'God that ass!'
"Alex," He answered, "Nice to meet you, Sarah."
He held out a hand for her to shake but she ignored it just staring at him. He could only awkwardly retract his hand and wait for a response.
"Sarah don't be mean. He may look like a bad guy but I promise he isn't." Alicia got her more than an acquaintance to stop.
Alex felt like he got stabbed in the back again. 'Isn't she just condemning me? Maybe it wasn't a good idea to leave the training room.' Alex cried inwardly again.
Sarah looked at her with pity.
"What did he do to you? Did he threaten you? Defile you?" Sarah felt over Alicia checking to make sure she wasn't hurt.
"No nothing like that! Well, we did spend the night together but he didn't do anything to hurt me!" Alicia frowned at her actions.
Sarah felt rage swelling up inside her. 'So he really did defile her! I'm gonna kill him!' She clenched her teeth and her fists.
Alex could only sigh, whenever Alicia was involved, he always became the bad guy. Was it really so bad that they became friendly because of one night? He wasn't sure exactly how open this world was to sexuality, but on earth at least, it was fine to have a one-night stand every once in a while or to have casual sex with someone out of wedlock.
Sarah wanted to say more as she pointed to Alex like a crazy blonde lady being held back at a dinner table pointing at a cat... but was interrupted by Alicia.
"Sarah, could you show us your men's section? I want to find something for Alex and then we can try on dresses if that's okay." She ended by looking to Alex for confirmation.
He nodded and Sarah could only sigh. She was still working so she had to help, however, once she was off, the gloves were also off.
"Alright it's over here, I don't think you need to get anything for this asshole though." Sarah glared at Alex from the corner of her eye before only paying attention to Alicia.
"Don't say that, its something I want to do. Plus I hardly buy anything so I have plenty saved up. Its not like I'm looking to travel anywhere either." Alicia spoke more to herself than anything as she went through the racks of clothing.
There were many different designs and colors and the ones she thought looked good, she would put up against Alex's chest before moving on. She spent a long time just in the small men's section but eventually decided on a plaid blue long sleeve that paired well with his eyes and another pair of leather pants.
Leather pants were the most common for bottom wear unless it was a dress, as they could be made comfortable and easy to move around it. It was also one of the most abundant materials in this region close to the Ether forest.
They moved to the women's section, which was pretty much the entire store, and Alex quietly followed around admiring the clothes of this world or looking at Alicia. He only glanced at Sarah a few times before realizing she wanted nothing to do with him. After becoming an expert over the last week when it came to being ignored or spat at, this was nothing so he easily forgot about her too.
When Alicia asked, he would give his opinion. He sometimes heard a third voice speak but she had been so tuned out it sounded like Charlie Brown's mom. Eventually, Alicia picked out a number of dresses and went to the dressing room to try them on.
A few seconds after Alicia left he finally heard that muffled voice more clearly.
"What did you do to her?" Sarah spat at him.
Alex was seated in one of the chairs near the dressing rooms as he glanced at Sarah. He then turned his attention back toward Alicia's room before answering.
"Nothing. If anything she did it herself." Alex replied like it was no big deal.
This only made Sarah angrier.
"You piece of shit probably drugged and r*ped her before making yourself out to be a hero and making her fall for you. I hate scum like you who take advantage of someone so innocent like her." She spoke in a low voice so Alicia couldn't hear but enough for Alex too.
He gave her a side glance.
"And I hate people who judge others before actually getting to know them.
"I assume Alicia didn't say anything to you, but I don't even know what kind of person I was a week ago. I suddenly woke up in the Inn and everyone hated my guts.
"Apparently, I was rude but the rumors got to the point that I was all alone in an unknown place. Alicia was the only one there who showed me compassion. She kept me from doing something I truly regret, and if you wanted a culprit for who started our night together, it was probably her.
"I deal with curses for my ancestors and future kin every day, so one more wouldn't change a thing. I won't be leaving Alicia's side just because you said to, that is for her to decide."
Sarah was a bit stunned by his words for a second before her face turned red from anger. She thought he was still making shit up and didn't believe anything he said. As a woman who had issues due to being led on in the past, she couldn't trust him, and wouldn't be able to look at herself in the mirror if someone she knew went through the same thing but she could have prevented it.
"I'll kill you." She mumbled under her breath but Alex heard thanks to his evolved senses.
"Get in line. There's probably like 500-something people in front of you." Alex snorted at how easy she was to anger.
His words didn't help and she was ready to choke him when Alicia came out.
"What are you two talking about?" She asked curiously. She really hoped they were getting along since Alex had no friends other than her and Sarah was one of the few people like Kaya who she could actually rely on.
"Nothing. Just talking about how beautiful you are today." Alex smiled while Sarah tried to hide her anger.
Alicia narrowed her eyes, "I know you definitely weren't talking about that but as long as you get along that's fine."
"Anyways," She shrugged, "How do I look?"
She was now wearing a pink dress. It was made of a silky material and had a glittery sparkle to it whenever the light hit it right. It was simple with no designs but it was a great evening dress or casual party dress.
""Perfect."" They both answered at the same time. Sarah glared at Alex while he just ignored her.
Alicia giggled, "You guys are pretty similar huh?"
"More like mortal enemies," Sarah snorted under her breath before addressing Alicia. "How do you like it?"
Alicia looked down at herself, "It's okay. It looks nice but the material feels too light, I feel a bit... exposed."
Her cheeks were a bit pink as she adjusted the straps on the dress.
"Well there's no rush, let's get you something else to try on." Sarah smiled and ushered her back to the dressing room.
She helped her choose another dress to try before going back to the floor and glaring at Alex. Alex continued to ignore her and for the rest of the fashion show that Alicia gave, they said nothing to each other.
It wasn't until the end when Alicia was done trying everything on and choosing her favorite, that Sarah finally spoke again.
" I don't know what you did to brainwash her, but I will expose you and make your life a living hell until then." Sarah growled.
"I really don't know what your problem is woman. I just met you and yet you see me as your mortal enemy or something. Try what you can but I doubt my life could get any worse at this point." Alex could care less about her petty revenge.
Sarah clenched her fists again but soon relax. It wasn't worth it to get angry and it would only backfire on her.
"You are my problem. I don't want to see my friend lead on and get her heart broken. You men are all the same so I will help her see your true colors." She snapped at him.
"You must be a brand new friend since she never once mentioned you to me. Also, do you think with whatever scheme you decide to make, she would really believe you over me?" Alex grinned toward her.
Her lip twitched but she didn't respond. As much as she wanted to retort him, she knew he was right. Although she wanted to be more friendly with Alicia, the latter never opened up much to her. They were still in between acquaintances and friends.
Sarah felt threatened by Alex since he just appeared out of nowhere and became her best friend overnight. She worked patiently over several months to get to where she was and yet some random guy came and stole her spot.
On top of that, her bad experience with men made her automatically assume the worst. She didn't want to believe that Alex was a good person and she hoped Alicia would see that too.
Unfortunately, over this entire shopping trip, Alicia had been smiling brightly whenever she talked to Alex. She showed much more emotion than when she did with her during any of her other visits to this shop.
Sarah could see she wasn't head over heels for him either, meaning it wasn't a matter of being infatuated. It was genuinely a solid friendship. She hated it all the same but couldn't let her true feelings out to Alicia or she risked losing her friendship.
Alicia came back out soon to break the awkward silence and was holding the one outfit she liked. It was a blouse with exposed shoulders and a flower design paired with a leather skirt dyed black.
Alex noticed that many of the styles of fashion in Nova resembled Earth's modern-day designs. Although they didn't have every type of material like polyester, there were things like cotton and leather. Basically, they only had natural materials and hadn't created synthetic ones yet.
If for some reason his adventuring career he planned to start when he was free didn't work out, he might as well start a clothing business and maybe get some lingerie out into the world. Nova did have bras and undergarments but nothing exotically sexy or kinky like he hoped to see after getting memories of something called a "sex shop."
Sexy here was basically just underwear with lots of frills on it, which wasn't really to Alex's liking.
"I'm glad you found something you really like. Are you all done here or do you still want to look some more?" Alex asked thoughtfully.
Although he didn't like Sarah, he wanted to be the bigger person here. If Alicia still wanted to spend time with her, he didn't mind.
"No, I think this is it. We've been here for a while and I think we were lucky nobody else came in here at this time or you would have missed the fashion show, Sarah." Alicia smiled at her.
Sarah sighed inwardly as Alicia and she walked toward the register. Alex followed behind and when everything was settled they made their way to the exit.
"Thank you for coming by Alicia, don't scare me like that next time! Don't let this idiot keep you from enjoying your life." Sarah sounded sincere to try and hide her words.
"Don't worry, I'm very happy right now. I'll make sure to come visit next time I get a break." Alicia waved goodbye and walked out the door that Alex held open for her.
When Alicia turned away Sarah gave Alex a glare while the latter just stuck his tongue out at her.
Alex took a deep satisfying breath now that he was away from the crazy chick. He didn't know why she was so crazy about Alicia but it was to the point of obsession in his mind. He made a note to keep an eye out for her just in case she tried to do something bad to Alicia.
They walked hand in hand again while Alex held their clothes.
"Where to now?" He asked.
"Hmmm," She thought for a moment. Her face turned a bit pink that was hard to tell with the sun high in the sky.
"Follow me." She said mysteriously.