of her neck, the purple braids rested on either shoulder.

With this outfit she looked always exactly like she did when she arrived at the ATC. Not a clues as to what was going on, wincing slightly Phenyo brushed her fingers against the once bruised ribs and then shook her head and looked up again. Surely if she went into the city looking like a rainbow puked on her she’d draw too much attention.

Bah, what the hell did she care?

With a bravado that eluded her Phenyo sped up a little and walked beside the rest of them. She was Phenyo. Ex-prostitute and had been a damned good bounty-hunter, killed people for money, screwed people to get to her targets, and she was afraid of making two girls and an alien look bad. Pfft. Fuck that noise. Right, bravado, head up, chest out… Okay, no chest out, act like she did before she came to the ATC. Tough bitch.

Not that she planned on killing anyone. Of course the target she’d been tracking could still be running around, that would suck, watching the bastard slip through her fingers. Silently she clutched her hand, glared at her arm, mentally glared at her ship, her weapons, her maps. If she hadn’t tripped and broken her arm, she wouldn’t be in this damn mess and – “Bah! Stop! Er… Never mind.” Whoops.

Bravado. No remembering that stuff, this was her future.

Hey, cool, a vehicle. Phenyo got in last, holding door open for the other girls. “Right… A mall…” Phenyo pursed her lips again and looked behind her towards Dyerlich then stuck out her tongue at him, “ You’re a Pilot… Does that mean you get treated different? I still don’t really understand why psychics are so special.” Phenyo blinked towards the two other candidates and then leaned to look at both, head tilted to the side. “Do you?”

[Anonymous]

Well....screw this. Devi huffed slightly before throwing her arm around Phenyo's shoulder as they walked down the hall. This was a rare and fun opportunity and she was going to have fun damn it. And so was everyone else if she had to beat them senseless and drag their limp bodies along for the damned fun.

At Dyerlich's mention of the shopping being his treat, Devi's face lite up in a way that promised that the Pilot's band account was going to be much smaller tomorrow, "You're treat?" There were few things Devi liked more then getting to go shopping and that was getting to go shopping with someone else's money, "Hell yeah then! What are we shopping for? Just...us or is there a reason?"

A small part of Devi was worried what the answer might be. That this was just some fucked up trick of Dyerlich's or that it was the set up for some torture. But...Devi was pretty sure he wasn't going too. He seemed decent enough....as long as you followed his rules.

Another cheerful smile for Phenyo, "Well, I think it looks way cool! And you can really pull that off! You look way hot in it."

Phenyo's mutterings to herself down the hallway got a raised eyebrow from the pink haired candidate, but she chose not to comment. Phenyo was going to be a problem. And trying to get that stick that was rammed up DyerBear's butt. Vyo just seemed shy. But Devi had had worse to work with and still made it out alright! They were going out shopping and to dinner and probably wealthy pilot was paying. All pilots were monied right? And she was going to be a pilot? Hey....that wasn't so bad.

And there was a car. Devi gave a low whistle, "Damn DyerBear. That's a sweet ride." And thank god Dyerlich was in the back. Devi didn't really want to turn a sharp corner sitting next to those elbow spikes. She crawled inside and adjusted her skirt so she wasn't flashing the whole damn car. Phenyo's question got a blanck stare and a long, slow blink. Was she serious? Of course physics were special. They were the pilots.

"Um....you aren't from here, are you?" Devi had only met a few people from outside and it was pretty brief at best. Then she realized what that meant. Phenyo wasn't even a citizen of the country she got forced to serve. She suddenly threw her arms around the girl, somewhat awkwardly due to the confines of the car, "Ohmygod!Iamsosorry!Thatissototallyawfu l!" Her words were rapid and strung together as she hugged Phenyo tightly.

[Anonymous]

[OOC Sorry it really sucks, whilst I was writing it there were several occasions when I just sat staring at the screen for 10 minutes o.O]

Vyomini had to agree with Devi, Phenyo did look good in her multi-coloured outfit; it was just very….noticeable. It was strange she would wear that considering she looked like she didn’t want to be there. Devi was dressed more normally and couldn’t wait to go shopping. Vyomini wasn’t so sure about the idea of clothes shopping though. She had never bought her own clothes before and would have no idea what to choose…maybe Devi would help her. Not Phenyo though, she seemed content to be miserable and asking for her help choosing clothes was probably not a good idea if her current attire was anything to go by.

     When they got outside there was a hover vehicle waiting and Vyomini had to admit she was impressed as well. But then again pilots were the highest caste in Aedolis, it was to be expected. Thankfully they didn’t have to sit with Dyerlich. Not because she hated him because he was …spikey. She got in first followed by Devi and finally Phenyo.

     Phenyo seemed surprised at how much power the pilots had which was rather strange. Vyomini wasn’t even from Aedolis and she knew about the pilots. Devi quickly worked out that Phenyo couldn’t be from Aedolis either and suddenly launched herself at the purple haired girl before said something very quickly without pausing for breath. Did Devi feel sorry for Phenyo because she was forced into the military of country she wasn’t even from? If that was the case it was probably better if she didn’t mention she wasn’t from Aedolis either, she was rather attached to breathing.

[Anonymous]

This was actually going over very well. FOr the first bit he thought that there was going to be a lot of trouble. But then things started to look up. Even Phenyo, and that was a huge, but very nice surprise. He was proud that all of them were able to get together. They didn't seem to really know each other that much so...this would actually be a whole lot nicer. It would be good to have them function together. He wouldn't have to worry about jealousy or animosity between the group of them.

Dyerlich gave a nod of his head to Devi, smiling a little. "Yes, my treat, completely. And you're just shopping for whatever you want. Formal clothes, casual clothes, that sort of thing." He wasn't actually planning anything bad for them, this was his treat. A literal treat. Also because he wanted to, and because he did enjoy his little candidates so. All of them were just so adorable.

"Uh...huh." Well Phenyo was just...the minds of the three girls were so interesting. He didn't go in them very deep, he just let their minds speak to him for where he was. It was all very interesting of course.

And there was...uh...some very odd pictures. Like a stick comment. That was just a little worrying. What exactly was she thinking about?

"Thanks Devi..." The DyerBear comment. Of course there was the DyerBear comment. How could he not expect those. At least none of them were glad he was in the back because he was mean, but because of the spikes. They all understood. He was glad that things were okay between them. Mostly okay at least.

Dyerlich had been sure that he had explained to this to her. Apparently he had not. In Aedolis, psychics are special, along with mages. They are also considered dangerous, so they must be controlled. So psychics and mages join the ranks of the Military. Psychics become, usually, the Pilots. They are the law, a pilot's word is usually law, next to that of a dragon. That's how things works. It's a difficult concept but it has been how Aedolis works. He decided to just tell Phenyo directly, since everyone else in the vehicle knew how the way of Aedolis. He didn't mind explaining it to her of course.

Dyerlich leaned forward to put his hands onto Phenyo and Vyomini's shoulder, grinning slightly to them. Already the vehicle was starting to pull up to the front of a large building, a very posh mall it looked like. The doors opened and Dyerlich ushered everyone outside to stand in front the building. It was a very metallic building, large, there was a lot of windows looking into it. There was tons of shops on every side, with three levels. It looked   massive, and it was. It had everything that a person could hope for really. Dyerlich liked it anyway, it had all the things they would need. He wanted to head to the department store though. That was where they had to go, that's where all the clothes resided after all.

"Well my Angels? Are we all set for a great time?" Dyerlich asked as he stepped between them, using his very large reach to wrap his arms about all of them once more. Heh. It was nice to have warm bodies pressed against him. More so when they were...well...you know. These three girls. He was in heaven for sure.

[Anonymous]

A bit of a bump to her hips when she moved started once Devi said she looked hot in her mutlycoloured tight fitting, side showing, trailing just plain odd outfit. Phenyo missed feeling confident, missed the feeling of being the pilot of her ship, the bringing of bounties, the… the… Whatever she was. Weird haired elf girl.  Phenyo eyed Devi, she had weird hair, too.  Everyone in this little group had weird hair. Phenyo flicked a glance at Dyerlich, yup. Weird hair.

Once they’d gotten into the car, Phenyo was very unprepared for the pile of person that hugged her. “Ah…” Phenyo blinked a few times, looked over Devis shoulder at Vyomini for a wordless plea of help. “No… I’m not from here.” Phenyo patted Devi on the back, then looked away for a moment, “Not even from this solar system.” A bright smile and a shrug, but it was nice to have somewhere to belong at least. Her eyes closed slightly when she heard Dyerlichs voice, she turned to him, and not seeing his mouth move made her moved away slightly.

Still creepy with all the brain talking.

Oh, okay, sorry.

Was her reply to his mental message. She pursed her lips and jolted slightly when a hand was on her shoulder, bah, Dyerlich and his long reach. Still freaked her out a little. Then the car stopped and she looked out the window, “Damn, that looks bigger than a few Out-Posts I’ve been on when I was…” Phenyo trailed off and pursed her lips, “Flying, still.” Clearing her throat she pushed the door open and stepped out of the car, holding it open for the other girls before standing beside Devi on the outside.

A hand on her shoulder, again. Phenyo kept her hair up and her chest out, the same provocative sway to her hips. If the snobs here were going to bad mouth her at least it would be in a flattering way, and it wasn’t like anything they could say would be untrue. “Angels… is that really necessary, Dyerling?” She lifted an eyebrow and looked at him before making a face. Angels. She’d come across some angels once, deep space creatures, looked like they were made of star blankets.

Scared the crap out of her when they made their call, scary stuff. Angels.

Phenyo looked at Devi and Vyomini. They could be the angels.

[Anonymous]

"Yes, my treat, completely. And you're just shopping for whatever you want. Formal clothes, casual clothes, that sort of thing."

Finally the universe seemed to be righting itself and correcting all those little mistakes that had happened at birth. Like the fact that Devi should have many more expensive designer clothes. And shoes. Her vivid purple eyes lite up at the thought of shoes, one could never have enough shoes. And Devi really couldn't afford the nice ones.

And really, if this was going to be some weird torture set up or test or whatever, Devi was just going to enjoy it while it lasted.

And poor Phenyo! Devi released the girl from her death grip of a hug and gave her a sad look, "That is awful! It's bad enough getting dragged out of your life and dumped into this program when you actually live here. I can't imagine getting forced into it if you aren't from here."

Devi was actually a little shocked that they took non-citizens into the ranks. She had never really thought about it, but it just seemed, well, wrong. No wonder Phenyo was all....disgruntled.

As the car stopped and the girls got out, Devi's face lite up into a huge smile. Shopping cured all that ails you and all that. They were going to have a great time and look amazing when Devi was done with them. And this mall looked perfect. They probably had real designer clothes.

It really was like a dream come true for the girl. Devi loved clothes, loved fashion. Her dream as a little girl had been to be a clothing designer, but there was no way she would have been able to with her caste, her mother was the janitor at a school and her father was a deadbeat. So Devi had channeled that love of fashion into shopping. She loved getting new clothes, seeing what the new fashions looked like.

And her she was at the poshest mall she had ever seen in person, with a rather sweetly creepy man telling her she got to shop on his dime. And a potential two dolls to play dress up with. It really was like some wonderful dream.

Devi glanced around, wondering if underwater cleaning monkeys were suddenly going to show up. Though it seemed to be safe.

Dyerlich slid his arm around her shoulder, pressing him against his side along with the other two. Weird. She hadn't pegged Dyerlich as the cuddly type, like at all. It was a little weird, but she could handle it.

"I know I'm all set." Devi tilted her head waaaaay back so she could look up at him, grinning, "How many clothes do we get?" And where to shop first! So many options. Like a little slice of heaven.

Devi reached over to pat Vyo's hair again, turning her smile on her, "Think I could sweet talk you into letting me help you pick out clothes?"

[Anonymous]

Phenyo’s plea for help was obvious.

      As much as Vyomini didn’t want to be squeezed to death she said, “I’m not from Aedolis either. I was born on the Libra”

     It wasn’t just that Devi might cut off her air supply it was that after being a TRIM for four years she was still a little uncomfortable with being touched. When Dyerlich put his hand on her shoulder however, she couldn’t help but flinch slightly. She had gotten used to it recently, what with her roommate being Demya, her hellos were rather exuberant. But Dyerlich had carved his name into her on the first day, so she was still a little uncomfortable about him touching her. She tried to hide this, but he probably knew.

     The discomfort continued when they got out of the vehicle and he wrapped his arms around all three of the girls. His reach was just inhuman. Not that Vyomini minded non-humans. She had met many over the years, even before she was captured by TRIM. And not everyone who took care of her after her parents died had been human.

      If she had been racist she wouldn’t survive her candidacy, Dyerlich was clearly not human, Phenyo wasn’t either….Devi was debatable. Her hair could just be dyed….but her eyes changed colour. Vyomini was probably the only human of the group. Not she looked normal either, silver hair was not natural and she still had no idea why that had happened. It had been that colour as long as she could remember.

       And Devi had just patted it. That was strange. It wasn’t like she was a child, though she probably did look younger. She was 14, a teenager and in two years she’d be an adult technically.

     "Think I could sweet talk you into letting me help you pick out clothes?"

       “Um…sure,” Vyomini replied to Devi’s question, “I wouldn’t know what to choose anyway.”

     She didn’t mind people finding her ‘cute’ really it was just she suspected ‘cute’ people wouldn’t survive. And she’d rather die than go back to TRIM.

[Anonymous]

The thoughts of all of them were interesting. Phenyo he knew about, Devi he had looked in the database for, finding out she was lower caste, and Vyomini was from TRIM. Well. She wasn't from Aedolis originally anyway, this much he knew. Two strangers to Aedolis, and one who had never gotten to see the light of day. Not things were a whole lot different for them. With his approaching...episo de as well, things were going to become even more different. Nothing to be sorry about Phenyo. You didn't know, that's alright. He told her gently. He wasn't mad at her, she had no reason to be sorry. It wasn't her fault since she never knew about this land and how it worked.

"One of the biggest malls in Haviah. Might be the biggest actually." There was a mall that catered even to the middle caste, so it had to extend all the way down, but it wasn't as long as this mall was. It had practically everything someone could desire. Even a few repeats for that matter. Different companies competing and what not.

Dyerlich grinned as he looked to Devi for only a moment. He had caught her little...thought about the underwater monkeys. Don't worry, I promise I won't make you fight me and then screw you afterwards. I will want to watch you try on some new outfits of course. It was much easier to use telepathy on the girls, that way they would know he was directly addressing them without making them ah...embarrassed about any comments he said. Yes, he was so nice wasn't he?

Despite her discomfort with him touching her, Dyerlich was still going to put his hand on Vyomini, making sure she couldn't go anywhere. Though he didn't fear them running off course, he just wanted them...used to his touch. Since he'd be in their personal bubble a lot more than he usually would have been. He still liked it though, all of them were very adorable to have about, and warm. He didn't know why he liked that. Just something about a warm body though.

"Perhaps I should think about getting some new clothes as well...have to visit the men's big and tall...normal clothing stores have nothing for me. I'd look like I was wearing children's clothes." Dyerlich mused, the mental image, while hilarious, also disturbed him. Talk about uncomfortable. He'd look like someone who outgrew their clothes while wearing them. Dyerlich headed inside with the girls, he did note that he was getting a few odd looks, but all he did was shoot a big grin at them and they just carried on with their work. Heh. That would teach them wouldn't it? Maybe it was better having the cowl down.

Plus he was handsome apparently.

That still tickled his...funny bone. Not the literal one. The figurative one. He would have said it tickled him pink or something but...he was already white white, he didn't much care for the idea of looking pink.

"There would be the department store right there then. Girls clothing will always be on the right hand side." He took them inside, and this was no doubt one of the largest stores in the mall itself. It had three floors after all. Wulf had pointed this one out to him after he had gone on a shopping trip. Said it was very nice here. "Anything to do with above the waist, save for bras are on the top floor. Pants, skirts, wraps, are on this middle floor, and I think if I remember, underwear and such are in the basement." Personally he wouldn't mind visiting the basement with them for a few hours, but this was about them, not him.

He'd have to wait to get his jollies on. "So, go upstairs and work our way to the basement then?"

[Anonymous]

This outing was becoming scary. Too much to do, so much to see, and Phenyo had a horrible sense of Land Direction. Give her a space ship and she’d fly to the planet you named, directions, no directions, general directions, she’d find it and get there in a good amount of time. But this… Phenyo looked up at the building and swallowed the lump of dread in her throat. This was just bad. Quickly Phenyo wrapped her hand around Devi’s holding on so she didn’t get lost. That would suck.

Though she could probably run away.  Phenyo knew enough tricks to get away from pursuers, though… Phenyo looked up towards Dyerlich for a moment. None of them had been seven foot tall psychics. Bah, running away wasn’t an option, and even if it was… Why would she? Silently her fingers tightened around Devis hand and she frowned at the ground. Then she stared at him, oh he’d been talking, clothes? For him?

Silently Phenyo groaned, she’d get bored of clothes for them ones for him would be twice as horrible, one ‘cause it’s Dyerlich and they’d have to wait for him to be fitted, two ‘cause it’s Dyerlich and he’d probably want a mini-fashion-show with his new found ego. Phenyo sighed and puffed out her cheeks before looking towards Devi and nodding at him “So, you like shopping right? I don’t think I’ve ever actually.. shopped in a store on a planet and not a space station so… uh…”  Phenyo looked around and clutched at Devi’s arm, not having an idea of which direction to go or how to get to it. “Lead the way!”

Poor Dyerlich, he’d made the worst mistake a man could make. Take women shopping, because Phenyo was sure that once she got comfortable trying things on or being a dress-up doll it’d take a little while for her to agree on an outfit. An evil glint flashed in her eyes before she smiled.

[Anonymous]

Devi wasn't scared. She was thrilled. Though she was picking up on the other two girls fear and she wasn't sure how to fix it. So Devi would do her best to stay positive and make it so much fun the other girls wouldn't have a chance to be scared.

She was a little startled to hear Dyerlich's voice in her head, still not quite used to that. Then a bright pink blush, a rather similar shade to her hair, crept over her cheeks. Shit! She had forgotten Dyerlich knew about that dream. Straightening her back and tossing her head, Devi did her best to not look as embarrassed as she felt, shooting Dyerlich a look Oh, will you then? I thought you were attracted to me any?

Well....damn. That had been a lame come back, but Devi was rather flustered by the comment and couldn't come up with anything better. So now was the time for a quick subject change! Yes!

Turning to Vyo Devi reached over and took her hand, "Perfect then! You'll look amazing when we are through! Nothing makes you feel sexy like a great dress and some bitchin' underwear."

Devi cocked her head, thinking, "You should get yourself a leather jacket DyerBear. You would look pretty awesome in one. Just....cut out slits for the elbow...thingies. And some tight pants. Show off that ass."

The other girl, Phenyo seemed to finally be getting into it as she wrapped her arm around Devi's. Nice. Getting to go shopping with two cute girls, "I say we start on the bottom and work our way up. Underwear is always the corner stone of the outfit I always say!"

And once the outfits were picked...shoes. Devi gave a small sigh. A girl could never have too many shoes.

[Anonymous]

[OOC Bleh]

The fact that the mall they were standing in front of was one of biggest in Haviah did not help Vyomini’s nervousness. She was grateful that Devi seemed excited by this rather than unsettled, her being confident would definitely help. Especially since Phenyo now seemed nervous as well.

     When they entered and she was able to see just how big the small was, Vyomini was glad that Devi was holding her hand. She felt like a little girl and she might get lost if she let go. Dyerlich probably wouldn’t let her get separated but she couldn’t help worrying.

     And she wasn’t just worried about getting lost. Large places always made her uncomfortable and despite the fact Devi was going to choose her clothes for her she was still a little worried. She was very skinny and trying outfits on in front of two clearly more attractive girls was a little daunting and she didn’t want them to pity her. Especially Phenyo, they had both been forced to become pilot candidates even though they weren’t from Aedolis; they were in the same boat.

     Also trying to get clothes for her might be a pain. She was smaller than normal but had been putting on more weight recently so anything bought today might not fit in a couple of months. And she didn’t even know what size she was. She’d just have to trust Devi.