"Excuse me... Miss Mirantha?"

I get closer and yup, she's asleep. She even has a pillow on her desk.

I look around for some sort of bell to wake her up. I feel bad but I do want to get out of here as soon as possible.

There's some kind of cube thing next to her nameplate. I tap the cube and sure enough it produces a small ding, instantly waking her.

"Hello! Oh, hello sir. Did I fall asleep again?"

"H-hello, and uh, yeah I guess you did?"

"Oh dear me, I do apologize for that. I hope you weren't waiting long!" Her voice sounds like if a stuffed animal sheep came to life.

She's adorable.

"It's no trouble at all ma'am, I'm sorry for waking you."

"Oh, look at you being so considerate. If everyone around here was like you, this job would be heaven!" She hops down from her chair to greet me. Definitely a couple feet shorter than me.

"I take it you need some help deciding?"

"Oh, yes! I, uh, needed some advice. I'm not looking for anything..." I pause. "... extravagant."

"Oh? And here I thought we had some more selections around these parts... I guess it explains your accent!" She laughs, but I freeze.

Oh, fuck. This must be why Cooper told me to keep quiet. They could pick me out from a crowd just by talking.

"Where are you from, sir?" She almost trills as she walks me along the selections.

"Uhh..." Do I lie? Do I tell the truth? "... V-Vermont?"

"Oh, wow..." She tilts her head at me, a smiley expression unfading.

"W-what?"

"I've never heard of the place! What province is it in?"

"Uh, hey! What's that?" I gotta change the subject soon.

"Hmm? Oh! That's by designer-"

Phew.

Yeah, this is gonna be an issue. I'll have to talk to Cooper about how to handle these kinds of situations.

I let her chatter on. It's honestly just pleasant to hear her talk. She asks about my taste and what I'm looking for.

After I give her the rundown, she slaps her hooved hands "Oh! That explains why you thought we mainly had extravagant stuff. You're looking for something minimalistic!"

"Uh, sure." I just nod. I don't really think of clothes as some sort of art. If she can help me get what I want, that's all I care about.

"In that case, I think something over here would be perfect!" Despite her short legs, she's speedy. I nearly have to jog to catch up to her, which only wears me out more.

"These were designed by a relatively new designer. He's still up and coming so I'm sure he'd appreciate your business."

I look over and yeah, these seem pretty standard to me. Just like how I like it. After a few minutes of perusing, I pick out a few outfits.

They have tags on them, but I can't tell what currency they're in. I think I can make out some sort of stylized P, but that's it. I just don't want to break the bank for Cooper.

"I think these should be fine. Is there anywhere to try them on?"

"Certainly! Follow me please!"

I nod again. Her enthusiasm at this time of night is impressive. She scurries off to another wall, and holds out her wrist. Huh, she has an Axiom too. Hers looks different, cuter than Cooper's.

"Here you are, sir. The dressing room!" She draws a rectangle on her pink screen, and a door appears on the wall. "It also has a bathroom, if you want to freshen up!"

"When you want to leave, just hit the button on the table. Do you have any questions?"

"I think I'm okay, thank you for all your help. I really appreciate it."

"Aww, aren't you the sweetest! Well, just holler if you need me!" With that, she scurries back to her desk.

I'm so tired that I can only muster a half-wave to her. She's very nice.

I look toward the opening, and head in. It's dark for a moment, before a harsh, pinkish hue illuminates the area. I have to shield my eyes, dropping my clothes.

"Sensing discomfort." The light then tone down drastically, to the point of just softly revealing everything. "Is this to your satisfaction, customer?"

"Uh, sure. I guess." I don't even question it at this point.

"Very well, enjoy your stay."

Creepy...

I scoop up the clothes and walk around slowly. It's pretty spacious for a dressing room. This place is freaking huge, who needs this much space to get dressed?

There's what seems to be a vanity, along with a large mirror framed in neon lighting. I'm still far away enough, but it's dawning on me. I have to get a good look at myself. Why am I so nervous, how bad can it be? If my arms and legs are anything to go by, pretty bad.

"Okay, that's enough. I'm still me, whoever that is." I say that, but I close my eyes as I get closer to the table.

After I feel around to find a place to put the clothes down, I open my eyes.

Wow. My hair is really long. I stroke it again, really getting a feel for the length.

It doesn't look like I've eaten much in a long time either. I'm not withering away, but I can see a lot of bones. My cheekbones in particular are fairly pronounced, along with a pasty complexion. I guess I don't get much sun either.

This sudden confrontation with my own reflection just makes my mind wander.

Where have I been, and with who?

I can feel another panic attack coming, and I stand up straight. We can panic later. I need to get used to this.

What I've become.

I take a deep breath and start preparing myself for what's next. What does my chest look like?

I clutch the bottom of my shirt and, although I hesitate for a moment, I decide to just pull the thing off. For a moment I look away from the mirror, but I glance.

Then look fully.

"Wow..."

I'm not sure if I'm disgusted or just plain shocked.

My ribs are easily showing, along with several stitch scars throughout my chest. I trail my fingers over a few of them, which makes me shudder. Didn't really realize it, but my hands are pretty cold.

I repeat my new mantra. How the hell did I end up like this?

I stare at the reflection in the mirror for a while longer. The only thing I can recognize are my green eyes. I remember Damion used to compliment them all the time.

Eventually, I snap myself out of it. As weird as I look, we don't have a lot of time. I'll get used to it, sooner or later.

I turn, and that's when I'm met with the weirdest part of my body. Along my spine are several pieces of metal. They look like ports.

I'm not very flexible right now, but I manage to get my arm around to feel one of them.

!

I push into one and immediately feel a wave of nausea, almost falling over. There's some sort of flash, a bright light. Along with the feeling of tightness around my limbs.

Fuck, my face was hard enough, but that's not something I'm going to get used to easily. I shake myself out of my stupor, and just rush to get my clothes on. Not wanting to look at what the mirror is showing me anymore.

Thankfully, it doesn't take long for me to figure out an outfit. It's a black turtleneck and dark sweatpants. I can't tell what they're made of though. The turtleneck is light, but I already feel like I'm warming up. The pants almost feel like jeans, but smoother with fabrics I've never felt before.

Probably best not to think about. As long as they're functional, that's all I care about.

I'm ready to leave so I push the button thing on the table. It takes about a minute for the door to open.

I wonder if she fell asleep again. Don't blame her. I'm surprised they have anyone working this late at night.

I gather up all the extra clothes in one arm and my old scrubs in the other. I try to compose myself, still disturbed by what I've become.

Mirantha's back at her desk waving at me. Cooper finally lifts his head up from his Axiom and walks over the desk. He doesn't look thrilled.

"Welcome back! Oh, wow. That outfit does look nice on you!" She analyzes me. "Very comfortable, I might need to try that designer out myself!"

"Aha, well thanks. I'm not sure if I'm much to look at though."

"Oh hush, you're definitely one of the more unique looking humans I've ever come across!" She turns to Cooper. "Wouldn't you agree?" She's beaming. I don't think even grumpy Cooper can ignore that.

"Like what ya seein'?" I raised my brows

"..." He glances up and down. "He looks okay. Unique is definitely a good word."

I rub the back of my neck. It wasn't much, but I do appreciate the compliment. After everything in the dressing room, I'm desperate for any boost of confidence.

"So. How much?" Cooper turns to the small sheep

"Well, lemme see... Give me a moment to calculate everything!" She takes out her frilly Axiom and starts tapping away.

I move next to Cooper, wondering what they're doing. "Is this how money works around here?"

"More or less, at least in the ritzy cities. They don't trust physical cash."

"Weird." I think I'm coming up with questions that he's not bother to answer.

Cooper huffs before lifting up his Axiom. I can see him slide the screen to a different window, there are numbers along it.

"Aaand there! That should do it!" She types, before sliding her screen forward, and I see it appear on Cooper's.

I can actually read it for once, maybe it's a customer service thing. Cooper reads it too, and doesn't look happy. He grimaces and groans quite loudly. I guess it's expensive. Oh. Now I feel bad.

"Thank you for your patronage Mr... Krager!"

Cooper narrows his eyes at her, then slides his Axiom off with annoyance. "We're leaving now."

"Oh, okay." I turn to Mirantha. "Thank you very much, I hope to see you again sometime."

"Oh, you! That's supposed to be my line!" She reaches over her counter to shake my hand. "Pleasure doing business with you as well, sir. Don't worry about the clothes, I'll take care of them!"

"Thanks, I appreciate it." I hand her the pile of clothes I didn't take, keeping the ones I wore under my arm. I tried to fold them like she gave them to me but, yeah, that was kind of hard.

"Have a good morning boys!"

"You too ma'am, hope you get some good rest." We wave to each other, but then Cooper locks his arm around mine, taking us out of the establishment.

"It'll be worth it, it'll be worth it..." I can hear him quietly mumble. Guess I was right that it was expensive.

"Uh, sorry."

"It's fine, it was my idea, and I'll get paid again soon anyways. Just know that didn't come cheap."

"Okay, thank you."

Cooper huffs, and nods, before letting me walk on my own. We walk again on the sidewalks. However, this time I don't know where we're going.

I'm curious about something, though. "So... Cooper Krager?". He instantly whips around to look at me. "I-"

"If you know what's good for you, don't ever say that name again."

"Okay, sorry."

He huffs yet again and continues on.

Ugh, I really don't want to be in a bad spot with him. Sure, he's kind of pushy, but even in just the past few hours he's done nothing but take care of me. I'll need to figure out a way to repay him somehow.

"uh, so, where are we going?"

"Home."

I pause. "I know we're going to Resoom, but what about right now?"

"What? No." He turns to me. "We're going to my home. You'll be spending the night."

This time I stop walking, before going wide-eyed. "Wait, you're NOT homeless?"

I'm partly joking, but with how shady he is and with that lethal stench of his, I assume he was.

He looks completely done with me though, as he doesn't even give me a verbal reaction. He just keeps walking.

I go to catch up to him. Guess I should expect unexpected things, huh?

Like spending the night in this strange world with a strange wolf.