You may put 'em on the list — you may put 'em on the list

Kim looked over at the wall clock to check the time. It had been a bit of a slow afternoon.

“Ooh! This looks nice! …And, hey, what about this one? I think you’d look pretty cute in this, what do you say?”

…Well, there was a bit of an exception to that, anyway. The two girls who were in the boutique, working hard on picking out clothes for Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin.

The mute girl had been very insistent on wanting to buy lingerie. Which Vivian had wholeheartedly endorsed. She’d been a little awkward about it, but from what Kim had heard, they had eventually decided on a few good picks. And then, of course, Vivian had come to her, and asked for a second opinion.

As that was part of Kim’s job description, she couldn’t really turn the other woman down. Without anything else, all she could do was go over and take a look at the girls in their underwear and give her opinions.

Kim could admit- they looked nice. But, she didn’t really have much of an opinion herself. What mattered most to her was getting sales. So, while she wouldn’t say anything false, she would encourage the two girls that they looked great, in case that would tip them over the edge and get them to buy.

Once the lingerie was picked out, Vivian was able to convince the mute assassin that she should buy some other clothes, too, which Kim was also in support of.

Maybe Vivian wasn’t so bad, after all!

“Hey, Kim!”

Kim perked up when she heard the heiress call her over. “Yeah?”

“Come take a look, and tell me what you think!”

Well, that was part of her job description, she supposed. With a sigh on her lips, Kim headed over to see what was what, giving into her curiosity.

When she saw Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, she stopped in her tracks. Her friend looked completely different.

Kim could admit that she didn’t know Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin all that well. It was something she was ashamed of, given how much the other woman clearly liked her, and how much she doted on her. But she didn’t exactly have a lot in common with the mute girl, and she wasn’t the easiest person to communicate with.

But she could say that she knew the assassin didn’t usually wear clothes that looked like this!

Unlike Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s current taste in bimbo-style clothes that showed lots of skin and decorated her body in hot pinks and blacks, her current outfit looked like something Mary might wear, or maybe Morgana. She had on a white and black dress with a lot of ruffles and frills, and bows as well. It looked very cute and matched her dark hair and pale skin well.

What was this style of outfit called, again? Gothic Lolita? Yeah, that was it.

Kim couldn’t help nodding in approval. “…Okay, I’ll admit it,” she said with a resigned smile. “Vivian, you really know your stuff.”

“I know I do!” Vivian chirped, flashing Kim a smile. Kim half-expected the heiress to come up to her in a frilly dress of her own, but no, Vivian was back in her original indigo and denim, looking rather normal in contrast. “This is what I do, after all,” she boasted, placing a hand over her breast and pushing her chest out with pride.

“So, is this all you’re going to buy?” Kim asked her curiously, giving another glance at Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin.

“That’s up to her,” Vivian said, turning to the assassin. “What do you think? You like that one, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin?” She was coaxing the girl to provide a direct answer, even if she couldn’t speak. Part of her training to improve her communication skills, instead of just expressing herself with elusive and vague grins the way she was used to doing. It still felt weird referring to her that way, but Vivian knew better than to give her a playful nickname. Kim had taught her that lesson enough already, and she was aware that the mute girl was very sensitive when it came to her name, or lack thereof.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin turned and checked her appearance in the mirror again. She tapped her chin thoughtfully and turned about, examining herself from multiple different angles, and even lifted the skirt once or twice to take a look at her high socks.

She was putting more thought into this than Kim anticipated, she could say that much. Not that the tomboy clerk was complaining.

Just when Vivian thought the other girl was ready to make a decision, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin turned and gave her a dubious look.

That made Vivian bite her lip. “What? You’re not sure?” She asked.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin shook her head sharply and then shrugged her shoulders. The troubled expression on her face was difficult for Vivian to get a read on, but Kim knew right away what the problem was.

“It’s about Nick, isn’t it?” She said aloud, startling Vivian. The heiress turned and looked at her in surprise, and Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded her head quickly. She crinkled her forehead, and a shadow passed over her face.

“What… what about Nick?” Vivian asked, looking back at the assassin. “Why would…?”

“Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin wants new clothes because she wants to wear things that she knows Nick will like,” Kim explained to the heiress. “That’s what this whole thing is about, isn’t it?” She turned and asked her mute friend.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin shyly nodded, her cheeks turning red.

Vivian bit the inside of her cheek. A murky feeling welled up in her chest, and she tried to ignore it. But it was next to impossible to do that.

“I see,” she murmured, looking downwards. “I-I didn’t even realize… I’m sorry,” she apologized, looking over at Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. “I should have figured out that you were looking for clothes to impress Nick… …Sorry.”

Guilt welled up in her chest, and she cast her eyes downwards.

Kim couldn’t believe it, but she was actually feeling a little… bad for Vivian.

…Yeah, it weirded her out, too.

“Hey, Vivian, I mean… it’s not your fault, and it’s not like you did anything wrong!” Kim said, trying to cheer Vivian up a little. It was an odd move on her part, but even though she and Vivian still weren’t what anybody would call friends, that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel bad for her. “You’re still trying to help her, right?”

“Well, yeah, of course I am,” Vivian replied. She still had a look of sheepish remorse on her face that made Kim feel really bad. “It’s just, well…”

Vivian… she wanted to help the other girl. She really did.

But picking out clothes for a guy?

“…We should get Nick’s opinion!” She blurted out. “If anyone’s going to know what Nick likes the look of, then it’ll be Nick himself, right?”

Kim stared at her like she was crazy and Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin raised a curious eyebrow.

“…What? What did I say?” Vivian looked at the two girls.

Kim sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Nothing, it’s just… …Well, you know that Nick is on a date with Dani right now, right?” Well, Dani and Dawn, anyway.

Vivian’s cheeks reddened. “Yeah, I-I don’t want to interrupt that,” she conceded. “Sorry, I just… spoke without thinking again.”

Also, Kim felt like it was a little insensitive, even awkward, to suggest to a girl that she get the opinion of the guy she liked directly when it came to buying new clothes- it seemed much sweeter to surprise him with something. But she didn’t mention that because Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin wasn’t like other girls.

Oh, no, the mute assassin was the type of forthright girl who would absolutely go marching right up to Nick and demand he tell her what he thought about the clothes she had picked out, even if not in so many words. That part of the plan was just fine.

As evidence of that, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin looked downright irritated that Kim had nixed the idea of getting Nick’s opinion. She had her arms crossed over the bodice of her dress, and her cheeks puffed in an irritated pout.

Kim turned to Vivian to see what she thought about the whole thing, only to see Vivian rebound with surprising speed, and flash a chipped smile.

“Well, there’s nothing to be done, right?” Vivian chirped, placing her hands on her hips and flashing a beaming smile. “We’ll just have to give it our all, and pick out other things that we suspect he’ll like! Make sense?”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin blinked. She hadn’t expected Vivian to come up with something like that, but… she wasn’t exactly going to complain about the heiress trying to help her, either.

She shrugged in agreement.

Kim sighed. “Well, if you say so, works for me.”

And, hey, if they picked out even more clothes, then that would just be better for her, right? Even if Vivian wasn’t going to get anything.

After a while, Kim had to wonder if maybe there was a different problem they were dealing with, here. A problem that should probably be addressed by someone who had the knowledge and awareness of what to do.

That person was not her.

At first, she had been fine with Vivian’s suggestion that Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin try on new outfits and see what she thought about them. And she’d even helped, finding the different things that they would need.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin went through quite a gambit of outfits, at that.

Instead of Gothic Lolita, she went for a more traditional goth style.

Kim approved of that one, thinking it wasn’t all that different from the type of clothes the assassin normally wore, and Vivian encouraged her the same way.

Then, there was a more casual outfit.

That one, Vivian was definitely a fan of. Kim approved of it, too, because it was the sort of clothes that SHE would pick out for herself.

But on the next one, the problems started.

“Come on, seriously?” Kim looked at Vivian, showing the heiress with her cold scowl just how unamused she was by the other girl’s ideas.

“What? I think it looked pretty good on her,” Vivian protested, gesturing to the school uniform-wearing assassin. “You don’t think she looks cute dressed up like a schoolgirl? You guys could be twins!”

“That isn’t the point!” Kim protested. “No way is Nick going to want to see her dressed up like that! No way!”

That was enough for Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. The next thing the two girls knew, the schoolgirl uniform was lying in a pile on the floor and the mute assassin was already going to pick out her next outfit to wear.

“…Guess she didn’t like that one very much,” Vivian conceded.

Kim rolled her eyes. “Let’s try to get something that isn’t just about indulging a fetish, maybe?”

If there was any proof that Vivian was not the kind of girl who listened, this was it.

“Seriously?” Kim gave her a frosty stare. “She looks just like Mary!”

“Exactly!” Vivian said. “Why wouldn’t Nick like this? If she’s dressed up exactly like his wife, then that would-!”

“But it’s obvious that she doesn’t like it!” Kim pointed out, gesturing to the slight frown on the assassin’s lips. “So, we shouldn’t- oh?”

To her surprise, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, after taking off the cowgirl costume, deposited it in the “Maybe” pile.

The surreal behavior on her mute friend’s part left Kim at a loss for words, and she wondered why exactly the girl had chosen to keep an outfit that she obviously wasn’t a fan of.

“Well, what about this one?” Vivian asked, holding up a sexy nurse uniform for the assassin. It was clear to Kim by this point that Vivian was less concerned with actually finding the other girl something nice to wear, and more interested in having a bit of fun using the assassin as her own silent dress up doll, which wasn’t what she’d signed up for.

“Vivian!” Kim’s eye twitched. “This isn’t supposed to be a fetish thing!”

“I just think she’d look cute in it!” Vivian protested. “But, you’re right. We should probably look for some actual outfits-”

Before Vivian could even finish her sentence, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin snatched the nurse costume out of her hands. She turned and looked at Kim and Vivian with a sharp gleam in her eyes, leaving both women at a loss for words.

Vivian turned and looked at Kim for answers, but all Kim could do was shrug and shake her head.

“I-I think… she wants to try it on,” the clerk stammered out, not quite sure what Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was after. She had her suspicions, but…

The look in the girl’s eyes…

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was already almost completely dressed by the time the two girls finished calming down. When they saw how she looked, they both agreed that she made the outfit work for her, but beyond that…

There was still something off.

It was hard to tell just what it was, especially when the assassin looked so fitting in those clothes, but even Vivian was getting some confusing vibes from the mute girl.

She turned and looked at Kim again, wondering if there were any insights that the short-haired girl might have on her friend’s demeanor, but Kim looked as shaken and confused as Vivian felt.

That wouldn’t be much help.

“Well, uh…” Vivian scratched her cheek and looked hesitantly at Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. “That one looks… pretty sexy,” she complimented her. “But Nick isn’t just looking for sexy, I think Kim’s right about that.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s ears twitched, and her eyes flickered wide for a second. That was all the information Kim needed to see.

“…I think I know what’s going on here,” she muttered to herself as Vivian helped Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin with her next dress.

Vivian looked at her in confusion while Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin tensed, eyeing her friend carefully.

“What?” Vivian asked, looking back and forth between the two of them. “What is it?”

“…Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin… do you actually like any of these outfits?” Kim asked the other girl.

The assassin bristled as if Kim had just pulled a loaded gun on her. Very rarely did she ever give her friend a look as fierce as the one she was making now, and Kim knew that. But she couldn’t back down, not from this.

Not when Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin had looked so dissatisfied about the clothes that she had been wearing all afternoon.

“What… what are you saying, Kim?” Vivian asked. She immediately started to panic, thinking that she’d done something wrong.

But Kim wasn’t blaming her.

Her blame was reserved solely for the woman who was being intentionally obtuse and effusive about her motivations.

“…Are you just choosing clothes that you think Nick would want to see you wearing?” Kim confronted her friend.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin made another cold face. But just for a fraction of a second. Then, realizing who was confronting her, her expression softened and her eyes drooped, until she was looking at the floor.

Vivian gasped, amazed by the exchange of looks between the two of them. She couldn’t believe it was that simple.

I… I had no idea, she thought, shaking her head. It didn’t even occur to me that she could be picking out her clothes on that criteria.

Vivian had been so caught up in the joy of helping the other girl dress up and thinking that she’d made a genuine connection with her that she had missed the clues that Kim had picked up on, clues that, in hindsight, had been so obvious.

She wanted to reach out to the assassin now and tell her that she wanted to lend a hand, and help her pick out whatever clothes that she might want, but…

…But her doubts about herself and how things had gone so far had rattled her, and she didn’t have the courage to speak up.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin put her hands on her hips and gave Kim and Vivian a defiant stare. She held her head up high, refusing to back down on this.

Kim could sympathize, she really could. “I think it’s sweet,” she said, though her tone implied otherwise, “that you’re trying to dress up to suit Nick’s tastes. But… I think you should be more considerate of Vivian’s feelings, too.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin and Vivian wore the same look of surprise on their faces. The two women glanced at each other, not sure what to make of the tomboy’s statement.

“That… no, really, it’s fine!” Vivian held up her hands. She shook her head quickly. “I’m only here to help her, after all, if this is what she wants, then I’m fine with it!”

Kim nodded. “Okay, sure, that’s fine,” she said, but she wasn’t done. “As long as she’s grateful to you for your help. But it seems like she’s just going along with you to humor you, and doesn’t really appreciate your opinions. Is that right, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin?”

It was impossible to lie before Kim’s sharp eyes. The assassin baulked slightly and averted her eyes warily.

Bullseye.

Vivian’s heart sank at the revelation. She glanced downwards, and let out a solemn sigh.

“It’s okay-”

“It’s not.”

Kim might have not held Vivian in the highest esteem, but she was trying. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin seemed to only be focusing on herself right now.

“I know that you’re trying to appeal to the audience by building on your relationship with Nick,” Kim said, offering her hand to her mute friend. “But the audience isn’t going to be happy if you’re ignoring the other girls. Okay?”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin bit her lip. She slid her eyes over to Vivian, and the heiress could see the look of remorse in her gaze.

The assassin took Kim’s hand and nodded somberly. Vivian felt the ache in her breast ease up, and a smile slowly appeared across her face.

It looked like the assassin had turned around, and the two of them could try being real friends now- at least, hopefully.

And it was all thanks to Kim’s help. Vivian didn’t know how she could thank her. …Well, she had a couple of ideas, but she wasn’t sure if Kim would be okay with them or not. And she wasn’t sure if she was ready to push that envelope yet.

But she had to try.

“Hey, Kim…”