Al hung up and closed his old flip phone. Yui was beaming with excitement. He looked like a puppy ready to pounce on a new friend who had just walked into his owner’s house. For a second, Al wished he could feel Yui’s emotions. He wanted some of that pep and happiness to rub off on him. He felt like it was always the negative emotions that seeped into him and stayed there. He wondered if that was true for everyone.

“Do you boys need your clothes washed?” Anabelle walked into the living room. She was looking at Al, specifically. Yui had changed into a pink silk button-down shirt and faded grey skinny jeans. His pants were high-waisted and his shirt was tucked in so that it poofed out on the bottom.

“Did you bring your own clothes?” Al asked, while observing the boy’s fashion choice.

“Of course,” Yui said with his signature smile. “I packed everything I needed in my handy-dandy travel bag!” Al hadn’t taken notice of it before, but he now remembered that Yui had a bag attached to his motorcycle and it had been sitting beside the bed since they got to the house. Al wished he had had the foresight to bring some necessities, and then he remembered that he left in a rush because Anabelle’s life was in danger.

Al looked down at his wide-collared, long-sleeved black shirt. It was starting to smell. He needed deodorant, too, but he didn’t want to share Yui’s. He’d have to go shopping soon. But maybe after his clothes were cleaned. “Yeah,” Al admitted, bashfully.

“I’ll find you something to put on while I do the laundry,” Anabelle offered, as she stepped closer to Al. “Oh, I have a spare toothbrush as well, if you need it.”

Al covered his mouth, self-consciously. He was now painfully aware that his breath probably smelled. “Yes, please,” he said, beneath his hand. He smelled his own breath and grimaced.

Anabelle tried not to giggle, for fear of offending her guest. “I’ll go fetch those things for you.”

Al was going to say “thanks”, but he was afraid to open his mouth again.

“I’ll get my dirty clothes from the bedroom,” Yui said, before quickly darting upstairs. Anabelle went up the stairs behind him. “Where should I put my clothes?” He turned to ask her, from atop the steps.

“Oh, the laundry room is right there,” she reached over the railing to point to a door to the left of the entrance to the dining room. The laundry room was on the opposite end of the lobby from the front door.

“Oh, thanks!” Yui practically barked. He quickly went into the bedroom and was out a second later, with his clothes in hand. He came back downstairs and sat on the couch beside Al. 

“Do you have time to go shopping?” Al asked, awkwardly.

“Yeah, it’s only ten,” Yui nodded, “I got three hours until my appointment.”

“Good, I need to get deodorant too,” Al hugged his arms close to his body, as if moving them at all would release his stench. He smelled the air and noticed a delicate floral scent. He thought it was something in the room, especially since the room was covered in floral patterns. Then he turned to Yui and realized it might have been him. “Are you wearing cologne?”

“Yeah,” he smiled, and Al thought his cheeks turned a little pink. “It’s a little girly, but the ladies love it. Do you want to try it?”

“Yes, please,” Al was surprised by his own vehemence.

Yui giggled. “Okay, I’ll grab it for you.” With that, he bounced back up and bolted up the stairs.

Al looked flabbergasted at how the boy had so much energy.

“Oh, sorry, miss,” Yui said, softly. He halted to a stop when he almost rammed into the lady of the house while going up the stairs.

“It’s alright,” she smiled, while holding the supplies for Al tightly under her chin, out of fear that she might drop them. Yui went around her as she walked gently down the stairs, across the foyer, and into the living room.

“This is the best I could find, Alistair,” she said, apologetically. “Everything I own that’s less frilly wouldn’t possibly fit you.” She handed the folded bundle of soft white fabric to the tall man.

He grabbed a corner and let it fall open. It was a Victorian style women’s nightgown, much like the one Anabelle was wearing, except it didn’t have a floral design, and it didn’t have elastic under where the breasts would be. Al held it up by both shoulders at arms’ length to get a better look at it. It was pristine white, as if it had never been worn. The collar had delicate frills and met with a ribbon in the center. The puffed three-quarter sleeves ended in the same frills as the collar, with added lace underneath. The body of the dress wasn’t form-fitting. It fell in a straight line, to hang loosely over the body. The material was ruffled at the collar, to create delicate waves in the dress, making it look extra flowy. The bottom ended with a longer frilled trim. When Al’s eyes got to the bottom of the dress, he noticed something had fallen on the floor. They were matching bloomers. Al picked them up.

“I’m sorry,” Anabelle blushed. “My ex-husband didn’t leave any clothes here. This nightgown was a little big on me, and the elastic stretches, so it’s the best I could find for you.”

Al’s face felt warm as well.  He cleared his throat. “That’s okay,” he muttered. “Better than nothing. I’ll go… try it on.” He looked at his feet, as he started walking toward the stairs. He rolled the dress up into a ball, so the silky fabric didn’t slip out of his hands.

“Just put what you’re wearing in the laundry room, if you don’t mind.” Anabelle added.

“Yeah,” Al said quickly, as he went up to the bedroom. He saw Yui leaving the bedroom as he ascended the steps.

“Here ya go,” Yui said, as he handed him the bottle of perfume. Before Al could say “thanks,” Yui was already back in the living room.

Al went into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He quickly stripped off his dirty clothes. His large, rough hands bunched up the delicate, flowing fabric of the dress and pulled it over his head. He was nervous that the elastic would rip when he pulled it over his shoulders, but to his surprise, it didn’t. The dress draped down his form and tickled his knees. He adjusted his sleeves. They only reached to his elbows, and they were slightly tight. But it wasn’t terribly uncomfortable.

He had a feeling the dress was supposed to reach to one’s ankles, and little Anabelle probably tripped over it. While he was sure it wasn’t supposed to stop slightly past his knees, it didn’t feel bad at all. Aside from the fact that his big, hairy legs were showing. He looked down and twisted his hips from side to side, watching the skirt twirl back and forth. He looked up at last and saw himself in the mirror.

He was surprised by how good he looked in it. He puffed out his chest and smiled confidently at his reflection. He liked it. He would have preferred it in black and long enough to fully cover his arms and legs, but… he actually really liked it. It made him feel like a character in one of those Gothic novels that he liked so much. He loved the way it draped over his chest and the way it hid his wide ribcage and waist. He didn’t think he looked too silly in it, at least when seeing just his top half in the mirror. It reminded him of one of those loose-fitting undershirts that men used to wear in the olden days, so it didn’t look too strange in contrast with his thick black beard.

While looking at his reflection, he spotted a packaged toothbrush lying beside the sink. This must be the spare Anabelle mentioned, he thought to himself. He picked it up and looked at it. It was a small children’s toothbrush. She must have bought it for Timmy, and he never got a chance to open it. How could Anabelle be so nonchalant about giving a stranger her son’s toothbrush? How was she so darn happy? Just looking at this unopened toothbrush made Al tear up. He raised a hand to wipe the tears from his eyes and was reminded of the cuts on his wrist.

He didn’t like having his arms showing in general, since he wasn’t fond of how hairy they were, but now he had even more reason to want to cover them. He looked at his forearms and observed the wounds there. He had bandages on them yesterday, but he had taken them off when he got into the shower that morning. He didn’t bother putting fresh bandages on, since they had closed up. They still looked a little sore, though. He couldn’t go downstairs with his arms bare. After deciding not to use the toothbrush, since he was going out to buy one soon anyway, he spritzed his neck with Yui’s perfume, and then went into the bedroom to retrieve his trenchcoat. It looked a bit silly on top of the nightgown, but he would only be wearing this until his clothes were clean, anyway.

Al walked downstairs in his black trenchcoat and flowy white nightgown. He carried his dirty clothes on his arm.

“Lookin’ good, Al!” Yui said from the couch, as he watched Al come down the stairs.

“Shut up,” Al grumbled when he walked into the living room.

“No, I’m serious!” Yui exclaimed. He sat up from his spot on the couch to get a closer look at Al’s get-up as he entered. “The loose material suits you.”

“Thanks,” Al blushed a little.

They waited around for a little bit while Anabelle did the laundry. Yui played games on his phone, while Al meditated. He would have done yoga poses, but he didn’t feel comfortable doing so while wearing a dress. 

Before long, the laundry was done. Al put his usual outfit back on quickly, not because he was in a hurry to get out of what he was wearing, but because he really wanted to go out to get the shopping over with. Not only were they on a schedule, due to Yui’s appointment, but Al also wanted to hurry because he hated shopping. He liked to get it done as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Yui stayed in his soft pink and grey ensemble, which was refreshing for Al. He hoped maybe people wouldn’t be staring at them as much when they go out. Though for some reason, the combination of Yui’s blonde hair and pink shirt still drew Al’s eye almost as much as the gaudy red leather costume. He often found his eyes hovering over the shiny silken shirt, and he began to wonder what it felt like to the touch. The gown he had briefly worn was soft and fluttery, but it wasn’t quite as silky as Yui’s shirt looked. 

“Wanna touch?” Yui asked suddenly. His slender fingers gripped the bottom of his shirt that was puffing out above the waist of his pants. He held it out away from his skin, beckoning Al to touch the enticing fabric.

Al was embarrassed to have been caught staring. He blushed.

“It’s okay,” Yui laughed. “I buy clothes made of nice material like this because I like touching them too.” Yui saw Al start to move his hand and then hesitate. Yui unabashedly took Al’s hand and pulled it to his shirt.

Al tried not to think of how red his face might be. Instead, he focused on rubbing the smooth material between his fingers. It felt as nice as he imagined.

“See?” Yui asked with a triumphant smile. “That’s why I love wearing that fur-collared biker jacket. The fur is so soft! It’s faux fur, but it feels like a real rabbit! I like to touch it, and I figure it’s good for attracting potential clients if they might want to touch it too.”

Al extracted his hand and let his hair dangle in front of his face so the other man couldn’t see him blushing. He started to wonder if he might be a “potential client”. He certainly had trauma that needed to be remedied. He would love to forget his pain… to make it all go away. But he was scared. Afraid of moving on. Besides, did Yui even take male clients? Then again, he did try to hand Al his business card. Could he tell Al needed help?

“All set?” Yui asked.

“Yeah,” Al said, as he adjusted his coat and scarf. “Let’s get it over with.”

They went outside, and Al was yet again hit with that blast of hail that was a combination of the emotions of the many people on the street. But he stood strong and kept walking. “Which way is the store?”

“I think I saw a place right down here that looked like it sold some everyday house supplies,” Yui said, as he pointed further up the street. Then he shivered.

“Cold?” Al asked. His deep voice was soft and quiet.

“Yeah, a little,” Yui said, with a slightly ashamed smile. “Guess i should’a brought that fur-lined jacket, after all.”

“Here,” Al said. Without further ado, he took his coat off and swung it around Yui’s shoulders. It looked rather gigantic on him.

Yui smiled and his cheeks turned rosy. “Thanks,” he said, as he put his thin arms through the wide sleeves. The sleeves extended noticeably past his hands.

Cold weather generally didn’t bother Al. His black shirt was pretty warm on its own. He pulled the sleeves down over his hands and held onto them with his fingertips. It had become a force of habit, even when he wasn’t cold. He liked being covered.

“I feel like a kid wearing his dad’s coat,” Yui said.

“Well, I am old enough to be your father,” Al admitted.

“Oh yeah,” Yui realized. “I kinda forgot. I don’t really think of you that way.” This small remark made Al feel strangely happy.