Fire Emblem On Forums: Mortal Transgressions (IC)

[RedMageCole]

Lucy's panic subsided.

 

"Oh... oh, those are what those were for... oh." Lucy scurried off into the changing room. A little bit of audible whining could be heard from behind the door before she could be heard putting one of the options on. "Nh-..."

 

A little more shifting around. An awkward pause as a two-piece is picked up and then subsequently put down. "...M-... maybe not... this one..."

 

Lucy continued to dig around in the pile— "Wh-why can't they have sleeves...?" She said, lamenting over all of the lack of sleeved options.

 

Eventually, she could be heard putting another one on. "M-Mim, these are all really, really tight-... w-wait, actually, maybe that's not a bad thing- o-okay, I think, um... I think this might be... best..." Lucy scurried out, looking extremely modest towards Mim as Lucy held onto herself, doing her absolute best to cover her top half. Her scarred arms were evident— as would her broken Mark if she didn't have a firm hand over her shoulders. Luckily for them, there was practically nobody else in the store and the guy at the front was the only one they'd need to really fool.

 

"I-I shouldn't be showing this much skin..." Lucy pouted, complete lack of confidence in her voice. "B-But I think it's... p-probably the best option..."

[Swordstar]

Too tight? Had she picked the wrong size? Well it seemed like at least one fit so they could work off of that at least. When she came out of the changing room, Mim couldn't help the gasp that escaped. 

 

"Oh Lucy! You look so beautiful! You're going to have those boys with their jaws on the floor for sure. As for showing too much skin, you absolutely aren't, but if you aren't comfortable, we can either get you a new one or we can get you a wrap or shawl sort of like my vest to help cover a bit more. But you really do look great. Do you want me to go grab the boys? I bet Baldur can't wait to see you."

 

She giggled after that last line. The two of them were going to be fun to tease she suspected... There were probably no major feelings or anything, but the teasing was still fun.

[RedMageCole]

Something about that word- beautiful made Lucy's anxiety seem to completely melt away. Even her arms drooped off to the side; she was still hugging herself, but now it was just around her belly. Her face was tinged a gentle pink...

 

"N-No, I... I think it's fine..." Lucy patted her left arm— a particularly nasty cut was there. She winced a little even just touching it, before spotting a somewhat large bracelet off to the side. She quickly grabbed it and covered it up. "O... okay! I... I think that should be okay... I-I'm ready to see the... um... b-boys." Lucy felt a frog in her throat as she said that last word, but still stood tall.

[Swordstar]

Mim reached out and gave Lucy's shoulder a light squeeze. 

 

"If you keep this up, you're going to need a new codename. Though I think we should get you one anyways. Something cute to match you."

 

With that, she darted off to find the boys. She quickly spotted them, and waved them over.

 

"Come on you two. Time to go tell Lucy how great she looks. And you better be nice, or else."

[RedMageCole]

A light giggle came out of Lucy as if Mim squeezed out the giggly filling in Lucy. She paused, briefly a bit confused, but not outwardly denying the idea of a new codename...

 

She walked rather slowly to meet the boys, trying her absolute best to avoid covering herself up— Lucy had a few more things to hide as she stood as still as a statue, in a light blue one-piece and strapless bathing suit. Other than her broken Mark and her badly scarred arms... She actually had a somewhat ample chest for her small size.

 

"Hie." Her voice was so mortified that what was an attempt at a 'hi' or a more casual 'hey' came out as that.

 

"She actually does look quite nice, doesn't she, Baldur?" As his eyes quickly darted away from Mim after looking over Lucy (without much of a blush, he could at least pride himself on not being that shallow), Arthur looked at Baldur with his tone subtly conveying a 'now it's my turn, motherfucker' only to Baldur.

[Aurorix]

Baldur rolls his eyes at the last line,  "Yea sure. Just make sure not to take so long next tiiiiiiimmmm-" His voice trailed off as Lucy made her entrance. He certainly wasn't expecting such a massive upgrade in her chest, which caught him more than a bit off guard. Clearing his throat trying to brush that off he continued,  "Well, yes... She does indeed... look elegant and graceful as royalty should be. Maybe a certain someone should learn from her example hmmmmm?" He said that last part turning his eye right towards Crimson, glaring daggers.

[Swordstar]

Mim let the boys enjoy the surprise of Lucy, though they seemed to be fighting between the two of them over something. She let her eyes wander and spotted two cute anklets with ruffled cloth and some fake pearls. She picked them up, along with a cute wrapped bracelet. They would complete her outfit perfectly. And then... There, perfect.

 

All of a sudden, a pair of amethyst swim trunks flew over Lucy's head and smacked Bladur in the face.

 

"Good outfit choice, but you're gonna need those in case you decide to remove the stick from your butt and join the rest of us in the ocean. Now, stop bickering you two and just enjoy a relaxing day. Oh Lucy, I know you found that clasp, but if you want anything else, they have a good selection over there. I found these cute anklets, look!"

 

She held her leg out so that that could all see the news addition to her outfit.

[RedMageCole]

Arthur snapped for a moment, his innate anger about to come out in a burst of fury at the comment about him learning to be more royal.

 

"You—"Mim, however, quelled Arthur's anger in an instant with the swim trunks hitting Baldur in the face— quickly replacing his fury with a 'snrk' noise. He looked back to Mim and Lucy— Lucy having become a little less frozen up, but still somewhat frozen— in order for him to try and respond in a decent manner. "Alright... I'll try not to—"

 

Oh. Oh. Leg. Mim was sticking her leg out and it was quite nice—

 

"They... look very nice on you, Mim. Very cute."

 

Lucy began awkwardly fiddling with her hands.

 

"Um... Maybe I wouldn't mind just a couple of more bracelets..." Despite now being able to be a bit more positive about her body to show it off, her scarred arms were still bothering her a lot. It was clear she didn't show them off— ever.

[Aurorix]

Getting a face full of trunks, Baldur tore them off his head to reveal his absolutely livid expression.  "I swear Mim, you are treading on very thin ice right now...!" His attention then turned to Lucy, not even noticing the new bangles Mim had put on nor Athur's embarrassing reaction. He could tell she wasn't enjoying having her scars visible.

 

"If I could make a suggestion Lucy, maybe you could tie a small blue cloth or bandanna around your right shoulder? If it is at all bothering you to have it showing that it."

[RedMageCole]

Lucy's eyes fell to her shoulder, not quite meeting Baldur's expression.

 

"I... I want to be able to... be like everyone else... I-I mean, I could do it just until we get to the beach so nobody questions it, but... If... If people don't wear sleeves while swimming, then... then I want to swim like everyone... j-just as long as... my scars aren't... distracting anyone..."

[Aurorix]

"Well, if that is what you wish then I'll leave it be. Don't worry about the others, I'm sure no one will be bothered by it either." The butler says with a nod followed by a gentle smile. 

 

That is before he turned back to Arthur to see how he was doing and his disappointed glare returned.

[Swordstar]

Mim had the perfect idea to help Lucy's problem. Putting her leg back down, she gestured over to the other side of the story.

 

"If you're just looking for something to cover up between here and the beach, why not grab a towel? You can drape it over your shoulders until we get to the beach and then use it to sit on instead of the sand! From what I've heard and read about the beach, that's what a lot of people do."

[Chevaleresse]

"Aw, I missed the fun." Justine's voice echoed from near the entrance to the store. Though she sounded somewhat disappointed, she still didn't let it put a damper on her cheer. "But this daring minstrel had to prepare for her grand entrance!" She sauntered dramatically into view, showing off her rather unusual summer outfit.

"It looks like you got on fine without me, though." The coat covered anything she might've been wearing underneath, so it was impossible to tell what she had waiting to unveil. "Maybe you can follow my example, Lucy." She flashed a grin at Arthur, waiting to see his reaction.

[RedMageCole]

Lucy's expression brightened at Mim's suggestion.

 

"Oh...! Yes, that makes a lot of sense! I... don't have a towel, but, um, I can find one! They're those big soft blankets of fuzz, right?" She did her best to try and describe a towel as someone who wasn't one hundred percent certain what a towel was.

 

Meanwhile, Arthur managed to calm himself down as Mim was no longer a daunting presence... Until Baldur provoked his wrath once more.

 

"Oh, quit your judgment— if Mim is going to wear something like that, am I not allowed to admire-"

 

Before he could get too ranty, Justine's voice caused Arthur's ears to perk up. He turned to her, in his mind praying that she wasn't in something that would cause him to knock out— only to be greeted with exactly that sight upon turning.

 

"Dh- I- J- Just- Justi- that's my- there's no- did you buy that- no that's Rian make- that's definitely- I- too big- covering your whole- where's swimsuit- Justine!" The crown prince of Ria, the nation known for its wrath. The son of the most wrathful, angered man in the continent of Purgus, and here he was sounding utterly baffled, somewhat offended, and absolutely one hundred percent full of sheer embarrassment— perhaps a little something else. And of course, once again, he had completely forgotten about Baldur's presence.

 

In the background, Lucy tilted her head a little bit in response to Justine.

 

"I... think that'd be too big on me..."

[Chevaleresse]

Justine barely suppressed a full-blown giggling fit at Arthur's reaction. It was better than anything she could have anticipated. 

"What's wrong, Arthur? Oh, did I take your coat?" She had taken it with full intentions of what she was doing now, and made no attempt to hide it, but playing faux-coy entertained her. "Do you want it back? Speaking of my swimsuit, I was using it to cover up. . ."

[Aurorix]

"This is sad to watch, honestly." The butler had at least some faith that Justine was only playing tricks on them. Honestly, this entire show was both disgusting an immensely disappointing. For both sides really.  "Just leave the man alone. It's not even the actual day we're heading to the beach and you've nearly stopped his blood circulation."

[Shauntaro]

Shin wasn't really there for the whole Lucy commotion, instead looking at the various new clothing pieces that he wasn't really used to the idea of wearing. He looks at the colors, feeling some of the material with his hands, just browsing.


"These look comfortable.. I don't really want to part with my old clothes, but.."

[RedMageCole]

"P-Please, you had to have known—" Arthur briefly didn't register that she was messing with him, but caught on quite quickly once she spoke her last words. "W-Well, I can't ask for it back now- I've already gotten used to wearing this and now it'd just be hot— y-you are wearing a swimsuit under there, right?" Baldur was still there, and it was not helping Arthur. "Wh-Why don't you go help Shin pick something out, or something!?"

[Swordstar]

It was a good thing that Crimson was no longer paying attention to Mim, because he would have seen her deflate slightly as the back and forth between him and Justine started. So this is how it was. She should have known. It made sense too. Justine was so pretty and talented, of course Crimson would fall for her. She had been stupid to go back to thinking that maybe her crush could turn into something more.

 

Lucy. That's who she needed to focus on right now. Pulling her smile back up, she turned to the other girl.

 

"Yes, exactly that. They should have some on the other side of the store, away from all the clothes. Why don't we go look for one that you like?"

 

Time to get away, signal the retreat. She could admit when she had lost, right?

[Powder Miner]

Lizaveta ended up finding herself near Shin as she sort of just idly browsed the store, hands in her pockets despite the warmth. She'd asked to come on this trip, but...

"You... don't have any money to pay for this either, right? I guess we'll just have to ask someone else, but..."

 

Lizaveta shrugged a bit.

[Aurorix]

Baldur tilted his to the side as disappointed as ever,  "Very well Arthur, but don't come crying to me later." He turned his attention towards Lucy,  "If anythings happens or you need something come get me, otherwise I'm going to make sure Shin doesn't get something idiotic." He waved his hand before going on the search for Shin.

 

"Lizaveta I already told Shin I'd buy his clothes, so you need only worry about yourself." The butler spoke approaching the two broke shoppers with a set of clothes already in tow,  "Alright Shin, if these are to your liking try them on. I think they are your size but if anything feels off just let me know."

[Shauntaro]

Shin turns to Liza in response.

"Ah.. yeah. But I'm just looking, I've never really thought of getting any new clothes before, so.."


"Did you want to get something too, Liza?-" He managed to say before Baldur arrives with a few sets of new clothing.


"Oh wow. These are a lot.. but ah, thanks. I'll go try these on and see what I can get used to." He lowers his head in gratitude and pardon to Baldur and Lizaveta respectively and heads towards an outfitting area.

[Chevaleresse]

"Who knows~?" Justine said coyly. Her grin didn't fade until she caught Mim's own expression out of the corner of her eye, and she faltered slightly. It wasn't hard to put two and two together, but she didn't exactly know what to do with four now that she had it. "Anyway, er, I see you've already got your own beachwear. It'll be nice to get out and relax for a little while."

[RedMageCole]

Lucy couldn't really fathom why Mim seemed to be so tense.

 

"Y-Yeah, let's, um... go do that!" Lucy said in a feeble attempt to try and go along with Mim to make her feel better. She gave a vigorous nod to Baldur, but had a feeling deep down that she wasn't going to want to leave Mim's side for a little while.

 

———

 

Arthur was in a similar boat as Justine— he could feel the steam beginning to come out of his ears at even the idea of what Justine was suggesting until she started to wind down. It didn't take too long until Arthur figured it out. Perhaps Baldur had a point for once. And yet it was just hard being around good-looking girls... He hadn't known this kind of attraction since... Well, needless to say there was nothing to be done. He felt his coherence coming back even if he was still staring at his coat on someone else.

 

"...Yes, indeed. I wasn't actually certain about the vacation myself when Stella told me to give you all the notice, but everyone's been quite enthusiastic. I've... never really been, growing up sheltered in Ria and all. I've only heard stories."

[Swordstar]

The two girls quickly found the towels, a nice healthy selection. Mim grabbed the first big one she found, a simple grey one, and wrapped it around her own body.

 

"Here, see, like this. I'll get this one, you get one you like, and we'll match. That way you won't stand out at all. Does that work?"