Incline 18: Heiya

"So... What do you think she's going to be best off in?" one of Mui's friends asks as I struggle to find a place to centre my focus. Do I keep on it on them? Or do I keep it on the clothes? Even then, the stuff they have or the stuff I actually want to look at!?

I... I don't know. It's exciting! I'm on a shopping trip! For once in my adult life I'm on a normal shopping trip, even if it's with girls I couldn't offer a single prayer on the behalf of... I don't care at all!

"That's the thing... Giving her something more whole is almost pointless." another friend adds, one of her pink-painted nails going up my side. I shiver, my hips bouncing side to side and the group giggles. It's almost hypnotic to them all.

"We definitely have to try something that emphasises down there!" one squees, her paws grabbing anything that isn't two patches for my breasts and another for down below. I back away, loose knuckles before me as they continue to poke and prod at me. Nothing more than an experiment to wrap their heads around. An education they actually have a passion for.

"You can clearly tell how athletic she is, though! I mean, look at her! Look at how much effort she's put in!" another nameless face barges in, all of them but more spillage to the mess of this broken glass. It's like they're a hive, a hive built around Mui and nothing else. What an alien thing to be so close to.

"What do you think...?" Mui goes, her tongue lingering by her glossy lips.

"Heiya." I answer, assuming the stop to be over that.

"Yes, Heiya. What do you think about it all?" she asks, her tone almost dismissive in its entirety. Like she hates hearing about my body. I look down and frown, uncertain as to how to feel about that or any of this. It's all so new. Being shot at is less frightening than this.

"I've never worn a swimsuit before. Never done any of this before." I shrug and one of the girls gasps in a manner so obnoxious I feel a bolt of anger go through me. I keep it to a clenched fist and meet her emotive eyes with a pair of blanks.

"R-Really!? I... I can't even imagine a life like that. What do you do when you go in the water, then? Is this fabric waterproof or quick to dry?" the inquisitive girl asks, her fingers having little understanding of my personal boundaries. She goes through my quills, pointing something out to a few of her friends, and they start to giggle. It keeps on going, an uncontrollable fire that my instincts warn me to be wary of. A thoughtful noise whistles down my nostrils.

"Well... Last time I went into water that was outside... I just stripped naked and went in. Cleaned myself off in the river that comes into town." I explain, shrugging as some of them smile and giggle. Some kind of fantasy coming out in mutters between them.

"If you're confident enough to step into a river with ships on it, we can make this even more dangerous." Mui tells me, almost as if what she is saying is a taunt or dare. I return my focus to her and raise an eyebrow at that odd smirk she has. A shrug takes over my efforts, and I glance away.

"Can't be anymore dangerous than a wrathful fire wyvern." I let out, making them all go into a silent trance. They blink and I blink right back. I keep the rolling of my eyes to the inside of my head and Mui makes it more obvious. She gestures for me to follow, her very finger flicking being as demanding as she is.

"Obviously, it's up to you. But we're the experienced ones here." she hauts, that smugness so very, very insufferable. A chance to insist she's my better and she'll take it? As expected. No less annoying, somehow.

She takes me through several aisles, tossing and throwing who knows what at me. Like a task she wants to simply be done and dusted with. I'm trapped in a horde of giggling girls and chained by the weight of hangers and dyed fabric. None of it is really something I want, though.

All this pattern and colour, it feels unnatural for me to wear. Pops has always insisted I stay with black and dark colours for the advantages they give in the dark. It's a cheap, practical shade that can be repaired at basically any shop. Me and Pops also match when I wear it, and that makes me happy.

"Oh!"

"Oh?"

"Over there!" some of the friends go, so much going on that I have no clue about. Another one who wasn't even near grabs me by my nearest paw and drags me. Bringing me before a white moulded mannequin.

I look up at it, my eyes widening over how similar, yet unlike what is on display is. Unlike most of what I've seen so far, this is all a single piece. So close to my normal suit and so far away. The holes aren't practical at all, they're lustfully demanding!

Gaps in the chest. Holes over the belly. An utter lack on the back. Strips above the hips and nothing going down the legs...

"I... I think I'll start with that one." I say, pointing up at the black swimsuit as I take a lazy step. Taking a few more, I touch the closest part of the fabric and feel it. So thin. So very thin that I can stretch it pale.

"I don't know... A monokini?" Mui scoffs, her eyes looking away to her painted nails. I turn towards her fully, a scowl on my face.

"So!?" I ask, a growl so close to coming out. This girl is wearing my patience thin. No wonder it was so easy to let a punch out on her back when we first met. I'd be more than happy to offer her another, too. Give her a matching load of free makeup on her other eye.

"I know it's convenient to lack upper bulk. But, come on now," she says, smiling with her eyes closed. I look down at my chest and then back at hers. Does this quillback not understand how compression works? Moron.

"My money, my choice." I huff, finding amusement in the irony of it. Returning my attention to the mannequin, I head over to grab the mirror-like statue.

"No, no, no! One of these ones!" a friend of Mui goes as she hands me a hanger with a monokini on it. Monokini... What a strange word.

"Thanks... Where are the changing rooms?" I ask, looking around without an idea as to where I'm going to have to go. I look one way and it's more clothes for sale with people shopping. I look another way and it's the same. The only place I look where it's any different in a meaningful way is the shop's exit!

"Come, come, I'll show you!" a particularly giddy friend giggles as she takes me by the paw. She drags me around, not one bit of care actually given to me as all manner of corners bang me up. Pokes and prods and hard edges that are doing a little more than make me wince.

We finally arrive at the safety of an open area, a pack of predators on my heels. I turn around, meeting the eyes of Mui's friends as she continues to fake her smile. I look at the giddy one and nod my appreciation, her expression flatlining. She walks away, a scowl of all things for some reason there. I blink my confusion away and head on into the changing rooms.

Finding myself at the end of a hall rimmed with curtained up boxes, a gulp chokes me. Many are open and many are closed, all kinds of noises coming about. A mess of overlapping conversations and two-faced backstabbery. I take my first step and follow it up with a second, a nervous twitch to my scrunched up hands.

Why am I nervous...? 

The world goes on by, no one pays attention to me no matter how much I need to be in their face. I'm like a pillar of rock, no one cares about it so long as it's not obstructive. They'd probably carve a name into me if they could. Laugh the whole run away as they do so.

"Why am I still walking?" I ask myself, coming to a stop in front of an open changing room. I blink and look back, noting how many open ones I've passed. A noise bounces about my mouth and I step into the cubicle, closing the curtain behind me. A hefty sigh escapes, disrupting all the noise of the shop for so few precious seconds.

I grab the zip of my attire and get it off, exposing myself completely. The mirrored version of me shows way too much, and I can't stand to look her in the eye. A paw comes to my chest and I push it around, trying to give it some volume. I twist around and check my legs, minding the hard muscle, giving it depth and form.

"Mmmmmmmmmm." I go, not sure at all as to why my head is like this right now. So many feelings and things I've never really thought about before are all up there. Whatever Mui and her friends are, there's a danger to them and I don't like it. Yet I cannot see anything but the excitement of seeing it a little more. Glittering gold at the end of the teeth-mouthed cavern.

Everything is telling me something is wrong, but I still want to see it through. I want to experience this one moment of talking and being around so many other hwardgon my age. I want to experience it. I want to.

"Guess I'll put this on and go back out to meet them." I say, my voice flat and clinical. Getting the hanger out of the monokini, I fiddle with these knots on its side. My brain flickers and I find no tightness from them. Decorative knots with no purpose...? Huh.

I shake my head and mind my quills, slipping the monokini on. Despite the darkness of my fur, the black material of the monokini makes it almost glow. So bright in comparison that I can't remember the actual colour of my fur. A blush brings some darkness back to my cheeks and I grow timid.

A sweet, small smile comes to my lips and my arms go behind my back in a big knot. I twist and turn, looking about myself and seeing how it all fits. It's looser than my normal clothes, surprisingly enough. And yet, somehow, it still feels like it's stretched even further than it.

I focus on my fur bare thighs and shiver at the industrial breeze going through the mall. I've never had so much fur and body exposed while dressed like this. It's too precise in its gaps to be like a ruined set of overalls, and that's the problem. All this focus on my body and its... Aspects is too much. It's all way too much...

"I love it!" I giggle, barely able to keep my voice down as I throw my body around to pose some more. I play with my quills, copying some of the pictures of the models throughout the shop. I try to play it more like a normal girl and my giggling grows louder and louder. I love this monokini thing so much!

I walk away and turn sharply, pouting a kiss to the woman in the mirror.

"Hey, good looking. I heard you're quite the sharpshooter. The finest one of them all. Hit a boy's heart a mountain away through storm and snow-belt." I say, a moment of sultriness slipping into me as my body feels a confidence it's never had before. My hips shake with mechanical force and I head on out, eager to show off my new fit.