the art of the dress

[ginger_firebird]

Of the many stores that cater to the crafting minded, Mantis visited the fabric stores more and more. Winter was almost there and he needed better clothing to keep off the chill and welcome the scant bit of warmth he and his pets would need. There wouldn’t be much to get, only a bit of wool for the little ones. It’s always been his own proportions that have been difficult to manage.

With a few rolls of fabric loaded already in the shopping cart, he leaves Yaga and Francour in the kid seat while he stared hard at his own reflection in a mirror. He’s always been a bit tall, a bit too thin, but he thought at least this could be a point in his unusual life where he’d gain a pound or two. He turned one way, then the other, always checking his figure. At least clothing didn’t require him to be painfully aware of his face.

That said, the measuring tape in his hands made several rounds at different points on his body. It snuck around his chest, his hips, traced along the length of his arms and legs. He sighed loudly and rolled up the measuring tape around his hand before handing it over to Francour for safe keeping. His little espurr took the tape measure reverently and squeaked when Yaga moved closer to lick his head. The catwing pinned the pokemon down more and groomed him with a great deal of care.

“Is it me?” Francour trilled loudly and was allowed up by Yaga. “I thought I was cooking more than I was before.”

Yaga licked his jaws and meowed. “I know I kept feeding Ben. You both got a chance to meet him. You know he can’t cook.”

Mantis walked over to the cart and pulled out a slip of paper from a pants pocket. Yaga rubbed his head against Mantis’s arm while Francour was more content to hold on to the sleeve of his shirt.

“I gained a little bit, but it still needs a lot of work. How am I supposed to safely gain weight if nothing sticks?”

Comments

[ginger_firebird]

"You should try gardening. I've had my eye on a house in the Nexus with a back yard fit for a lot of plants to grow in. It wouldn't be much to section off a part of it for you to get your hands a little dirty with." Certainly would be interesting to see the difference between Anthean and human styles of crop rearing.

"All creatures have some ancestor in common going that far back. Ours were likely adapted for a specific environment and then natural mutations took your species and mine into different directions." He waits to be let inside, following with quiet footsteps.

[ziggyplayedguitar]

"I would more but I spend most of the year touring. The cats are enough to worry about." It was one down side of fame as a musician, you were always on the move.

"We didn't evolve in the same solar system or planet." Ziggy was getting into territory of concepts better answered by his mother. He walked up to the greenhouse where everything inside was blue to blue-green in color, with hints of yellow or bright green as patterning on some of the plants.

Stepping into the first of a sealed double door system Ziggy stopped and turned to Mantis. "There's a gliding animal in here. They should be fine but if they get upset we'll have to leave. The bite is painful."

The animals, up in the top of the greenhouse on the window frames resemble Colugo of Earth except these are hairless and have some thickening to the skin.

[ginger_firebird]

Mantis feels his eyes widen. He keeps forgetting how much of an alien Ziggy and his kin are. It's hard to remember when you have someone so human-shaped in front of you.

"It's strange knowing how differently we developed. You look perfectly human, even up close. Eyes, hair, even body temperature can be explained away by things humans can do to change themselves. You'd blend in perfectly on my version of Earth."

His gaze immediately turns upward and he makes a surprised noise. Those were certainly...interesting. A bit creepy, but not out of the ordinary for animals, even the weird ones. He can feel rustling in the basket on his back as Yaga and Francour shift around in their presence.

"Never a dull moment..."

[ziggyplayedguitar]

"I am only half Anthean. The Antheans you've met are also trying to look human." Ziggy clarifies. "A full blooded Anthean without connections to humans looks less like a human. Even I do things to look more human especially my eyes and speaking in a way that doesn't make my teeth as obvious."

"Not with me." Ziggy laughs at the comment about things never being dull. "Most of these are food and medicinal plants."

He mentions about the green house. "There are other animals in the plants too, but they're not dangerous."

[ginger_firebird]

"The way your people look reminds me of cats. I know Tommy is a fan of them, but I don't know if the similarities stop there or not. There is a lot about Anthean biology that goes beyond levels of science I actually understand."

Mantis considers focusing his telepathy to see exactly how many of these alleged creatures are scattered about, but he holds back on doing so. He isn't about to find out the hard way what might happen if the animals surrounding them are sensitive to telepathy.

"Food plants are intensely satisfying to grow. One day, you're looking at the first buds and the next thing you know, there's something you can pick and clean and cook for dinner that day."

[ziggyplayedguitar]

"I can explain some of it, if you want. I'm not a scientist, either." Ziggy definitely understands some of the explanations being beyond understanding.

Ziggy touched some of the plants, their leaves waxy but not as thick as Earth's succulents. "I don't grow them but I do like going to local markets when I'm traveling and talking to all the farmers about their crops."