Fitting Room Lesson

Before anyone could give Anita council, the gnoshroom girl bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement and loudly declared, “Yeah, give me a reading! I want to see what it’s like!”

John was about to speak up against such an invitation, a stance several of his companions looked to share, but Estelle caught his eye and smirked. “Just a question, before you start.”

“Of course,” Melody said with a genuine smile, but John wondered if it was just the practiced pleasantness someone in retail had to perfect to get through the day.

“Your magic will just get our vibes for taste in clothing, yes?” the witch asked, stepping to the front of the group. As she did, she moved her hands behind her back, revealing to everyone a disk of white silver cupped in her palm. Immediately, John threw an Observe at it.

Disk of Intent
Rare
The spells woven into this silver disk can pick up on minor fluctuations of someone’s aura, which can be used to gauge their truthfulness.
Attributes: Aura Reader, Tactile Output

John didn’t need to pull up the particulars of the disk’s attributes to guess how they worked and he felt a bit better knowing that Estelle was ready to detect any dishonestly from today’s vendors. Melody didn’t seem to take offense at Estelle’s prodding and answered her freely, “That is the limit to my magic. I get whiffs of what sort of things you like to do, what you find comfortable, that sort of thing. I might get hints of things that clothing doesn’t really factor into, like food, but that’s about it.”

The disk didn’t give off any indication of anything but Estelle’s somewhat stiff posture loosened, giving John the impression that she didn’t detect anything amiss. “Well then, let’s see how good you are at it.”

Anita let out a cheer and got up close to Melody, an eager look on her face. Letting out a strained laugh, Melody said, “Now, let me get a good look.”

The shopgirl stared at Antia with focused eyes, the brown hue shifting to bright yellow as Melody invoked her magic. It only lasted a moment before Melody’s eyes returned to normal and she smiled. “I think I’ve got a few selections in mind. If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’ll go grab some of them for you to try on.”

With a slight nod to the group, Melody left to collect Anita’s first items and Estelle let out a sigh once she was a decent distance away.

“Boy, am I glad I had this,” she said as she dropped the disk back in her bag. “Can’t always trust that they’ll stick to what they say they’re doing.”

“I probably could have picked up something if my magic wasn’t disrupted,” Teri remarked thoughtfully. “Maybe. Gauging small shifts can be hard, especially if someone’s used to lying right to people’s faces.”

“I’ll admit it’s not a perfect system, but it’s better than nothing,” Estelle said. “Nothing she said gave off a bad ping, so I think it’s ok to take her at her word. At worst, she might have gleaned a bit more than she said she could, but nothing too big.”

“Did I make a mistake?” Anita asked, her earlier excitement quicking draining away.

“Not so much of one but a bit of a learning experience,” Brenda told her, lightly patting her head. “There are some people who have no qualms with taking advantage of people, and I imagine magic makes what those people can do far more dangerous than what someone without it could pull off.”

“Being cautious is a good thing to be,” Vivian added. “Having ways to protect yourself from getting scammed, or worse, is another. Do you think you can show me how you made that disk?”

Estelle beamed at the redhead. “Of course I can. Ain’t no big coven secret. And even if it was, I’d make ‘em for you. Not exactly flowers and chocolate, but practical gifts never hurt.”

“So you’re the ‘wine and dine’ type, hmm?” Senka asked Estelle with a sultry smile. “I wonder if there are any restaurants here? Cammie’s and the bar aren’t really the sort of place for a romantic night out.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Estelle replied, shyly playing with a bit of her hair. “I mean, I don’t really have much experience with dating.”

“Well, you’re in good company and in the deep end now,” Aeolia said with a laugh. “Unless you count fighting in barriers as a date.”

“Could be our equivalent of going bowling or mini golfing,” Beth suggested in a tone that was half jokey and and half serious. “We’re pretty weird.”

“The whole poly thing didn’t give that away?” Aeolia asked with a grin, before her expression grew a bit more serious. “But I guess something a bit more tame, every once in a while, would be a nice change of pace.”

“I know I’d prefer something more sedate,” Brenda said.

“Perhaps for now,” Estelle remarked before a look of excitement overtook her face. “But once we get you mana, you can come along. Oh, do you guys have anything planned soon? I do want to see how your barriers work, John, and it might give me some ideas for stuff to cook up for everyone!”

“I think we’re in a ‘flying by the seat of our pants’ phase right now,” John said. “Don’t have anything planned, but you’re free to join whenever we do a run.”

“Sounds like you lot are living an interesting life,” Melody called out as she marched back into view, a bundle of clothes in her arms. “But that’s none of my business. What is, are these! I think you’re going to like them. Now, would anyone else like my help in picking something out?”

“I think we’ll hold off on that until Anita gets done trying out what you’ve picked out for her,” Brenda smoothly answered. “You sure grabbed a lot.”

Melody smiled. “Well, it’s not every day I get a customer with such an open outfit profile. It’s like getting a blank canvas and being told to go wild with high-quality paint.”

Brenda let out a small laugh. “I can see the comparison. Now, where are the fitting rooms?”

Anita felt a mix of nervousness and excitement as she stepped into the fitting room, the bundle of clothing held close to her chest. In the short time she’d known everyone, they had changed clothes so many times and now she got to see what all that meant.

‘Would be easier if everyone went around naked though,’ she thought as she peeled off her borrowed shirt, her breasts bouncing free. ‘Wonder why clothing exists? Maybe it’s because we don’t have a lot of hair or fur? But I didn’t need a little dress when I was a normal gnoshroom, so maybe getting more human changes how people think. I wonder if Teri or Aeolia think the same way as John and Brenda?’

A light rapping on the door caught Anita’s attention. “Anita, dear, are you getting on alright in there?” Brenda’s concerned voice filtered through the wood and Anita couldn’t help but smile. She was so thoughtful and kind.

“I’m okay!” she responded cheerfully. “Just thinking about some stuff!”

“Well, if you need any help, just call,” Brenda said, her offer making Anita feel nice and warm inside.

“Will do!” she loudly replied and finished undressing. Tossing the shorts to the side along with her shirt, Anita looked at the new clothes. There was a mix of whites, reds and blacks, some simple looking and others with a lot of extra bits that Anita couldn’t figure a purpose for. At least she had a theory why people wore clothing, but why did they need something that felt so thin?

Shaking her head, Anita put those thoughts aside. She didn’t want to take up any more time, not after she derailed everything this morning.

‘Even if it did lead to something nice,’ she thought as she picked up the first bit of new clothing. Some part of her knew that panties and bras went on first, but how she knew that was a mystery. Anita wanted to ask Estelle and Vivian about that, but the excitement of everything, mainly getting her voice to work thanks to Teri, had pushed that question to the back of her mind.

‘I can ask later,’ Anita resolved as she slipped the red panties on. The smooth fabric slid over her skin and sent a pleasant shiver up her spine. She looked at the mirror and twisted around a bit to see how the fabric was stretched over her butt. There was something about it that made Anita wonder how the other girls would look in her place.

‘Maybe that’s the purpose of clothes being all fancy!’ she thought excitedly as she grabbed the matching bra. ‘It’s to look good, like a bird’s plumage!’

With renewed understanding of what the point of clothing was, Anita slipped on the bra. Or, tried to. She easily fitted the cups against her boobs, the padded interior feeling nice against her skin, but she just couldn’t get the claps to catch. As she struggled with it, she let out a growl of irritation, one loud enough for Brenda to hear on the other side of the door.

“Anita, are you alright?” Brenda asked.

Letting out a huff, Anita let the bra fall off into her hand and threw open the door.

“I can’t get this thing on,” she complained with a pout.

“Anita!” Brenda shouted, quickly moving to stand between the fitting room and the rest of the store. “You can’t just be opening the door without clothes on!”

Anita didn’t care much about that, but she didn’t want to bring any stress to Brenda or anyone, so she brought the bra back up to her chest, hiding most of her generous breasts.

“Better?”

“Not much, but it’ll do,” Brenda answered, shaking her head. “Not a lot of people are comfortable with casual nudity. Or at least it’s that way in the magicless world. Not sure how much those norms are going to apply here, but given that we haven’t seen anyone walking around naked, I can’t see those sensibilities being too different.”

Brenda took a breath then said, “Okay, not exactly the best place for a lesson on bras, but I can get it hooked for you. Turn around, dear.”

Anita did as Brenda ordered and shivered slightly when the older woman’s fingers glided over the skin of her back as she took hold of the bra’s hooks and fastened them.

“There we go, all hooked up,” Brenda said. “Does it feel alright? Can tell you from experience how a bad bra can eat into someone with large assets.”

Anita bounced in place then spun around to face Brenda, a contemplative look on her face. “It feels a bit weird to have my boobs held like this, but kind of comfy.” She glanced around the empty hall the changing rooms were in. “Where’d everyone go?”

“I told everyone to go and look for something for themselves,” Brenda replied. “No point in wasting time with how many people we’ve got in this group. In fact, maybe I should give you more of a hand. Get through those outfit choices quickly and pick the ones you want.”

Anita didn’t see any issue with Brenda’s suggestion so she nodded happily. “I think that’s a great idea. I still really don’t get why there’s so much of it, but I have an idea. It’s so we look good, right? Like with colorful feathers!”

To prove her point, Anita leaned forward while squeezing her breasts somewhat together with her arms. That, plus the innate binding quality of the bra, caused a deep cleavage to form between her breasts, which drew Brenda’s eye just as Anita hypothesized.

Then Brenda’s expression changed, going from slightly shocked to something more seductive and hungry. “That’s something they’re good for, yes. I can show you a bit more of it once we get you in some. Underwear is all well and good for the bedroom, but when you’re out and about, a proper outfit is needed.”

“Let’s get to it then!” Anita beamed and backed up, allowing Brenda to step into the small chamber. It was a bit of a tight fit, but Brenda gracefully slid in and began to sift through the pile of clothing.

“Melody sure picked out some eye-catching outfits,” Brenda remarked as she picked up a red dress with white polka dots, the hem of the skirt and wide cuffs of the sleeves detailed with lace. Anita liked the color, she somewhat missed being red. “Oh, she even grabbed some thigh highs. I think that’ll make for a great outfit. Here, stand in front of me facing the mirror.”

Brenda grabbed the white legwear as Anita squeezed in front of Brenda and the taller woman held the outfit before them, dangling it so it looked like Anita was wearing it in the mirror. It really did remind her of what she looked like before and a bit of melancholy damped her mood. Being more human was nice; she got to talk with everyone, she was going to more places than just the forest, John’s home and Estelle’s home, and the sex thing was amazing, even if she’d only just barely experienced it. But she still liked her old form.

‘Can I change back?’ she wondered. She still had magic, those spores she let out were proof of that beyond being able to feel mana flowing through her body. Anita focused on her mana, sensing how it moved. She was always good at detecting the flow of mana, both in the air and in others. And she could feel something in her. It was different from the small pulse she felt when releasing spores, and the temptation to tug at that bundle of mana and see where it went was strong.

But the desire to spend time with everyone, to experience what it was like to be a person, was greater.

“What do you think?” Brenda asked her, fully pulling Anita from her thoughts.

“I love it,” Anita honestly answered. Some random bit of information in her head made her imagine shimmying about, causing the skirt to swish back and forth and it made her smile.

“Then let’s get this on then we can call everyone over to show it off,” Brenda purred as she carefully put down the dress. “First, the thigh highs.”

Anita took one of the white garments from Brenda and bent over slightly to put it on, her butt pressing into Brenda. That prompted Brenda to lightly wrap her arms around Anita’s waist. Anita felt her heart beat a bit faster as Brenda’s soft hands held her steady.

“Anita, dear, you need to pull the stocking up,” Brenda whispered into her ear. “We can’t just stay here all day. We can cuddle at home after all.”

Anita very much liked that idea. She quickly pulled the first stocking up, followed by the second, the fabric caressing her thighs and making them bulge out enticingly at the top. Brenda let her hands drop once Anita was done, her fingers tracing the top of the stockings.

“See, this is a great eye-catcher,” she murmured, her sultry voice sending shivers up Anita’s spine. “But the effect will be greater when there’s something just above it. The tantalizing flash of skin, a promise of more to be seen later.”

“I think I get it,” Anita said, her breathing growing heavy, both from Brenda’s touches and words and her own imaginings. Brenda smiled as she picked the dress back up and handed it to Anita.

“Then let's see how it looks in practice,” Brenda purred, spurring Anita into slipping the dress over her head. The fabric was soft and glided over her skin with ease. In fact, Anita felt as if the dress was shifting as she pulled it down, growing and shrinking to conform to her body as she worked it down.

“Well, guess magic means that tailors aren’t a big business here,” Brenda remarked, clearly seeing the same thing Anita was feeling.

Once the dress was all the way down, Anita stared at herself in the mirror before a high-pitch squeal tore through her throat, her excitement unable to be contained.

“I think that’s a ringing endorsement.” Brenda chuckled as Anita twisted about to see all the angles of her outfit. The lacy frill at the bottom of the skirt tickled her bare thighs and the wide sleeves billowed out as they moved, adding a level of motion to the look, like the wings of a bird spreading out as it sought a mate.

“It’s soo cute!” Anita preened as she moved about as best she could.

“Yes it is,” Brenda said, her hands returning to Anita’s waist. “It fits you perfectly. Literally, since it adjusted itself. But remember what I said about being enticing? This dress highlights these perfectly.”

Brenda moved her hands up and gently cupped Anita’s breasts for a moment before tracing up to her exposed cleavage. “Just enough to draw the eye without being too in someone’s face. And with a bit of posing, everyone’s eyes will be on you. Fancy giving it a go, dear?”

Looking right at Brenda’s reflection in the mirror as she prodded her tits, Anita grinned excitedly.