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Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Summary: After the espionage, the next on the agenda iiisss.... taking his new minion, Chrome, for clothes.
Warnings: Changing room, seriously negated by Mukuro's special, special thought processes.
Once he was feeling stabilized again, enough to be restless in the empty darkness instead of distracted by his thoughts and the residual death shock, he slipped off down another line, curling up like a cat in the back of Chrome's mind. She was still getting her bearings around Kokuyo, lost and confused; Ken was making himself scarce more often than not, Chikusa sticking to routine around the old visitor's center, keeping wary watch on her when she was around.
She was such a small, fragile thing compared to the rest of them; so much power resting untouched - she shouldn't have survived that accident on her own at all - but so little stability or solidity to direct it.
And still wearing his shirt over a dusty, ragged, moth-eaten old sun dress that'd been salvaged from the old visitor's shop, the remains of a bright resort mascot sewn onto the front.
We need to get you clothes.
She squeaked, not quite expecting him to speak and still getting used to that, although otherwise she was doing the mental equivalent of leaning back into him… or trying to hide behind him, he wasn't sure which.
The answer wasn't really voiced, but a jumble of bits and ideas as she was trying to find something to say while being afraid to say most of it - how would they get out, what if people saw them, how would they pay for it, she'd never been out alone…
It will be alright. You aren't going alone, I will be with you. As for being seen… Considering her own habits, it should be a simple enough trick. Pretend that you aren't here. You are air, invisible; nobody will see or hear you, or ever know you're there. You're separate from everyone, and they cannot see you, hear you, or touch you. Wrap yourself in it until it's real; I will help you, so that you can learn to do it for yourself. He nudged control, just enough to tug at her power while she focused on his directions; guiding her own reflex and instinct to help train that pattern in. Once it was running through her will on it - and "I am not here/nobody can see me" was not a hard trick for her to put will into - he carefully pulled back, letting it just be her controlling it while he stayed a background supportive presence. He gave a nudge to go ahead and go outside; she walked right past Chikusa, reading, with him completely oblivious, not even noticing when she stopped to pick up her mother's purse that they'd taken when she'd left the hospital.
Good; she wasn't quite paying mind, just focused on trying to be quiet. There you go. As long as you keep that up, no-one can see you; you might have to be careful not to run into people, but you'll be safe. While he was at it, he did do one thing to add to it - adding a few layers of his own, to mask her against other illusionists being able to see or find her; the last thing they needed was some Varia agent catching her at this stage.
That Ken didn't show up following or questioning on the way out did get a pause from her - she'd caught on that it was normal for him to do that, and Mukuro nudged gently. You're doing well; I'll make sure it holds so that it stays up this way, just keep going.
She nodded, and walked out, careful on the road with the simple slippers. It was a comfortable place for the quiet walk, staying curled in the back of her mind, watching that her illusion was stable and not taking too much out of her, nudging here and there so it wasn't burning too much power until they'd made it off the interchange and into town.
At first, she'd stopped, up against a wall, just watching the people and traffic; she'd never been out alone, and after the hospital and everything else, it was an almost overwhelming amount of noise.
You're not alone - you'll never need to be alone again. I'm with you.
She nodded, stepping away from the wall, folding her arms to hold onto the sleeves of his borrowed shirt. There you go. No-one can see you, and you are my Chrome - always remember that.
Chrome stood up a little straighter, and started walking; while he wasn't necessarily saying much, he was keeping a constant presence, occasionally tugging attention one way or another, towards one thing or another that seemed interesting, until finding a few shops where he was fairly sure they could manage something approximating the girl's Kokuyo uniform - or at least, something somewhat like it.
He did start catching that there was a difference in ideas fairly fast with some of what was being picked up, although she was following his directions…
Just turning a very interesting shade of red, and with increasing amounts of "…are you sure?" at some of what he was picking out, along with small fussing about whether it would even FIT and she couldn't wear this and…
Which just led to a nudge to the changing room, to check if it would.
She set the purse and the pile of clothes down… and then stopped staring at the mirror, turning even more of a shade of red.
"A-ah…d-don't watch!" The protest was out loud, and audible enough for the illusion to drop briefly; they both froze, Mukuro quietly nudging to bring it back up before anyone investigated. He stepped back, partially, with at least a pretense of a sort of 'privacy screen' and not watching.
…less of a real one than he'd admit; it wasn't exactly something where he understood how fussy most people were about modesty, particularly from someone where he was periodically inhabiting her body and had gotten her out of a hospital. He understood even less the undercurrent of 'don't want him to see me like this I'm hideous I'm a wreck'; she had scars, she was still healing and recovering, and all of it was things he'd already known about before - not exactly anything new or alarming. If anything, as much as there was a great deal of using illusions to cover things, she was doing very well, considering she was only a week out of something that should've killed her.
As far as he would let on, he didn't start paying attention again until there was the long, silent pause as she was staring at her own reflection, 'noticing she was done'. She still took a couple beats to acknowledge that he was paying attention again, and it was with a basically wordless tangle of "Oh god I can't go out looking like this" mixed with wondering if she was somehow the butt of a joke but not wanting to say that to him and oh god the skirt was so short and her legs were showing and what if someone saw her and the black top was so close fitting and oh god her stomach was showing and -
He did, at least, pre-empt the fussing about some of the scars, nudging in a few small illusions added to the much more complicated ones that kept her alive; just reinforcing the image of "whole and healthy", which honestly made the rest of it a little easier, adding with it his own response of a perfectly calm sense of bright approval that only somehow served to increase the amount of red she was turning, and shift the entire tangle she was having into a single, straight note of disbelief. She couldn't go out looking like this.
And why not? You're my Chrome, now; you have nothing to be ashamed of.
She nodded, swallowing hard and turning that over; pushing it from "oh god I can't go out like this" into pushing away Nagi; Nagi had died in the accident, she was Chrome now, something Mukuro had given her, and this was a part of that.
She gave a stray glance at the clothes she'd come in with - what passed for it - with a note of despair; how was she going to pay for these dressed like that?
Mukuro's first thought, honestly, was to just walk out under an illusion; while he was all for a bit of revenge-spending on her mother's cards, her getting clothes was the first priority and the one where worrying about paying for it would overcomplicate things - and that was the plan he sketched out in her head; just keep up the illusion she'd come in under, and walk out; they'd need to find her better shoes, a proper eyepatch, and possibly abuse the cards to get some first aid supplies and other small things to stock Kokuyo with - and tomorrow, when she had proper clothes, they could bring Ken and Chikusa to help carry things so they could stock up on nonperishables, among other things.
She picked up his shirt to take it back with her - and then, on a stray thought from him, the poor old sun-dress, just to be sure there wasn't evidence that might lead to someone looking at the old amusement park.
Summary: After the espionage, the next on the agenda iiisss.... taking his new minion, Chrome, for clothes.
Warnings: Changing room, seriously negated by Mukuro's special, special thought processes.
Once he was feeling stabilized again, enough to be restless in the empty darkness instead of distracted by his thoughts and the residual death shock, he slipped off down another line, curling up like a cat in the back of Chrome's mind. She was still getting her bearings around Kokuyo, lost and confused; Ken was making himself scarce more often than not, Chikusa sticking to routine around the old visitor's center, keeping wary watch on her when she was around.
She was such a small, fragile thing compared to the rest of them; so much power resting untouched - she shouldn't have survived that accident on her own at all - but so little stability or solidity to direct it.
And still wearing his shirt over a dusty, ragged, moth-eaten old sun dress that'd been salvaged from the old visitor's shop, the remains of a bright resort mascot sewn onto the front.
We need to get you clothes.
She squeaked, not quite expecting him to speak and still getting used to that, although otherwise she was doing the mental equivalent of leaning back into him… or trying to hide behind him, he wasn't sure which.
The answer wasn't really voiced, but a jumble of bits and ideas as she was trying to find something to say while being afraid to say most of it - how would they get out, what if people saw them, how would they pay for it, she'd never been out alone…
It will be alright. You aren't going alone, I will be with you. As for being seen… Considering her own habits, it should be a simple enough trick. Pretend that you aren't here. You are air, invisible; nobody will see or hear you, or ever know you're there. You're separate from everyone, and they cannot see you, hear you, or touch you. Wrap yourself in it until it's real; I will help you, so that you can learn to do it for yourself. He nudged control, just enough to tug at her power while she focused on his directions; guiding her own reflex and instinct to help train that pattern in. Once it was running through her will on it - and "I am not here/nobody can see me" was not a hard trick for her to put will into - he carefully pulled back, letting it just be her controlling it while he stayed a background supportive presence. He gave a nudge to go ahead and go outside; she walked right past Chikusa, reading, with him completely oblivious, not even noticing when she stopped to pick up her mother's purse that they'd taken when she'd left the hospital.
Good; she wasn't quite paying mind, just focused on trying to be quiet. There you go. As long as you keep that up, no-one can see you; you might have to be careful not to run into people, but you'll be safe. While he was at it, he did do one thing to add to it - adding a few layers of his own, to mask her against other illusionists being able to see or find her; the last thing they needed was some Varia agent catching her at this stage.
That Ken didn't show up following or questioning on the way out did get a pause from her - she'd caught on that it was normal for him to do that, and Mukuro nudged gently. You're doing well; I'll make sure it holds so that it stays up this way, just keep going.
She nodded, and walked out, careful on the road with the simple slippers. It was a comfortable place for the quiet walk, staying curled in the back of her mind, watching that her illusion was stable and not taking too much out of her, nudging here and there so it wasn't burning too much power until they'd made it off the interchange and into town.
At first, she'd stopped, up against a wall, just watching the people and traffic; she'd never been out alone, and after the hospital and everything else, it was an almost overwhelming amount of noise.
You're not alone - you'll never need to be alone again. I'm with you.
She nodded, stepping away from the wall, folding her arms to hold onto the sleeves of his borrowed shirt. There you go. No-one can see you, and you are my Chrome - always remember that.
Chrome stood up a little straighter, and started walking; while he wasn't necessarily saying much, he was keeping a constant presence, occasionally tugging attention one way or another, towards one thing or another that seemed interesting, until finding a few shops where he was fairly sure they could manage something approximating the girl's Kokuyo uniform - or at least, something somewhat like it.
He did start catching that there was a difference in ideas fairly fast with some of what was being picked up, although she was following his directions…
Just turning a very interesting shade of red, and with increasing amounts of "…are you sure?" at some of what he was picking out, along with small fussing about whether it would even FIT and she couldn't wear this and…
Which just led to a nudge to the changing room, to check if it would.
She set the purse and the pile of clothes down… and then stopped staring at the mirror, turning even more of a shade of red.
"A-ah…d-don't watch!" The protest was out loud, and audible enough for the illusion to drop briefly; they both froze, Mukuro quietly nudging to bring it back up before anyone investigated. He stepped back, partially, with at least a pretense of a sort of 'privacy screen' and not watching.
…less of a real one than he'd admit; it wasn't exactly something where he understood how fussy most people were about modesty, particularly from someone where he was periodically inhabiting her body and had gotten her out of a hospital. He understood even less the undercurrent of 'don't want him to see me like this I'm hideous I'm a wreck'; she had scars, she was still healing and recovering, and all of it was things he'd already known about before - not exactly anything new or alarming. If anything, as much as there was a great deal of using illusions to cover things, she was doing very well, considering she was only a week out of something that should've killed her.
As far as he would let on, he didn't start paying attention again until there was the long, silent pause as she was staring at her own reflection, 'noticing she was done'. She still took a couple beats to acknowledge that he was paying attention again, and it was with a basically wordless tangle of "Oh god I can't go out looking like this" mixed with wondering if she was somehow the butt of a joke but not wanting to say that to him and oh god the skirt was so short and her legs were showing and what if someone saw her and the black top was so close fitting and oh god her stomach was showing and -
He did, at least, pre-empt the fussing about some of the scars, nudging in a few small illusions added to the much more complicated ones that kept her alive; just reinforcing the image of "whole and healthy", which honestly made the rest of it a little easier, adding with it his own response of a perfectly calm sense of bright approval that only somehow served to increase the amount of red she was turning, and shift the entire tangle she was having into a single, straight note of disbelief. She couldn't go out looking like this.
And why not? You're my Chrome, now; you have nothing to be ashamed of.
She nodded, swallowing hard and turning that over; pushing it from "oh god I can't go out like this" into pushing away Nagi; Nagi had died in the accident, she was Chrome now, something Mukuro had given her, and this was a part of that.
She gave a stray glance at the clothes she'd come in with - what passed for it - with a note of despair; how was she going to pay for these dressed like that?
Mukuro's first thought, honestly, was to just walk out under an illusion; while he was all for a bit of revenge-spending on her mother's cards, her getting clothes was the first priority and the one where worrying about paying for it would overcomplicate things - and that was the plan he sketched out in her head; just keep up the illusion she'd come in under, and walk out; they'd need to find her better shoes, a proper eyepatch, and possibly abuse the cards to get some first aid supplies and other small things to stock Kokuyo with - and tomorrow, when she had proper clothes, they could bring Ken and Chikusa to help carry things so they could stock up on nonperishables, among other things.
She picked up his shirt to take it back with her - and then, on a stray thought from him, the poor old sun-dress, just to be sure there wasn't evidence that might lead to someone looking at the old amusement park.
