Shopping

Standing in front of a fabric shop, Ava couldn't help but want to smash her head into a wall. After leaving Ruffio's place, she had met up with the girls and checked in with the Madam to confirm there was nothing else she needed to do. Then, after splitting out a reasonable amount of money, Ava came out to shop for new items for her room with the girls.

This was where the problem arose. Ava didn't have a particular preference or idea when it came to fashion and simply would go for whatever seemed the most comfortable and easiest to move in. The girls, however, all had ideas of what she should dress like. Ordinarily, that would be fine, but the problem was that there were three of them whispering into her ear, and none of them quite agreed.

Lily liked things in red. Honestly didn't matter what it was. She just liked red. Ava couldn't help but wonder if it was because of her scarlet red hair, but in the end, because it was Lily, Ava didn't say anything and simply tried out outfit after outfit and item after item in varying shades of red. To be honest, the brighter, popping reds were fine, but the problem was the darker reds couldn't help but remind Ava of dried blood, which, although a familiar substance, was not exactly a welcomed one, especially not in her place of living.

Haley liked rich, vibrant colors and stark contrasts in her outfits, and thus she kept recommending Ava various 'pieces' of outfits, as well as accessories. In the end, the number of things she had Ava tried on probably added up to more than double what Lily and Ahri had recommended together, although the total amount of outfits she recommended was less. Looking at the various accessories that Haley kept pushing over for her hair, Ava couldn't help but feel like it would be easier to chop it off altogether and forget about it.

As for Ahri…

Ava had to say she was quite surprised. Ahri seemed to have a rather peculiar taste and would repeatedly draw Ava towards frilly pink dresses. Towards this, Ava could only vehemently disagree. No matter if it was the color or the frills, both were attention-seeking and impractical, and Ava was unwilling to wear any of them on a regular basis. Ahri agreed easily enough but still insisted on Ava trying on various outfits for her to look at.

After being dragged around for over three hours, visiting over five shops, and trying over what surely must have been a hundred outfits, Ava had only bought four sets of clothing and had yet to even get anything for her new room. Feeling a headache, she turned around to see three pairs of eager eyes walking towards her holding three sets of clothing.

Feeling a vein bulge, Ava said, "Enough! I… I didn't bring that much cash, and I still needed to buy sheets and blankets and stuff for my room, so maybe… maybe…"

All of a sudden, Ava, who had always felt she was rather brave, felt rather scared as she stared at the three menacing pairs of eyes in front of her. Letting out a slight chuckle, Ahri was the first one to speak. Cupping a hand on her cheek, Ahri said, "Oh my, why didn't you say so earlier, Ava? If you were worried about funds, I'd just buy it in your stead."

Then, turning around, Ahri went back to purchase a few of the outfits she had had an eye on. Behind her, Lily and Haley seemed to have been enlightened and quickly turned back to follow Ahri.

Seeing this, Ava couldn't help but feel a headache and, in a few deft movements, made it in front of the two girls and glared at them, causing them to pause. Nodding in satisfaction, Ava then stepped inside the store.

"Alright, come again. Thank you for your purchase."

With deadpan eyes, Ava watched as Ahri returned with a large smile, holding up a large bag with a pink frill peeking over the edge. "Hehe, you won't reject a gift from me, right Ava?"

Squinting, Ava gave Ahri a good glance before turning around and storming out of the shop in a bad mood, startling the two girls waiting outside, who couldn't help but turn back to find a happily smiling Ahri.

Letting out a slight giggle, the three girls shared a look before going to find Ava, who had already gotten some distance away.

After a few more hours of mental torture, Ava finally managed to make it back to the Foxes Respite, where a brand new mattress was handed off at the door to a few of the Foxes' own people to bring to Ava's room.

Stepping into the still dusty but now furbished room, Ava couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Although it looked like she might need to spend another night in the guest room, she finally had a place to call her own. Looking around the room, Ava couldn't help but let out a small smile. In the end, she hadn't been able to deny the girls completely, especially after Ahri had gotten one up on her. Ava couldn't help but feel bad seeing Lily's pitiful look for the rest of the day. In the end, she had gotten a red pair of sheets and a matching soft red cloth that hung across the top of her room for Lily.

She had also gotten a set of accessories and pins that Haley had pushed upon her. But knowing that Ava probably wouldn't use them anytime soon, instead of getting an accessory box, Haley had found a merchant who sold these somewhat long, transparent weaves of cloth and had hung it up against the wall where her dresser was. Then pinning the accessories through the cloth, Ava had a somewhat decorative strip running down the side of her room.

Lastly…

Looking up above the mirror, Ava couldn't help but slightly cringe at the massive frilly pink bow. Although she wasn't quite sure when Ahri had made the purchase or how she had managed to smuggle it into her room past her supervision, not only had Ahri filled up half of Ava's wardrobe with pink dresses, she had also managed to fit a large ribbon above her dresser.

Scratching her head, Ava couldn't help but let out a silly smile and fall backward into her bed.

*Cough.*

Waving a hand in front of her face, Ava couldn't help but twitch her nose at the cloud of dust that had plumed up when she landed.