"Ooooh, hey, look at these! These look so cute!" Rose gasped quietly at the sudden noise, jolting back to reality as someone grabbed her arm and shook, and the cream-furred fox glanced sideways, exhaling in relief when Erin came into view. Her nine fluffy tails slowly uncurled as she looked at the pink mink, and patted the Mienshao's shoulder, giving the younger Pokemon a friendly squeeze through her yellow tanktop. Erin smiled broadly and stepped back, raising her arms to hold up a pair of dark, shiny stockings. "Look, Rose, look! I bet these would be a good match for a fancy outfit, right?"
"Mmm..." The Ninetales hummed thoughtfully, reaching up to run her hands through her ponytail of headfur. Rose reached out and pinched the feet of the black, rubbery cloth, rubbing it between her fingers and shaking her head at the strangely smooth feeling it sent through her fur. They slipped out of her grasp when Erin started to rock back and forth on her heels, her tail and whiskers bouncing as she waited for the fire type Pokemon's answer. "I don't know, Erin, are you sure you'd wear it? It doesn't seem like it'd be all that comfortable, especially for the outdoors."
"Awww, you think so?" Erin replied, ducking her head and holding the strange stockings on top of her denim shorts to see how they looked, balancing on the tips of her footpaws. "I think I wanna try them on first, at least! That's fine, right? You'll be okay, right, Rose?"
"Hehehe, I'll be fine," Rose chuckled warmly, patting her friend's head before looking over her shoulder at the changing room doors, all of them hanging open. "Go on, go ahead and see how you like them! I'll just look around a little while you're in there."
Erin nodded quickly, barely able to contain her giggles as she skipped past the Ninetales and into one of the changing rooms, the slam of the door drowning out the latch of the lock. Rose smiled gently, then turned around, gazing from side to side at the various racks and shelves of suits and dresses and unfamiliar names plastered occasionally on the walls. Her eyes finally landed on the nearest rack, filled with dresses big and small, and she stepped over to it, fur bristling slightly each time her pawpads rubbed against the rough, carpeted floor.
Stopping a couple paces away from the circular stand, the fox stood still, balking for a brief moment at the sheer number of dresses hanging just inches off of the floor, before slipping her arms between a few outfits and gingerly pushing them apart, slowly browsing through them. She slid a few dresses, all poofy and pink, over without a second though, and her gaze lingered on a warm red dress, adorned with buttons and a tiny apron, before moving it to the side as well, shaking her head as she thought aloud. "I still don't understand why they want us to wear formal outfits if the concert's going to be in the park... maybe we should have just gone to see miss Rarity in the first place. Or miss Sable-"
She cut herself off in the middle of pushing a tight, leathery top away, wincing at the garishly green, swirly-patterned jumpsuit that had been hiding behind the subdued outfit. She raised her eyebrows ever-so-slightly, and she quickly pushed the suit behind her, unable to keep herself from smiling... and then stifling a laugh when she found a second, purple, jumpsuit.
"I guess this must be where Opera bought her clothes." The fire type Pokemon circled around the clothes rack, browsing through the various dresses, shirts and jackets, skirted corsets and strapless gowns, her fluffy tails waving up and down and grazing the clothes along the way. Halfway across the stock, the colorful fabrics gave way to blacks and whites, and Rose paused for a moment, letting her arms fall to her sides as she gave a couple dresses a quick once-over.
Her ruby red eyes widened when a big, white dress caught her eye, and she leaned forward a bit, a few strands of her headfur falling in front of her face. She nudged her nose upward to shake them away before reaching towards the hanger, slipping the straps of the dress off and scooping it up. The Ninetales brought her arms close to her chest, carefully bending her elbows to keep the oversized garment from flopping onto to the floor.
"This looks nice," Rose murmured, tracing over the lines sewn near the neck of the dress, and she rubbed her palm on the edges of the frilly skirt, the fabric soft and pleasant on her fur, fingertips poking at the the leather belt wrapped around the middle. She sucked in a breath, her heart skipping a nervous beat when she felt a tiny gap just underneath the belt, and flipped the dress over, gripping it a bit tighter while she scanned over the backside. Her tails twitched, making her skirt wiggle a bit as they wagged from side to side, when she spotted the X-shaped opening around the hips, her expression brightening in realization. "It even has a tail-flap!"
The cream-furred fox smiled warmly as she snaked an arm through the straps, giving the formal dress another brief look, then glancing over at the circular rack again to snatch the empty hanger from its perch. She looked over the plastic thing – it didn't have a size marker – and then turned her head back towards the dress, reaching into it and fumbling around for the tag. It managed to find her first, one of the corners stabbing into her finger, and she flinched, tensing up at the slight ache, before grabbing the tag and lifting it up. She tilted her head to get a better look at the upside-down paper... and exhaled when she saw the XL printed near the bottom.
Rose's ears perked, pointing straight up at the ceiling, when she heard Erin's voice. "Um... Rose? Hey, Rose, where are you?"
"I'm still here, Erin." The Ninetales twisted around to call back to her friend, and she quickly put the dress back on its hanger, returning it to the rack and grabbing another one before walking back over to the changing rooms. She stopped near the only locked door, giving it a gentle tap. "What is it?"
Erin didn't reply at first, instead letting out an awkward giggle; Rose clamped an arm around her dress, combing her free hand through her ponytail again as she waited for the Mienshao to speak up again. However, the answer first came when the pink mink reached over her head, flinging the black, shiny stockings over the top of the door. Rose took a step away as the rubbery things slapped against the door, then looked again. She knelt down, gaping at the noticeably stretched stockings and once again pinching the feet, which were now broken and raggedy, the stockings' toes replaced by holes. "I'm sorry, Rose, really! They just didn't fit!"
Rose stared for a second or two longer, her tails nervously curling and uncurling, and then she took a deep breath, letting go of the latex and slumping her shoulders with a sigh.