The bus turned and entered the shopping district, this was the busiest of the four districts in Paxton. Nathaniel watched the cars coming in and out, the people streaming in between. Most shoppers were in groups, teenagers especially; girls were talking and laughing, using their phones for pictures. No one could do something in the shopping district without being recorded in one way or another. That, and the guards combing the security cameras made this district the safest and cleanest.
The bus stopped in front of the largest building with the most people surrounding it. Connor stood up, letting Gene and Nathaniel go in front of him. Gene stepped off the bus, shielding his eyes as he stared at his surroundings. Nathaniel followed suit, his nose itching before he sneezed. Connor stood next to him, patting his shoulder as he scanned their position.
"Where are we headed?" Gene asked, moving into the shade of a cedar tree. Nathaniel followed him, looking for the boys who worked this side of town. He saw a flash of red, he followed it seeing a boy helping himself to a new wallet, smirking as he put it into his red leather pocket. Nathaniel hid a smile, knowing that red jacket and cornrows he'd have to warn Connor and Gene to watch their pockets. Tobin was the best pickpocketer around.
"Do you have a piece of paper I could use?" Nathaniel asked, Tobin would be able to find his stache and Manticore wouldn't be following him much. Nathaniel just had to make it worth his time.
Gene fished out a miniature notebook from his pocket, looking to Connor who pulled a pen from his, they handed them to Nathaniel. Nathaniel took it, scribbling some directions on the paper, then he flipped the page, scribbling some symbols. This was his real message, he wasn't going to let anything fall into unfriendly hands. Nathaniel ripped the page out, handing Connor and Gene their stuff back. Nathaniel thanked them, kicking a rock by his foot. He turned, knowing the rock would hit Tobin's foot.
"Watch your wallets." Nathaniel told the twins, fighting the urge to look at Tobin, instead he folded his paper, slipping it into his left pocket.
Connor nodded, "Let's head to get some casual clothes first. Gala clothes will be our last stop." He started to the left, bypassing the largest building for a shop standing in its shadow. Nathaniel looked at it, the open sign was hand drawn, there was no welcoming camera at the door like there was for larger shops. Nathaniel relaxed when he saw this, he could disappear in this shop, there would be no cameras broadcasting his presence to Manticore.
Connor went to open the door, Nathaniel shifted back as a red jacket swept in front of him. Tobin paused to murmur an excuse me, Nathaniel nodded to him and Gene wished him a good day. After he passed, Nathaniel entered the shop, he felt around his pocket, the note was gone.
"Hope he enjoys the snack," Connor remarked, smirking as he glanced at the back of Tobin. Nathaniel looked after him, the young man was opening a granola bar as he leaned against an oak whose leaves were starting to yellow, fall was on its way.
Then Nathaniel closed the door, inspecting the shop in front of him. It was a small shop, shirts hanging all over the walls, pants folded on dressers.
Connor looked at Nathaniel, "I'd say you're going to be a medium, you've got broad shoulders." He looked at Nathaniel's waist, "We'll start with smalls." He started leafing through shirts, glancing back at Nathaniel every few shirts
"You tell me if anything looks interesting," Connor said, pulling a dark blue shirt. He held it up to Nathaniel, his tongue poking out as he judged the shirt. Connor nodded, flipping the shirt over his arm.
Gene walked to the pants section, grabbing a few jeans. He walked to the counter, placing them down. He took out a phone from his pocket, his attention moving to it.
A woman entered the store through a back door. She smiled as she saw Gene at the counter. Gene smiled back, putting his phone away. A red blur flew past Nathaniel, moving too fast for him to see what it was. The flash settled on Gene's shoulder, a small phoenix nibbling his ear. Gene chuckled, running his hand along the phoenix's head feathers, fire rippled after he touched it. Nathaniel stared at the bird. It was his first time seeing a firebird. Besides the bird dogs that infested the streets Nathaniel wasn't used to seeing mythical creatures.
The woman took the jeans, running them through a scanner, "Just clothes today?" She asked, placing them into a bag.
Gene shook his head, "It's gala time again." He scratched his ear, his black hair sweeping into his eyes. Nathaniel looked at Connor, his hair didn't reach that far, he had combed it up today, a wave on his left. Nathaniel wondered if that was their normal, he hadn't noticed the difference this morning. Maybe Connor was doing it so Nathaniel could tell the difference between them.
Nathaniel watched as the woman nodded, walking to a cabinet, "This'll be your first one. That's exciting." She opened it, pulling out a small drawer and leafing through it.
"Yeah, I thought it was time." Gene drummed the counter, looking at his fingers as he did so. The woman returned, placing a black ring in front of Gene. Gene picked it up, inspecting the black band. He nodded, putting it down, "Could I get another? A size smaller would be best." He gestured to Nathaniel, who waved at the woman. She smiled, waving back. She was older, her hair black with white running through it, like salt and pepper. She moved back to the cupboard, pulling out a second ring, she looked at it, nodded and brought it back to the counter.
"Try that on." She handed the ring to Nathaniel. Nathaniel slipped the ring on, it fit his middle finger, still loose, but held in place by his knuckles.
"That'll work well, you can grow into it," Connor ejected, placing a stack of shirts on the counter.
"Thank you." Nathaniel smiled, seeing it matched the ring on Connor's right pointer finger. His was older, Nathaniel's was new and shiny, Connor's had scuffs ringing it.
"This'll be it for us," Connor told the lady, gesturing to the shirts. Nathaniel counted, 6, that would be a different shirt for each day of the week. A thrill ran through him, these were his.
Gene cleared his throat, "Do you have any good shoes? Ones you can run in?"
The woman scanned Connor's shirts, nodding to Gene, "They're in the right corner, Pel will take you." She snapped, looking at the phoenix. The bird hopped off Gene's shoulder, flying to the back corner. Gene started to follow it, he turned, gesturing Nathaniel to follow.
Nathaniel trotted after him, watching as the store started to change themes. He watched in wonder as he kept walking, the store stretching on much more than was possible. It had a spacial charm, something most had only heard of. The store now favored the magical side of life, where there once were pants there now were shields. Instead of shirts, there was now chain mail. Gene came to a stop at the back wall, there were pairs of shoes lining it.