Az had lifted his hand and snapped his fingers in the strange, three-click snap, and Evelyn found herself in a completely different outfit. It was gothic lolita fashion again, and she thought she even recognized the brand, but that was beside the point! “W-what the hell are you doing?!”

Az regarded her with his hand on his chin, his other hand holding the magazine, then he shook his head and snapped his fingers again. Another dress appeared on her. Evelyn wrapped her arms around herself as if she could hold the fabric on. “S-stop that! Stop doing that, oh my god, you freaking pervert!”

“Pervert?” Az actually did look insulted in a way she could clearly read. “I am not sure where you are getting such a bizarre misconception. I am simply making sure your fashion is impeccable.”

What am I, your little dog to dress up and keep in your purse? Ugh!

“W-who cares about that! Let me dress myself! This is just... weird and—and violating!” Evelyn cried, stamping her foot as if she were a toddler. She lost her balance, but was able to catch herself before she fell. She looked down, pressing her petticoat out of the way, to see that she was now wearing elegant black and white ankle boots with a slight heel. They matched the checkered dress perfectly, down to the electric blue trim.

And how does this even work? I mean I'm not getting naked between each choice, which thank god for small favors, but what the hell?

Az had paused, frowning slightly. “I do not understand why you would feel violated. This is much more efficient than your physically putting things on would be.”

Evelyn looked at the five tiny buttons closing the cuff over her wrist, and wrinkled her nose. He was definitely right about that. Although she seemed to be moving her arms and legs relatively fine, she wasn't certain she'd be able to slide the smooth buttons through the nearly invisible buttonholes in anything resembling a reasonable amount of time. She held up one leg to confirm that she'd seen a matching row of buttons on the boot as well, and let out a small huff as she rebalanced. “Okay, fine, but can't you make a decision? What's wrong with this one?”

Even fancier than the stylish cutsew, and with stiffer fabric and far more lace, her current dress had to be the most beautiful thing she'd ever worn. Az still narrowed his eyes as he looked her over, shaking his head again. He seemed dissatisfied with the silhouette of the outfit on her. He turned to another page he'd marked in the magazine. She could now see it was the Lolita & Gothic Holy Book, as she suspected. He snapped again, then nodded in approval. “I believe this one will do.”

The final dress was even more formal. It was a gorgeous black one piece with loose, draping sheer sleeves, a low, laced and boned waistband, a skirt that fell to mid-calf and a lovely electric blue rose pattern dancing around the hem.

She pushed the puffed skirt to one side and moved her foot over to get a better look. She had matching tights, even the shoes—a flat mary jane style with a slight platform that brought her just a little bit closer to Az's height—and all had the same rose detailing. She held up her wrist, noticing the print had the brand name embossed into the fabric. Alter Ego & Self. Her eyes widened. She knew she'd seen the coord before—someone in one of the Harmony chat rooms had called it her “absolute dream dress” at one point, gushing about it for much longer then could keep Evelyn's attention. Alter Ego & Self was the brand, the one with drastically limited runs, hand stitched details and that meant...

This cost an absolute fortune! But again! Beside the point!

“Is that acceptable to you as well?” Az was giving the aura of being very pleased with himself as he regarded her. Begrudgingly, she admitted that his pride was well warranted; the dress had to look as if it were made for her with her similarly blue eyes and black hair.

Reluctantly, and still making a disgruntled face, she nodded. It was both beautiful and, despite its structure, strangely comfortable. The flat-bottomed shoes were much easier to stand in. She looked up at Az, who gave a satisfied nod. Although he wasn't really smiling, he seemed content.

He seems to really like fashion, I guess. I mean, the way he's dressed, that makes—wait.

She looked at her coordinate again, and then up at Az. She had noticed something utterly abhorrent.

“We—we match? Again? Oh come on!” She slapped her hand on her forehead—again, a little harder than she'd expected, but she was learning every time. “Please tell me we're not going out in public like this...”

“In public?” Az queried, then shook his head. “Ah, no, I will not be attending class with you.”

“Then what's the point?” Evelyn demanded, putting one hand on her hip. A ribbon fell over her eye, and she blew it away with irritation. It seemed she even had the matching headpiece, if she recalled correctly it was a tiny hat worn to the side on a black c-shaped hairband.

Az paused, lifting his hand slightly as he regarded her. He didn't seem to have an answer for her, but something else had caught his attention. “As for your hair—”

Evelyn found herself grabbing her head and tangling her hands in her curls. “I just got this back! Don't you dare—”

Az's finger snap did not touch her hair. Instead, something fell out of the air beside him, and he caught it neatly. It was a silver backed hairbrush.

He handed it to her. “Do you require assistance?”

Oh. Well, that was—is—nice of him, I guess.

“Um, j-just a mirror, please. And um, hold this headband, I guess,” Evelyn said, shocked into politeness by his sudden and unexpected consideration. He snapped again, and caught a round silver mirror in his hand. He raised it to an appropriate level for Evelyn's face.

“Will this do?”

She nodded as she looked in the mirror, and gasped at what she saw reflected.

Az frowned down at her. “Is everything all right?”

“Uh, y-yeah. Everything is fine.”

Be normal, Evelyn, don’t stare at yourself! That’s the kind of thing he probably does!

But it was difficult not to. The last time she'd seen herself, she'd been a scowling, bald and eyebrow-less mess of pale skin stretched too tightly over bones. Now, she could only recognize her deep indigo eyes.

I'm... pretty? I—I had no idea! I thought—I was so skeletal and gross and—but my actual, healthy body is pretty? I have even features, and big eyes, and such a cute nose and pink lips and... this is just... mind-blowing! I even look a bit like my mom. I never would have guessed...

She slowly ran the brush through her hair, trying to remember exactly how she used to do it to prevent her loose waves from frizzing. It had been so long since her mother had shown her the trick, finding each lock and following its curl with the brush instead of pulling straight down. It was a little difficult to do with hands she still didn't quite expect to work properly, but she held the brush firmly and its movement was smooth.

Az didn't say anything, leaving her more time to think to herself.

How old was I when Dad snapped at the nurses to just 'Cut the damn shit off already, it just gets in the way'? Sixteen? I remember I was close to an adult, adding insult to injury, but was way too weak to even argue. The worst part was that he wasn't even wrong. It had gotten stuck in the bars between my bed, and that hurt. I think that was the last time I saw him in person, too...

Her reflected forehead showed a painful wrinkle between her brows. It wasn't a happy memory.

I lived a full ten years after that, even...