Chapter 14 Part 2

Christopher's expression turns slightly sour and he sits up. He offers his hand and says, "Christopher Newman, Dragon Festival Quarter-finalist."

"Oh shit, that's right. You're the kid that saved that dwarf from certain death. You can cast some pretty high level healing magic, it's kinda scary." Jocelyn says, aggressively grabbing his hand and squeezing tightly.

Christopher's face scrunches as he tries to talk through the sudden shock of pain radiating from his hand. "Is that all I'm known for?"

"I mean, the fights you were in were pretty boring compared to the other matches. Most people couldnt even see most of the attack magic you used." Jocelyn says, letting go of the boy's hand.

"I guess that makes sense. I'm not exactly known for being flashy." Christopher says, massaging his aching palm.

"Anyway, I still have a job to do. You two have a great evening. You'll probably see me occasionally, when this tool asks for another drink." Jocelyn laughs, slapping Jasyn on the back a few times before heading back the way she came.

"Oh before you disappear, I got a promotion today." Jasyn says.

Jocelyn halts and swivels on one foot to look back at Jasyn. "So where are you posted now? Wait, how did you get promoted?"

"That's not important, but I got promoted as a personal guard." Jasyn says, looking smug.

"For whom?"Jocelyn asks.

Christopher leans back and waves his fingers at the Lizard-Woman knowingly.

Jocelyn bursts out laughing, mocking her childhood friend as she does so. "He doesn't need your protection. He's ten times your skill."

"Actually, hand to hand combat is one of my weak points. It's always a good idea to have someone that can act as the frontline." Christopher says, leaning his arm and head on the bar.

"Huh, didn't seem that way during the tournament." Jocelyn says, disappearing back around the doorframe.

After a few moments, Jasyn turns back towards Christopher and smiles. "Thanks for having my back there."

"It's nothing, I was just telling the truth." Christopher says.

Jasyn softly smiles at Christopher and the Chef places two large plates of thinly sliced cooked pork on the bar between the two. "Here you are Jasyn, spicy pork as usual."

"Thank you James." Jasyn replies.

Christopher sits up and takes one of the plates. "This is quite a bit of meat, are you sure you can afford to pay for me?"

"Sure, it's surprisingly cheap. After all, it's just pork. Not exactly the most complex dish. It goes well with the cider, that's why I didn't say a full on meal. It's more like a snack you enjoy while you're here." Jasyn says, grabbing a pair of disposable wooden toothpicks from a pot in front of them.

Christopher takes this moment to show off by holding out his hand. Dime opens a small rift and pushes a pair of golden chopsticks with a pattern of a blue panther decorating the top. He uses these fancy chopsticks to pick up a cut of the pork and inserts it into his mouth.

Jasyn scoffs, eating some of his own pork. "And you said you ain't fancy."

"This was a gift from my dad when I was a kid. This is literally the first time I've ever used these, haha." Christopher says, waving the chopsticks a little.

(Narrator) Hold on a sec, Jasyn, Jocelyn, and James? Am I the only one picking up on the fact their names are so similar? Was this planned? This is the Heather, Haider, Heddwyn, Hilda situation all over again.

After a long night of Jasyn drinking too much, another one of his friends named…Jamyl, came to take him home. Christopher walked back to his estate in the dead of night by himself, surprisingly sober mind you.

(Narrator) Yeah, fucking Jamyl, it's now the barbershop quartet of J's.

(Nebulon) It's kinda like us two. Both of our 'names' begin with N.

(Narrator) Shut. Up. I'm not doing this with you right now.

Christopher looks down at his attire, grabbing at the blueish purple fabric of his cloak. A serious but committed look spread over his face. "Dime. Contact Haider, tell him it's urgent and that I need his help as soon as possible." he says, running over to his manor.

As he bursts through the front door, Dime opens the door to his dimension and he sprints through, immediately seeing Haider in front of him. Christopher firmly grasps his older brother by the shoulders and yells, "You need to help me." with a look so serious it might have stunned Haider through shock.

"Shit, what is it you need my help with?" Haider says, sweat visibly dripping from his rapidly weakening facial expression.

Christopher backs away and gestures to himself from shoulder to toe. He simply says, "This." expecting Haider to understand.

The giddiest smile you could ever imagine immediately sprung into existence on Haider's face. You could practically see stars in his eyes. "I've been waiting for you to ask me that ever since I saw this sorry excuse for an outfit." He says sassily, strutting over to him.

"What made you want to change your outfit all of a sudden?" "Wait, you seem…more relaxed…happier. Did you meet a boy you like?" Haider says, easily reading Christopher like a children's novel.

"He's so hot! Honestly I don't see why he pursued me." Christopher says.

"That's the gayest you've ever sounded. It suits you." Haider laughs. "Now, first of all, your cloak needs a redesign, the plain dark blue is so boring. I'll have Heather and her fast needling fingers deal with that. That shirt needs to go, and…actually, the rest of it can be thrown in the trash. The cloak is kinda your staple so we can keep that." He says, picking and prodding his outfit as he says everything that's wrong with it.

"You need something that can let air in without anything exposing your supple smooth skin. So maybe a nice white, blue, and gold buttoned long sleeve tee. I know you love cats so I'll have Heather stitch one on the back of your cloak. We could do the same thing on the shirt, with the blue and gold colours." Haider says, circling Christopher several times.

"What are you putting me in? It'll need to be flexible so I can fight in it, you know." Christopher interjects.

"I know, and it will be. But I'm making sure you look formal because forcing you to take a professional approach to everything might be a good idea. Meaning you can't flip out like you usually do." Haider says.

"Right, I forgot how serious you take this." Christopher moans.

"Hay, I'm fixing your outfit, making you more presentable, and fashionable. Show some gratitude my fellow homo." Haider says, booping Christopher on the nose with a pencil that I didn't even notice he pulled out his ass.

"When the fuck did you start sketching, I litterally blinked and you have a whole ass drawing?" Christopher asks.

"I'm not done with it yet, we still have the issue of shoe's, trousers, and accessories to consider." Haider replies. "Let's see. I think a basic slim fit trouser the same colour as your cloak should work. Are you ok if I change your cloak to look a little more like a blazer?"

"It's all up to you. But can you at least make something more casual too?" Christopher asks.

"We can talk about other attire after I'm done with your main outfit…For your shoes, I think a pair of shiny, blue, floral patterned, Flat Faux leather dress shoes should do." Haider says.

"There were so many words you just used that just went completely over my head." Christopher says, completely flabbergasted by it.

"Well, be prepared to be even more confused because I'm going to be bleaching, then dyeing your hair. We're going FULL blue this time. Not just highlights." Haider says, gently grabbing a clump of his brown hair. "I'm gonna keep jumping to your cloak. But I'm going to take off the hood so it has a more professional vibe. I think I'm going to add one of those fancy dwarven mechanical watches, which is gonna be a bit pricey."

"Don't worry about the costs. I just got paid a humongous sum of money for completing a job for King Shavik." Christopher says.

"Oh right. I forgot you were in the capital about the dimension thingy. Just gimme ten gold. That should cover the costs." Haider says.

"I'll just give you a platinum, I don't want you to run out, plus I earned so much from that job that I don't really need to worry." Christopher says.

Dime goes ahead and gives the platinum directly to him. "Holy shit. How much did they reward you?" Christopher states the amount and Haider's jaw drops. "Fucking hell, fair enough."

"I don't think you'll need any other accessories for this outfit, but you mentioned something more casual right? For this new outfit, I'm thinking, a skin tight, flexible yet breathable black shirt. To show off your muscles. I'm sure people would be fawning all over you if they knew how sexy you really are." Haider says, sketching on another page.

"It's a little weird hearing that coming out of my brother's mouth." Christopher says.

(Narrator) Took the words directly from my mouth.

(Nebulon) But you don't have a mouth.

(Narrator) Shut…Just, shut.

"Why wouldn't I just say something that's objectively true? If you actually tried, you'd be a real piece of eye candy. I think this mystery boy is gonna love the new you." Haider says. "Now, you'll have to let go of your cloak for this casual attire. Let's go with tight black leggings and knee high, dark blue shorts. Wait, no. I don't like that on you. Let's keep the leggings and have you wear some long sleeves with the shirt. You're gonna need something to cover the nether reigns or you're gonna be showing a bit too much."

Haider takes a moment to think, gently biting the end of his pencil. "Let's try a pair of black baggy trousers, and change the shirt colour to a navy blue. Yeah I like that."

"You gonna add any accessories?" Christopher asks.

"Oh shit, right. A nice simple necklace, keep the watch from the formal wear, oh actually, I'm going to add a belt to your formal outfit." Haider says.

(Narrator) He's so damn scatter-brained I have no idea what these two outfits are anymore.

"So to summarise,"

(Narrator) Oh thank god.