A bell rang on the door behind me as I entered Parian's shop. I looked around, curiously inspecting the interior of the admittedly modest shop.

It was decorated tastefully, mannequins wearing various styles of clothing dotted around the main room, pictures hung along the walls, and two plush chairs sat beside a coffee table on which there were several fashion magazines stacked. An open door sat at the rear of the room, through which I could hear the shuffling of someone moving around.

"Parian? It's Aspect, I'm here to pick up my costume." I called out toward the open door.

"I'll be with you in just one moment! Just finishing up some last minute adjustments on a commission." A female voice spoke back, more sounds coming from the room as she finished whatever she was doing.

I sat down in one of the chairs I had seen, picking up one of the magazines lying on the table and opening it curiously. It was a fashion magazine, go figure, with an attractive blonde model posing on the front.

As I sat there slowly flipping through the magazine, I couldn't help but notice that the pictures attached to articles were certainly…eye-catching. The outfits on display weren't exactly provocative, but they certainly fit the women well. Very well.

"Enjoying yourself?" I jumped at the sound of a voice, flinging the magazine away as I turned to look at who had spoken.

It was Parian, the porcelain masked cape was staring at me with arms crossed, amusement plain in her posture and I was mortified as I realized she must have been standing there for a while, watching me flip through the magazine while I ogled the models inside.

I stood up from my chair, clearing my throat as I looked anywhere but at Parian who was still watching me in amusement. "Yeah, um…Can you forget that happened? Pretty please?" I begged her. She hummed in amusement, bringing a hand up to the chin of her mask.

"I suppose we can." She nodded much to my relief, "It wouldn't do for me to embarrass a paying customer after all."

I was already plenty embarrassed, but I decided not to say anything and instead just changed the subject as fast as possible, "Haha, yeah…" I trailed off, before gathering myself, "Ahem, so where's my costume? Is it in the back or something?""

She walked over behind the counter and hefted up two large boxes, one larger than the other, and sat them on the counter as I walked over, "It's in here. The bigger one has the bodysuit itself, and the smaller one has your mask and other accessories."

She handed them to me, before pointing at a room obscured by a curtain, "The changing room is over there, let me know if you need me to readjust anything. It should fit fine but you never know."

I nodded in thanks and swiftly made my way over, extremely glad that my mask covered my face which was almost definitely beet red.

I entered and placed the box full of accessories on the small bench, before opening the one containing the main costume, pulling it out and holding it up for viewing.

Even before putting it on, I could already tell the steel mesh I had asked to be Incorporated was there, gleaming bits of silver sticking out from between dark blue and steel grey fabric. It was pretty heavy too, around six or seven pounds with me just holding the top half out of the box.

Looking at the interior revealed why. A kevlar mesh was pressed up against the outer layer. It didn't completely cover it, merely covering the key points that needed the most protection, like the stomach and chest areas.

It wasn't much protection, but it was certainly more than a hoodie and a T-shirt. It would come in handy if I was ever in a situation where I wasn't able to use my powers, as unlikely as that would be.

I shucked off my clothes and began putting on the costume, putting on the main bodysuit first while saving the extra bits for later. It fit snugly against me, wrapping comfortably around my limbs and body. I stretched and flexed in a bunch of different ways, and yet it didn't feel too tight or too loose, it fit like a glove.

I nodded in satisfaction before turning to the other box to retrieve the other parts of my costume.

As I opened the box, I noticed something amusing. Parian had placed her name on both boxes. Big bold letters spelling out 'Parian's Dollhouse' were stamped on the sides.

"You've got your name on your own boxes?" I questioned as I pulled out the various extra accessories.

"Advertising is everything in this line of business, Aspect. I never miss an opportunity to make my wares known."

"I'm not gonna walk out of here and find out there's a massive P on my back or something am I?" I teased as I began putting on the extra pieces of my costume.

"As if I'd ruin a commission I worked so hard on with a tacky addition like that. Please." She sniffed, "It's embroidered on the inside of your suit."

I laughed lightly as I buckled my belt, reaching down to tighten it around my waist. While the main part of the costume was a bodysuit and easy enough to put on, the accessories were more time consuming. It took around five minutes just to put on all the various bits and bobs.

As I tightened and untightened straps to fit more comfortably on my, a thought came to me. A way to solve Emily's little fire dilemma.

"Hey Parian! Are you able to make fireproof stuff?" I called out to the doll cape through the curtain separating us.

I heard her hum as I put on a pair of fingerless gloves, "It's certainly possible, but depending on the material I use it will be more expensive, and or harder to dye the colors you want."

I sat down on the bench to put on the boots. They were at least as sturdy as my old pair, made of dark grey leather with steel tips that fit really well with the rest of the outfit, "Why's that?" I asked

"Well, some fabrics are more porous than others, making them much easier to dye." She explained, "But at the same time, many of those types of fabrics aren't very resistant to heat at all. To make an outfit that isn't almost all leather and kevlar, not very dyeable materials, I'd need to import some from out of the city because I don't really have much on hand right now."

I nodded even if she couldn't see me, "Makes sense. So just about how much would a full fireproof bodysuit run me?"

"Eighty thousand or thereabouts." She said immediately and I winced as I finished lacing up the boots. Yeah, Emily would be footing that bill herself. Maybe I'd get her a gift basket or something to celebrate her joining the crew.

"I could also just make a fire resistant cloak. I should have enough materials on hand." She offered, "Something meant to be thrown off in the event it catches on fire. You'd probably have to replace it in that event though."

I retrieved my new mask from the box and placed it on my face, sticking it there with my power, "And how much would the cloak cost me?" My voice sounded different coming through the mask, somewhat deeper, not at all like my old one. I kind of liked it.

"Around two thousand or so if you just want just a solid color cloak. The price would increase with the detail, probably capping out at about six thousand or so." She made a quick estimate.

I hummed as I placed my knife in the holster on my hip, that was much better than eighty thousand.

"Can you make one before the end of the week? I'd be willing to pay extra for short notice. Within reason of course." I wasn't willing to shill out too much on it but with the jobs I took this week, I had a bit of expendable income.

"I suppose I could. No extra pay though, I've finished all of my commissions for the week." She commented, and I heard her pass the changing room as she headed to the back.

Before I left the changing room, I checked myself out now that I had the entire costume on.

I looked good, much more professional than I had in my old costume and I turned myself around, admiring the details of the outfit.

The majority of the suit was steel blue, steel grey lines ran down in diagonal stripes from the edges of my collarbone to meet in the center where the entire suit zipped up. A hood was attached to the back by a pair of buttons, easy to throw off should it get snagged on anything.

Underneath the outer layer of my costume was the layer of kevlar that made the suit look thicker than it actually was. It wasn't the only protection my shoulders were pauldrons that were made of what felt like hardened leather with even more kevlar underneath, the same material covered my forearms as gauntlets.

Inside of the costume, on the outside of my biceps and thighs and therefore in contact with my skin at virtually all times, was a steel mesh that my power could tell was sturdy. Parian had heeded my request.

The lines on my upper body stopped at my waist, on which was a belt with numerous pouches for my materials. The pouches went all the way around the belt, giving me more than ample storage space. There were currently more pouches than I had materials so many were empty, and I couldn't help but feel a bit giddy at the thought of how many different materials I could carry at once now.

The bottom of the suit was the same blue as the top, only instead of dark grey stripes, there were large patches of the same grey on the outside of my thighs leading all the way down to the boots. There were two leather holsters on either of my thighs, one of which was occupied by my knife while the other awaited whatever weapon I decided to put into it. Maybe a taser or something, I hadn't decided yet.

I turned my gaze away from my legs and moved it to my mask, taking in the new features.

My new mask was similar to my old one in that it had eyeholes, but different in the fact that it was much more detailed, and while I couldn't tell exactly what it was made of, my power told me it was about as sturdy as steel.

The mask was almost futuristic looking, all sleek lines and hard edges. The eye holes were squinted slightly, giving me a permanent intense look on my face.

To finish the picture, I pulled my hood over my head, letting my hair fall around my shoulders to fill in the gaps between the hood and my face. I would probably get a haircut pretty soon, hair as long as mine was a pain to worry about in close quarters fights.

I gave myself a final once over before nodding in satisfaction at what I saw. I looked good, competent. Professional.

I exited the changing room, nearly running into Parian as she appeared from the back carrying two large bolts of cloth on her shoulder. They looked heavy yet she didn't seem to be having much trouble carrying them, indicating she did it relatively often.

She grunted as she set them on a table covered in various instruments that I couldn't make heads or tails of. I walked up beside her, marveling at just how nice my costume fit me with such minor adjustments. Parian really didn't mess around when it came to her craft.

"What colors do you want it to be? Do you want it solid? Striped? Do you have a design in mind?" She asked.

"I was thinking solid dark red with black edges." I said, pointing at a bolt of cloth that had the color I thought was good, "She's thinking of going with the whole firefighter aesthetic so I don't want anything that would take away from that."

She hummed, "And how tall is your friend? Do you want the cloak down to her ankles or up higher?"

I scrunch my face in thought, Emily had never told me her exact so I'd have to guesstimate a bit.

"I'd say above average height. She's a bit taller than me so probably around five seven, five eight." I said, "And make it around her calves, she's not good enough at fighting to not worry about tripping over it yet."

She hummed thoughtfully and then nodded, "Ok, I think I've got a picture in my head. Do you want to pay for it now with your costume or do you want to wait until it is finished?"

"I'll just go ahead and pay. Might as well go ahead and get it over with yeah?" That way I could just pick it up before we left for Boston.

It only took a moment to complete the transaction and I could almost physically feel the hit to my bank account when all was said and done. It was worth it though, as I walked out of the shop feeling like a whole new cape, practically strutting my way back to the Palanquin.

There weren't many people on the street which was odd for the time, but the few that were stared at me as I walked by, some even taking out their cameras to take pictures. I wondered if I'd soon have a new post on PHO…

"Aspect, is that you down there?" A familiar voice sounded out from above me. I looked up, squinting against the evening sun, and recognized the floating form of Laserdream. Or Crystal, given that she wasn't currently wearing a costume and was instead just wearing a pair of bell bottom jeans and a warm looking sweater.

"Hey Crystal." I greeted as she floated down, "Yeah it's me. Just got some new threads, what do you think?" I turned this way and that, letting the heroine get a good look at my new costume. She nodded approvingly

"It looks nice, it really suits you. I recognise some of the techniques here, Parian's work?" She asked.

I nodded, slightly surprised she figured it out, "Yeah it is. How'd you know?"

She floated closer, adjusting the strap on her shoulder, "She made mine and Eric's costume. I can see some similarities in how yours is put together."

That's right, I had forgotten that Parian had made some of New Wave's costumes, odd that I had forgotten considering that that was the entire reason I had even gone to Parian in the first place but oh well.

"You wanna come hang out at the club?" I asked the floating teen, "Drinks are on me."

She gave me an odd look, "Aspect, It's eleven thirty on a Tuesday. I'm out for lunch at college, and even if I wasn't, it's the middle of the day so I wouldn't be drinking any time soon."

I blushed in embarrassment, I had completely forgotten school was even a thing in the months since I last attended. And as for the day drinking, well I lived in a club, drinking was gonna happen either way, the time didn't really make a difference.

"Living in a nightclub really skewed my drinking habits." I said. Since I began living at the Palanquin, I had begun drinking more and more. Not enough to be called an alcoholic or anything, but certainly enough to raise some eyebrows around the club when I came down several times a day.

It had actually gotten to the point that Melanie had begun making me pay for my drinks past a certain amount, citing that I drank more than both her and Gregor combined.

Which was bullshit! I had seen Gregor down an entire case of beer in an hour and Melanie drank like a fish when all her work was done! There was no way I drank more than them, even with my power drastically increasing my tolerance for alcohol!

"Are you even old enough to drink?" Crystal asked suspiciously.

I shrugged, "Age is relative in my line of work. Nobody's told me no when I ask so I take that to mean it's fine."

Really, as long as I had my powers active while in the club, I could get away with pretty much anything within reason. I had literally thrown people out of the club when they were getting too rowdy and nobody had done anything except offer me a drink for it, something I was always happy to receive.

…Maybe I was becoming an alcoholic.

Whatever, my power made it almost impossible for me to get drunk by accident anyway. Honestly it kind of sucked not to be able to get even slightly buzzed without drinking half a body of vodka, but I guess all powers come with downsides.

She stared at me for another moment before sighing, "Right. Well I've got to go, my lunch is almost over and campus is on the other side of the city. If you want to, we can hang out this weekend. Preferably in the evening." She offered.

I smiled. That was perfect. Melanie said we leave out for Boston on Monday, so a little celebration with a friend the weekend before sounded nice, "Sounds good Crystal. Are you down to meet outside the club at around eight or so on Saturday?"

She nodded, "Sounds good. I'll be there." She adjusted the strap on her shoulder again, "Now I've got to get back to campus before I'm late. See you Saturday!"

I waved to her as she flew off in what I assumed was the direction of her college campus. I had forgotten all about school, and now that I was reminded of it, it was…odd to not have the constant time waster that was school in my life.

As I continued on my way to the Palanquin, I couldn't help wondering what other little unnoticed things had changed in my life since I got my powers.


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