Scene #2917: How to shop for a Cat

Owner	Pose
Konoe Kanno	Konoe was uncomfortable. Konoe was /very/ uncomfortable. Now usually, she wouldn't feel so self conscious if she was in Gensokyo or among other non-humans, but...out here in the multiverse, it felt like the human(alike) to non-human ratio was skewed. Her ears and eyes weren't just for show either. She saw the stares, and she heard the whispers, both creepy and off putting. It's gotten to the point where the bakeneko was seriously considering trying to learn how to take on a more human form. One without the ears and tail. But rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was the ability to totally transform into a human. As such, Konoe needed clothing that would obscure her features. ...But then, she was unfamiliar with 'malls' and 'shopping centers'. Not to mention these modernized, urban cities were so LOUD. The cat grit her teeth in mild annoyance. She really should have worn her earplugs today. There was no reason to not wear them. But alas. A slip of the mind. Now, the girl had arrived at Urbania and was...woefully lost. Deciding that her miko robes stood out too much, she opted to wear her Shinra clothing, for lack of any other options. And now, she was wandering the sidewalks, and occasionally wrongly crossing busy intersections. Thankfully there were no accidents. Just a lot of beeping. "Where...where....?" She mumbled to herself, frowning in frustration. How could she have gotten lost!? Well...she's barely been here. She had no idea where anything was. By some random stroke of luck however, Konoe's wanderings did take her to the approximate meeting place...not that she realized.
Kyra Hyral	There is definitely some kind of HUMAN BIAS going on out in the multiverse. Sure, there's plenty of other races around but the majority really do seem to be human. They're apparently very common! Being human herself, there really isn't nothing much that makes Kyra stand out except for her adorable moogle hoodie. The coordinates that Kyra gave Konoe were for her exact location. After waiting for quite a while, Kyra starts to worry. She worries a LOT. She even tries sending Konoe a text to ask where she is a few times and even starts off to go looking. It's Kyra that winds up finding the lost Bakeneko. Though...Kyra just assumes that it's her given the cat ears and the tail and the Miko outfit which she actually recognizes as far as a style goes. She's visited Gensokyo before, after all. "Konoe!" she calls out, scooting up to the girl. "...er, that's you, right?" seems she's definitely not afraid of accidentally mistaking someone for someone else!
Konoe Kanno	Upon hearing her name called, Konoe stopped, ears twitching in Kyra's general direction. "?" She turned to look, finally spotting someone familiar. "Oh. Hello, Kyra-san." She greeted, letting a relieved smile come onto her face. She wouldn't admit that she was lost though. She just....was taking the scenic route! Yeah! "Um..." She looked left and right, and then back to her companion for the moment. "...Where do we even start? This place is so big and confusing...and loud." Very loud. Cars beeping, audio advertisements, people chattering on phones and to each other as they walked here, there, and everywhere. It was like an audiosensory nightmare! "And thank you for coming out to meet me. Sorry if I was...late." Yeah. /late/.
Kyra Hyral	"Oh good it is you." Kyra mutters quickly as she scoots up to Konoe, a grin on her face. She doesn't push back her hood at all in greeting, leaving not all that much of her face visible. "Hi! Nice to actually meet you in person! And ahh don't worry about it, I wasn't waiting that long." grinning, Kyra slips her left arm around hers, linking arms. "Loud?" Kyra pauses, listening to the din around her. After a few moments, she shrugs, "Doesn't seem all that loud to me. Then again, I grew up in a place like this." She shrugs, then takes something out of her backpack (which, of course, is shaped like a fuzzy moogle that clings to her back) that turns out to be he almighty mPad. "Walk with me." she says, manuvering the mPad without looking up to see where she's going. Immediately she navigates to the Galianda equivalent of Etsy and scrolls through some of the clothing options. Eventually she gets to the Moogle hoodie she has, then passes the mPad over to Konoe. Yeaaah, she just kind of /assumes/ Konoe will know what to do with a tablet computer. Oops. "So what kind of thing do you have in mind? They come in all kinds of styles!"
Konoe Kanno	"Really? O-Okay..." Konoe conceded once Kyra had said that she hadn't waited too long. She didn't believe it, but she wouldn't swear upon her ancestors to right such a grievous wrong either. And thus their arms were linked, and she stood bewildered for a moment before snapping back to attention and moving along with Kyra. "Not loud? Really?" ...But then her hearing was far better than the average human's. So this probably sounded much worse to Konoe than it did for Kyra. Lucky human. And they walked. The cat couldn't help but stare at the white mage's backpack. ...And that pompom on her hoodie. Her eyes followed it's every sway. Back and forth...back and forth...back for--wait no! Stop! Stay on target! You are NOT a common cat! You are a dignified creature that is above such--oohh shiny. And immediately, Konoe was distracted by the appearance of the tablet computer. Distraction turned to confusion once it was handed to her. "....????" Fearfully holding the delicate piece of machinery in her hands, she stared at the screen hard. "Um.....uh...." Sweat began to roll down her face as she considered Kyra's question in combination with trying to figure out how to properly use this thing without totally breaking it. "Umm...." Konoe raised her off hand, index finger extended and intended to try and touch the screen. ...But her nails were...really long. More like claws. In fact, holding the tablet itself was kind of awkward. "I don't really...know?" That was the truth. What is shopping? What is /clothes/ shopping?? And then her claw descended for the screen, everything moving in slow motion. It felt like something bad was going to happen if Konoe continued.
Kyra Hyral	Kyra seems like she's not too terribly concerned about her time today so even if she was waiting long it doesn't bother her too much. Most likely she didn't want Konoe to feel bad about getting lost and subsequently wasting Kyra's time. "Eh, I grew up in a place like this so it's kind of just background noise to me." Shrugging, she seems entirely unaware that Konoe's cat instincts are kicking in on that red pompom that bobs up and down on top of her hoodie. It seems to be attached to a wire that attaches to the top of the hood so it's not unlike a cat toy. Nor does she notice Konoe's distress at the tablet until she starts speaking and getting ready scratch the screen. Kyra's eyes widen as she sees that Konoe doesn't so much have nails than she does CLAWS. "Whoah-uh-how about you curl your finger and touch the screen with your knuckle." she says very hastily, reaching for the tablet with her hand as she unwinds her arm from Konoe's. She stops walking at that part. "Well. What you should do is look at the clothes they have on the screen and see which one you like the most. Then we'll go get it. The person that sells those actually opened up a physical store out here, hehehe..." It's actually partially Kyra's fault. An Elite running around wearing a cute hoodie is going to get some attention.
Konoe Kanno	"Eh?" Konoe stopped at Kyra's hasty suggestion, not resisting once she reached for the tablet. "Oh..." Well that explained why she kept punching holes through the screens of her last few tablets and smart phones. A sigh was given. This stuff was too complicated. Some things you can touch with your nails, others the skin of your finger. Make up your mind technology! As they stopped, Konoe listened as Kyra explained what she was supposed to have done. "Oh...Oh, I get it. I think." The miko paused for a moment to think and gather her thoughts before voicing them. "So...you can look at their wares on the moving frame without actually being /at/ the store itself?" A look of wonder appeared on her face then. "How convenient..." That in mind, Konoe reached for the tablet again, this time, careful not to accidentally puncture the thing with a claw. "Um.....hmm.....no, not that one.......no....oh." She stopped scrolling at one particular zip up hoodie. It was mostly white and the hood appeared to have cat ears at the top. "This looks like it could fit my ears, maybe."
Kyra Hyral	Nails, sure. But not pointy claws! Though Kyra did put a protective plastic sheet across the surface to prevent scratches there's no way that can ward off actual pointy claws. "That's right! That's exactly what you can do. Then if you want something, you can either order it online or you can go to the store and pick it up. The latter is the choice if you've got to have it /now/." Confident that Konoe can handle the navigation of the tablet without DESTROYING it, she sits back and watches. In addition to the Moogle style, there are also other ones modeled after beasts of legends or just monsters. There's even a brown one that looks suspiciously like a Tonberri hood. Kyra looks over the one that Konoe points out and nods appreciatively. "Yeah, that one has big ears on it. Yours could go in it and nobody would really notice. If you really need to hide it that is. I think we should go try it on, though, just to be sure! The internet can't help with that."
Konoe Kanno	"And I do have to have it now." Her ears flatten against her head at that. A clear expression of her emotions. The staring and whispering and stupid people meowing and batting their hands at her. It's been a long long time since she ate a human, but she just might consider coming out of retirement if this went on! Well anyway... "...It's cute." And it doesn't have any distracting objects on it. Like Kyra's pompom. ...Speaking of that, Konoe's eyes inadvertently found their way back up to it again. "......." Back and forth...back and forth...back and forth... And in that moment, she mentally failed her 'Resist Catness' roll. Without thinking, her off hand rose to quickly try and bat at the pompom atop Kyra's head, leering at her with it's...pompom-ness! ...Once a cat, always a cat.
Kyra Hyral	"Oh, yeah, that. Man, I thought people would be more mature about that stuff here out in the multiverse." Kyra huffs, taking a moment to stare at a guy that shouts if he can 'HAZ CHEESEBURGER'. "Here, you can follow me, I know where this place is." Kyra reaches over to the tablet to take it but not before pushing the Like button on the cat-eared hood that Konoe has singled out. As they walk, that pom pom bounces up and down tantalizingly. Boing. Boing. Boing. It's irresistable. With her super reflexes, Konoe bats the pompom, which swings back then springs forward again. Kyra watches this, then lowers her eyes to look at Konoe. Kyra snickers then reaches out with a finger to tap Konoe's nose. "...boop."
Konoe Kanno	Konoe was lost in a trance, so happily focused on batting that pompom that she was totally left open for... Boop. "GWAH!" Cruelly brought back to reality by the fiendish Overlord Kyra's nose booping, Konoe jumped in surprise...and then scrambled back, falling onto her behind. The rather amusing spectacle brought more stares with it. Along with laughter and pointing. Ugh. "S-Sorry...I got, um, distracted and...." Face reddened in embarrassment, Konoe quickly rose to her feet and turned, proceeding to march off stiffly. "L-Let's go!!" Pause. "...Where is it?" What a loser.
Kyra Hyral	Kyra can't help it. She giggles too but then offers Konoe a hand up. "C'mon, let's split before the peanut gallery gets any worse. Though you can make reams of lasers appear too, right? I'm under the impression that's how everyone in Gensokyo fights based on what I saw my friend do with Marisa that one time." She giggles again, "It was kind of cute though." she says, reaching up to flick the pompom of her hoodie with her fingers. "Anyway~ I'll take us there." she pulls Konoe along. It's actually kind of a long walk and the store turns out to be amongst the cheaper retail sections, probably because the place was recently stood up. The store is TINY and the only thing they sell, clearly, are these novelty hoodies. All the styles that were on the website are here and in many sizes. There is a girl leaning against the counter, checking out the only other customer in the story at the time.
Konoe Kanno	"Uh-right." Having no choice but to be led, Konoe left Kyra take her hand and take the lead. The people laughing and talking around them were given a glare before she focused her attention ahead of her. The walk wasn't much of a problem. She was used to walking. The noise was teeth grinding, but she had to bear with it. A lesson to keep her earplugs with her at all times. Never know when you might end up in a gods forsaken noisy environment. When they finally arrived, Konoe took the chance to look all about, taking in the various storefronts curiously. It didn't look too fancy, but then, she didn't come from a world like this, so it all may as well be the same to her. "Wow...it's really here. And they really have everything." Amazing. It seemed like she didn't believe this whole internet storefront thing until just now. Seeing was believing after all. Her eyes scanned the various hoodies...which were among the only things in stock. Behemoth...Bahamut...Valefor...Tonberry...Zu...Moogle....White Mage. Aha! There it was! Smiling at her successful location of the desired hoodie, Konoe proceeded further in, stopping in front of the rack with the cat eared white mage hoodies.
Kyra Hyral	"Well yeah, of course it is." Kyra doesn't seem to get Konoe's confusion over internet storefronts actually living up to their promises. After thinking it over she writes it off as simply not being used to the whole 'internet' thing. "Yeah. Sometimes they don't have storefronts at all because having space that people can walk into and look at things costs a /lot/ of money. You just puchase what you want online and they mail it to you." She watches Konoe dive into the rack of white mage hoodies with a grin. The hoodies are a little on the pricy side should Konoe check the price right away. Meanwhile, once the girl finishes up at the counter with the only other customer, Konoe will find that the store owner has snuck over to watch the pair. She scoots closer to Konoe. She's a shy-looking blue-haired girl that looks like she sews her own clothing. "Are..." she says quietly, her voice squeaky, "...are those real?" Her eyes lift up to watch the ears of the bakeneko.
Konoe Kanno	"Huh? So you won't know until it comes?" Konoe's ears twitched a little in tandem with her confused facial expression. "...But how can you trust that? It seems so...risky." Human technology was weird. Why leave things to word and chance? See it with your own eyes! Maybe she was just old fashioned. The cat didn't look at the pricetag immediately, and was more interested in holding up her chosen hoodie, examining it and turning it over. It was pure white, with a red triangle motif on the ends of the sleeves and at the bottom of the piece. And at the top were a pair of hollowed out triangles representing cat ears, with pink triangles inset to suggest the insides of the ears. ...It was cute. Just looking at it, Konoe couldn't help but smile. She was about to finally check the price tag when her thought process was cut off by a voice. She'd heard the approach, but didn't mind it until now. "Huh?" Pausing in her examination, the miko glanced at what looked to be the owner? Sole employee? Something. "......" What an odd question. But then, it wasn't new. How many people have asked if they were real by now? And how many people then proceeded to touch? ...At least this one didn't. "Of course they are." Konoe answered, arching a brow in confusion. One of her ears involuntarily twitched, accentuating her point.
Kyra Hyral	The blue-haired girl squirms, lowering her eyes from Konoe, unable to hold her gaze even though her response to the question was mild. She blushes, the blush deepening as one of Konoe's ears actually twitches, verifying its authencity, "Can..." her voice gets even more quiet, more shy, "Can...can I touch them?" Kyra meanwhile is making herself look EXTREMELY BUSY examining Moogle hoodies because gosh she probably needs to stock up with emergency spares. The Multiverse is tough on white mages, after all, and both flesh and clothing get mauled.
Konoe Kanno	"Um..." Uncomfortably put on the spot at the request, Konoe looked back towards Kyra...to find her off examining moogle hoodies on the other side. Gee, thanks Hyral! Welp. With nothing to shield this request with, the bakeneko inwardly sighed to herself. Well...at least she /asked/. That was a huge step up from all the rude people who just touch and pull and talk to her like she's a baby. "Okay...you can touch them. But just a little. And no pulling." She instructed, setting the hoodie back onto the rack and lowering her head a bit to give the girl a proper opening to touch.
Kyra Hyral	Kyra seems to be Not Paying Attention. She is aware of what's going on and seems to be vaguely embarassed by it! Konoe certainly won't be receiving any help from the Hyral today, not with this at least. The blue-haired girl wrings her hands, her blush deepening as she's still unable to look Konoe in the eye after her silly and slightly rude request. Her eyes widen when Konoe agrees and she perks, "T..thank you!" she exclaims and reaches up with both hands. She first touches them with her thumb and index finger before sliding the non-thumb fingers back to feel the fuzzy fur behind the ears. "...soft..." she comments softly before pulling her hands back, looking even more embarassed, "Ahh...thank you."
Konoe Kanno	"......" This was embarrassing. It was embarrassing, but...it was kind of nice. NO! No. Nononoo. She was a proud, dignified miko! She did not enjoy head pats and....and... A faint purr escaped from her, but it was only a second before Konoe shoved her catness back into the depths of her mind. "...Y-You're welcome." She replied to the girl, averting her eyes as she raised her head. "...Um." Time to change the subject. Change the ubject! Oh right, the hoodies! "...Ah, I wanted to buy one of these!" And awkwardly, she took the cat eared hoodie off of it's rack again, showing it to the girl. And then she looked at the price. "..............-----" S-SO EXPENSIVE. Her ears flattened against her head again in mild disappointment. She should have looked at the price first!
Kyra Hyral	WAS THAT A PURR!? Was Konoe /purring/? The girl actually stops for a brief moment as it happens as if she can't believe what she's hearing. It doesn't last long since Konoe catches herself doing this, leaving her without further incentive to keep rubbing those fuzzy ears. The girl starts to inch backwards to leave Konoe alone, still keeping her eyes lower, still glowing freshly with embarassment. But it's almost as if she can sense Konoe's displeasure because she looks up after Konoe beholds the price. "Is...is something wrong?" she asks as Kyra comes over to join the pair. "Nah, nothing's wrong." Kyra interrupts. "Hey, have you found a size that fits you yet, Konoe? You should do that. I'm going to get something too so we'll just have one payment to handle." Kyra says slyly, leaning over to murmur something in the blue-haired girl's ear.
Konoe Kanno	"Eh? Wha?" And there was Kyra, sliding back in so smoothly. It was like she never abandoned Konoe to her fate on the battlefield at all. Wait, she did. Never mind that. Find a size, find a size. "Um...I'll do that." Without thinking too much, the miko took several sizes of the hoodie and walked off towards the back. Apparently she wasn't familiar with clothing sizes. Whatever looked like it fit would do! Wait a second. One payment? Wait another second, she didn't have enough money! A cloud of question marks formed in Konoe's mind upon realizing this, but she proceeded on anyhow. It didn't take /too/ long to compare the few she'd grabbed. She soon found something that didn't fit too tightly and accomodated her ears into the hood as expected. Then it was back over to the front, putting the ill fitting bunch back on the racks. "I found one that fits!" She announced with a pleased smile, holding up the passing article. "But..." Her cheer evaporated. The price. THE PRICE.
Kyra Hyral	"...but? What's wrong?" Kyra looks confused. She has a wallet in her hand and she's pulling out whatever the common currency throughtout the Multiverse looks like. Bison Dollars maybe. She still seems very casaual about everything and doesn't understand Konoe's hesitancey right away. But after thinking about it some more... Kyra lowers her voice. "I'll pay for both of us." she says quietly. She didn't want to make any assumotions about how much or how much they are not paying Konoe today in Shinra. Maybe the paychecks haven't started rolling in yet. Maybe she doesn't need money in Gensokyo. "I can handle both, don't worry." She gestures with her head to the counter and turns away, walking up to put her own purchase there, expecting Konoe to do the same.
Konoe Kanno	"Um...uh..." It was obvious that Konoe didn't really have much to do in the way of money. She probably just freeloaded off of people and slept wherever she felt like. ...Maybe the cat needed an owner. Whatever the case may be, Konoe could only stand there awkwardly as Kyra headed off for the counter. After a second, she moved to follow. "...Thank you." She mumbled aloud, cheeks faintly red from this whole financial fiasco. She needed to be more mindful of money if she was going to be hanging around in human establishments, wasn't she? "I-I'll repay you, I promise!"
Kyra Hyral	Though she doesn't look it, Kyra carefully watches Konoe when she tells he that Kyra's paying. It's subtle to gauge the reaction and the girl doesn't want make Konoe feel completely useless. Still, for a thing that didn't cost the output of a smmall country, the prices were still kind of a sticker shock for someone just getting used to exchanging money for goods and services. Before Konoe can really protest, Kyra's immediately paying the bill.