[center][b][u]COLLAB FOR THE AGES IX IRON[/u][/b]: [i]The Whole Nine Yards[/i]

[b]Summary:[/b] More crossdressing than you could shake a stick at. Believe me, I tried.[/center]

Alistair he chuckled again as she said [i]“I can imagine it would not be a pleasant experience”[/i] he replied with "not particularly".
his face dropped when she said “Y-yes...I oh, I didn’t know anyone lived here! Does your family live here to? I thought it was part of the school."
"no" he replied "they don't live here" he looked back up and forced a smile when she explained “From what I can gather the girls are all dressing up the guys in these strange clothes” then she asked if he was competing "I wouldn't be against it" she held up a dress and saying he'd look good in it, he laughed "you think so?" he smiled, looking her over "if you want me to be your champion i'll surely accept"

Kathy nodded briefly at his response to her offer for a hug. It would probably be better if she didn't try to read very far into it. After all, she had hugged Alex naturally enough, right? Then she became visibly rigid at Carmen’s question, though she quickly forced herself to relax half a second later. A slight blush creeping onto her face again, she glanced over at Crash from the corner of her eyes, wondering how he would respond to that. She clasped her hands together, keeping herself from fidgeting as she tried not to look too interested in what he had to say. To her… Disappointment? Relief? He simply skipped over the question completely and changed topics. She released a small sigh. Perhaps it was for the best? [i]‘But perfectly natural?’[/i] Kathy thought, repeating Carmen’s words inside of her head. [i]‘I feel anything but natural around Crash lately.’[/i] It was confusing business. On one hand she did actually know the cause behind it, but on the other she was still busy denying it.

"..." Feeling a strange irritation in the pit of her stomach, she decided to take it out on Crash by poking him on the side again. "By the way, you should probably get over to the starting line so they can get started with the event." Kathy smiled up at him, masking the real reason behind the poke with a plausible reason to grab his attention. "Good luck." Turning to Alex for a moment she asked him, "You're going to participate as well right?"

"Well, I think I've got it all covered now," responded Carmen to Crash explaining his clumsiness. "That's certainly good to know," she said with a devious smile. Carmen distinctly noticed Crash's rapid expression changes, indicating he was attempting to figure out what to say. A small smile crept to her lips as he fumbled to a result, going for the competitive route, starting with "I didn't hurt you did I?" "Of course not, it's only water. And the sand was a nice cushion. If you had hurt me, I'm pretty certain you would have known...like right away," she concluded. She smiled an appreciative smile at his compliment. "Why thank you! Of course you DID still get a couple of good hits on me, even if that shirtless guy I haven't met helped you with one of them. It was a wonderfully enjoyable duel though, so thanks for that. I had forgotten about my competitive streak entirely." She noticed Kathy's attempt to look unaffected by the conversation, as well as her relief when the conversation changed course. Kathy began encouraging Crash to go up to the start line, either to try to get the event going or to get Crash away from Carmen. Carmen felt the latter was more likely, and briefly looked over at Ara to make sure he was still fully dressed and ready to race.

Watching his face drop Little Feather instantly felt guilty for asking such a personal question. “Sorry” She murmured from behind the dress. She visibly exhaled when he seemed to ignore her social blunder, well what she thought was a social blunder. She lowered the dress now her face had returned to its normal dark coloring a smile lifting the corners of her mouth as she held the black and white maids outfit out for him to see. “I’m not sure try it on and we’ll find out” She told him in a soft voice. Lion shook his head and walked over to the chest reaching in he pulled out a head piece, a feather duster and a white pinafore. [i]There we go your ‘champion’ needs accessories[/i] Lion grumbled nudging them towards Alistair. Little Feather felt herself blush as Alistair offered himself as her ‘champion’ for the race, it unfortunately brought up an unpleasant memory...it made her falter for a moment, forcing the memory aside she pushed her hair behind her ear for the third time. “Thank you that would be...great” She thanked him with a warm smile. [i]Ask him if he wants a noble steed[/i] Lion purred offering Little Feather a lion-ish grin as she turned to look at him. “Not a chance” She poked her tongue out at the lion playfully before returning her attention to Alistair and helping him into his dress. Trying to be helpful she moved to his side opening her mouth to say something when she seemed to hesitate tilting her head to the side as she realized he had very delicate looking wings on his back. "Oh wow..." She breathed tilting her head to the side her hand lifting as if to touch them when she suddenly remembered herself and retracted her hand sharply lifting the dress with a frown. "Well...this is going to need some adjusting" She stated, instinctively reaching for her belt, though as her hand patted her side she blinked and looked down remembering she was wearing different clothes...she didn't have her tools on her. Lion's ears flickered as he watched Little Feather pat hers
elf down apparently at random. [i]You let her take your medicine pouch and knife? Wow I have to say Mercy's persuasive abilities are impressive[/i] He purred to the girl another rumbling chuckle passing through his chest. Little Feather raised an eyebrow at him, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Don't worry Alistair I'll make this more comfortable for you!" She assured the boy with a small smile before crouching next to Lion and picking up a large paw applying pressure to his pad she forced a long sharp claw to spring forward. After a few moments there were two slits just big enough for Alistair to squeeze his wings through, Lion however did not look impressed looking pleased with herself Little Feather held the dress out to Alistair with an expectant look on her face. 

Crash had purposefully avoided looking at Kathy after Carmen’s question, he thought it best to not do so. He was positive this was the right thing to do, this way she wouldn’t have to get embarrassed. [i]This doesn’t feel right...[/i] He felt an internal twist of disappointment with himself mainly. [I]Not the time for this now[/i] His expression had remained fixed on a warm smile even though his mind was running rampant and his heart was becoming more determined to burst out of his chest. Setting up a plan in his head Crash was able to concentrate on Carmen as she gave him a devious smile his smile visibly faltered. [i]Oh god...that smile never leads to good things[/i] He relaxed when she assured him she wasn’t injured...she had placed a good point making him feel his worry was rather unnecessary. He grinned as she allowed him a small ego boost by admitting he got a few good shots in. “I think his names Ryuu...though I haven’t spoken with him yet” Crash offered with a small shrug. As soon as Kathy poked his side he inhaled sharply and violently twitched away from her hand, his arms clamping down on his sides defensively silently cursing at his obvious reactions. He lifted a hand to the back of his neck momentarily thinking he’d said something wrong but as she smiled he figured he was off the hook “OK, OK I’m going” He grinned at her, lifting his hands in surrender before making his way towards the start line to join Ara and the others. 

Alex blinked as Kathy hugged him. A bit unsure as the reason for the hug, but happy to receive it. A soft smile appeared on his lips as he wrapped his arms around her. The warmth of the embrace soothing him. It was as if every worry he'd ever had had disappeared. He shrunk down to his pixie size and flew up to her shoulder where he stayed, snuggling in her warmth. With a small, timid voice he whispered, [b]"Momma..."[/b]

Brako huffed a bit, watching as every ignored him. to be fair, they all seemed pretty busy. Wait... Why were the boys in dresses? Brako blinked, looking around rather confused. Things were starting to click and suddenly Brako didn't really know if he wanted to join in at this point. Why were the males being dressed? Would they make him? What were they even doing? Suddenly, the old dragon seems like an old fish out of water.

Chris sat off on the side, particularly resigned now. No one had come up to her to dress her... no one had come up to talk to her at all really. And all of her attempts at trying ended in her being alone. She didn't want to join a big group of people and the smaller groups seemed so tight nit, she didn't want to intrude. She felt like she didn't really belong here. Maybe it was time she just went back to her house. Her dog probably missed her anyway.

As Carmen looked around she noticed two guys sitting off on the side, resigned from everything. "Hold on...no guy here is going to escape this race on my watch. Look over there [motioning at Kathy], there's two guys not participating! We just [i]can't have that[/i], can we? Obviously not! C'mon...!" She began walking...no, jogging...to the two guys. Yelling back at Kathy, she said: "I'll get that guy on the left if you get the guy on the right!" still totally unsure if Kathy would even come or not. Oh well, she'd at least get one of them.

Walking up to the guy she had targeted (Brako), she noticed him basically brooding while being confused. As she got closer she thought she recognized him from both the opening day at the Academy and when they arrived on the island. [i]Ahhh...the speech guy,[/i] she thought.

Brako watched, wide eyed, as a female approached him. [b]"Oh... Oh no... nonono...."[/b] He said shaking his head at her. [b]"I didn't sign up for [i]this[/i]."[/b] He sputtered out, clearly rattled.

"HI!" Carmen said as friendly as it was possible to be as she reached the obviously uninterested guy, smiling at him broadly. "You sir look like you could use some cheering up. Why not come and participate? It'll be fun! I'm sure we can find something that'll make you like [i]irresistible[/i]!"

Brako's eyes went wide but with a glance from Maria he stopped turning to bolt. [b]"...fine."[/b] He replied, resigned to his fate. It was for the kids... right? Yeah... for the kids.

Carmen only kept smiling at his disinterested reaction. This was going to be fun. "Oh do lighten up, this is a holiday! You're not allowed to be grumpy on a holiday, ok? C'mon!" She dragged him along with her to one of the unopened chests. "Let's see..." she said as she began rooting through the chest, clearly dissatisfied with the options until she came upon [url=http://image.dhgate.com/albu_308757820_00-1.0x0/hot-beautiful-princess-prom-dress-a-word.jpg]one particular princessy prom dress[/url], painting a very amused smile on her face as she took it out. She didn't care how important he apparently was for giving all of those speeches and such; there was no way he was getting off easy. "Well, here you go! I think this will look [i]wonderful[/i] on you," she said, holding it out for him to take.

Another smile crept onto Kathy’s face upon seeing his reaction. It was quite interesting really. She hadn’t thought that his weakness would be something as easy to poke at, literally, like his side. “Good luck!” She repeated, waving him off.
 
Apparently Alex was not going to participate, despite the fact he had gone through the trouble of slipping a dress on. Smiling gently at his whisper, she focused on keeping her shoulders straight so that he would not have trouble staying there. Then, Carmen got her attention by motioning her over. “?” Looking where Carmen began to walk, she did a slight double take as she realized that the girl was going up to the vice-principal. [i]‘A-Amazing…’[/i] Though it would be a funny sight for sure, she didn’t think she would’ve been able to attempt such a thing. Glancing over at the other one, Kathy nodded and began to approach the small boy (Chris – since she didn’t know that Chris was actually a girl).
 
“Hey,” Approaching Chris slowly so as not to disturb Alex too much, Kathy gave ‘him’ a warm smile. “Do you not have a partner for the event? I could choose something for you to get dressed up in if you’d like.”

Having successfully escaped the crying boy (Cyber), Ara made his way to the starting line. Catching sight of Crash, he made sure to line up right beside him. “Hey,” He greeted with a friendly smile plastered onto his face. A bunny girl costume. That was hilarious. “Like your costume. Did the girl from before help you get dressed?”

Cyber's tears run down his face until the guy said something and let him go from the vice grip. “Dammit, I get it okay, I won’t tell. One minute you’re a twisted brat that doesn’t know how to say please or sorry, and the next you’re crying like a fountain. Geeze you’re busy.” Then the guy walked off saying he wouldn't care if he would join..he wiped the tears on his face and sniffled. He was so used to being called a brat so being called that didn't faze him. he was really liked, a bit bipolar....but then he wondered... Usually if people would find out about his secret they would use him from something like black mail but this guy just let him go...well he threatened him first but still oddly let him go... He looked back at the guy just wondering why... he wanted to ask but then the guy was already at the starting line. He gave a sigh and continue to wipe away his tears then he walked over to his 3ds and see if it was okay and save also...but at the screen...Save wasn't there! "Huh?! Save!! Where are you!?" He panicked again, where was Save? It could be impossible for her to move in the real world...he had seen that yet... He looked around trying to find her. While looking around he notice a chest.

His mind definitely change, first from a crying brat to a worried friend? to a...curious adventurer!! He closed the 3ds to save battery, ran to the chest and opened it. "Wow!~" like an adventurer finding treasure he found a bunch of pretty outfits for girls (and guys like him) to wear. Some are really girly and frilly and some were just to cute! He picked a [url=http://kazenomise.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/26_pdac_kage_rin_ulogbe.jpg] very frilly yet gothish loli dress. [/url] That he recognized it from a video game, project diva arcade, a design for Kagamine Rin! He picked up the cute dress and instantly wanted to wear it even though the sun was shining. He looked around an area to change and found a small little hut, probably a changing room. He ran there, removed all well most of his clothes and started to wear the dress. He came out wearing the girly gothish lolita dress and pretty happy. Now he looked even more girl than before with the dress except he didn't have makeup with him... He walked back to the starting line just to watch the show and maybe have a good laugh. On the way he some people look at him but he didn't mind at all.

Anedine, seeing Mercy's choice of clothing for the fabulous-ish boy, gave an agreeing nod to the lavish dress for Darwin. And as soon as after she made turns on her head as gestures, she helped as Mercy dressed up the man for the contest, and then giving an awed, amazed expression as she saw the final results. The pure white, elegant corset dress, the glittering, shimmering jewels, the fabulous feather trims, and the fit stockings, all of them happened to caught Anedine's eye until Mercy then gave her a question.

[i]"Sorry I didn't mean to take over...erm...Where are my manners, I didn't even catch your name...."[/i]

"Oh, sorry there! My name's Anedine, and it's nice to see the two of us working together!"

Mercy smiled as Anedine introduced herself as well as saying it was nice the two of them were working together, she chuckled lightly. "A pleasure to be formally introduced Anedine, and I would agree, doesn't he just look fabulous?" She grinned at the other woman. As Darwin turned she quickly reached over to tighten the corset. "Tell me when you can't breathe and we'll know its tight enough" she joked deliberately tightening it enough to hold it up but not enough that he couldn't breathe after all he had a race to win. She laughed as he complimented their choice, surprisingly she had expected this kind of reaction from him she knew his stylish ways were for the most part exemplary. "I for one love these, though there is little call for them nowadays" She made a small dissatisfied 'Tch' noise to emphasize her displeasure of this fact. "Hmm?" She hummed as Darwin pulled his phone out, the sight of it reminded her she should probably check her own soon..."That's what happens when you call people" She teased the unicorn playfully. "Are they on speaker?" She asked wondering what kind of mischief she could create if they were. Of course it hadn't crossed her mind that someone was actually inside the phone. Mercy reached up to secure the jeweled choker around Darwin's neck before placing the fan in his hand, taking a step back she clapped her hands together grinning happily. "You look fabulous honey" She complimented him. "Best go join the others though, the race will start soon...I'll be rooting for you" She assured him with a bright smile and a quick wink, turning the purple haired boy away from her and patting his butt as if to encourage him along

“Thanks be sure to cheer for me” Crash called back cheekily, winking before he attempted to jog to the start line. [i]Oh boy...major issues[/i] He grimaced as he pulled up to the line he caught a glimmer of white out of the corner of his eye causing him to turn towards Ara. “Hey” He replied back with a slight nod of his head, focusing his eyes forward momentarily before he looked back at Ara. “Her names Kathy for the record and yes, yes she did” He admitted with a sigh “Carmen did a great job on you” He smirked at Ara. “You make a great Runaway Bride” He added for good measure he could actually think of more but he decided it best not to. He caught sight of a rather interesting character (Cyber) making their way towards the start line; she seemed to stop on the start line. “Erm...hey, I think you’re in the wrong place” He grinned at who he quite easily mistook as a girl in the clothes ‘he’ was wearing all Crash thought on it was [i]Athalia expect the unexpected[/i] It was becoming a regular thing to see peculiar clothing...after all he was stood here in a bunny suit and Ara was in a wedding dress couldn’t get more ‘unexpected’ than that...right?

Darwin was checking himself for any ugly pats as he circled around looking at his amazing, fabulous dress. He personally thought the choker was a bit too muhc, thought, but this wasn't him making the costume. he gripped the fan in hand stunned by the amazingness of it. "Well, you made a very good choice!" He giggled slightly. "YEah its on speaker, I always put people on speaker...but I didn't call anyone." He shrugged this off and fiddled with the ruffles of the corset.He immediately remembered he had to go and race so he grinned back at Mercy and hardly acknowledged the pat as he went speeding to the starting line.

Alistair heard her whisper 'Sorry', and gave her a smile, but didn't say anything.
She then handed him the dress, her face was no longer as red, and said “I’m not sure try it on and we’ll find out” Lion also dug a few items out of the chest and passed them to him, he nodded and looked them over, he had never seen the odd costume before and had no clues as to what it's purpose was. she said “Thank you that would be...great” in response to him offering to be her champion. he smiled but heard something behind that, and realized that perhaps his words had not been the best. 
she also then said “Not a chance” in reference to something Lion must have said.
Alistair was looking over the dress curiously when Little Feather got closer, as if to help. then she looked at his back and no doubt saw the pair of fluttery wings he had on his back. "Oh wow..." she whispered, he generally garnered that reaction. She took the dress from him and said "Well...this is going to need some adjusting"
"that would be wise" he said with a smile, wings fluttering slightly as he thought about it "how do you intend to do that?" she went for something that she acted as if should be at her waist but wasn't. he waited patiently as she and lion exchanged words for a minute. then she said to him "Don't worry Alistair I'll make this more comfortable for you!"
"i leave it in your capable hands" he said, clasping his own behind his back. He watched as she used Lion's claws, which Alistair had to admit looked menacing even at human size, to cut slits in the dress. Lion didn't look particularly happy about this but Little Feather appeared proud so Alistair put on a big smile and clapped for a second "imaginative thinking, Little Feather"
she held the dress out for him and her took it carefully, there appeared to be an odd contraption on the back (a zipper) that when he pulled on it the back pulled apart and allowed him to more easily slip it on and to get his wings through the slits more easily. after that however he had no idea how to redo the contraption "little Feather, could you help me?" he turned slightly towards her.

“Oh?” Ara’s brow went up as his grin grew wider. He hadn’t expected Crash to just willingly give him her name. “So her name’s Kathy? I’ll be sure to remember that when I go talk to her.” Not feeling embarrassed about the costume, he laughed, “How’d you know? My partner ran off on me for another. Figures. I’ll trade you mine for yours.” He smiled in a friendly manner at the last comment, keeping his smirk at bay for now.
 
Catching sight of the boy (Cyber) again, he thought, [i]‘The hell..?’[/i] The guy seemed so adverse to joining, and now he was coming over to the line in a fancier costume than before? Ara just rolled his eyes and decided to let Crash deal with the troublesome kid on his own. After all, he didn’t want an encore of waterworks if he let the ‘secret’ slip.

Cyber didn't mean to walk the way to the starting line, he just wanted to watch but he guessed he didn't really think where was he going...“Erm...hey, I think you’re in the wrong place” He heard a voice, when looked at the direction of the voice he swear he couldn't keep his laughter in. A red head guy (Crash)..in a bunny girl outfit!! Cyber was dying from the inside trying to hold the roar of laughter. He gave a a broken smile just try to maintain his composure. "Oh! I am!..I just noticed that... I am so lost though, everything is going so fast! But I have to say...Onii-chan~ You look quite...nice...." He smirked as he gave out the innocent girl persona he used on the guy earlier. battering eyelashes, a very girly kind voice, a smile that usually wins over many guy's hearts yet though he didn't want to do anything with that guy. "I am just here to watch Onii-chan, I like wearing clothes likes these they are fun and very cute~ But hey if you are thinking I am not a boy who likes dressing up like this! I am a girl who like to wear this type of clothing" He giggled in a joking manner as he started to walk away from the starting line but before doing that... 

"But maybe later Onii-chan we can talk! You look like a very cool and confident man to able to wear something like that!" He made sure he sounded like he was admiring the red head even though he was gladly not. He then walked closer to the red head, tip; toe because he was still small and whispered at his right ear. "I like that~ You are really cool Onii-chan~ And I would like if maybe...we can have a little...alone time together? Maybe for a date?" He giggled again then he looked at his eyes showing his [s] fake [/s] interest on the red head. Even though his eyes showed so much interest on the guy he knew he was just messing with him. "Well then...Bye Onii-chan~" With that said he kissed the red head right cheek then skipped off. As he was at a good amount of distance he started to laugh. "Oh my god!! That was so perfect!" 

Little Feather merely grinned at Alistair as he asked her how she intended to do that, after proving how resourceful she was a little taken aback as he offered her a big smile and clapped for a second. “Erm...thank you” She murmured feeling the pink tint return to her cheeks, this reaction was becoming a nuisance. She tilted her head to the side watching the dark haired boy get into his dress, her brow furrowed as he pulled it up her putting her hand to her mouth to hide a smile as she resisted the urge to laugh he looked rather amusing yet cute at the same time. “You should let me dress you in normal clothes sometime I think you’d suit them better” She told him, of course her her idea of ‘normal’ clothes were squall clothes. “You’d make a fantastic brave” She murmured, bashfully clasping her hands together rather thankful when he turned slightly towards her and asked for help. “Sure” She smiled as she closed the distance between them, moving between his wings carefully she gently pulled the zipper up for him securing him into the dress. “There you go” She announced stepping away from him. “You’re all set to go...want me to come with you to the starting line?” She asked him, looking over at the other guys who were already lined up.
 
Crash felt a pang of anxiety...he couldn’t say he liked the idea of the brown haired student hassling Kathy, he was confident she could stand up for herself but the idea of it made a nasty surge of anger seep through him. A frown crossed his face. [i]What are you getting so antsy about...it’s just talking[/i] The fact of the matter was he neither trusted or liked Ara it was that simple it didn’t matter that he barely knew the guy. “Apparently I’m more perceptive than I thought” He grinned at Ara with ease, though it did falter a bit as he asked for a trade his mind throwing two possible meanings at him,, the first one he didn’t even entertain the thought of...”Nope, I’d rather not suffer the wrath of Khan for changing costumes” He shook his head, his expression had become very guarded as he spoke. Though that quickly changed as the ‘girl’ (Cyber) he’d spoke to practically cracked up into hysterics, he looked skyward briefly before returning his crimson gaze to the ‘girl’ He obviously fell for the innocent girl facade completely counteracting his claim of being ‘more perceptive’ than he thought he was. He didn’t see through the students disguise. “Erm...thanks I think, I wouldn’t say this was my best look” He chuckled giving a small shrug of his shoulders, though he noticed ‘her’ smile he didn’t give her any signs of falling for her flirtations in true Crash style they flew straight over his head, he did however offer her a warm smile. “So you’re new around he-“ He was cut off as the other student began to speak again, his brow creasing in confusion at what ‘she’ said. “I hadn’t thought you were a participant” He shrugged at her. “You’d be surprised what the students around here like to wear normally” He chuckled thinking of Little Feather and her usual attire, although Mercy had been telling him of her ’plans’ to pull the Indian girl into the 20th century. [i]Maker help her[/i] He was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard the ‘girl’ speak to him again, he politely focused back on her. 
 
A very perplexed look crossed his face [i]Cool and confident?[/i] He raised an eyebrow at ‘her’ wondering why on earth ‘she’ would throw those...compliments at him, he opened his mouth as if to say something when in the next moment the ‘girl’ had walked closer to him and leaned up to whisper in his ear. His frown deepened he didn’t show it outwardly but inwardly he wasn’t happy with’ her’ sudden proximity to him it actually bothered him...why did it bother him? He listened to ‘her’ words blinking a little in disbelief at what ‘she’ said, was ‘she’ flirting with him? It would explain the compliments...and the strange look ‘she’ had on her face now, however as ‘she’ leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek he literally froze not looking too dissimilar to a deer stuck in headlights. [i]Red light! Words, Crash use your words![/i] “I’m sorry that wouldn’t be ok” He blurted out, forgetting Ara was stood directly behind him. “Not in that context...I’ll be around if you need a friend but that’s all I can really offer you” He finished, really hoping ‘she’ had heard him as ‘she’ skipped away. “What the hell just happened...” He frowned completely confused by that strange turn of events, at least the blood hadn’t rushed to his face at all...apparently that reaction was especially for Kathy.

Alistair thought Little Feather's blush was rather cute but he wasn't going to say anything about it. She seemed amused by his attempt to get into the dress, which made him smile "am i even doing this right? human clothes are odd" he laughed, pulling at it to try and straighten it as best he could. “You should let me dress you in normal clothes sometime I think you’d suit them better” she said. He smiled again "i might take you up on that offer" then she whispered “You’d make a fantastic brave”. He looked over at her "what's a brave?"
when she put the back together he chuckled and said "it's a little tight" he tried adjusting it some more but it didn't really help. she offered to walk with him to the starting line "i'd like that thank you" he held up the pinafore "by the way, how do i put this on?" as he said this he started to move towards the line, he noticed a man approaching him and stopped, waiting for the man to approach, he nodded to him.

One, if looking closely enough, could see Brako's eyelid visibly twitch when the dress came into view. His eyes shifted over to a very bemused Maria, unable to contain her shock and laughter. 

[b]"Yes, yes."[/b] He spoke with a measured tone. He knew that by doing this he was helping both Maria and the kids out. And he'd always thought of Maria as his own. So despite her antics, he'd follow along if it meant her happiness. With a deep sigh, he grabbed the dress and motioned for Carmen to follow him to the dressing room.

[b]"Sadly, this is not my first time putting on a dress... So... I know I'll need your help at least zipping the darned thing up."[/b] He told Carmen as he walked to the dressing rooms. He stole a glance at Maria, glaring at her, before turning back with a small smile on his face.

Maria honestly couldn't contain herself. Brako, THE Brako, was getting in a dress. It'd been so long since she'd seen this. A real treat for sure. She was both shocked by the girl's choice and unable to contain her laughter. She had to admit, that man was more of a father to her than her's had ever been and he put up with all of her... adventures. She wasn't sure what she would do without the old fart.

Chris looked over at the redhead that had approached her, asking if she needed something to wear. Chris's facial expression changed drastically within the next few seconds. First, she was happy to be noticed. Then, sad because it meant she'd have to put on a dress. Then, angry because she didn't want to admit to being a girl either. 

[b]"Do I have to dress up in order to participate?"[/b] She asked, her eyes pointed at the redhead's (Kathy).