Mall Crawl

Sooraya enlists the help of a gaggle of girls to obtain new clothing.

They had told Sooraya that it would be logistically and administratively easier for her to start school after the winter holiday's break. Since her arrival, she'd gotten her textbooks and some exercises to work on to play catch-up, but had not quite attended classes full-time.

With all of that in mind, and with the clamour of the holidays well behind her, Sooraya was taking stock of her clothes. She still had plenty of tunics and chador that she had purchased back home, but her time in Germany had opened her mind to the idea that she could shop at the same sort of places as everyone else, while still upholding hijab.

Regardless of where she was going to shop, the fact of the matter still remained that most of her wardrobe was ... dated. And most of it was the same.

She figured a little experimenting wouldn't hurt.

Shutting the lid on her laptop, she rose from her chair and went out into the common area, looking to see if one or more of her suite-mates was available.

Doreen was there, reading from a huge pile of comic books, Monkey Joe resting happily on her head. It was an afternoon off, and one without homework. When the other girl walked in, it was Monkey Joe that acknowledged her first, running over other furniture to check out the new girl.

The squirrel -Sooraya had never really caught its name - sniffed at her toes and looked up expectantly as though there was a nut to be had. She chuckled, and shooed him away.

"Doreen?" Sooraya said, a little timidly. She was still not really good with names, and was hoping that this girl was, in fact, actually Doreen.

Dori looked up and smiled, which showed off buck teeth, "Hi," she said happily, Monkey Joe running around Sooraya happily, "How're you?" she asked, chipper. "Want to read some comics? I have a lot here, and they're really good."

"I am well," Sooraya said. "I was thinking about shopping. Did you want to come?"

"Sure!" Doreen said, "Oh, we'll have to find someone to drive or take a cab. I can pay for that," since she had a job. And a discount on comics and sometimes free comics!

"That sounds... nice." Sooraya smiled. "I would like to have some new things for when school starts again."

"Awesome!" Doreen said, putting down the comic book she was reading, "I like the mall here, it's not as big as some of the places I used to go when I lived back home," before she and her Mom could only shop at consignment stores and the like. When she bounced up, Monkey Joe climbed up one of the chairs and jumped over to her shoulder.

"What type of stuff? Clothes? Books? Toys? Comics? I work in a comic store," she offered.

"Clothes, yes. Some things for school. Maybe a comic or two. I have never read a comic before," Sooraya said, smiling, slightly embarrassed at this fact. "Storybooks, yes, but never a comic book."

"Well I have plenty of comics to choose from," Doreen said, "Hold on! I'll get ready. It's kind of cold outside so I have to put on a few sweaters," coats never sat right with the tail. The tail at least never had any problems, being warm and furry.

Since she'd started classes, Klara had been working hard to get caught up so that she could work at the same level as her peers. Though it hadn't been easy, the fact that she used her computer primarily for schoolwork rather than playing around on the internet, and being relatively uninterested in television and video games helped a lot. So did modern appliances, and only having to be responsible for her own chores rather than anyone else's. She'd read thoroughly through her textbooks, making it a personal goal to read every chapter over at least three times. She was supposed to focus on school work right now, and she wanted to do well. She also generally had to read over everything in her science textbook more than three times and ask for clarification to understand it.

Right now, however, she was re-reading one of the books in the small collection of fictional novels she owned. She was flopped on her stomach, thoroughly engrossed in the book.

Doreen rushed in, "Quick! Quick! Get your coat on, we're going to go shopping!" Monkey Joe was also making happy noises.

Klara raised an eyebrow. "Is it an emergency?" Unless it was someone's birthday the very next day and Doreen had only just realized, she couldn't see any reason why anyone needed to rush to go shopping. However, she hadn't gotten any new books in a while and had gotten a couple of gift cards for Christmas - one of which was for a book store.

She turned over so that she was sitting on the bed, knowing that she should layer her clothing. It was cold outside, after all. Well, a pair of leggings could go under her long skirt just fine for some added warmth.

"It's shopping!" Doreen said. She was from Beverly Hills, shopping was an emergency, "We'll have to take a cab, but we're totally going shopping! Have you ever been to a mall before? Malls are awesome and great and awesome."

Klara stared at Doreen for a moment, then started getting ready. Her roommate was a nice girl and she didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm.

"I have been to a mall twice," said Klara mildly. Both times had been to get clothing - once when she was initially coming to the school, and the second time for a coat, boots, mittens and a hat to keep warm in the winter. While modest in shape and style, her coat was a lovely shade of red. Rose red. She was fond of the color, and since she was dressing modernly, she saw no need to hold onto the Amish standards for clothing colors. She had several brightly colored and comfortable things to wear now.

"Then you have to go more," Doreen said firmly, pulling on a sweater over a long sleeved shirt. The sweater had Green Lantern's symbol on it, because she was just that awesome. And Green Lantern was just that cool.

"Let's see how many people we can round up for this!"

***

Yvette had seen Sooraya's post and had fully intended to reply, but had gotten caught up with the reading X-Men training required. She still couldn't believe Mr. Dayspring had been knocked out by a coat rack of all things. But when she saw Sooraya practically being towed along by an eager Dori, with Klara bringing up the rear, she realised where they were going and hurried to meet them in the hall.

"It is the school shopping trip, yes?" she asked, with a smile. "Are you needing the driver?" Because, after all, she actually had her licence now and didn't need a licenced supervisor.

"Yes," Sooraya said. "The trip and the driver. If you would like to come, you are more welcome." She grinned and adjusted her warm-weather scarf. "It can be another girls' night, only in the daytime."

Sooraya was shy, but not antisocial. As far as she was concerned, the more, the merrier. "Do you need things for being an X-Man that you can get at the mall?" She was almost entirely certain that Macy's didn't have skin-tight spandex suits, or communicators, or whatever else X-Men used.

Yvette laughed and shook her head, her hair rattling ever so slightly. "Not so much, no. But I am needing the new clothes - my powers are hard on them, yes? So I would like to be looking for something that is the better able to survive my accidents."

"That is a good reason to shop," Sooraya said. "I only need school supplies. But maybe clothes would be a good idea too." She'd managed to scrimp and save enough that her bank account had enough money for several good shopping trips. "How is your training? Is it hard?"

"Not so much yet, but I begin the physical training soon now that my kidney is well again," Yvette explained. "Dr. McCoy wants to be having the first turn."

"Clothes, that's a word I like." Nico practically slided towards them, her boots making no noise. "Anyway, I was looking for an excuse to get out lately, and maybe I can give you a hand with the clothes picking, Sooraya." See didn't know the girl, but that wouldn't stop her from tagging along.

Yevtte gave the girl a polite nod, remembering the joke she'd made in poor taste about Yvette's powers. But as she hadn't been directly addressed, she stayed quiet.

"Oh." Sooraya turned to face the newcomer. "Hello." She crinkled her forehead as she tried to remember the girl's name. "You are ... I am sorry, but I cannot remember. Still, we should all go. Yvette said she would drive a car for us. A large car will probably be best."

"Clothes are awesome," Doreen said, "And that's Nico. She's cool, and now we have a ride!" Which meant no shelling out for a cab. That was always a good thing, "I'm going to get some new shirts. I can't get pants because it's really hard to try them on at the store with my tail and stuff."

Klara had remained silently by Doreen's side. Although she was coming out of her shell a little, it still took prompting to get her to speak up in group situations. She was much more comfortable with one on one interaction. She smiled politely at everyone present, not fully understanding the fascination shopping malls held for some people. Still, her brother would want her to make more friends, and going on a social outing like this was one way to do it.

"Yep, Nico Minoru; I sew and cast magic." And now they had a ride! How awesome was that? Well, Nico wasn't sure of how they were going to get to the mall in the first place, so things hadn't changed that much for her. "So, Sooraya right? Have you thought of anything you would like to wear?"

"That is my name, yes. It is nice to meet you, Nico." Sooraya was struggling to keep track of the multitude of conversations; Nico addressing her by name was a very welcome thing. She could concentrate on speaking to this one girl without coming across as socially avoidant. "I think I would like to find some skirts. Or maybe pants, with very wide leg-parts. Shirts too... and those long jackets that are worn indoors." Of course she'd given this some thought! "Then I think I might need a chador to match," she said, patting her head to show what she was talking about. "I would like to be a bit more... how is it said? Good-looking?"

That probably wasn't the word Sooraya was looking for, but it'd do.

Nico was already making a mental list of the things Sooraya was naming, also picking colors that would work wonders with the other girl's shape and skin color, which was of a tone she would never manage to have. "Alright, I think we can get all of it on the mall, and with great discounts, if we look around." Nico couldn't help to chuckle then. "Girl, you are already good looking, so worry not."

Sooraya flushed slightly. "...Okay then." Then she turned to the others. "Are there malls to choose from here, or only one?"

"Mostly just the one," Yvette replied. "There are some small places also, if you do not find what you are wanting."

"But there's the one, and that one is the best," Doreen said brightly, "Because they don't kick me out for bringing Monkey Joe."

"And they better don't start thinking about it, ever." Because Nico wasn't taking anyone picking on her friends. The pet policy was strict though, but she didn't care about it; Monkey Joe was pretty capable of hiding anyway.

"I'm sure they will not," Yvette said hastily, not wanting to go down the path of threats and the rest. "Are we all ready? I hope you do not mind the simple car - I am not so comfortable with the expensive ones."

"Why would anyone mind?" Klara asked, looking genuinely confused. "It's much better than walking in the colder weather."

Nico nodded at Yvette, realizing she had been on the verge of a never ending rant. "Simple is fine, Yvette, it's not like any of us have a car at all." And it was much better than walking, which they were so not doing anyway, since there wasn't much at walking distance from Xavier's.

"Very well," Yvette said with a smile. "Let us go, yes?"