fandomhigh | Culture Shock: Adjusting to Life on the Weird Side

Another week, another class meeting at the school entrance. Though they weren't going to a movie today.

No, today was for fashion!

Cecil didn't look as happy as some people might have expected at this turn of events. Though really, it was a little hard to tell. He was still bouncing, but he was all huddled up and his face was nearly invisible behind a huge, furry scarf.

"It's cold today!" he protested.

Kanan, who was not all bundled up and was, in fact, still dressed in his usual getup, plus a long jacket he'd stolen from the Boards back around Halloween, didn't seem terribly swayed by Cecil's plight.

"And that's exactly the point. It's cold. Not everyone in the class is used to the cold, I'm sure. And I'm willing to bet at least one or two of them are going to want to be able to dress for it once the weather starts getting even worse. I know I am." He looked at the gathered students. "And that's why today, we're going on another field trip."

"We're going shopping!" Cecil said, a bit more happily. "Hurry up and let's get inside where it's warm!"

"To the Demon Marcus, where the manager will be happy to help you with any questions about the merchandise that you might have," Kanan added, gesturing down the road as they walked. "He's even offered a discount to students in our class in need of winter gear."

Because Sparkle was a goddamn bleeding heart, that's why.

And today was accompanied by a...never mind, really; the bleeding-heart metaphors were too easy. Hannibal was leaning on the counter to greet them as well. He nodded and waved to Kanan as they came in.

"I heard you were in need of winter fashion advice."

And if there was the faintest note of exasperation there, he'd only tried to convince Kanan himself to go clothes-shopping how many times?

Dammit. Now Kanan was stuck for it. If he left this building today wearing plaid, there was really nothing left to do but burn it all to the ground.

"I mean... It couldn't hurt." Really, it couldn't. Both teachers were kind of fashion lost causes. "The students might need it more. We'll take things as they come today, okay?"

Hannibal smirked. "Should any of you need advice about modern Earth fashions, or simply about what might look good on you, please feel free to ask."

Cecil breathed a sigh of relief as he unbundled himself a little. "And I'll help, too!"

Nobody take Cecil's word for fashion. Please.

Sparkle just looked faintly amused from where he was sitting behind the counter. Hey, if everyone else here wanted to do his job for him, who was he to complain?

Don't worry, Sparkle; you'd be the go-to person for younger, hipper (and/or less godawful-what-were-you-thinking) fashions. If anyone tried to walk out in too much plaid, or in pink galoshes and furry pants, you were the last line of defense.

He was truly doing the work of gods.

"So," Kanan said, glancing around the clothing store as though the fluffy sweaters were going to come to life and try to eat him, "go ahead, browse. Throw together a winter wardrobe if you need one, or just get a feel for the fashions of the season. Whatever makes you happy."

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He hadn't, but that was only because the ones he'd seen in Atton's neck of the woods had much easier access to stuff that was more or less made for them.

"Yeah," he agreed, frowning thoughtfully at them before glancing at her montrals. "That's gonna be a bit of a problem, isn't it? Would something with buttons or a zipper work out better for you? We do have warmer clothes that aren't meant to come down right over your head."

Stuff that wouldn't... ah... snag.

"I'm used to fastenings." And the Force made it easier to do awkwardly placed ones up. Not that Ahsoka would ever do that. "Is it likely to snow around here, avoiding frostbite could be problematic."

Sometimes she really missed her old parka and its Togruta-style hood, at least when she managed not to think about the last time she'd worn it, going down that path never ended well.

"Give it another few weeks, and there'll probably be some snow," Sparkle replied, shrugging. "I mean, we're along the coast, so if it does snow it could even get pretty deep. And there are usually at least a few nights of near blizzard conditions each winter. Depends on the island's mood, like everything around here."

He looked her up and down thoughtfully again, and then offered her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I'm not super familiar with Togruta. How well do you handle the cold relative to humans, if you don't mind me asking? Makes it easier to hook you up with something that'll keep you properly warm and fit right."

Because knowing what the horn things on her head were called was a far cry from having comprehensive knowledge of how an entire alien species fared in the wintertime.

"We have a slightly wider range of tolerances than humans, especially if we're active," she told him, and boy had she heard about that from Anakin. "Not enough for blizzards though."

"So, maybe something with removable layers," Sparkle mused, going for a wander toward the winter coats. "A hood's going to be difficult to get in your size, but I bet I could cannibalize one coat in order to make adjustments to another, if you want."

Sparkle had few compunctions about murdering perfectly good winter wear in order to keep people from getting cold. Even at the cost of profit.

"A hood in my size is practically another coat," Ahsoka said wryly. "And the back lek's barely grown in yet."

Sparkle gave his shoulders a shrug.

"So we get some new fabric instead of taking apart another coat, we can do that too," he decided. "Cold is cold, you know? Or I could just place an order from somewhere that does carry stuff that'll fit you better and give you, like, a bunch of scarves or something in the meantime. It wouldn't do to have cold lekku."

Well, he assumed. Probably.

"Not really," Ahsoka agreed. "Anything happening to them messes up your balance, even if it's them just getting numb."

That first adolescent growth spurt had been... fun.

And Sparkle thought that he'd had it rough during puberty. Eesh.

"Okay, then... I'll tell you what," he said, smiling faintly. "We'll see what we can rig up for you now, even if it's a makeshift hood or some extra scarves or whatever, and I'll see what I can do about getting Togruta-appropriate clothing in for you from there. If you like, I can give you a call once I find a supplier, and you can pick whatever you think will work best. How's that sound?"

It might be a little old-fashioned by Ahsoka's standards, mind. Sparkle's contacts were mostly vendors from Coruscant, from Atton's time.

Considering what was happening on Coruscant in Ahsoka's time, old-fashioned was probably a better option.

"That sounds great," Ahsoka said, bowing a little. "Thank you."

"Hey, don't mention it," Sparkle replied, shrugging easily. "Being cold sucks. Been there, done that, don't recommend it to anyone. You have a preference in the meantime? Scarves or I throw together a hood for you?"

It was either those, or they just, like, threw a Snuggie over her head and called it good. Sparkle was not resorting to the Snuggie just yet.

Plus the tips of her montrals would stick out of the arm holes.

"A hood would probably be faster than trying to wrap everything individually."

"Makes sense," Sparkle replied, nodding and looking around for a piece of fabric big enough. There was some in the back, for alterations. He could probably cobble together something workable from there. "I think I can throw one together in about an hour. Do you mind if I measure your lekku and montrals so I know how much hood we're going to need here? I can eyeball it, but..."

Look, he'd never clothed a Togruta before. He didn't want to screw this up.

"Sure, though the skin is...sensitive." Just ignore the way her markings flushed a darker blue, please, Sparkle. "It'll need to be longer than the back lek or it'll catch when you pull it up."

Oh god, blushing Togruta. Cutest thing ever. Sparkle gave her an easy grin and waved a hand.

"I'll keep my hands off when I measure and be sure to give you... what, maybe ten extra centimeters back there? More? The whole thing should be able to come up and over and give plenty of room in the back, too, so maybe I'll measure from top," he gestured to her montrals, "to bottom."

Bottom of that back lek. Not, like, her rear.

Wasn't going to be much of a difference, eventually.

Luckily, since he wasn't Isabela or Dante, Ahsoka managed to keep from blushing even more. "That'll probably work."

"And if it doesn't, I can just add more fabric," Sparkle decided. "Might be a bit quilty for a while, but it's a quick fix for the time being, anyway."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his measuring tape, stepping around her and unrolling it.

"I doubt it'll be done by the end of class," he noted, "But you can come back to pick it up whenever, make sure it fits right, all that good stuff. In the meantime, wanna pick out a coat that fits good around the rest of you?"

Culture Shock: Adjusting to Life on the Weird Side | Tuesday, Period 2

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