After what felt like ages for Jun, she and Kelan finally came across the "Decades" costume section. "Oh, this spot definitely looks familiar," Kelan said.
Jun noticed racks sorted by period, although without signage for each, she couldn't quite tell which decade the clothing belonged to. Bell-bottom pants were the '80s, were they not? But they were right next to shirts with a colorful swirly rainbow pattern that she recognized was from an earlier era. She tried to remember the name of that color dye pattern. She had little knowledge of American fashion periods. A gut feeling told her that she used to be quite familiar, though.
"Jun? Jun?"
Jun spun to her right, where Kelan was standing. She blushed and looked down. "G-gomen," she apologized softly. "Yes?"
Kelan frowned. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Are you okay?"
She nodded. With her head angled downward, she noticed he wasn't carrying his purple costume anymore. "Did you find where you had gotten your costume from?"
"Yeah. All set. Now I'm back to square one, though."
Kelan's phrase puzzled Jun. She looked back up at him and blinked. Ugh, the weird heavy sensation of her new eyelashes was hard to get used to. But she had to admit, she liked having a sensation that reminded her of how dolled up she was. It almost felt like her eyelids were made of thick plastic. "We're in a...square?"
His face softened sympathetically. "No, sorry... I have to remember to talk more plainly. You must not know a lot of English slang. I meant I have to start over from the beginning and find a new costume."
"Oh, I see. Gomenasai. I appre... apprehensive...?" Jun fished for a word.
"Appreciate?" Kelan helped.
She nodded. "Hai, appreciate. Thank you. I appreciate your kindness." She marveled at how soft and gentle her voice sounded now. It didn't strike her as particularly goth-like, but it did have a sort of mysterious girl-who-keeps-to-herself quality.
"Y'know, despite not knowing a lot of English, you have the accent down really well."
Jun blushed again. Kelan meant that as a compliment, but it was very odd, wasn't it? A Japanese girl claiming to be in an unfamiliar country and imperfectly speaking a second language would be expected to have at least a little bit of a Japanese accent. And Jun didn't want Kelan to find her suspicious, lest she be forced to tell him about the power of her costume.
"Watashi... I... eeto..." She stammered as she tried to think of how she could change the situation and remembered that she had just as much control of her changes as he did. "I do have an accent. I-- I mean, people tell me I have one. I don't notice it because I'm not used to talking with a native English speaker."
Kelan tilted his head, as if to position an ear to hear her better. He nodded slowly. "Now that you mention it, I do hear a few fluct___, but it's still totally fine. Your voice really fits you."
"Thank you," Jun said. She couldn't tell how thick her Japanese accent was, but she trusted he was being honest and he could hear it. She missed the large word he had used, though. She almost asked him what it was, but stopped herself. It would probably be rude to ask him for definitions every time he said a word she didn't know.
"So," Kelan said, looking around. "We'd better get looking for new costumes."
"We?" Jun asked.
Kelan nodded. "I still owe you something, don't I? Let's go this way. I see some darker clothes that might work well for your goth dress."
Jun followed dutifully, long-nailed hands folded in front of her. Kelan outpaced her for a moment, but remembered she walked slower in her dress and changed his speed to match hers, keeping side-by-side. After a minute, he tugged her arm. "This way. Check this out." He led her into an aisle with all sorts of traditional accessories. There were gloves, headbands, bonnets, belts, cummerbunds, straps, stockings, and more.
He picked up a pair of black opera gloves. They looked like moths had eaten through them at first glance, but when he brought them close, Jun saw that they were woven with a refined lace pattern. The fabric was elastic and dark black and the gloves were fingerless.
"These will go on even with your super long nails," Kelan said. Jun felt a mild tingle in her fingertips.
Wanting to be polite and not make a fuss, Jun held up a hand to accept the gloves. She saw that her already oversized fingernails had actually lengthened a bit more. She tried to put one of the gloves on, but the nails made it hard to hold the right part of the arm opening, and when she slipped her other hand into it, its nails kept snagging on the numerous little gaps in the weaving. She made a tiny frustrated noise.
"Oh, here, I'll help you," Kelan moved to take the glove and used both hands to widen the opening enough for Jun's hand to go in. He continuously tugged and twisted the fabric each time one of her nails snagged. "Those nails probably make it hard to put on even simple clothes. How did you manage to get into your dress?"
"I... had help," she said. This was somewhat true, but Lola had only helped her with her shoes. No, wait. If that was true, why did Jun suddenly remember seeing Lola in the mirror in the changing room, zipping up her dress? She remembered feeling appreh... self-conscious getting dressed with a stranger, but without Lola she wouldn't have been able to even get a grip on the tiny zipper with her nails. But she didn't have long nails at the time. She shook her head to shove the conflicting memories aside.
Kelan took this as another hint of frustration with the gloves. "It's okay to need help. Your look is all about emphasizing the form over function. Don't be shy about asking me for help whenever you can."
Jun nodded. She wasn't feeling all that embarrassed about not being able to put on the gloves by herself, but nevertheless, she felt a comforting feeling that she could rely on him while she was in this costume. How did a soft-spoken goth foreigner like her manage to meet a guy so kind and trustworthy who genuinely admired her looks?
Eventually he had gotten both gloves on her hands. Her fingers poked through the correct holes at the end of the complex lacework delicately. The dark fabric and black flared sleeves that ringed them now emphasized the powder-white complexion of the digits. "Thank you," she said sincerely.
"My pleasure." His smile had changed. Or rather, the way Jun saw his smile. He felt like less of a stranger all of a sudden. "Do you see anything else you like here? These gloves might look costly, but they're still just cheap costume pieces. I'd like to do more for you for helping me out."
Jun looked around the aisle. Despite being an experienced goth with particular taste in styles, she was pleased to see a few things that struck her fancy. But a nagging feeling told her it might be a good idea to end things here. There was something else she had to get to... or was it someone else?