No Taste in Clothes? Sillies, it Tastes Like Cotton! [Midori/Ray Black Heart Event]

There was some decent weather in Waffle Island, according to the weatherman from Ox 19 News. The weatherman had been wrong before, but Ray felt like he could trust the prediction of partly cloudy skies with low humidity. It had to be in the 70s range temperature wise, which was actually a lot warmer than Mineral Town. That was part of the reason he decided to travel all of the way over there, expecting nothing but peace and tranquility. The second he got off of the boat, however, he was wrong. Dead wrong.

Now he had worked at the local school for a week now, and he only came here right when the bar opened. None of the other shops were open, and the place was completely different. He didn’t expect such life walking around in the streets, why, the buildings seemed to be dancing in those old 50s cartoons with the way they were painted. Ray wasn’t much of a shopper, but something led him straight down to the clothing store since he felt the need to buy some new shoes. The sandals he had on at the moment were ‘okay’, but they were starting to break on him from being worn all of the time.

”…Orange sandals? Really?” He picked up a pair of sandals with one of the most annoying shades of orange he had ever seen. As much as he liked the color orange, and even if that pair happened to be in his size, it was a bit too much for him. Then right next to that were sandals with cute frogs on them, also in his size. ”Really?” He asked again, mostly to himself as he shook his head with a hand to his face as if to repress a headache.

Midori wandered the streets. She drifted aimlessly passed the closed shops as her eyes jumped from sign to sign. "Darn..." She sighed kicking a rock over with her foot. It wasn't like she really wanted anything, but it would have been nice to see some of the stores while they were open. One foot in front of the other, she walked onwards. It wasn't until a few minutes later that something caught her eye. It was a new cap just sitting in the window. It was a simple baseball cap. Nothing too special. It was a fine shade of red with a white patch up front. Midori stood at the window for a few moments and when she was finally able to come to her sense. She read the sign. "It's open!" She exclaimed. A quick jolt of energy rushed through her body as she leaped in excitement. She looked around to make sure no one had seen her. She entered the shop.

Feeling a pair of eyes run over him, Ray looked up as alert as a meerkat as he scanned the store. He wasn’t sure why he jolted like that, but something about being a guy in a clothing shop made him think of Julius, and he didn’t want to be compared to Julius. He doubted that any straight man did, actually. His attention happened to cross paths with a green haired girl whose gaze was completely fixated at one of the items on display from the window. She probably didn’t even notice him, so he went back to browsing.

This time, though, he started looking through all kinds of shoes. He normally wasn’t a tennis shoe kind of guy, but it was comfortable enough to work in. Plus, his toes were cold after being suffocated in the A/C for so long. There was another pair that was “for guys”, as it said in the giant sign above him, which was a bright purple pair with yellow zigzags on it.

”Someone forgot to call the 80s.” He scratched his head as he picked up the pair to get a better look at its hideous design. Honestly, he thought it was something that Julius would design. It matched his hair, right?

Upon entering the store, Midori scanned the store. She had a mission! "It's like those games I play!" She exclaimed. "I just have to find the objective before the time runs out!" she said. She walked at a fast pace. Being a mission, she would have normally raced down aisles and tumbled into racks, but she wanted to be semi-courteous. She walked from rack to rack hoping to find the hat that was on display, but to her dismay, she just didn't seemed to see it. She sighed and paced back and forth. She felt lost. "Oh.. I knew I probably should have asked for help.." She whined. She paused for a few moments and rocked back and forth. She looked around. "No one.." She said to herself. She walked onward determined to find something.

Finally, she noticed an older male with messy, blonde hair. Again, she paused, but only to practice her 'Hello's. When she finally mustered up enough confidence, she jogged to him rather excitedly. "Um... excuse me?!" She smiled. "Yeah.. Um. H-hello!" She greeted him as she'd rock back and forth once again. Her hands laying paired up behind her back. "Um.. I was wondering if.. if you could help me because I really want this hat.. You see, but I can't find it?!" Being in a panicky state, Midori began to ramble as she would move her hands into gestures convenient to what she was explaining. "And, and I tried looking, but I just.. I didn't see it and I wanted to ask the shop keeper, but he just seemed so BUSY! And.. and.. I just... I just feel a bit out of pl-" She interrupted herself. "... Hi, my name is Midori" She smiled once again.

He kinda heard the girl’s voice in the background, and kept glancing over in her direction. Something about an unfamiliar face made him curious, especially since he had been trying to be a lot more social lately. Even though he had been in these parts for about a month, everything was still insanely new to him. Sometimes he thought it was like learning to crawl all over again, but he didn’t particularly care if he got lost or met someone he didn’t like. He couldn’t help but smirk from time to time at her behavior—she seemed like an easy person to read. Even though he didn’t work here, he was tempted to go over and ask if she needed any help.

Finally, it appeared that she gave up on asking any of the workers here for help and just decided to talk to him. He glanced up from his browsing with a surprised, but friendly smile. He had to admit, he half expected this to happen. ”Hi there.” He thought the way she rocked back and forth was kinda funny, but if it had been a guy doing this, it would’ve definitely been suspicious.

”A hat like the one being displayed in the window?” He questioned, pointing over in the most obvious direction there was. It was on a mannequin head, minus the body, but since it was on a table it was easy to reach. He laughed when she randomly introduced herself, my my, wasn’t she funny?

”The name’s Ray. I’m…probably the least busy person here at the moment. “ He paused to take a good look around the place. Yep, everyone here looked busy as heck. The way that Candace and Luna’s grandma was sewing in the corner was enough to scare even her own grandchildren away

”Unfortunetly…I’m having problems myself.” He glanced over at the questionably fashioned shoes behind him with a sigh. He couldn’t be seen in public wearing any of those shoes, honestly, but maybe he overlooked something.

He returned a greeting. She smiled. She had been hoping he wouldn't just walk away without a word like the many before him.

She noticed he had pointed to the window. She followed his finger to look at the hat. "There it is..." She doted.

He introduced himself. "Ray" She repeated in her head. "Heh. Busy busy busy..." She said as she'd let out a giggle. "Problems?" She wondered. She looked behind Ray to notice shoes with the most ridiculous patterns. She ushered a laugh. She couldn't imagine anyone wearing shoes such as those, yet alone Ray. "Well, Ray." emphasizing his name with a smile. "I was on a quest for a hat, buuut.. I think I can spare some time for a quick side quest. Would it be alright if I assisted in finding shoes?" She asked. She liked the idea of quests even though to a "normal" person quest would mean daily chores/tasks and etc. Truthfully, Mid had time to kill. Grandma was certainly busy so it couldn't help. She began to rock back and forth with a smile.

”Heh, actually, I could use a girl’s help right about now.“ He chuckled at the way she talked, thinking that it was a little bit over the top. It was enough to amuse him though, and he was always glad to meet new people. She sounded like she was a person that had a lot of plans for the day, so he didn’t want to take up too much of her time just to pick out a decent pair of shoes.

”The hats here all look pretty tame compared to the shoes I’ve been finding. Maybe I can return the favor then.” He offered, though it was more of a joke to be honest. He wasn’t expecting her to actually accept it or anything.

”So yeah. Normal tennis shoes would be great.” He explained, not particularly caring what style or color the place had as long as it didn’t look bad. Or in this case, weird. He just walked by a creepy looking pair of bunny slippers that had one of the eyes half falling off, making it look possessed. Geez, if he saw those things in the middle of the night, he would be terrified!

She smiled. She liked the idea of being able to help. Mid analyzed the shoes..
"Man, this is pretty hard" she laughed. All the tennis shoes seemed to be so odd. The hats were just fine, but.. what's with all these crazy designs? Obnoxious colors.. frogs? What was all this? Midori smiled brightly upon spotting a pair of plain white sneakers. She leaned forward and lightly held them. She studied the shoes carefully. ... Hopefully, they look okay. "Ray..?" She called in the sort of tone you would use when asking a question. "Do these look normal enough.. Or do ya' need more.. Pizazz!" She giggled upon the word 'pizazz'. What an odd word, she thought. She smiled in his direction.

Chuckling in agreement when the girl admitted that finding good shoes was a difficult task, he started to split up a little in order to cover more ground. He was still in plain eye sight as his fingers danced like they were playing the keys of a piano through each shoe design and their size. Were all of the good ones just made for people with big feet? It was a curse, and he knew it. He perked up when he heard his name, leaning over the aisle to get a good look at Midori.

"Huh? Find something?" He asked as he strolled over, a bit excited and curious. Really, anything normal at this point would've left him a happy, shoe wearing man. When he saw the white tennis shoes, about his size too, he felt as if he could've hugged the stranger right there and then.

"I think this is as normal as it can get. Besides, I could probably add pizazz on my own." Ray grinned, wondering if he should buy anything in particular in order to create the custom look he desired. Maybe someone had a bedazzler he could borrow, and maybe he could draw some patterns on there. It could work. "You're a lifesaver, really Midori." He was glad that he remembered her name, because he felt it slipping out of the corners of his mind already.

A grin found a way upon her face. "Go me!" She thought to herself. She saved... a life? She giggled. She passed him the shoes. "If it's alright with you, I think I will be leaving now" she said, her knees finally steadying. She found herself a new found courage having let time to pass. She felt.. Comfortable. "Nice meeting you" she spoke again in a steadier tone.

"Ah, same here. Thanks again for the help." He grinned at the semi-stranger, feeling a little bit better now that his shoe search was complete. As she left, ironically without buying the hat, he examined the pair of shoes a little more closely. Yes, he could imagine some dark shading here and there. Almost like the kind he saw on a magazine one time, except that was a magazine for cake. Hey, cake's had nice patterns. It wasn't that random of a thought! Seeing that there was no point looking for anything else, he simply bought the shoes and left.