Let's Play Dress Up! (Door)

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Prom. What in the name of the gods was prom? What in the name of Valhalla was prom? What in the name of Yggdrasil was prom? Beowulf still had no idea. The only thing he knew was that he needed to get some new fancy clothes. He didn’t understand why he needed these new clothes. His own were perfectly good. And they were still relatively new. He’d bought them not long after he’d come to Tintagel and realized that most people didn’t walk around in goat pelts (which Beowulf thought was absurd. How were people supposed to keep warm without furs? Absurd!).

Prom was the very reason that Beowulf was currently wandering around some kind of clothing store in this mall thing, just staring at all of the clothes because he was so confused and disoriented. He just didn’t understand it. Why were there so many clothes? Why did people need so many clothes? And why did he need new clothes for something that he didn’t even know what it was? Everything here at Tintagel was completely absurd. And if he didn’t have to watch out for little Kettlingr, he’d go home to Geatland. At least there he knew what he was in for. But the thing was that he did have to watch out for Kettlingr. And that meant going to prom. And getting new clothes for said event. He didn’t even know what he was supposed to wear.

This day was very uncomfortable. Beowulf hated this. He was probably sending all the salespeople away with just his glower. And he really was glowering. He didn’t know where to begin, therefore he was taking it out on everyone in the store. He just glowered at everyone. He even glowered at the clothing rack that he was currently looking through. These stupid vest things looked…well stupid. And absurd. Beowulf really hated prom.

[door]

Door was sort of looking forward to Prom. Her world had been so serious lately and she was looking forward to a time of relaxation and fun. She had spoken to Plum about the shindig and they had decided that, should the day come and neither of them had dates, they would go together, thus assuring good company and fun throughout the evening. No awkward blind-date-things this time around, oh no. This time she would either go with someone she cared about - either Plum or...otherwise.

So she had decided to brave the mall and do some shopping for a pretty dress. She had a few weeks salary in her pocket and she was looking forward to buying something that would make her feel, well...pretty. She had gone to a few shops but none of them had the right vibe - they were all too revealing or too bright or too...modern. She had decided to try that vintage shop across the street and was just grabbing an iced coffee before heading over.

That was, until, she saw Beowulf in the man's store.

He looked utterly confused, seeming to wander from rack to rack, barely looking at an article of clothing before moving to the next one. The clerk seemed utterly terrified to approach the boy and Beowulf looked like he needed all the help he could get. Door sipped her coffee and headed inside the store.

"Beowulf." Door said pleasantly, not wishing to sneak up on the boy. She decided to dial back the enthusiasm when she saw the expression on his face close up. "Um...shopping for prom?"

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Beowulf really hated this. Did he mention that he also thought this entire thing was absurd? No? Well there you have it. Absurd. Completely and totally absurd. Stupid prom. Stupid new clothes. Stupid everything. Why was there no leather? Why couldn’t one of these stupid, absurd vest things be leather? That would make any Viking feel better. It would certainly make Beowulf feel better. But no, they had to be stupid nice feeling fabric that probably wasn’t even homemade and probably didn’t itch but would get ruined in the rain or something. Stupid vest things. He hated them.

The young Viking turned at the sound of him name and saw that it was Miss Door. Well this was just great. She could make him feel uncomfortable and awkward again. He just wanted to curse, but that wasn’t polite in front of ladies. He inclined his head at her instead. He wasn’t feel polite enough to actually bow to her. And she didn’t like when he did that anyways, so why should he?

“Ja,” he answered curtly, resorting to his native tongue because he really did hate the English language. It was really absurd and it still didn’t feel right rolling off his tongue. “I do not understand this prom,” he grumbled at Door. “I have to buy new clothes. I don’t understand. What is prom?” Door had been useful in the library the last time they had spoken so perhaps she could prove useful now. He hoped so. But he wouldn’t count on it. He crossed his arms over his chest, still glowering at everyone, including Door. Today really wasn’t his day.

[door]

Door did her best not to chuckle.

Come on! He was just so...grumpy. She smiled as he grouched, sipping her drink a little and letting him just grump. When he finished, she pulled the straw from her mouth. "Prom is a dance. A social gathering? People pair up usually and dance or eat or just sort of...hang out together. It's supposed to be a fun way to celebrate the school year being almost over." Door was about to ask him if he was familiar with fun but she felt that might exacerbate the problem.

She walked over towards the rack that Beowulf was standing in front of. She looked at the items and then back to Beowulf and then back to the items again.

"Okay, I don't mean to be rude about this, but you're no longer in charge of picking out your clothes for this thing." All of this stuff was just sort of...generic. Something anyone could wear and look...okay. But it wasn't something Beowulf would like (evident by the grump all over his face) and it wasn't going to have an bit of "him" within it. That was a major part of these events - finding those fancy clothes that had your name written all over them. And he definitely wasn't going to find that in the "irregulars" rack.

"How bout I help you find something you won't hate? Something that might even be a bit comfortable?" Door asked, leaning against the rack and sipping her coffee again.

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Yes, Beowulf was being a grump. Did he care? No. He was far too grumpy to care that he was being grumpy. And he didn’t even care that he was being grumpy at Door who was nice enough to decide that she was going to help him. He hated everything and he was going to internally rage about it! So there! And yes, he was acting completely and totally childish. But did he care? Of course not! Don’t be absurd! He was a surly Viking! He wasn’t supposed to care! He was only supposed to care about Viking things like swords and axes and leather and battles. Not stupid absurd things like prom that he didn’t even understand!

Beowulf listened to Door though when she spoke, even if she did look like she was about to laugh at him. Yes, he knew people paired up and went together. He knew that part. He’d already asked Sunny to go. Better to keep an eye out for her than if she went alone and he went alone. Though he did put on an ever worse glower when Door said that she was taking charge. How would Door know what he liked? She couldn’t possibly understand. And all of these were stupid. This was stupid. This whole entire thing was stupid. Not to mention absurd!

But she did go on to say that she wanted to help him find something he didn’t hate. That wasn’t terrible he supposed. Not that there was anything that he liked here. He might like something in fur. But only maybe. Or he might like something in leather. But most probably it would have to be black. Or some other dark color, like a really dark red or blue or something. But only maybe. He’d have to see. So he nodded at Door. He wanted to get something that wasn’t stupid and absurd. And he was a little glad that he’d run into Door. But only a little.

[door]

Door had gone through the racks and looked at some basics. Some of em were okay but she figured the plainer pieces of clothing were going to be easy enough to buy somewhere else for half the cash. To find something a little more styled and cool, she decided that the Viking might enjoy Warm Subject, a semi-goth/punk store that was a requirement in every mall. Door linked arms with Beowulf and started to pull him forward by the crook of her arm. She didn't particularly care if he was going to keep being grumpy, she thought this had the chance of being fun.

The store was pumping loud music and had that funny smell of cologne and plastic in it but Door was almost positive Beowulf would like something in there. She leaned up on her tiptoes so the boy could hear her. "I know this isn't your sorta place, but trust me. I think you'll really like the clothes."

She started sorting through the racks and hit some immediate gems. Nothing overly elaborate but nothing plain either. The shirt she showed his sort of reminded her of and older style of dress and Beowulf seemed to be into the older style. So, she thought that might be okay. The pants were sort of awesome in Door's opinion - laced up in certain areas, different materials. If he didn't like those she could sort of understand (it was a bit punky) but still.

The "blazers" were something a bit different and pretty specific to a person's taste so Door was going to require some help. She held up one coat and then the other for Beowulf to peruse. "Which one do you like more? If you don't like either, say that too, but let me know if there's something about either coat you like.

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Beowulf did not appreciate the touching. He did not link arms with other people. He did not touch. He just didn’t. Touching and linking arms was far too personal and he did not appreciate it. Not one bit. So he continued to glower. Glowering was just his thing, okay? Small children are terrified of him. One look at his face and the silly little noisy children with bad manners went scampering back to their parents. This was stupid anyway.

And Beowulf really didn’t like the loud music that was playing. How was a Viking supposed to think in a place like this? Or how was he supposed to know if he was going to be attacked? He would never hear them coming. And then he wouldn’t be able to think about what to do about it when said attacker was attacking. This was quite the conundrum. And Beowulf did not like it. Not one bit.

But he did trust Door. Kind of. And he did kind of like that shirt. It was nice. He could probably wear it. And it was black, his favorite color so that was good. And those pants…well Beowulf wasn’t so sure how he felt about them. They were different, that was true. And he liked the laces. That felt more natural. Zippers were stupid and absurd. And he didn’t like them.

And the two jacket coat things were okay. The first one would make him look like one of those absurd little people that make those rubber animal things for children. He would look absurd in that one. But he liked the one with the buttons. Beowulf had a fondness for buttons. “I like this one,” he told Door seriously (and much less grumpily) as he reached out and took the one with the buttons. “I like buttons.”

[door]

Door could tell that he didn't like the whole touching thing, but he didn't like a lot of what was going on, so Door ignored it for the moment. She did let go of the man's arm as quickly as she could though - she didn't want to make him too uncomfortable.

The brunette could see that the pants were a bust, but she felt that she had a handle on what was working for him about them. She put the pants back and grabbed something a little less stylized but still had lacing in areas and a button fly. She was beginning to understand his style more and more. "Like I said, if you don't like too much of the styled bits, we can always get you a plain pair of slacks or shirt or blazer or whatever, so that the whole thing isn't too overwhelming, you know?" Door was definitely not one of those people that was fashion heavy so she understood the idea of being a bit overtaken with so much of the fashion aspects.

"Buttons. Got it." Door smiled. She was glad that she was getting to him a little, at least. He seemed to be giving in a bit. She put away the first jacket and grabbed a few more like the second one. "This stuff is a bit more your style, right? At least compared to the last place, right?"

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Beowulf was finding shopping very overwhelming. It was probably a good thing that Door was here. He probably never would have known what he was doing and then he’d look the fool at Prom. He really didn’t want that. He also didn’t want Sunny thinking badly of him in any way. He was a Viking! But this would be so much easier if they were allowed to wear fur. Beowulf had plenty of furs and things. And he quite liked fur. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to wear his new fur robe over the winter because there weren’t any random blizzards.

Yes, Beowulf liked those pants much better. They were much better. And he was a Viking so he deserved the best. Well, maybe that was a bit extreme, but he was still feelin’ rather unpleasant and grumpy. And Door was smiling, which made him grump even more. Shopping was a terrible thing. He would make his own clothes.

Actually no. That would be a terrible idea. Beowulf had some knowledge of sewing, but really only when it applied to wounds. Sewing clothing would be a terrible idea. He would get it all wrong and his whole village would laugh at him. Which was just fine. He didn’t need them anyway.

Door was holding up more jacket things. They weren’t too bad. He nodded once seriously. “Yes. I like them.” He really did. They were more his taste he supposed. If he had a taste. He didn’t really even understand what that meant. This modern world was confusing.

[door]

Despite the Viking's grumpy demeanor, she could see that she was wearing him down. He was having fun, no matter how hard he was fighting said fun. Door did her best to keep a triumphant smile to herself as to not aggravate the very angry warrior.

She grabbed a few garments and thrust them into the boy's arms, her face was sure and mock-serious. "Okay. You try this stuff on and figure out what you like the best. If none of them work for you, that's fine, we'll find something. But remember, you're going to this little gathering so you might as well have some sort of fun while you're there, right?" Door lifted an eyebrow. He was going for a reason right? There had to be a reason that he wanted to go this thing. So, she figured it would be better to remind him he was doing thing for a purpose.

Door broke her serious appearance and smiled at Beowulf before nodding towards the dressing rooms. She couldn't help it but be a little pleased with the situation - she would know someone at the Prom, she would have helped dress him, and she could be able to figure out what girl was the reason he was going.

[Deleted]

Beowulf was not having fun. If anything he was having unfun. That was the opposite. Unfun. Whatever. It’s not a real word. He was a Viking. He was allowed to make up words whenever he wanted. And who was to judge him for made up words when no one would ever hear them anyway? And so while he was having unfun Door was also throwing clothes at him.

Beowulf could have fun at prom. But shopping for prom was completely unfun as far as he was concerned. Especially since he’d just become a human wardrobe and that was especially not appreciated. And he had to go through the trouble of trying them all on. This was absurd. If the clothes were made for him like they had been beck home he wouldn’t have to go through all this nonsense.

Beowulf looked where Door had nodded and dragged himself into one of the rooms to try on all the clothes. It didn’t take very long. And he dragged himself back out to Door with the clothes separated into two hands. He lifted the clothes in his right hand. “Don’t like,” was the only thing he said. Now he wondered what he was supposed to do with them.

[door]

"No problem." Door sorted through her new collection of pants that she had gathered when Beowulf was in the dressing room and took out any of the pants that were too reminiscent of the ones that he had decided against. She took the ones that he didn't like and slung them over her arm.

"You try those on. I'm gonna look at ties." Door made a point of pointing over towards where the ties were before leaving Beowulf to try on the pants. She knew that he was in a foul mood and that, likely, she was adding to a certain level of his annoyance, but it was nice to not be trying to figure out something complicated and complex. It was nice to be helping a friend pick out a pair of pants for a date.

Door stopped suddenly, a checkered tie still in her hand. She didn't know if Beowulf had a date! Did Beowulf actually ask someone to this thing? All signs pointed to yes - why else would he even be going? How had this not occurred to her already?!

The girl struggled to contain herself while waiting for her friend to come out of the dressing room.

[Deleted]

More clothes. There were more clothes for him to try on. Shopping was absurd and he hated it he decided, though in fairness he couldn’t really be angry with Door. She was helping and she was actually picking out things that Beowulf liked. Which was surprising, because Beowulf himself wasn’t even too sure of what he liked. He just knew he liked the color black and if there was leather then that was okay too. Fur was also allowed, but it wasn’t nearly as good as leather.

He took the clothes Door gave him with a mere grunt at her. Ties, what were those anyway? They sounded stupid. So did trying on all these pants. But Beowulf dragged himself back into the dressing room. And he was back out again shortly, holding all the ones he didn’t like in one hand again. That had seemed to work. “Don’t like,” he told Door, who looked like she had something she wanted to say or something. He furrowed his brow. This may or may not be good. “What?” He was a little concerned.

[door]

Door smiled brightly at the boy and took the ones that he didn't like from his hands. She smiled and pointed at the ones in the other hand, thrusting the ones he did like back into his hands. "You have several pairs. Pick some you like and try them on with a shirt you like." She was being much more direct now. He had to start making decisions now - too many options. And they would probably spend all day waiting for something that Beowulf admitted to actually liking.

"Also, I know you might say this is none of my business but you have a date don't you? A girl?" Door was going to hammer home her point by including 'a girl you like' after but felt that pushing the point anymore would be too much. Beowulf needed something of a light touch from her experience and she was already being too pointed..

[Deleted]

Beowulf was not at all a fan of shopping. And he was certainly not a fan of trying on all of these clothes. It was really quite absurd. There were too many options. Too many choices. And it was absurd! Not once in his life had he ever had to make a decision about what to wear. His mother made him clothes. He wore them. End of story. And now he was feeling a little overwhelmed by the amount of choices. This was really the most absurd thing he’d ever done! No one would believe him in his village back home.

He merely grunted at Door and was about to head back to the changing rooms when she spoke again. He moved his eyes to meet Door’s. She was really very pushy sometimes, he decided. But she was still high on his list of tolerable people, mostly because he’d met so few people who were willing to spend time with him. “Ja,” he answered finally with a curt nod. “I asked Sunny.”

He figured he’d better wait for Door’s reaction to this news, considering she would probably have even more questions that he would have to answer. And that would not be conducive while in one of the changing rooms. And Beowulf really wanted to put off trying on clothes for as long as he could. It was stupid and absurd! And he was not a fan.