Pumpkin spice is pretty good! It's not his favorite flavor, but still, pretty good! It helps a lot that there's really only one season for it, so you don't have many chances to get tired of it. It's a special treat for autumn times, a good companion to chillier days. That said, there are a lot of situations where pumpkin spice is a bit unnecessary? It works sometimes! Pumpkin spice Oreos are incredible, and make for an amazing cheesecake crust. But curiosities driven him to try a couple of cereals with limited edition pumpkin spice flavors, and every time he has visions of tasty spiced goodness, and every time he only tastes disappointment. It's like they were more concerned with having the seasonal flavor rather than actually doing a good, respectable cereal flavor. So, that's put him a little on guard over the stuff. It's intriguing whenever he sees it, but ohhhhhhh he's been burned before. Curiosity can only overcome so many scars. ************************* Hazel opens a chest full of bras. Hazel closes a chest full of bras. Where is Juniper right now? Somewhere past a line of hanging dresses. She said she was going to try and find some jewelry, if it hadn't been given to another sluzhanka already. The delicate clink of metal jostling around mingles with the rain patterning against the tent. Juniper is not here. Juniper is not getting closer. Hazel silently rises, takes two steps back from the chest, and freezes mid-stride. His weight rests forward. He can walk to the chest again at a moment's notice, and anyone who finds him here will think he hasn't opened the chest yet. Hopefully. Hazel closes his eyes. Takes a deep breath in. Exhales, slowly. Bras. He forgot that bras were clothing too. Didn't even occur to him. There were about 15 bajillion styles of dresses, shirts, skirts, shorts, pants, blouses, petticoats, and he's not sure if he's used all those terms correctly, but he's definitely seen most of them. At no point had he considered anything other than outerwear. Unless socks counted, but these were very outer-y socks they were talking about. So. Bras. Letting the two of them decide was out of the question. Completely against the spirit of this big game of Make Believe. Olesya would never approve. Also, letting Keli and Seli pick their own bras would end up with them picking something they could stash a rope, smoke bomb, and/or a spare handkerchief into. That would not end well. For anybody. (Probably mostly him.) So he has to pick something for them. Hazel Valentine Fletcher needs to tell two foxgirls which bras he would like them to wear. Information that will certainly convey no additional intent or meaning whatsoever. Cool cool cool cool cool cool awesome and cool. Unless? Unless! Unless he let them keep whatever they were wearing right now! Yes! He wouldn't even have to raise the topic. If he hands them new clothes without handing them new bras, they might not realize that he even had the option to pick some out for them! There we go, problem solved, easy game, easy life. Hazel turns about and walks away. Hazel slows to a stop. …[I]were[/I] they wearing bras? That. Hrm. That, is a very good question. Was there a way to tell? You know, without them directly telling you, while winking and waggling their eyebrows. Nevermind whether or not this sort of thing happens often; this is about Keli and Seli, who have gone bra-less at least once in their lives, because they are Keli and Seli. The possibility is there. Or, maybe, did it depend on the outfit? Were there outfits where certain structural properties of a top made a bra unnecessary? Like, swimsuits. This definitely isn't a swimsuit situation, but the point stands. Unless those dancer outfits were close enough to swimsuits to count. It's tough going, contemplating complicated clothing concepts in a world without Wikipedia. (Or the concept of a browser history.) Suppose there is a way to tell. Suppose it's a way that everyone knows, except him. Suppose he gives them a set of clothes, and they all look at him funny, and Juniper says how [I]daring[/I] It is of him to forgo the bras. While Keli and Seli wink/waggle at him. It's bad enough, thinking of the message you're sending with a choice. But is it worse than the message you could send without realizing it? The rain falls. Jewelry jingles lightly. A chest’s hinge creaks. “Juniper?” She finds him standing far, far away from The Chest. He hands her a selection of chaste, functional bras in a variety of colors. “Could you pick one out for each of them? Please?” Because of course he can't pick them himself. Of course he would never pick anything remotely risque. He should get a gold star for achieving this much on his own. What, did you think he would emerge from the Seigalamu’s pile of plunder with lingerie? Or nothing at all? Really. Imagine Hazel Valentine Fletcher knowing that a missing bra could be scandalous. Where would he even have learned such a thing? Juniper takes the multicolored bundle from him with ease. “Of course, oh honored guest. Were you having trouble deciding?~” “Yes! Because I don't know their sizes! And also! I don't know how color coordination works!” “Do you need help picking their panties too?~” “Whatever they're wearing is fine!!!” ************************* The final outfits are a clever little idea. If these two like their performance outfits so much, why not carry on with the theme? Seigalamu dancers favor sweeping dresses, with sharp lines, bright colors, and dangling sleeves. And tassels. Many, many tassels. The sort of thing that does not fight the wind, but flows with it. The dresses with the diaphanous sleeves, those were a good find. “Now, I know how excited they were to be unveiled,” and he is understanding, but firm, in his scolding. “But those veils are their signature. Anyone who hears the names Keli and Seli sees a pair of veils. How is anybody going to know who they are if they can see their faces?” (He's proud of that bit of goofball logic. It's hard not to smile and ruin the delivery.) “It would be terribly rude to squander the infamy of the sluzhanka you've given me, Bagyum Olesya.” And he bows, at just the correct level of respect, just like Juniper showed him.