Chapter Five: The Learning Curve.

"Oh man I needed that." Aisha stretched as they left the spa. Elsword understood what her friends meant now, she felt so loose and free. The employees were very nice too.

"Do you think I could come with you again sometime?" Elsword asked, not wanting to sound like she was trying to infringe on their special get together.

"Of course Elsword, why wouldn't we let you?" Rena smiled, hugging her shortly, "So, I don't know about you Aisha but I'm looking for a new dress."

"And Elsword could go for some new clothes too." The mage agreed.

"Wanna go to the usual place?" Rena proposed. Aisha nodded and Elsword was just trusting them with the best choice. The trio started down the street.

"So Elsword, any preferences for your clothes?"

"Umm, I don't understand." She replied meekly.

"Do you want something simple? Perky? Revealing?" The elf proposed some ideas.

"I guess I'll go with what you think." Elsword frowned, feeling worse for her unintended memory loss.

"Oh don't worry, we'll find you something nice." Aisha quickly leapt in with a comforting sentiment.

"So, changing topics, what do you make of the group?" Rena inquired.

"You girls are nice." Elsword said, drawing a smile from them, "Mister Raven-."

"Oh no need for that." Aisha snickered, "Just call him Raven."

"Okay. Raven seems nice too, but I don't think he likes me…"

"It's not you Elsword, Raven is kind of a quiet man." Rena said kindly, "But he's a good friend, if you need someone to talk to Raven is always willing to listen." She then elbowed her gently, "But don't you get any ideas girl, Raven is my man."

"Oh, okay." Elsword nodded, she wasn't too attracted to him anyhow.

"What about Eve?" Aisha continued the line of questioning.

"I don't know…she doesn't seem as happy as you guys."

"Yeah, she can come across like that." The elven maiden elaborated further, "She is a Nasod, so to her emotions aren't natural like they are with us."

"Not to mention she's a classy lady." Aisha added.

"But Eve cares for us as much as we do her, just be careful if she invites you for tea, she is a stickler for manners and posture."

"Just in case she does invite you, don't feel bad if she keeps ordering you to do things. It's in her nature."

"Why?"

"Eve is without a doubt the most royal of the group, even Chung. She is a complete shrew when it comes to manners and posture, you have to be standing or sitting just so, even how you drink and eat has to be proper."

"She sounds mean…" Elsword retreated.

"Oh don't worry, she's not as bad as Aisha makes it sound." Rena said comfortingly. With that they had arrived at a clothing store called Foreshadow Fabric. They went inside and were quickly recognized by a tiny girl in store uniform, hanging up some cute shirts.

"Rena! Aisha! I thought I'd see you today!" She said, her startlingly bright pink hair rather unkempt and tied into one single pigtail on the right.

"Hey Becky!" Aisha gave her a brief hug.

"Who's this?" The employee asked looking at Elsword.

"Oh this is Elsword, we decided to start taking her with us."

"The more the merrier." Becky smiled. Rena leaned in to Elsword to whisper.

"Don't be fooled by her small size, she older than Raven, and he is 27."

"So, we just got a new shipment of clothes from Hamel. Pretty cute." Becky said.

"Ooooh, let's start there." Aisha grinned.

"Back in the left corner, right next to the nightgowns." Becky pointed it out.

"Thanks!" Rena said before she and Aisha started pulling Elsword to the back. The gentle music playing over the speakers hovered over the shoppers looking at articles to purchase. Arriving at their desired section the two chaperones set out for their goal: find Elsword some new clothes.

"See anything you like?" Aisha asked as they shifted through some small dresses.

"I'm not sure what I should wear." She replied honestly. Rena then stepped up to her with an arm full of clothes.

"Well let's just start somewhere and see where it goes!" The sweet elf said with a reassuring smile. Blushing slightly Elsword took the outfits and followed Rena to the dressing room while Aisha continued to look around the store for something suitable for the crimsonette. Rena sat down on one of the small benches around the stalls, "You go on in and start trying some on, I'll be right here."

"Do I just come out when im done?"

"Yup." She nodded. The victim of this fabric crusade went into a free stall and locked the door; she felt very nervous about getting unclothed in public. Rena however saw this coming, "Don't you worry Elsword, this is a girl's only store, not even the security cameras are watched by guys. So it's just us girls."

That made her feel a little better.

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"Hey Rena!" Aisha waved as she walked over, a two piece bathing suit in her hands.

"Hey." Rena yawned.

"What's wrong?" The elf nodded at the stalls.

"She's been in there for almost thirty minutes, haven't seen one set of clothes."

"She's probably just nervous Rena, don't worry so much." Aisha said, sitting next to her, "This is foreign to her in more ways than one after all."

"True."

"Umm…..Rena?" Elsword spoke up from her stall.

"Yeah? You found something you like?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Well don't keep us in suspense, come on out girl!" Aisha said with supportive vigor. The door clicked and eased open and Elsword stepped out.

She was wearing a rather expressive outfit. Her shirt, a pitch black with a fractured red heart on the front, had but one sleeve, the other was a series of straps. The bottom wear however nearly sent Aisha into a shock. Elsword had cut at a pair of blue jeans she went in with and had turned them into incredibly short shorts.

"Um…..Elsword, where did you get those…shorts?" Rena asked delicately.

"I made them, from the pants." Aisha noticed a sales employee coming up to them as Elsword smiled, proud of her work. With a soft elbow the mage got up to explain the situation as Rena took it into her hands to explain the mistake.

"Elsword, we hadn't purchased these clothes yet. So you can't…do that with them." The crimsonette was washed over with a wave of guilt.

"Oh….I-I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Do you like that look?"

"Y-Yeah."

"It's no big deal. We'll need to buy the shorts now regardless, but it's not a major implication. They do have clothes that are already like that however if you want."

"Okay." Elsword felt a little better now.

"Alright, we're all good." Aisha said as she walked up to them, wiping her forehead.

"Now Elsword…are you sure about wearing clothes like this?" Rena said, honest worry in her voice.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well…men might think you're…" Rena sighed, "Elsword, when Elesis was talking with you did she explain the concept of sex?"

"No." Elsword tilted her head.

"I see. Elsword, we'll buy these and then head home. I need to give you a very important lesson."

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By the time the three girls had returned home it was late. With no time for the talk Rena informed Elsword that their talk would be postponed until the next day and that it would be best if she just went to bed. Not wishing to involve Elesis, knowing the protective sibling would make it sound extreme, Rena knocked on Eve's bedroom door.

"Enter." The Queen said. Rena opened the door to the lavish room, more than fit for royalty, and approached Eve who was sitting at her desk typing something on her display.

"Eve, I need to ask for your help with a particular lesson for Elsword." On that note Eve closed the panel and turned to face Rena, motioning for the elf to take a seat.

"Please elaborate." She stated, more than willing to aid with whatever this might be.

"Elsword has settled on a particular clothing style, but it's a rather…suggestive one. I assume you know where im heading with this."

"I see, Elesis neglected to inform her about intercourse." Eve mused, closing her eyes gently, "A tactful approach would be best in a normal situation but in this case we cannot risk Elsword misinterpreting the message. I believe having this talk over tea will be adequate." The keen elven maiden swiftly understood the ploy. By enforcing a strict learning session of proper etiquette they would have an easier time explaining this natural act to Elsword and increase the odds of its severity coming clear.

"I agree. But please don't be too harsh on her, she seemed rather nervous when we told her about you and manners." The Nasod just crossed her legs smoothly and smiled.

"Rena." She said, eyes closed, "This is me we're talking about."