Mother of Magic

Good Clothes

The Collins Dry Goods store was located up the street to the first major intersection, then to the right a block. Le had that in his mind as North and then East. He knew HIS Collins and tended to always navigate using the idea of where things are relative to him in terms of compass points rather than guideposts like buildings or landmarks. When he was not sure of a compass direction, and landmark was useful for setting one. 'Oh: That Statue is north of the library' type of thing. Not very useful here where some of the older buildings were the same as the ones he was used to, but so very much is different. The day had snow clouds hanging around and looking like they were going to release their load of snow later in the evening. The air smelled that way too. This messed up being able to orient off the distant landscape. The Mountains to the West made navigation easy, but only if he could see them.

Stephanie and Le entered the Dry Goods store with a tinkling of a doorbell. A literal bell hung to ring when struck by the door. A man behind the counter looked up.

The man behind the counter looked perfect for his role. The same way the banker had his. The stereotypical old west owner of a dry goods store incarnate, from the balding pate to the glasses to the vest. The interior of the store was warmish, but not warm. Radiant heaters hung about the ceiling but were either turned down or could not keep up with the cold.

Le assumed that the thermostats were turned down. That if you are a local (like he and Stephanie are, just not this particular local) you get used to the cold. It is cold here, but not that far below freezing. Cold enough that the snow is not melting, but not much colder than that. It gets much colder than that here if this Collins is anything like Fort Collins.

The proprietor looked over his new customers with interest, especially Stephanie's ill-fitting pants. "Howdy strangers. What can I help you with?"

Le saw him looking at her pants and went directly to the point. "My wife and I need a new set of clothes. We just came into town and lost all our luggage. Ilana over at the bank said you could set us up with everything we need."

"And not this fancy shit either. Comfortable clothes, weather appropriate." Stephanie added, tapping on the fancy bodice part of the dress setup Ava had given her.

"I see." He pushed his glasses back on his nose and considered. "Where you folks from?"

"Fort Collins" Le supplied.

"Sister city no one here seems to ever heard of." Stephanie added.

"True. I haven't." The man agreed.

"Well, clothing is different there. Mountains and cold and snow and all, but we dress right for the weather. Practical. We don't put all these designs all over everything." Stephanie pointed at the outer seam of Le's spare pants she had on. "And women don't wear dresses. Not much anyway. Down south, in the summer maybe. Not sure. I don't go south much."

Stephanie only traveled around the country with the team. She would be wearing her normal clothes or the uniform. Vacations time for her as a ball player was winter, and she liked to ski, sled, toboggan, and generally enjoy her home. Not go to warm places. Her family thought she was insane: A Latina that liked the cold. Le was perfect for her in this way since he also preferred staying north. They did a demo game in the spring once, before the season started, and both of them could not wait to get back home. Great food and lovely people. Sweltering climate.

The man considered Stephanie's words. Le's clothes looked perfectly normal to the man. Her pants were weird since that bodice usually would have floor-length skirts with it. "I have the kind of clothes the farmers wear. I think that might fit what you are talking about. Tough, weather appropriate, and comfortable because when you work outdoors who wants to be miserable?" The man stepped around the counter and headed toward the back of the store.