doku | VISIONS I HAD BURIED UNDERGROUND / RETURNING TO ABUSE US

Are you serious?

[Women. Are so. Weird.]

Of course she respects you. In fact, she's probably choreographed dances to your music.

[But at least they hugged.] Uh...thanks?

[What the fuck is going on right now.]

[Krieg is that really new information for you? Of course women are weird. Of course she's weird.]

What? No way.

[But the possible fact is enough to bring her back to general sanity.] She really is super nice, though! I can see how you're related.

[She'd kind of thought that since they spent so much time apart it wouldn't be easy to tell, but she underestimated the power of sibling love, there.] Do you know what her girlfriend is like?

Yes way.

[Does their familiar blood seem that obvious? Huh. He's never noticed, but then again, it's easier to see the box when you're outside of it.]

Honestly? All I know is what she looks like and that she's a professional gamer. I've never spoken to her in my life.

Mm.

[She kind of wants to ask if he knows why Lizzie sort of gave her a look earlier but maybe Nariko had imagined that? Maybe she was just a little curious about her place in Krieg's life? It really could have been five hundred things, so there was no use in mentioning it.]

Anyway, let's check out the places she recommended! [Give her a second to put the first location into the GPS!]

[He nods and sits back in the driver's seat, idly staring out the window while she's playing with the GPS. When they get started, he comments...]

It's nice to look out the window and see anything but Vista City.

[Kind of surprising he got bored of that city. Or maybe it's just because of the things they went through back there.

So what's their first store like?]

Mm.

[ ... She can't help thinking about a few things that she ended up leaving behind in that place. And while it's for the best, certainly better for her mental health, it's still frustrating all around. Of all the things stuck in her head maybe she should talk about that.

But, later!

Right now they are in a store that ... Definitely has the vibe of Krieg's stage persona, leather and edgy clothing and all that lovely jazz.]

I'm gonna say she had some understanding of your band.

[That, or she really knew her big brother incredibly well.]

She's pretty well-read on pop culture. I have no idea if she's listened to it though...I mean, casually.

[Like a kid in a candy store.

Be careful, Nariko. Spend long enough looking the other way, and you'll end up losing him. ...Or maybe not, because he's so goddamn tall. At first, he starts looking at basically replacing what he's usually got--torn, stained, ripped, and generally "lived in", but eventually he makes his way over to stuff that is a little more refined--nicer fabric, decorative appliques and studs.

He kneels beside a particular rack looking like he's in deep thought. In truth, he's trying to decide if he's brave enough to change up his look like that already...]

[This is not her scene at all so it's not as if she's got a whole lot to stare at that isn't Krieg! That he manages to disappear every so often isn't that big of a deal, he seems pretty happy to consider all the options. But when he pauses for an especially long time, well, her boredom and curiosity are one hell of a combo.]

What is it?

[She's a few steps behind him, hands stuffed into her shorts.]

[He gestures.] These caught my eye. But they're not usually what I go for...

[Then again, he was kind of told what to wear, even if it was based on his sense of fashion when he was hired. Krieg looks up at Nariko, as if she'd be able to help him decide.]

Why shouldn't you go for it?

[She'd probably say this even if he was making an especially horrible decision, like bell bottoms or a nyan cat headband.] Even if you don't like it in the end at least you'll have been able to say you tried it out! There's nothing in the way.

[The fashion teams really had been on point, it'd been easy for Nariko to go along with what they chose, too! It all seemed to fit her, but the lack of freedom had been unnerving, to say the least. There was never any such thing as relaxing in jeans and an old shirt - so how could she discourage him, knowing that he likely came from the same situation?]

[He'd wear a cat headband. For fun, obviously, but don't try him. He'll do it, man.]

Hm.

[He stands up and rifles through the racks to pick out a few in his size. They're only pants, though, so Nariko might want to seek out some shirts for him while he's in the changing stalls...]

[Doesn't Krieg have some thing against shirts?

Which doesn't mean that he needs them any less, rather it's that she doesn't expect him to wear too many. She rifles through and grabs a couple, draping them over one arm while she waits. It's part of Friend's Duty to help judge anything that's tried on, so she'll wait patiently!]

[Yes.

Soon after she parks outside of the changing room, he opens the door and calls out--]

Nari--! Oh.

[She's right there.

Check out these pants, Nariko. They might be the right waist and inseam, but everything else? Tight enough to cut of circulation and leave absolutely nothing to the imagination. He got them on just fine, but...]

Can you help me take this off before I cramp myself in frustration?

And deny the fangirls their erotic dreams?

[But yeah that does look like it's going to hurt to keep on, assuming it doesn't already. So, yeah, let's just go help him take his pants off, literally, and that won't be awkward or kind of weird at all.] Come on.

[If he can sleep next to her all night without getting hard or at least feeling up a boob, she can be chill about this! She motions for him to lead the way to his specific dressing room.] Also, I picked out shirts!

I hope cramps aren't part of anyone's erotic dreams.

[Look, he probably felt up a boob in his comatose-like sleep. But if a tree falls in a forest and no one's around to hear it, is it really a tiddy touch? The pants eventually come off with enough sweat and tears and Krieg half-cursing under his breath as circulation returns to his knees. One size up, huh?]

Shirts? Oh, yeah.

[Shirts are important. You can't get into stores without shirts.]

You never know.

[It's not a tiddy touch if you weren't conscious to enjoy it! Jury is out on the trees, though. But, yeah, those pants really are on a bit too tight, he clearly underestimated his size by a great degree.]

Here!

[She hands over the shirts and then folds the terribly sized bottoms, and is incredibly dedicated to keeping her field of vision to include his neck and everything above, not below.] Do you want a better size for these? They looked good, otherwise!

Yeah. Two sizes up if you can find one.

[He takes the shirts and wanders back to his changing stall. Why so pervy, Nariko...]

Gonna need some new belts, too...

[Certainly if he's gonna buy a bigger size of those pants.]

[Because she has the sex drive of a fourteen year old boy who just figured out where to put his dick! And being around Krieg is, at times, the weird equivalent of putting said example fourteen year old boy next to Marilyn Monroe.]

I think I can manage that.

[So, yeah, belts! While some of her shirt choices are maybe a bit too benign for him she goes a little nuts with the belts. He gets no less than thirteen options, most all of them studded or ragged, definitely befitting of the whole 'edgelord' kind of look.]

Try these! [She did find two sizes up! She also found one, and kind of snuck those in there just because there is such a thing as man candy and he deserves to be stared at if he's comfortable with it! But there are other options too, since she was wondering around and picked up a few things. Some daring, but a good amount of it is similar to his band style.]

[It's kind of a shame he's borderline asexual. Maybe she'll end up changing that about him...]

Ack!

[Belts! So many goddamn belts!]

Did you bring me one of everything in stock...?

[It's cool that she's bringing all this enthusiasm, it makes him feel a little better mood-wise. Eventually he opens the door and reveals an ensemble put together with the one-size-larger pants, one of the belts she picked out, and an asymmetrical studded jacket.

It's not a look he's sported before, it's more refined instead of brutalized--but it's within the same realm. It's almost like a visual representation of how much he's changed.]

[Except that's not something you change about a person, right? At least, that's what she thinks, which might explain a lot of the festering guilt that's developing in the back of her head.]

Nope, I left seven on the rack!

[Well, maybe only five! But it's worth it when he steps out, in part because she's very clearly speechless.]

Nice! [The word bursts out, almost sputters at the beginning there. It really does suit him: mature without losing any sense of edge, alternative without being try hard.] Have you looked at yourself?!

[While it hadn't occurred to her earlier it made sense to switch up his look. If they were going to get back into this it meant that he had to be familiar but new, without the sheen of the old label hovering over him.]

[There's no reason to feel guilty, Nariko. He wants to be tied up by someone. He wants to be tied up by her. He's very well committed to the idea, though he's quite good at keeping it in the back of his mind and not sweating about it.]

Yeah.

[He looks over his shoulder to look at himself in the mirror.]

It feels good. It makes me feel way more comfortable than the older stuff.

[You could hear the confidence in his voice, too. It was the same reason why he wore his masks on stage so often, but like this...he might not need them anymore. The label thing applies a lot here--changing up his style assures that it's his own identity, not the one the industry wanted him to have.]

[And even though she has no idea how it's going to work she's pretty much excited for the same thing! But for her it's a little more complicated and sort of goes back to when they first met. But, well, thankfully none of that is relevant so she can continue to repress it.]

Then I think you've answered your own question: You're ready for something new, and this is it!

[She gets up and flutters around a bit - she's pulling all of the tags off of his clothes, carefully so that nothing is ripped, but this way he can just keep on wearing it for the rest of the day! No need to go back into the past.]

And now that we know where to start it's just a matter of getting a decent variety! But let's give some of the other stores a try, too!

[When they first met?]

Woah--wait, I'm supposed to walk out of here with these?

[Is that even acceptable? Doesn't it seem kinda...tacky?]

Oh, here...

[He grabs some of the other clothes that he'd liked; the others get hung up to be put away.]

These are the ones I liked too.

Why wouldn't you? You've had to wear the same stuff over and over again for the past few days!

[She wouldn't be able to fathom why it would seem tacky, so that's Krieg's own battle to wage. She makes sure to keep the tags in order even as she takes the rest of the stuff he'd ended up liking.]

Did you want to keep looking around or are we going to the next store?

[Because if he's done then she's going to get a head start on checking out.]

No, I think we're done here.

[He'll just deal with it by avoiding eye contact with the clerk. He's taking a look at the list while Nariko takes care of the checking out part, noticing that Izzy actually went through with his request for adult stores. The name looks benign enough on paper that Nariko might not notice until they walk in....but they'll have to see.]

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it took me that long for a journal misfire

an accomplishment tbh

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