Large groups of people always had a certain air to them, one Andrew never cared to breathe. Going to the mall hadn’t been too bad when he used to do that, but that was only because he got what he wanted and got right back out. And the stores he shopped at didn’t often have that many people in them in the first place.

In Aldoun, no building had less than ten people in it. The tall buildings and winding streets brimmed with lively groups, all of which paid little mind to the fact that their prince walked among them with some guy in his pajamas.

“Weren’t these guys all about being around you when I showed up? I swear I remember them practically hanging off of you.” Andrew kept his hands shoved in his pockets, though Elias had looped their arms together to avoid getting separated.

“That was a day meant for that,” the prince hummed. They passed a group of men gathered around a fruit stand, and at the most, they gave Elias a nod and smile. “The people of Aldoun are very important to me, and I have always done whatever I can to be seen as one of them. I only allow one day a year for them to see me purely as their prince. Other than that, I am just another one of the people. It allows me to see what they need in a ruler.”

Andrew raised a brow at him. “Why aren’t you the king yet, anyway? Is your mom not wanting to retire, or is Prince just the name you like best? If you spent all this time and money on this place, I guess it would make sense for you to go by whatever name you liked better.”

Elias looked away from him, huffing out the words, “That’s complicated,” almost too quickly for Andrew to hear. “The shop with clothes that will work for you is just up ahead.”

That was the first time Elias didn’t explain something away to Andrew. Maybe it was a sore spot that he’d have to dig into when he finally got frustrated enough with Elias’ make-believe world. People couldn’t hold the truth in when they were pressed on sore topics, so eventually he would have to do that to get answers and a way home.

Until then, he didn’t mind playing along and followed Elias into the shop without asking any more about it.

“Welcome, Prince Elias.” The shopkeeper had a low voice and spoke so slowly that Andrew could already tell he was going to hate it there. However, he did notice that the man also had horns on his head, and dusty-colored wings on his back. So far, Elias and his mother were the only people he had seen with dragon costumes on. Did it depend on the person’s level of effort they wanted to put in? Or maybe there were rules about who could and couldn’t also play the part of a dragon. The guy did have much smaller horns, so it being a status thing would make sense.

Andrew would have to ask about that later.

 “What brings you in today?”

“My guest, Andrew, needs some clothes for his time here. I think if you could find a fabric closest to the one he’s wearing, that would be for the best.” Elias unhooked their arms, stepping away to look at one of the many shelves with folded clothing on it.

All the clothing there looked the same to him, though it was sorted by color and fabric type, making the place look like a flattened rainbow.

“Let me see here.” The shopkeeper reached out and grabbed Andrew’s jacket and shirt, earning a grimace from him. “This is a strange type of clothing. The material is familiar, but I’ve never seen anything sewn like this.”

“Andrew is from a very faraway place, they make things differently there,” Elias answered for him. “But I’m sure he wouldn’t mind something more like the things you make.”

The shopkeeper let go of Andrew’s jacket, placing his hand on his chubby chin. “You wouldn’t mind if maybe I examined the piece of clothing to make my own version, would you? You can get whatever clothes you want from here today, then I will also send you a box of this top back with a few others like it in different fabrics and colors.”

Andrew clenched his jaw. Let someone borrow his hoodie? One of the few things he got comfort from in that place? It didn’t sound great at first, but after thinking about it for a moment more, he realized that he would be getting more jackets out of it. If the guy was telling the truth, anyway. He looked at Elias, and the prince didn’t seem phased by the idea. And, even though he didn’t believe him, he had started to trust him.

At least for something small like that, anyway.

“Fine, but I don’t want it gone for too long.” Andrew took his jacket off, glad that it wasn’t his favorite one. If it had been, he would have told the guy to buzz off in a heartbeat. “And I hope you have something warm in here in the meantime. I don’t want to end up cold because you want to experiment.” With something he surely already knew about, too. What kind of person got excited over learning how a hoodie worked? The guy had to know what it was and just pretended not to for the sake of the game.

“I will have it back to you in a couple of days. Sewing is my life’s work, I can do it faster than anyone in Aldoun.” The shopkeeper excitedly looked over the jacket, gesturing to the rest of the store. “Go on and find whatever you’d like. Prince Elias can help you find something warm. Though the sunny season is coming up, so I’m not sure how long you’ll want to keep something like that on.”

Andrew shrugged. “I get cold easily, what can I say.”

Something suddenly got put over Andrew’s head, assaulting his senses with a familiar warmth, soft fabric, and the smells of ash and earth. An undertone of something lighter, like those flowers they had seen on the balcony, caught his attention as well, though he was much more focused on the fact that Elias had dumped his shawl over his shoulders.

“Why the hell did you do that?” Andrew adjusted the shawl as much as he could, but with how much bigger Elias was than him, it still ended up looking like he just had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

“You said you get cold easily, and I don’t. My shawl is mostly just part of my formal wear, but I see no reason to stay in it when someone else could use it.”

The prince’s then-visible black shirt did little to hide the fact that Elias had a lot of muscle. Even with the loose sleeves, each time the prince moved, Andrew could see certain parts of the shirt gliding over his shoulders and chest in a way that looked like the fabric strained to do so.

Elias patted Andrew on the shoulder and then nudged him forward. “Now go on, pick out some things you like. I don’t mind getting you whatever you need, so don’t feel like you have to only pick a few things.”

Andrew grabbed the end of the shawl between his fingers, rubbing the fabric. “Oh, uh… Thanks.” He forced himself to look up at the shelves, eyeing a few outfits. “I have no idea how long I’m going to be here, so I’ll just grab enough to cycle through at least a week.”

If he were being honest with himself, changing his clothes that often wasn’t something that he did at home. His philosophy had always been that if it didn’t stink or have an obvious stain on it, then what was the point of washing it? He didn’t go outside much, and he had separate clothes for the few times he did have to go to the office, so it wasn’t like anyone would see his habit.

There, though, he would be staying with Elias, probably seeing the prince every day. While he normally didn’t give an ounce of thought to someone else’s opinions about him, something made Andrew want to at least be presentable around him.

Andrew gathered six shirts, stacking them neatly on his arm while he looked around for pants. Only getting four of those sounded right, so he picked them out easily as well, thanks to the lack of variety there.

“Hopefully the guy borrowing my sweater will help him bring some spice to these outfits. They all look like generic medieval clothes.” Andrew did like the darker colors he picked, and none of them felt as stiff as he expected, so they at least had that going for them.

“I think they’re all interesting designs, though I can tell from your current outfit that where you’re from has very… Different ideas of fashion.” The prince grabbed the clothes from Andrew and walked over to the counter, where the shopkeeper still had his hands busy examining the seems of the jacket. “These are the items we would like for today. Since you’re planning to make more, would you like to document these and send the final bill to the palace once they’re done?”

“Yes, yes, that’s fine. I’ll write it all down,” the man mumbled.

While the two busied themselves with that, Andrew wandered around the store some more. Some of the attention to detail in the place had been so good that if Andrew weren’t such a big skeptic, he would believe that the place was actually handmade. Surely they had a large construction crew come do it all, but some of the wood carvings in the molding and the layered brick looked like they had a much more artistic and personal touch.

Andrew shook the idea off, making his way over to the front of the store. A large window allowed him to watch the people walk by, and he spaced out examining their hair, clothing, and makeup. A few of them had non-human traits like Elias, but most of them were normal and only had weird blue markings somewhere on their body.

“Thank you for your time!” Elias waved at the man and started walking back toward Andrew, holding the wrapped box of clothing out for him to see. “We’re all set to go, Andrew. I was thinking we could find a nice bakery to have lunch if you’re hungry.”

“I could eat,” he said, shrugging. Not wanting to wait in the store any longer, Andrew went to the door to open it for Elias.

“Andrew, wait! Don't-!”

Andrew looked back at the prince as he grabbed the handle. “What? I get if you want to be a gentleman or whatever, but-” His words died in his throat, replaced by a gasp and shout. Andrew ripped his hand away from the door, holding it against his chest. It burned like nothing he had ever felt before, even worse than the time he had accidentally spilled boiling water on it while making soup.

“What the fuck,” he whined, not sure how to soothe himself. “Why would you make doorknobs that burn people? What is the point of that?”

“Andrew, I’m so sorry, I should have been the one to open the door.” Elias had rushed over to him, holding Andrew against his side. “Let me see it. We can get a first aid kit, and I’ll wrap it for you, okay?”

“Fine, but you didn’t answer my question. Why the hell did it do that?” He looked at the door, not seeing anything special about it. “I knew you were crazy, but something like that is just insane to keep around.”

Elias sighed, grabbing Andrew’s hand. “I can answer your question later. For now, we should focus on getting this treated, okay?”

His hand wasn’t bleeding, but it had turned a deep purple, and he couldn’t stop it from shaking.

“Fine,” he said slowly. “But it had better be a good answer.”