"Ok... Heiya, you got this. You got this." I mutter to myself, hands in pouches and paws against my poking-through fur. I'm on the right track, Puhak's shop is this way. The place he works...? Whatever, I'm almost there.
I asked someone who looked like a local and he told me this is certainly the right way. He even joked it might not be the place for me, that it's more man-focused. Joke or not, it matters little. I'm not there for a pedicure or quill treatment. I'm here for details about this party so I can put this money to good use.
Like any resource, it's worthless if it's not used. Pops has made quite a point of that over the years. It's not about killing those you are up against, it's about denying them what they can use against you. Disarm them, disarm them until they have nothing but the bloody gums you have left them with. Every can of food left is another meal for you, another bullet for the chamber, and another peaceful night in the future.
An amused huff comes right out of me and I shake my head. If these kinds of thoughts come out of me at this party, I'm going to quickly find myself wanting. No one will understand, even if I have the patience and words to explain. People believe whatever they want to believe and they'll shove it down your throat for all they care. Still, I can always remove theirs if they test my patience too much.
My shoulders shrug and I double check the business card as I change streets. Glancing up at the many buildings down the road, I find one with the telltale signs of barber-ianism. A dangling decoration, made up of what must be hundreds of boys' first quill care session. A grim thing when given thought, but a popularly sentimental thing.
Pops told me about them, like most things, really. I never got to grow up in streets like this, so he had to tell me about them. It's easier to remember these things because I need to forget what else was happening. I was so young when we were last underground, really...
"Been a couple or so years, anyway." I snort, rolling my eyes as I reach the front of Fine Tips. My thoughts go away and die as my eyes take in the sights. Photographs and drawings, a clear view to the so-called master at work. And, right in the back end of the building, lingering about... The one I'm looking for. Wonderful, no waiting around for me.
How convenient.
The shop's bell rings for me as I push the door aside. If anyone's behind, I care not and it slips away from my paw, closing back up on its own. The man at work looks my way, giving me a crazed look, and gets back to it. Puhak, however, smiles and waves me over, not even giving me a proper 'hello' until I get closer.
"Alright, I'm here. Now what?" I say, then ask, crossing my arms as I shift my weight onto a hip and its side. Puhak looks around and picks up his jacket, throwing it over his shoulder. My eyes do a sprint over his white top, catching the signs of his hard work. Certainly not here to look pretty, so I guess that's something. Though I wouldn't be surprised if he used all these quill products on himself rather than customers. Tut, tut, tut, Puhak.
"'Ey, bossie, headin' out," he tells the man at work and he gets a silent wave of clippers and scissors. Puhak takes a step back and bangs a door, disturbing someone on the inside. A group of three come out, the boredom on their faces clearing up as they see me.
"Ah, finally!" one quips, his back shaking and rustling while another bats him away.
"Get that damn set out my face!" he complains, breaking out into a forced laugh and a gentle shove. The three head on out, and Puhak shrugs my way.
"What can I say? Boys get rowdy," he tells me and I roll my eyes, following after him.
"Again, now what?" I ask again, having not received an actual answer of any value from the young man. I look over the shop for the last time and think little of it. Everything I expected, really. I just don't get the appeal of all this fake, gaudy aesthetic for the place. It's like living a dream of being rich when one simply needs to... Well, do what they need to.
"After you." Puhak offers, letting me through the door as the bell rings again above us. I meet his eyes, my brow rising still.
"Is there something about my question that makes it so daunting to be answered?" I ask and he shrugs, not offering me anything still.
"Nah, girl. Just got to get into the mood. Come, come. We'll be meeting the rest of the diamondbacks at the mall." Puhak explains, his friends bringing an extensively customised muscle car around. No top and curved with a pearlescent glow to its rims and figure. With the boot having an oddly lacy pattern... Familiar angles to it, too.
A whistle catches in my throat.
I blink the subtle blush away and move closer to the car, looking at it for what it is. Puhak's chest puffs with pride and I'm pretty sure my lack of a reaction is deflating it. He knocks his friend out of the front seat, urging me to sit at his side. Getting on in, I close the door behind me and cross one leg over the other.
"Daaaamn. This sparkletip got that rough no polish." one of Puhak's friends goes and I blink with an utter lack of familiarity. What in All-That-Remains did I just hear?
"She's a special ore. It's why I like her so much. On the train outta town, so making Agadton a memory is a good mine," Puhak tells his friends, leaving me further baffled still. Seriously, what have I even got myself into? I close my eyes and set the doubts aside. Take the moment for what it is, Heiya, take it for what it is, Heiya...
I wink one eye open to the paw tapping my knee, "Hm?"
"Ain't a long strip of stone, Heiya. Why not let us prospectors in on your wealth?" Puhak asks, and my arms move to cover up the pockets guarding my money. Excuse me?
"Can you ask that question properly, please?" I ask him, calming myself down through assumption. Surely this is just him using more of that silly slang or whatever it is he's on about. If not, well. I know how to survive a car crash, but can they?
"Tell us about yourself." Puhak clarifies, his next huff having a shallow awkwardness to it. My eyes dance over a hill and my lips angle away from the driver.
"Not much to say. Here only for a little bit. Curious as to what you wanted to invite me along for." I answer, shrugging as he nods to whatever load of nonsense he made up in his head.
"Shine on then, darl', can always do with more gemstones that glitter subtlety." Puhak says, turning us into what amounts to more of a parking field than a lot. A vast expanse that has as many boulders still left in it as it does actual cars and vans. It's hard to tell which cracks are because of the earthquakes, too. The sheer wear and tear a place like this sees must be staggering.
"H-Hey, aren't we forgetting...?" one of Puhak's friends asks as the other two get out. Puhak lingers, his memory jogging about to a climatic 'ah' that makes not a sound.
"Nah, he'll find us. He knows where we dig our feelings." Puhak answers, gesturing him along as my mind has not a single clue. Guess they have a missing friend? Puhak turns to me, a white-toothed smile along his mouth.
"Something to say?" I ask, leaning my head as an aggressive shiver gets my spines up in the air. He raises a paw, looking away to the mall and then back to me.
"Play nice with Mui. You never know how it might go," he tells me and I nod, crossing a couple fingers behind my back as that's just it, isn't it? You never know how it might go. So, well, no promises. No promises at all. Punch to the face aside, she's not exactly endeared herself at all.
He taps the dashboard and hops on out, leaving me to do the same. I treat his car nicely and I step out to get a fuller view of the mall. I take another look around the parking lot and gulp at how this is a shadow of how grand it'll actually be. It's already busy enough and this place can get busier?
"Don't worry about a thing, Heiya. We'll be slipping in and popping right back out. Greasy sausages, the pair of us," he tells me, laughing to nothing funny and I nod, still glancing around. There are legal requirements listed on signposts and other details, but nothing map-ish. Could really do with a map, even with my guide.
"Is there a shop here that sells swimming clothes?" I ask and he nods, his grin going.
"Oh, we'll have a full cart hauling day out of this!" he chuckles, patting me along and rubbing my furthest shoulder. A defensive ick spikes up inside of me, his touch not particularly welcome. Doing it as politely as I can, at least I think I am, I slip away as we get inside. The music becomes clear, as does all the indescribable noise of it.
"So... Where are we even headed...?" I ask, looking around as a sense of timidity shakes me up. This feels so wrong, being in such a busy place. I've been to Suhurlodst, sure, but that's a school. A human school, even. They got the numbers and the scale that makes hwardgons look small. However, there's a specific disconnect that simply doesn't exist in this endless maze of moving bags.
"Next floor up, Mui's probably up there at her usual spot. Swimsuit store is also around there. Don't recall where, though." Puhak answers as he laughs at something I can finally figure out the rope and hook to. A boy who isn't paying attention to where one of the primal dreams are made? Ain't he a terrible liar!
"Oh? Don't know where to find all the pretty girls dressing up in their new clothes?" I tease, moving a bit closer and diving back away as he swats for me. He covers up his miss and brushes his knuckles on his chest, pressing the shirt to it. Almost like he's sharpening his fist, even.
"Haha!" he goes, shaking his head as he hops up onto one of the escalator steps. His shoes cross over and his weight goes onto a leaning arm. I simply step up, gripping the black band and moving up. No effort now, just the ride and his attention.
"Thinking how I might look under this?" I ask, throwing my arms up in the air to give my body a bit of a shake. Not like I leave a whole lot to the imagination, anyway. Not in this. It never crosses my mind, but I am not lacking self-awareness.
"Not leaving me much to think about, are you?" he says, and I huff at the way our thoughts crossed over like that. My smirk grows and I take the moment of missing attention to barge past. Courtesy of my sashaying hips.
I shrug, "Anything else to think about other than this?"
"Oh, you'll do just fine without a polish," he chuckles, coming after me and recovering his posture at the same time. He keeps the paws to himself this time, but still offers a guiding gesture. The group hollers us over, or rather, Puhak. My jaw shifts and the outsider feeling weighs my eyelids down.
"Can practically choke on it." I mutter with a sniff, noting the makeup and décor that is once again plastered over Mui's face. Her friends are much the same, but more subdued. Beaten down by the obnoxious ego of Little Miss All-the-Attention.
"Ah, Puhak, you're here!" Mui goes, getting up and dashing up to the young man. She plants herself right onto him, squeezing as deeply as she can force herself. For some reason, she makes a point of letting me see that smug grin of hers and my eyes roll. Does she really think I care about Puhak in that manner? Or is this some egotistical nonsense I'm too thankfully out of touch to understand?
"That I am, and it seems enough of us are in this dig together. So, shall we pick the picks?" Puhak asks, his paws clapping with a deafening boom, and the group gathers. Keeping my orbit, I stay far away from the parts I have no interest in. Right until I end up in the middle of it...
"Is this needed?" I question, staring Puhak right in the eye as he shepherds me to our destination. Have the money, got the group to get information out of. Guess this is just it. This is the 'party readying' experience. A mess I have no idea what to think of right now.
Mui surges ahead, snatching up my nearest paw with a yank, "Come on now, Heiya, let's find you something actually worth wearing!"
My eyes widen and I find myself powerless before the group of girl friends as they shove and shove. The boys linger back, laughing away without a care in the world as Mui's behaviour... Changes. All that stuff from before, it's not here now. She's too focused for my liking now. Right as we cross the entrance line into a land of underwear and bikinis.
A strong blush comes to my cheeks, a rocky gulp catching in my throat.